I brushed these errant thoughts aside; nothing good would come from dwelling on this matter.
Turning around, I glanced at the room around me; searching for some form of mental stimulation to distract me from my predicament.
My eyes landed on a ceiling-high fishtank that frothed quietly in the corner of the room.
Fake plastic fish rode upon an endless wave of bubbles that slowly trickled to its surface.
I watched as those stray bubbles glanced off some of the darkened, synthetic plants attatched to the bottom of the tank; their shadowy appendages dancing under the current.
It looked… familiar.
A sharp pain glanced across my conciousness as I tried to grasp a connection, leaving an ethereal stinging sensation that warped my ability to concentrate.
I winced, physically; unable to contain my reflexitive reaction to a level of pain I had never experianced before.
No, it wasn't 'pain'. This was something of an entirely new, undiscovered catergory of feeling.
In the end, I did the only thing that was currently possible for my addled mind; I stopped thinking about it.
Tearing my eyes away from the fishtank, I raised a hand to cover my mouth; a sudden urge to vomit assualting my senses.
What the fuck was going on?
'Dear lord will you stop that already, it feels awful.' Pride's lazy voice drilled into my ear, sounding ever so slightly irritated. 'The river wasn't that bad, you don't have to get sick over it. How are we even feeling this pain anyway?'
The moment Pride said 'River', the pain momentairily spiked to an infinitely higher level than it was before; causing my legs to buckle and give way.
Then just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. And I remembered.
I got to my feet just as Judy emerged from the restroom, her clothes and hair noticeably dryer than they were beforehand.
She glanced at me and frowned, somehow sensing something was wrong even though I gave no outward clues indicating towards my current internal strife.
"Jude, Whats up?"
"It's nothing." The lie came to me easily and quickly - perhaps too quickly.
Judy's frown deepened at my answer, but thankfully she didn't dwell on it and instead jerked a thumb at the room she had come from.
"Go dry yourself in there, your're dripping water all over the floor."
Nodding my head dutifully, I walked past her; my mind practically buzzing at the latest revelation Pride had sent my way.
Only when the door began to slide shut behind me did I drop all pretenses and start interrogating my Alter. The water dripping from my fingers slowed down to a stop, cold droplets frozen mid-air as I conversed with Pride.
'That river, why couldn't I remember it?' I asked him, my confusion apparent.
The usual feeling of carefree arrogance I felt from Pride hardened into an alert seriousness upon hearing my comment. That level of graveness was rare in him; he didn't know either, and it was jarring for the both of us. 'You couldn't? The rest of us could recall it just fine - what's the difference between us.'
'I think that's pretty obvious don't you?' I snarked back, unbalancing him a little.
'This isn't a game Judas,' He snarled, 'If you aren't playing with me then this is serious. Memory blocks are downright supernatural, and definitely not native to either our old world or this new one.'
I grinned inwardly, the water droplets falling to the ground and splashing on the tiled flooring.
Teasing Pride was fun, he deserved it.
As for this memory block dilemma; I had already decided wasn't worth my attention. It seemed to have solved itself and although having such a thing happen to me was worrying - the fact it didn't affect my Alters gave me enough confidence to comfortably ignore it for the time being.
'Who knew being clinically insane would make me immune to mental manipulation', I chuckled inwardly, reaching for the nearest towel and grabbing it off the hook it hung from.
'Such an advanced world and yet we still use towels to dry ourselves,' I mused, 'Truly a timeless invention.'
Unfortunately for me though, I was going to have to strip in order to fully dry myself, as my clothes were not nearly as heavy-duty as Judy's were.
I was going to have to see the scarring again.
Or did I? No, I could do this with my eyes closed.
It would be inconvenient and likely slow me down but… It would be worth it.
So, I did just that; closing my eyes shut and pulling the damp shirt over my head with one hand. The other was ready with the towel, which I then scrubbed across my scrawny frame; as quickly and efficiently as possible.
'You are pitiful.' Said Pride, his voice full to brim with contempt. 'Open your eyes.'
I ignored him, continuing on with my task, possibly a tad more fervently than before.
'We are stuck in this body indefinitely, get over it already.'
'Shut up, you don't have to feel them like I do.' I snapped back, losing my cool.
'I for one am not going to sit back and watch while you tip-toe around this subject, pretending as if you are too weak to face it head on. Now open your fucking eyes and LOOK AT US.'
I gritted my teeth, swallowing hard. He was right, I couldn't live like this forever; this metaphorical band-aid had to be ripped off at some point.
I draped the towel over my shoulders and slowly, cautiously, opened my eyes.
'Disgusting arent they?' Interjected Pride, as we looked down at the lattice of bumpy lines covering our skin. 'But what is even more repugnant was watching you act like they were some sort of big deal - as if something so meager could dictate the way we live our life.'
'I don't like it.' I protested feebly.
'You don't have to like it. You have to live with it.'
I traced the scars with my fingertips, the back of my neck prickling uncomfortably while I did so.
My reaction wasn't nearly as bad as the first time I had seen them though, which was a stark reminder as to how right Pride had been with his analysis of me.
I was pitiful.
Bending down, I reached for my shirt, sighing deeply as my fingers curled around its blood red surface.
I wanted to change out of it, given the fact it was wet with blood and water; however the only other options were to go around bare chested or put on an equally soaked but less bloodstained top I had chosen from Itsuka's stand.
It was a lose-lose-lose situation which was irking me rather badly.
In the end I put the top back on, but not after spending a few minutes attempting to dry it using the towel Judy had left me.
My efforts helped, a little.
I strode out of the restroom and back into the apartment, leaving the towel hanging on a rack to dry.
Judy was sitting on that awful couch, talking hesitantly to the room at large; her irises glowing a light blue. "Are you sure? That could end up costing a lot y'know, and he hasn't agreed yet."
Her tone changed to a firmer one, "Fine, I'll front half - No, don't argue, I've made up my mind."
She paused, glancing over at me for a second before interrupting whoever she was talking to once again. "I don't care how much Clouds pays you I'm not poor either and you know it."
"Glad we could come to an understanding." Said Judy, a dangerous looking smile blossoming on her face. "Yeah bye then, take care."
Her blue optics flickered off, dulling back to their original dark brown.
My unasked question hung in the room unspoken, which Judy picked up on almost immediately and hurried to answer it. "That was Ev, she - she's offering to book a ripper and get you some new eyes. If you want them that is?"
My eyes widened imperceptably, that was unexpected.
These women were saints, seriously. Not even a week into their care and I was already being cured of a potentially lifelong ailment.
"I-I'd like that very much. But wouldn't that cost a lot?" I muttered, averting my eyes and staring at the ground in an awkward matter. As if I were feeling uneasy with my apparent freeloading. Which in a broad sense, I technically was.
Judy stood up, waving away my concerns with one hand while reaching down and tousling my damp hair with the other. "Pshhh, nah don't worry about it. It's the least I could do after you saved my ass back at Angel's place."
I extended both arms above my head to grab at the offending hand. I didn't remove it this time though, instead gripping it gently between my own.
Still facing the ground, I murmured two words barely heard by either of us.
"Thank you."
(A/N: Guys I can't lie I've been letting my intrusive thoughts win; I'm thinking of starting another fic. Opinions?)