etcelsior | HOT OR NOT MEME

Cry me a river, Reyes

Only if you drown in it.

Literally can't here. I'll grow gills. So sorry.

[ ugh ]

... Seriously?

[ yeah, not going to be wishing death upon him now when she can be a science nerd ]

Will you literally turn into a fish if I try to drown you?

Nope, just get the necessary parts to survive it just for as long as I need them.

That's been how it goes so far anyway.

[ it's actually kind of a point of concern. he isn't really telling his power to do any of this, it just does, and while he's grateful, it's still disconcerting. ]

[ she makes a little "huh" sound. ]

So if I was to shoot you, what would happen?

[ contrary to popular belief, raven does not want to shoot murphy in this instance. it's really the only context she has where he can get hurt, aside from being shot by an arrow (which she could mean) or being tortured. and raven reyes is not a torturer, despite what she may want others to think at times. ]

Skin would go bulletproof right before it hit.

[ no one's tried to shoot him in the real world as of yet, but it happened plenty in soviet nightmare land. however - ]

I got hit by a car a month or so back. The whole side that the bumper crash into went metal, but not my face where I hit the ground. [ so the minor injury wasn't covered, but the thing that would've caved his ribcage in was. it seems like a thing activated alone only by a truly lethal threat.

not the same in the dream, there he'd had more control, but it didn't stick. something really starting to annoy him. ]

Edited 2017-05-14 21:33 (UTC)

[ what she's getting from this is killing murphy would be a no go. she doesn't know why that sits a little lighter in her chest, knowing that. ]

So that's why you did what you did. [ she says it more to herself than to him. in the dream, he'd been so adamant in being the shield that she thought it was just him trying to get the one-up on her, to win the bragging rights of "i saved your life and you tried to take mine." ]

Has it not worked?

[ a beat, and he does want to say something snide, along the lines of exactly what she was thinking. bragging rights, being a badass, whatever. in the end, he's not sure that lie will really float. ]

No point in waiting for you to heal if I can just take it. [ there's still some pragmatism over sentiment in that one, sure. murphy's eyes slip to the side, thinking, on the latter part. ]

Sort of. In the labs in the dream. They did something. [ what they did was break him down enough to get past it and cut into him. he'd been on a lot of drugs at the time and most of him has been trying really really hard to forget everything that happened in there. ]

I thought having a power was a part of those dreams.

[ she still wants to believe that. having anyone tamper with her own dna boils her blood. alie had already screwed with her mind and her memories, and to think she has to be some hero with the ability to turn into a fish doesn't inspire her as it would anyone else. if anything, the idea just makes her more scared. ]

I can't heal outside of that.

[ not that raven has tried to tear her skin off. all those little cuts she's acquired from working with sharp objects have disappeared, but she's forced herself to believe it's because they were small to begin with. small cuts disappear, the big ones stay for the ride. but her leg is damaged, so that power has to be shit. ]

[ denial is a river she's going to need to develop gills to swim in if she insists on staying in it. ]

[ murphy frowns, trying to think if anyone had mentioned getting a new power. then again, he was the only one to really get a boost in control of his as well. strange. ]

When you show up, the government suits give you a file. What'd it say for powers in it?

[ his had been listed, even if he didn't entirely understand it at the time. just 'adaptation', which could mean a lot of things. apparently 'adapt to survive almost anything' was the longer version. ]

What about that hulk-out think you did? The strength? Can you do that here?

[ she can, but she doesn't want to acknowledge it. if she does, it means she's been tampered with again, reliving alie all over. will she lose her memories next? every little happiness she's ever had, brought to the forefront with its context lacking? ]

Yeah. [ she clears her throat, the confident and brash raven reyes gone. her voice is even as she continues, ] My file said regenerative healing and something about bionic physiology. [ emotion enters her voice when: ] They're trying to fix me.

[ hence: she doesn't want to acknowledge it. ]

I thought that's what you wanted.

[ to be fixed. get her leg mended, he means. wasn't that the whole point? to just make it like it never happened? hasn't this been a curse to her life ever since murphy's gunfire outburst back in camp?

a sting of guilt seeps in again, and murphy chokes it down, eyes casting aside. ]

Can't imagine anyone thinking regenerative healing would be a bad thing.

You don't get it, and why would you?

[ her tone shifts into being accusatory. why would john murphy understand where she's coming from? parts of him are definitely broken, but it's nothing they can visibly see. he hides it behind a rough exterior and a hand pushing harshly against the chests of many. raven's is out in the open, worn in the scowl on her face, the limp of her walk. ]

[ for a moment she sulks, pouting just a little. brows creased angrily, it's almost as though raven's waiting for her opportune moment to burst into flames like a great ball of space-fire. but she doesn't. she simply doesn't look at him when she speaks again, emotion thick and hot in her voice. ]

I want to go back to normal. This bionic physiology isn't normal, Murphy. It's like the chip all over again.

[ no, he wouldn't know, because despite all the shit he's been through, he'd never been permenantly crippled, like raven. he doubts he would have the strength to live with it as well as she had.

the urge flickers to apologize for it, guilt stabbing, but murphy chokes it down. raven won't accept it, and he doesn't need her having more ammunition over him. what he does instead is shake his head. ]

The chip was brainwashing with no sense of individual thought or free will. [ a beat, head tilted at the screen, like he doesn't get how she wouldn't understand that. ]

Getting free super powers is a lot different, Raven.

No it's not.

[ she tries her best to remain guarded around everyone, including her own shadow. but once she's emotional, all that self-discipline seems to go out the window. murphy had been a victim of her becoming emotionally tangled up. she feels horrible for it, but she refuses to let it sink her. instead, it constantly drives her toward him here. ]

I had individual thought. I had free will.

[ she visibly reels herself back in: eyes closed, swallowing, then she opens it and unclenches her fists. pulling herself back, it's not because this is john murphy. raven reyes simply doesn't want to relive it. ]

The chip gave me a free superpower, Murphy. Don't you get that? I felt no pain. [ and, as if out of instinct, she stomps her foot — her bad leg — to emphasise her meaning. ]

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