fifteen ♢ spam

[versusnurture]

spam } barge, day 1

[Abigail is different. Noticeably so - but not, precisely, abnormally.]

[She does not realize this. She isn't trying to fit in. She is too sharp, too vicious, too angry to make any kind of effort at concealment. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, she doesn't look out of place.]

[She looks like a girl who has snapped. She looks like a girl who is graduating.]

[Fury simmers in her eyes; she keeps her eyes forward until someone speaks to her, and then she snaps and snarls like a trapped dog. For the most part, she stays with Ben or in public areas, where people mill around, where she can get decently lost in the crowd - but back her into a corner when she's alone and she's likely to lash out with any weapons she has to hand.]

spam } port, remainder

[The planet is arid. Abigail has been set free. Curiously, this doesn't make her feel any better. She doesn't feel free - she feels like she's been released into a trap.]

[The smart thing to do would be to ally herself with the people in the city, and for a while she tries. She can be found among them for the first day on the ground, but she's still too anxious to stay for long, so she ventures out into the fringes, where she can count the number of people around her.]

spam } port, for ceres

[She's been here for two days. Nothing's changed. She isn't suspected as an outsider by the people down here, but then again this is an interminable place; she can't escape here because there's nowhere to escape to, and she's still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ben can't be far away, no matter what he said, not this version of him. He believes too strongly.]

[When she ventures into the center of the city again, for lack of anything more concrete to do, it isn't long before she runs across someone she knows. Her fear response is immediate and noticeable, her pupils dilating, breath quickening, muscles tensing. Anger follows quickly, paranoia right on its heels.]

Did he send you?

spam } port, for ben

[It's worse this time than when Hannibal killed her. It was a gentle death, this time, but in its own way terrible. It was not intimate. And now . . .]

[Now everything hurts. Despite herself, despite what she knows and where she is, she cries out for Ben. Quickly enough she stifles her cries, but hidden in an alley in the center of the city, she can't imagine she'll avoid his attention for long.]

[Not that it matters. She hurts too much to move.]


( ooc; abigail is unaffected for the desperate to deliver plot! her mirror barge backstory is here. )

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[ Spam ]

[warisart]

[He'd honestly thought she would fare better, here; she'd been so unhappy for so long. She would never have his faith, never find fulfillment in service as he does, never feel safe in a world she completely failed to understand. Ben loves Abigail, but in full knowledge that she was only wilting and dying in the Barge environment, he reluctantly admitted that maybe this is for a purpose. The Admiral is merciful. Perhaps he wanted those that would never flourish in his service to be given a new chance here.

So Ben took Abigail down to the planet, he escorted her to where she should be safe amongst others that shared more with her than he'd ever seen aboard the Barge, and he left to fulfill his own duties.

Then the prayer medallion around his neck goes cold, and now he's pissed. Pausing only to send off a request for her resurrection to the Admiral, Ben blurs across the distance - he doesn't need to be physically close to not be far away - until he's appearing in the mouth of the alley.]

Abigail?

[ Spam ]

[versusnurture]

Ben?

[At first she doesn't know where she is. She thinks he's her Ben, her warden, the one who takes care of her - who knows what it means to take care of someone. A faint smile flickers on her lips despite the pain.]

'M okay. It isn't that -

[And then she remembers. This isn't the Barge. This isn't safe or even an approximation of safety. And this is the man who let her be hurt to give her faith.]

[With a muffled shriek, she tries to sit up and scramble away - only gets about halfway before she collapses onto her hands in the dust.]

No!

[ Spam ]

[warisart]

[She smiles at him and for a moment, his anger cools as much by the unexpected comfort of that as the surprise. She doesn't smile. Maybe this was the right decision. Maybe...

Then she reacts to something that Ben can't recognize and he goes tense again, eyes tracking her movement like predator to prey. He moves forward, still quickly but at a normal pace, and doesn't try to reach out to her even when she stumbles. He does place himself between her and the opening to the rest of the city, deceptively fine-boned hands raised and turned palm out to her.]

Abigail stop. Let me help you. Abigail!

[ Spam ]

[versusnurture]

No!

[He says help and she hears hurt - which, to be fair, matches up with exactly one-half of her memories. Here she was helpless, here she was hurt, here she was damaged irrevocably. Even Ben knew it, that's why he sent her out here.]

[But that Abigail is not the Abigail who's here right now. She fights as well as she can, though it's a struggle even to get to her feet. Once she's upright, she sways, glaring at him, his fingers, all ten, twelve, fifteen of them.]

You've never helped me.

[semifreakingnormal]

[Scott's been coming too and from the planet since they arrived. He's gone alone, unseen, unfollowed. Some secrecy right now is important while he turns his pack. He doesn't care if their' really human, or just look like it: in a few days, they'll be dead anyway.

He's heading back to the ship when he runs into Abigail. Claws and fangs are a staple with him as at the mutton chops: he smiles when he sees her.]

Hey, Abigail.

[versusnurture]

[Abigail hasn't ever seen him like that before. She forces herself not to react, telling herself if she shows surprise she'll die. And to someone like Scott - he's a sadist. It won't be a gentle death.]

[She forces a smile.]

Scott.

I was just looking for Ben. [Lie.]

[semifreakingnormal]

[He takes a casual step forward, then another, moving to walk around her.]

You're good, you know. At lying, I mean. But that was a lie.

I don't really care, you're not my problem. I'm just curious. What're you really doing?

[heavenlymisandrist]

[ Ceres' expression is blank as ever. She wasn't expecting to find a familiar face here, but she's not overly surprised either. Abigail just looks so pathetic now, it makes her heart ache. ]

No one sent me.

[versusnurture]

I don't believe you.

[Her hands form weak fists. The taser's still in her pocket, but against someone like Ceres, would it even make a difference?]

I wish everyone would stop lying and - acting like they're something they're not. Just tell me what you want.

[heavenlymisandrist]

[ She doesn't move. The poor girl is like a kicked puppy. ]

I want to be free.

What is it that you wish for?

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[Towards the top of Elena's list of concerns is Abigail. After everything has seemingly gone quiet, she goes looking for Abigail. She remembers when she came to, the few she dared reach out to said she hadn't been acting herself (she apparently didn't even look like herself) and that she'd been less than human. Elena's tried not to think of the implications of that at all since then, but with this sudden disturbance, she's finding herself wishing that she was at least more than human right now.]

[Elena seeks her out and eventually finds her on the deck. She wastes no time in coming to her and wrapping her arms around her tightly.]

Abigail, are you okay?

[versusnurture]

[The surprise of hands on her is almost enough to make Abigail lash out. As it is, she reaches for the taser that came with her in her pocket and half-pushes Elena's hands away before she realizes who it is. Her fingers close tight on Elena's wrists, but she doesn't hug her. Can't afford to be caught like that, she thinks, her heart jackhammering.]

I'm fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine.

[She gives Elena a pleading look.]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[Elena takes a half-step back and then after a moment a full one. That's not exactly the greeting she was expecting although on second thought she's not sure what she was expecting.]

Is it? Because that doesn't sound all that convincing.

[praesidium]

[Abigail Hobbs with a dark look in her eyes. Now there's something interesting.]

[Alana approaches her with a curious and concerned look, much like you would a wounded animal. She's not particularly concerned about Abigail lashing out at her specifically, however. It might be slightly more interesting if she did, of course, but only because it would not be expected. But Alana is interested in seeing how Abigail is going to manage in the coming days - regardless of whether or not she's from this fabled other Barge or not.]

[Things are clearly going extremely wrong for everyone on-board and Abigail will be no exception.]

Abigail? What are you doing out here?

[versusnurture]

[It never occurs to her to doubt Alana. It probably should. Alana's no more of a guaranteed safe space than Ben is. There's just something about her that seems trustworthy.]

[Abigail's brow furrows and she looks away, shrugging.]

I'm just looking around. At the door, at - everything.

What are you doing?

[praesidium]

Trying to figure out who's still themselves.

[Not a complete lie, but certainly half of one. It would be nice to get a headcount from those who are from that other Barge, to know which ones she can toy with.]

Are you-- [Alana stops like she realizes that's a stupid question.] How are you holding up?

[spam]

[walkingmeltdown]

[She's always been someone else's problem, to him - never standing out or special enough for him to torment personally, just another cowed face in the crowd that might get burned if they stand in the wrong place when he gets mad or act like they're getting out of line. He knows she's an inmate, and one without special powers. One that doesn't belong to any of his usual allies. That's all he cares about.

With the barge malfunctioning he's been stomping around, ignoring the darkness around him since he brings his own eerie light source wherever he goes, blasting holes in the wall for his minor amusement and burning anyone who is foolish enough to not move out of blast radius.

He might in fact have just finished "dealing" with another inmate when he noticed her standing there. Glaring at him.]

You. Girl. What do you think you're looking at?

[versusnurture]

[He's not Derek Powers right now, she can tell that at a glance. He's Blight. She wonders if the version of him she knows would be disgusted with him right now, and is pretty sure he would. This creature has no nuance.]

[She regards him just a little too coolly to be truly neutral.]

I thought I was looking at you.

Maybe I'm looking at something else.

[A thing, not a person. Her fingers worry together despite her words. A bad idea and she knows it, but there's something insulting about seeing such a strong presence so corrupted and bastardized.]

[walkingmeltdown]

[Oh, she's right to think the one she knows would be disgusted, and he will be once he's back in his right frame of self. In fact he might be downright horrified.

(It would be only the smallest of comforts, though it would be one, to know she could tell in a glance that this wasn't him. That he wasn't right.)]

Oh, really? And what else is there around here that there'd be?

[His voice is harsher and rougher than she'll have ever heard before. Constantly rougher, constantly growling, that's who Blight is now. He comes closer towards her, his hands glowing fists, looming.]

spam

[secretasshole]

[David follows her for a while. He has no agenda, no plans, isn't entirely certain if he'll stay permanently or wander off on his own, isn't even entirely certain if this is the same girl he's come to care for in his time on board the ship.

But it's better to be here out in the open than hiding below decks. This is the first time he's been free in a very long time.]

We should find water.

spam

[versusnurture]

[She feels him behind her. Slows when he speaks, but doesn't stop. He can catch up with her, or not.]

Which way? Or should we strike out blindly in some direction or other?

spam

[secretasshole]

There should be potable drinking water half a mile to the west.

[Unless his equipment is completely malfunctioning which. Honestly wouldn't surprise him much.]

[spam, day 1]

[myironeyes]

[He rustles by, a shadow, says nothing. He leaves a knife on the empty chair beside hers, a good one, well balanced, sturdy, keen. Metal is easy for him to acquire and redistribute. Perhaps she is graduating. But perhaps not. Marsh spent too much of his own life on violent defiance not to give her the means when he can.]

[spam, day 1]

[versusnurture]

[There's no reason for this. She doesn't understand it. The Marsh she knows has nothing good to say to her, and she never had enough experience with the Marsh here to understand his motives. It's suspicious to say the least. Makes her want to plunge the knife into his side.]

[But it also makes her want to thank him. Besides, she knows trying to kill him like that probably wouldn't do him any good.]

[She hems and haws for a while, trying to decide. Then she goes after him, the knife concealed on her person - for gratitude or something else, she doesn't know yet.]

[spam, day 1]

[myironeyes]

[It is, of course, not concealed to him, bright blue in his ironsight. He pauses when he sees her, inclines his head in a nod.]

Will it suffice?