Monsters & Wanders [Radiaoctive/Micaiah]

Normal. Very normal. The temperature was so normal. The winter air just didn't really pose much of a problem. The snow dropping from the heavens had Micaiah unperturbed. She preferred really warm climates on account of where she came from, and Vicara had many deserts in it. But, after spending the past week walking around the northern lands sight-seeing and seeking, the wanderer was wholly adapted to the frozen atmosphere. Enough that she changed out of the warmth of her thick armours, and back into the traditional Vicaran garb.

At some point in her travels, Micaiah found herself completely lost. There were methods to travel across the lands quickly, but part of sight-seeing involved walking on your own two feet. The best views were trekked to, of course. The best views were also often so far out of the beaten paths, that it was no wonder the girl couldn't grasp the surroundings. The option to go back, or even use teleportation was on the table, at Maujuda's efforts. Unfortunately, that also required admitting to the demon sword that she was wrong, and death by the wayside was preferable. Touketsu knows she wouldn't hear the end of it; her sword was just that kind of person, the type to bring up one mistake anytime they were advising you.

"Stop here, Micaiah."

"Fuck off, I'm not lost."

"Quit your babbling, child. Sense it for yourself. East of here, there's someone you should meet."

Micaiah rolled her eyes, but as long as it wasn't the direction back onto the beaten path--wherein which Maujuda would be correct, and Micaiah would be incorrect--then she didn't mind heeding the "Wise-ass King". The girl focused on her surroundings and the spiritual energies around her. She recognised a couple animals going by, but they were all fleeing westward. Once she directed her senses to the east, she realised what Maujuda was talking about.

They were still far from the location, it was more than just a couple kilometres outward, but the sheer depths and magnitude of that well of energy was honestly incomprehensible. Micaiah had heard of beings possessing unfathomable amounts of energy, and deep in her memories she recalled her life as Shurpa, where she had met face to face entities such as Touketsu, Ravan--bless his soul and rest in piece--and even Death at direct connection to him. But, those were just memories of a past life. This was the first time in this lifetime she felt something like this. Thankfully, it seemed controlled, but she could tell that core to its nature, this energy was wild.

"Dude, I'm not going there. I'm like 200 years too ea--"

"Too late."

A portal formed beneath Micaiah's feet, and she dropped through."

The exit portal was a couple feet off the ground, and she landed in a most uncomfortable position. Her legs were on opposite sides of a tombstone, so when she dropped, the top jutted straight to her crotch. Micaiah could only scream out in pain,

"FUCK!!"

It sure did hurt, having your groin smashed straight into hard stone. Thankfully, she had a good tolerance to pain, and the capacity to act in spite of it. She promptly lifted herself and stepped down from the headstone, still holding her crotch with a bit of a squat and waddle stance. She had great tolerance, but sometimes the squat and grab was like a placebo healing ritual. The soreness was going to linger, but doing this would take away some of that soreness. It was the gravelly voice of the man adjacent to her that brought her out of the ritual.

"Huh? Oh, nah, sorry. Somebody pushed me through a portal, a really silly prank that someone his age shouldn't be doing."

She gave stern looks to the sword at her hip, sheathed and now completely silent for some reason. The guy's voice, though... it sounded nothing like Ravan's. But, it kind of sounded like Ravan's. Maybe in the spirit of its words. Like it came from a place that's done some shit, that's made him extremely jaded beyond all belief. That was definitely the case, considering Micaiah just fell atop the tombstone of his family. Ouch.

"Oh, fuck me, that's.... sorry about that. I didn't... Yeah, sorry."

Wow, that got... heavy. Micaiah felt compelled to make a comment about the screeching, as it to take what he said seriously and act scared that a zombie might rise from the grave, but--that just seemed too inappropriate. Man, what a difficult spot they're in. The girl never was the type to be good with situations like this. She could only try to, well, be supportive? She didn't know the guy, or anything about him, but it sounded like the right thing to do. Much worse would just be walking away, at the very least.

Micaiah walked over to the guy and sat down next to him, assuming nothing would prevent her. She tapped on the gourd on her side, and a card appeared in her hand. With a bit of a flick, the card turned into a fur blanket, and she put it around both of them so that they could share. For Micaiah, this wasn't necessary, since she completely adapted to the cold. She didn't know whether the same could be said for the guy, however. If anything, she assumed he was topless as a sort of self-punishment, or a means to make his body feel numb so that his heart could grow numb too. Something like that.

"Uhm... There there... Do you wanna, uh, talk about it?"

Micaiah started patting the guy's back under the blankets in an attempt to comfort him.

Good god. Do people get the shit beat out of them for mistakes like this? Not that she'd agree, but Micaiah grew pretty spoiled and undisciplined, self-evident in just about everything within her. Getting the shit beat out of you for mistakes was so foreign. Or maybe this was her taking things too literally. Nah, that never happens.

Oh, there it goes. More heavy stuff. Moving on from the death of loved ones, huh? To be entirely frank, Micaiah had absolutely no means of empathising. She just couldn't relate. Death was rampant in Demon World, and it wasn't infrequent that she was confronted with the mortality of herself and others around her. But, as far as she could remember, death was often an escape. A sort of release. It wasn't something to be feared, to feel at a loss with, or even final--though she may have some biases on the subject. It was hard to relate just on the topic of close relationships like a wife and daughter anyways, let alone a sense of losing them.

At the very least, the two of them were in the same boat on something; Micaiah hadn't the slightest idea what to say. She knew a couple options, but what was the right one? The answer the guy wanted to hear, or that would make him feel better, or would help him out with his situation. It made things feel real awkward for her, especially when she couldn't come out with an immediate response. Just the brisk wind and snowfall sprinkling into the area as the only colour to the silence.

"I want what is in the past, but I know only the future remains. Tell me: how would you move on? Is it even right to do so?"

How would she move on from this? Hm. Good question. I guess, the real answer was that she would never move on from it. There was tons of shit she was still struggling to move on from, even after dying once. At the least, she hasn't really given up on trying to find some resolutions. Maybe what could help was a good distraction for him. A good lay always refreshed Micaiah's mind. Then again, they are in front of his dead wife's grave. Maybe just some companionship? But, this guy's all about that married lifestyle, with a kid. Oh--a kid. Maybe she could fill the void like that? But, being a little girl for daddy wasn't ever Micaiah's thing. Maybe there was a middle ground. Like being a little spoon. Something you could do to a romantic partner, but also something you could do for your child. Two birds in one stone, surely the best, most right answer.

So that's exactly what she did. Micaiah stood up and moved the blanket to just cover Radioactive. She took off her gourd and sword and crouched in front of the man. The size difference was humongous. She crawled onto his lap and sat down like a little spoon, pulling the corners of the blanket that hung off his shoulders towards her to insulate the space.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know. I'm not gonna lie and tell you I know how you're feeling, but I do know that some troubles make a mark in the mind for a long, long time. I haven't gotten over plenty of them yet, and I'm still trying. Still looking out for ways. For me, at this point, I'm probably more biding my time, just distracting myself with other stuff until something falls into my lap that'll change me for the better. I've done enough hard work, it's about damn time the world gives back some. I'll just wait until it does that for me."

"Well, shit man. Looks like you got it figured out, what'd you ask me for?"

The words were critical, but Micaiah spoke it out with a light-hearted tone and a brief chuckle afterwards. She even gave a light elbow to his leg as a little tease. To be fair, though, it was just a teensy bit frustrating. Here she was, trying to come up with some good words to hear, when all it really seemed like was that this big guy needed someone to listen, not necessarily to advise.

"What would I want to change me? Well... I dunno, yet."

She wasn't lying. So as to mimic him, Micaiah breathed in boisterously, and exhaled through her nostrils, almost to playfully mock.

"That's kinda why I'm waiting for it to come to me. If I knew what I wanted exactly, I'd go out looking for it! I mean, I'm kind of doing that anyways, but it's a bit aimless to tell you the truth. I just know that I'm not complete yet. Something's missing, sorta empty, in here."

Micaiah gestured to her chest, or maybe her soul.

"It's not like a huge void or anything--I'm no hollow. I mean, I'll survive, but I want to do more than that. I want to live."

When she said the last word, Micaiah even opened her arms up for a wide, flamboyant gesture to really drive home the idea of how grand the sentiment seemed to her. Wide enough, that she even accidentally nicked Radioactive's chin.

"Oops, sorry about that."

Micaiah brought her hands back down, one to pat and caress the spot she accidentally hit, as if that would make it feel better.

"Sad dumbass, huh? Well, I think we're all sad dumbasses every now and then, hehe~."

Micaiah appreciated the warmth of the large man's hand, coupling over her own when she gestured to her soul. But, the fact of the matter still was that Micaiah was a bonafide woman.

"Well now, mister, I'm the kinda gal that prefers to have dinner before dessert. Brave of you to be doing all this in front of these tombs, of all things."

Micaiah's face rose up to look upside down at Radioactive's. He'd be able to see an absolutely devilish, teasing smile on her, as she shook her hips a little.

"Maybe it's cause I'm lookin' at you upside down, but I gotta say, these deep thoughts don't match your face. I dig that."