trans_9 | He Holds His Crayon Rosary [Open]

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He Holds His Crayon Rosary [Open]

It's been a long time since Howard engaged in some harmless graffiti. Two years, if not a little more. He's exhausted from a long shift in Med Bay and then hitting the Media Library for his new Leon-appointed position, but it seems like the urge to vandalize things has been pent up for so long that he has all the energy in the world to do this.

The memory-statues and painting under the giant lit-up head in the Art Hall are as good a place as any. Using permanent marker, some pink spraypaint and his knife, he starts to carve and mark things into the shifting wall.

DGIG KILLED 1ST CREW

STACY WIPES MINDS

DON'T TRUST THEM

The paintings and statues shift and mold to his memories, images both calm and terrifying, images he remembers and ones he's long forgotten. There's him playing basketball in his driveway. There's Orc's face torn open by flesh-eating worms. There's a massacre, and there's a busy cafeteria, and there's Disneyland, there's the first time he broke his nose and there's him sleeping in math class. The statue becomes a child's corpse and then an impatient P.E. coach and then his grandmother. On the wall, the images keep shifting, but the marks he's making stay where they are, black and pink and chiseled.

WRITE IT ALL DOWN

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Howard doesn't mind scooching behind Orc and away from the Drake statue, art or not. As he watches, the statue starts to shift again. He can't make out what it is yet.

"There's a conspiracy going on, man. You don't got to worry about it any. I'm taking care of it." That's a complete and utter lie, but at the very least Howard has his fingers in that cookie jar, so he can figure out how to keep him and Orc safe if it comes to it.

He points to the statue, now finished its transformation. "Hey, that's you." A perfect replica of Orc in the 7th grade, before the FAYZ.

Orc was very quiet as he looked at the person who was both a stranger and so familiar. It scared him looking into those beady little eyes. That smug smirk like he was king of the world when really he was just a bully.

His fingers curled into a fist and he tensed up tighter as the statue shifted again. He knew what it was before it even finished. Him, with a bat. A girls head connecting sharply with her temple.

He hadn't seen it in such vivid detail before. He had been drunk, and it had all happened so fast. He forgot Howard was even there as his eyes drank in the detail of how her skin rippled around the bat. How her eyes were crossed and tears were leaking through the corners of her eyes.

And worse then the pain on her face? Was the triumph on his own. He looked so proud of himself swinging that Louisville slugger into her face. It was for a petty, stupid reason too.

He murdered her. She died because of that moment of poor judgment.

His insides churned with bile and he felt hot. Faint. He stumbled forward and let out an anguished roar swinging a massive fist for his own grinning stupid face on the statue.

Howard sees what's the statue's shifting into, but it's too late to do anything, so he just covers his mouth and steps back. For a moment he considers grabbing Orc's arm and trying to hold him back, except for three things: who cares it's just a statue, it's not like he can physically restrain Orc anyway, and he doesn't want to get hit again.

Orc's fist connects with the statue, but since the statue is a sort of liquid form the punch passes through. The statue loses its form the more it's pummeled, reverting to a sphere of suspended substance, responding in no other way to Orc's attacks.

Howard waits quietly until Orc's done beating up the statue, face curled up into a fearful look of anguish.

Orc was panting after a few swings but when he saw he couldn't damage the statue he let his arms fall to their sides, shoulders sagging. It was gone that was the important thing.

"I don't like this place." He muttered turning away from the statue. No fresh tears betrayed him this time. Just the sagging tiredness of sudden fury and loss. What kind of horrible person would set up a room specifically designed to bring out horrible memories like that?

Howard reaches over and puts a hand to Orc's craggy elbow. The statue takes a more innocuous memory, one of the janitors from their middle school silently lecturing them for littering.

"I don't either. Let's go. I think I've drawn enough on the paintings."

Orc let Howard lead him away easily enough, trying to tear his mind free of the image that was burned into place.

"I'm a murderer." He muttered choking back a sob.

"It was an accident." Technically, that means Howard's not disagreeing with Orc, but still trying to relieve the tension somewhat. Howard tugs at Orc's hand so Orc will have his back to the statue.

"Doesn't matter." He grumbled feeling every pound of his significant weight barring down on him. "None of it matters anymore." Which could be a good thing if he meant it. But clearly it was an event that mattered a great deal despite his protests.

"You're right, it doesn't. I told you it doesn't." Howard chances a glance back at the statue - great, it's Caine. Goodie. At least that's not something either of them will feel guilt over. "You know what? Come with me and I'll show you something."

Orc followed, if only because every step away from the statues made his heart ache a little less. He used to beat kids to tears for having emotions like these. Now barely a day passed where he didn't loath himself to the point of almost crying. Such a sissy.

Howard leads Orc to the city, then to the Inn. It's a long walk, and honestly he doesn't want to run into Zouichi, so he tells Orc to wait by the gate.

He disappears into the Inn and returns with a fat orange tabby cat, another cat following at his heels. "Here."

What he means is that he trust Orc's enough to hold and pet this delicate animal, and that that must mean something. And it's also a nice reminder of how far from home they are.

Orc is clearly hesitant though and doesn't offer his hands just yet. "Where'd you get cats?" He asked puzzled. He'd always been more of a dog person, but he didn't have anything against cats. He was just more scared of his own size and strength then anything.

"I got this one to piss off Albert. He's still scared of cats after that teleporting one. Loser." He picks up Emergency Rations and places her on Orc's shoulder. The cat's tense, clearly not sure what to make of a moving rock person, but she balances there and sniffs at Orc's mouth and nose.

"And the other one we rescued from a giant squid."

Orc actually let out a small laugh at the idea of Albert being afraid of a tiny thing like the cat.

"Nice kitty." He greeted Rations sitting very still. He had gotten good at sitting still since his body had gotten so heavy.

Emergency Rations, having determined that this is, in fact, a person, licks the inside of Orc's nostril.

"That one's Emergency Rations and this one," Howard lifts the fat tabby into Orc's lap, "is Sushi. And they both like you way more than they liked me when I got them."

Sushi lays like a warm, purring lump on Orc.

"You can pet Sushi if you want. He's sturdy."

Orc snorted at the licking and turned his head away to avoid more of it. He did attempt to pet sushi with a finger as gently as he could.

"Good kitty." He mumbled.

Howard takes Emergency Rations back and holds her against his chest, so they each have one cat. "Okay, now try this."

He demonstrates scratching the cat under the chin on Emergency Rations, gesturing for Orc to do the same for Sushi. "Since your hand's all rough, it'll probably feel even better to Sushi."

"I dunno." He was still apprehensive offering a finger to the cat who began to rub against it apparently willing to take matters into his own...paws.

"It's nice." He confessed.

"Yeah." He snorts a little as Emergency Rations decides that, denied Orc's nostrils, she should try to lick the inside of Howard's. "They're really...calming. I wish we could have had them back home but, you know. Food."

"Yeah...I don't wanna eat them." though he knew how desperate things had gotten.

Only then did Orc realize the joke behind the cats names and it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Do you think anyone else is in the pods from home?"

"Me neither." He squeezes Emergency Rations closer, listening close to her purr.

"Who knows?" Part of him wants to say 'who cares?', but that's not true. That little sprout of conscience he's been nurturing says he should, in some far-off way, hope that the other kids escaped. Except Drake, and maybe Caine, but definitely Drake. "Why would Stacy grab us and not people like Sam or Edilio?"

"Cuz she made a mistake." Orc offered because really why else would he be spared and not good people. "It's not fair." And even though he had long since accepted the life wasn't fair it was still frustrating.

At least Sushi's purring was soothing.

"You know that's bull, man. That would mean we came up lucky on someone's mistake and you know there's no such thing as happy accidents." Howard lays back and lets the cat walk on his chest.