Wouldn't you like to play and party forever?

[pleasureislanders]

[It's been one week since your arrival to this godforsaken place, and little seems to have changed since then. The doors and windows remain locked, your reluctant host mingles between guests, and nobody has killed each other...yet. It's only a matter of time before someone gives out, though.

What little solace, if any, is that you wake up with several coins on the nightstand next to your bed. Perhaps you should try putting them in that mask in the salon? You might receive some interesting gifts....]

[ SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY ]

Comments

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ And now the song is here. X-23 looks back at the profiles, but... they don't exactly have much to offer in the way of where to go from here. Just the button that plays the song, which has gone quiet by now. ]

... And it didn't work?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[And now the song is here, somehow. Someway, the universes worked it out in such a fashion that now one of the saddest points in Cassandra's life could be replayed with a push of a button. What fun.

It makes her steam, ready to fume about it, but there's another question that needs answering.]

...I don't think so.

[She knows so. Gothel didn't love her, never had. Letting go of that hope though, that maybe there was a shred of honest affection somewhere in that ancient heart... it was harder than it seemed. A small part of her just wanted to keep believing.]

slaps a gentle "cw emotional abuse" onto this

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ X-23 is quiet for a long few moments. ]

The scientists who made me... they didn't want me to know what being attached to someone is like. I used to try, and they just... stopped sending people in to tell me what to do. Or they'd wear masks and they wouldn't talk to me. And I kept trying, for a while, but...

[ She says it simply, matter-of-fact, but... it's clearly not easily brought out, from the way she's just not looking at anything in particular.

"Guess by now I ought to know my place." ]

I guess I thought other people would be... I don't know, different.

oh boy oh boy

[feudalladyshandmaid]

["I craved so much, and yet I kept on waiting. One glance, once touch, and I just kept on waiting."

It's simple and to the point, but that speaks volumes to Cassandra. She knows this struggle well; trying to gain someone's affection, and they either ignore you or give you just enough to keep you waiting for more.

In a way, she was looking at her own experience, from another perspective.]

It's different for everyone, trust me, kid. You and I are just some of the unlucky ones. [Her voice comes out unsure, but by god she's trying.] Trying so hard to be loved, and people treat you like you're not worth it. That's not right.

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ X-23 swallows hard. "That's not right."

Isn't it, though?

"I am not a child!"
"You are! Even though they tried takin' that away from you."

The things Logan said during that first fight have this way of sticking in her head. How much can she still be wrong about? The thought, like many others, drives her to, well, anger. ]

Yeah, but... I gave up! They won. And now I'm just... [ A killer? A monster? ] ... this. A weapon.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Anger is a familiar reaction. Again, not from this point of view, but Cass takes it in stride... even if it hurts.]

You're not a weapon. And you're not what anyone else says you are, either.

[She reaches her hand out, hesitant at first to make that connection, but it eventually finds X-23's shoulder, if she's willing.]

They didn't win, because you're here, and you're angry about it. So, don't give up. Because... because maybe people will try to make you think you're nothing, but there is more in you than anyone knows.

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

But... but I...

[ She doesn't - she does flinch a little at the hand on her shoulder, but mostly she seems to have frozen up.

"Everything I am is because of you!" ]

I don't know how to be anything else.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

I know what that's like, trust me. But you can be more than just a weapon. It's just...

[A gentle, pained sigh.]

It's hard, doing it alone.

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

I've only ever really been alone.

[ She sniffs, blinking back tears. When did those get here? She wipes them away, a little more forcefully than needed. ]

How did you...?

[ Know? Do it? She doesn't know how to end the question. ]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Know? It uh... wasn't easy. It came to me, after I'd gone through some... bad stuff.

[If you could say that "overthrowing the kingdom in a fit of rage over the belief that everybody has given up on you, so you don't need anyone else" could be called 'bad stuff'.]

The one that pulled me up and helped me was Rapunzel, as a matter of fact. Sometimes, that's what it takes, I guess.

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ She thinks back to Logan. Who just wanted to help. Who said something like this before, as she prepared to finish her revenge.

Her revenge. It feels hollow now, thinking about it. Killing the Supreme HYDRA, evading SHIELD... ]

Someone to pull you up... huh.

[ She doesn't know what to say, but... she does start crying. So that's something. ]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cass would hate to sour a good revenge, but she knows by now where vengeance can take you. It isn't pretty, and usually does more harm than good.

She also knows the correct response to a little girl breaking down into tears, stiff from just a shoulder-touch or no; she's getting a hug.

Cass is great at hugs.]

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ X-23, meanwhile, is not very good at hugs at all. She's done one, and it was immediately interrupted by the arrival of government agents intending to arrest her.

But... she tries, anyway. She really does try. ]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[It's fine, it's all good. Cass will pick up the slack. She knows what it means to try, she won't fault anyone for that.

And she'll let this stand until X-23's ready to... speak, leave. Whichever.]

[nobodylikesyouwhen]

[ It's the shock of feeling herself actually settling in the hug that does it, probably, but the tears get worse before they do eventually start to dry up. ]

I'll try, anyway.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[How often had Cass felt the same thing? Unable to let herself accept it and sink into the feeling of physical comfort. It's a thought she doesn't enjoy sitting on, but it's there. Along with the rest of the horribly emotionally jumbled mess that she's wading through to help this poor girl with her own issues.

Then again, a year ago, she might have not been able to really help with it at all. At least she could say she'd grown that far.]

Trying is the best thing to do, talking from experience.

[She lets her arms fall away, they hang uselessly at her sides and wait for another command that may or may not be a poor one, but fuck it. We're both trying tonight.]