REFURBISHED [Morbitia Renovarse]

[ThreadLurkingComorant]

[Image Description: The Faux-Hare, a kemono-esque striped furry of ambiguous species with long rabbity ears, horns, and a somewhat feline face standing in a room full of pipes and tendrils, the red lines indicating Despina's POV and priming their knife to cut through the lineart itself from a distance. ]

 
You tore a hole through the wall, the matte painting spilling ink across the floor for you to awkwardly step around.
Behind the curtain, a familiar face worn mockingly across a imposter.

The old wretched faux-hare.

The Faux-Hare looked you over from head to toe, approaching with a smug little stride before fixating on the box cutter in your hand. You concentrated your own gaze, drawing dotted lines across her body to carve like cattle.

The Faux-Hare: You've downgraded.

Despina: Don't need anything bigger than this.

The Faux-Hare: No, you never did...

Dotted lines everywhere, thick barriers keeping her form together like paint in a bottle.

Despina: Stop wearing her fucking face.

The Faux-Hare: Why? Don't you miss her? She's the one you let go for a reason.. bet you'd feel bad digging right in- stop that!

You didn't hesitate, dragging the knife along the lines, loosened and prime to shred into pieces.

Tenderized.

The Faux-Hare: Y-you're not even listening to me!

It only took one final gesture, every ripened seam retraced in one fluid motion.

The parody of your ex was torn apart by the lines, splattered across the room.

There wasn't even enough time for her to make a full proper shriek.

You continued through the glowing exit sign on the stage.. only a bridge across a fleshy dark void and radio towers lingering to keep you company.

Slowly, a tendril appeared from the shadow, followed by another.

Your gaze locked on, lines appearing as the tendrils lowered the now restored Faux-Hare onto the platform with you.

The Faux-Hare: Most people flinch at the idea of killing a loved one-

Despina: You picked one of my exes.

The Faux-Hare: You have feelings for her still, strong and passionate and vile-

Despina: Incredibly vile. Vile and ugly and drenched in so much poison that I'm more than sure you're not a real person. Something unnatural, uncategorized, manipulative and prying through my head, and yet you don't know the first thing about anyone.

Lines primed for trimming.

The Faux-Hare: That won't do anything to me, I'll just keep coming back-

Despina: Come back as someone with a bigger pair of balls, disguising yourself as a folk saint-

The Faux-Hare: An entity is a little menace no matter how much they try and make peace with the world. They go through phases, building hospitals one day for the poor, and then burning them down just to feel something again once they've stagnated. People like you aren't any better, you need direction and-

You raised the knife, enough to make her flinch.

Despina: Fuck do you want with my co-worker?

The Faux-Hare: A Savate unit with a newly forming soul is quite the catch, one I can't let someone like you keep to yourself. A living being with a networking system, enough of a consciousness to sculpt and integrate. The possibilities are endless you know, they're already connected to quite a few places with weight behind them. Places not limited to time or space.. vacant bodies get discarded all the time but it's very rare they become.. personified.

Despina: So a vessel-

The Faux-Hare: A medium. There's plenty of people operating in these privatized custom bodies, they're perfect ways to network and spread but.. I've never seen one so uniquely malfunctioned. You did quite a good job really. If you hadn't found that medical disposal bag, that blooming mind would've ceased and body melted for material.

Despina: You're terrible.

The Faux-Hare: I'm stating the truth, they're valuable and that's why you're all over them. And they love being around you so much, you're their favorite person in the world, but you feel like a pervert returning any of those feelings. So ashamed of your own nature, playing the guardian and keeping yourself so far away from the first person to see you without judgment.

You didn't have much of a retort, the Faux-Hare smirking at you.

The Faux-Hare: Your other friends are funny to me. Romero was so... pleasant. Wonderful, really, if he wasn't already signed by Mr. Styx I'd claim him myself. I think he sees you quite highly and hasn't remotely caught onto the fact that you're absolutely terrified of him! To him you're so smart, and confident, and he'd be happy to work with you til retirement age, and yet in spite of all that you've time after time actively vote against letting him stay at one of the archives. All because of his entity having beef against past kin you never knew.

Despina: He's attached to one of the most dangerous entities- It's hard to-

The Faux-Hare: You're full of shit, you're just hoping he'll get tired and leave this city one day. Keeping him on the streets no matter how many times he gives you the puppy eyes. I had to let him go, the world could use more like him and less like you. I'd do people a favor, but it seems like we're at a stalemate.

Despina: Neither of us can kill each other, not yet at least.

The Faux-Hare: You never will.

It walked toward you and reached a paw toward your Mask.

The Faux-Hare: She offered you her face, to be the piece that lets you reclaim your mind.

You let it make contact.

The Faux-Hare: You're thinking awfully dirty thoughts right now.

Despina: You're getting nothing out of me.

The Faux-Hare: I'm getting absolutely everything.

Despina: You're only this close because I let you.

The Faux-Hare: Because you want me to be, because you want a taste again. Because deep down, your biggest weakness is your inability to control yourself.

She slid a finger under your mask and pressed it to your mouth.

The Faux-Hare: Like old times? Mm?

You kept your mouth shut tight.

The Faux-Hare: You've been quiet, they're going to send in Mr. Hero and bust you and Savvy out. May as well have fun til reinforcements show up.

You pressed your lip to her finger, testing her touch.

The Faux-Hare: There you go, just let me...

You loosened up, allowing her to feel around the inside of your mouth. You accidentally made a noise, the digit virtually identical to the real thing.

She laughed and pulled it out, observing the saliva left behind.

The Faux-Hare: You're such a disaster, only reason you have that phony seat at the adult table is because they're all oh so scared of you...

Despina: You're not wrong.

She reached for your paw.

The Faux-Hare: Maybe I could free you though, talk shop? I'm sure you've got the time.

You clung onto her hand.

The Faux-Hare: Good girl.