a buzzing at the back of his head, a PRESSURE behind his eyes :: fn-2187 pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the pain if only temporarily. eyes f l i c k e r open once more, a light a ghosted figure blurred at the edges phasing in and out of existence in the span between breaths. a pause before next inhale and three rapid-fire blinks of his lids the only indication he gives that anything is OFF. an inhale and when figure does not reappear he is gone, thrust back into MOTION by necessity :: the last to finish the course is not permitted rations that night and the cloying ache of remembered hunger incentivizes fatigued limbs to clammer ONWARD.
it is not until he reaches instinctively with the same definitive surety with which he always knows which path to take, which rope to climb to avoid CATASTROPHIC orchestrated FAILURE for the handhold to the LEFT just barely in his reach instead of the much easier one to the right that the apparition reappears. ❛ no ❜ it says, and the utterance of that word alone is jarring enough that fn-2187 reaches instead for the outcrop on the RIGHT in an effort to escape the floating man beside him, leaning into it until he feels the click as trap is set and then he’s falling falling FALLING.
he comes to in his bunk ;; they do not send ‘trooper recruits to MEDICAL for anything less than potentially lethal injuries, instead letting them run simulations and participate in sparring activities with the aches. there is no better teacher than pain the phantom voice of his trainer sounds and fn-2187 shudders, feeling his IRE rise at the knowledge he will have to work with this handicap for the foreseeable future.
when vaguely familiar shadow shudders into being beside him, he feels nothing but FIRE and spite burning in his chest, coating his tongue in ACID ❛ they’re going to make me run twice as many drills tomorrow as normal because of what you did. ❜
@toofcndly liked for a starter [ x ]
