expiationlogs | watered by the tears of the innocent ones →

Who: Vi and open
Where: around Aldrip
What: Vi's going through some things and she's being pretty self destructive about it.
Warnings: trauma, blood mention, death mention... an all around fun time.

i. reminders, aftermath (i'm thinking of you)

[the monster was gone. everything was starting to settle back into some normalcy.

at least, for some of the city.

Vi had gotten a gift that gave her a mixture of feelings. some happy feelings, but more along the lines of traumatic memories that creep on the edges of her mind. of dead children and a dead father, and getting taken away from a sister that screamed and cried for her. she can hear Powder now, wailing for her, which makes her fight the monster just that much harder.

the gauntlets make sharp metallic sounds as she screams a warcry and battles the monster in front of her. punching and fighting felt good, it helps keep those memories at bay, even if she knows that it's only a temporary salve to the pain she's feeling. but still she fights. she fights whatever aggressive monster comes her way, even though the longer she fights, the more scraped up, bloody and bruised she becomes.

but she doesn't act like it bothers her. because really, it doesn't.]

ii. exhaustion (when i kill a good man)

[finally, she drags in her bloodied self and gauntlets into Lupin and sits on the bar stool. the gauntlets sit on the ground next to her, dried monster blood caked on them as they rest against the chair. she's in there for a while, getting drunk, mildly wishing Dazai were here to make her annoyed at him instead of leaving her alone to her own thoughts.

someone may encounter her drinking, or... after she's drunk enough, she'll be lying her head on the bar and staring at something in the distance that only she can see. she still feels as if she's in a rage and needs to throw things, but she can't bring herself to destroy anything that was his. she'd broken as much as she could at the house she shared with Caitlyn, but she won't here.]

iii. wildcard (and wonder if she'll ever love again)

[have a scenario you'd rather play out? hit me up at

angelonia or trashlords at discord! i'm up for anything, and because i forgot to mention it in the post itself, Vi's mostly healed from the corruption. she's just. going through some things.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd offer to help, but you seem like you really, really don't want it.

[ Toph's been observing for a while and Vi's probably pretty scraped up by this point. Her comment comes from somewhere out of the way and nearby just as Vi finishes off the latest unfortunate local pest.

She already knows Vi is too much like her to appreciate open concern, so her tone is mild, curious, and only a little worried. She stands with her arms folded, solid as a rock. ]

[Vi has to stop to catch her breath when Toph speaks, and she jumps a little bit. she turns to look at the girl, almost losing her balance because she's not used to the weight of the gauntlets anymore (and sheer exhaustion), but she regains her footing.]

You don't have to help, but if you're in a shit mood too you can punch something with me.

[at least she isn't giving her concern... there's too much of that going around right now.]

[ She's about to refuse and then Toph rethinks it and shrugs. It's probably the easiest way to look out for her without slighting her pride. ]

Sure, why not?

[ Toph momentarily kneels down to shove her hands into the cold bare earth. As she straightens back up, her hands are encased in huge boxing gloves composed of rock. She knocks them together once just to show off. ]

Getting hands on can be fun sometimes.

[...

Vi can't help but grin at her.]

Nice gloves.

[oddly enough, Toph's abilities don't really freak her out the way they did even the last time they were together. maybe she'll never actually get used to it, but it's not exactly frightening like it was.

more like cool.

she doesn't even give her a warning to say that she needs to look out for herself, or to be careful, because Toph could take out all these monsters in the blink of an eye and she knows that. so she'll turn and start punching again, hearing the satisfying squelch of body parts collapsing under her metallic fists.]

[ Perhaps it helps that Toph is utterly matter-of-fact and (ha) grounded about them. She's a braggart, but she's also completely precise in execution. There's never a single hint that she's not the one in control.

True to that, Toph lets Vi take the lead on fighting -- this whole expedition is clearly so she can get it out of her system -- and smoothly takes back-up. It's a natural role for her both as a friend as a teacher; she doesn't need to be center stage all the time. She nabs monsters that might sneak up on her and generally runs interference.

Sticking to fighting almost exclusively with her rock-hands is quite a bit of work, and she's sweating herself before long. But smacking things really is satisfying.

During an intermission, she announces, ] Haven't done this in forever. You might be onto something.

[Vi's tired as hell too, not quite used to the weight of these gauntlets anymore... or if she ever was. she had been weight lifting of course, but doing this kind of shit with chunks of metal on your hands and arms is something completely different.

she almost kind of forgot Toph was there actually, but she smirks when she hears the comment.]

Best kind of therapy.

[even if her everything is sore and burning right now... but it's a good kind of sore and burning.]

[ Toph shakes out her hands, the rock falling away and crumbling to dirt piles on the ground. She's had to intermittently refresh them throughout the fighting. ]

So, that enough therapy for you for right now? Because after all that, I'm starving.

[ And she's basically only out here to keep Vi company without asking after her feelings. ]

[it'll never be enough therapy. but she's tired. she's covered in blood. and she has to keep up appearances for this girl, act tough for her. because that's just how she is.]

I could use a drink, myself.

[of course she could.]

You got anywhere in mind?

[ Is Toph taking advantage of the fact that she knows Vi will want to keep up appearances? Absolutely. It's what she'd do in her place. And she doesn't need to make a bigger deal out of it than it is. ]

You can have a drink, but if you get sloppy drunk I'm going to sober you up myself and you're not gonna like how I do it.

[ This is Toph's brand of caring. ]

Yeah, follow me. I'll get you back for the burger you got me when I showed up.

What? You gonna thump me with some rocks? I've had worse.

[she doesn't want to see what Toph's brand of sobering up is, but she's not going to mention it.

but she grins a bit.]

You really liked that place, huh?

Get drunk and find out, [ Toph suggests cheerfully, and with more than a hint of a smirk as she sets off. ]

I like trying new things, and it was really new.

[she snorts, though she knows that ultimately Toph really could kick her ass if she wanted to.]

We had stuff like it at home. The meat wasn't as fresh though, of course.

[she could definitely get spoiled here.]

[ She's not likely to get really violent with someone she likes, regardless. Toph is likely to harass and torment them endlessly, however, and she can get very creative with something like earthbending. ]

Oh yeah? You have trouble getting food or something?

It's not that, necessarily. It's just hard to get...

[she waves her hand around a bit.]

Normal food. You eat what you get.

[ That tells her almost nothing, and begs the obvious question: ]

So... what's not normal food?

watered by the tears of the innocent ones →

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