A Day In Escher (Hijinks)

[Hijinks]

Jink had never had a round of "fun" like the one he and Yuuthayn had on the kitchen table, but he wasn't thinking about that, now. He was thinking about how his lovely blue scaly lady had to face her demons. It made him a little bit scared for her, but more concerned about what he'd see... If it was anything like his own nightmares, the loneliness could send him into the fetal position.​

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"Yeah, just think about it and it should appear."​

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As he opened a door that had a dark room behind it, he slipped her off his shoulders and took her hand.​

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"I'm here for you."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I took a very deep breath.​

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"Okay....."​

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I stared into the darkness of the room a little before closing my eyes. It didn't take long to envision my dream. When my eyes opened, I was staring at a single full-length mirror, illuminated by one lonely golden light. I let go of Jink's hand, walking up to it. This part was one I always saw at the beginning. I could deal with it.​

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I looked at myself in the mirror. I tilted my head to one side, and then to the other. To the right of the mirror, and second golden beam suddenly appeared, illuminating my old, permanently sour-looking Chiss mother. The same thing happened on the left to illuminate my tall, brown scale-covered Shi'ido father. They both glared at me. Slowly, they walked behind the mirror. I could see them in the mirror now instead of myself. They slowly merged together until I was staring back at myself again. My reflection glared at me with their faces.​

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"Weapon. Tool. Monster."​

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The monotonous voices of my parents spoke to me through the mirror, getting louder and louder. I looked down beside me. Sure enough, a table had appeared with a large rock on top of it, just begging me to pick it up. I listened to it. With the rock in my hand, I bashed in my reflection's face. The mirror shattered completely. The golden light vanished. Now, the only light was coming from inside the hole the mirror left behind.​

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I dropped the rock, turning to look at Jink.​

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"Stay close. It just gets... worse, from here...."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

"Oh."​

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Jink had watched the whole scene unfold. He really hadn't been expecting Yuuthayn to be present and active in her own dream, but it wasn't as big a surprise as it might have been. He decided that staying close meant taking her hand again, and his voice softened to a whisper. It seemed appropriate, somehow.​

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"Like I said, here for you."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I stepped through the mirror-doorway, leading Jink into the next room. The walls were white, and smooth. There was a small bed on the right, a little toilet and sink, and a desk near the front. And, laying on the floor in front of them was a small and familiar form. It was a younger version of me. She was on her stomach, watching a bug crawl across the floor in front of her. Her little hand reached out and touched the bug's back. As it scurried beneath the bed, she smiled and laughed a little. She looked at her little hand as she made it shift into the same texture as the bug. Moments like this weren't so bad. But they were always short. Little me gasped, the smile fading from her face at the sound of approaching footsteps. She quickly got up, her hand returning to normal while she hurriedly dusted herself off and straightened herself.​

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The thick white door opened, and the looming figures of two guards stepped into the room. The scene shifted into little me walking behind the guards through the prison-like facility where I grew up. With Jink beside me, I walked behind them, looking around at all of the familiar convicts and criminals the facility kept for weapons testing.​

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We stopped when we reached a large room with a lot of tables filled with vials and microscopes and science things. The guards left, and little me walked into the room. My mother sat behind one of the tables. She was looking into one of the microscopes as she gestured to a chair beside her.​

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"Sit down. We'll start in a minute."​

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Little me obeyed without question, hurrying over and sitting down. My mother pulled out a small little vial from underneath the microscope, loading it into a syringe. She stood up and strapped little me into the chair by my wrists and ankles. I knew what was coming, and so did my little self. As the liquid was injected into little me's system, I started squeezing Jink's hand. I could remember the pain as clear as day. Mom's drug tests always hurt.​

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Little me squirmed and wiggled, her scales spasming and shifting. She started to cry, but she didn't make any noise. Mom hated it when I cried "like a child". Mother stood in front of little me, observing her her reaction and scribbling things down on a clipboard. She didn't even look a little concerned at what she was doing to her daughter.​

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I looked at the ground, gritting my teeth. Just the memory of those moments with mom made my body ache.​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Link felt himself tearing up as Yuuthayn squeezed his hand. Not from that feeling. That reminded him that she was okay and sane, right next to him. The sight of the scaly blue child version of her being tortured like that ripped his heart out. He could barely see past the tears as he hugged her. His version of her. That thought was what kept him from looking away from the horrible memory. His ears drooped sadly as he watched sidelong.​

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"Don't worry, Thayn... I have you... It'll never happen again."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I knew what was coming next. I just stood there and let Jink hug me, trying my best not to look at the next scene.​

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Little me was in a bigger room with a gray mat on the floor. In front of her was the hulking figure of my father. They were in the middle of sparring when little me suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. My father glared down at her.​

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" I've been teaching you the counter-attack for that move for weeks now! Are you truly too slow to remember it?!"​

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He yelled. One fist came down onto little me, followed by another and another. He hit her over and over, even starting to kick her. Little me curled up into the fetal position, crying and mouthing something through her tears.​

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I could remember the words. I started to softly repeat them, as if it was an instinct.​

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"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

This vision disturbed Jink far more than the last one. He'd been a father, once. Maybe not a very good father, but he and Carliah had loved Joelle, and she'd loved them back. Never, even once had he considered hitting her. Or any other child, for that matter. He had to hold onto Yuuthayn tighter, and remind himself that her dream's occupants weren't corporeal... Otherwise, he might have gone all Bad Kitty and snapped the man's neck. Instead, he kept his voice at a gentle whisper and held onto his blue-scaled lady.​

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"No, no... you have nothing to be sorry for. At all. You're in my castle, and I'll keep you safe."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

The final part of my dream was coming. The fear of what I had to do was rising within me. I didn't want Jink to see this. I didn't want to see this...​

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I gently shoved him away. I was already trembling a little. It was obvious I was on the verge of tears.​

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"Please.... Please don't watch me do this...."​

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I pleaded very quietly as the scene shifted once again. There was a single table with a blaster on it. I slowly walked up to it. As I did this, a room became visible in front of me. There were two dead people on the ground, and a little boy and girl cowering beside them. My parents voices boomed through the room.​

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"Leave no witnesses..."​

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God, I hated this part. I hated it so much. My hand picked up the blaster. I pointed it at the little boy first. Just don't look at me. I can shoot you so long as you don't-​

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The boy's eyes lifted to meet mine. He and the girl both began to cry.​

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"Please! We won't tell anybody! We promise!"​

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I started to tremble even more. Their cries and my parents' orders swam through my head, blocking out everything else. Tears started falling down my face as I tried to muster up the courage to pull the trigger.​

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"L-leave.... No witnesses...."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Jink's eyes widened in horror, and then his expresssion softened as he felt Yuuthayn push him. He looked into her face and saw her crying. He heard the sound of the children sobbing, and he grabbed her hand, putting it on his cheek. He pulled her as close into his chest as he could, letting her cry into it.

"It's okay. Everything is okay. None of this is happening, now. You're not a monster. You're not your parents. You're here, and I'm with you. I won't let any of this hurt you anymore."

[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I let Jink hug me again. Anger suddenly flared within me as I roughly shoved him off. I glared at him as I kept crying.​

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"You don't get it, do you?! This isn't just my fears or my dreams anymore. I've already killed them! They were my first assignment! I shot them both in the face, and I didn't even BLINK!!!" ​

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I threw the gun aside. I picked up the little table the gun had been on and sent it flying into the wall. The scene of the crying children faded. The room was now pitch black except for my glowing red eyes.​

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"They made me into something that I can never escape. I'm a monster, Jink. I've killed so many people.... A part of me actually likes it.... I can never forget it.... I can never forgive myself.... You want to know why I hate my face? Because when I look in the mirror, I see what they made. I see a MONSTER......" ​

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I fell to my knees, burying my face in my hands.​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Jink's eyes narrowed. So that was it, huh? He didn't get it? He was at least twice her age, and he'd been trapped in the Escher for longer than she'd existed. The purple cat-man crouched down and poked Yuuthayn in the shoulder, a little more angrily than he meant to.​

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"I don't get it? I was trapped in total darkness for almost three hundred years. When I got out, the first thing I did was wipe a city off the galactic map by crushing under this castle. That was the happiest I'd ever been in my life. And then my parents who'd ignored me for all that time tried to kill me for 'straying from their path'."​

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He collapsed back away from her, still glaring. He was so angry, he didn't notice that the room was rapidly darkening. An image of a small child appeared where Yuuthayn's memory scene had been, and the boy was huddled into a ball, much like the blue-scaled Shi'ido was right now.​

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"You don't get how disappointed I was when I found out I was still alive. At least when I was bleeding out from a rail through the chest, I thought my ex and her family could move on, and I would never have to be sad again. Instead, I came back to find-"​

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He finally looked around, and began to cry as he realized whose nightmare they were in now...​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I kept my face covered as I listened to Jink's story. I didn't really know how old he was. And he'd only ever briefly mentioned things about his parents and his ex-wife. I hadn't meant to make my problems sound more important than his. I just... I wasn't good at dealing with that kind of stuff. I could hear someone else crying beside me. They didn't sound very big however. I looked over a fraction in the direction of the crying.​

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There was a tiny little boy curled up on the floor next to me. I knew the pinkish-purple hair and ears meant that this was baby Jink. He looked just as miserable as I felt. I don't really know why, but I found myself wanting to curl up with him. Maybe even try to make him feel better. My own tears were still coming, but I didn't pay attention to them as I laid down next to baby Jink.​

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"You don't like the dark either, huh?"​

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I spoke directly to the memory, even though I knew it couldn't hear me.​

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"Well, don't worry. No matter how dark it gets, I'll always be able to see you. I promise I'll be right here with you. I'm not going anywhere...."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Jink saw Yuuthayn lay down next to what he considered baby-him and smiled sadly as he crawled over to her.​

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"It's not the dark... It's the emptiness. I don't mind space, because I know there are planets... But inside the Escher, before I learned how to control it, there was nothing. My parents locked me down here, in this room and ordered me to create a universe that I didn't have any knowledge to create from."​

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He laid down next to her and the ghost-like memory of himself and wrapped an arm around her waist from behind.​

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"I'm sorry I made you do this. You don't deserve to relive that. If you're a monster, that makes me something much worse, and far more evil."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

"You're not evil. If you were, you would've left me in here to suffer through it alone."​

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I gently extended my fingers toward baby Jink, letting them slightly go through his little ears. He was so cute. I wanted to hug the little guy. The image started to fade. Once again we were left on the floor in the darkness. I slowly turned over so I could face him, my eyes being the only source of light.​

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"I wish you didn't have to see me like this..."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

jink reached out to touch Yuuthayn's face, smiling a little bit sadly as he felt the scales on her face.​

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"I am evil. I killed people out of boredom, and I definitely didn't stop my ex from doing the same. At least you were forced into it... I killed for the hell of it."​

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He rested his forehead against hers and sighed tiredly.​

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"I just... don't want you to feel like you're horrible. You're not."​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I looked into Jink's eyes. I was still crying, but the tears were silent and slow. I put my hand on his cheek, lightly moving my thumb back and forth along his cheek.​

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"Isn't it funny? We're both monsters trying to tell the each other that we aren't monsters."​

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I closed my eyes, sighing sadly.​

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"What a beautiful mess we've made."​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Jink gently kissed Yuuthayn's cheek as he slipped his other hand up to hold the one she had on his face.​

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"Yeah... some monsters we are..."​

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The purple cat-man shifted into a small purple cat and hugged her hand with his paws.​

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You're still beautiful, though... And I want to keep you...​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

I pulled the little purple kitty to my chest, cuddling it.​

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I want to keep you, too... ​

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I wouldn't call it love just yet. But there was definitely a feeling there when I thought of Jink. Something more than friendship. After a little while longer in the dark room, I finally scooped Jink into my arms and carried him out into the hallway. Once the door closed behind us, I leaned against it, sighing with relief.​

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"Well. Now that that's over, why don't we play a game? Maybe tag. Or hide and seek!"​

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[member="Hijinks"]​

 

[Hijinks]

Jink crawled up onto Yuuthayn's shoulder so he could lick her cheek as he telepathically talked to her.​

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Well, I wouldn't suggest hide-and-seek. Who knows where you'd end up...?​

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He put his paws on her cheek and gave her as close to a smile as a house cat could give.​

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Tag could be a fun way for you to learn where everything is... and chasing your tail sounds fun.​

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[member="Yuuthayn Di'cantos"]​

 

[Yuuthayn Di'cantos]

"Why not both? Chase me into a room and then try to find me?"​

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I lightly moved Jink's paws off my face. I didn't want him falling off my shoulder while trying to be a romantic kitten, even if he was a flying romantic kitten. I stopped between six doors on either side of us. This would be as good a place to start as any.​

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[member="Hijinks"]​