Because you don't actually care about them, do you?
( kromer smiles over her cup, head tilted slightly. )
It's just about how you feel! You've just gotta occupy yourself with something so you don't go stir-crazy here—even if that means inventing a couple problems, right? Kehehe! ( ah— ) Loathe as I am to say it, girl... I can't say I don't understand that feeling.
( she's been so. fucking. itchy without anything to do!!! )
[ it's like a bucket of ice water and a bag of bricks all in one.
don's breath is sharp and face hot, her cinq ID ringing loud in her ears (what reason do they have to argue if what is said is not true, why do their faces get so red if they are not guilty) and
yeah. at the very least, the second part of what she says is true. don quixote does care for the people around her, but she cares about herself far, far more. she cares about justice, but her justice specifically. her nails bite hard into her palms, pain doing nothing to help her now. ]
( kromer grins, ever delighted to get under someone's skin—even if she'd like it more if it were the girl's roommate instead of her—and sips her tea slowly.
it doesn't taste any different than it smells, and just to spit in don's wish for her to choke--kromer tips her head back slowly as she drinks the whole thing steadily. she starts to set it down, smile perfect
until it turns strained, and her grip loosens on the handle. the tea cup falls, hits the table and rolls off--it's quickly broken underfoot as kromer starts to laugh and stumble back from the table. it starts normal at first and starts to rise in pitch until it's indiscernible from short screams that come with her every breath. the fingers on each of her hands begin to melt together, the sleeves of her shirt bulging until they split and wings spring from them, the flesh stretched thin enough for her veins to be seen.
they slam against the table, steadying her as her body lengthens--it segments out, four legs to a segment as her breathing gets rougher, her screams more like gasps of air, and at the front a familiar giant maw pulls apart from her lower half. she draws herself up, no taller than she'd originally been but so much more imposing, and stares at don quixote.
her eyes are wide and bloodshot, her mouth open in abject surprise and pain--it hadn't felt like this before, it had felt so much more rapturous... yet this pain too is holy, pure, the rawest proof that she is alive and whole and human. kromer laughs again, pained but happy, and she leers at don quixote. )
...Gaze upon the purity of human flesh, ( she says, voice hoarse, ) the wholeness of human desire! This time-- I'll consume you-- Sinclair, Sinclair, Sinclair! Together at last, as we were meant to be--
( a case of mistaken identity, but it doesn't matter: kromer's lower maw presses against the table, acid beginning to eat through it and the ground below, hissing and popping as she moves to either crush the table underneath her or break it in half, to get to her desired prey. )
[ it's as disgusting as the first time it happened, so long ago. disgusting as she is in the railway, in the mirror dungeon, and the acid is a keen reminder on how it felt to melt at the hands of her. the mistaken identity makes her laugh, though, and don takes a teapot to chuck it at kromer's head before she moves to find a better weapon.
should she act the part? she's no good at acting, her one line as gubo was nothing short of stilted and unkind to the man, but-- but don knows sinclair, and she debates before deciding not. ]
Not even in thy dreams, Kromer!
[ she won't give the woman that satisfaction, even if don knows she might not remember. especially like this... no, even if there is another way, one she knows very well, how can don resist? pitchfork is her speed, small as its poke is, and she'll see how fast this kromer is before she decides the way to fight. ]
( the teapot smashes against her head and doesn't faze her; tea and blood streak down her forehead and she laughs, dragging one wing across the table to smash the rest of the porcelain away as two legs lift her up; another pair pushes her higher, using chairs that splinter beneath her weight; the table does too, slow until she manages to get on it and then fast as she rushes don.
the wings come down again, one after the other, seeking to strike her; she's no faster but no slower than before, and her smaller size makes it easier to hit her and be hit. )
[ at least at this size, maybe, don thinks she can take her on with no advantage herself.
dante's had to direct them less than before, and though it's been a month since then it had reawoken complacent instincts; she evades the first strike and brings her fork up to block the second, heels digging into the ground at the strength kromer still possesses in her state. it isn't as much as before, don notes, but that acid is still no joke.
she can still remember the way it seared through her, hot flashes of pain before a numbing nothing, the scream caught in her throat lodged there now; it had been fine in the end, and it would be fine now. they'd fought her many times in the railway too, and now in the mirror dungeon -- if anything, don is more than prepared for the way she moves than when they had fought.
well. time to take out the legs first, and she can deal with the rest after; during one of the exchanges she'll thrust off and aim for the closer with the points of it. yeah she'll get hit. that doesn't matter. ]
( yeah, she'll get hit—kromer doesn't hesitate, bringing one wing down on don quixote's side as the fork jams into one of her legs. it breaks the skin, and kromer— laughs, pained, the leg kicking at don quixote now that she's close.
this isn't how her sinclair fights, no. he's more direct—he aims for the heart, wanting to strike her down quickly, painfully, eagerly. if this isn't him... it isn't worth her time, and the next swing she has is more to knock don out of the way instead of actually hurting her.
she has to leave. she wants to find him. sinclair, sinclair— )
[ she's hit, she's knocked away, she's going to have bruises that span from shoulder to hip, and don gasps sharply as she relocates her shoulder back to where it ought to be without a second thought -- there's no way she's letting kromer leave, definitely not like this when she's a danger not just to sinclair, but to everyone in the city.
less vengeance, more justice. she works her way back to her feet and nimbly finds her way back to kromer's side, wrenching it from the leg and scurrying like the ratlet that woman calls her back up front.
... guess she has to-- ]
I won't forgive you, Kromer! Why not stay dead already?!
[ it's stilted, a bit, but the rage in the latter is honest and true; the pitchfork'll aim for her insides as much as don can manage it, driving forward with both hands. no, this won't be enough to kill her, the woman's tougher than that, but at least don can dig her heels in. ]
( she pauses in moving, desire overriding thought for a moment—the voice still doesn't sound like his, angry but not at the right thing, not in that growl he has, that murderous and primal instinct he only needs to surrender to and join her join her join her—
embrace the pain of living, to suffer is to be human, to ascend past his limits by becoming one with her with her with—
kromer turns to her voice and takes it in full-force, breath catching as the pitchfork drives straight into the meaty flash within her maw; don quixote goes with it, and the maw clamps shut. the acid leaking from it swells quickly inside, pouring from the sides around don and slowly beginning to eat away at her clothes and, more quickly, at her skin—not as fast as previous, not in minutes, but if she stays trapped too long, the fate that befell her before is sure to happen again...
the sudden pressure, the darkness and sticky wetness of familiar acid chewing through her clothes, her skin; don quixote is only lucky, really, that she'd taken care to pull her company jacket on whenever she sought to patrol the park here, given its more resistant nature. she presses against the walls and keeps her mouth shut tight, closing her eyes to keep the fumes from getting to them more than need be as she grasps for the pitchfork lost inside and finally
finally finding it, hands enclosing around the wood as acid ebbs at it.
it's different than just being melted alongside the others in battle. she's alone and it's all around her, the thrum of a living body surrounding her (squelching, pounding, moving as kromer undoubtedly refuses to remain still), and don inhales very slowly, nose and throat burning as the acidic fumes pull inside in the same breath, then exhales as she pushes the pitchfork with more force into the innards that grind against each other.
stab, stab, stab. like sinclair in his rage, with every strength left to him as he sought vengeance on the n corp inquisitors that had finished off his town.
at least it keeps her mind off the pain, teeth grinding as she works the fork in and through the walls, stabbing, scrapping, she'll damn well claw her way out of she's got to. ]
( kromer undoubtedly refuses to remain still, only her movements grow sluggish, then jerky as don quixote stabs at her insides— she half-shrieks, half-laughs as she swings around the tea party, body slamming against walls and chairs as she stumbles this way, that way. the bile inside of her sloshes higher and higher, blood mixing with it in a smell worse than before, and slowly
slowly, slowly, slowly,
in a way that must be tens of minutes despite it feeling like hours of stabbing, stabbing, stabbing,
kromer retches blood, wings shuddering, and her maw slides open with the undigested portion of its meal, with the blood and guts pulled from their place in her insides. the sick acidic smell of bile washes out with it, sticky and green—it burns the grass around her as quickly as it had bodies, staining the ground dark brown, and kromer herself looks pale, weary.
her swipe at don quixote is slow, without force or direction— her body is shuddering, and tears stream down her face. )
[ it takes all of don's focus not to let her stomach join the rest of kromer's on the grass, adrenaline aiding in her crawl away from the other as she pulls herself from the entanglement of blood and bile, of guts torn loose. the pitchfork feels glued to her hand and it might just be, really--
the sound of kromer draws her attention back and don stares at the pained weeping form of a monstrous woman who never knows when to quit. who would gladly, gleefully in her search for the person she's after tear down and destroy all before her. every part of her wants to leave kromer to die, to rot in her own pain until death takes her. she'd deserve it. she'd deserve it for the half-alive state she had displayed effie in to them.
but they are not the same.
don raises the pitchfork up and drives it down into kromer's head, drags it up and does it again, and again, and again, 'til at last there's no sound, no movement, no shuddering last attempts at an attack, and don leaves it in at the last swing down, breathing heavy with exertion as she finally, finally falls back.
she waits for the consequence.
the consequence does not come.
the sun has set. the night is coming. don drags in an inhale, lifting a shaking hand, and hopes the rest of the month is as fun as this was.
she has to find someone to tend to the burning on her hands and face. someplace to change and wash her clothes. she can't go home like this. it can wait, just a bit, as painful as the acid it, as electrifying as the battle was. eventually she'll text someone, eventually. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
( kromer smiles over her cup, head tilted slightly. )
It's just about how you feel! You've just gotta occupy yourself with something so you don't go stir-crazy here—even if that means inventing a couple problems, right? Kehehe! ( ah— ) Loathe as I am to say it, girl... I can't say I don't understand that feeling.
( she's been so. fucking. itchy without anything to do!!! )
no subject
don's breath is sharp and face hot, her cinq ID ringing loud in her ears (what reason do they have to argue if what is said is not true, why do their faces get so red if they are not guilty) and
yeah. at the very least, the second part of what she says is true. don quixote does care for the people around her, but she cares about herself far, far more. she cares about justice, but her justice specifically. her nails bite hard into her palms, pain doing nothing to help her now. ]
I hope thee choke on thy first sip, cur.
no subject
it doesn't taste any different than it smells, and just to spit in don's wish for her to choke--kromer tips her head back slowly as she drinks the whole thing steadily. she starts to set it down, smile perfect
until it turns strained, and her grip loosens on the handle. the tea cup falls, hits the table and rolls off--it's quickly broken underfoot as kromer starts to laugh and stumble back from the table. it starts normal at first and starts to rise in pitch until it's indiscernible from short screams that come with her every breath. the fingers on each of her hands begin to melt together, the sleeves of her shirt bulging until they split and wings spring from them, the flesh stretched thin enough for her veins to be seen.
they slam against the table, steadying her as her body lengthens--it segments out, four legs to a segment as her breathing gets rougher, her screams more like gasps of air, and at the front a familiar giant maw pulls apart from her lower half. she draws herself up, no taller than she'd originally been but so much more imposing, and stares at don quixote.
her eyes are wide and bloodshot, her mouth open in abject surprise and pain--it hadn't felt like this before, it had felt so much more rapturous... yet this pain too is holy, pure, the rawest proof that she is alive and whole and human. kromer laughs again, pained but happy, and she leers at don quixote. )
...Gaze upon the purity of human flesh, ( she says, voice hoarse, ) the wholeness of human desire! This time-- I'll consume you-- Sinclair, Sinclair, Sinclair! Together at last, as we were meant to be--
( a case of mistaken identity, but it doesn't matter: kromer's lower maw presses against the table, acid beginning to eat through it and the ground below, hissing and popping as she moves to either crush the table underneath her or break it in half, to get to her desired prey. )
no subject
should she act the part? she's no good at acting, her one line as gubo was nothing short of stilted and unkind to the man, but-- but don knows sinclair, and she debates before deciding not. ]
Not even in thy dreams, Kromer!
[ she won't give the woman that satisfaction, even if don knows she might not remember. especially like this... no, even if there is another way, one she knows very well, how can don resist? pitchfork is her speed, small as its poke is, and she'll see how fast this kromer is before she decides the way to fight. ]
no subject
the wings come down again, one after the other, seeking to strike her; she's no faster but no slower than before, and her smaller size makes it easier to hit her and be hit. )
no subject
dante's had to direct them less than before, and though it's been a month since then it had reawoken complacent instincts; she evades the first strike and brings her fork up to block the second, heels digging into the ground at the strength kromer still possesses in her state. it isn't as much as before, don notes, but that acid is still no joke.
she can still remember the way it seared through her, hot flashes of pain before a numbing nothing, the scream caught in her throat lodged there now; it had been fine in the end, and it would be fine now. they'd fought her many times in the railway too, and now in the mirror dungeon -- if anything, don is more than prepared for the way she moves than when they had fought.
well. time to take out the legs first, and she can deal with the rest after; during one of the exchanges she'll thrust off and aim for the closer with the points of it. yeah she'll get hit. that doesn't matter. ]
no subject
this isn't how her sinclair fights, no. he's more direct—he aims for the heart, wanting to strike her down quickly, painfully, eagerly. if this isn't him... it isn't worth her time, and the next swing she has is more to knock don out of the way instead of actually hurting her.
she has to leave. she wants to find him. sinclair, sinclair— )
Sinclair... Siiiinclaaaaair...♪
no subject
less vengeance, more justice. she works her way back to her feet and nimbly finds her way back to kromer's side, wrenching it from the leg and scurrying like the ratlet that woman calls her back up front.
... guess she has to-- ]
I won't forgive you, Kromer! Why not stay dead already?!
[ it's stilted, a bit, but the rage in the latter is honest and true; the pitchfork'll aim for her insides as much as don can manage it, driving forward with both hands. no, this won't be enough to kill her, the woman's tougher than that, but at least don can dig her heels in. ]
cw: vore, claustrophobia, digestion
—clair?
( she pauses in moving, desire overriding thought for a moment—the voice still doesn't sound like his, angry but not at the right thing, not in that growl he has, that murderous and primal instinct he only needs to surrender to and join her join her join her—
embrace the pain of living, to suffer is to be human, to ascend past his limits by becoming one with her with her with—
kromer turns to her voice and takes it in full-force, breath catching as the pitchfork drives straight into the meaty flash within her maw; don quixote goes with it, and the maw clamps shut. the acid leaking from it swells quickly inside, pouring from the sides around don and slowly beginning to eat away at her clothes and, more quickly, at her skin—not as fast as previous, not in minutes, but if she stays trapped too long, the fate that befell her before is sure to happen again...
and there's no one to save her this time. )
cw: vore, claustrophobia, digestion
the sudden pressure, the darkness and sticky wetness of familiar acid chewing through her clothes, her skin; don quixote is only lucky, really, that she'd taken care to pull her company jacket on whenever she sought to patrol the park here, given its more resistant nature. she presses against the walls and keeps her mouth shut tight, closing her eyes to keep the fumes from getting to them more than need be as she grasps for the pitchfork lost inside and finally
finally finding it, hands enclosing around the wood as acid ebbs at it.
it's different than just being melted alongside the others in battle. she's alone and it's all around her, the thrum of a living body surrounding her (squelching, pounding, moving as kromer undoubtedly refuses to remain still), and don inhales very slowly, nose and throat burning as the acidic fumes pull inside in the same breath, then exhales as she pushes the pitchfork with more force into the innards that grind against each other.
stab, stab, stab. like sinclair in his rage, with every strength left to him as he sought vengeance on the n corp inquisitors that had finished off his town.
at least it keeps her mind off the pain, teeth grinding as she works the fork in and through the walls, stabbing, scrapping, she'll damn well claw her way out of she's got to. ]
cw: canon-typical gore
slowly, slowly, slowly,
in a way that must be tens of minutes despite it feeling like hours of stabbing, stabbing, stabbing,
kromer retches blood, wings shuddering, and her maw slides open with the undigested portion of its meal, with the blood and guts pulled from their place in her insides. the sick acidic smell of bile washes out with it, sticky and green—it burns the grass around her as quickly as it had bodies, staining the ground dark brown, and kromer herself looks pale, weary.
her swipe at don quixote is slow, without force or direction— her body is shuddering, and tears stream down her face. )
G...ghkk... Ghkkkkkh...
cw lightly extensive head trauma
the sound of kromer draws her attention back and don stares at the pained weeping form of a monstrous woman who never knows when to quit. who would gladly, gleefully in her search for the person she's after tear down and destroy all before her. every part of her wants to leave kromer to die, to rot in her own pain until death takes her. she'd deserve it. she'd deserve it for the half-alive state she had displayed effie in to them.
but they are not the same.
don raises the pitchfork up and drives it down into kromer's head, drags it up and does it again, and again, and again, 'til at last there's no sound, no movement, no shuddering last attempts at an attack, and don leaves it in at the last swing down, breathing heavy with exertion as she finally, finally falls back.
she waits for the consequence.
the consequence does not come.
the sun has set. the night is coming. don drags in an inhale, lifting a shaking hand, and hopes the rest of the month is as fun as this was.
she has to find someone to tend to the burning on her hands and face. someplace to change and wash her clothes. she can't go home like this. it can wait, just a bit, as painful as the acid it, as electrifying as the battle was. eventually she'll text someone, eventually. ]