THE SECOND STANDARDISED PERMUTATION OF ROMAN ANTZ (Jacky and Invisimort)

Bells

Sorry. He said sorry.

So, I stayed there. I'm not sure how long. Eventually the crying softened, the sting melted, and I wasn't aware of anything except for the blank buzz of disorienting darkness. It was all tuned out. Peaceful, almost.

Then, the blackness softened, too. All the way down to nothing.

T.Mor:

... ...Things... kinda... got... quiet.

...this... this... that... it.... wasn't... ...good... because... it...wasn't. Because quiet meant... ...meant... meant... ... not loud... which...

"... ...Bells.. ... ...?" I...asked... eventually... kinda.. .already knowing what... how.. how that would be... and... and... oh... My voice was all...weird and... like... shaky and.. yeah...

... ...and she didn't say anything...

... ...which... meant... ... ...

Expletives.

...I... I didn't... I mean... what... what do I... how... I mean... I... this...

I kind of just sat there and held her... because I felt like if I moved then I'd..explode or something and... and... I didn't want to explode... ...I... I just wanted her not dead... ...so... I... and like... My face was doing that weird thing here you're kind of repressing crying but not really winning... and.. it... I just.. yeah... ... ...

Cricket

Nothing like the stench of death in the morning.

Honestly. You wake up one morning, or night, or afternoon --I can never tell in the chatboxes-- and you walk into the room to see a close friend holding a limp body drowned in blood. In a split glance I saw the deep red, then a girl buried against someone's chest, then the bony shoulders, then his face. "Oimymy--" My breath caught in the back of my throat as my gaze flitted down.

". . . T.Mor . . . what in 'ell . . . 'appened?"

T.Mor:

... ... ...I heard...uhm... uhm... someone...talking...to me. ... ...Cricket. ...uhm.

...how... how do I english...?

"... ... .... ...uhm. ...bad. ...things... ..." I mumbled kind of all... like... I dunno. Talking was difficult at the moment... because of... of... of... yeah. "... ...I... ...she... ...and... socks... and... ....it... it wasn't... ...but...I don't... ... ..." I tried t explain but everything was just coming out all garbled and bad and I just didn't... and.. it...

I could feel myself shaking... ...and... and... it kind of made her shake... ...because I was... holding her.. ... ...and... She... ...I...

... ... ... ... ...I... it just...

Cricket

I stared at my feet, but I could see T.Mor's expression in my mind as he stammered. This was worse than the average job killing. I hadn't seen blood in a while. Things had been going fine. Why did the chain have to be broken by T.Mor, of all people? He had this face that made it hurt to watch him hurt . . . but then, so did all of my friends.

I didn't recognise the girl, but she was important somehow. I caught myself whistling softly as I turned my gaze up, eyes catching the corners of the bloodstains. "Who is she?"

T.Mor:

"... ... ...nice... ..." I mumbled... but... that wasn't the right answer... I mean... she was... but... that wasn't her... name... uhm. "... ... ...I mean... ... ...Bells... ..." ...and then my voice kind of cracked...

...I didn't want t get all like... ...how I was... ...in front of him... ...but I mean... ...she was...not... ... ...not... uhm... ...she wasn't... ...here... ...like... I mean... ...

...I kinda kept clinging... ...just...just... a bit... ...but she wasn't... ...she was getting colder... ...and... ...I... it was...

idonteven...

Cricket

. . . Did I hear that right?

When I thought of Bells, broken and bloody wasn't the first thing to come to mind. The lass curled loosely in his arms, with scraggly, chopped hair and gashes all over . . . I didn't know her. She looked like a victim. Bells had never been a victim, in my eyes.

I was silent. Ran a hand through my hair, caught a better glance, and looked away, distrusting my own eyes. "That . . . no, that can't be Bells . . ."

T.Mor:

"... ... ...uhm... ...I mean... ... ...It..." I didn't really... I mean...I... couldn't really...I didn't know... how to respond... I mean... I didn't even know if I was capable of responding... because it was like... I mean...

I don't know... I mean...I just kind of felt like a... a thingy fell off a cliff and I was on the thingy and... ...I mean...

I just sat there more... and... tried not to... to... like... just... fall apart... but I don't know if it was actually working... ...and... I mean... eventually, I felt my face get all scrunched up... and... I just kinda sat there like that, not letting myself move... so that I wouldn't end up dissolving completely into... ...yeah...

... ... ...

Cricket

. . . Perhaps it was Bells. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. It was a circle.

I was tied to T.Mor . . . T.Mor was tied to Bells . . . Bells was tied to--

"Oi my my. Skelet," I said, and found myself stepping towards him. Squatted next to him in the blood, trying to pretend it didn't exist. "Was it Skelet?"

T.Mor:

At that... ...I just kind of... vaguely nodded. I just... I...

And then I heard myself make a little noise... I was just... I... couldn't believe... how he... did... that... ...to her...and... and...

I reluctantly pulled a hand away from her, to try to hide how my face was being kind of...though... then it was just... wet and sticky... ...at the same time... and... it... I...she... I didn't... like... want to...have Cricket... see me...all... like... ...like this... ...but... it just... my face wasn't...working right...so...

Cricket

His expression was like a hole had been torn through his face to reveal his thoughts, and the thoughts were tragic. I looked away when he shielded his face. I knew how that went. "Oi my my, T.Mor . . . oh T.Mor . . . this is what 'appens when you get a thing for th' sociopath's lass. Oi my my . . . this is . . ." A soft trill of whistles escaped my lips, trying to think of something comforting to say. Instead, I thought of Skelet. "Skelet! Oi my my, 'e'll be back-- 'ell! T.Mor, you can't stay 'ere. We've got t' go."

T.Mor:

... ...leave...? How... how could I leave...? I mean... she was...She was here. And... I didn't want to...leave her... here...

Especially if... if he was coming back... I mean... that... that just wasn't right.

"... ...but... ..." I let my eyes go down a bit to kind just see the edge of her hair... ...not...not enough to actually...see her... but... like...enough to...

...She... ...she'd said...not to leave... ... ...kind of... I... I didn't want...

...another noise.

...I hated my vocal chords... ...