The Common Room Showing 951-1,000 of 1,208

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[XD]

Rosemarie stayed silent for a while, the light of fight slowly leaving her gaze. She simply sat, looking up at the glowering Indian with an expression that had gained more calm, but was also filled with pain. She couldn't even move her hand, his grip was so tight, and extremely painful. No, she began to realize she hadn't listened to Raven as much as she thought she had, and it was going to suck for her, she knew, but it was her problem. Raven didn't have to worry about it, or her in the situation. She hadn't yet proved it to him, but she was dying to show that he very well could take care of herself, no matter how many times she messed it up. She began to realize what she should have done instead of what she did do. She shouldn't have let the girl walk away, not without threatening her some more, making her stay quiet. Even if she had threatened her, made her promise that she would tell the doctors the story she had come up with, how could she have been sure she did? Obviously, she didn't scare the girl like she scared some others, and Phoenix was a great actress- she easily could have lied about telling her little story. "I learned she's not weak, okay? Now I have to pay for it, and she will most likely make my life hell, but what does it matter with you and your life? She doesn't care about you, I doubt she knows who you are. You don't have to worry about anything." Rosemarie was trying to hold her snappy retorts, though her eyes were hard, fixing on him expectantly. She was still trying to keep her distance, pressed against the couch as close as she could be to the furniture. Raven had just said he was done helping her, so why worry he could somehow get involved? As far as she could guess, he was perfectly safe.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"I have to worry about you, you stupid idiot. You're my girlfriend and I love you. Do you have any ideas how many times I've let down the people I love, inadá?" As he spoke, Raven's grip began to slacken, just slightly. The fire in his eyes was doused--not fully, but close enough--and a gentler form of anger took the place of it. "Too many times, that's how many. I'm sick of it. So yes, while you are an idiot, and yes, while you're going to be miserable and I'm going to like that, I'm not going to completely abandon you. That's not how this relationship thing works." He finally released her hand and sat back on the couch, close enough to her to be a threat but not an immediate danger. "Don't get me wrong, though: I'm still furious at you for being so stupid. Dig yourself out of your gave," he said to the wall, "by yourself, and I'll consider your worth proven. Then we'll see about making up. Until then, you're on your own, sweetheart."

((Fade?))

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

The fight in Rosemarie was completely gone now, and she gave herself a big mental kick. How could she have been so cruel to him? She couldn't have thought he didn't care enough to not worry anyway? She went limp then, feeling a bit defeated and incredibly guilty. You are a very shitty girlfriend, she told herself, and carefully got off of the couch, still not sure if he would lash out at her again. No, their relationship didn't work that way, and she could feel the need to apologize come on, but not now. She would wait, wait until she could finally do something decent and not stupid. That would get him in a better mood, and she would apologize then. Now, she had to go and get taught a lesson. Without a word to her sadist and clenching her hand that was an ugly purple color and had pins and needles in it, Rosemarie walked out the door to dig herself out of her grave.

[Fade.]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix didn't usually let her skunks out inside of the asylum, but it was quite early in the morning and hardly anyone but the required guards were on duty, and so she had made an exception. Both Bärin and Katze were with her now, the former curled up on one of the armchairs (actually much like a housecat) and the latter being allowed to toy with the loose end of the bandages that still covered her left hand. It didn't matter much if they were torn--she was getting them changed in a few hours--and Katze was having a remarkably good time batting at the ends of the white gauze strips, which made it worth it. The little redhead wore a large smile as she waved her hand teasingly above the black-and-white skunk's head, allowing the end of the bandage to hang down. Katze was up on her back paws, trying (and failing) to catch it with playful little squeaks of frustration.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Ahhhhs. :3]

A pink figure walked through the common room with a pinched face and somewhat sour expression. She had been up nearly all night and had only gotten up now when she knew it was pointless to even attempt to go back to sleep despite how tired she was. Her nightmares, even small ones that weren't that bad, always made her fatigued but no matter what, she could hardly ever go back to sleep no matter what medication they gave her. Cleo was basically a dark-haired zombie at this point, hardly even noticing the redhead and not noticing the skunk she was playing with at all. This early in the morning, she had hoped it would be possible for her to get out of her dorm into another environment and hopefully take a small nap. She sat down on the armchair, not noticing the skunk until she nearly sat on him. The small creature gave out a yowl of protest that mixed in with Cleo's cry of surprise. She jumped out immediately, spinning around with wide eyes that were no longer sleepy at the skunk hissing at her.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix's spun around, and in an instant her expression changed from a smile of amusement to a snarl of rage. Pale blue eyes flashed, and she was now poised with one hand raised as if to pounce on the person who had made Bärin yowl aloud right then and there--and she was. But she saw a second later that it was not Rosemarie Toom, the redheaded sadist. It was a small girl dressed in pink, staring with enormous eyes at the brown-and-white rodent in the chair. Immediately, while the stranger's back was turned, the little redhead relaxed and wiped her expression clear. A small smile took the place of her snarl. "Hallo," she greeted, amiably enough. Her tone was friendly, though a little worried, and ever-so-slightly amused. "That's my skunk you nearly sat on. Do I need to move him?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Cleo had been about to yell for a guard to demand an exterminator when the girl spoke. The dark-haired girl turned, a hand on her temple as she did so. "That's yours?" She asked, trying to keep the disgust out of her voice without much success. The second skunk that was beside her answered her own question. Yes, the skunk was indeed hers. Ew. "No, that's all right. I'm sorry, I didn't see it laying there. Sleep deprivation does that to you, I suppose." The girl in pink looked at the skunk again and took a step away. She turned her attention to Phoenix now with a small apologetic smile.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix called the skunk over with a snap of her fingers and a click of her tongue. Bärin stood, and with a rather haughty flick of his sizeable tail and with disapproving glare at Cleo, hopped down to return to his mistress's side. He flopped down lazily next to his sister, (who unlike him sat neatly with her tail wrapped around her paws, watching Cleo with bright, curious eyes.) "Sleep deprivation?" Phoenix said, cocking her head slightly to one side. There was concern in her voice, though of course, the gears were turning. Had she ever seen this girl before? No, there was no way she wouldn't recognize all that pink. Heard of her? Doubtful. She didn't look like the type to want (or have the ability to get) a reputation. That meant she was probably safe--though she had earned no points with her treatment of Bärin. Still, she was going to ere on the side of caution and keep her mouth shut; at least for now. Let the wary-looking girl make her own introductions. It was often easier that way.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Cleo nodded, watching the skunk go over to the redheaded girl with pink cheeks. "Thanks. Sorry again," she said with a small sigh and sat down onto the large armchair. She looked over at the young girl with an open, curious face. Why did- and could for that matter- this girl keep skunks for a pet? "Yeah, I don't sleep well most nights. Sometimes not at all." She shrugged. It wasn't anything worth hiding. It was the context of the nightmare that she wouldn't speak of. "I get nightmares. That's why I'm here." She paused, twirling a piece of hair around a finger. "What about you?" She figured if this girl would spill her story, it would be just as interesting as her keeping skunks in a mental asylum.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Nothing major, for sure," Phoenix replied with a shrug. "I'm very lucky compared to you. I'm verrückt--crazy. Apparently, something in my head isn't quite right. No nightmares or anything like that, though. I consider myself privileged." She laughed a little, a small smile making her lips part as she tapped her right temple for emphasis. She began to stroke Katze gently with that hand, keeping her still and preventing her from trotting over to Cleo because the girl in pink looked like she wouldn't take that all too well. It was time for the test: how much of her fight with Rosemarie had this dark-eyed girl heard about? The little redhead was certain she would be able to tell from her reaction--she had such an open, expressive face, there was no way anything would remain hidden. Names would come next, she decided, after she determined what sort of angles she could and couldn't play up with this girl. Obviously, if she became mistrustful or wary (which meant she knew that she wasn't telling the whole truth) the airheaded, oblivious angle was out. But perhaps she wouldn't have to bring out her cold side with this one; she seemed much more amiable than Rosemarie.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"We're all crazy, here," Cleo agreed bitterly that was followed by a loud sigh. She leaned back into the chair, her elbow on the arm while its hand still rested against the side of her head. "You're lucky," she told the girl with a little smirk with no humor. "Though I know it's not fun bing here at all, nightmares make it suck even more." Her gaze fell upon the two skunks at the girl's side, and her eyebrows pulled together slightly. Hadn't she just been told something about skunks and a girl? She knew that she had, but she couldn't think of it right now, not so early in the morning and her lack of sleep, despite the scare the skunk had given her, made it hard for her to think clearly. She decided that maybe her name would help her think of it. "I'm Cleo. Typical nightmare victim." With her introduction came a small but cheeky wave. "May I ask who you are?"

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Phoenix von Brandt." The hand that was stroking Katze didn't cease, but this time, it was because the little redhead needed to keep the calculation off of her face and the only way to do that was to busy her hands. Obviously, the girl had heard something--the way her brows knitted together as if she were confused proved that--but she couldn't tell from that simple movement just how much. The little redhead figured that her name would certainly spark some memory, and then she would be able to tell exactly how much the girl in pink knew and how she had taken it. For now, she kept her little smile, but glanced around the common room as if to check for other patients. There were none; good. Cleo could--and would, if her openness and amiability was anything to go by--react all she wanted now without fear of anyone but her seeing.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

The name, as she had suspected, made her memory click. It was a name when mentioned, wouldn't have been forgotten in just any conversation. A large smile came across the pink-clad girl's face and she tipped her head back and laughed like she had just heard the funniest thing in the world. Truthfully, she sort of had. She let the laugh last for a few moments longer until she finally tipped her head back and leaned forward in the chair. Her eyes now settled on the redhead, bright with amusement and with a little respect. This girl was practically a goddess in her eyes for doing what she had done. "I'm sorry for laughing," she said when she finished, wiping underneath her eyes with her smile still beaming. Tears of laughter had apparently made her eyes twinkle as well. "It's just that, you're the girl that kicked Rosemarie Toom's ass. Good job, I must say." She clapped a round of applause for her. Yes, she already had a liking for Phoenix after hearing what she had done.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

This reaction was better than she had dared to hope for. A wide smile parted her own lips, and Phoenix dipped her head in a respectful little bow. "Well, danke," she said with an amused little laugh. "She deserved it. I'm glad at least somebody here appreciates the effort I put into that." With her free hand--the bandaged one--she gave Bärin a scratch under his chin, and he let out a low, rumbling note of contentment. "Really, though, I was just protecting my Bärin here. She held a knife up to his throat and tried to kill him, you know. Quite honestly, I couldn't care less what kind of pawn people make of me--but the minute somebody so much as touches my kinder, I just about turn into Medusa." She glanced up with a little smile, as if amused--or even slightly embarrassed--by her own words. "I'm very protective of them, is all."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Funny I'm watching a movie with Medusa in it as we speak.]

"Believe me, I'm not the only one," Cleo assured her with a little smile herself. "Right now, you're practically a hero among the more normal patients here." She glanced over at the skunks. Rosemarie had dared to even touch the creatures? Cleo had thought she would vomit when she accidentally sat on one. She at least gave kudos to the former Huntress for even touching one. "I heard about what she did. You're the talk of the asylum at the moment in case you weren't aware. You did all that for your skunk? Wow." Cleo wasn't sure if it was a wow of respect or one of disbelief. It was probably both. Cleo found it odd that she would go to such extremes just for a small creature. A rodent, no less.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix shrugged. That was to be expected, she supposed, when you brought an aspiring sadist right down to her knees. She couldn't say she minded her newfound fame at all--it made everyone that much more likely to leave her (and more importantly, her skunks) be. If everyone admired her as much as this girl, she would even be quite content to go around making new friends. That was certainly beneficial when you'd managed to make an enemy of one of the only people the bulk of St. Peter's actually feared. Besides, she now had Rosemarie's boyfriend, Raven, to think about. She'd seen him around--he was unmistakable--and he'd never exactly looked overjoyed to see her. "Is everyone as enthusiastic as you?" the little redhead asked Cleo with a pretty, twinkling laugh. "If so, I think Mutter might have accidently underestimated this place. Maybe it's not so bad after all."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Mutter? That made Cleo raise an eyebrow again. She would ask in time, there would be time for questions later, she was sure. "Pretty much," Cleo told her with a nod. "There aren't many people who like Rosemarie, and I'm sure you saw why. Though I'm sure that most people would have preferred you kick Raven's ass over Rosemarie's. He's an even bigger threat than she is." Though by the sounds of it, Rosemarie hadn't been much of a threat to the girl at all. And no matter how well Phoenix could take down Rosemarie, Raven was a bigger threat than his girlfriend and no one expected anyone to be able to take him down.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix grinned. "That I'm not so confident about," she replied with a chuckle. "I only did what I did to Rosemarie because she threatened my Bärin, remember. I may have some knack for revenge, but that doesn't mean I'm good at planning unprovoked attacks." She gave Cleo an amused look, shrugging both shoulders as if to say What can I do? "Besides, you said yourself that Raven is a threat. I don't exactly want someone like him raining on my parade without reason; I'm no masochist. And it sounds to me like you only provoke the boy if you have a thing for pain. Otherwise, you leave him alone." That was the good word, anyway. As to whether she would actually adhere to it? Debatable. The little redhead would see how much of a grudge Rosemarie was able to hold. If she kept making her moves, you could bet that she wasn't going to sit there and take it.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Cleo nodded in agreement. She knew from experience how bad it was to have Raven rain on your parade as Phoenix had put it. "Understandable. Raven's not someone you should get involved with. I know that from experience." She held up one of her hands as if to say, guilty as charged. Though she hadn't exactly gone looking for pain as so many people did, she had accidentally provoked him by being a poor liar and accidentally letting a nasty (but amusing) rumor loose about him. Raven has had it out for her since then, and after she had disobeyed him. Her lips pulled down in a frown at the memories. Her hands locked together tightly.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix raised her eyebrows. "So you're one of his regular victims," she said, not a question but a statement. Common belief held that the Indian sadist had certain people he liked to go back to, no matter how many of his games he ended up playing--because they gave him visible reactions, or squealed and gave him an excuse for torture, or simply made his life more interesting in some other form or fashion. From what she'd heard, that was not hard to do in the first place. "Forgive me for asking, but I'm a curious person: what does he like to do to you?" And more importantly: could Raven's antics be replicated in her own way, should she ever need to take an extreme form of revenge on anyone? Akantha had already given her ideas; maybe the Indian could, too. It would certainly be useful to have a store of them ready. The little redhead wasn't much one for torture, but when she did have to go there, she liked to go all-out.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

The dark-haired girl shrugged. Why not? What could it possibly hurt? "It's nothing out of the ordinary, I don't think. He tackled me in the hallway once." She looked up in concentration, counting the events on her fingers. "He didn't do anything then except pin me down and scare the hell out of me with threats that time, but he'a beaten me only a couple of times. The one last really bad thing he did was tase me, but I don't know how the heck he could have gotten a hold of a taser." She shook her head in a sort of awed horror.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix made her eyes widen, returning Cleo's look of shock and awe. "Keine Chance," she murmured, as if horrified. In a way, she was. How someone as dangerous as Raven had managed to get his hands on something like a taser was beyond her. Could he possibly have stolen it off a guard? The little redhead hadn't ever noticed anything as dangerous as a stun gun on any of the security personnel--perhaps for precisely that reason--but that didn't mean she couldn't have overlooked something. But then another, more interesting idea struck her. Could the Indian have bartered for that sort of weapon? Surely, there were people here smart enough and deranged enough to sneak things like that onto the grounds. She made a note to herself in the back of her mind: this was something she ought to look into. It never hurt to be prepared. She shook her head quickly, as if she had gotten distracted and needed to clear it. She turned her expression into one of sympathy as she said, "Cleo, I'm so sorry. That must have been awful."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

A small, bitter laugh came from the girl in pink. The look of sympathy was one that Cleo tried not to return with a look of scorn. Phoenix had been taunted by Rosemarie, yes, but it was nothing compared to what Raven did to other people, her being one of them. Rosemarie hadn't physically hurt her in any way, and watching a beloved pet be tortured was much different than being tortured herself. "Well, thank you, Phoenix. Though there is some goodness to it, I guess. He's stopped since the fire." Did this girl know about the fire? She supposed not- she was probably too new to the asylum. Cleo wouldn't mind telling her, especially not about what she had heard about Raven's experience at the fire.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Fire? There was a fire?" And Phoenix now looked avidly interested. Her own surname meant 'dweller in flames' in old German, and anything having to do with flame at all always caught the little redhead's attention. Fitting, she thought, considering her name. "I haven't been here more than three weeks; would you tell me about it?" She gave a curious tilt of her head as she spoke. "Mutter would certainly be interested to hear about her old home catching ablaze." And not only that, but the young German girl herself was interested. She hadn't heard anything about a fire; though by Cleo's words, it couldn't have happened too long ago.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"Oh, so it did happen before you got here," Cleo murmured, more to herself than to the redhead. Her eyes turned back to Phoenix, holding her attention to fully rest on her. "Sure!" Her tone made it seem as though she were going to explain how she got the curls in her hair rather than a terrible experience. "It was really horrible. It killed about seven or so people, and harmed a whole bunch of others. Somehow a fire got started up in the attack. Damn shame, too. Don't tell anyone I told you, but there were weapons up there. Tons, and tons of weapons." She sighed deeply, her tone now hushed in a low whisper. "Anyway, the rooftop ended up collapsing down until the second floor and it actually collapsed down on someone. A lot of people went crazy and were completely in shock when they led us down to the graveyard away from the flames. Even Raven went berserk. Right before the fire my boyfriend and Rosemarie got into a huge brawl -he broke her nose- and Raven found them and they got into a fight. Jason ran into them after and he told me that he found Raven and Rosemarie on the bench in the back of the graveyard. Rosemarie was trying to calm Raven down, but Raven was just sobbing uncontrollably. He said it was a horrible and strange thing to watch." Maybe if Cleo could get that spread through the asylum a little and Raven caught word of it, maybe it would take him down a couple notches, hopefully to his knees.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((Raven: Or maybe it will just make me come after you with a knife, dearheart. Control that tongue of yours before I cut it out.))

"Hei," Phoenix murmured, a little in awe. Why hide it? Fire was always something you were to respect--even small flames made her wonder about the fragility of the human world. Sanity, health, security...it was all so temporary in the face of a blaze. Raven proved that, the dead patients proved that, the asylum itself proved that. The little redhead was brought back to reality when she felt an impatient tug on her bandaged hand, and looked down onto to see Katze prowling about her stationary hand, swiping at the gauze with one small paw. She blinked, then allowed a smile to part her lips as she entertained the little skunk for a moment before turning her attention back to Cleo. "Wow," she repeated, in English this time. "I'm sorry that I missed it."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Cleo: o.o]

Was the skunk biting the redhead's hand? Cleo tried not to stare, but she saw that Phoenix's hand was wrapped up pretty badly and the skunk was biting at it. Worst of all, Phoenix was letting it play with her hurt fingers. It was an odd sight, but then again, from what Cleo saw, Phoenix was sort of odd herself. The dark-haired girl nodded to clear her head and speak to the girl. "So does everyone else that knows about it. It's a big huge secret, you know?" She tipped the girl a wink as if she didn't want the secret to remain a secret for long. "Rosemarie and Jason were the only ones that saw it. They ran off away from everyone probably so he could cry his heart out."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix gave a little grin at that. "I was talking about the fire, not Herr Rabe's meltdown, but okay." That was something she didn't particularly want to see, if she were to be perfectly honest--she wasn't cruel, after all, just vengeful. Raven had never officially done anything to her, she had no reason to want to see him break. In fact, it was Cle's words that were disturbing now--just a little. She seemed like such a sweet girl; why would she of all people want to watch someone so miserable, even someone like Raven? "What was he crying about?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. The hand that was playing with Katze didn't stop, though she noticed the way Cleo was almost-staring and limited herself to simple teasing via wiggling her injured fingers. It hurt, but if it made the skunks happy, she could grin and bear it. "He doesn't seem like the type to cry--or to have anything to cry about. What made him so sad?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"Oh." The girl blushed a little as she corrected her. She couldn't help herself, it was satisfying knowing that a sadist who struck fear into all the patients was sometimes just as vulnerable as everyone else. Cleo supposed that Phoenix didn't understand the glee because Raven had never harassed her before. "Well, the fire was horrible. I tried not to watch. Honesty, it was terrifying to see and to hear everyone crying and trying to find loved ones." The girl in pink refrained from shuddering. She had just covered he eyes with her hands and shut them tight, trying to shut out the sounds of scared patients. "Well as far as Raven, I have no clue. Obviously he wasn't crying over watching this hellhole burning up. That would mean he could maybe get out of here. I don't think he was crying because he couldn't find Rosemarie, either. As far as I know, they were together when it happened." No one knew the answer and if they did, no one would tell.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Huh." Phoenix gave a little shrug of slim shoulders as if to say Who knows? It wasn't as if everybody in the asylum knew all of the Indian sadist's secrets, after all--she hadn't expected Cleo to actually have an answer for her. Perhaps she would go ask Raven himself at some point, or Rosemarie. The latter owed her back for the injuries to her hand; even if she herself didn't believe it. Maybe the could effect a trade: the score would be settled in exchange for a bit of information. After all, it wasn't as if the little redhead wanted to incriminate Raven (though it wouldn't help to have some dirt on him, she thought in the back of her mind.) Right now, she was simply curious. She thought that Rosemarie could understand that; curiosity had, after all, nearly killed her cat. Literally.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Cleo shrugged along with the girl. She was just as perplexed as the redhead, but unlike her, the nightmare victim didn't really care enough to inquire about it. She was satisfied with the fact that she knew that Raven had cried, she didn't care why. She looked over at the redhead and saw that she was deep in thought. Perhaps she was the only one that didn't care about the sadist's personal problems. "If you're thinking of getting some information about it out of someone, then good luck. It's not happening." A small chuckle and a little shake of her head. "No one even knows his real name for Christ's sake."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"I bet I could find out," Phoenix said with a raise of her eyebrows. A teasing grin lifted at the edges of pale, full lips. She wasn't kidding; she had a feeling that she could find out rather quickly, if not from Rosemarie then from the staff. She wasn't stupid enough to go around tossing out dangerous questions to just anyone, of course, but she could if she were careful. She could make a game of it, even. See if she could knock Raven off of his guard. A wider, fuller grin was tossed to Cleo, rather mischievous this time. "Do you dare me?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Her dark brown eyes widened slightly in surprise. This girl was gutsy, she saw, but too gutsy in her opinion. A stunt like the one she wanted to pull would resolve in an injury much worse than a couple torn off fingers. "How the hell do you plan on doing that?" She asked the redhead girl, not keeping the shock or doubt out of her face and her tone. "He will rip you to pieces, girlie. I mean, if you want to, no one can stop you, but I'm warning you you'll get destroyed." As much as she would have loved for someone to do Raven some damage, reality wasn't in her favor.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Phoenix smiled, and laughed. It was a pretty, encouraging sound. "Have some faith, mein Freund," she said, amused. "I'm not stupid; I'll be very careful." But, just because she didn't want Cleo getting too wrapped up in the thought that she was actually a force to be reckoned with, the little redhead trailed off as if she had lost her train of thought and leaned down to give Bärin--who was dozing--a gentle scratch on the belly. Katze, as she had suspected the little skunk would, had no intentions of missing out on the love and began to nudge her hand, looking for a cuddle. Phoenix obliged, a dreamy smile replacing the crafty one for the benefit of the act, and it was almost a full minute before she pretended to snap back to reality and focus on Cleo again. "I'll be fine," she repeated, not sounding as sure this time, as if she were just waking up from a confusing dream. As if he thoughts had accidently led her down a foolish path and she realized that. "And even if I'm not, punishment can't be anything too bad, can it?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[I remember someone else promised to be careful too once xD]

Cleo shrugged, feeling a bit more and more uneasy. She thought that Phoenix was going in above her head with her thoughts, but Cleo wouldn't contradict her. If she wanted to mess with Raven, get into his skin, she could try, but the girl in pink knew from experience that it never ended well. The dark-haired girl saw that Phoenix was starting to get lost in her little pets and she took that as her cue to leave. Cleo lifted herself out of the chair and looked at Phoenix with a small smile, though her eyes saw that she was nervous. "Good luck with that, Phoenix. I hope you don't get eaten. Ta-ta." She waved at the girl and walked out the door, suddenly feeling like she didn't want their conversation to have existed. If she didn't have anything to do with Phoenix, then Raven couldn't go after her, she thought.

[Fade?]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((Fade.))

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

There were a lot of people in the common room, yet the small figure still found himself alone on the large couch, looking very frail and small. He was still new to the asylum, had only been around for a few days. He hadn't met many people yet, he was too confused by the situation he had been thrown into. The doctors here, although incredibly friendly and kind, had asked him all sorts of strange questions about his lack of food habits. He had answered some of them as best as his little mind could, but he was lost on why they were asking him questions and why they had said they would 'monitor' him, and Eric felt slightly creeped out by the thought of doctors watching him. When would they watch him? All the time? Why would they want to do that? These were questions left unanswered by the boy, who was now mulling over them, frowning slightly as he did so.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Little Eric may have been alone on the couch, but he was not alone in the room. Leah, after a rather fear-filled encounter with a little flock of gossiping patients (her name was all over everyone's lips now--apparently, something about her had triggered a fight with the girl she'd met in the cafeteria a few weeks before and her boyfriend) had retreated to the common room, searching for a bit of solace in the warm, cozy place. She wasn't as calm as she appeared to be, sitting in the lounge chair--she was actually rather terrified of being confronted by more excited patients and their flighty, eagerly buzzing butterflies--but it was still a vast improvement to how she had been in the hall. She'd finally gotten rid of the tremor in her hands, and she finally dared to lean her head back and close her eyes, as if preparing to sleep. If there were any other patients here, she didn't notice them; and she liked it that way.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Eric's wide eyes had been wandering around the room to take in the scene of what he had been told would be his new home, but for how long? And why? He knew it had had something to do with what had happened to the boy in his school and his 'strange eating habit' but he didn't know a lot, or anything, really. Maybe someone else knew or was here for similar reasons as himself. He wouldn't know if he didn't ask. His mother had told him something similar in school, any stupid question is one not asked. His eyes fell upon the sight if a friendlier looking patient (he had already been warned about others not so friendly) and he sat forward with a smile. "Hello," he said brightly, waving at the green-eyed girl in a friendly manner, perhaps a little bit hesitantly.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

In an instant, what fragile peace she'd managed to salvage was gone. Leah's eyes flew open and her head snapped up as she searched almost frantically for the owner of the new voice--then her gaze caught on the little boy across the room, leaning forward with his small hands on his knees. He had been the one to speak. Slowly, almost hesitantly, she began to relax, but still found herself looking warily around for his butterfly. A second later she found it: small, with wide gray wings the color of slate, it didn't seem as...energetic as many of the other patients'. It was, in fact, resting calmly on the arm of the couch next to the little boy. That was good--he probably didn't know her, then. The tattooed girl judged it to be safe enough to speak, and offered a cautious "Hello" of her own.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"What's your name?" That seemed to always be the next question asked by others, and so he asked as well. The girl looked like he had scared her when he spoke, and his small, pinched face fell a little bit with sudden guilt. "My name's Eric." He paused shortly, looking at the girl with wide eyes of hazel at the fear that he had scared her. "I'm sorry, did I scare you? I didn't realize you were sleeping." He probably should have, he supposed. Most sleeping people had their eyes closed and looked the way she did when she was sleeping. He shouldn't have been rude, he realized, he knew better than that. He'd been raised to show manners.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Leah," she replied with a nod, letting out the breath she'd been holding as she realized that the boy was quite small and probably couldn't do much damage even if he tried. Not that he seemed as if he wanted to--he actually appeared quite friendly. "I'm fine, though, don't worry. I just get startled easily, that's all." Sure, whispered a tiny, gleeful little voice in the back of her mind. That's one way of putting it. The tattooed girl pointedly ignored the thought. "I wasn't really sleeping, anyway. It's hard for me to sleep here." There was a slightly startled pause as Leah realized that this could be taken as potential weakness, and she quickly went to backtrack. There was no reason for anyone to know how uncomfortable the asylum made her (though it wasn't like she was all too good at hiding it anyway.) "Out in public, I mean."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"Oh, good. I'm glad, I would feel bad if I'd startled you." His face brightened when it was revealed that he hadn't hurt the girl's feelings. He would have felt terrible if it turned out that he had scared the girl. That was no way to make friends or get his questions answered. Speaking of, she seemed to know a little bit about this place, so maybe she could answer some of his questions? He hoped so. "Is it hard to sleep here?" He asked her, his small face openly curious. He wasn't one to hide his emotions, his face was an open book readable to anyone and everyone. It would probably do him no good later when he spent more time in the asylum, but for now, with this girl, it was okay. "I'm new here, so I don't know anything about it here." He looked at her, obviously hoping he could help her out.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Although the common room was usually more buzzing full of patients and staff than the basement, but today it had seemed to be free of many people, and Juana was grateful for that. After meeting with Phoenix, a girl who had mirrored everything about her, though certainly not on purpose, she just went through life the same way she did. It had been interesting, that was for sure, and Juana was sort of temped to ask around about the girl, but decided against it. What would prying around about other people do for her? What would people start to say? Juana didn't want her name going along the gossip chain. She was taking advantage of the emptiness of the room, and was sprawled put carelessly on the sofa, taking up an entire cushion to herself with her head resting against the arm. She was feeling rather peaceful, as she had forced herself to not think about the redhead, to not dwell on her and now there seemed to be nothing on her mind. Her eyes rested on a piece of the barren wall, looking at it with little interest.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Juana was not as alone as she thought. Tucked up behind one of the larger couches as one several years his junior might be, Carlos was having a grand old time fighting a mental battle with the beast over whether he should be attacking her or not. There was the wise part of him, the sane part of him, that was of course completely against it--but then there was the beast, which had been in control of his mind for the past several hours since Akantha's little beat down. He'd spent most of that time here in the common room, adrenaline shooting through his veins like fire, pacing and muttering to himself like a rabid man and alternating between grimaces of displeasure and mad grins that wouldn't have looked too out of place on the Mad Hatter. The room had remained rather empty up until fifteen minutes ago, and that was how the Hispanic had liked it--but then Juana had arrived, and as he heard her footsteps out in the hall the sane man momentarily took over and he went to hide, simply because it was safer that way. He managed to keep quiet for the past half hour hidden here behind the couch as Juana rested, but now such inactivity was beginning to take its toll--there was no way, he thought, that he could sit here and argue with himself for much longer. Already, his hands were twisting together in his lap and his teeth were grinding together in what was both irritation and some sort of animal-like anticipation; whether he liked it or not, the boy was going to have to come out from his hiding place soon. Violent or nonviolent, smart or reckless, he was going to have to make a move. There was no way he could bear the adrenaline overload otherwise.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Juana felt her eyelids start to droop a little, feeling heavy with her boredom. Just staring at a plain white wall was making her eyes feel tired and she reasoned herself into believing that it would be better to just look at the backs of her eyelids instead. Her eyes were almost completely lidded shut, and she had taken one large, deep breath, about ready to fall into sleep when her ears heightened as most do when one is about to reach unconsciousness. She heard a soft sound that she couldn't identify and her eyes flew open, curiosity taking away any thoughts of sleep she might have had before. She realized after a moment that that sound she was hearing was a voice, one that she couldn't make out, and recognized, but couldn't name. She peered around the back of the sofa, frowning until she saw who it was and the state he was in. "Carlos?" She asked timidly, honestly not sure if it was her friend or not. It looked like Carlos, but it wasn't acting like her fellow Hispanic. He looked... torn, distraught. Obviously something had happened to him, and Juana was going to help. She slowly climbed over the top of the couch, sitting closely beside Carlos, peering at him with eyes open with concern for him. "Amigo? Que pasa? Por que estas triste?" She placed a gentle hand to his arm, giving it a light squeeze because he didn't look to be in his right mind, he didn't look like he was even in the room. Maybe that squeeze would bring him back.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Carlos must have been more inside of his head than he realized, for when Juana touched him his entire body jerked and he made a sound that was halfway between a human's cry of surprise and an animal's snarl, jerking instinctively away from Juana as if she meant to hurt and not help him. He blinked hard, several times, looking the girl up and down as if he had never seen her before--indeed, for a moment, he literally didn't recognize his older friend. The concern in her eyes and the quiet shyness in her voice was that unexpected. For several seconds he just sat there, staring with a mixture of confusion and lingering mania in his eyes, and then in one very sudden movement the former slave shot to his feel and vaulted clean over the couch, bouncing off the cushions and then onto the floor. Stumbling, trying to regain his footing and back away from the couch at the same time, Carlos cried out in a voice that sounded rather hysterical: "¡Qué! ¿Qué estás haciendo? Yo no hice la elección!" He was seesawing wildly, from the feverish, animal desire to attack to the desperate attempts of the sane man to regain control of his now short-circuiting brain. This turn of events had not been expected; Juana was not supposed to have seen--let alone offered to help--him. Didn't she know, couldn't she tell that he was dangerous now?! The entire point of his hiding in the first place was to protect her, give her time to figure out what was going on and retreat! But he hadn't, and it had thrown a wretch into his entire plan. That was in no way good for his mind.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Perhaps because either Google Translate is still drunk or our translators aren't the same and this whole RP will probably be in Spanish. XD]

And then bam, he was gone, as if somehow her touch had made him billow away to nothing. She was surprised by how quickly he had shot away from her, as if for once he thought she was the danger, and she was a little bit hurt as well, but more shocked than anything. She stood to her feet, leaning over the back of the couch so she could see her friend. "Ay, nene! Calmente! Estoy aquí para ti. Dime qué pasa." She knew better than to try and touch him again, or even advance towards him. There was obviously something haunting him, something was wrong and made him nearly afraid of her. As much as she wanted to reach out to soothe him, she thought he might hurt her, or become worse in his state of mind. She would use her words first, and soothe him by touch later on if she could.

[Hey, boy! Calm down/relax! I'm here for you. Tell me what's wrong.]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((Hopefully, as high school progresses, I'll be able to rely on actual knowledge rather than online translators. XD))

Carlos stared at her a moment, wide-eyed, and the gave his head a brisk shake as if trying to clear it and dropped to his knees, hands coming up to press hard over his ears as if to block out some unpleasant sound--in this case, it was the hum vibrating so loudly in his head (which couldn't be blocked anyway, but that didn't exactly stop him from trying.) "La bestia," he said quietly, eyes squeezed shut. Perhaps it would be easier if he could not see Juana, if he couldn't see anything with the potential to set him off. "Es la bestia. No puedo deshacerme de él!" He was trying not to shout, for the golden-eyed girl's sake, but boy was it hard. Hysteria like this only came on at the worst of times, and it was not by any means something he liked or could get used to. Hell, he didn't even have a set way of dealing with these sort of attacks, the types which involved both emotional distress and the physical desire to do harm. It was like the beast and some demon of chaos were working together, possessing his mind. The only think he could think to do was deprive himself of sensory input.

((The beast. It's the beast. I can't get rid of it!))

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Finally, she began to grasp a better understanding of the situation. Her eyes widened slightly in realization, so this was the terrible thing he had warned her about. She didn't see how it could do much damage to him or anyone else, but she figured that this wasn't the worst of what the beast could do, and that meant that she had to choose her steps as carefully as she could without her concern and affections she'd developed for him get in the way. Still, she had to do what she could to keep him in reality with her, keep him away from the beast and with her. She moved around the sofa this time, blocking his path from trying to escape her touch. She reached out again, touching him gently but firmly at the same time. She wasn't going to hug him, that was too risky, too close for potential danger, but she did run her fingers through his hair in a comforting manner, much like a mother would to soothe her child. "Habla conmigo," she murmured quietly to him, running fingers of reassurance through his dark hair. "Quédate conmigo. Probaré y tenerte aquí conmigo."

[Talk to me. Stay with me. I will try and make you stay here with me.]