Quoted By:
"I'm. I'm not?" Confusion oozes out of Benedict's words.
"You're not. Look at me. I got weird antlers, I got weird voices I talk to in my head, I push things with my mind and I can puppeteer bodies. I ain't normal. I have powers like you."
"So. So I wasn't seeing that?" Benedict tilts his head.
"No. Hell, probably the only person who could besides, like, another friend I knew." Your mind flashes back to Benjamin. "But I'm not a burden. No one is. I used my powers to help people. Your powers helped us. I just have a bit more control is all."
"I. I know. I. I'm jealous of. Of that. Sometimes a voice. Voice. Tells me that I'm not Benedict. That I'm. I'm something else. That I should be perfect. A master of the flesh, flesh. The art of it."
[UNSTABLE] "So what? You're still Benedict. I'm still Nicole. Even if we're both freaks, it doesn't matter how people see us or what they try to turn us into. It's how we see ourselves."
[UNSTABLE] "Do I care when I'm coated in blood? Do I care that some people are afraid of me? Sometimes, sure, but you can't base your sense of self on how others see you."
"...Then how else would I? I? I don't. I don't know what. I don't know what-"
You interrupt him with a click of your tongue. "You pick yourself up. Piece by piece. That's all you can do. I managed to go from a lonely schizophrenic to a schizo with a lot of friends." You slowly stand up. "All you got to do is try. To push past those thoughts." You offer him a hand. He glances down at it and, with little hesitation, he grabs onto it.
You can't really pull him up because WOW, turns out being half machine makes you weigh a fucking ton. But slowly, you manage to help him to this feet.
<span class="mu-g">Before you even know what's going on, he pulls you into a hug.</span> <span class="mu-r">Granted, a VERY crushing hug that knocks the wind out of you and definitely dislocated something.</span>
>-1 FLESH! 3/4 FLESH LEFT!
"Thank you." He lets go of you. Tears run down both of his eyes. His remaining human one and the LED lens on the robotic half of his face. "For. For talking. For. Not. Judging. You. I."
You simply nod. He nods back. You got the rough gist of what he said.
"...I'll talk to. To. Adam. Later. Later. <span class="mu-g">Head feels. Better.</span>"
>+1.5 RAPPORT WITH BENEDICT! 2/8 NOW!
The two of you promptly jump onto the pirate ship. While you manage to roll quite gracefully despite your soaking wet socks and the slick surfaces, Benedict mostly just crashes onto the deck of the ship. He's sprawled on his side with an awkwardly bent leg with his human arm loosely hanging over his back and his blade arm laying by his side.
Lex, in his part, helps him back up before nodding at you. <<span class="mu-b">"You did good, Nicole. You did real good."</span>>
>+0.5 RAPPORT with LEX. 5.5/7 NOW.
You try your best to focus on Lex and Benedict instead of the soaked corpses laying around you on the pirate ship's upper deck. Or the fact that, yes, the headless corpse of the Senior Pirate.
