tinylittlebox | day 235 ● an empathy test

Entry tags:

● imeeji ● emotion share

day 235 ● an empathy test

Wednesday:
☑ Blade: restraint; blindfold; food (9 pt)
☑ Cobalt: food; movie; hug; pampering; teaching (8 pt)
☑ Hiryuu: worries (3 pt)
☑ Hurricane: never have i ever (3 pt)
☑ Levi: hug; hair washing (4 pt)
☑ Moxie: hug; worries; activity (7 pt)
☑ Sabre: hold hands; confession (6 pt)
☑ Shrike: hold hands (1 pt)
☑ Thorn: piercing; hug (6 pt)
☑ Yugi: hold hands; learning (2 pt)

K:
☑ A: worries (3 pt)
☑ D.Va: confession; hold hands; fast car; activity (12 pt)
☑ Hiryuu: stab (5 pt)
☑ Hurricane: confession (5 pt)
☑ Skylark: fight; broken rib (10 pt)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um... we can still use our abilities though, can't we? So it wouldn't technically be cheating to do all of this using Cloud Nine, I suppose. That way, nobody could tell what we really thought.

...I'm using one already.

[A beat. Somewhere, underneath everything that's So Loud, a hint of hesitation]

Is it working?

You are? What does it do? I'm sorry, Thorn-san, I'm not really very familiar with Bad End's powers...

You can turn any emotion that's already there up very high. Like... the volume on music, almost.

Oh...! Is that what-- back then...? It's definitely working, if it was...

...good.

[Satisfaction, there down deep under the Very Loud determination]

It was like things sort of... changed channel. But if that's what it was, then I won't worry about it.

[And... she isn't. Because she trusts him implicitly.]

Is there anything I can help you with, this time? If we did a lot of little things, they'd all add up.

[oh]

[that]

[She feels it, way down below everything else - the startled pause, the way he seems to skip a step, the emotional equivalent of missing a stair in the dark. Something fond, after that, taken aback by the trust]

...yeah. Let's do some things, then.

Thorn-san...?

[Yes, she felt that.

[Wednesday hesitates for a moment; she feels herself smile. She's glad. She knows she's been pushy, dependant, a pain - she's got no right to ask for anything of the sort. She's so glad, so deeply grateful that she has all the same.]

... is there anything you'd like to do? I don't think it matters what we pick, as long as it's new to us.

[Something rears up at that - offended, almost, and he has the self awareness to dial down the level of Machai Provocation enough to let her feel it more. A pointed, sidelong sort of a feeling, at the idea that she's ever been anything like pushy or a pain.]

[But his consideration turns back to the question, thoughtful]

...want to give me another piercing?

Edited 2020-05-07 05:06 (UTC)

[The funny thing is, even as she feels the sting of it - should she have known him better? - it feels good. She's glad to be told otherwise, to be wrong. It makes her feel warm. Comfortable--

[She's startled out of it by Thorn's next words, though.]

A-- really? A piercing?

[Give her a moment or two to process that.]

... w-would you really be okay with that? I wouldn't be hurting you?

[He reaches up, absently, to tug at one of his earrings]

Something tells me I'm used to it.

Well...

[Take a deep breath.

[She trusts him. She trusts him when he says this is okay. That - well, that means it must be okay, mustn't it? So don't act like he doesn't know what he's talking about for once, Wednesday!]

A-all right. Can you show me how to do it?

...sure.

Let's see what they've got.

[He wanders over to where they have the stuff for tattoos and piercings - considers the gun, which he doesn't know how to use before electing a long piercing needle. He isn't really nervous, either about the needle or about letting her do it]

Okay. First we'll need to sterilize this, and swab the spot on my ear where it needs to go in.

Okay. I think I can do that.

[She takes a look at the supplies; she pales a little, a skip of nervousness passing through her as she reaches for one of the swabs.

[She hesitates just before dabbing it to his ear.]

Um... do you think... I might look good with another one?

[He's not nervous; he doesn't so much as shift when she dabs at the area]

Sure. It never hurts to be able to wear more.

Then... maybe you could do a second pair for me, afterward?

[Wednesday draws back, discards the swab. Hmm... it'd probably help to wear gloves for the next bit, wouldn't it?

[She tugs on a pair, before reaching for the sterilized needle.]

Um... so... do I just... do it?

Yeah.

[He tips his head, so his left side is toward her - brushes the hair forward, and holds it out of the way]

Go about the same distance as between the first and the second one.

Hmm. So... about here.

[She's been thinking very carefully about this!

[He'll feel it as a touch of the needle first and foremost: then nothing for a time, but he'll feel that as well, through the bond, as she nerves herself up. One deep breath later - no, two - he'll feel (or maybe not as much as she fears?) the prick of the needle as she quickly jabs it through.]

I ...didn't hurt you too much, did I?

[And then... she's not sure.]

Do I take it out?

[He doesn't flinch, though she feels the spark of pain, bright and sharp; he doesn't even bat an eyelid]

Yeah. You'll need to put an earring in the hole, too.

[Oh...

[Is this really okay...?

[She's done it now, though: she trusts him. He wouldn't have asked if he wasn't sure. Quickly, she pulls the pin free and cautiously dabs at the piercing with another swab, before heading to the supplies.

[She returns after a moment holding a small silver stud.]

Will this be okay? I could bring a few more if you wanted.

That one's fine.

You have good taste.

[Something warmer, more like appreciation. After a beat or two, cautiously, he lowers the level of the emotion Machai is amplifying, so that she can feel it more]

Thank you...! I'm glad you like it.

[Yes - she feels that warmth now. It makes her smile, stokes a corresponding glow in her that makes her glad she tried this, that she was something enough to be allowed it. She wipes off the piercing site once more, gently, before threading the stud through it. It's a familiar enough motion, but it feels very different to be doing such a thing for someone else.]

Oh, do you want a mirror?

[There's probably one here somewhere...?}

[It feels strange for him to be letting her do it, but he stays still for the last bit and doesn't put away]

...yeah. Let me see.

[Here: Wednesday hands him a mirror. Yes, there might have been one on the table, but it didn't occur to her until she was most of the way through digging the compact from her purse. It makes her feel a little silly, but... well, she's done it now.]

Does it look all right?

[A flutter of nerves, there.]

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