September Catch-All

[peninhand]

🧙 WHO: Monika and YOU!
⚔️️ WHAT: Two open prompts: first one is about Monika trying the familiar symbiosis spell, going super sayan and then needing to be taken care of as soon as the spell end. Second is her dealing with her DDLC trauma by smashing a video game to pieces. There are also some closed prompts!
🕒 WHEN: September
🗺️ WHERE: Around Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: Trauma and all of the DDLC heavy theme for the second open prompt

All prompts are inside the post

Comments

[peninhand]

Yep. Now you're entranced and obeying my every whims, mwahaha~

[ She winked and laughed, pointing a finger at him. ]

Wait, I've given up on hypnotic powers when I abandoned cognitive magic... Ah well, guess you get to keep your free will~!

[peninhand]

[ She'd met a couple who would have been a bit more touchy... Thankfully, Monika was very sociable. Heck, she would be very cheerful and would come with all kinds of stuff to talk about if she wasn't going through, well. A mental breakdown. Hopefully she'll get better soon. ]

Mhm. I had a friend like that... She was a social disaster. [Yuri... Obviously, her three friends from the literature club were on her mind a lot.] But once she warmed up to you, she was the most loyal friend you could ever dream of.

[ She smiled when Ristuka pulled her phone. Six months, huh? Her sad turned sad as the same thought crossed her mind. If what she had guessed about her was correct... Yeah, she could easily imagine her reaching a breakdown long before those six months. And one worse than hers at that. ]

I can only hope this won't be needed, ahaha.

[pricklybloom]

[ While she knows that there was still probably more going on, she doesn't push it for now. Instead she smiles. ]

No problem. [ A pause. ] Wanna get some ice cream or something? My treat.

[peninhand]

Yeah, sure...

[ Maybe it would do her good. She wasn't too sure, but who knew. Oh and there was something even more important she had to say. ]

Um... Please don't tell anyone, alright?

[icastsword]

You're welcome!

[Hey, that got a smile out of her! That's a good sign, right? He grins right back, pleased.]

[Then he glances back at his phone to check their progress towards the clinic.]

It looks like we're almost there - it should be just around the corner up the block.

[fujimaru]

I'll let other people decide how good or bad I am at being social, haha.

[ After all, most of the time, Ritsuka's approach to friendship was to just keep trying, either until she found something that worked or she outstubborned the other person. It's not the best approach, maybe, but it's one that works for her.

It does mean that she knows very well that her opinion on her social successes is skewed. Oh well. ]

If we hit six months and things are fine, let's just have a party instead. Sound fair?

[peninhand]

Okay... I think I should be able to get there on my own.

[ She didn't want to waste any more of his time... And she would rather not show herself going through another breakdown if the doctors started asking questions as for how it happened. ]

Thanks a lot for everything.

[peninhand]

I think you're doing pretty good.

[ She most certainly was no social disaster, far from Yuri. A lot more like Sayori. But she realized she couldn't just judge her on appearances. People were complex. Maybe she really wasn't anything like her old friend. She hoped so, for her own sake.

Monika slowly raised from the bed where she'd been sitting. Her head was clearer and she felt more and more stupid with every passing seconds. She should get going and make sure to be at her best for whenever they'll meet again. ]

A party would be nice. [She raised her finger.] I'll hold you to it.

[icastsword]

Oh. I, um...

[Insight Roll: 15+5 - He's kind of getting the feeling Monika is embarrassed by her behavior, and would like some privacy to talk to the doctors on her own. He is totally down to let her do that, and he gets why she would want to, but they're not at the clinic quite yet.]

I don't mind walking you all the way. I wouldn't feel right leaving right now.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[He snorts.]

You know, for someone as cute as you, I wouldn't necessarily mind doing whatever you wanted.

[fujimaru]

[ It takes a second, but only a second, for Ritsuka to get it. She laughs a little in spite of herself--how can she not? It really feels like it's been a long, long time since she's gotten to do anything as simple as this. Maybe they're trapped in some weird multiverse hub world. Maybe Ritsuka's even more powerless here than she was at home. Maybe the girl sitting across from her started out as something nonhuman.

So what? She's glad for these little things. Sometimes you've got to seize these gestures where and when you can.

After that moment, she raises her own hand, the pinky extended. ]

I'll even pinky swear.

[peninhand]

You really shouldn't worry that much. I'll be fine, I promise.

[ He was 100% on the money. She didn't want to embarrass herself any further. She was starting to think more clearly, and with clarity of mind came the feelings of shame and embarrassment. What he had seen of her today, that was the total opposite of what she tried to be. Of what she wanted people to remember her as.

So she managed to give him a comforting smile. ]

You've done more than I would have expected from anyone already.

[peninhand]

[ She couldn't help but laugh at that. Pinky swear, huh... She couldn't remember when was the last time she'd done one of those. Well... Realistically, she'd never made one of those, seeing how none of her childhood memories were real. But still, she was very familiar with the gesture.

She followed up by raising her own hand with her own pinky extended. ]

And I'll pinky swear next time you see me, I'll be more presentable, ahaha~!

[ She winked as she said it. Well, maybe she wouldn't be able to hold that promise... But that wasn't really the point here. ]

[peninhand]

Ahaha! Come on, don't joke about that~

[ About her being cute enough to warrant being obeyed, that is! ... ... Though she liked the sound of it. ]

Anyway, I probably should stop stealing your time. We should hang out sometimes when there's no work or stuff going on!

[fujimaru]

[ Ritsuka hums the bars of the song, grinning as she does. ]

I think you'll do just fine with that. I look awful when I cry, but you're still cute.

[ Some girls can look good no matter how rough they feel, and Ritsuka is not one of them. But she still thinks girls who can pull it off should be told that! And especially one who's been having a hard time. ]

[impostorsyndrome]

[Ah, it's not really much comfort at all, though. Not when he's still dwelling on everything she just said. This really did get heavy . . . Kadoc isn't the type to just brush something like that off with a joke, or to awkwardly move on with the conversation like it never happened, either. The problem is that he's not sure what type he is. Definitely not the type who says and does the right thing and comforts the other person effectively. That's always been Pepe. Who would ever go to Kadoc for something like that?

But it's not like he wants to suck. The expression on her face . . . he feels for her. Kadoc curls his hands around his glass, holding it close to himself on the table, protectively.]

Yeah. . . . I'm sorry. I'm grateful, but it's hard to react to. That's not your fault. I just know there's nothing I can do or say about something that serious to make you feel better, but I wish I could. I hate thinking that's what you've been dealing with all this time. It's not something you've gotta smile about, either.

. . . You're here now. Someone granted you your wish. . . . I'm glad.

[pricklybloom]

[ Glancing at the other girl, she frowns a little. ] Well...okay, I won't say anything if you don't want me to. But maybe it'll help to talk about it to someone.

[peninhand]

I don't really want to smile about it... But it's not easy opening up and showing your vulnerabilities to others, you know? [The only reason she'd said so much was because he had insisted on her homeworld and she had slipped up trying to explain it vaguely. Though, she was happy it was him and not some random stranger.] I'm always afraid to be judged...

[ It was easier to give off the image of a sweet and confident young woman. The Monika who struggled with the trauma of her experience as a game character, who struggled with perfectionism and anxiety— She didn't feel too comfortable showing that side of her. ]

So, thank you~!
And hey, you're doing great. Knowing you care so much is enough to make me feel better. [She raised a finger.] My creator and the player, well... [One had made her that way on purpose, the other had deleted her after she'd opened up. That pained expression returned to her features, but only for a second.] Let's just say I wasn't granted that privilege back home, ahaha.

[ Who would care for a NPC in a video game, after all? Even if she'd been alive... That was the same mindset she'd ended up having towards her own friends. But unlike her who'd become that way out of despair, those people had just done it for the sake of pure entertainment. ]

[peninhand]

[ Monika would point out that the only reason she still looked cute while crying was because she'd been created as a character in a video game where each of the girls had trauma— And therefore had been designed to still look good even while crying. But she didn't really want to go back to that topic. ]

Ahaha, I'm sure it's not true. I do hope we'll never have a reason to see it though.

[ Even though... She had a feeling she would see it sooner or later, unfortunately. ]

Thank you for everything. I-I probably should get going now and not steal any more of your time.

[peninhand]

I will, in time.

[ She paused and took a deep breath. ]

But right now it would do more bad than good...

[icastsword]

But I really haven't done anything.

["Doing something" to him would be more along the lines of having the means on-hand to help Monika with her injuries, instead of just taking her to somewhere that can help.]

I'll take off if you really want me to, but I'd like to at least make sure you get there okay.

[peninhand]

I know, but...

[ Unfortunately, his insistence wasn't helping. Maybe he couldn't realize how much he'd done already. To her, that meant the world. But she'd reached a point where she was more horrified to show herself like that than she needed help. ]

Please? I'll contact you on your device to say you I have arrived, if it reassures you.

Wonderful :)

[corpsewarblade]

That's good- he's a really good friend and his work is amazing, he'll definitely make you something super impressive.

[And then they got to the meat of the issue: The outfit.

Her? Make something like this? Sure she'd made a plushie for Hijikata before but this was something else... this required actual skill! Mukuro's eyes went wide, before she quickly tried to swallow back the impending sense of dread]

...Y-yeah, seriously, that's no problem at all! Like you say, I can totally pull something like this off!

But, uh, don't worry about paying until I've got something together. I won't know what kinda price we'd be looking before I'd costed up the materials and stuff, you know? Oh- gonna need to take a couple of measurements too, if you don't mind.

[peninhand]

Mhm, of that I have no doubts!

[ She wasn't as close to Darin as Mukuro was, but she knew he was pretty reliable and he'd been super helpful ever since day one. Monika tilted her head at the reaction to her request. Something was off. Again. She'd been able to tell before there was something Mukuro was hiding, but she wasn't entirely sure what. And considering she was hiding some pretty big secrets too, it wasn't her place to ask.

Everyone had their own sufferings stored in their past. Still... ]

That's fine! [She nodded at the mention of the measurements, but then spoke with a gentle tone.] If you can't do it, don't worry it's fine. You've got to be super busy, ahaha.

[icastsword]

[Every instinct within this good boy is screaming at him to gently insist he be allowed to walk her the entire way - it's the gentlemanly and chivalrous thing to do. But on the other hand, she is practically begging him to allow her to go on her own, and he's not the sort of person to impose himself where he's not wanted, either.

This is a tough one, and Monika can probably see it on his face. :(]

Mmmm...alright, since it's important to you. But please do let me know when you get there, okay?