The Girls of Virtue

[13-2] The Path that We Walk

It's in that way that Beginning is alone again. She's... not bored, not really, but the feeling might be close to it. Still dodging the church, she eventually decides to entertain herself a bit and take to the rooftops.

Jumping grows easier every time. Beginning thinks of how she's gone from clumsily clearing the rooftop by far too much to landing with a fair amount of grace and feels a pain in her chest. There's something uncomfortable about how used to this world she's become. Without anything else to hold onto, her experiences so far are shaping her more and more.

Beginning's pace quickens. She's thinking too hard, spiraling too much. Before she knows it, her attention slips, and--

"Whoah--! Beginning!?"

She comes very close to colliding with Inconsistency. It's a near miss, with Beginning just barely adjusting her landing as not to go crashing into the other girl. It also ends in her stumbling and toppling to the shingles beneath her in a move that lacks all of the grace she'd been reflecting on.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she squeaks, rolling to her feet as quickly as possible. This... is a conflict waiting to happen, knowing Inconsistency.

"Watch where you're going!" Inconsistency screeches in a high, whiny tone that's not quite like anything Beginning has heard from her before. Yet another personality switch. "You scared the life out of me, stupid!"

"I really didn't mean to," Beginning pacifies. "I just wasn't paying attention, okay? Accidents happen."

Inconsistency sniffles. "O-Or maybe you were trying to bully me. I can just see it-- you thought that running into me and knocking me off the roof would be funny. And now you're lying to cover it up!" By the end of her last sentence, Inconsistency has gone from whiny to purely accusatory. Her tone switches so quickly that it leaves Beginning's head spinning. It's both exactly what she expects of Inconsistency and entirely exhausting to hear.

"I'm sorry, okay? Really, really sorry. I'll be careful next time, so we don't need to get upset." Beginning remembers all too well that the last time she interacted with Inconsistency was in the spat involving Cowardly and her... particular brand of issues. Inconsistency is likely to be holding a nasty grudge, which just means more trouble for Beginning in the end.

"Shut up!" Inconsistency roars, suddenly furious. "I don't want to hear your apologies! I want you to grovel and beg for forgiveness where you belong!" Her tone has swerved straight into arrogance.

"Is something wrong?"

Beginning doesn't know why she says it. Inconsistency is acting even more erratic than usual, yes, but she has no evidence that something is bothering the other girl. And yet... looking into Inconsistency's tri-colored eyes, Beginning thinks she sees a flicker of something like doubt.

"The fuck are you talking about?" she snaps. "Why would anything be wrong with me? I feel fine, great, on top of the world!"

"You look sad," Beginning replies.

And that makes Inconsistency falter. For a second, every part of her seems to wince with surprise and maybe even pain. Her arms spread in a way that's almost defensive, all four hands going to her hips and waist to make herself look bigger, stronger, somehow more.

"I-I'm not sad!" she shouts. It sounds like she's trying to sound braver than she feels. "Why would you think that, anyway?!"

"I guess... you always seem like something's missing. I don't know quite how to put it into words, but it feels like you're looking for something." Everyone's words about Inconsistency are hovering in Beginning's head, and suddenly, some things are starting to connect "I'm sorry. This probably isn't making much sense. I'll quit talking now, okay?"