Sky and Dirt

[BadForm]

A scream cut the cold night air as I stepped into the street. I listened closely and hear the footsteps four streets over. One woman, two worms. I take a deep draft of air, letting it sit in my lungs as I savor its richness. I could smell her hymen; she was a virgin. The scent of fear and precum tells me she may not be for longer, and not through her choice. I can also smell her perfume. She's a Sky City girl. She probably thinks the worst that can happen to her is rape. The worms are as much interested in her as meat as they are a fuck hole. And they don't care about the order they use her as each of those.

Great, just great. That's all we need. The last time a Sky City asshole was killed down here was over in Lakeshores. After the Sky Cleanup Squad was done Lakeshores was little more than a rubble-filled hole in the ground. I'd fought like a demon that day, and saved over a dozen worms and a couple of freaks, not to mention the three patrols we actually managed to down, but we were more than outgunned. We who'd survived the attack ended up here in Downton, and we didn't need to lose this shit-hole of a home too.

I sprinted the distance to the street she was on and saw my fears were correct. Her dress was torn around her breasts, it's delicate silk flapping in the breeze as she tried to push herself through the wall to escape the worms approaching her. Silk. This girl was wealth. Even for Sky City. The worms were disposable.

I thrust my hand into the wall of the building next to me and ripped out a chunk of stone. Hefting it in my hand, I took it's weight and prepared to throw.

"Hey, want to play?" I yelled and the worms turned.

I hurled the stone before they could react shattering the first one's skull. As the momentum hurled him to the ground the second turned to run. I was on him in a second, twising his head in one quick move to snap his neck. Around me I heard the scampering of feet as their friends fled from the shadows. Sky turned to look at me. Her eyes had a proud and determined look, as though what she had nearly experienced was nothing.

"You must be the Animal!" she said.

I glared at her, remembering the headlines in the Sky City newspapers that had floated down from their trash disposal after the Lakeshores attack. I'd made frontpage news. The animal that killed ours and its own. That's what the paper had said. Not the man who defended anyone who was defenseless and about to be slaughtered. It showed a picture of me ripping the head off a mounted hoverboke patrol who was about to slaughter a mother and her child, and one of me punching through the chest of a worm making ready to eat a downed patrol. Of course they portrayed me as crazy, as savage. Their media had nothing good to say about downside. Not that there was much good to say about it.

"I wanted to know more about you!" Sky said. So, this was a preppie on the lookout for some wild action. I glared at her.

"Go home, Sky," I said.

(OOC Thread to follow later)

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

The fact that someone had come to help her in a place like this was truly a miracle. For that person to be the man that she was looking for? She wouldn’t believe it if she hadn’t seen it. The man in front of her was one she had tried to find for a long time. He stood there with a sort of rage fueled pride. It intrigued her.

Slowly, and almost cautiously, she stood, her eyes looking over her body, and the rags that were once her dress. She sighed. She should have known coming here in something like that either screamed ‘rape me’ or ‘mug me’. She shook her head gently, fixing herself as best she could, though in a way she knew it really wouldn’t matter. Really, she thought wearing such a thing was an act of stupidity. Then again, had she worn anything else, her father would have asked and probed to no end.

Her eyes looked up to her savior, and in this already dark world, she swore that her views on it might have just gotten a bit dimmer.

She was silent for a few moments, though eventually, she shook her head once more. “To hell I’m leaving.” Came her reply, a fiery defiance hiding in that voice of hers. “I didn’t come all this way just to be raped by those disgusting things…” There came her reply. By the look of him, she would have guessed that his next move would be to either lash out at her, or laugh. She knew either way, something bad was in it for her.

The sight of the two was actually quite humorous. Riza was only about 5’3”, and really only came to about the man’s shoulders. Her figure was slender, though muscle definition could be seen if one looked. Her eyes shone some sort of dark innocence, and the light blue orbs were framed by straight, waist length black hair. She really did carry the look of one of Sky would hold.

There was no way that she could stand up to him, even if she wanted or felt the need to. Slowly, she crossed her arms underneath her chest. She wasn’t leaving, no, not after this. “Weather you like it or not…you’re going to be stuck with me until I get what I came for, so you can make this easy or-“ She never finished that. By the time she got through the first sentence, he was already walking away.

“H-hey!” She nearly yelled, quickly trotting up next to the man. “Please just wait!” She persisted, much like a small child with her parent. “I’m not here for what you might think! I’m here to try and defend what you had done in December!”

December was the name of the zone that the charade had taken place. “I know you’re not what they think you are, that’s my whole purpose of coming here. It will only take a few moments, an hour or two at the most!” She knew begging might not get her much of anywhere, but at least she could try, right?

His expression remained set in stone. To say the least, it was getting Riza a bit annoyed. Her eyes diverted to the scenery around them. This place…it seemed like sunlight never shone it’s rays here…It was so different then Sky city…

When no reply finally came from him, she sighed and shook her head. “Fine…” She cooed, her light blue eyes casting a glance up to him, though her gaze quickly shifted to the ground, unable to look at his form. “But I’m not leaving your side until I get what I came here for…”

 

[BadForm]

It was like having a gnat buzzing in my ear. Her insistent chatter, her pouting, her Sky City ways. No wonder she'd fallen prey to the worms, they must have homed in on her like blowflies on a carcass. And now she was intent on following me. I sighed as I tried to walk away and considered climbing out of her reach. That, of course, would leave her on the streets, prey to whatever came along - and that left us prey to another police raid.

“Fine…” she buzzed, “But I’m not leaving your side until I get what I came here for…”

I rounded on her, wanting to rip her snobbish head from her disgusting shoulders. She was Sky all the way. She didn't belong dirtside with us. She was trouble looking to happen and she was happening to me.

"And what is it you want Sky?" I demanded. "You want to write some brilliant expose on how the Animal is some kind of gentleman rogue or something? Well I have bad news, I'm not. I'm nothing special. You want to know why I saved your dumb stuck-up ass? Because if I don't then we'll have another massacre on our hands."

My face was pressed against hers. I barely even realized that I had my hand around her throat until I heard her choke. Even then it took me a second to let go. She massaged her pained neck, but despite her odor of fear she did not back away. I had to give her that.

"Go home, Sky," I said with a sigh. "Your kind don't belong with us freaks and worms. If you really care about us then go home before you bring down the police on our heads."

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

She was about to protest, when she felt his hand around her neck. Her eyes went wide for a moment, and softly, she cried. Her body writhed gently, her nails digging into his wrist as he held her there. She tried a few times to let out an audible ‘please stop’ but it never came. She started coughing, and as soon as he let her go, she backed up a few steps, rubbing her neck and choking softly. She was about to yell a string of curses and other obscenities, but she decided on keeping her mouth shut.

"Go home, Sky, your kind don't belong with us freaks and worms. If you really care about us then go home before you bring down the police on our heads."

“My name is Riza…” She said in a quiet tone. Her eyes blinked slowly a few times, her hands clasping gently in front of her. She bowed her head slowly, though kept her eyes on him. “Please….I just….Just give me ten minutes…” She said quietly, keeping her head low. The whole thing was somewhat animalistic; much like his nickname would portray. It was almost like two dogs, one backing down for its own sake. The other claiming dominance.

“Its just….people up in the city….they talk about you like you wouldn’t believe…they don’t know what really happened….I just…” She paused for a moment, her eyes gazing off to the side. “I just want to clear up your name….Maybe shed some light on what really happened here…”

Silence followed her voice. It was an eerie silence. Though the two were standing in the middle of a city, not a sound was heard. It sent chills rushing along her spine, just thinking of the things that lay beyond the darkness. “And…I-I’m sorry….for earlier…” She said quietly. “I shouldn’t have just tagged along….I must be acting like a child aren’t I…?”

She let out an elongated sigh, her arms crossing below her chest. “Just…if nothing else….tell me your name…? Not that nickname that they gave you…” She blinked slowly, her light blue orbs staring up to him.

In the back of her mind, she was screaming to keep persisting. She was going to get a story either way really. If he refused, then she would still follow. She would at least like something to cover her nearly fully exposed chest before getting back to the city. Oh then there would be trouble. She knew that much.

“Just a few minutes…” She said again, not really bothering to await his answer. “Maybe…just let me stay the night…They have no idea where I am, and my father is used to me staying out for days on end so as long as I’m back safely by sometime tomorrow…” She paused a moment. “Just one night…?”

 

[BadForm]

She was obviously desperate for the interview, so desperate she was damn near contradicting herself. Let her stay for just one night because her Daddy was used to her being out for days. If that was the case, why the one night limit? Of course there could be others who would have her followed, her bosses at the holomag or whatever she worked for. I supposed they would expect her to be away for a while on a job like this, but sometimes people were stupid.

It was beginning to look like I had no option but to take her with me, but that neither meant I had to be happy about it nor compliant with her need for an interview. I made a final attempt to make her leave. "Look, Sky," I used the derisive nickname deliberately. I had no reason to use her real name. "What in hells do you hope to achieve anyway? Nobody up there will listen to you, no matter what you write. They don't CARE about what goes on down here 'cept where it means one of theres gets killed or where there's grazers or rocksmashers involved. You really think you're going to write some kind of story about how I'm a good guy after all? Look, hate to pump a shattersphere, but I'm not a good guy, ok? And even if I was they wouldn't believe you. We're scum, to them we're worse than dirt. Hells they don't even think its worth spending the cash to wipe us out, doesn't that tell you something from all the hate you know about?"

She didn't leave and sadly I wasn't surprised. This woman was as stubborn as I was and there was nothing I could say to change her mind. I sighed.

"Sky, you are being stupid, but you have me. I will not abandon you, you're too pathetic to survive down here and I have no intention of having to move again just because some Sky City b-fix can't understand when she should be at home spreading her legs for some breeder."

I turned and walked away. Again she just stood there for a second. I glanced over my shoulder, pausing only briefly to call her.

"Now look, Sky, it's bad enough I have to babysit your dumb ass. If you think I'm going to stand here like a statue while you interview me you are more stupid than I thought. Now, what do you want to see down here?"

(OOC: some slang
pump a shattersphere: the Dirtside equivalent of "burst your bubble." When Sky City began setting up mining and farming camps they were built enclosed so that their occupants wouldn't be affected by the heavy pollution in Dirt City. Only limited resources had been discovered at that point however and corporations vied for them so severely that corporate wars started. Shatterspheres were missiles designed to puncture and shatter the protective sphere over a camp, killing many in the initial blast and falling debris and exposing the rest to the polluted air.
b-fix: Derisive Sky City slang for a woman. Literally "breast-fix", referring to the fad for cosmetic surgery among Sky City women. As with most Sky City slang it is seldom heard Dirtside unless used by the grazer or rocksmasher supervisors from Sky City.
breeder: Derisive Sky City slang for a man, referring to the obsession many men have with sex. Literally it implies that the only thing they are good for is breeding. Sky City women have much more political power than current women. Again, seldomg heard Dirtside.
)

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza paused for a moment. He had let her stay, but at the moment, she figured that she would be better off with the worms. Slowly, she started walking, her hands still clasped tightly in front of her. The comments about the breeder had set her off, though she dare not show it. She sighed softly, looking up to him once more.

“Did you ever think that maybe all of the Sky’s aren’t just clones?” She asked with a soft voice. She didn’t want to raise her voice in his presence, no, that was asking for trouble. “I’m not like most of them…I catch enough hell as it is for that when I’m there, so I don’t need your whole breeder speech…I am not ‘spreading my legs’ for a man like that.” She shook her head inwardly to herself.

“You’re right, this probably was very stupid of me…Maybe I can’t change anyone’s mind…But you didn’t go through all that just for the hell of it…” She said quietly. “So if you’re going to insist that you had no good intentions of anything that you had done, I can honestly say that that’s a load of shit.”

She looked up to him. She figured that she should stop with her childish begging. Even though she doubted he would think any more of her in the next night, she didn’t want to make this any more painful then it apparently was for him. “You wouldn’t have gone through all that…” She spoke after the long pause. “…I just…I feel that maybe things might change down here…” She let out a soft sigh, her eyes looking off to the side, staring into near nothingness.

For the rest of the time, she didn’t speak. She figured that she had done enough of that, maybe he would enjoy the silence.

The silence lasted until he came to a sudden stop. She blinked a bit, looking up to him. They said nothing for a while, though after a moment or so, she spoke just once more. “I’m sorry…” She said quietly. “I really am…I know sorry probably doesn’t do a thing…But…I don’t mean to be a burden…staying here…that was very selfish of me…”


Her eyes blinked slowly as she stared at the ground, her fingers picking softly at one another. Her nails were short and a few even rigid, showing that she had another nervous habit. Had it not been for trying to keep herself as collected as she could in front of him, she would have been biting her nails already.

She looked up to him once more. She didn’t know weather to keep walking, or to stay with him.

 

[BadForm]

“So if you’re going to insist that you had no good intentions of anything that you had done, I can honestly say that that’s a load of shit.” she said.

It got my attention, although I chose not to show it. She wasn't being arrogant, though she was facing me down despite having nearly been strangled by me just moments ago and having her life saved by me before that. That in itself was intriguing enough to arouse my curiosity about her. Then she went and ruined it by starting to beg again.

We walked in silence for a while as I thought about what to say. Finally I decided to tell her that since I had to babysit her for the night anyway, I'd show her around Downton if she wanted to know just how bad things were here. That way at least she might understand some things about real life instead of the cooped up nonsense they called life in Sky City, or so I had gathered from the holomags that drifted down in the trash they dumped on our streets. Then she started her begging routine again. I stopped her.

"Sky! You are here. I might not like it, but I have to admit your courage in facing up to me back there was... something. So stop begging. You're here, so I'll show you around. What do you want to see?"

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

To his question, Riza only shook her head and shrugged lightly. She really didn’t know what all was down here, and she didn’t know if she wanted to see it all considering what had happened back there. She decided though, that putting down his offer wouldn’t get her anywhere. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want to make a point on something. This she gathered.

“What are you willing to show…?” Riza asked softly, her eyes blinking lightly. If she really wanted to, she could ask to go back to December, this though; she figured he would not agree to.

She was happy that he was at least tolerating her for the moment. She could only nod when he told her about begging, though she meant it more as an apology then begging. Correcting him though…Well…That was out of the question as well.

All she could do now was follow, truly, whatever he was going to show her, she was a bit edgy about it. She knew at least, that he wouldn’t harm her, physically, and for the moment.

Her mind drifted back over what he had said. The ‘compliment’ wasn’t something that she had been expecting. If anything she was expecting to be slapped because of her mouth. Though once more, his little nickname for her aroused, and she sighed lightly.

“Could you please just call me Riza…?” She asked softly. She found her voice to be a bit timid in asking him things, but really, she figured that anyone would. “Besides…calling me Sky will only bring more attention to us won’t it…? If the patrol comes around and hears you calling me that then we’re just screwed.”

 

[BadForm]

I heard the worms feeding three streets over. There must have been a half dozen of them, not that that was surprising, most of them were too scared to attack anyone if not on mass. From the stench of kilo in the air I guessed some dumb sap had passed out from poison and was now providing food to others. I started walking in that direction with Sky following me. It was time she saw just how little anyone would care about her, or frankly anything else that wasn't life threatening, down here.

"Interest from who exactly, Sky?" I said as we were about to turn into the road where the worms were. "Them?"

I pointed down the alley to where they had the guys clothes off, one arm detached and were chewing and ripping at his flesh as though it was the last meal they would ever eat. I caught the gasp of horror Sky tried to supress and shook my head. What was she expecting?

"Look, Sky, when you're living at survival level down here dirtside all the niceties are meaningless. Nobody cares about you down here. Nobody cares about anyone. And before you start throwing up consider this - we might be scum but who makes us live like this?"


(OOC: Slang:
Kilo - cheap alcohol. Take about a kilo of any crap you can find and run some ditch water through it. If survive drinking it, you'll be drunk.

OOC2: Hope my continued use of "Sky" doesn't offend, he has not much respect for her yet and yes, he is baiting her.)

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza’s eyes widened as the two turned the corner. Really, she didn’t need to be reminded that no one cared about her well being here. She didn’t expect that to happen in the first place. But this…showing her this was going too far.

The smell of dank flesh and vapid blood filled her senses, and her eyes teared up lightly. She wished to speak her mind, free the thoughts that were trapped there, but words wouldn’t come. She blinked, shaking her head quickly and turning. Without a moment’s hesitation, she started running. She didn’t care who was with her, who wasn’t…she just wanted to get that picture out of her mind.

She felt the rocks digging into her skin, metal poking at her feet as she ran. Slowly, she came to a stop in what looked like it used to be the center of town. Everything was so quiet, she feared her breath was too loud.

Slowly, she took in her surroundings. Coming here was a mistake…she knew that…

After a moment, she sunk to the ground, kneeling there, her hands cradling her head. What he had done….that was just…inhuman. She already knew that no one would give a shit for her here…she wasn’t one of those people that swore that the earth revolved around them…no…maybe this was because she came from the Sky….

She wasn’t crying, no…just sitting there, trying her hardest to get that horrid image from her mind. She closed her eyes tightly, but it was still there, the sounds, the sight…even the smell…she swore she could still see, hear, and smell everything…

(Sorry lol writers block)

 

[BadForm]

"Feel better now?"

I dropped lightly from the wall above her, frowning. For me, it had been nothing to keep up with her, but I was annoyed that someone who had been strong enough to stand up to me briefly had been weak enough to flee the scene.

"Keep running away and you WILL end up like that meat back there. Look, I'm NOT trying to scare you as much as show you what it's like down here. I'm no hero, but down here everyone looks after their own. That guy was probably unconscious or dead before the worms started on him, but there were six of them. Why? They're not so courageous as the ones that attacked you, probably not even as strong. They know if they don't hunt together they'll end up feeding something else."

She still looked horrified and for a second I considered how vastly different our world must be to hers. For some reason I actually found myself feeling slightly sympathetic. I had never known anything different than this but she... a pampered child of affluence...

"I said nobody cares about you down here. Nobody cares about anything much. Worms, freaks, normos... we stick together because we have to and we'll rip each other to shreds because we need all the food we can. I'm no different really, I just understand things more. I remember reading one of your holobooks once, something about ecology. You ever learn about that stuff? Well, what there is here is an ecosystem, no more and no less. The Sky reported called me 'the Animal'? He's not wrong. You want the truth? There's nothing special about me, I just know that when your police come down here on a clean-up mission the whole ecosystem gets wiped out. I saved what I could, and tried to make sure the police weren't killed when I could as that would just bring down your police in even greater force."

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza stayed where she was as he spoke. When he dropped from the building she barley even flinched. She understood that they looked out for each other…who didn’t really. But she understood the concept all too well; this is what he didn’t understand. “You…you don’t have to show me anymore…” She said quietly, her voice muffled from her hands.

“I…I know what its like…My mother was killed down here…In Chimera…” Chimera was a zone not too far from here. It was the only existing zone three miles out from December. “She was raped and killed by worms…” Her voice barley even trembled as she spoke. She figured that she was still in shock though. She was usually crying to the thought of her mother.

Her and Riza had been dearly close. Being the governess, she handled most affairs with the people of both Sky and Dirt. She was someone who had wished to join the two together, and she had come here in search of such a way to do so. Of course, Riza’s father had protested, and he had stayed behind. Leaving Riza, her mother, and a few guards to come here.

They found no government, which Riza’s mother had imagined. Not an hour here, the worms were on their tails. Riza’s mother fell behind, and the guards kept running. Riza remembered even seeing her…not that much unlike that of the man back in the ally.

They never found a body, if there was even a body to find….so there was no funeral.

Riza didn’t go into details with him, but she wanted to get it across that she knew what it was like. True, she never had to live here. But she knew well enough what it was like. She didn’t want to see anything else that he had to show her, and slowly, she stood, her head hanging and her arms at her sides. “Can we just get somewhere off the streets…?” She asked, her eyes blinking slowly. “Please…I don’t want to see anything else…”


(OOC: Ooooooooh lol hope you don't mind the slight story twist if you want to call it that)

 

[BadForm]

She had gone beyond merely intriguing to outright puzzling. Her own mother had been raped and slain, and eaten given they were worms, and she had STILL come down unprotected? It could only have been a long time ago, likely when she was a child, in order for her to be so willing to risk herself. Either that or she had a death wish she wasn't aware of. Still, it made sense of her hunt for me. She had heard of someone who'd saved Sky patrols from worms and freaks and instead she'd met me. I sighed, and not for the first time that evening.

"Come with me, let me get you somewhere safe," I said.

Perhaps reluctantly after what had happened, she followed me. A gentle evening rain started to plop down onto the pavement, the occassional drop hitting us and sliming down our flesh. The streets about us got somewhat wider as we covered the short distance to where I lived, the broken down slums giving way to shattered facades of larger buildings. I took a turn right and left and entered my home, a two story building with a broken dome on top.

The lights were still lit, which meant Slug had managed to get the regenerator working. Around us shelves were lined with the objects I treasured more than anything in the world: bound collections of leaves of a flimsy material scored with lettering in the old language. Sky had obviously seen nothing like it before.

"You brought company," said a voice from a nearby rack of shelves.

A short woman stepped into the light, a freak like me except more obviously mutated. She stood just four feet three and weighed over two hundred fifty. Her large black head was covered in evident pockmarks. Her eyes protruded inches from her forehead. Her hands and feet were webbed.

"Take care of her, Slug," I said and headed to the basement.

--

Slug looked Riza up and down appraising her. Her eyes swivelled independently, taking in her shape, color, dress and the damage she had taken. Finally she nodded.

"So, you're from Pinnacle, huh?" She said, her voice gurgling in her throat. "This place must be a shock to you."



(OOC: This is a good sized library with books and manuscripts from the 19th - early 21st centuries. Paper has long since become obsolete and histories have been entirely rewritten. Reading would be extremely hard for Riza for two reasons, firstly - as with us reading centuries old material - language is used differently and some spellings are strange, secondly because the development of holotechnology has meant that reading has gone almost totally out of fashion in favor of watching and listening)

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

At first, Riza didn’t follow the man…she didn’t know if she wanted to. Her wide eyes stared up to him for a long time before she stood, brushing herself off a bit before hesitantly walking to him. This time, she didn’t walk next to him, but behind him, her head hanging lightly. Her hair shadowed out her eyes…and for this, Riza was glad for, for she could feel her warm tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t cry, nor did she let out a quivering breath…no….she was silent.

It started to rain as they walked, the droplets of water mixing with her tears, until she didn’t know if she was crying still, or if it was just rain.

As they started walking along the slums, and as the slums turned into other homes, Riza’s eyes traveled along the dark shadows and few alleyways that laid here. At the slightest sound though, she swore she could feel her hear skip a beat.

The two came to one building, the dome caved in on one side. She recognized that…She had seen something like that before. She blinked a bit, straining her eyes. It was one of the older models of the shattersphere. They really only used to build them in large structures that many people could fit into, though Riza could already see that only about half of the building wasn’t crumbling.

Riza said nothing for a long time. The woman, though clearly mutated, had a somewhat maternal air to her…one might have to look a bit hard, but would find that the woman meant no harm. People honestly would have thought that the woman’s eyes moving on their own, her appearance in general just disgusting, but Riza made no comment, no show that Slug was any different from her. She had never really been one to judge.

Slowly, Riza shook her head, wiping away a few stray hairs from her face. She could almost feel the bags under her eyes, though…that was alright…how she looked really wasn’t a problem right now. “No…” Her voice said softly, almost monotone. “This isn’t my first time here…”

Slowly, she made her way to the table that sat off to the side. She was tired…she could feel it herself, and she was sure that a blind man could see that. Her head hit the table, her arms resting gently on her lap. She hoped the woman wouldn’t mind…but at this point, she didn’t care about how polite she was being either.

 

[BadForm]

Slug watched Riza head for the table and slump over. The girl was obviously tired, no doubt having been presented with the brutality of this place by Xenos. He could be so cruel when someone tried to get in close to him, it had taken her many years. And that despite what she had done for him years ago. She shrugged. If only he was not so afraid.

Right now, what the girl needed was comfort. Slug walked over to where she sat and lay her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Relax," she said as the girl tensed under her touch. "You need this."

With that she began a slow and methodical massage of the girl. Her shoulders were the most tense, their taut nature making Slug sure that both the girl was telling the truth about having been here before and she had been right about Xenos trying to scare her away. She had evidently been reminded of something nasty from her own past. Yet the girl was here, and that was something that could not be said of most who tried to get close to Xenos.

Slug continued her massage for minutes without speaking, letting her fingers communicate only care and tenderness. There was no need for words, indeed she doubted the girl was capable of stringing meaningful sentences together at that moment. Slug moved on from her shoulders to her neck and then her back. The webbed fingers made the massage more firm and yet softer at the same time, with greater pressure spread out over a larger area. Beneath her touch, she felt the girl begin to relax.

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

To Slug’s touch, Riza jumped a bit. Her voice though, reassured her that no harm would come. Slowly, she felt her rubbing at her tense flesh and knotted muscles. It got to the point that keeping even her eyes open wasn’t an option. Riza sighed softly, in a content way. She would have figured that Slug’s touch would have been rather rough, but was surprised at this.

Slowly, her eyes blinked, and she looked over her shoulder to Slug, smiling a bit. “Thank you…” She said softly, her head though, was still resting on the table. She could quite honestly say that she felt better now then she had in a long time. Even from before she came back down here.

She could tell that Slug was different from him….a lot different. She wondered if and how she could put up with that…be it he was that way most of the time…or if it was just her. Slowly, she sighed once more, a soft tremble radiating down her spine. Her eyes blinked slowly.

Softly, she laughed. “You keep this up and I’m going to fall asleep right on your table.” She said with a smile. She was happy to be in Slug’s company. She seemed to understand what she was thinking and how she felt without words to express them. Riza liked that, because at this moment, she didn’t think she could go back over what had happened. It wasn’t particularly painful…but Riza was happy not to be bombarded by questions.

She noticed as well, that Slug hadn’t called her Sky…She was thankful to be relieved for the moment from that nickname. She gathered that Slug was the woman’s name….though wasn’t sure if she had another that she went by.

After a moment, she spoke up once more. “My name is Riza.” She said, starting off the new found conversation. “I noticed that he called you Slug…Is that your name…or…should I be calling you by something else?” She smiled a bit and shrugged gently. “I took note that he has a way of giving people nicknames.”

She sighed softly, feeling her hands finally move from her spine. Riza could still feel her flesh tingling softly from where she had touched. Her head rose from the table and her eyes followed Slug, her hair lying strewn across her visage. Whatever Slug had done, Riza found that she was feeling much better.

 

[BadForm]

"Riza it is then," said Slug. "Much better than Sky. And yeah, you'll probably find anyone you talk to down here is known more by a nickname than any real name. Frankly, nicknames are real names down here. I don't think anyone's been given a real name as you'd think of them for centuries. Course that's hardly documented. There's no hatches, matches and dispatches department anymore... Sorry, I mean birth, deaths and marriages."

Slug continued the backrub, stretching her long, supple arms around the back of the chair as she neared Riza's ass, but never going too low. She was silent for a minute, thinking.

"I'll find you a bag soon enouogh, Riza," she said, "but I'm curious. What brings you down here? We only get a few people come down from pinnacle - mostly idiots who are either hunting photographs of the local 'wildlife' or looking for a little sex on the rough. Frankly, you don't seem like either of them and you don't seem stupid. Heh, although I might have to question the sanity of anyone who would put up with one of Xenos's little temper tantrums for more than a second."

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza had to laugh at this. “Tolerance helps…” She said softly. “He had to put up with me as well…his temper wasn’t something I didn’t expect I guess…” She shrugged a bit. “When I was little…something happened down here…” She didn’t go into detail, figuring Slug would understand enough. “When I heard about a man that was here…that fought for both Dirt and Sky…I guess my mind got away with me…I wanted to see who it was…”

She had to give a half hearted chuckle. “My excuse was work…but…” She shrugged a bit. “My mother wished that she could join both cities…When I heard about him…people calling him a monster…I just…I wanted to change that…” She blinked slowly. She had caught the woman calling him Xenos…She guessed that was his name.

He never had told her that…

“Someone fighting on both ends…They can’t be all bad….can they…?” She asked softly. It was more a question to herself then a question to the woman. She sighed softly, her head resting back on the table. “He refused though…Maybe it was because I told him my own excuse…For work…” She paused for a moment. “Maybe I’m just taking this the wrong way too…maybe he is right…”

She was contradicting herself now. She didn’t know weather she was tired…or if she was really giving all this some thought. “You don’t mind me staying here for a night or two…do you…?” She asked softly, her eyes looking over her shoulder once more back to the woman. “I don’t want to be a burden…”

 

[BadForm]

"Burden? No, you won't be a burden. Personally, I will be glad of the company and so will he, even if he doesn't show it."

Slug finished her massage and held out her hand to Riza. She helped the taller woman to stand before heading for an exit from the room. Turning back to make sure Riza was following, Slug gave her a strange look. It wasn't unfriendly, more studious as if she were seeing something she hadn't before.

"Come on," she said. "You can sleep in my room. There's plenty of bags from the old days to sleep in. I keep them clean to make sure we always have spares. Besides, I just distilled some water for a cup of green."

She led Riza through the door into a room that had several sleeping bags on the floor, one of which had obviously been used lately as it lay unrolled and crumpled. She hopped onto a stool by a counter and took a distilling pot from the stove. The various items in the room were strange, known to anyone who had studied the past but very primitive. The stove even burned wood it seemed. Slug poured the hot water into two cups and added packets of green to each, leaving them to stew for a few minutes.

"If you're going to stay though you had best think of how you are going to handle things. People from Pinnacle get upset when their kind end up down here. As to Xenos, he's never likely to be particularly friendly, though with a night to sleep on it he might be a little less surly. Assuming you DON'T bring down the weight of Pinnacle on our shoulders. Understand that we lost our last home in a raid last December."


(OOC: Slang:
Green - Slang used by Sky City employees and freaks and normos at the various camps to describe a kind of tea made from grass flavored with lemon zest. It's an acquired taste, but thought of as a delicacy.)

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

She nodded a bit, watching her contently from her place on her now open sleeping bag. She had set it out across from Slug’s. “He had told me…” She said softly. “And don’t worry; no one knows that I’m here. I made sure of that before I had left.”

In all seriousness, no one really would know where she was. Her father and her hardly ever saw each other and spoke. Even if he would show up at her door, or if he asked for her company, it wouldn’t be a real surprise that she wasn’t there or didn’t answer. The guards that were assigned to her, she had fired. And right before coming here, she took her vacation leave. She had accumulated a little over two weeks so being there for a few nights wouldn’t be suspicious in any way. Quite honestly, she really didn’t think that there would be any reason to be looking for her.

She shrugged a bit after thinking this all over, her eyes blinking slowly. The liquid that she had poured smelled wonderful. She smiled a bit. She herself had never had any green…She guessed though, by the smell, it was a bit bitter, though she didn’t mind.

“I kind of figured he wouldn’t be very friendly.” She said with a bit of a shrug. “I’m just kind of glad that he’s tolerating me…I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with…” Her eyes travled around the room, taking in the objects hanging on the walls and sitting on the shelves.

She looked down to her dress. A blush instantly laced its way across her cheeks. Half her chest was exposed, the rest…didn’t leave much to the imagination. She blinked a bit, biting her lower lip gently. “Is there a…shirt and pants that I could borrow?” She asked, still blushing lightly. She couldn’t imagine how she hadn’t noticed that.

 

[BadForm]

"Well, I don't think you will fit into anything I have," said Slug. "We're not exactly the same size. I was fixing up some of Xenos's threads though. They'll be loose on you, but at least it will give you something to wear. I'll make sure he brings you some new clothes tomorrow. Believe it or not, there's still stuff in the old shops. Not everything got taken by the looters and pretty soon nobody cared about finery so lots of stuff just got abandoned."

She placed the cups of green down on the table between them and climbed onto a chair. As Riza began to sip her green, Slug again gave her an appraising look.

"Riza," she said. "That's from Theresa isn't it? At least according to the book of name origins we have here. Did you know that was Greek, like Xenos? Heh, come to that, have you even heard of Greece? The old countries aren't talked about in the holomags and holorags that get tossed down here in your trash. Seems like all Pinnacle cares about is Pinnacle. And yeah, I do know you're different."

She took a long sip of the dense green liquid in the cup and licked the drops from her lips with a long, prehensile tongue.

"As to you not being easy to get along with, Xenos does tend to bring that out in people. You're fine here. Oh, nearly forgot, the threads."

She slithered off the chair and eased her way across the tiled floor to a wardrobe. In this were a number of items of clothing, most small and very baggy, obviously made for her. Some however were large and masculine, looking more like they would belong to Xenos. She pulled a couple of the larger tee-shirts off the hangers and tossed them to Riza.

"These should do for now."

In the room outside a door opened and slammed shut.

"Oh, he's still in a mood. I guess you really did get to him. Still, don't worry, he usually hunts to get things out of his system. We should have some fresh meat soon. Then I'll get a meal going."

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza nodded lightly as she spoke of her name. She remembered…her mother used to collect books that looked a lot like some of the one’s out in the other room. She had even started teaching Riza how to read. “I think my mother had said something about that…” She said softly. “She was intrigued by the older countries…” She laughed softly. “She had even attempted to teach me how to read when I was little…”

She took a sip of the green liquid that was in her cup. She winced lightly to the taste. It was bitter indeed. Though not unpleasant.

She watched Slug from her chair on the table, her eyes blinking lightly, taking a few more sips of her drink. As Slug pulled out the shirts, Riza stood, walking over to her and taking one of them. She looked around the room, biting her lower lip once more. This was a habit that she really had never grown out of. She hated those habits…much like her blushing.

She walked over to her bag, stepping out of her dress. The silk fell free from flesh, and her body gave a light shiver to the temperature change. She quickly slipped on the shirt, eager to shield herself from the cold. The sleeves of the shirt came well past her hands, and she blinked lightly. The shirt itself came to her thighs. She figured it would do though, she was clothed at least.

“Thank y-“ She was cut off rather abruptly by a slamming door. She winced, her eyes narrowing lightly. Her gaze shifted over to slug who near instantly spoke up. "Oh, he's still in a mood. I guess you really did get to him. Still, don't worry, he usually hunts to get things out of his system. We should have some fresh meat soon. Then I'll get a meal going." To Slug’s comment about the meat…Riza didn’t want to know if she knew what she would be eating.

She moved back to the table, crossing her legs on the chair and smiling up to Slug. “Thank you.” She said, finishing her sentence. She took another sip of her drink. She really didn’t mind it’s bitterness anymore, it was actually quite a refreshing feeling and taste that it left.

 

[BadForm]

Rain. I hated it. It drown sight and smothered scent. Even hearing was all but washed away by it. The sticky drops splattered against my flesh and rolled down my jacket. For someone like me who relied on his senses for every advantage, rain was destruction.

Still, at least I was away from Sky. I wasn't sure why I was so angry at her. Sure, the idea of bringing down a Sky City peace-keeping or cleanup squad was infuriating, but she'd said herself that that was not likely as nobody knew where she was. It had to be something else. She reminded me of something, but I could not think what.

I needed to hunt, whatever the rain was doing to my senses. A good clean kill always made me feel better. Finding the prey would be the pro...

...but then I heard the scream behind me. Rat, giant and mutated. It was about three feet behind me and hungry. I leapt as it moved and landed between its dual heads. THe thing was three feet tall at the shoulders and a good six feet long in the body. THIS would be enough meat for days if Slug had the freezer working. My hands sliced through the flesh of each of its two necks, ripping through its spinal cords and severing its veins. Spurting blood and shrieking, paralyzed, the beast died. It had been a simple kill, but still effective in getting my adrenalin flowing and showing me the importance of survival. Perhaps I could put up with Sky for a while.

 

[Lick_My_Kitty]

Riza, after picking up her things and making herself decent once more, moved back to the table with Slug. She sat where she had been just a moment before, taking another sip of the liquid that clung to her mug. Her eyes contently watched the storm that raged on outside, her light blue eyes following the drops of rain that hit the glass of the window.

Slowly, she sighed, her index finger tracing slowly around the rim of her mug. Slug and her had sat in silence for some time now…she was wondering what was on her mind. “He hunts in this…?” Riza asked softly, motioning to the window as she turned her attention to the woman in front of her once more.

The rain here was something Riza was sure no one could last in for long. The acid would burn through almost anything. Flesh, and any sort of weapon that a person would take would most likely prove useless. Bullets were obsolete and seeing as how the resources for the metal veins ran out long ago. It was replaced with electricity generated guns and other such things. This acid mixed with electricity….the result wouldn’t be pleasant.

Riza blinked a bit, looking back over to Slug. She wondered why she was thinking about him now. He was gone, and she was sure there wouldn’t be any exchange between the two of them till she left. In a way…now that she looked back on it, she realized how childish she was being.

Her eyes dimmed lightly in thought as her index finger gently traced around the rim of her mug. She really had been difficult hadn’t she…?

Slowly, Riza sighed, her head sinking into the palms of her hands. Oh tonight would serve to be a long one. She was sure that Slug didn’t mind her here for the next few days…but now that she had put it to her, Riza felt more like a burden then she had a few moments ago.

Her fingers knitted through her hair. She still felt quite good from what Slug had done, but she still couldn’t get everything that had happened out of her mind. She wished she could speak the things she was thinking…put them into words…but finding those words proved to be more difficult then she would have imagined.

 

[BadForm]

"He hunts in anything when he's upset enough. If you ask me he's a damn fool, but often a successful one," said Slug. "He'll be back when he's good and ready. Course, he'll likely need a be needing a new acidskin on his coat. He does like to work me hard like that."

She chuckled, almost like a mother would over a young child's antics. She started cleaning distractedly as she made small talk with Riza, seemingly on no particular topic. They covered the weather, how bad people down here had things, the December massacre which had resulted in the levelling of Xenos and her old home, nothing in detail and everything in sketched trivia. Thrice as she cleaned Slug knocked things over only to right them again with an apology and a blush.

Suddenly she froze and stared toward the ceiling.

"Rat," she said, with a look of horror on her face. Seconds later she smiled again. "He got it. And he's bringing a leg back. OK, I'll get the stove warmed. He's done his part. Do you want to skin and cook or clean up afterwards?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay in posting, I've had a lot on. Also I'm sorry this one wasn't longer, but I'm a little tired still. Will try to get back to normal for the next posting.