Insie Winsie Spider

MILGRAM

"Thank goodness…! We were awfully worried. You stepped in front of that little car ride and then - vanished! And there was blood on it… And then you weren't in the projection chamber when we came back."

They are very charitably including the other wardens in that declaration of worry.

Kaoru Naito

“Nah, didn’t see a reason t’ sit and wait fer y’all to wake back up. Boring as shit, starin’ at a buncha unconscious fucks.”

Blood on the little car tracks… He didn’t feel like he vanished as fancifully as described. Hurt a lot more. A lot more. He swipes his fingers over the center of the rolling pin to set it spinning again.

“… Any of y’all see it?”

MILGRAM

"Ah… okay. Well, so long as you're alright…"

Sie doesn't seem fully convinced that Kaoru's unharmed, but short of ordering a physical examination it doesn't seem as though they can get anything else out of him for now, so they leave it.

"As in, a collision…? No. To me it looked as if you simply vanished into thin air all of a sudden. …There was a horrible sound, though. That was quite unmistakable."

Kaoru Naito

“What kinda sound? Like a car crashy crumple? Folding, scratchy metal, or was it like a crunchier, bonier—“

Why’s he even asking? Thinking about it’s making his head rush cold; it’s some kind of itchy fixation. He taps the pin’s handle on the ground a few times hard and pivots.

“Maybe I’m not too good, doc, you know how to check a fella for a concussion or whatever?”

MILGRAM

"…It was unpleasant," says Sie simply, not wanting to elaborate any further for both of their sakes.

"Oh, gosh! Mr Naito, you should have said! I'm not an expert, but I can check basic symptoms - you do seem a little wobbly, it's probably best if you sit down…?"

They're paler than usual with worry, fussing around Kaoru while also trying to give him space.

Kaoru Naito

“Ugh…”

He sits back and sprawls to lay backwards onto the ground, then rolls onto his side.

“Aren’t ya not supposed to lay down for concussions? Fuck, I dunno... Hey, what happens if we get fucked up bad? You think th’ ‘bunny’ cares if we die locked up down here?”

MILGRAM

"Umm. Maybe? I was thinking you should just sit down, rather than lay down… Isn't there something to do with how your pupils react to light, too? I could check that…"

They lean down and peer at Kaoru with worry and doubt in their eyes.

"I'm… not entirely sure, to be honest. One person arrived here with injuries and did get patched up, so I imagine if anything super serious goes down, there will be a way to look after you guys, but… I don't know… I can't make promises."

Kaoru Naito

Kaoru sits up and stares at them, wringing the rolling pin in his hands, ire bubbling up again.

"Can ya cut it out with that dumb fuckin' face? I'm not buyin' that yer as pathetic as yer tryin' t' make out."

He leans forward from where he's sitting, looking up at them with a glare.

"In case ya need t' hear it, lemme spell some shit out, Anastasia. They're only gonna fix us up t' fuck us up even worse; long as we're in here, it only gets worse. They wanted us nice 'n clean so we all know our lives 're in their fuckin' hands—so we know they're the boss, so you know you can't do shit 'bout nothin' without their say so. Soon as half a' us don't get their fuckin' 'forgiveness'," and he does finger quotes around that, "that mercy's gonna dry up 'nd there's nothin' you can do 'bout that long as yer followin' their fuckin' rules."

MILGRAM

Even though Sie has seen evidence of the protection they seem to have as a warden, they can't help but flinch a little under Kaoru's glare.

"Pathetic…? I'm not - I mean, I'm not pretending anything, but I'm not… pathetic…?"

Stuck between a rock and a hard place of trying to convince Kaoru they're not lying, but then having to admit to being actually pathetic… Sie isn't sure what to say.

"I… look, I don't like this situation very much, either. But as far as I can tell, there's no easy way out of here, for you or for us. So I'd like to try and make things a little easier, where I can… it's easier to be a better person if you're treated well, right?"

Kaoru Naito

Something there sets him off immediately, glaring at Sie with less fire than usual; it’s a piercingly cold look, one he hasn’t really given anyone yet. Given they leaned down to check on him, he reaches up and grabs their face to pull them further down to his level.

“Rehab me like a damn shelter dog—that th’ best plan you got?”

He rocks their head side to side, looking at the sides of their head as he does.

“You got ears, so why ain’t you listenin’? Am I too quiet? One more time, simple as can be: I don’t get better. Cause listen here: th’ world’s full a’ bad motherfuckers, and they don’t go away at th’ end of th’ episode after we all hug it out and love ourselves, ‘kay Captain Care Bear? Make sense?”

He moves their head so they nod.

“Ya need bad people t’ fuck up bad people. Sneakpeak, ya don’t gotta wait till you get me in yer machine to tell ya this much: that’s why I did it.”

MILGRAM

"Eep!"

Sie startles as they're grabbed, but they don't make any move to escape - seems they prefer freeze to fight or flight. Or maybe they're just very confident in the anti-aggression thing the MILGRAM seems to have going on.

They do seem to get a little grumpy as Kaoru manhandles them, a small pout forming on their face. Ultimately, though, it doesn't look like they're either scared or angry enough to have any big reaction. They wait for him to finish speaking before pausing and thinking about their reply.

"…That's easy to say. Both that you can't get better and that you need bad people… I mean. Um. Isn't that basically just making an excuse…? To not even try. I prefer to try and see those bad people improve… Maybe that makes me one of the bad guys messing up the other ones. In a way."

…They don't even want to swear when they're quoting him.

Kaoru Naito

Everything about their reply pisses him off even more. An excuse. He grips them tighter for a second without much thought, digging his fingers in for just a moment. It’s like a carefully designed pile of assumptions all designed to make him want to just…!

“… Ghh. You really don’t get shit.”

He hisses the word and lets go of their face, pushing them away with the motion.

“I ain’t dyin’, a’right, thanks fer th’ check-up; don’t look ‘t me ‘gain till y’ rip my damn projection outta that machine. Maybe some shit’ll start makin’ sense, er maybe not, but I ain’t walkin’ you through it. Tell me ‘f y’ think it’s just an excuse then, ‘f ya give a shit to.”

MILGRAM

Sie squeaks uncomfortably as they're shoved around more, and immediately stands up and rubs their cheeks as soon as they're able. They're immediately ignoring Kaoru's "don't look at me" request by once again fixing him with a concerned stare.

"…Maybe you're right. Maybe I don't."

"…But, okay. I'll pay good attention to your projection. And I'll make up my mind based on that. …Which you are going to have to deal with. I'm glad you're physically okay, at least."

This might be what Sie sounds like when they're angry, but it's hard to tell, really. They brush themself off some more before heading out.