Christmas "Meme"

[snakewithbaggage]

Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!
Suzu ga naru
Suzu no rizumu ni hikari no wa ga mau
Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!
Suzu ga naru
Mori ni hayashi ni hibikinagara

Welcome to the Dinohouse Christmas "meme"! This is going to work a bit differently from most memes, but still free free to do what you want here!

The idea:
Following this post I will be making an assortment of Universe/Location "thread" comments. These will define the specific scene and universe being worked in. Comments by applicable characters will follow under that comment.

Example:
Mushverse; Shiba Mansion; open to Shinkengers

Comments following that would all be set in the Mushverse universe, be by any Shinkengers that want to participate, and take place at the Shiba Mansion Christmas party. Think of it sort of like every "top level" comment is its own post to the community.

Following that example, if your desired AU/Canon/etc isn't there, feel free to make a "thread" for it! Say there's already a Mushverse Go-busters "thread", and you want to do something in Aibouverse, or something more canon, maybe just between two characters? Make one!

Comments following the "thread" headings can be group setting free for all, or between individuals. Say it's a canon GokaiGalleon party, and Gai and Luka want to go off alone, or are on their way to the Galleon together? Their thread can be a separate second level comment thread beneath the main Canon Gokaiger thread.

I know that's a lot of information/qualifiers, but don't let it make you nervous to post, "rules" are fluid, and mainly set for added organization.

HAVE FUN. And enjoy the season!

Comments

[interpolate]

I listen to his explanation stoically, not moving any closer to him but not moving away. Not shrugging off his hand where he touches me, either.

Buglars. A flood of them. And Metaroids. Not one. Two. Who would expend such firepower, waste such Enetron?

And why?

Sprains, burns, heavy duty painkillers.

My teeth grit together against my will and I hiss in his face, though my anger is not directed at him.

Yet.

"I need to see him."

[red_pleather]

......I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

I don't step back when he hisses at me. I'd be angry about my brother, too, and I'm almost... almost... glad that he's affected.

I want to reach him. So badly.

Keep cool.

I nod. "I'll let people know."

He doesn't leave here often, but his abilities are so lessened, and he's done no damage. We are still vigilant. But more comfortable, more willing to allow him some freedoms. Which probably grates on him.

As long as I'm with him, and the correct protocols are activated in terms of surveillance, both passive and active, this is allowed.

[interpolate]

For once, I could care less that they, as a collective, are treating me as less than a threat. That they will allow me to leave this cell, this room that they have kept me in.

For once, I have no intent in my mind to escape, no desire to reach for the power that I have practically forgotten the feel of, it has been so long that I have been disconnected from my origin point.

I need to see my brother. I need to assure myself that he is going to be alright. And, if possible, I need to find out more about why this happened. What caused this sudden, overwhelming, apparently very well orchestrated attack.

Who is summoning Metaroids without me?

I stand and move to Hiromu's side, avoiding his eyes and waiting for his indication to move.

"This is unacceptable." I say softly under my breath, mostly to myself.

[red_pleather]

I do what I have to do, and we're given clearance.

"Agreed."

We begin walking towards the infirmary. I don't like going here. I don't like reminders that we're not unstoppable, that we can get so seriously hurt that we can't just get up again and fight immediately.

It's unavoidable, and it's happened to me, too. Doesn't mean we can't get up again ever. Just takes a while to heal, sometimes.

I still hate it, though.

I especially hate when it's any of the others, because it's a reminder of how I failed.

Nearly there. The guard outside the door nods to us.

[interpolate]

I wonder again at the depth of his relationship with my brother. His concern seems excessive unless either he is more concerned about Etienne than necessary, or...

Forbid it, but perhaps Etienne is more gravely wounded than he has let on.

I curl a lip at the guard that simply nods as though Hiromu is walking his faithful Buddyroid, and not moi. A month ago, any one of these non-Buster peons would have cowered in terror before me, and they would have been smart to do so. A month ago, I could tear any one of them limb from joint.

Now I am a mere curiosity.

The infirmary is stifling, quiet, makes my head feel light. Makes me feel ill.

My brother--

I tear away from Hiromu's side and fall to my knees beside the bed before I even realize what I'm doing, reaching to take his hand and hesitating when I notice the IV there.

"Non. How did this happen? Why?"

[red_pleather]

"I'm not sure," I say reluctantly, folding my arms. Hate this. Hate this so much.

But he's asking, and he's Eti's brother, so... "I think they were trying to... to take him. I don't know, though."

[interpolate]

Tears are not an option. Not for me.

But low simmering rage certainly is. I shift my hand, moving it up to grip my brother's arm gently above the elbow instead.

He doesn't stir. His skin feels clammy. His face is pale. His hair's a mess. He's bandaged, and bleeding through them in some places.

He's my brother. Who would dare do this to him? Everything I have done my entire life has been to protect him from harm, and here.

This.

Being trapped here, I have failed in my singular purpose.

Hiromu's words cut across my skin like a knife and I look up, eyes wild.

"Take him? Why? Who would dare--"

Majesté might, certainly. If the natural progression of events led Messiah to believe that I had been deactivated somehow, another avatar might be activated in my place, to perpetuate the mission. But to focus on Etienne, to make him a primary target.

"Impardonnable."

[red_pleather]

He's holding Eti, looking at him with utter horror.

I'm hugging myself, might as well admit it. I want to go to him. To both of them. Want to comfort, protect, save them.

Can't do it, at least not to that extent.

I flinch when Emi looks up at me like that. Doesn't bother me when he's pissed off, when he's refusing to listen to me, but he's... he's raw, and vulnerable, and very afraid. "...yes. Yes, that," I say softly.

[interpolate]

After a moment, I realize that Hiromu is uncomfortable. Why? Not because of me, certainly. Because my brother has been hurt, badly, because Hiromu will gladly assume that he is at fault, if just by sheer accident.

"You..."

I pause. Can I say the words that are hovering at the back of my mind, taunting me, teasing at the back of my tongue.

"For weeks, I have attempted to impart my purpose to you. My perpetual goal of protecting my brother from harm. I have refused to ally myself with you, and still you fought to redeem me."

My eyes are drawn back to my brother's drawn face.

"I cannot protect him from inside these walls. That much is clear now, where it should have been before."

Am I really about to say...

"How can I make sure this never occurs again?"

[red_pleather]

I listen to him seriously, silently, as he speaks. I've never heard such distress in his voice.

...

Ah.

Oh.

Wow.

"You -- we -- can't keep him entirely safe," I say softly. "But you could help me protect him."

[interpolate]

"Non." Hiromu's compromise is unacceptable to me. "Not good enough. I will keep him safe. I did all that I could to protect him from what I considered inevitable, and I failed. Here he is, wounded by my own inaction. Never again."

My eyes might as well be burning, flaring bright. Glowing with a purpose, and also with a very real, very visible red light.

"I will destroy any program that dares stand in my way, that makes any overtures towards harming my brother again."

I pause, looking back to his face. He is sleeping, not unconscious. And yet...

"I will take Messiah down. Destroy it, line by line until the code is shattered beyond repair."

There is no fear that the destruction of Messiah might result in the cessation of my own life. That is the least of my worries.

[red_pleather]

...he's not just angry, wounded, worried.

He's furious. Furious enough to take my offer, my non-specific offer of helping us more, and then turn it into fighting with us against Messiah.

His eyes are red. I'm wary, but I'm not scared.

Not about to smile; it's too awful that Eti got hurt. But this is a big step. This is a helluva big step. "Good," I say in the end.

"I'll help you."

[interpolate]

I hiss a bit at his confidence. His pride. If I didn't know better, I'd think he is mocking me. Instead, I imagine he is simply smug. He was right, all along. Allying myself with Messiah didn't protect my brother, didn't keep him safe.

Not that an instant and immediate shift to the good side would have done much different.

"The level of your involvement will be up to my brother." I inform him cooly. "When he awakes, that is. This is a dangerous task I have assigned myself."

[red_pleather]

.........I sigh.

I'm glad to have him working with us against Messiah. But I'm not his subordinate, and he needs to understand that. I'll work WITH him.

Not for him.

Not for Eti, either.

"My level of involvement is up to me," I say firmly. Not being aggressive, not looking for a fight, just spelling it out. "I'll continue to fight Messiah, and I'll continue to do what I can to protect Eti-tachi. I'll work with you in that, but I'm not going to sit back and await orders from either of you."

[interpolate]

"Non." I growl again. I blink twice, slowly, and just as slowly the red haze clears.

I turn my eyes back to my brother, considering. Contemplating.

Curious?

No, I simply need to know, to be sure, before I move forward.

"Do you love him?"

[red_pleather]

He's arguing, but that's not exactly unexpected. If Emi ever once just said yes to something I said, I'd know something was wrong.

It's not bothering me particularly. I choose what I do, not him.

...

I blink at him rapidly. "L-Love?"

[interpolate]

I blink at him, then nod my head once.

"Oui. My brother. Do you love him?"

My eyes are drawn yet again back to his face. A crease has formed between his eyebrows, as though a dull pain is beginning to break through the haze of narcotics.

"I do. I love him more than this planet. I love him more than I have ever considered loving myself." My eyes flick to Hiromu's for the next bit. "He cares for you. Deeply. I can see it, in his eyes and body language."

[red_pleather]

......oh. That kind of love.

Actually, I'm not sure I differentiate between familial love and... romantic love, with him.

With them.

Definitions fail.

I think I'm in trouble.

"He does?" My brain catches up with my ears, and that jolts out of me, a wistful smile on my face. "Uh... I -- I think I do, yes."

[interpolate]

"Hm." I stand slowly, regretfully pulling my hand away from my brother's arm, though I take a moment to brush fingertips across his cheek before I circle the bed again, intent on the door.

"Take care of him."

[red_pleather]

I'm distracted by the movement of him touching Eti's face. Eti's looking a little greyer again, like he needs more painkillers.

"'Take care of'- where are you going?"

[interpolate]

"I am leaving." This should certainly be evident. "I would prefer to do this with access to my own computer, but I do not believe there is time to waste with paperwork and clearances and bowing and scraping. I will make do."

[red_pleather]

...shit.

"I'm coming with you," I tell him hastily. I rest a hand on Eti's shoulder for a moment.

"I'll take care of him," I tell Eti, then I sprint after Emi. He can't do this. I'm not even sure he can PHYSICALLY do this. He doesn't have the same access to power that he had before, and if he heads out of here without me then someone will probably shoot him anyway.

[interpolate]

I do not slow in my stride, though I do turn my head to look at him.

"This will not be necessary, Hiromu. You should stay with my brother."

He might have a point, I realize, as the door refuses to open automatically for me.

"We do not have time."

[red_pleather]

I stand in front of the door sensor, which opens for me. "We have as much time as needed," I say sharply. "Messiah's not attacking right now. Take a day, an hour, even, to gather more information and let us help you, if you can even GET to subspace without EMC help right now."

[interpolate]

His words catch me short, as does the guard in the hall, shifting the grip on his gun. I'm sure he imagines it to be subtle, but it could not be more obvious to me.

"Messiah did attack. My brother's incapacitation is evidence of that."

He has a point, that I haven't been able to access the subdimension since being brought here.

"I simply require freedom, and access to a computer."