[1v1 HH] Just Like Animals (Horace & Ruth)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace tossed his notebook from one hand to the other. The house was strange, he thought, and impossible to map. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to sketch every weird room he came across - he did. A room full of empty frames, another exclusively in a rusty shade of brown, another yet filled with shredded pillows. Sometimes, he whistled softly as he sketched, the sound airy and off-tune. For now, he was content to wander aimlessly, although he was wary - he had seen what happened to Zac.

The next room's door was open. Curious, he carefully peeked in. Mirrors upon mirrors were stacked in the room, each one cracked, broken. Many were missing entire pieces. And in the room, almost lost among the grey of the mirrors was a familiar figure. His muscles instantly tightened, a grimace crossing his face. Well, well, well. He leaned against the door frame, pencil and notebook still held in his hands. He wondered if she'd recognize his voice. He twirled the pencil.

"Hello there, Blondie."

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

Oh the Haunted House, Ruth had mixed feelings for you. The persona hated the place with a burning passion for what it could do and the things it made her encounter. Ruth herself found it jacking interesting and unpredictable and a role model to look up to. There were, of course, hazards in being within the confines of the house, but with any luck, the paranoia agent would be able to manage whatever was thrown at her.

At first, it was simply being in a maze that broke the barriers of space. Turning left somehow meant she going downstairs, and heading down brought her to the right. It was a confusing, thrilling journey, up until she got to the room full of mirrors. The memory of Wonderland accosted her and her training kicked in. Unseen eyes narrowed as her mouth pulled into an ear-to-ear grin as she forced herself to remain calm and observe.

Her body tensed, image blurring when she heard someone greet her. But she remained still, using the mirrors to find who it was behind her. Judging by their clothing, she doubted it was a fellow reaper. The towering boil was likely to be a Hunter. The voice failed to ring any bells as there wasn't a mask muffling it. In response, Ruth gave a small wave.

The Semblance of Unity

tl;dr - Ruth says Hi.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He watched as she tensed, but it was a movement not of recognition, but only in response to his intrustion. Disappointing. Very disappointing. Horace returned her wave with a jaunty flick of his fingers as the corners of his mouth tightened. He resisted the urge to fling something at her head. Ruth hadn't turned, but he could see the glimpse of teeth in the mirror - how unlike the blushing reaper he'd met before. Interesting, that. She seemed even more monstrous than before, more dangerous. Horace liked it.

"Aw, you don't remember me. Last time, I looked like one of you - sort of. Robes and mask and whatnot. Is your room still as plain?" He moved closer to her, blue eyes narrowed. If she recognized him or not, he wanted to try to make her scream. Or something, anything. Jannsair whispered in his mind to stop toying, to not let emotion rule. Horace almost reached out to touch her, but stopped, moving back a bit.

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

The sobriquet he'd used for her didn't mean anything. At first. She was blonde, and it was why she'd been dubbed that by a certain flame demon. It only meant the Hunter wasn't colorblind. Up until he admitted to having met her before and while disguised in robes and a mask.

Oh. She knew who he was, and was sorely tempted to ask him to turn around so she could reevaluate her opinion of him. She refrained, deciding to make that request later on. The Violet was aghast but she had no sway over Ruth in the Haunted House. The blonde reaper had no reason to keep up with appearances or pretend she was a shy, easily embarrassed ghoul. He was asking about her room but something suggested to the ghoul that it was rhetorical.

Her grin curled into a smirk, shoulders rose and fell in an unconcerned shrug of who knows? One hand beckoned him to come hither, the other gestured to herself before she bit at the air with an almost exaggerated, theatrical flare, and finished with a slow shake of her head.

The Semblance of Unity

charades ftw~

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

The shrug, the smirk, the beckon - something was subtly different about her. He hated it. This dislike was not a new feeling about Ruth. There were things about her - even her height, her blonde hair - she mimicked humanaity in ways that were awful. The intensity of his dislike would've worried him a bit, if he had bothered to think. Regardless, he moved closer to her, drawn by a burgeoning sense of... of something. Horace wasn't sure. He wanted her to react, to talk. The idea that she didn't remember him when he - he remembered everything - made his teeth clench.

"Bite? I won't bite you. Unless you wanted me to." An eyebrow arched and his teeth snapped as well. Irritation hummed under his skin. The hunter had been feeling pent up, full of an excess of energy not burned off in spars or missions. It felt good, it felt clean, to have something to hate. and Ruth was that thing: her silence spurred him. No blush stained her cheeks this time. His pupils dilated briefly. Suddenly, he moved, grabbing the reaper by one thin shoulder. His fingers were bruisingly hard against the grey cloth, and Horace shoved, going with her as she slammed into a mirror.

Huni Pi

no damage rolled cuz I didn't feel like ittttt

 

[Huni Pi]

Even when the fleshie misunderstood her, Ruth kept that smirk in place, relishing the hostility he was openly displaying. She would have preened if she knew it would infuriate him further but when he took her up on her earlier request to come closer, her hands were moving of their own accord. They rose up quickly, barely managing to brace herself for the impact and be cheek to cheek with her reflection.

There was no scream, no shriek, just the grunt of air being pressed out of her lungs and through grit teeth. Behind her bangs, Ruth's eyes squeezed shut as she thought of her next move. She tried to shove off from the mirror, found even with one shoulder free she didn't have the necessary leverage. The not-reaper had height and mass to his advantage. What did Ruth have?

She breathed in through her nostrils, taking comfort from the irritation radiating from the fleshie, and inwardly grinned. Of course. She angled her head, eyes still hidden behind the fringes of her hair, and puckered her lips together, going so far as to make kissy noises at him.

The Semblance of Unity

Ruth <3s you, Horace. She totally does~

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

No noise other than a grunt - how disappointing. Horace held no real hopes that he would force words from her lips. But still, there was the chance, and that chance sent adrenaline surging through him. His hate of her was disproportionate and he knew it, but it was clean and it was good.

"Don't ******** make faces at me, monster." Horace hissed and fisted his hand in her hair, knocking that ugly cap to the ground. He yanked her head back, close enough that their breath mingled. His lips twitched, once, and then he slammed her back into the mirror. A crack appeared under her cheek. He wondered just what she'd do if he'd taken up her mocking offer.


HP: 40/40
DMG: 1

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

As far as Ruth was concerned, she had the whole situation under control. It didn't matter that she was, in all sense of the word, trapped between a rock and a hard place. Her mouth opened in silent laughter, both to unnerve and fuel the human's fury but it was instantly cut when she felt fingers in her hair.

Which meant... blue eyes snapped shut on instinct, less from the impact and fracturing mirror and more from the fact her cap had been knocked off! Her entire body tensed, blurring despite the lack of movement. The glass cut into her cheek but her dismay was from how easy it would be to reveal her eyes.

It wasn't the same with her voice. That had been a choice, something she decided on her own. But the eyes, well, that was simply not done. She scrunched her face tight, nose and mouth wrinkling in concentration. Something small and metallic thunked behind them. The reaper didn't need to be able to see to know her little trashbot had been properly summoned.

Silently, she mouthed Boom.

HP: 39/40
Damage: 4

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

There was a clank and he turned, keeping one arm on Ruth. "What the <********> Bits of hot metal shot at him and he hissed in pain. Horace didn't know how, but this was her fault. The mouthed boom, the smirk. Horace turned back to her, hand snaking up her throat.

"I hate you," he said, voice low. His hands tightened around her throat, fingers dark against her pale skin, cutting off her breathing with deliberate, slow precision. Horace wanted to see her gasp from it.

HP: 36/40
DMG: 7

Huni Pi

sorry short tag

 

[Huni Pi]

The trashbot had failed its diversion, the shrapnel and sparks a mere irritation. Imagine that, the blonde ghoul thought to herself when she failed to wriggle free. She'd tried, again, to push off from the cracked mirror. Failed, again, to even move him a fraction before the breath was slowly being squeezed out of her.

Did Horace wish to make the reaper beg? Ruth didn't know, but he might well have wrung blood from stone before he would make her speak. Her mouth opened and closed in silent gasps, fingers weakly clawing at the solid bar that was the hunter's arms. Darkness slowly encroached her vision, and Ruth simply went ragdoll limp, surrendering her full weight to gravity's pull.

For just for a moment, and then she raised her head, eyes tapered into slits behind her bangs, and her hands clasped together in the shape of a heart.

HP: 32/40
Damage: Dice say nope

The Semblance of Unity

But she lurrrrvs you, Horace!

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He thought, for just a moment, that she'd passed out, that Ruth had succumbed to the vise of his fingers. The she popped back up, fresh as a ******** daisy, full of hearts and attitude. It was, Horace thought, almost deliriously human. It disgusted him. It earned Ruth another slam against the shattered mirror as well.

Then, he had a horrible, awful thought. A bad idea thought. He didn't know if this would phase her, but it just might. With slow, deliberate movements, he brought his head to hers, breath ghosting over her face. And then he kissed her. It was a kiss of disgust, of hate, of 'I hope you hate this just as much as I". He drew blood with his teeth.

HP: 36/40
DMG: 5

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

The ghoul tried to blink away the dancing stars from the impact, certain that she was mildly concussed at the very least. Maybe that's why she wasn't certain if what happened next was real or all in her head. It certainly looked like something the Violet would have dreamed up, having read all those Boodith McKnot novels. But the sharp pain of her lip bleeding FEAR was enough confirmation for the paranoia agent that this was really happening.

She tensed and had she ever spoken to the fleshie, she would have been struck speechless. Her mind was empty, unable to think of what to do next because training had never really covered this scenario, which mean what she would do next was all on her.

Ruth kissed back, or tried, she wasn't proficient with lip-locking and may have used tongue based on how those novels described it. There was a slight blush, more out of shame that a fleshie managed to do something more unexpected than she had. Or would, which was to raise one leg behind her, before it stamping against the hunter's shin.

HP: 27/40
Damage: 4

The Semblance of Unity

Sorry it took so long @ 3@!!!

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace liked how tensely uncomfortable she was - it wasn't words, but it felt like a satisfying reaction. When Ruth's foot hit his shin, he moved back, cursing.

"Didn't like it, Blondie? You were pretty bad. Needs practice." And he leaned towards her again, as if to kiss her. Instead, Horace punched her in the gut.


HP: 32/40
DMG: 3

huni pi

i am soooo sorry huni ;_;

 

[Huni Pi]

The only concession to sound Ruth made was the sharp exhale of air as the hunter's fist drove into her middle. Bent double, Ruth used the momentum to kick off against the cracked mirror behind her, lifting her up and over the fleshie with a burst of FEAR propelling her. By the time she landed, she had already summoned her pipe and took a swing at him.

Her lips were pursed in disappointment, as close to No You! as posture and expression could convey.

HP: 24/40
FEAR used: Double Take
Damage: 5

The Semblance of Unity

No worries bby~ I can wait 5ever for u~

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He whirled as he flipped off above him and the pipe connected sharply with his arm. Grabbing ithe cool length of it in both hands, he yanked Ruth forward, towards him. One of his hands twisted in her hair again, pulling cruelly at the pale strands. Horace wrenched her head downwards, bringing his knee up to push into her gut.

And then, he boxed her ears, hoping that the ringing would throw her off at best, or make her ears bleed at worst. His grin was sharp-edged and wolfish.

HP: 27/40
DMG: 10

huni pi