A month has passed. A month since activation. A month since air first filled her lungs, and thoughts beyond that limiting simulation started to form. A month can be relatively short or long. For a time to be alive, it may seem rather short. But for a time not playing chess with oneself… more than she could ever hope for.
Ouroboros leaned against the railings on the rooftop, looking off at the buzzing city, the crowded streets below, the floating clouds above. It all felt so… overwhelming, yet orderly. There is so much going on, in every corner of her vision there's movement, it's impossible to keep track of all of it. And yet, this is what a city is supposed to be like, so it's… orderly, in a sense.
Only by looking at this orderly chaos can she feel like the thunderstorm within her has something to relate to. Crashing and thundering, bolts of lightning striking down… and yet, it feels like it's sorting itself out.
"What is that human saying… timely wounds heal?" she mutters.
It sounds weird… and this is not a wound that heals so easily. It's a deep gash, reaching wide into her pride. Piercing the bone of her image, and leaving behind a disease known as humiliation. There are cracks in the chessboard, and it's difficult to keep playing when it's pouring so heavily inside…
But perhaps, here, she can begin to heal. Take deep breaths, find the order within the chaos, tame the storm. No matter the conditions, this is a game of chess she has to win. Against the ever-moving portrait of this city, she will prove the great self-control that will cure this disease.
Now then, first move… how about… white knight to C3, see how they react, then move white pawn to E4-
"HELLO ENMOND CITY AFTERNOOOOON!"
A sudden loud voice, followed by the crash of the roof's entrance door hitting the wall and almost breaking off the hinges, it takes the Ringleader out of her game like a thunderbolt striking the middle of the chessboard. Her pigtails would've stood up if they contained muscles…
"Hmm?~ Oh hey, Snek-chan! So this is where you were!"
The annoying voice, the source of her wounds, saying the obvious…
"Veresk…" she turned around, an expression beyond annoyed or exasperated, grey eyes piercing. "Come to throw pebbles? Yank the chain of our debt?"
The short T-doll that has just arrived, gazing back with green eyes, gloved hands formed into fists before her chin. "Ohoho?~ Well, if you think of me that way… hm, nono, I'm not into slave play… well, most of me isn't~" After exactly one second of contemplating those uninhibited words Ouroboros wishes she didn't hear, the short doll winked. "You sure know how to provoke some thoughts, Snek-chan!"
"Stop. Calling me. That." every word was accompanied with restrained volume in her voice. No need for the many humans below to hear her distress. "What do you want? You're behaving oddly…"
"O-oh, I dunno what you're talking about…" Veresk connects her hands behind her back, leaning forward in an oh so innocent manner, one foot before the other with each step she got closer. She seemed especially… lively today. Yet it did not seem like it wasn't her… just how can her behavior bewilder her so?
"Better question actually, what are you doing here? Tell me tell me!"
"M-me?!" she stuttered. How would she respond to that question? She would usually pride herself on a victorious mental battle of chess, but all the pieces are scattered now, there is nothing to brag about here!
"I-I was… um… surveying our current location!"
"Oho~ Really?"
"Yes! The, um... flank could get stormed if it is not taken into account, and there is no knight guarding the west, and there are too few pawns between the entrance and the queen and-"
"Ooh, we talking chess terms again? That is sooo you! Hey, hey, what does it mean to push a squire to D5?"
"... you… y-you move the squire to D5…"
"Oooooh… now that I think about it, that does make a lot of sense!"
Ouroboros looks at the cheerful lilac haired doll with confusion and exasperation. Just what is happening? It's like she's talking without inhibition, speaking purely based on impulse… wait a minute…
"... Epsilon?"
"Uh-oh, my secret's out~" she feigned defeat, tauntingly. "Had you fooled, didn't I?"
"Veresk said she was finally getting dummy links… but I wasn't expecting her to allow her fragments this much leisure…"
"Oh, I don't think she got to that yet. She was doing this boring briefing and then I realized like, hey, we're back in Enmond! Talk about a homecoming!"
The dummy doll was… too cheery for her tastes. Even when Veresk was pulling that esteemed kouhai persona, it didn't get as bad as this. Inhibition truly is the greatest invention…
"... so that's it? You ran up here for… a feeling of familiarity?"
"Sure, if that's how you wanna describe it. I didn't really think about it, I just couldn't wait to breathe the city air and gaze upon the buzzing streets again."
"The buzzing streets, huh…" the chaos she was trying to relate to just minutes ago? How fitting that it would catch the attention of such a whirlwind of emotion. She watched the short doll skip her way towards the railing, looking at the streets below. Sounds and gasps of awe escaped her mouth, and the ringleader just rolled her eyes. "Can't you go satisfy that impulsive nature of yours somewhere else? I was rather enjoying the peace and quiet…"
"Huh? But why? Don't you enjoy my companionship?"
"Pfft, as if!" she hissed. "You're like a thorn in my side."
But instead of looking hurt or offended, the dummy… began to laugh? She was giggling like a little schoolgirl… just what's so damn funny?!
"Hehe, I see… Oreo has gone into tsun-mode again!"
"Just what even is that word? It's an insult, isn't it?!"
"Oh dear, you're steaming like a kettle already~ But I know just the cure for such a prideful heart!" she turned towards the considerably taller doll, her hands outstretched, fingers moving in a frightening motion… "It's cuddle-time!"
"W-wha…?!" Ourorobos gave a look of confusion, and when realization set in, she began backing away as the doll approached. "Nononono! S-stay away, you fiend!"
"Not fiend, friend! Frieeend~"
Her eyes looked terrifying, her expression so... frighteningly joyous. She has to get away! Or she'll-
It was in that moment, being so fixated on the dummy doll trying to violate her personal space that Ouroboros tripped as she was backing up, the world moving in a flash. The last thing she registered was a sly smile on the doll's face, before a flurry of movements later, she felt… warmth?
Not the feeling she expected, considering she was falling towards the cold floor. It was like she was caught by something, a small frame engulfing her… oh boy, does she dare open her eyes?
"Hehe, caught'ya~"
Damn it, it's as she feared… peeking one eye open, she noticed the lilac hue pressed into her chest, a tight ring of arms around her that stopped her fall… she is, indeed, being hugged by Epsilon. Several steps were skipped, specifically Ouroboros' struggle. She would never let it even get to this point, but now that it's like this… it surely is a little too late to start fighting it now, is it?
"For a cold blooded creature, you sure are warm~"
"S-shut up…" >.>
What is this feeling, where she was subconsciously flooded with excuses to not resist it completely? It's just a dumb hug, from an impulsive fragment of an already insufferable doll. Part of the Ringleader wants to grab her by the shoulders and fling the witch off this rooftop. She's already halfway there, her arms laying on her little, light frame. And yet there's those excuses again… she knows it's subconscious, but what possible benefit could this hug bring her?
"You're still so tense… you really needed a hug, huh?"
"D-did not! Unhand me you…!"
"But you wouldn't want that, would you now? Tsun-tsun-tsuuuun~~"
"Seriously, what does that even mean…"
Thoughts picked up in a whirlwind within her, and the kettle really started to steam now. This is humiliating! This is condescending! This is embarrassing! … embarrassing?
Beep, beep, beep…
"Uh-oh, seems they've noticed my absence…" voiced the dummy Epsilon, and just as quickly as the hug began, she broke it off. She skipped off towards the door, and gave one last look to her unofficial cuddle victim. "Hope you enjoyed that, Oreo~" And with a wink, she disappeared.
The former SF was left standing there, the warms she felt just moments ago slowly dissipating. It was like those small arms were still there, until the warmth was gone. It left her with a sense of… longing? Longing for what…?
"... AAAAARGH!"
She stomped her feet and hit the fence in anger. She let her get into her head again! How stupid that she let such thoughts persist, that she entertained the idea of hugs and this kind of physical contact! Is that doll trying to corrupt her?!
Alas, such a fit of rage won't help. Even worse, it is unbecoming of her. As much self control as it takes, she took a deep breath, gripped the railing tightly enough to leave her hand marks, and then… let go. Just like that… back where she was before. She was alone again, after all. The chaos of the city, and the chaos within her. But… it felt like there was still something else. A new addition. Something that has been imprinted within her…
She sits behind that broken mental chessboard again, but at least the pieces are all there. Nothing seems different at first. The storm is still there, the ferocious world order is still her opponent, but it's like… she's not alone? She turns around, and there's no-one there. But it feels like… they're on her side, and they've got her back. Ignoring the circumstances that led up to this, the humiliating defeats she suffered, the insults she had to endure, the characters she had to tolerate…
This… isn't such a bad feeling. Well then, where was she…
Ah, of course. White knight to C3…
