Aug 16, 2011 01:37
Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of
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zero,
klavier,
japan,
tsubaki,
badd,
badou,
anise,
lily,
terra branford,
the doctor,
england,
sam winchester,
firo,
utena,
doctor facilier,
niikura,
claire bennet,
peter parker,
tolten,
snow,
lunge,
brainiac 5,
albedo,
peter petrelli,
tear,
rose (tvd),
damon,
ritsuka,
two-face,
erika,
edgar,
hijikata,
maya,
battler,
zack,
kratos,
l,
america,
sechs,
carter,
jessica drew,
bella,
izaya,
sora,
gren,
claude,
renamon,
guybrush,
byrne,
leanne,
guy,
venom,
rita,
lightning,
castiel,
chise,
trickster,
mikado,
yomi,
riku,
ippo,
meekins,
daemon,
aidou,
edward cullen,
claire stanfield
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Where is he, where is he, where is he... Well, Niikura knew one thing for sure, at least: Mike wasn't dead. Still, what if they'd carted him away for further experimentation? He'd never heard of anything lasting over a night, but there was always room for an exception. And no one had ever talked about getting returned to some totally inhuman form before ( ... )
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Fear. Anger. Both were on Niikura's face. He had been worried about him. Worried enough that he had come to his rescue and had even defended him from whomever that other man was.
Besides April and a handful of others, Mike hadn't of had a lot of people that would do that for him recently. Wally would, but that went without saying. Superheroes did that sort of thing as natural as breathing.
But Niikura wasn't a superhero. Sure, he wasn't a normal guy, either--and Mike still didn't know his deal--but he had still come.
Mike's expression wavered. Pain, confusion. A bit of relief.
Maybe he had finally found someone that gave three shits about him in this prison.
"Not in line," Mike finally answered, his voice hoarser than usual (screaming did that), before jerking his head towards the people behind them. "This ain't exactly private."
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The teen gave the turtle his best glare and said tersely, "Alright." And then, because it sounded appropriate: "Don't, like...run off or somethin' on me." With his ultimatum delivered, he pivoted on his heel and proceeded to act like the previous five seconds had never happened, at least not until he had a bowlful of pink oatmeal in his hands.
"How about over there?" He jerked his head toward an empty table and, without even bothering to wait for an answer, stalked over to it, letting his tray and bowl crash down onto the table as hard as they could without something spilling.
"I'm all ears now."
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He was on autopilot as he went through the rest of line. He got his pink gruel and stared at it. For a moment, this place had almost seemed like a respite. Now it was simply another hell.
From one hell to another. At least he had the chance to make friends here, and everyone wasn't starving, but a hell all the same. There was no future here--not one that he could see.
Finally, Mike looked up to Niikura again and nodded quietly to the table suggestion. He followed, his emotions replaced by a sort of... numbness. His arm was still painful, but it was almost second nature to ignore it.
He sat down across from him, putting his tray and bowl down slowly. And, once again, he stared, but this time at Niikura. How was Niikura going to react to all this? Would Niikura consider him to be a monster? Niikura was one of the few people he actually knew in this place, and if he didn't...
Shell, ( ... )
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Wait, it did. That...thing had really been him. That turtle had actually been Mike. It hadn't just been playing him or using Mike's voice to gain false sympathy. He'd really been turned into a turtle.
...oh god, they had the power to turn people into turtles here. That was terrifying. His mind instantly began superimposing his face onto various animals ranging from giraffes to snow monkeys. If he had to choose an animal, he'd probably want something...something definitely more convenient than a turtle, except turtles had shells, didn't they? That could be help--
Right. He digressed.
"How did they manage to do that?" Niikura asked, overawed. "--meanin' no disrespect, of course, but I mean, that's just...that's...crazy."
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The annoyance not only helped Mike settle a bit, but it caused him to pull a face. "No, that was me."
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"Ya just said that," he said defensively. Seriously, what was he missing here? They'd turned Mike into a giant turtle, the giant turtle had been Mike...that was the same conclusion. There was literally nothing else to know here.
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He only showed more irritation on his face. "No, Niikura. I'm a giant walking, talking mutated pet shop turtle turned human."
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And then Niikura actually took the time to think back on what Mike had been saying all along, and with realization came an unfortunate shift in facial expression, the sort of shift that happened when people realized that no, it wasn't a joke. They really had won the lottery.
Except he hadn't won the won the lottery. All he'd done was find out that this guy he knew was actually a giant turtle who'd been turned into a human who last night had been turned back into a giant turtle.
...hopefully, Mike wouldn't be offended by the way he was staring. Or the way that his jaw had dropped.
"...for--for real?"
He was a clone who really wasn't "Niikura" so much as he was "Niikura plus a few hundred more Shou's", and he thought he'd be the strangest person he'd ever come across. But ( ... )
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Usually it went from shock straight to fear, except for the rebel army. They regarded him as a hero. (Some hero he was, being the first of his brothers to be caught down during the climatic final battle.)
But Niikura was different. He wasn't about ready to shoot at him, or attack him, scream at him, or even hit him with a purse. There was only surprise, not horror, not fear. That reaction was refreshing to say the least.
Mike knew he liked Niikura for a reason.
At the question, he sighed and leaned back a bit. "Let's just say that most humans don't take my existence very well. They're more likely to shoot first, then shoot until I'm dead."
But that was mostly the Foot Police.
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He shrugged. "Anyway, I guess we're square now: I know what ya really are, and ya know all that..." Niikura motioned vaguely. "That...stuff ya saw the other night." And then, on impulse: "People wouldn't really take well to me either if they knew about...things, so...I guess...I kinda know what it's like. And stuff."
His words hung in the air for a few seconds before the side grin widened into a full-on goofy one. "Damn, what is wrong with me today, gettin' all mopey over somethin' like this."
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Mike surprised himself by managing a grin back at Niikura's goofy one. It wasn't a big one--he wasn't good at those anymore--but it was real, and it was there. Niikura was someone he could trust.
Which was exactly what he needed right now.
"You don't see me complaining," Mike replied back, and he meant it. "You came after me, anyways. It's too late to feign indifference."
Niikura hadn't been able to stop the doctor, but he was still there afterwards. Even if Mike had passed out pretty much immediately after being freed, he still remembered seeing Niikura's face, seeing him run towards him.
It was what he had needed most in that moment after--to not be alone.
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He could have stared at the other man for a few seconds longer and still have been completely lost for words, but then Mike gave him something to work with, so Niikura was swiftly back in business with a familiar devilish slant to his expression: "Well I'd hope ya wouldn't be complainin', seein' as how I had to get into another fight for ya - now is that indifference? 'M tellin' ya, I couldn't fake it if I tried--anyway, the point is that passin' out and leavin' me in the lurch like that ain't cool, y'know. So maybe ya do owe me one."
No, he couldn't feign indifference if he tried. Niikura was loyal to a fault (one of his more endearing traits), and he never bothered to try to hide it at all.
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The smile faded after a moment--Mike couldn't keep something like that up for too long. But something in him finally settled down. He wasn't at peace, but he didn't feel desperate anymore. Perhaps he was even finding his center, but Mike really didn't care about that sort of stuff right now.
He was just happy to have an actual friend here. Wally was cool and all that, but part of the reason they got along was that Mike was star struck by him. There was nothing like that between him and Niikura. They were more on equal footing.
Mike didn't have his hope back, and especially not like it had been so long ago, but maybe he could find a glimmer of something to hang onto here.
Shell, he was getting mushy.
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