anomaly 012 . a demotion

[dinosize]

CONTENT WARNINGS for violence, abuse, suicidal thoughts, catatonic freakout, blood, demotion, idefk just CONTENT WARNINGS

[ spam ]

[ When he runs, he runs to the CES. Fleeing up the stairway, taking them three at a time, panicking, panicking. He hurt someone, he hurt someone badly, and the whole of the ship presses in on him, traps him, corners him like a hunted rabbit. He slams out onto the deck, leaving smears of blood on the door, from his hands, his bloodied hands.

When he gets to the CES, the door won't open.

The compass, his warden item, doesn't do anything. The needle spins idly. There's no response. There's nothing. It won't let him in.

Stephen slams a hand against the door, leaving another imprint, drying and sticky. Vex's blood. His blood. His hands hurt. Something might be broken. He's broken.

Stephen slides down to the ground, tense and panting, almost hyperventilating. He needs to get out. He needs to get out. ]



[ ooc note: Stephen has been demoted because of reasons. I'm okay with multiple people tagging in (timey wimey, etc). He will be potentially violent if anyone touches him, but he's not really a combat character, and anyone well-trained should be able to subdue him. Alternatively, he can probably be talked down. ]

[ cabin spam, later ]

[ He cleans himself up at the remaining sink, and curls up on the bed, pulling an unnecessary, heavy blanket over himself. All of what's happened seems too enormous to really grasp, so he doesn't try. He stares blankly. Eventually, he goes and eats something from the fridge, which appears to have lingered where the shower went away. And then he curls back up. ]

Comments

[lydiascreams]

[It's almost like he's in some kind of shock. Lydia kneels on the floor, sitting back on her heels so she can give him some room. She glances over her shoulder just to make sure they are still safe then focuses on him again.]

Stephen. Look at me. Take a deep breath and look at me. [Her voice is calm but firm.]

[dinosize]

[ He does. Biting down on his knuckles, tasting what might be his own blood or someone else's. But he does look up at her.

Deep breath might be a bit more difficult to come by. ]

[lydiascreams]

[When he does look at her, she relaxes a little and tries to give him a reassuring, very slight smile.]

Okay. Now I need to know if you're hurt. I see you hand.

[dinosize]

[ A tight nod, but Vex is hurt much, much worse. It all seems so stupid and trivial. So he might've broken a bone in his hand, so he cut the other up a little with glass. He doesn't want the pain to stop. ]

[lydiascreams]

[She's focusing on him but keeping her ears peeled for anything else. He's hurt. Okay. That means she needs to get help to take him to the infirmary.]

Is anyone else hurt?

[dinosize]

[ He's gasping. His chest hurts unbelievably, like someone is crushing his lungs. ]

Vex.

[ Doesn't know if that even sounds really like Vex's name, the way he's shaking. ]

[lydiascreams]

Shh, Stephen.

[Her eyes widen at his reaction and she reaches out to place her hands on his arms, to soothe him. But stops herself and pulls her hands back.]

Stephen, listen. It's okay. Whatever happened. It'll be okay. We're at the Barge, remember?

[punched_hitler]

[Now that Steve at least has a name, he's combing the ship for Stephen. He doesn't know what happened, or why, and he wants the story from someone who can talk.

For all he knows, this is Vex's fault, although he's not placing blame anywhere until he learns more.

Stephen's not in his room, so Steve keeps looking. He's nearing the CES when he hears voices, and picks up the pace - especially after he thinks he hears Lydia say Stephen.]

[dinosize]

[ Doesn't even matter. The Barge just means that he's trapped here. There's no way out except through, except Clementine, and he doesn't have the slightest idea where to start there - he's not good at this, he's not suited for this, he doesn't even know why the Admiral has the slightest bit of confidence in his ability. He's just proved that he's not good enough to do this, and now there's a teenage girl trying to talk him down. How low can he get?

He folds his head into his arms and tries to make the cramped space slow down his breathing.

The blood is drying on his hands. ]

[lydiascreams]

Stephen.

[She repeats his name, she needs to get him out of here, to a safer place. She reaches for her communicator, but when she hears steps somewhere behind her, she is fairly sure she's too late.

When she sees it's Steve and not someone she should fear, and she relaxes.]

Something happened.

[punched_hitler]

I know.

[Then again, maybe that's obvious because Steve hadn't exactly stopped to clean Vex's blood off his clothes before searching for Stephen.

He approaches carefully, glancing from Lydia to Stephen. The latter doesn't appear violent at the moment - anything but - but that doesn't mean he's going to let his guard down.] I just don't know what, exactly. [He smiles tightly.] Vex couldn't exactly tell me.

Maybe you can.

Are you okay, Lydia?

[She seems fine, but he wants to check.]

[dinosize]

[ He keeps trying to make himself calm down, make his mind go clear the way he would before fencing or shooting tournaments. But this doesn't act like ordinary nervousness would, it doesn't just go, and when he starts crying it's tears of frustration and pain and anger.

He looks up to Steve, and shakes with one sob and another before he manages to speak. ]

You can - you can - take me to Zero.

[ Interspersed with the little spasms, his lungs clenching tight. He wipes at his eyes. He can face this. ]

[lydiascreams]

I'm okay. He said he was hurt.

[Just as she reassures Steve when she hears Stephen, and then her attention is on him again. She can't help but lightly touch his arm when he starts to cry. It's almost like he's having a panic attack. She's seen Stiles like this once before, or close to it.]

Why would we take you to zero? Stephen, what happened?

[punched_hitler]

[Steve's seen plenty of guys with shellshock (okay, that's not what it's called anymore, but it still seems appropriate, just at the moment, because Stephen seems like he really is in shock) and being anything but calm, here, isn't going to help, he figures.

He squats down to get more on Stephen's level, but doesn't grab him - just puts a hand on his arm, carefully.]

Then we should get it looked at.

Stephen, I'm not gonna take you to Zero. Do you really think you need to be down there? You need to tell us what happened. [Because Vex can't.] I'll take you back to your cabin.

[He figures if Stephen needs to be confined, that's the better place.]

[dinosize]

[ He flinches violently away from Steve's touch. ]

Don't - don't touch me.

[ He doesn't want anyone to touch him. He doesn't even want to be touching himself.

A particularly vicious sob/spasm makes him shake with his hands in fists. His right hand is bleeding from the glass in his palm.

But after that he gets to his feet, ready or not. ]

What - what's there to tell? I hurt him. Then - I - kept hurting him. Didn't stop.

[lydiascreams]

[When he gets up, Lydia pulls back, standing up a second later. She glances over at Steve, glad that he's there in case-- someone needs to stop Stephen from running away, or hurting himself further.]

You hurt Vex? What did he do?

[Because Stephen is a good person. He wouldn't just hurt him for no reason.

Now that he's standing, though, and Lydia can take a better look at him she notices the healing bite marks on his throat, eyes widening slightly when she does, but she says nothing.]

[punched_hitler]

[Steve isn't necessarily put off when Stephen jerks away, but he doesn't try to touch him again. He knows he can run the guy down if he has to, but he'd rather not having him bolt in the first place. So he stays where he is, standing up when Stephen does the same.

Although he addresses Lydia first:] He did - beat him up pretty badly, but he's in the infirmary now.

What I don't know is what started it. [Said more to Stephen now.] Something must have started it. [Because he's with Lydia. He doesn't believe Stephen did this unprovoked, even if it doesn't make things right.]

And you did stop - he's not dead.

[So that's something.]

[dinosize]

Just take me - somewhere.

[ He doesn't want to talk about it, and doesn't want to be touched, and doesn't want any of this to be happening. He won't look at Lydia, and barely looks at Steve. ]

[lydiascreams]

[Well, between what Steve tells her and Stephen's request, she doesn't think taking him to the Infirmary is a good idea at all.

Lydia focuses on Steve, since he's the only one actually looking at her.]

Maybe we should take him to his Cabin. Ask Jack to come by and look at his hands. [And considering the bite marks, at least in his cabin, no one will yell at her if she wants to add a Mountain Ash barrier outside his room.]

[punched_hitler]

[Steve just nods, his mouth twisting. But of course, he can't force answers out of Stephen. He'd rather just get him contained, get him cleaned up, and... deal with this when he's ready to talk. Or when Vex is, although he's still taking everything Vex says with a grain of salt.]

Yeah.

[He glances to Stephen - still not touching him, but indicating that if Stephen starts moving, Steve will follow.] Let's get you back to your cabin.

[Maybe he'll feel comfortable enough there to talk.]