TEREZI: -holy shit, HOLY SHIT. she is THE number one horrible friend. How on FUCKING ALTERNIA did she not realize Damara was in the infirmary?! Not knowing what happened to her and only given a vague description of her condition, Terezi breaks into a sprint to her door and knocks tentatively. How badly was she injured? How did this even happen? She appeared fine the day of...that day. But trolls were resiliant, Damara especially, so what if she'd been injured then and Terezi had been a thoughtless jerk? Her knocks grow more insistant as her worries escalate.-
TEREZI: -she'd already lost Karkat, and if Damara followed without her so much as knowing, Terezi knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.-
DAMARA: =During her week of clown hunting she'd overexerted herself something fierce. She'd not gotten much food or liquid, and when she was too tired to walk she'd used her kinetics instead. It had put a huge toll on her body, and though her furious way of fighting had kept her from getting too many physical injuries she was still in rough shape.=
DAMARA: =She might physically feel like the same level of garbage as when she got back, but she still feels like she is. She had worried her quads, been a selfish moron lashing out without thinking and now she could only hope forgiveness from everyone she knew.=
DAMARA: =The time in the infirmary has been slow, as she'd not felt like doing anything but sleep. So she has. Slept, slept and slept some more. Her waking hours spent in anger with herself and thinking of more sleep. No matter how much she drank her throat always felt raw, and her eyes dry.=
DAMARA: =She's in one of her waking moments now, staring dully ahead at nothing at all when there's a furious knocking at the door. She frowns, not knowing who it might be and not feeling up for visitation. Shifting in the bed as much as she's able, she turns so she can have her back to the door stubbornly.= COME.
TEREZI: -that single word brings Terezi so much relief - she's well enough to talk, at least - that Terezi had to lean against the door briefly to sigh with said relief before carefully walking into the room, still using her cane for balance. Damara smelled....tired, exhausted, drained... But alive? Yes! She smelled alive and relatively uninjured and without mortal wounds! Terezi's heart ached that she she had been too busy caught up in her own mental block to see that Karkat had been Damara's quadrant too, and his murder would have affected her just as deeply.-
TEREZI: -this was definitely guilt she was feeling. Guilt and anger towards herself. From the looks of the charts outside, Damara had been admitted when Terezi was gone. Doing what? Exacting justice? Please. She would rather have been here for her friend over that. There was no justice in this world. Not a bit of it. And she'd been a fucking fool to think she would be the one to balance out that scale. Funny how her priorities shifted in less than a sweep.
TEREZI: -As for her appearance, Terezi looked hella better than she did the first day she came back to the UU, but despite her eating regularly now, she still had traces of sunken cheeks. Her hair was shorter than she'd ever worn it, and she still bore a limp from stepping on a rock wrong. That injury wasn't even from fighting but by her own damn self. She had bruises from her griefs with the clowns, but they were mostly hidden under a black t-shirt. Only a couple on her upper arms showed.-
TEREZI: -Once she had a clear path, she broke for Damara's bedside, limping on over as fast as she was able. She reached forward, her hand reaching for her friend's cheek as her face broke in varied emotions of joy at seeing her relatively ok and heartbreak at seeing her in the infirmary at all.-
DAMARA: =Keeps herself facing away from the door, but the fact that it opened in silence after all that banging makes her uneasy. She turns halfway to look, then goes wide eyed at the sight. Not a word leaving her before Terezi's hand is upon her cheek, and even then it sounds dumb in her ears.= TEREZI? =Reaches up to put her own hand on hers.=
DAMARA: WHAT HAPPEN? =Looks her up and down frantically, going back to the sunken cheeks and her cane in particular.=
TEREZI: -Alive. Warm. She had to feel it for herself and gave a soft smile at her own actions. Moving her hand from Damara's face to hold her hand, Terezi shook her head and tilted her chin forward in motions that said, 'this is nothing, what happened to you ms infirmary queen?'-
DAMARA: =Unlike Terezi she has no reason to smile, only looking wide eyed and worried. That worry turning into a frown with furrowed brows at the head shake and tilt towards her. This wasn't about her! She gives Terezi's hand a squeeze.= NO!
DAMARA: WHAT HAPPEN? =Gestures to the cane with her free hand.= WHY IS THIS? THIS ALL! WHY?
TEREZI: -she looked away and rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed, still expecting to feel her hair there. But it's loss was nothing compared to hole of absence their quadrant left behind. Despite her wanting to know what had happened to Damara, she didn't feel like arguing over who should tell who first. She hadn't felt like fighting anyone at all once she'd returned, actually. If she wanted to know, she knew she had to answer Damara first.-
TEREZI: -Terezi hesitantly took out her whiteboard and drew a crude drawing of herself with angry eyebrows followed by an arrow pointing to a clown face. A hunting trip.-
DAMARA: =She only looks more confused and worried when Terezi gets out the whiteboard. Her eyes go to it, but she's getting too worked up to think much about any surrounding it.= WHAT? NO! CAN'T SPEAK?
DAMARA: STUPID! USE VOICE! =Stares at her instead of the whiteboard, feeling a rush of fear through her. Had the clowns cut out her tongue? Could she no longer speak? What was going on? She glances briefly back to the whiteboard. Yes, it was clowns. Had they hurt her? Had she not gotten all of them? Why would Terezi go after them? She wasn't stupid like her.=
TEREZI: -oH YES SHE WAS EXTREMELY STUPID SORRY TO BUST YOUR BUBBLE DAMARA.-
TEREZI: -she shook her head, erased the board, and wrote something down before flipping it around to face her: "dont want to talk. not a good idea." Damara should also notice that she's not writing in her usual capitals or numbers. Or using any words that refer back to herself, such as 'I'-
DAMARA: =She looks at the whiteboard, then back at Terezi, her shoulders tensing and setting just as her jaw does.= WHY. =Demand, not a question.=
TEREZI: ... -her gaze falls to her hands. her hands, her actions that hurt the both of them and that led to Karkat's death.-
TEREZI: -she drew Hohepa. A rather accuracte portrayal before Redglare punched him repeatedly in the face then promptly slit his throat.-
TEREZI: -"let him live" she wrote. Then underneath "on lopan"-
DAMARA: =She stares intensely at the whiteboard, feeling her hands clench into fists and gripping the sheets upon seeing Hohepa. Then the words. She doesn't understand. There's anger at first, but she doesn't understand any of it.=
DAMARA: WHY IS SHE NO SPEAK?
DAMARA: SHE IS JUSTICE. THIS WHAT DOES!
TEREZI: -her face breaks into a grimace and the whiteboard plops in her lap as she buried her face into her hands, her nails digging into her skin. She promptly picked it up again and continued drawing. Chucklevoodooed Meulin. Hohepa releasing the prisoners. Psycho Mantis.. She furiously wiped at my own tears. How dare she cry when she brought this upon herself. She flipped it around so Damara could see then patted her own chest, her fingers curling into her shirt.-
DAMARA: =While she watches Terezi draw she only finds herself growing more angry, at everything that had happened and Terezi herself, but likely not for the reason she believed. Damara wants to reach for the tears, but she's too busy holding onto these sheets.=
DAMARA: =What does happen is her very nearly slapping the whiteboard out of Terezi's hands.= STUPID!
DAMARA: THINKING IS FAULT OF HER? NO! HOW CAN KNOW? THIS HAPPEN? WHAT DOES IS GOOD! NOT KILL WITHOUT KNOWING ALL.
DAMARA: GIVING MERCY. IS HER! WHAT DID WAS HIM!
TEREZI: -jesus, dam. The whiteboard very nearly slips out of her hands, but she caught it before it fell. erasing all her drawings with her forearm, she wrote, "unsafe situation, should have known better"-
TEREZI: -when damara said that it was her to give mercy, Terezi shut her eyes tightly, feeling the urge to cry again. Stupid. So fucking stupid.-
TEREZI: -"mercy=mistake"-
TEREZI: -"no justice here"-
DAMARA: =She's so puffy, color in her face out of frustration. Why was she being like this? Terezi should know better than acting like... Like her! Like somehow everything going bad was her fault! Her frustrations only grow with her own failure of making her realize how foolish she is behaving.=
DAMARA: NO! CAN NEVER KNOW! IS POINT. CAN NEVER KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT.
DAMARA: BUT SHE! =Points at Terezi.= TRIES BEING GOOD! NO ANGER BEFORE IT JUST! WAS NOT HER. HER THAT. =Swallows sharply, hand falling back onto the bed.= NOT YOU. RELEASING PRISONERS. MAKING ALL HAPPEN. HOHEPA. WAS CAUSE. NOT FAULT OF YOU.
DAMARA: DID NOT PLACE OPPORTUNITIES IN HIS HANDS. WAS HIM. ONLY ACTED IN GOOD. GIVE CHANCE. WASTED ON HIM. NOT FAULT OF YOU. STUPID!
TEREZI: -She erased the board with her arm again and wrote in response, "doesnt matter"
TEREZI: -"should have taken crew position seriously" The crew of this ship couldnt afford to be good or kind or generous anymore. They'd only be stabbed in the back-
TEREZI: -"gave him chance"-
TEREZI: -"used chance to free others"-
TEREZI: -"others hurt us"-
TEREZI: -She flipped it, waited for a moment, then erased, continuing to write.-
TEREZI: -"others killed him"-
DAMARA: =She's getting increasingly angry, maroon in the face and brows knitted together.=
DAMARA: SHOULD HAVE. WOULD HAVE. SHE COULD NOT BE KNOWING. YET NOW BEING LIKE THIS.
DAMARA: ALL OVER HINDSIGHT!
DAMARA: NOW SHE NOT SPEAK. LIKE FUCKING WRIGGLER! CHASTISE SELF. THINKING DOING THIS WILL MAKE THING DIFFERENT? NO!
DAMARA: WHY DOING THIS? MAKING HERSELF GONE TOO. VOICE GONE AS IF DON'T MATTER. SHE DOES! =Her throat feels raw, but she keeps yelling.=
DAMARA: THEN IF PAST. IF WAS HER FAULT. THEN WHY NOT TRYING MAKING BETTER? INSTEAD SHE IS! WEAK! USE VOICE TWICE AS MUCH. WHEN FEELING IT WAS WRONG. TO MAKE BETTER. THIS IS NOT HER.
DAMARA: BEING STUPID? NOT TEREZI.
TEREZI: -She didn't flinch once as Damara yelled at her. She was almost happy that Damara nearly had it. The closest anyone has gotten. It wasn't that she stopped speaking because her voice didn't matter, but because her voice was too dangerous. Because people listened. Because she had crowed that mercy would prove the universe of their innocence. She'd screeched it night and day and to anyone who would listen. And now she saw, too late, that speaking up had been wrong and like Tyrena implied, she now had to live with her choice.-
TEREZI: -she wrote "yes" because that word pretty much covered everything, from her acting like a wriggler to being stupid as hell. But...that also included an effort trying to make things better. She was so sad and so angry. Angry at the world, angry at herself. But one thing she could never do was give up. She'd been knocked down into the dirt (physically and emotionally) so many times she'd lost count, but she'd always find herself digging in her claws, trying to stand.-
TEREZI: -she offered Damara a small, sad smile and shrugged as though to say "maybe."-
DAMARA: =This time the whiteboard is going to go flying, as Damara's kinetics grabs it to hurl it across the room. The smile did nothing. She was being so utterly stupid.=
DAMARA: やめる!ちょうど停止! [[ Stop! Just stop! ]] =She's baring teeth, glaring at Terezi.=
DAMARA: あなたはとても愚かな演技しています。私はそれを我慢できません![[ You're acting so stupid! I can't stand it! ]]
DAMARA: WHAT GOOD? THIS DOING!? 何もありません![[Nothing!]]
DAMARA: EVERYTHING 崩れます[[crumbles]]!
DAMARA: 彼は行ってしまった![[He's gone!]] AND ALSO? NOW LOSING HER? HER VOICE? TO 愚かなクソ理由! [[stupid fucking reason!]]
DAMARA: THEN LEAVE! IF BEING SO STUPID! =Tears are flowing hotly, angrily, her hands balled into tight fists that makes her knuckles whiten.=
TEREZI: -she expected that to happen at one point, so it wasn't entirely surprising. What was surprising is how much her silence affected Damara and she quickly went to pull her into a tight hug. If she were to try pushing her away, she would only hold on tighter. Damara wasn't going to lose her. She's right here. A little changed, a little sadder, but still here.-
TEREZI: -she doesn't want Damara to cry over this and she wants to tell her that, but she's done directing people. Being a leader never really worked out for her, even before she joined TUMUT.-
DAMARA: =She wants to fight the hug at first. Shoving at Terezi for all that's she's good for. Which isn't much right now. She chokes on a sob, her face still twisted with anger, but she lets the hug happen. This was all so stupid. Terezi is acting like a fool, and yet she can understand why she'd break like this, she just never wanted her to fall so far. She cries on her, angry and upset, arms limp against her.=
TEREZI: -she holds onto Damara, tightening her hug and trying not to cry herself. And failing. The only sounds she made were occasional soft, sharp inhales as her crying deprived her of air.-
TEREZI: -But she needed to show her something. Damara needed to know, only if it was the tiniest strand of possibility. It was what allowed her smile despite her sadness. And even though common sense in the back of her mind urged not to get her hopes up, she had to believe in something. In one good thing that would happen.-
TEREZI: -reluctantly pulling away, she made a beckoning motion and gestured toward a wheelchair-
DAMARA: =It's hopeless, everything is. It's hopeless and infuriating and she's not able to do anything right. Not for Karkat, not for Porrim or Mituna and not for Terezi. All she does seems to only make things worse, even when she tries to make things better. She inhales through her teeth in a hiss, hand going up to wipe away her own tears when the hug stops.=
DAMARA: =Rubs and wipes, sniffling when she looks up. There's anger in her eyes still, but she's just tired now. Exhausted from the energy spent.= WHAT?
TEREZI: -she really should have thought this not-speaking thing through, but instead of asking Damara if she was all right to move, she goes to get the wheelchair herself, roll it over, and point at the seat.-
TEREZI: -she figures it'll be okay since they're technically not leaving the infirmary-
TEREZI: -hopefully she wont run into John or the carapacians-
DAMARA: =Watches her roll the wheelchair over, frowning.=
DAMARA: WHAT PURPOSE IS THERE?
TEREZI: -points at the chair again-
DAMARA: WHY? =Stubborn, voice tired with faltering anger.=
TEREZI: -goes to get the whiteboard and draws...a....banana-looking thing-
TEREZI: -it's hard, okay!-
DAMARA: =Squints, nose scrunching.=
TEREZI: -makes an L shape against the banana so it looks like the banana is leaning on it-
DAMARA: =HUFFS. This is stupid and she's tired and drained and UGH.=
DAMARA: =Just flops back in bed, pulling the sheet over her head.=
TEREZI: -FACEPALMS and pulls out her device, trying to tug at the sheet while showing her what she meant to draw because she sucks at pictionary anyway-
DAMARA: =Grumpy sounds as it just winds a tugging contest, Damara using her kinetics rather than her arms as they don't have much force behind them right now.=
TEREZI: -whining sounds!-
DAMARA: =Stubbornly keeps using her kinetics on the blanket. Part exhausted and part, perhaps, being a jackass trying to get Terezi to talk rather than all of this tugging and guessing games.=
TEREZI: -if damara will just look at the phone--!! but instead of saying anything, she sets the phone back down the beside table and is now using both hands, trying to work against the kinetics.-
DAMARA: =Denied despite her growing headache from using her kinetics. She is not going to leave this bed. Not ever. She is too fucking tired. Too grumpy and miserable.=
TEREZI: -she still doesn't know why you’re in the infirmary at all, u butt, so she stops after a while since she's still CONCERNED. If Damara isn't moving, she isn't leaving and she plops down in the wheelchair instead, leaning her head against the rail of the bed.-
DAMARA: =Well. Now that the tugging stops she is CONCERNED too. Or maybe mostly annoyed that Terezi didn't leave. She just wants to be angry and tired. She peeks out at her from the sheets.=
DAMARA: =BIG TIRED SIGH... Removes sheets.=
TEREZI: -SHRUGS. if she flat out said yes that would be a lie and she didn't want to lie to her friend.-
DAMARA: ASKING CONSIDER. GIVE THINK.
DAMARA: NOT TO DO IT. THE SPEAKING.
DAMARA: WILL DO THIS? USE MIND.
TEREZI: -Didn't Damara understand how dangerous a voice could be? But...she nods. Okay, she'll consider it, but for right now...talking isn't a good idea.-
DAMARA: =Nods slowly.= THANK YOU.
DAMARA: =Exhales, scooting to the edge of the bed.= I WILL GO. WITH.
TEREZI: -Nods and reaches forward to give her a small hug. Thank you.-
TEREZI: -She got out of the wheelchair and went to help her lower the rail, standing by to give a hand of support if she needed it.-
DAMARA: =Leans against the hug, then shakes her head at the hand. She's got this.=
DAMARA: =Edges more then just drops herself into the chair, turning in it to sit the right way. Head tilted forwards when she exhales tiredly.= THEN. GO TO BANANA PLACE.
TEREZI: -Going around her to steer, she patted her on the shoulder before making a 'vrrrrrm' noise. See? Terezi's still in there.-
TEREZI: -pressing the button to open the door, she poked her head out to make sure the coast was clear. Rolling Damara into the hallway, she took a right, further into the infirmary rather than a left which would have led them to the cafeteria and atrium and possibly real bananas-
DAMARA: =The silly 'vrrrm' noise makes her snort at least, if not bring a small smile to her face. She doesn't really pay attention to where they are going, trucking her face down and fiddling with her jammies a little bit. Why, she might even be nodding off.=
TEREZI: -the snort brings that small smile back to her face, but there was more contentment to it this time around. The trip was a short one: down another hall and to the left and soon she's opening the door. It sounds with a small swish and she urged the wheelchair forward into the dark room before removing her hand to flip a switch.-
TEREZI: -and there it was, the huge red banana hanging from silk in the corner of the room.-
DAMARA: =She snaps out of her doze once the lights go on, blinking against the harsh light that hurt her tired eyes. They adjust slowly, her squint slowly replaced with that of wide eyes.=
DAMARA: =Stares at this huge red banana, not... Sure how to feel, or even think about it.=
DAMARA: WHAT... =The only thing she can even think... Or say.=
TEREZI: -she let out a quick breath through her nose, feeling her chest clench up as she squeezed Damara's shoulder. She doesn't know what to say either, really, and if she had elected to talk, "Yeah..." would have been her response.-
TEREZI: -she inched Damara closer to it - to him.-
DAMARA: =Her shoulders tense, not really wanting to get closer to it. She's still processing all of this. Eyes wide and staring up at it.=
DAMARA: =Her voice shakes, a whisper.= IS HIM..?
TEREZI: -she nodded, but in the event Damara didn't see that, she also said, "mmhmm." Leaving her place behind Damara, she joined her at her side, placing her hand on hers and gently squeezing her fingers.-
DAMARA: =She stares still, unable to comprehend this. She's relieved, maybe, but also doubtful. This was different than the rest, wasn't it? Her throat feels dry again, and her eyes hot.=
DAMARA: =She turns her hand over, so that she can grab Terezi's hand, squeezing it back. There are no words right now, and maybe she won't find them at all as she watches this weird banana pod that filled her with such a mournful hope.=
TEREZI: -It was a different situation, even different than Aradia's and even with her doubt, Terezi clung onto what little she could. While parts of her screamed it was a bad idea to lead others into something that may or may not be, she knew also that giving up on him would be the worst thing she could do. She and Karkat had been separated once before, and the crew brought him back. And again long before that. Long before either of them knew of TUMUT and faced futures uncertain. If they found each other twice, then third time was the fucking charm.-
TEREZI: -The grip around her own hand made the rest of her doubt wither. If Damara had the strength to hope, then Terezi knew it was something worthwhile to believe in.-