Edgar [44]
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[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 14, 2012 7:17:29 GMT -5
"Get out of him?" Laughter bubbled out of his voicebox at the thought. He turned lazily, crossing his arms loosely across his chest. "Do you even understand what you're talking about?"
He seemed generally unimpressed with Vagabond's threatening stance, though if one looked carefully, his gaze was wary, and he wasn't coming any closer. The unfastened hood hung loosely around his head, the ragged edges falling straight to his shoulders. "Because if you only know what he told you, you don't know anything."
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 16, 2012 19:28:34 GMT -5
Vagabond's tense form, ready to spring into action, hesitated. "Well, then tell me what I should know." He growled abruptly. If there was one thing he knew, it was fighting, and this putz was hopefully burning through his time in Edgar's body. Maybe all he needed to do was stall until Edgar resurfaced, so to speak.
He began warily circling not-Edgar, who was still easily within arm's reach, though he didn't need to know it. He kept his slanted eyes on the other. No telling how much better of a fighter this one was, and those hand-claws were nasty looking, even if there were two of them. He kept his stance low, ready to strike or withdraw.
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 17, 2012 17:07:08 GMT -5
His optics narrowed contentedly, and he reached up towards the edge of the hood.
"Why don't you have him tell you? He's the one who lied in the first place, isn't he?" He all but purred the words, watching Vagabond carefully for his reaction. He flicked the loosened hood off his head with a careless gesture, twisting and spearing it at the last minute with the forefinger of one hand. "Of course, I don't think he'd tell you." His head was not bare under the hood as one might expect; rather, a row of small black spines ran along the center of the head in a vertical line, before invisible thanks to the way they lay all-but flat along the seam they sprouted from. Free of the hood, they flicked up into position- angled to efficiently skewer anything that jumped on him from above or behind.
He held up the cloth almost as if he were offering it to Vagabond. "There's so much he hides, after all. I think he can barely stand himself, don't you?"
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 19, 2012 18:04:26 GMT -5
Vagabond had had nearly enough of this guy's shit. "Well, I'd ask him, but your stupid ass is currently in control of his body. So why don't you tell me, you scrambled sack of bolts. If you're not going anywhere and I'm not punching you, you'd damn well give me a fucking reason not to beat you to a fucking pulp."
His eyesight didn't permit him to, from this range, to see the spines- But he did see the other pull the hood back. Definitely someone completely different. "I don't give a fuck what he thinks of himself. Nor do I give a fuck what you think of him, or me for that matter." His fingers tensed. He was trying to decide whether or not punching this asshole would knock Edgar back into supremacy.
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 20, 2012 20:40:27 GMT -5
"You don't?" The other's tone was aggravatingly superior, implicitly lording some great secret. Now he took to pacing, as Vagabond had earlier; his stride reminiscent of a stalking cat, spines angling down slightly. The cloth dangled limply from his hand, caught between the edge of the forefinger and the blunt thumb. "I suppose ignorance really is bliss. Let me put it in a way someone like you would understand."
"He's lying. He tells you that he doesn't know; I think you'll find he does. He knows me, knows me very well, and more than that I think he knows which one of us is the thief. And you," he stopped in front of Vagabond, turned to face him, his spikes flaring to their full height. "You come into this only knowing his lies and believing that worthless piece of garbage... you offer him things, that leech, that PARASITE..." His face had darkened angrily- with effort, he smoothed it back to its usual look of arrogance.
"So I suppose the real question is, what kind of fool are you?"
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 20, 2012 20:51:40 GMT -5
As this new other spoke, Vagabond listened, the look on his face never changing in the least. If anything this other-Edgar was just as long-winded as the real one, and if Vagabond's eyes were capable of rolling he'd have done so.
Each insult Other-Edgar tossed out against either Edgar or himself darkened the frown on Vagabond's face. Vagabond straightened as Other- Edgar did, standing upright (Though not terribly tall) and facing the other. He examined his enormous fingers for a moment as if checking his nails, a disinterested look on his face, as he was christened a fool.
"What kind of fool am I?" He asked, looking back up at Other- Ed. " I'm the kind of fool with a mean-ass right hook."
Within the span of a second he dropped back into his boxing stance and threw a savage left-hook at Other-Edgar with his enormous, lead-solid fist, enough to send the other stitchpunk flying should it connect.
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Edgar [44]
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[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 20, 2012 21:45:36 GMT -5
...And connect it did. For a split-second, the shorter stitchpunk had an unparalleled view of the not-Edgar's utterly astonished face, imprinted on one side by incoming fist, and then the gangly, pale body flew, crumpling impressively at the foot of a nearby bookshelf.
He lay there, completely limp, optics staring glassily into space as if the swirling dust motes held some intrinsic answer to life. He looked... almost like a corpse; motionless, unresponsive, not even the faintest twitch to show that life had not simply been battered out of that fragile-looking frame.
Silence.
Slowly, the prone form wadded itself up; long limbs drawn in to a close, protective curl. With his spines still half-extended, he looked like a particularly woebegone hedgehog, both hands gripping at the fabric of his head, though, this time the pointed forefingers managed to miss lacerating his brow any more.
In the newly-minted reign of silence, the tall stitchpunk could be heard whimpering quietly.
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 20, 2012 22:03:08 GMT -5
"YEAH YOU STUPID BAG OF DICKS, I FUCKING TOLD YOU I'D SLAP YOUR SHIT! WOO! COME AND GET SOME MORE, YOU RUSTY BUCKET OF SHIT! WHAT'S UP!" He did a little dance, punching the air, until he realized that Other-Edgar was making quiet noises. He stopped dancing around and walked over- It seemed that Edgar was back.
"Uh... Ed?" He said tentatively, putting an overlarge hand on the other's back. "Are you... You again?" He knelt down, letting his other hand rest behind him. "Are you ok?"
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 22, 2012 17:57:45 GMT -5
Through a narrow gap in his arms, Edgar stared out at a diamond of library, framed in on all sides by fabric and his knees. A heavy, painful throb had taken up residence all along one side of his head, and thinking inexplicably felt painful- as if the slightest altercation of the tiny cogs in his head would split it in half. But between him and the pain, he had the benefit of a sense of foggy detachment, as if, in being stuffed back into control of his own body, he hadn't quite gotten plugged in the right way yet. He flinched as Vagabond touched him, with a twitch of spines, but beyond that offered no real response to the other's inquiry.
He twitched again, and his whimpers gradually formed into words: "Wasn't-wasn't supposed- how-why why why" The words were not nearly so significant as the complete desperation that came with it.
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 22, 2012 18:55:04 GMT -5
Vagabond frowned shortly, walking over to Edgar's fallen hood and picking it up, along with the pin that normally held it in place, then placing it at his companion's feet. It seemed Edgar was indeed back. He disliked the necessity of having to punch Edgar- He'd forgotten that they shared a body- But at least it had worked.
He sat down cross-legged next to the lankier stitchpunk and waited while he calmed down, giving Edgar plenty of space. He wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything nice to say- So he didn't say anything at all. The whole while, a disconcerted, somewhat unsure frown sat upon his face. People didn't normally punch their friends, he didn't think, but at the same time he'd never felt bad about hitting someone before. It was a peculiar feeling- Quite frankly, he'd never felt bad or guilty about any of the actions in his life. That this little thing- Helping a friend- would make him feel guilt was... It was...
"Downright fucked up." He muttered under his breath.
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 24, 2012 22:09:43 GMT -5
At Vagabond's words, the taller doll stirred slightly. It wasn't a particularly dramatic move, but showed more anatomical coordination than its immediate predecessors, and sure enough, after a while, Edgar tentatively sat up, bleary-eyed and looking just as miserable as ever, now with an all-new layer of bafflement over it.
"Eugh..." The doctor massaged his optics and the fabric around their setting, trying to somehow physically alleviate the throbbing . One of them was loose in its socket; he gingerly pushed it back in, wincing as the delicate wires within put up protest. It wasn't a complete fix- his vision was fuzzy on that side- but it would hold up for the moment.
Moving on to slightly more worrying matters... He turned, caught sight of Vagabond, some question halfway to his mouth...
And then he spotted the scrap of fabric on the ground, with the red-capped pin lying nearby...
In sudden awareness, the half-raised spines flattened themselves dramatically along his seam.
"Oh." He said, very quietly.
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 25, 2012 22:54:14 GMT -5
Vagabond shifted awkwardly in his spot. "You got bodyjacked. And then you tripped... And fell on your... Face." He said awkwardly, looking away conspiratorily. He kneaded his knuckles against the ground as he did when he was nervous. He looked at Edgar and then away almost immediately.
"Okay, so you didn't fucking fall, I punched you. It seemed like a fucking good idea at the god damn time. If you need that shit fixed I know a guy who's not bad at repairs." He drummed his fingers uncomfortably against the ground. "That guy lives inside of your head, doesn't he?" He said quietly, glancing at Edgar out of the corner of his eye.
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on May 27, 2012 10:57:14 GMT -5
For his part, Edgar put a great deal of focus into replacing his hood, tugging it down over the still-flattened spines. He didn't look up at Vagabond, seemingly as reluctant as the other was to make eye contact. His damaged optic fizzed faintly, and he watched the room split into static and pixels before piecing itself back together.
"Yes, thank you, it probably... needs..." The words left his mouth suddenly, like birds startled from their resting place, and quickly faded out, as if beyond that sudden burst he had no energy to carry outwards.
He'd thought... no, maybe he hadn't really deluded himself as much as he'd wished that he had. Being chased by a ghost was so much easier to think of than carrying one inside of himself; so much easier than the knowledge that it was there to begin with...
-I am always where you are[/i][/color]-
The doctor slumped.
"It never was quite that simple, was it..."[/font]
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Post by Vagabond[101] on May 27, 2012 16:12:44 GMT -5
Vagabond gave a half-shrug and leaned his head back against the bookshelf. "Sorry for punching you, by the way." He said, looking upwards at the ceiling (Even if he couldn't see it). "It ah, seemed like a good idea at the time. Not- not that I solve all my fucking problems with punching. I have other ideas too. Slapping people's shit is always an option... And kicking... Biting, too..." He trailed off, deciding he probably wasn't helping his own case.
He looked over at the forlorn ragdoll. He wanted to help, but had no idea how that might be accomplished. "Uh, well, I won't mention this to 1 if you don't." He said lightly, even as he said it thinking of the verbal lashing he'd get for 'bringing a dangerous outsider into the sanctity of the cathedral'.
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Edgar [44]
✱ LONE ✱
[P:0]
[sub]shall be lifted nevermore[/sub]
Posts: 29
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Post by Edgar [44] on Jul 18, 2012 23:06:59 GMT -5
Edgar simply sat there for a moment, staring at Vagabond, seemingly shocked by what the smaller doll was suggesting. He'd never heard of 1 before coming to the Cathedral, no doubt accounted for by his limited interactions in the wastes. But if he truly had the sway that Vagabond's tone implied, this single individual held absolute sway over who had the right to stay- and probably would not look favorably on someone carrying a dark passenger. "Is that... wise?" he asked softly, averting his optics the entire time.
"He deserves to know the threats in his home, after all." His tone was distant, expression resolved into its usual look of general misery, but as he spoke, his bladed forefingers clicked against each other meaningfully.
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