This One's Not So Stiff… (Private RP)

[Mortimer]

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Marrow was hungry. Looking around her tree she found no scraps of anything edible. Any tidbits of food that she had squirrelled away were now gone, and so it was time to forage. She grabbed her bone and set out into the forest, determined to find food.

Marrow started wandering the woods but finding only twigs and turds to gnaw on, she pressed on. She wandered on for several more minutes until she came upon a rotting, fermenting pumpkin. Unaffected by its smell or appearance, she smashed a hole in the side with her bone and immediately started to feast, as at this point she was feeling a little weak from hunger. She pulled herself half way in, smushing pumpkin into her cheeks as she went. As she ate, Marrow was overcome with a strange wooziness and was slowly succumbing to the alcohol that had fermented inside the fruit. She kept eating until she passed out, blackout-drunk.

About that time, a Dreg named Mortimer was walking through the forest. The morgue he worked for was running low on funds, so he was commissioned to look for some fresh cadavers to sell off to necromancers. Equipped with heavy leather surgical gloves and some body-bags, he was having little luck. The whole forest seemed to be booming with life, and this made Morty sad.

After wandering for a ways, the dark ginger Dreg squirrel finally came across something of interest.  He saw Marrow, sticking like a cork out of the side of a rotting pumpkin, only her hips down visible. He set down his bags and rapped on the gourd to see if there was a response. There was none. He referred briefly to his enchanted pocket watch. It was stopped at 4:20, like it had been for the past month. This was precisely how long it had been since it last ticked, signifying that the damned were nearby. Looking over the scene, he decided she must have choked to death a week ago, given the decay of the pumpkin and, seemingly, her too. He lamented, "awwwww, poor……… girl." He pulled her body out and layed it down on a body-bag. "What a shame, you were a cute one too…" He briefly checked her over, then closed the bag up. Noticing the massive femur that was lying near the pumpkin, he grabbed that too, admiring how well preserved it was. One body had to do for him, as it was getting dark. Mortimer made his way back to the village, and the morgue, to stash this find.

Soon after his return, Mortimer moved Marrow from her body bag to the operating table, to prepare her for sale. As he turned to the counter to prepare his instruments, she began to stir…

[Marrow]

Marrow reached over and took the doll. She looked at it closely. "It's nice." Suddenly she caught her eye on what appeared to be fresh blood on the sleeve. She felt the sleeve and it was indeed wet. She looked up at his hand which was now dripping blood onto his table. "Your.... your hand is bleeding."

[Mortimer]

In his fuzzy mental state, it took him a moment to realize she was talking about his real hand, not the doll's. He held his hand in front of his face, flexing the cut digit. "that's pretty deep, doesn't feel like I hit anything important though." The right sleeve of his shirt now matched that of the doll. Taking a large gulp of his drink, he poured the rest of it over his hand, then used the surgical kit that was already in front of him to bandage his hand with medical gauze. "Sorry about the doll, I didn't mean to bleed all over it…" Using some of the leftover shreds of shirt he mopped up the blood from the center of the table. He then put all the items back into the kit, discarding the used scalpel blade.

[Marrow]

"It's fine." Marrow looked at the doll, squeezed it in her hands slightly, then looked back at him. "You'll be okay?" she asked.

[Mortimer]

He held out his hand to show Marrow. The bandage was wrapped around his palm and knuckles, crisscrossing between his fingers. "Yeah, I've stopped the bleeding, at worst it'll just be another scar. I'm just a bit dizzy from the blood loss. I'll be fine." He sat back in his seat. "I may not seem like it, but I'm pretty strong. I've had to recover from far worse."

[Marrow]

"Okay." Marrow took the last sip of her drink and sat the cup down on the table. She was starting to feel the effects a bit more now, but hasn't moved enough to fully realize this. She continued to look at the doll. "So have I..."

[Mortimer]

Mort sat in silence for a couple minutes, not knowing how to respond. His thoughts went back to their conversation earlier, of the ruins, of her past. "Marrow I wanted t- ". Mortimer let out an absolutely gnarly fart. it had so much bass, the house itself seemed to shake.

[Marrow]

Marrow found herself needing to fart as well from the drinks, and so she let one out as well. "What did you want?"

[Mortimer]

Mort stared at her as she nonchalantly leaned to the side and lifted a leg to fart. He couldn't help but let out a hardy chuckle at her gastric retort. "Nice one!" he laughed. After regaining his composure he said "Sorry… I was about to say that I want to ask you about your past." He poured them both another round. The bottle was now half empty. "You don't need to share if it's too painful though…"

[Marrow]

Marrow was confused as to what he suddenly found so amusing. She took another sip and was starting to feel the effects sitting down pretty strongly. Its onset was subtle, so it didn't alarm her in her now dazed state. "What is there to know? I did some bad things." She felt a sudden need to pace to collect herself, sat the drink onto the table, and stood up. Suddenly, the alcohol began to hit her and she sat back down immediately. Her mind was stuck on other matters, however, and continued, "Really bad things. My pas' was horrible but I deserved it." Her voice slurred slightly. She picked up the glass and took another sip.

[Mortimer]

Mort started to undo the buttons on his vest and shirt. He was starting to overheat. "what sort of bad things?" He continued to sip his drink, now only wearing his blood stained shirt, unbuttoned.

[Marrow]

She drank the rest of her glass and put it down. She slouched into the seat to the point her head and upper back were the only things against the back of the seat and rested her hands on her stomach as she thought about the question. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I... I killed someone, okay?" She finally admitted. "This is why you need t'watch ou'around me..." She slurred a little more now.

[Mortimer]

Mort was unsettled by her sudden confession. "I see…" He took another gulp of his drink. "Did you know them?"

[Marrow]

"I don't know... I don'... I don't remember her. I don' even know how I did it. That's why I told you to be careful. I dunno what I could do." Tears began to form in her eyes.  "I was too young. I don' know....."

[Mortimer]

"Who was she to you, Marrow?" He leaned forward to see her better. "How do you know that's what happened if you don't remember it?" He asked with an increasingly sad tone. He could feel the pain in her voice.

[Marrow]

Marrow looked at him. "She... She was my mom.... My dad told me I killed her...." She started to cry, unable to hold it in any longer. She sat up in the seat and pulled her feet onto the chair and her legs to her chest. She buried her face in her knees covering the rest of her head with her arms. "I... I shouldn't have told you abou' this...." She began to feel frustrated with herself for sharing this information.

[Mortimer]

Mort got to his feet and retrieved a single heavy glove from his supplies. He put it on his undamaged hand and placed it on Marrow's shoulder. "Marrow, it's alright… I appreciate you telling me." He squeezed her shoulder very gently, trying to comfort her. "Listen, it's not my place to judge you for your past, especially not things you very well may not have had any control over. You are still welcome in my home, and you are still welcome in my company, Marrow."

[Marrow]

Marrow felt his gloved hand on her shoulder and raised her head. She wiped her eyes with her hand and picked up the doll that fell to her side on the seat. She lowered her feet back to the floor and laid it down on her lap. She slowly looked up at him. "I just don't want this to be a mistake." She looked at the floor opposite where he was standing, silently. She then found herself with an impulse to put her hand over his on her shoulder, but stopped herself midway. She didn't understand the reflex, didn't understand why she felt a compulsion to do such a thing. After a moment of silence, she let herself, and put her arm across her chest, resting her hand on his gloved one. "Just... be careful. You have been good to me... I don't want to hurt you. I don't know what I did, and that's what scares me. I don't know what I might do.... But if you can continue to trust me knowing this much... Maybe I can trust you too." She glanced back up at him once more, another tear forming.

[Mortimer]

"I'm glad to hear that" he smiled, a tear in his eye as well.

There was a knock at the door. Amber light of the evening sun was flooding through the windows as Mort looked out to see 4 grey heads and a large wooden cart full of burlap sacks. "Your nuts are here" he said. "I'll get it." As he walked for the front door his gloved hand traced from her shoulder gently across the back of her neck then to the other shoulder before he was out of arm's reach. Outside the door he could hear snickering and hushed whispers. Mort opened the door.

"Yeah, I'll bet she wants nu– " All four looked forward horrified and startled at Mort, standing nearly twice their size, covered in liquor and blood, shirt open showcasing his scars, wearing a single heavy leather glove, and blood soaked bandages on the other. "I-eh-w-w-we're her to deliver your order!" one of them finally spouted nervously.

Mort looked at them ominously for a moment, drunkenly piecing together what they were saying before he opened the door. He looked past them at the cart full of bags. "Can I borrow your cart for a day or two, boys?" he said, leaning onto the door frame now. "I need to haul these all the way out into the forest."

With his sudden change in demeanor they all relaxed. Rough housing and laughing. "You've got a good rapport with our Mum's shop Mort, I s'pose it'd be no issue" the first said.

"A'ye, this was the only delivery today. Jus' bring it back to the shop 'efore too long 'kay?" spouted the second

The 3rd started to say "Hehehe, Y'jus' keep it clean, don' be usin' it fo' no Squirrely se-" he was smacked up side the head by the fourth. "They do that in trees, moron!" Then the two got into a slap fight.

Mort's alcohol soaked brain finally got what was being said as they started away from his house, still assaulting each other. He once again was blushing harder than he ever had. "I-I'll have it back to your mother's shop, day after tomorrow, latest." he called to them. He quickly counted the sacks in the cart then closed the door, returning to Marrow. "How are you feeling? Are you up for a walk yet?"

[Marrow]

Marrow had ducked out of view the moment they started hitting each other. Returning to normal stance when they left, she looked up at Mortimer. "I think so." She stood up and found herself wobbling a little, she caught herself on the table. She was not used to it like Mort was, and her build did not help either. She took a few steps and slumped over to her side, onto the floor. "I guess not." She looked up at him and saw that the room was kind of spinning around her. Her head moved trying to follow it, but it resulted in everything snapping back into place. Her brain was working a lot slower now from the alcohol, and she started to find amusement from what just happened. She snorted and choked, in her body's attempt to laugh. She did not know why she had that reaction as she had never laughed before, and did not understand the meaning of it very well. Again, her body began to react before her brain could, and she started to laugh, choking and coughing more than laughing at first, but it slowly worked its way into more of a laugh. She did not try to understand her own actions anymore, and rolled onto her back, still laughing. It was almost as if every laugh she ever missed her entire life came out in this one moment. Her brain couldn't keep up with her body. She looked at his drunken face, and laughed even more, still laying flat on her back. She tried to stop to say something, but she couldn't control it.

[Mortimer]

Mort watched her try to walk, then looked out his window at the setting sun. "Maybe you should spend the night then." As she started laughing he smiled drunkenly and leaned down over her. He was right over her face laughing now too. "Boop!" he poked her nose gently with his gloved hand. He was quite entertained by her completely unrestrained laughter.

[Marrow]

Marrow covered her face and rolled to her side. She tried to catch her breath. Finally getting a hold of herself, she asked, "What.... just happened?" She rolled onto her back again and looked at him. "What did I just do....?"

[Mortimer]

"You just peed all over my floor laughing. At what? I have no idea" he laughed. "You were quite tickled though."

[Marrow]

Marrow sat up and looked at the floor. "Uh.... crap...." She fell back onto the floor. She felt it coming on again, and, again, started to laugh. "I-I didn't mean to..." she stuttered between laughs.

[Mortimer]

"Don't worry about it, this floor has seen far worse than that." He found a rag and lazily tossed it at the puddle. it missed and landed on her lap. "Close enough." he laughed, feeling the alcohol heavily now himself. He laid down near marrow and continued to laugh.

[Marrow]

She put the towel over the puddle. She then turned to look at him and asked, "What is laughing...?"

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