onthehalfshell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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riverviewlogs2017-04-21 05:49 pm
onthehalfshell) wrote in riverviewlogs2017-04-21 05:49 pm
[Open] - Wikus's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month
who: Wikus and ANYBODY
what: Wikus makes a scene in public. Repeatedly
when: Mid-April on
where: Various
warnings: Body horror, gruesome nightmares, bad feelings.
1. Sleep isn't for the weak - Around town
Wikus hasn't been sleeping well.
There's several reasons for it, starting with the physical discomfort. It's not even pain a lot of the time - though occasionally he gets strange cramps in his muscles or guts, sharp enough to wake him. Mostly it's an itching under his remaining skin that can't be scratched, and he doesn't want to scratch anyway because it will probably mean more blood on his sheets. Or it's the tenderness where new exoskeleton is poking through, uncomfortable to put weight on, or his irritated flesh chafing against the sheets. Sometimes it's impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
When he does manage to get comfortable, then he has to deal with the existential dread. It usually hits just as he's dozing off, like a hypnic jerk, the sudden fear that if he falls asleep he'll wake up a completely different person, completely transformed, not himself anymore. It leaves him clutching his pillow, heart pounding with adrenaline, and sometimes the feeling lasts for hours.
But despite those issues, he does manage to sleep on occasion. Sometimes it's in his actual bed, maybe even at night like a regular person. More often it's when exhaustion catches up to him at random locations.
Most commonly he can be found passed out in awkward positions in Floor 8’s living room chairs, having nodded off while watching television or reading. But not all his impromptu naps are kept to a semi-private space. He can doze off anywhere he sits still for a few minutes: at coffee shops, or restaurant tables, in the library or the hospital waiting room, even on park benches when he stops for a rest. Sometimes he snores.
Unfortunately for him, falling asleep doesn't mean getting any rest, because that's when the nightmares come. Often they're just memories: the moment he first saw his mutant hand and the struggle that followed; his mistreatment in the labs underneath MNU; so many people exploding into sprays of flesh and blood from the gun in his hand...
Sometimes the memories turn into twisted versions of events where he didn't manage to narrowly escape various horrible fates: being strapped down and dissected alive, somehow never falling unconscious even as they carefully pull out all of his organs, not even when he feels the buzz of a saw cutting open his skull-
Or he'll be held captive by the Nigerians again, forced to watch and feel as they slice off his arm, leaving him to bleed out on the ground as they cook up his alien flesh to feed to Obesandjo.
But the worst, the absolute worst...
Wikis stands in front of the burning shack, watching Prawn eggs burst, pop, pop, pop, laughing with Thomas and Trent. Nothing out of the normal, just another day on the job, why would he care it's just Prawns, they're just aborting.
"Wikus!" It's Tania's, calling to him. She's among the burning eggs, her body strung up like the rotting cow, filthy tubes piercing her swollen belly, clearly pregnant. "Wikus please!"
But he doesn't seem to notice, or doesn't care. He's just doing his job, just hanging out with the boys. Tania's pleas get louder as she burns, and he doesn't care, and then her belly bursts-
Sleeping in public is pretty embarrassing. Having nightmares in public is mortifying. If he's lucky he just jolts awake, skin pale, damp with sweat, breathing heavy. If he's unlucky he'll come to thrashing and screaming, or with a heaving stomach that has him rushing for the nearest bathroom or trash bin.
He'd rather nobody saw him like that, but in a populated city it's inevitable.
2. Skin crawling good time - From Nature to Hearth Restaurant
Wikus hisses as the persistent itching in his scalp shifts into a sharp pinching sensation and he's suddenly assaulted with the scent (or is it taste?) of blood. It's a bit of an odd change, since his sense of smell had been half-dead for awhile, like with a cold but without the stuffiness.
He lets his spoon sit in the meaty bowl of stew he's eating and lifts his human hand ( though it's now got a few dark patches of alien skin) to push under his hood and rub at his head. He keeps his fully alien hand under the table.
His fingers scrape against his scalp, searching for the source of discomfort. He's completely bald now, having decided it would look better to shave off the patchy remnants of his hair. Now his head is just a mix of pale skin, irritated red skin, and nobs of exoskeleton. And now-
Something under his scalp twitches, and he barely manages to smother a startled shout. He can feel the movement under his fingertips, and as a sensation like a spasming muscle.
Swearing under his breath, Wikus quickly abandons his meal and heads for the men's room.
Looking into the mirror, he pushed back his hood to get a good look at his head. Two patches of chitin run from his temples to the top of his skull, surrounded by split and swollen skin. And trailing from the left patch, there's now a small raised ridge of skin, following the curve of his scalp. As he watches, the ridge twitches, accompanied by a spike of that pinching sensation.
"Fok!" His hands slam against the sink, making the mirror rattle. Then, after a few heavy breaths, he lifts his hand back to his scalp. Gripping the edge of the sink tightly with his alien hand, his human fingers begin to worry at the line where shell gives way to flesh, scraping and prodding, pushing under.
Throat tight, teeth clenched, breathing rapidly through his nose, he can only make a choked grunt of distress as his fingers close around something hard, smooth, and thin. Steeling himself further, he very carefully begins to ease what's almost certainly an antenna out from under his scalp.
One inch, two inch- Wikus begins to whine. It's ingrown all the way to the back of his skull, he can feel it sliding out from under his skin.
Five inch, six inch- He keeps up a constant litany of "Fok, fok, fok, fok..." under his breath, trying not to hyperventilate.
Nine inch, ten inch- At almost a foot long, the entire antenna slips free, splattering the mirror with drops of blood as it springs into a forward position. Suddenly he can smell/taste everything.
He pauses for a moment to stare at his reflection, new appendage twitching in the air. Then he begins swearing in earnest.
3. Guy cries over fireflies - Somewhere inside of the city
Insomnia means Wikus often finds himself out at odd hours of the day. Going for a walk at 4am? Why not. The city is quieter then anyway. Fewer people to run into.
So he's on his way home as the sun begins to rise, and is witness to the sudden swarm of rainbow lights that descends upon the city.
"That's new," he mumbles to himself, pausing to watch the little dancing lights. It's... really pretty. Beautiful. He wishes Tania could see it...
One of the little blue motes descends towards him, and he realizes it's some sort of firefly. Slowly, he holds out his right hand and the bug actually lands in it! Wikus's mouth quirks into a half-smile. It's kind of cute, for a bug.
Until it goes and bites him.
"Ow! You little-"
The grief hits him like a punch to the gut, intense enough make him double over. He isn't exactly in a great mental state at the best of times lately, and suddenly all the pain and guilt and homesickness boils up inside of him, forcing itself out of him in a scream.
"Oh God, oh fok." His chest is so tight it hurts to breathe and tears are already running down his face. "Tania-! I can't- I'm sorry, I'm so fokken sorry-!"
He slowly crumples to the ground in the middle of the sidewalk, forehead pressed to the pavement, and begins to sob. None of that soft sobbing either. He's full out bawling, like he hasn't done since he broke his leg as a child.
Life just doesn't let up, does it?
4. Wildcard! If you have any ideas, just hit me up at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
MonkeysInPants or PM!
what: Wikus makes a scene in public. Repeatedly
when: Mid-April on
where: Various
warnings: Body horror, gruesome nightmares, bad feelings.
1. Sleep isn't for the weak - Around town
Wikus hasn't been sleeping well.
There's several reasons for it, starting with the physical discomfort. It's not even pain a lot of the time - though occasionally he gets strange cramps in his muscles or guts, sharp enough to wake him. Mostly it's an itching under his remaining skin that can't be scratched, and he doesn't want to scratch anyway because it will probably mean more blood on his sheets. Or it's the tenderness where new exoskeleton is poking through, uncomfortable to put weight on, or his irritated flesh chafing against the sheets. Sometimes it's impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
When he does manage to get comfortable, then he has to deal with the existential dread. It usually hits just as he's dozing off, like a hypnic jerk, the sudden fear that if he falls asleep he'll wake up a completely different person, completely transformed, not himself anymore. It leaves him clutching his pillow, heart pounding with adrenaline, and sometimes the feeling lasts for hours.
But despite those issues, he does manage to sleep on occasion. Sometimes it's in his actual bed, maybe even at night like a regular person. More often it's when exhaustion catches up to him at random locations.
Most commonly he can be found passed out in awkward positions in Floor 8’s living room chairs, having nodded off while watching television or reading. But not all his impromptu naps are kept to a semi-private space. He can doze off anywhere he sits still for a few minutes: at coffee shops, or restaurant tables, in the library or the hospital waiting room, even on park benches when he stops for a rest. Sometimes he snores.
Unfortunately for him, falling asleep doesn't mean getting any rest, because that's when the nightmares come. Often they're just memories: the moment he first saw his mutant hand and the struggle that followed; his mistreatment in the labs underneath MNU; so many people exploding into sprays of flesh and blood from the gun in his hand...
Sometimes the memories turn into twisted versions of events where he didn't manage to narrowly escape various horrible fates: being strapped down and dissected alive, somehow never falling unconscious even as they carefully pull out all of his organs, not even when he feels the buzz of a saw cutting open his skull-
Or he'll be held captive by the Nigerians again, forced to watch and feel as they slice off his arm, leaving him to bleed out on the ground as they cook up his alien flesh to feed to Obesandjo.
But the worst, the absolute worst...
Wikis stands in front of the burning shack, watching Prawn eggs burst, pop, pop, pop, laughing with Thomas and Trent. Nothing out of the normal, just another day on the job, why would he care it's just Prawns, they're just aborting.
"Wikus!" It's Tania's, calling to him. She's among the burning eggs, her body strung up like the rotting cow, filthy tubes piercing her swollen belly, clearly pregnant. "Wikus please!"
But he doesn't seem to notice, or doesn't care. He's just doing his job, just hanging out with the boys. Tania's pleas get louder as she burns, and he doesn't care, and then her belly bursts-
Sleeping in public is pretty embarrassing. Having nightmares in public is mortifying. If he's lucky he just jolts awake, skin pale, damp with sweat, breathing heavy. If he's unlucky he'll come to thrashing and screaming, or with a heaving stomach that has him rushing for the nearest bathroom or trash bin.
He'd rather nobody saw him like that, but in a populated city it's inevitable.
2. Skin crawling good time - From Nature to Hearth Restaurant
Wikus hisses as the persistent itching in his scalp shifts into a sharp pinching sensation and he's suddenly assaulted with the scent (or is it taste?) of blood. It's a bit of an odd change, since his sense of smell had been half-dead for awhile, like with a cold but without the stuffiness.
He lets his spoon sit in the meaty bowl of stew he's eating and lifts his human hand ( though it's now got a few dark patches of alien skin) to push under his hood and rub at his head. He keeps his fully alien hand under the table.
His fingers scrape against his scalp, searching for the source of discomfort. He's completely bald now, having decided it would look better to shave off the patchy remnants of his hair. Now his head is just a mix of pale skin, irritated red skin, and nobs of exoskeleton. And now-
Something under his scalp twitches, and he barely manages to smother a startled shout. He can feel the movement under his fingertips, and as a sensation like a spasming muscle.
Swearing under his breath, Wikus quickly abandons his meal and heads for the men's room.
Looking into the mirror, he pushed back his hood to get a good look at his head. Two patches of chitin run from his temples to the top of his skull, surrounded by split and swollen skin. And trailing from the left patch, there's now a small raised ridge of skin, following the curve of his scalp. As he watches, the ridge twitches, accompanied by a spike of that pinching sensation.
"Fok!" His hands slam against the sink, making the mirror rattle. Then, after a few heavy breaths, he lifts his hand back to his scalp. Gripping the edge of the sink tightly with his alien hand, his human fingers begin to worry at the line where shell gives way to flesh, scraping and prodding, pushing under.
Throat tight, teeth clenched, breathing rapidly through his nose, he can only make a choked grunt of distress as his fingers close around something hard, smooth, and thin. Steeling himself further, he very carefully begins to ease what's almost certainly an antenna out from under his scalp.
One inch, two inch- Wikus begins to whine. It's ingrown all the way to the back of his skull, he can feel it sliding out from under his skin.
Five inch, six inch- He keeps up a constant litany of "Fok, fok, fok, fok..." under his breath, trying not to hyperventilate.
Nine inch, ten inch- At almost a foot long, the entire antenna slips free, splattering the mirror with drops of blood as it springs into a forward position. Suddenly he can smell/taste everything.
He pauses for a moment to stare at his reflection, new appendage twitching in the air. Then he begins swearing in earnest.
3. Guy cries over fireflies - Somewhere inside of the city
Insomnia means Wikus often finds himself out at odd hours of the day. Going for a walk at 4am? Why not. The city is quieter then anyway. Fewer people to run into.
So he's on his way home as the sun begins to rise, and is witness to the sudden swarm of rainbow lights that descends upon the city.
"That's new," he mumbles to himself, pausing to watch the little dancing lights. It's... really pretty. Beautiful. He wishes Tania could see it...
One of the little blue motes descends towards him, and he realizes it's some sort of firefly. Slowly, he holds out his right hand and the bug actually lands in it! Wikus's mouth quirks into a half-smile. It's kind of cute, for a bug.
Until it goes and bites him.
"Ow! You little-"
The grief hits him like a punch to the gut, intense enough make him double over. He isn't exactly in a great mental state at the best of times lately, and suddenly all the pain and guilt and homesickness boils up inside of him, forcing itself out of him in a scream.
"Oh God, oh fok." His chest is so tight it hurts to breathe and tears are already running down his face. "Tania-! I can't- I'm sorry, I'm so fokken sorry-!"
He slowly crumples to the ground in the middle of the sidewalk, forehead pressed to the pavement, and begins to sob. None of that soft sobbing either. He's full out bawling, like he hasn't done since he broke his leg as a child.
Life just doesn't let up, does it?
4. Wildcard! If you have any ideas, just hit me up at
no subject
It's his new twitching antenna that finally cues him in, smelling... something. Someone. His sobs catch in his throat, and his hands pull away from his face to stare at the strange woman looming over him.
His red-rimmed eyes are wide, stray tears still escaping to track down his cheeks, but he's at least momentarily been startled out of dramatic display of grief.
His throat works as if he plans to say something, but the only sound that comes out is heavy breathing interrupted by an occasional hitch.
Finally he croaks out a single word.]
What?
no subject
She extends her hand to him.]
Can you stand up?
no subject
With a moan of distress, Wikus rolls onto his back, covering his face with his hands again.]
I don't deserve to get up. I belong here. In the fokken dirt.
no subject
[2B leans in closer. She doesn't want to be pushy, at first she wanted to check if the man is alright. But the answer here is clearly "no".]
Regardless of our pasts we are all here now.
From all the places in the city, you pick dirt. Why?
no subject
[Wikus is startled out of his rising dramatics by 2B's question, his immediate confusion floating up to the surface of the wave of firefly-induced sorrow.]
I didn't- [His voice cracks a bit and he clears his throat, followed by a loud snuffle.] I didn't pick it, man.
no subject
[That wasn't a question, but a statement. She reaches out with her hand once again.]
The past can't be changed anymore. But why is your future shit? At least we're still alive.
no subject
I haven't got a life anymore. It's all ruined. I lost everything.
[Arms falling away to drape limply over his chest and against the ground, he stares blankly up at the sky, the occasional fresh tear tracking down his face. His left eye doesn't cry as much as his right anymore.]
I'm never getting any of it back
no subject
What word of encouragement could she say that wouldn't sound hollow?]
Then there's the two of us.
Though I didn't have much of a life to begin with.
no subject
Misery does love company...]
Yeah? What's your story?
[Distract him from his miserable life with your potentially miserable life.]
no subject
[2B's gaze strays away from Wikus for a moment. This is news for people of this world, but for hers it should be common knowledge by now... still, it's painful to say.]
My whole life, my existence was filled with combat and bloodshed. I didn't want it. I resented it. But even then, there were some rays of light. It wasn't much, but...
It's all gone now. The enemy has infiltrated YoRHa, killed everyone. Killed or took over - made us kill each other. There's only two of us left. Everyone else, almost everyone dear to me... are... gone.
[Her voice trembles at those last words. Even if she had time to fully realize it, admitting it isn't any easier.]
no subject
Tears are flowing freely again, and he manages to choke out some words despite the tightness in his throat.]
Fok, man, that's awful. That's- you've-
[And there he goes sobbing again. He knows he shouldn't be this upset over someone else's troubles, but knowing really isn't helping him be any less upset.]
no subject
But because of this familiar feeling she can't just get out and leave.]
Yes. I've seen a lot of suffering. I wish it'd stop.
[With a quiet sigh, she sits down next to Wikus, joining him in the dirt.
So that's how it feels like. The muddy earth doesn't impair her functionality in any way, however...]
It's only more miserable down here.
Both of us should get up. Even if that's all we can do now.
no subject
But the least he can do is try and cheer up a bit for her. Forcing himself into a sitting position, he does his best to stop sobbing long enough to talk.]
I'm sorry. I'm not usually this- this- [Pathetic?] -Emotional. I th-think maybe something was up with that fokken firefly.
[The timing of the bite was awfully suspicious.]
no subject
[Said someone who looks like a human but isn't, to someone who doesn't look entirely human anymore, but is one nonetheless.]
You feel them for a reason.
[Speaking of which. 2B gives Wikus time to compose himself, then asks a question while her head turns in curiosity.]
Firefly?
no subject
[He doesn't really mean it, he's just hurting. Anyway, Prawns have feelings too. There's no escape.
He sniffs and snuggles and breathes deeply and manages to calm down a bit.]
Yeah, there was- there was this little glowing bug. The little bastard fokken bit me, man.
no subject
[2B doesn't know of an insect that can cause this, but she's no expert. Besides, human biology is very different than what she's used to.]
But, even if this is caused by a bug, it's still our emotions. If you feel like that again...
There are others who know how it's like.
[It almost feels like hypocrisy, this bit coming from her. But saying it out loud made 2B feel a little better about herself, too.]
no subject
[He's developed intolerances to dairy and processed grains that he didn't use to have, for one.]
Maybe it's the normal way Prawn react to bug bites.
[He's avoiding talking about his shitty feelings, eyes clenching shut for a moment at 2B's offered comfort. When he opens then again, he holds out a hand.]
I'm Wikus, by the way. And... Thsnks, man.
no subject
[2B sounds thoughtful again, and not just because of the insects. From what Wikus says it sounds like his body wasn't always like this. She suspects this is also a big reason why he's feeling the way he does now.
But she doesn't press it either. He doesn't need more reminders.]
I'm 2B.
[She reaches out for a somewhat awkward handshake. At least she learnt how these things are supposed to go, now.]
no subject
His eyebrows go up a but at the name.]
Interesting name. Don't suppose you have a sibling called Not-To-Be.
[That is the question.]
no subject
[2B looks confused as she doesn't get the obvious joke.]
My designation is YoRHa unit 2 type B. But it's a lot to say, so "2B" is fine...
no subject
I'm sorry, that sounds more like- like a classification than a name?
no subject
I am an artificially created android after all.
[She sounds awkward, as if she just said something simultaneously really obvious and private.]
no subject
But- you look completely human, man!
[Seriously, Genji looks way less human!]
no subject
[The somewhat awkward explanation continues.]
no subject
[...did that come out wrong? That probably came out wrong.] I mean, uh-!
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