a jacob's ladder made of nightmares

[visceralfractal]

Um, hello. My name is Rem. Just Rem. I think I'm what people call a mutant, but I'm not really sure. I fix things. Sometimes I break them. I really don't mean to, I promise. I just got away from HYDRA, and I'm still learning what being a person means. I'm not very good at it, but that's alright. I'll be writing in this black text and tagging my posts as #visceral fractal, so you can tell me apart from my sister. I like to make art, and I try to be kind.

This is the best photo of myself I could find. I hope it's alright.

Hello. I'm Pamela Remington, psychokinetic mutant and proud member of the Hellfire Club. Due to the limitations of our creator, circumstances have forced me to share a blog with my bastard sister. Unfortunately for us both. I'll be writing all my posts in red and tagging myself as #hunting fractal. Do not bring up the eye. I will gut you with very little hesitation.

So, a bit of out of character context, I'm Guy, he/him, recently turned eighteen. I used to use these characters to roleplay in the Magnus Archives fanbase for about a year and a half, and now I'm taking them and migrating into the Marvel/X-men roleplay spaces. Here's hoping it goes well.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah.”

A little shudder runs through them at the alien sensation, but it’s not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of something only half-recalled, like she’s peering at the memory through a fog. Their mind can’t quite grasp it, but the body- the body always remembers.

The deeper Rem looks, the less sure she is that there’s much more organic material in this strange little body. There are irregularities in the shape of the mass surrounding the bones, but nothing resembling living organs. There are, however, little tributaries of flesh carefully lining the body, joining one cluster of electricity to another. Nerves. That, at least, is normal.

[visceralfractal]

She's increasingly tempted to try and turn them off. It would be relatively easy, and it'd tamp down the pain of this process. But it's their body, not hers. And if that number on their neck is anything to go by, people have hurt it enough.

"Are you okay if we keep going?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“M-hmm.”

He’s okay with anything, really. Always is. But nothing about this has been too terrible so far. Hell, this is probably the more comfortable test anyone has ever run on him. He wouldn’t mind doing this more often.

“…Is it working?”

She’s not really sure what ‘working’ means. Or if Rem’s ability ever doesn’t work. But as far as he’s aware, nothing’s happening, nothing but a funny feeling in their gut.

[visceralfractal]

"Yes. I'm just not pushing very hard."

Mostly because it's frighteningly easy to push too hard and snap something. And it's much harder to repair it.

"It's going to hurt, I'm warning you. And I- I can make it hurt less, if you need. But it always hurts."

She doesn't like hurting people.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Don’t worry. I’ll be good.”

They don’t want Rem to worry that they might be a squirmer. He’s better than that. He’s accepted by now that he is always going to hurt. It is the nature of herself, a subspecies unique to the doll and the doll alone. It is better not to mind. If it’s going to happen either way, might as well be cheery about it.

[visceralfractal]

She knows those words. They were the first she ever knew, carved onto her broken bones. I'll be good. I can be good.

She strains, almost to the point of breaking something. Her fingers distort and elongate painfully.

Sweetheart, be good for me.

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

She hears a loud, painful popping and falls to the floor.

Where did that come from? And where is she?

[testtube-dollbaby]

They brace themself, waiting for an impact that never comes. An itchy, hot sort of feeling comes over their spine, and he squeezes his eyes shut and readies himself for the onslaught. But the tingling fades quickly without leaving a sign of its passing, and when she opens her eyes, her one and only friend is crumpled on the ground.

“Rem? Rem, what’s wrong?”

They fall on their haunches beside it, concern flooding her glassy eyes. He’d poke it to make sure it’s still conscious if he wasn’t worried she might fall apart at the slightest provocation.

[visceralfractal]

The pain comes a long time after the breaking. The doctors used to call this shock. She's never shocked by it at all. It's always been painfully aware of the numbness, spreading down its legs, crawling up its back, reaching its brain.

"Sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Its knee sits bent at an unnatural angle.

"I can fix it. I can -"

It hisses in pain.

"I didn't mean to. You're not hurt, are you?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

They shake their head aggressively, because that’s what seems like it will bring the most comfort. They wonder if they did something wrong to make this happen. He can’t comprehend why else this would have taken place. Despite her earlier quest, she desperately hopes the aforementioned Erik isn’t home, that their friend is better by the time he gets back. It’s a bad idea to break powerful men’s toys.

“Are you okay?”

[visceralfractal]

She nods. It's not true, but it will be eventually. She's strong, despite how fragile it always seems to come across. Erik wouldn't have kept her if she wasn't. It is her duty to remain calm and resolute.

Despite that, though, she wants to cry. What a disappointing friend it's been.

She shoves her knee back into place and mumbles, "I'm so sorry."

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah.”

A little shudder runs through them at the alien sensation, but it’s not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of something only half-recalled, like she’s peering at the memory through a fog. Their mind can’t quite grasp it, but the body- the body always remembers.

The deeper Rem looks, the less sure she is that there’s much more organic material in this strange little body. There are irregularities in the shape of the mass surrounding the bones, but nothing resembling living organs. There are, however, little tributaries of flesh carefully lining the body, joining one cluster of electricity to another. Nerves. That, at least, is normal.

[visceralfractal]

She's increasingly tempted to try and turn them off. It would be relatively easy, and it'd tamp down the pain of this process. But it's their body, not hers. And if that number on their neck is anything to go by, people have hurt it enough.

"Are you okay if we keep going?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“M-hmm.”

He’s okay with anything, really. Always is. But nothing about this has been too terrible so far. Hell, this is probably the more comfortable test anyone has ever run on him. He wouldn’t mind doing this more often.

“…Is it working?”

She’s not really sure what ‘working’ means. Or if Rem’s ability ever doesn’t work. But as far as he’s aware, nothing’s happening, nothing but a funny feeling in their gut.

[visceralfractal]

"Yes. I'm just not pushing very hard."

Mostly because it's frighteningly easy to push too hard and snap something. And it's much harder to repair it.

"It's going to hurt, I'm warning you. And I- I can make it hurt less, if you need. But it always hurts."

She doesn't like hurting people.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Don’t worry. I’ll be good.”

They don’t want Rem to worry that they might be a squirmer. He’s better than that. He’s accepted by now that he is always going to hurt. It is the nature of herself, a subspecies unique to the doll and the doll alone. It is better not to mind. If it’s going to happen either way, might as well be cheery about it.

[visceralfractal]

She knows those words. They were the first she ever knew, carved onto her broken bones. I'll be good. I can be good.

She strains, almost to the point of breaking something. Her fingers distort and elongate painfully.

Sweetheart, be good for me.

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

She hears a loud, painful popping and falls to the floor.

Where did that come from? And where is she?

[testtube-dollbaby]

They brace themself, waiting for an impact that never comes. An itchy, hot sort of feeling comes over their spine, and he squeezes his eyes shut and readies himself for the onslaught. But the tingling fades quickly without leaving a sign of its passing, and when she opens her eyes, her one and only friend is crumpled on the ground.

“Rem? Rem, what’s wrong?”

They fall on their haunches beside it, concern flooding her glassy eyes. He’d poke it to make sure it’s still conscious if he wasn’t worried she might fall apart at the slightest provocation.

[visceralfractal]

The pain comes a long time after the breaking. The doctors used to call this shock. She's never shocked by it at all. It's always been painfully aware of the numbness, spreading down its legs, crawling up its back, reaching its brain.

"Sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Its knee sits bent at an unnatural angle.

"I can fix it. I can -"

It hisses in pain.

"I didn't mean to. You're not hurt, are you?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah.”

A little shudder runs through them at the alien sensation, but it’s not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of something only half-recalled, like she’s peering at the memory through a fog. Their mind can’t quite grasp it, but the body- the body always remembers.

The deeper Rem looks, the less sure she is that there’s much more organic material in this strange little body. There are irregularities in the shape of the mass surrounding the bones, but nothing resembling living organs. There are, however, little tributaries of flesh carefully lining the body, joining one cluster of electricity to another. Nerves. That, at least, is normal.

[visceralfractal]

She's increasingly tempted to try and turn them off. It would be relatively easy, and it'd tamp down the pain of this process. But it's their body, not hers. And if that number on their neck is anything to go by, people have hurt it enough.

"Are you okay if we keep going?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“M-hmm.”

He’s okay with anything, really. Always is. But nothing about this has been too terrible so far. Hell, this is probably the more comfortable test anyone has ever run on him. He wouldn’t mind doing this more often.

“…Is it working?”

She’s not really sure what ‘working’ means. Or if Rem’s ability ever doesn’t work. But as far as he’s aware, nothing’s happening, nothing but a funny feeling in their gut.

[visceralfractal]

"Yes. I'm just not pushing very hard."

Mostly because it's frighteningly easy to push too hard and snap something. And it's much harder to repair it.

"It's going to hurt, I'm warning you. And I- I can make it hurt less, if you need. But it always hurts."

She doesn't like hurting people.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Don’t worry. I’ll be good.”

They don’t want Rem to worry that they might be a squirmer. He’s better than that. He’s accepted by now that he is always going to hurt. It is the nature of herself, a subspecies unique to the doll and the doll alone. It is better not to mind. If it’s going to happen either way, might as well be cheery about it.

[visceralfractal]

She knows those words. They were the first she ever knew, carved onto her broken bones. I'll be good. I can be good.

She strains, almost to the point of breaking something. Her fingers distort and elongate painfully.

Sweetheart, be good for me.

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

She hears a loud, painful popping and falls to the floor.

Where did that come from? And where is she?

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah.”

A little shudder runs through them at the alien sensation, but it’s not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of something only half-recalled, like she’s peering at the memory through a fog. Their mind can’t quite grasp it, but the body- the body always remembers.

The deeper Rem looks, the less sure she is that there’s much more organic material in this strange little body. There are irregularities in the shape of the mass surrounding the bones, but nothing resembling living organs. There are, however, little tributaries of flesh carefully lining the body, joining one cluster of electricity to another. Nerves. That, at least, is normal.

[visceralfractal]

She's increasingly tempted to try and turn them off. It would be relatively easy, and it'd tamp down the pain of this process. But it's their body, not hers. And if that number on their neck is anything to go by, people have hurt it enough.

"Are you okay if we keep going?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“M-hmm.”

He’s okay with anything, really. Always is. But nothing about this has been too terrible so far. Hell, this is probably the more comfortable test anyone has ever run on him. He wouldn’t mind doing this more often.

“…Is it working?”

She’s not really sure what ‘working’ means. Or if Rem’s ability ever doesn’t work. But as far as he’s aware, nothing’s happening, nothing but a funny feeling in their gut.

[visceralfractal]

"Yes. I'm just not pushing very hard."

Mostly because it's frighteningly easy to push too hard and snap something. And it's much harder to repair it.

"It's going to hurt, I'm warning you. And I- I can make it hurt less, if you need. But it always hurts."

She doesn't like hurting people.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah.”

A little shudder runs through them at the alien sensation, but it’s not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of something only half-recalled, like she’s peering at the memory through a fog. Their mind can’t quite grasp it, but the body- the body always remembers.

The deeper Rem looks, the less sure she is that there’s much more organic material in this strange little body. There are irregularities in the shape of the mass surrounding the bones, but nothing resembling living organs. There are, however, little tributaries of flesh carefully lining the body, joining one cluster of electricity to another. Nerves. That, at least, is normal.

[visceralfractal]

She's increasingly tempted to try and turn them off. It would be relatively easy, and it'd tamp down the pain of this process. But it's their body, not hers. And if that number on their neck is anything to go by, people have hurt it enough.

"Are you okay if we keep going?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“I’m really good at pain, don’t worry!”

She likes to believe that. It makes her feel like she’s good, like she’s worth something. Sometimes the doctors even pat him on the head and tell him so. But her mind tends to get fuzzy when the actual cutting starts, and he can never quite remember it afterward. Maybe he’s secretly terrible at pain, and he just doesn’t know it. She gives Rem their biggest, most wide-eyed smile. If that really is the case, she can’t let it show. He likes having a friend, he doesn’t want to lose her.

[visceralfractal]

She reaches out, and she can feel bone, but it seems to be buried in something, buried almost too deeply for her to reach.

"That's...funny. Are you full of stuffing?"

She gives a little tug, and rather than their body lurching or jerking like it would if the bones had muscle attached, the whole thing just sort of shifts, as if she were jostling a doll. It hardly looks comfortable.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Oh. Well, I hope you don’t have to do it very often, then.”

She understands that there’s not always an option. Their race comes with obligations as well as variations, obligations to obey those put over them. Rem is very good, so it follows that it must be very compliant, too. They like Rem a lot. They hope they can be like her when they get big.

“When you use your power, you can use it to change me instead of you. That way you don’t gotta worry about it hurting.”

[visceralfractal]

"I...okay."

She picks at her cuticles until small flowers of blood form around them.

"Are you sure? It'll hurt."

It always hurts. Erik told her living was just a series of painful experiences. That wasn't one of the good days. Sometimes he's more optimistic than that. But only sometimes.

[edward-darius]

Open roleplay

A loud party rages around Edward, who's not even sure how he got here, sprawled out on a couch, empty bottles of alcohol around him. He has no idea how long he's been here, he can hardly remember what day it is.

Edward tips his head back and lets out a little giggle, one thing he does know is that he is very drunk and very high. His wings sprawl out around him as he laughs to himself, staring up at the ceiling. A sound catches his attention and Edward lifts his head, swearing he can hear someone calling his name from somewhere in the room... He glances around for the person.

[visceralfractal]

Pamela doesn't really know him, nor does she really know anyone here. But they get well acquainted with people at parties. It's an environment they can blend into seamlessly, like a wild beast slipping into the foliage.

She's smiling, and she reeks of whiskey.

"Hello! You alright? Need a cab or something?"

She definitely does. But they don't want the fun to end yet.

[ancient-siren]

Oh. So, you got away from the snakes too.

Sorry. Sorry. I probably shouldn't bring it up. But it is nice, you know, to know there's others.

-@visceralfractal

... There is always a lot of us. I just wish people knew a lot of us change afterwards

[visceralfractal]

I'm trying to change. It's harder than it looks, on the surface.

Is it always so hard?

[ancient-siren]

It's always hard dear... I promise it is.

But even small steps are big ones

[visceralfractal]

That's good of you to say.

I think you're good. No matter what other people make of you.

[ancient-siren]

Thank you...

And oh uh...thank you?.. I didn't know others knew of me..

[visceralfractal]

I don't know if they do. But I saw your first post, and you seemed upset that people didn't listen. I don't really understand that, but I'd like to.

[ancient-siren]

Oh uh well yeah... people think us from Hydra are just evil and such.. um thank you for t-that..

[visceralfractal]

I don't think you're evil. I've met evil people, and you're not like that.

[ancient-siren]

Well.. I appreciate that dear. I'm Sienna by the way...

[visceralfractal]

I'm Rem. I'm glad to meet you.

[ancient-siren]

Very nice to meet you dear. I assume you also left...

[visceralfractal]

Left is something people do. I got stolen. Or maybe broken, I don't know. I'm still working on sorting that out.

Did you leave? Really leave? On purpose?

[ancient-siren]

I got out with help... Thankfully I had an amazing partner... Sacrificed himself for me and our family...

I'm sorry to hear that dear..but if you need someone or anything. I can always help

[visceralfractal]

Oh. I'm...sorry for your loss. Is that what people say?

I know it hurts. A lot. In a way that's not always easy to fix. But you're more than the hurting now, and I think that matters. Somehow.

[ancient-siren]

That's fair..thank you dear I really appreciate that..

And likewise my dear. You didn't deserve anything that happened to yous...

[visceralfractal]

I think I needed to hear that.

I wish it were easier to believe, sometimes.

Thank you. Really. Very much.

[ancient-siren]

Of course my dear. You can stop by anytime okay? I always have sweets and tea

[visceralfractal]

I'm not sure if that's allowed. But I think I'd like tea.

[ancient-siren]

And why do you think that?

[visceralfractal]

Well, Erik hasn't told me so. He hasn't told me I'm not allowed either, but he does get scared when I wander off. I'm not sure if it was leaving that was the problem, or that I didn't know where I was going.

Sometimes people confuse me.

[ancient-siren]

Erik- uh...what's the last name of you don't mind my dear?

*She fidgets a bit with her hands.*

Oh I get that. People and their emotions, along with their intent is always confusing...

[visceralfractal]

Lehnsherr, I think. It's hard to say, it's kind of growly-sounding the way that he says it. Why, is he in trouble?

[ancient-siren]

Ah- he and I share a son...

He's not trouble. I know he isn't. I don't think he'll mind you visiting me. And if he does, I can handle him myself dear

[visceralfractal]

Oh. That's good.

What's a son?

[ancient-siren]

Yes...oh uh... Me and him have a child together..our biological kin.

[visceralfractal]

Oh. I didn't know he had children. He's always seemed too busy for that kind of thing.

What's he like? Your son?

[ancient-siren]

Technically he has his three and we have our one together

... He's a lot like his dad. But he is a sweetheart. He's 18 now...

[visceralfractal]

Oh, there's more? I wonder why he never told me. Maybe it just spooked him.

Anyway, I think Erik's good. Grouchy, but good.

[ancient-siren]

He usually is grouchy. But he means well- *she smiles* He does mean well...

[visceralfractal]

He helped me a lot by stealing me from that awful place. But I do wonder where he goes, sometimes.

Either way, he won't mind me seeing you, will he?

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“No. I don’t really change, just how people see me. I think.”

Blipping is the only ability he has that can induce pain, and he’s been discouraged from using it most of his life. The doctors were never particularly interested in their toy being mobile. They settled for observing the less quantifiable, less objective mutation to mark change after experiments. There was no harm they could cause with it, and they never seemed quite able to make the mark on their neck go away. That’s all that mattered.

[visceralfractal]

What an interesting thought, a shift that's only skin-deep, a change they'll see but never feel. How difficult it must be to be certain of themself. Then again, maybe everyone is a little unsure of themself sometimes.

"I can change too. But it hurts, and it's very ugly."

Sometimes being ugly is safest.

[ancient-siren]

Oh. So, you got away from the snakes too.

Sorry. Sorry. I probably shouldn't bring it up. But it is nice, you know, to know there's others.

-@visceralfractal

... There is always a lot of us. I just wish people knew a lot of us change afterwards

[visceralfractal]

I'm trying to change. It's harder than it looks, on the surface.

Is it always so hard?

[ancient-siren]

It's always hard dear... I promise it is.

But even small steps are big ones

[visceralfractal]

That's good of you to say.

I think you're good. No matter what other people make of you.

[ancient-siren]

Thank you...

And oh uh...thank you?.. I didn't know others knew of me..

[visceralfractal]

I don't know if they do. But I saw your first post, and you seemed upset that people didn't listen. I don't really understand that, but I'd like to.

[ancient-siren]

Oh uh well yeah... people think us from Hydra are just evil and such.. um thank you for t-that..

[visceralfractal]

I don't think you're evil. I've met evil people, and you're not like that.

[ancient-siren]

Well.. I appreciate that dear. I'm Sienna by the way...

[visceralfractal]

I'm Rem. I'm glad to meet you.

[ancient-siren]

Very nice to meet you dear. I assume you also left...

[visceralfractal]

Left is something people do. I got stolen. Or maybe broken, I don't know. I'm still working on sorting that out.

Did you leave? Really leave? On purpose?

[ancient-siren]

I got out with help... Thankfully I had an amazing partner... Sacrificed himself for me and our family...

I'm sorry to hear that dear..but if you need someone or anything. I can always help

[visceralfractal]

Oh. I'm...sorry for your loss. Is that what people say?

I know it hurts. A lot. In a way that's not always easy to fix. But you're more than the hurting now, and I think that matters. Somehow.

[ancient-siren]

That's fair..thank you dear I really appreciate that..

And likewise my dear. You didn't deserve anything that happened to yous...

[visceralfractal]

I think I needed to hear that.

I wish it were easier to believe, sometimes.

Thank you. Really. Very much.

[ancient-siren]

Of course my dear. You can stop by anytime okay? I always have sweets and tea

[visceralfractal]

I'm not sure if that's allowed. But I think I'd like tea.

[ancient-siren]

And why do you think that?

[visceralfractal]

Well, Erik hasn't told me so. He hasn't told me I'm not allowed either, but he does get scared when I wander off. I'm not sure if it was leaving that was the problem, or that I didn't know where I was going.

Sometimes people confuse me.

[ancient-siren]

Erik- uh...what's the last name of you don't mind my dear?

*She fidgets a bit with her hands.*

Oh I get that. People and their emotions, along with their intent is always confusing...

[visceralfractal]

Lehnsherr, I think. It's hard to say, it's kind of growly-sounding the way that he says it. Why, is he in trouble?

[ancient-siren]

Ah- he and I share a son...

He's not trouble. I know he isn't. I don't think he'll mind you visiting me. And if he does, I can handle him myself dear

[visceralfractal]

Oh. That's good.

What's a son?

[ancient-siren]

Yes...oh uh... Me and him have a child together..our biological kin.

[visceralfractal]

Oh. I didn't know he had children. He's always seemed too busy for that kind of thing.

What's he like? Your son?

[ancient-siren]

Technically he has his three and we have our one together

... He's a lot like his dad. But he is a sweetheart. He's 18 now...

[visceralfractal]

Oh, there's more? I wonder why he never told me. Maybe it just spooked him.

Anyway, I think Erik's good. Grouchy, but good.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

“The way I look changes sometimes.”

Not the essence of himself. His life might’ve been easier if it was that. Then, she could just make herself human, and she could do the poking and prodding rather than being on the table. Still, they’ve had a good life. They’d be ungrateful if they complained.

They don’t mind the staring. They’re used to being stared at. They could stare all day. She used to like seeing how long she could go without blinking. After enough practice, it was a long time.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh."

She's known people to do that. Not many, but some. She wonders if any two mutants have exactly the same powers.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Sometimes her powers do, and it's a bit difficult to be proud of that.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Okay!”

The optimism returns slowly to her voice, and then all at once, like she’s hauling it in with rope and has to overcome inertia. They half-start towards the door, and then back where they came from, and at last face the opposite wall, waiting for it to make things clear for him. He’s not sure where they’re meant to practice. Usually, when it’s time, somebody tells him to sit, or stand, and then she proceeds according to their instructions. But Rem doesn’t give very many instructions at all. What an odd authority figure.

[visceralfractal]

She stares unblinking at them for a substantial portion of time, not really certain how to direct this. It's a hell of a lot easier when someone is giving them orders.

"You told me you could do other things than the blipping. What - what do you do?"

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Maybe.”

They shift uneasily from one foot to another, eyes darting from the door to their companion and back again. It makes them feel…bad when things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Everything has a place. Everything stays the same. If it didn’t, there would be no way for the world to go round. If they can’t expect a doctor to show up on time, they can’t trust the water too, either, and that’s not a very good fear to have. No, she prefers when things are consistent.

[visceralfractal]

They recognize that look. That is the look of a trapped animal about to snap.

"Well, we can - we can practice our powers while we wait for him, maybe."

He would like that. He talks all the time about how her mutation is a gift, not a curse. Some days it's easier to believe that than others. When he's around, it's always easy, but when her legs start to hurt and the walls echo with words unspoken, sometimes that's more of a trick.

[testtube-dollbaby]

Rem's new friend shows up faster than they thought, not that they have much worth showing to them. The quarters they've been given are modest, but comfortable, or at least as comfortable as is possible to manage while maintaining anonymity. There are grooves in the floor where they've been pacing.

"Oh. Hello. You're very pink."

Normal thing to say.

-@visceralfractal

“Sorry.”

The wayward quilt has a shock of watermelon hair just starting to grow out of a buzz, and wide, bright eyes that seem to be trying to suck in their surroundings; twin whirlpools swallowing up the dust mote ridden deep. She cranes her neck around Rem, not looking it in the eye, instead very excited to take in every banal corner of the place.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nod rather than offering a hand. They’ve learned never to try and touch a superior without clear invitation.

[visceralfractal]

"Nice to meet you too."

They look confused. They dimly recognize the manic look in those alarmingly bright eyes, though how and from where is a complete mystery to them.

"Do - do you still want to meet Erik? Or use our powers on each other, or - or whatever friends do?"

Mostly, Erik and his friends seem to argue. She's bad at arguing.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“Yeah, sure! Both. Yes. Whatever you want to do.”

Their attention snaps to its face, though his eyes still avoid hers, always staring at a place a centimeter or two off. His fingers dance by his sides as though animated by the same electricity he spoke of, tapping against their leg, scratching at a strange tattoo on her neck, or tugging at what look like dangling threads hanging off of various ragged parts of his body. She’s never been with a friend unsupervised before. Whenever Miss Nikola came inside their room, he knew the doctors were looking at him through cameras, or the window that pretended was a mirror. What a treat this will be.

[visceralfractal]

"Oh. Well, not both at once, I don't think. That would be messy."

It's not used to being the boss of itself. Much less someone else. Creatures like it aren't supposed to express their own will. It normally gets them hurt.

These are a long way from normal circumstances, though.

"We can try to find him, but it might be tricky. He's very busy most of the time."

She supposes saving people must be hard work.

[testtube-dollbaby]

“That’s okay. I’m very good at looking. And waiting. More the waiting, really.”

He’s never been the most observant of their toys. The room she grew up in was so small and barren, even a tiny bit of visual stimulus can feel overwhelming sometimes. They’re okay with that. They’d look at so much that they were shaking and nonverbal, if they could. There’s so little color in her life that she’s okay with drowning in the stuff if it means she can enjoy it for a while. That’s been a perk of her new life; there’s color everywhere out here. Less so in Rem’s room, though.

[visceralfractal]

That was always her chiefest flaw, she supposes. She was never patient.

They make their way slowly and carefully towards the door, their motions stilted and somewhat unnatural. Their knees don't seem to bend at quite the right points.

"Erik? Hello?"

The halls seem far too quiet. They've never been good with quiet.

[testtube-dollbaby]

He pads along behind it in a way that distinctly brings the word ‘scampering’ to mind, bare feet padding quietly against the plush carpet. He’s clad in very little over all, really, not much more than a sordid white tank top and a weathered pair of shorts that she has to keep hiking up as she walks. Her pace is naturally quick, but he keeps pausing and rocking on his heels as he waits for Rem to catch up. He doesn’t want to walk ahead of it, not without permission.

[visceralfractal]

The world seems so big, and they have lived such a small life up till now.

"I'm not sure where he is. Maybe he's looking for me."

That'd be a fun little stroke of cosmic irony. The only one who ever looks for her when she's lost, and now she's gone and lost him. Silly little broken thing.

[magneto-king-of-genosha]

//*laughing in mod*

Okay, so my good moot @plasmas-arcade has been working on a Marvel rp blog list, and there trying to add more xmen to it.

That being said, were my fellow x-men roleplayers at?

[visceralfractal]

((Well, as of yesterday, right here, in addition to being on @hollowfamily and @children-of-the-cradle, glad to be here