[GRO] Guouli Pyrero - Teen

[Hivestuck]

The corpse stuck to the window was as forthcoming as ever. Neither of the other nondescript stains were particularly chatty either.

Ammura, meanwhile, was impatient. "No signage, labels, stationary, anything?! What floor are you even on?" She snapped. After a pause long enough for someone to catch their breath, the radio crackled back to life.

Gl!tch~

 

[Gl!tch~]

Nothing else bothered with him. Well, s**t. Not much he could do with that.

He huffed and turned the radio back on. "I dunno, it's pretty dark down here. Hard to see. But I am pretty sure I'm looking at a pretty grody corpse. You might wanna get yourselves a new janitor. Unless you just kinda have at least one melty body per med bay on the premises."

Guo turned the radio off again. He tapped his foot impatiently at the empty space. "So are you giving up already or what? If you're gonna send me on some bits-n-pieces quest you might as well point me somewhere. Let me know you're still around. Break a cup or something, you goddamn cagey a*****e."

Hivestuck

 

[Hivestuck]

The radio continued to buzz with Ammura's voice. "That s**t is corrosive you absolute ******** moron." Exasperation and fury competed over the woman's tone. Exasperation eventually won out. "Actually, you know what? Go ahead and lick it. It'll make my job a hell of a lot easier than making the trek down to find you. You're like twenty floors, two wings, and three checkpoints away from the exit. The hell did you even get down there."

Ammura's ranting went uninterrupted as the room remained still. The ghosts had made their point. Name. Color. Symbol. The ventilation system creaked feebly over the sound of the radio's scratchy reception.

Gl!tch~

 

[Gl!tch~]

So crabby! Like it was his fault the prison sucked. Guo rolled his eyes and waited. Nothing continued to happen. Guess that was it, at least here. He could hear the ventilation above. Guo looked up. Hmm. Well then.

No one wanted to work with him anymore? Fine. He'd wait it out, keep the authorities off of him, and see if there might be any sad dead ******** to help him out! He wasn't going to leave until he got what he came here for. And he wanted everything.

The young blueblood turned the radio on one last time. "I fell, thought you'd figure that much out." He paused after that. Guo set his jaw. He had one last thing to say. "And don't...call me a MoRON." Guo switched the radio off again, and hupped his way up to the vent. Barely enough wiggle room, but he made it. And now...to show that he could, in fact, show some stupid ghosts.

Hivestuck

Please give me a nice time skip to work off of, DM emotion_kirakira

 

[Hivestuck]

Ammura's frustration was severed with the radio's power. The only sounds left in the room were Guouli's as he tampered with the grate covering the vent. It came apart easily enough. It wasn't as though the surroundings were short on tools.

The ventilation system was unimpressive, but practical for its purposes. No full-grown troll would have been able to muscle into the space, even before considering one's horns. The vents connected with the more accessible areas of that floor of the Punishment Pits. Laundry. Ablutions. The odd supply closet for cleaning materials and first-aid.

The floor was nearly abandoned. Evacuated, was probably the correct term. Most of the cells were in-tact, though a number were damaged, broken open, and filthy. They were cordoned off appropriately, adding to the existing maze of hallways. A handful of guards made regular patrols. They seemed to treat their routes casually given the lack of prisoners, though they always gave a wide berth to the warning tape.

The Pits continued as they were. Cold, dark, and quiet.

Gl!tch~

Time Roulette Go!

 

[Gl!tch~]

TW mild self-harm, violent hallucinations

From Guo's limited vantage point, he noticed pretty quick that there just...wasn't a whole lot to the rest of the floor below. As if maybe there had been some big kerfuffle recently that would clear it out, or something. Whodathunk. Still, he felt a little disappointed, somehow.

All he found during his vent adventure, or venture, was only an empty prison floor, no cons, no nothin'. Well, nothing cool. Or any other blocks that looked like someone had been obviously murdered. Guess anything else after Gangrene's crime scene wouldn't compare, especially if all was normal otherwise.

Not that he could go back to the crime scene, even just to try to bug the ghosts some more; trolls would be looking for him now. His best bet was to stay in the vents, lay low, and occasionally go to the ablutions. There was the laundry room, too, but without anyone on the floor there wasn't much to loot. Unfortunate; the blueblood would have loved to smuggle out a jumpsuit.

Time passed, though he could only guess how much; with no watches or clocks or any other way to tell time, he'd just have to wing it. And waiting idly, all by himself, was only so fun for so long. Even picking at his skin wasn't enough, though he did get to go at it enough to at least bleed a little bit. As he bit at himself, he imagined conversations with Leeroi, or Akkira (but never both at the same time- even in his head it was too much of a threat) yet it wasn't the same. And if he thought of a really good converstion, he'd nearly forget that he wasn't supposed to make noise.

He started to ache after a bit, stiff from laying in vents for so long. Plus, he felt...kinda hungry. Eventually his stomach started to gurgle. There wasn't anything to sate that, though. Well. At least once he looked at his fingers and contemplated. He did have a knife, but wouldn't that be kind of stupid? He needed those.

Fortunately he kept hydrated because of the ablutions, but even so he started feeling...off, after a while. Gnawing hunger mixed with something else deep inside his gut. The water started having a harder time staying down easy. He felt warmer and woozier after every few sleep spells.

Speaking of, he never tried to sleep (though he did get bored enough for it to be tempting), but Guouli inevitably would pass out sometimes during his vent rat stake-out. And without sopor slime? Absolute. Hell. His sleep sessions only lasted in short spurts, with Guo often waking up nearly screaming. More and more often he woke up as a sweaty mess. He hadn't bathed in...however long. Hard to tell.

No one came anyway.

But eventually the guards would stop looking for him on this floor, and he'd get back to those stupid ghosts, and...and... Something. Guouli shivered. His mouth felt dry, and even though he needed to get more water, he didn't want to leave the vent. The room liked to spin when he stood up, and he hated that.

Instead he lay there for a bit, kinda out of it, conscious enough to daydream and not have another terror. His mind wandered to the thought of being out in the snow (but it was so hot for some reason)
and when he stroked a finger over his skin, not even his nail, just chitin on chitin, it would cut like a knife and blood would ooze out. As if inspired, he brought his hand down to his chest, and started to draw his symbol and-

Guo lurched. For half a second he thought he might hurl, but there was nothing. But he felt...so warm. The vent was going to bake him alive. And the ghosts would win. Whatever game they were playing, they would win but he couldn't go or they'd still-

He took a shaky breath. The last time he felt like this, he had tried living off of Mountain Dew and Doritos for three nights straight. He should get Leeroi to do that, see how miserable he'd get. It'd be funny... Leeroi... s**t. Where was that ********? And Akkira. Akkira. Those ******** ghosts had to have known she was here, separated them, so he couldn't control them. The shits. He'd...he'd...

Maybe he'd get out of here, get Akkira, bring her down and show them. Piece of s**t ******** awoke with a start, coughing and wretching again. Static clogged all the way from his thinkpan to his spongeclots. He could feel them, all along the inside of his head. Yes. Everyone should feel it. Sopor slime made you weak, complacent, wordy, it Leeroi should eat some sopor slime that'd show him why isn't he here he should be here

Ghosts
. . .<******** shivered enough to convulse once or twice. When would Hogdad bring him a blanket? Did that stupid pig know how to do anything?

He wheezed. Guouli shakily pushed himself over, rolling onto his side. He needed...to find Akkira Leeroi Gangrene. Those stupid s**t ghosts had to cooperate, before the prison crumbled down more and more and more and

Guo shook his head. He couldn't fall asleep again. Not with the mask he'd see. Or was it a face? Was it green? Purple? He couldn't tell anymore. God, he might have to feel himself melt again. Or watch Leeroi melt or accidentally hack the other blueblood to pieces- once he got started he couldn't stop it wasn't his fault

Was Akkira upstairs or downstairs? Did he leave her in the closet again?

No no no no nonono

Guo slammed his head on the side of the vent. The act in and of itself shook him to the core, almost making him pass out again. So dizzy... Ugh. He smacked his face. "Wake...the ******** up," he muttered. God, was that his voice? So scratchy and dry and awful. Sick-sounding. s**t. Guo started to realize he was losing this fight. His stupid s**t body betraying him.

He could barely think, barely move... God. Where to go from here? Every time he thought he'd get his second wind he just ended up sinking more. What would Akkira think?

Who cared what a redblood thought, actually?

But, s**t, he missed that company. And he was...he was responsible for her, wasn't he? God and if he was gone too long she'd go find Leeroi and they'd become friends and what about him they were his friends first it's not fair

He slammed his head again. ********! That! Leeroi would be grateful for all his hard work while he was off, who knows, messing around or some s**t. Akkira would think he was so cool for seeing ghosts himself, without powers, because he was just so awesome. And they would be so

Guo fell into another coughing fit. God, it hurt. And here he thought he was used to pain. But he just felt...so awful. If he tried to crawl out again, he might not get back in. But also...what if he couldn't even get out?

What if he just

died

here

Was it worth it? Another stupid prison ghost? Were they testing him? The ghosts...the security...all working together. They knew he was here the whole time. They wanted him to die, they were afraid of him, he was going to take down Gangrene and they couldn't let that...happen.

Guo stared down the rest of the vent for a moment, then let out a bone-dry laugh. God, he was getting ******** stupid down here. But if no one had already found him... They might not be able to find him once he couldn't, actually...move. ********, was it worth it? What was the point if he never got out of here?

Maybe...maybe he couldn't win this. He threw one of his arms forward, clawing at the bottom of the vent and trying to pull himself along. God, he felt so heavy and his arms felt like they'd snap under the pressure.

Diluted blue tears pricked his eyes. It ******** sucked. He didn't want to lose, didn't want the tour guide giving him a hard time to his face. But he couldn't...he couldn't stay here anymore.

He couldn't die for this.

s**t.

Guouli slowly crawled his way to the laundry room shaft. He had to bash his head against it a couple of times before it finally opened, then graciously stepped down (read: flopped out and fell to the floor)

Upon crashing down on his side, he moaned. Guouli...could not find the strength to get up.

"Kiri..."

He hoped she hadn't forgotten what his voice sounded like while he was gone.

Hivestuck

That's a wrap on my end!

 

[Hivestuck]

The noises were hazy and indistinct, but familiar. The sound of talking fluttered around the dubiously conscious blueblood. The lurch of movement followed soon after. Hallucinated or otherwise, it was hard to tell.

The blurred colors and textures of the ceiling changed with every fall of darkness. When it finally stabilized, the room was white and brightly lit. The reflection off the adjacent, mirrored wall only added to the disorienting sharpness.

Guouli was in a med bay. Specifically he was in a medical recuperacoon--a shallow basin that was merely damp with slime. It was propped up at a slight angle. Guouli was handcuffed to the attached guardrails. The same arm was tethered further by an IV drip. Beyond the recuperacoon and a short stack of monitors, the room was empty. The only noteworthy features were the mirrored wall, and the thick, metal door at the end of the room.

The door seemingly responded to the attention. It beeped several times and clanked loudly, at odds with the sleek surroundings. It opened to a familiar face.

Ammura's face twisted the bare minimum to convey a sneer. She no longer wore the prim skirt and blouse of a receptionist, but a military-class uniform decked liberally in practical combat gear. She tossed a clipboard on top of the monitors and yanked the IVs out of Guouli's arm. She let the wounds ooze. They'd wasted enough bandages on the kid already. He was practically quilted with gauze.

Ammura reached for the handcuffs as though she meant to unlock them. Instead, she yanked the chain, shrinking the cuff to its absolute smallest. "You're being fined for every minute one of my guards had to spent looking for or at you, Guouli Pyrero," she enunciated every syllable of Guouli's name, mangling the pronunciation in the process. Either it was her intent, or she explicitly didn't care. The point was that she'd looked into who he was. "Every relevant government database as an asterisk next to your symbol. Flavor disc administration trolls have more security clearance than you do, and twice the dignity you absolute embarrassment."

With a flick of her wrist, Ammura released the clasp of the handcuff. The resulting ring of blue would stay a while longer. "Stand up. The guard at the door will see you off the premises. If I see you again, it'll be on the end of my spear. Get out of my prison."

Gl!tch~

quote the mule to end the growth~

 

[Gl!tch~]

As Guouli dragged himself out of the prison, Ammura's words failed to stick. Actually, he hadn't paid attention to them much. Once his thinkpan had started to warm up, he realized he had been moved from wherever he had been in the bowels of the Punishment Pits. A lead...lost. His body refused to hold out as long as he needed. Clearly, the answer was to make his body better. Because he hated, hated the taste of defeat, bitter in his mouth.

He'd track down Akkira, who was hopefully back at his hive by now, maybe Hogdad had found her or something, then work on his next move.

Guouli left with his life, freedom, and a name, and he'd have to use that the best he could. And next time he did something stupid, he'd be stronger. He was sure of it.

But for now...he might need a good cry on the couch.

Hivestuck

 

[Hivestuck]

Ammura made good on her promise...

1. If Guouli attempts to join the military, his request will be denied.

2. If Guouli attempts to become a public entertainer (gladiator, television star), his request will be denied.

3. Any troll found trying to sneak Guouli past the first two restrictions will face similar punishment.

4. If Guouli does enough to remedy his standing with the government, the restrictions will be loosened or retracted.

Gl!tch~

fin~