( It takes a brief time for Mika to answer, like before, but... he does come when he hears Malice - he had perhaps suspected it would be him as Malice made his way down the hall, for the strange but recognizable sounds his arm makes as it passes through the air.
A beat, when he sees him after opening the door - his expression is hard to read, but it's... frustrated. The face of someone who's been thinking over something upsetting for way too many hours consecutively.
Then he steps back, offering to let him in - into a pitch black room. With Malice, he's not initially attempting to light up the room; with how his magic's a little unstable, it's not worth the effort to try, and he knows Malice can see in the dark. )
... You can come in.
( Finally he speaks first in one of these post-incident room visits instead of making the other person do it... )
Malice enters and shuts the door behind him, noting the darkness, but it's almost more of a comfort than anything else. Maybe that's how Mika feels too.]
I'm guessin' you're all healed up now, yeah?
[He doesn't mention how hard the others were working to keep Mika alive, because he knows that's just a complicated situation for Mika all around right now.]
( Two vampires chillin in the dark... very normal. not edgy at all. But it does soothe Mika, too, in a weird way, and he needs all the calming he can get.
Mika leans against a wall as Malice speaks. )
... More or less. Thanks to everyone... who tried to fix it. ( Yeah, from his tone, he absolutely has complicated feelings about people trying so hard to keep him alive. ) ... And I don't know what it is about that blade, but... it's like one of the ones back home - it can halt my regeneration. And...
( He brings his hand up to his neck - where, oddly, a scar has begun to form along the path of Khun's slice. It still stings, a little. )
... This. I don't usually get scars. ( He has the one bisecting him, but he accepted it because that came under special circumstance prior to his coming here. ) A beheading also wouldn't kill me, normally. But... I could feel death encroaching, as the knife sunk in.
( He sort of phrases this as if this were a word of caution to Malice - Malice is already pretty mortal, so maybe this information isn't useful. But... if there's something about Mika's vampirism that isn't working right, maybe Malice has something to be mindful of, too. )
[The warning is certainly appreciated, though Malice's eye widens as he takes note of the scar.]
Huh... Your regeneration's much better than mine; I've got a few scars from things I couldn't quite heal.
[The words are mostly to fill space as he takes this in. Mika could have survived that - and he's glad he was right about it - but something about that knife... Maybe he should have asked Khun about it. Then again, he's not sure Khun would have given him any answers. Kind of hard to tell with that guy.]
I appreciate the warnin'. I'm glad it didn't kill you.
[Even though he was willing to hold Ginger back, he does mean that. He likes Mika a lot, and his feelings on Khun are... complicated, after tonight.]
( Mika shrugs, a little awkward with positive sentiment. But he doesn't reject it. )
He's fast. If you have to fight him, don't let him get the first move.
( Beheading was a smart guess, on Khun's part - even if Mika's body were functioning as it should, a beheading would've made him lose consciousness for a few moments. Speedster that he apparently is, Khun would've probably had free reign to do what he wanted with the head, before the regen started kicking in.
It was a pretty close call no matter how Mika looks at it. )
... What happened after I passed out? What did he do?
He looked like he was gonna stand down, then he got attacked by the guy with the back eye.
[He points to the eye in question, obviously meaning Ginger. He just hasn't actually spoken with Ginger outside of this?? Okay.]
We managed to separate 'em, an' things settled after that. I went an' talked to Khun to see if he's gonna go after you again an' he said he'd leave you alone, long as you keep what you learned 'bout him to yourself.
[That's the most pressing thing to clarify, because no one needs a repeat of tonight.]
( His gaze narrows slightly, defensively, when Malice mentions Ginger - he's gotten a bit of information on how things went down with Ginger, and he doesn't like that he got hurt. )
... I wasn't going to tell anyone. I don't care if he goes after me, but it'd just be a headache if he started going after anyone I told it to.
( However.
Mika knows he won't tell anyone, but if Khun gets it in his mind that Mika did tell someone, regardless of veracity, and starts stabbing... )
... But if he's agitated enough to stab at shadows, I'd rather get rid of him now and get it over with.
[Listen, you are entirely valid, Mika. Sometimes you gotta.]
I get that line of thinkin', believe me. But I don't think it'd be great to start pickin' an' choosin' which of us should live an' die when we're all in the same boat here, so to speak. Not that I'm sayin' you should forgive him for attackin' you or anythin', but I don't think we should jump to killin' him.
[Now what would be a good way to handle this? Don't ask him, ask one of the adults. (Malice is in his mid-twenties.)]
( Let Mika decide who lives and who dies. His decision-making process would not be biased at all.
He huffs, though, crossing his arms (slightly sulky? maybe). )
Even though he'd jump to killing anyone else? I'm maybe willing to believe people when they say they shouldn't kill me because they think it's not my fault when I get hungry, ( he says it like he thinks they're misguided, ) but this guy's in total control of his own actions. This isn't even about me - how isn't he a problem for everyone here?
Think 'bout it this way - we were all brought here, whether that was for a reason or simply by chance, an' we were claimed by the spirits. As little as you may like him, he was claimed by 'em too. What if killin' him pisses 'em off? I don't know what that'd do to us an' I doubt we'd have the power to fight back against 'em if things went that way.
So from a purely practical standpoint? I'm sayin' don't kill him 'cause we don't know what'll happen.
[And even if Mika doesn't care much for his own life, he won't want to put the others here in danger, right? So playing nice seems like the best possible solution for now.]
[He kind of wants to pat Mika on the head, but would that be condescending?? He will refrain.]
I'm sincerely hopin' he doesn't. We can revisit it if he does.
[He's only willing to stick his neck out so far for you, Khun!!!]
But don't go beatin' yourself up too hard 'bout what happened either, alright? You'd lost so much damn blood... Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd be able to recover at all. We're damn lucky we've got so many people willin' to jump in an' help.
( Honestly, it's a little easier for him to accept so many people tried to save him if he thinks about it as them mitigating risk for themselves - though he knows that's not why people claimed they did it, so the frustration still remains. )
... I was lucky, but it was also a terrible idea. Crowding a vampire when they're hurt and down a lot of blood and shoving your limbs in their mouth is stupid, right? I'm not crazy, am I? They could've been the ones dead instead of me.
( They should've thought about themselves, first??? What's the thing they say on airplanes, save yourself first before saving others??? (Mika's never been on an airplane so he wouldn't know this but,) )
Nah, I do think it was dumb. I doubt they were actually thinkin', though. They were just focused on tryin' to save you an' didn't stop to think 'bout what could happen.
[That's what makes the most sense to him?? Surely they all wouldn't be that self-sacrificial.]
( Ok... Vampire validation... Not that he needs validation from a vampire or anything :/
He exhales, needlessly. )
... Yeah, well. They're lucky it happened to work out the way it did. ( Emphasis on "happened." ) That... hat guy came by earlier and adjusted some charm he put on on me. Allegedly, it shouldn't happen again. But...
( Mika has a very fearful relationship with hope - does not trust it, and it's never come through for him, not even once. So even if he should be certain about having this safety net now, he just sounds tentative. )
Laz? Yeah, he seems pretty damn competent, but I don't blame ya for bein' worried 'bout it.
[It's not easy to put your trust in others like that, no matter how high the stakes are. Malice also doesn't know Wanderer very well, so this may also be coloring his opinion.]
[Yeah. He definitely gets it. That gets a sigh from Malice as he considers, though. He used to bother Cody whenever he got lost in his thoughts like this, and if he couldn't get Cody's attention, he'd (not-so-gently) bully some of the rebels until that got Cody to show up to tell him to stop being a menace.
But those days are far behind him, and it's kind of weird to think that he hasn't actually had a coping mechanism since then. Huh. Anyway!]
You want the truth? Dunno. Here I've been turnin' to my trainin' whenever I get frustrated - I work it outta my system in a way that feels like progress to me, y'know? An' it has the benefit of tirin' me out so I can actually get some sleep as well.
( For better or worse? When he sleeps he has nightmares; when he closes his eyes during his waking hours, even, those nightmares follow him into the waking world, too - and when he's left along with his thoughts...
In retrospect, it's hard to be sure if staying awake all the time, even if his body doesn't need sleep, is for the best. Thus far, he hasn't slept since his arrival. But is sleeping much better?
... Well, maybe he is onto something, at least - maybe getting himself too tired to think while feeling like he's improving some is an idea. )
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no subject
A beat, when he sees him after opening the door - his expression is hard to read, but it's... frustrated. The face of someone who's been thinking over something upsetting for way too many hours consecutively.
Then he steps back, offering to let him in - into a pitch black room. With Malice, he's not initially attempting to light up the room; with how his magic's a little unstable, it's not worth the effort to try, and he knows Malice can see in the dark. )
... You can come in.
( Finally he speaks first in one of these post-incident room visits instead of making the other person do it... )
no subject
Malice enters and shuts the door behind him, noting the darkness, but it's almost more of a comfort than anything else. Maybe that's how Mika feels too.]
I'm guessin' you're all healed up now, yeah?
[He doesn't mention how hard the others were working to keep Mika alive, because he knows that's just a complicated situation for Mika all around right now.]
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Mika leans against a wall as Malice speaks. )
... More or less. Thanks to everyone... who tried to fix it. ( Yeah, from his tone, he absolutely has complicated feelings about people trying so hard to keep him alive. ) ... And I don't know what it is about that blade, but... it's like one of the ones back home - it can halt my regeneration. And...
( He brings his hand up to his neck - where, oddly, a scar has begun to form along the path of Khun's slice. It still stings, a little. )
... This. I don't usually get scars. ( He has the one bisecting him, but he accepted it because that came under special circumstance prior to his coming here. ) A beheading also wouldn't kill me, normally. But... I could feel death encroaching, as the knife sunk in.
( He sort of phrases this as if this were a word of caution to Malice - Malice is already pretty mortal, so maybe this information isn't useful. But... if there's something about Mika's vampirism that isn't working right, maybe Malice has something to be mindful of, too. )
no subject
Huh... Your regeneration's much better than mine; I've got a few scars from things I couldn't quite heal.
[The words are mostly to fill space as he takes this in. Mika could have survived that - and he's glad he was right about it - but something about that knife... Maybe he should have asked Khun about it. Then again, he's not sure Khun would have given him any answers. Kind of hard to tell with that guy.]
I appreciate the warnin'. I'm glad it didn't kill you.
[Even though he was willing to hold Ginger back, he does mean that. He likes Mika a lot, and his feelings on Khun are... complicated, after tonight.]
no subject
He's fast. If you have to fight him, don't let him get the first move.
( Beheading was a smart guess, on Khun's part - even if Mika's body were functioning as it should, a beheading would've made him lose consciousness for a few moments. Speedster that he apparently is, Khun would've probably had free reign to do what he wanted with the head, before the regen started kicking in.
It was a pretty close call no matter how Mika looks at it. )
... What happened after I passed out? What did he do?
no subject
[He points to the eye in question, obviously meaning Ginger. He just hasn't actually spoken with Ginger outside of this?? Okay.]
We managed to separate 'em, an' things settled after that. I went an' talked to Khun to see if he's gonna go after you again an' he said he'd leave you alone, long as you keep what you learned 'bout him to yourself.
[That's the most pressing thing to clarify, because no one needs a repeat of tonight.]
no subject
... I wasn't going to tell anyone. I don't care if he goes after me, but it'd just be a headache if he started going after anyone I told it to.
( However.
Mika knows he won't tell anyone, but if Khun gets it in his mind that Mika did tell someone, regardless of veracity, and starts stabbing... )
... But if he's agitated enough to stab at shadows, I'd rather get rid of him now and get it over with.
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I get that line of thinkin', believe me. But I don't think it'd be great to start pickin' an' choosin' which of us should live an' die when we're all in the same boat here, so to speak. Not that I'm sayin' you should forgive him for attackin' you or anythin', but I don't think we should jump to killin' him.
[Now what would be a good way to handle this? Don't ask him, ask one of the adults. (Malice is in his mid-twenties.)]
no subject
He huffs, though, crossing his arms (slightly sulky? maybe). )
Even though he'd jump to killing anyone else? I'm maybe willing to believe people when they say they shouldn't kill me because they think it's not my fault when I get hungry, ( he says it like he thinks they're misguided, ) but this guy's in total control of his own actions. This isn't even about me - how isn't he a problem for everyone here?
no subject
So from a purely practical standpoint? I'm sayin' don't kill him 'cause we don't know what'll happen.
[And even if Mika doesn't care much for his own life, he won't want to put the others here in danger, right? So playing nice seems like the best possible solution for now.]
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That doesn't mean he's happy about it, though. If only logic bent to what he thought was right. )
... Fine.
( Sulky teenager "fine," )
But only as long as he doesn't make this a habit.
( ... like I do, he almost seems to imply. )
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I'm sincerely hopin' he doesn't. We can revisit it if he does.
[He's only willing to stick his neck out so far for you, Khun!!!]
But don't go beatin' yourself up too hard 'bout what happened either, alright? You'd lost so much damn blood... Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd be able to recover at all. We're damn lucky we've got so many people willin' to jump in an' help.
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... I was lucky, but it was also a terrible idea. Crowding a vampire when they're hurt and down a lot of blood and shoving your limbs in their mouth is stupid, right? I'm not crazy, am I? They could've been the ones dead instead of me.
( They should've thought about themselves, first??? What's the thing they say on airplanes, save yourself first before saving others??? (Mika's never been on an airplane so he wouldn't know this but,) )
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[That's what makes the most sense to him?? Surely they all wouldn't be that self-sacrificial.]
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He exhales, needlessly. )
... Yeah, well. They're lucky it happened to work out the way it did. ( Emphasis on "happened." ) That... hat guy came by earlier and adjusted some charm he put on on me. Allegedly, it shouldn't happen again. But...
( Mika has a very fearful relationship with hope - does not trust it, and it's never come through for him, not even once. So even if he should be certain about having this safety net now, he just sounds tentative. )
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[It's not easy to put your trust in others like that, no matter how high the stakes are. Malice also doesn't know Wanderer very well, so this may also be coloring his opinion.]
Anythin' I can do to help?
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But no, because it's Malice who's asking he'll at least think it over. )
... I don't know. ( But at least it's an honest answer, instead of a flippant one. ) What do you do when it's all too much?
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But those days are far behind him, and it's kind of weird to think that he hasn't actually had a coping mechanism since then. Huh. Anyway!]
You want the truth? Dunno. Here I've been turnin' to my trainin' whenever I get frustrated - I work it outta my system in a way that feels like progress to me, y'know? An' it has the benefit of tirin' me out so I can actually get some sleep as well.
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( For better or worse? When he sleeps he has nightmares; when he closes his eyes during his waking hours, even, those nightmares follow him into the waking world, too - and when he's left along with his thoughts...
In retrospect, it's hard to be sure if staying awake all the time, even if his body doesn't need sleep, is for the best. Thus far, he hasn't slept since his arrival. But is sleeping much better?
... Well, maybe he is onto something, at least - maybe getting himself too tired to think while feeling like he's improving some is an idea. )
... Spar with me.
( At the very least, it's worth a shot. )
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Sure thing. C'mon, let's go find somewhere that we won't draw attention.
[There's no point in getting anyone else involved, and we don't want people to think this is another incident!!]