{TTW} On the Other Side

Chel huffed, frustrated. Her last cellmate hadn't really done anything but sleep (she was thankful he hadn't tried anything on her but DEAR GOD the boredom), and this one didn't look to be any better so far. She herself had started taking catnaps since there really wasn't anything else to do. No games had been called for a while, so there was that at least.

Deciding checking on the neighbors would be better than staring at a wall, she sat next to the bars and called out to the other cell. "Hey! Anyone there? Could really use a distraction right now."

Meg had been strolling around the room, tossing pillows every now and then out of boredom. Her cellmate fell asleep on the mattress and was taking up the whole thing, so she didn't even bother trying to sit down on anything but that stupid chest in the corner. Just as she was about toss another pillow, she heard a voice from the other side of the wall. For a moment there, she though she was in one of those "isolated cells" where there was no one else around. "Hey, yeah there's someone here."

The voice seemed familiar. "Meg?" Chel asked, a little surprised. "Meg is that you? It's me, Chel. Remember?" It would be good to have a friendly neighbor until the next swap. Then who knew what she'd get.

Meg held the pillow in her hand down by her side. "Chel? You're still alive? Thank god." She dragged the chest over towards the wall and pushed it into the corner so she could have a backrest. "How have you been?"

"Haven't been in any games lately, so I'm doing fine." Chel grabbed some pillows from the pile in one of the corners and set them by the bars, then laid down on them. "Seen the folder lately? There's a lot less files in it now..." She'd looked at the black book earlier and had been dismayed to see that Kida's file was missing. Had Mulan seen it, too? There was no telling how Korso had killed her. She just hoped that it was quick, but even that was uncertain. And even though they hadn't known each other long, Chel mourned her loss. She refused to shed tears though. Korso would love that.

Meg ran her hands over the binder, feeling the cover as if she could change everything that's happened. "I've seen it..." It was something she looked at everyday. So many faces were disappearing..Odette, Cale..all gone. "If there haven't been any games lately, then that means something is coming..."

Chel hummed in agreement. "And it'll probably be worse than the others." How he could top anything else was beyond her. But they'd find out eventually. Hopefully most of them would survive to live another day.

"Oh, I saw Dimitri." Chel said carefully. She'd picked up on the tension he'd carried after she mentioned Megara to him. Something bad had happened, and she was wondering just what it was. "He's...surviving." She would've said he was doing fine, but that wasn't true. She still remembered the hollowness of his eyes.

Meg sat silent for a few moments. He's...surviving.
She slowly sat down on the chest, holding a pillow in her hands. "At least he's alive..." He had been on her mind ever since she woke up from that game. His face was burned into her mind...he was so broken. She had done all she could to help him but he just wouldn't even acknowledge her existence really.

"Yeah, there's that." Chel agreed. She, too, remembered his condition during the last game they'd all been in. But she'd been taking care of Mulan as the young girl once more grieved for her friend. It was good that Meg was there to help him, even if he was too overwhelmed for it to do much. The thought counted. "He and Kuzco seemed to have been really good friends."

"I never knew him...but I'm sure they were." Meg tossed the pillow around in her hands before setting it behind her back, leaning against the wall. "Mulan is getting better...she's out for revenge though." Poor Mulan...Sinbad meant everything to her and he was taken away so quickly. She didn't deserve that. No one did.

It was good to hear the kid was picking herself up. But would it really count in the end? "Can't blame her, can you?" Chel snorted, "It's pretty much certain that everyone here wants to get back at all these malditos running the joint. Sangre por sangre." It was the rule of the streets. But in here, there was nothing they could do to get back at Korso or the guards, and it pissed her off to no end. "Man, if there was a chance to get my hands on Korso, this shit he's pulling wouldn't be nothing compared to what I'd do to him." Of course, she'd let the others have their turn. It would only be fair--and fun to watch.

Meg smiled and laughed. "I'm sure everyone would. I know I do." She wanted to make sure he got what he deserved for this, but just by herself, she couldn't be able to do it alone. Everyone would have to work together to even get to him.

"We could make a party of it. Get some hotdogs, a few beers--or wine, for the fancier peeps. It'd be one hell of a show." Chel laughed, imagining the the lot of them watching Korso's torture and having a tailgate party too. "Damn, now I want some." It'd been so long since the garden date. She missed the booze and hot food.

Meg laughed and started to braid her hair. Just the talk of hot dogs and beer made her think of the date in the courtyard. How long ago was that? Weeks, months...surely not years. "Did you have one of those date things awhile back?"

"Yeah. Wasn't going to pass up good food, even if it was one of Korso's bullshit mind tricks." Chel kicked off her shoes and wriggled her feet, which sorely needed a pedicure. She needed a manicure too. "I chose Cillian. The hot older dude with the mustache. You know him?"

"Yeah I know him.." Meg smiled at the memory of Cillian. She hadn't seen him for awhile now. The last time they spoke was...through a wall? She let her legs dangle off the side of the chest as she continued to braid her hair.

"Hopefully, I'll have him as a cellmate next time. More time to get better acquainted." Chel giggled. "I mean dios mio, have you seen the ass on that man?! Gold medal material right there." If there'd been a bed in that garden, there would've been dinner and a show.

Meg laughed and bit her lip. Chel must have really wanted to get to Cillian..but didn't he meet someone too? "I think he might have a girlfriend though. If I remember right from the last time we were cellmates..." The name was coming as a blur to her though...Jill? Definitely started with a J. No, Jane. That was it.

"Ah, bummer. Oh well." Chel sighed. "I suppose it's all look and no touch from now on. Truly, I am heartbroken." She shook her head, smiling. She just hoped nothing bad happened to them.

Meg laughed softly and leaned back against the wall, throwing her braid over her shoulder. "We've all had our share of heartbreaks I'm sure." For sure she had for herself. Chel on the other hand she didn't know. Maybe a lost lover or something?

"More than I'd care to admit..." Chel said sadly. Everyday was another day for her heart to break all over again. She rubbed that finger, the one that had carried the best gift from David for several years until they'd forced her to give it up after the trial. It was too much to hope they'd give the wedding band back so she'd be buried with it. "Love's a funny thing. It can make you feel like you can rule the world, then...then when it's gone it can just utterly destroy you, inside out, til there's nothing left."

Meg sat silently.
It can just utterly destroy you, inside out, til there's nothing left.
She picked up the binder and ran her hands over the cover. The only thing that she had ever cared about was inside. In this place with her. But he was drifting away from her, day by day. All because of a stupid mistake she had made. She took the binder and threw it across the room, not caring about Tulio or anything. She just had to let it go. Let him go. "It's better to be alone...then nobody can hurt you."

She quirked an eyebrow when she heard something get thrown. Had things ended that badly between her and Dimitri? Hell, they needed some help. It was bad enough they were all going to die; they didn't need to die angry at each other. "True... You won't get hurt..." Chel admitted, then added, "But you won't get loved either."

"True..." Meg stared at the binder, feeling bad about throwing it. She got up and walked across the room, picking it up and gently setting it back down next to the cell bars where it belonged. On her way back to the chest, she fumbled with her hair, staring at the lock holding the chest shut. "Do you have anyone waiting for you? Outside of this place?"

"No one in this life that needs to know about me. It's best she go on living normally. I fought hard to give her that chance." Chel answered, thinking of her daughter. "The only one who might be waiting for me is on the other side already. He's been waiting for seven years. Maybe he doesn't have to for much longer..." A morbid line of thinking, but it was no use pretending that it wouldn't happen.