SECOND SONG ♫ TEXT

[hasitsthorns]

[ At some time that is far too late for probably anyone to be awake, a message comes across the network.

God, how she's missed being able to text. ]

Have you ever done something you regret? That you're ashamed of?
Maybe it's a lot of things. It is for me.

How do you deal with that now?
Did you find a way to make it better or did you just ignore it until it went away?
(The latter is my strategy. Hasn't worked out so well, let me tell you.)

I have trouble sometimes with it all still.
I try to do better, but...
Trying only gets you so far sometimes.

Comments

[hasitsthorns]

What the absolute fuck, man?

[ She thought they were cool!!!

She manages to avoid the first kick, but the second one is a bit to fast to fully avoid entirely. The blond does her best to block the attack but it still staggers her. Rose is quick to recover, however. It'll take a lot more than what he's doing not to knock her down. She was trained for this - born for this, some might argue - and it's all kicking in again at his assault.

She doesn't want to hurt him but it won't be long before that 'kill or be killed' mentality takes over. Rose likes to think she has more self-control than that but, well. If it's her or him, she'd still probably choose her. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ While Rose may be fast, Shadow is definitely faster. She notices those sparks; it's obvious he's cooking up something powerful from that alone. There's a spike in energy that's suddenly being flung at her.

So pre-occupied with defending herself is the woman that her illusion drops. She'll bristle and snarl as the energy blast clips her. The second time, however, she plans for it too because she's finally going on the offensive. She'll take the brunt of a hit to take a chance at slashing the hedgehog before he can teleport away again. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's a bit of a blur what happens. She hadn't expected his strength (she's not surprised necessarily, but she hadn't calculated for it), which is what trips the woman up. Of course he wouldn't be just fast though. Just like how she's not anywhere near as fragile as she looks.

... Well, lately she feels much less strong. There's reasons for that, however, and this really goes to show that she needs to go about fixing it.

The fight hasn't quite left her yet. The blow is like a hammer to her back that knocks the wind out of her lungs. She might be disoriented but 'fight to the death' is what she was taught; fight until she can't anymore. The woman snarls at Shadow, snaps her fangs at him though refrains from actually going for his jugular (quite literally, in this case) once she realizes he isn't actually trying to choke her. ]

Wha-?

[ She's... confused now, more than anything. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ The blond squints at him then his hand. Should... it be obvious? Rose has some ideas now, of course, that she's thinking coherently but. Why is everyone so difficult? Thinks the extremely difficult woman.

She thought she was difficult, anyway. ]

Is this some kind of 'I don't know how to show you I care so I fight you instead' kinda bullshit? Because you coulda' just said that and I would have been like 'k, cool' and not super confused.

[ She takes his hand begrudgingly though, dusting herself off once she's up. She doesn't have two hands to do it but, y'know, force of habit. Blugh. She's gonna feel this tomorrow. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ ... Okay, well, she supposes she can kind of get that. If he had told her his plan, she wouldn't have reacted genuinely. So. It would have been a moot point. ]

I mean. I guess. [ Still a little salty though. ] Good to know, at least. [ That someone can take her down if necessary. The scariest thing though will be getting back up. ]

[hasitsthorns]

There was one time, when I got... really angry with someone that I just, I don't know. Snapped?

[ Anger seems to be a running theme; it's why Rose tries to keep herself open-minded and reasonable. ]

Otherwise, mostly just self-defense.

[hasitsthorns]

Trust me, I'm aware.

[ Even before her 'condition,' Rose was careful about letting her anger go unchecked. The rage she'd felt in the ring was... nothing she ever wanted to experience again. Perhaps that's why her brain was wired for anger = death, truthfully. It'd been the only proper outlet for her aggression for a long, long time. ]

I'll work on it. Maybe start up cave yoga or something, I'unno. [ A half-hearted attempt at a joke. ]

[hasitsthorns]

It's not exactly something I'm proud of.

[ Nor would she call her most powerful asset; Rose doesn't want that to be what she's known for. Not anymore. ]

But, I mean. What would you suggest?

[ Suppression is about the only tactic she knows nowadays. It's served her well (no, it hasn't) so far. ]

[hasitsthorns]

It wasn't always.

[ Kite made her what she is now; it's something she'll never forgive him for. He may be dead and buried, but he deserved worse for the pain her inflicted on her and others. ]

-But, yeah, alright. Fair point. [ A dramatic sigh. ] I hate having to figure stuff out, man. It sucks.

[ Understatement of the year award goes to... ]

[hasitsthorns]

It is!

[ Life is hard, etc. Dramatic throw up of her arms inserted here. ]

Whenever I gotta' make big decisions, they go bad. So I just stopped deciding things and let fate take control. [ ... Granted, 'fate' is what led her to a life half-lived and Haven. Now Hadriel, too. So. Fate kind of blows as well. ]

[hasitsthorns]

I'm always a wreck, dude.

[ It's just been showing more lately. And she meant it as a joke, but... There's a bit too much truth there for it to really be funny. ]

Yeah, I mean. I figured what with the whole faux fight thing.