Past the Point of No Return

[Malachite the Shoki]

I nodded, the sensation feeling a bit odd, even with me being used to sitting upside-down. It was easy for me to recall the rush of energy that came to me when I bit people. At least I didn't have to kill them, if I didn't want to.

"And why you woke up when I fed you that energy. If I'd left you alone, you'd have been out for a day or two just from ten seconds of me stealing energy."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa held up her hand. She still didn't quite have the energy to ignite the whole thing. She only managed to light a finger. After a few moments she spoke again. "... You shouldn't have stopped me..."
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I raised an eyebrow, smirking enough to show one of my fangs. The effects my abilities could have on people sometimes pissed me off. It wasn't like I'd meant to drain all of Lexa's energy like that.

"Sorry, I don't enjoy watching things melt. Lava's so messy."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa glared down at the flame on her finger. "They should've caught me. Made me pay for my crimes. I might have let them after a while." She said darkly. Even with new life growing within her, she was failing to see a purpose to this existence. If all that she did ever resulted in was pain and emptiness, then what was the point of continuing that cycle?\
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I tried to disagree with Lexa's sentiment at first, but I couldn't. I'd felt exactly the same way when I'd first started killing people to feed. I'd felt like the sort of irretrievable monster that kept little kids up at night. Like something that should be chased down with torches and sharp objects. But, eventually, it was just part of my nature.

"Lexa, killing is the most natural thing for sentient beings to do. Now, I'm not a Colicoid or anything, but I eat people. Completely. There's no trace, nothing to tell their friends or family about. In that way, I'm worse than an energy vampire. Of course, I kill for fun, too. I play with my food before I eat it. There's no reason to beat yourself up over death. It's already happened, and there's nothing that'll change that."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

She began chuckling dryly. "I don't beat myself up over death. Not anymore. I love it, because it loves me. It loved me so much that it decided I could never be with anyone else. So it took everyone else. And now, it just has to take me." Lexa sounded a bit like a mad woman. The smile on her face didn't help that fact. But at this point, she no longer cared.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I relaxed a bit, closing my eyes and letting fire sweep across my fur. The warmth felt good on me, and I let it increase to my normal state. Eventually, I was wreathed in sparks, and grinning at Lexa in her seat on the bed. I could seem mad, too. In fact, it was very possible that I was mad.

"I don't know who else you're talking about, but Nick struck me as the type to get into suicidal situations. So convinced that fire attracts death just by its presence."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa didn't respond. She didn't want to think about Nick anymore. It hurt too much to know that she had lost another. She sighed shakily, bringing her gaze to rest on the floor.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

My fire died down a tiny bit as I heard Lexa sigh again. For some odd reason, my tail twitched around, with more sparks on it than before. Whatever. I'd said the wrong thing, obviously. Talking about dead people didn't help, except to keep their loved ones from bottling up their sadness.

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her legs and rubbing her temples. She was so tired... Tired of being alone. Sad. Uncertain. Of all that she'd lost, there was one thing she could never be rid of: Being alone. It would never end. It was an endless cycle. She'd always come back to this. As long as she lived, this is what she had to look forward to. Lexa let out a sharp huff of breath before the tears started searing down her face. They hit the floor one by one, sizzling. ".....I ..... I can't do this anymore..... I don't wanna be alone anymore..... Please....." She whispered faintly to the air, begging it to take her agony away.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

My ears snapped up as I heard the lava woman mutter something about being alone. Then a sound like bacon. I like bacon. The sound made me look up, but instead of yummy strips of porcine ass-meat there were flaming tears. Not unlike the ones I'd shed earlier. My instinct as a cuddly object was to well, cuddle, but I felt like I shouldn't. It couldn't possibly be good for either of us. Instead, I acted as if I didn't notice the tears, and stuck my tongue out at Lexa.

"You won't be alone on this ship. I'm only 70. Got plenty more years to go."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa looked over at him. In that moment, she looked like a scared little girl with big sad eyes and a trembling chin. "What... What are you saying?" She said with a bit of a whimper. Looking so weak as she was, normally she'd be ashamed. But she wasn't in the mood to try and act tough. She wasn't.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I grinned broadly at Lexa, and finally flipped right side up in the chair. Grabbing my coffee again, I let my hair spark as much as it wanted to.

"I'm saying, you're gonna stay here, right? Not like you've got anywhere more urgent to go. Plus, you've made me feel better today. That'd be enough by itself."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

She looked away and wiped off her tears, her hardness returning. "No... I'm not gonna weigh you down with my problems..." She said sharply, Lexa stood up and started to move for the door to the room. She wasn't going to take charity no matter how much she wanted it. She still had a bit of pride left.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Still smiling, I drained my cup of coffee again. Trying to look cool for my guest was causing me to drink up my coffee at an alarming rate. I set the cup aside, and leaned back in the chair, my tail swishing around. My smile turned into a joking smirk, and I pointed at myself.

"Who says your problems are gonna weigh down on me? Hell, my problems don't weigh on me anymore. But that's not the real reason you're leaving, is it?"

My head tilted quizzically, and my smile grew wide again. Teasing people was fun. Why'd it been so long since I did?

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa stopped on the threshold of the doorway. This Malachite didn't know her at all. Just her name and someone she had once known. "What makes you think you know anything at all?" She said, keeping her voice calm and controlled.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

My smile turned a bit brittle as I looked back into Lexa's face. It wasn't like I did know anything about her. She was just another person who I'd felt bad for, even if she did try to kill me. But I wasn't about to say anything like that. I didn't want her to leave, for some reason. I wanted to talk to her.

"At least you didn't watch them die. You couldn't have, or you wouldn't be here talking to me, would you? You'd be less... lost."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

That was true. She hadn't seen any of them die. She didn't quite know how to describe how she knew. It was just... a feeling. An emptiness that came suddenly, and and unexpectedly. It had happened before. Before she learned of her brother's death, She had woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because the feeling had hit her. A few hours later, she learned her brother's fate.

"I could feel it. When they died. It wasn't... pain. It was empty. Like a piece of my soul had just vanished..."
[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I nodded, understanding what she was talking about. When my parents had been murdered, I'd felt like I had a knife in my chest, too. It was painful to remember, and an odd prickling sensation came to my fingers. I'd sensed where the cuts that'd caused their deaths were. The first had been my father, with his chest opened up. My hand ran diagonally down my chest.

"I could sense my parents getting killed. And the wounds. My dad had his chest opened up with a blade. Died when his heart stopped pumping."

My hand rose to make a slicing movement across my throat.

"At least my mom died fast... Her throat was sliced open."

[member="Lexa Imura"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

"I... Never knew my parents. I can't remember them. All I can remember is waking up, and feeling the same feeling. But never knowing why, or who it was really for." Lexa said. She turned back around to face Malachite.
[member="Malachite Avachei"]