Private Finished nature speaks

Michi looked to him, expecting Linus to say more, but nothing came from him and assume it was fine. She followed suit, though a bit clumsily -- clearly she'd never held a hoe in her whole life, nor has she tried using one. She was just following by example. She heard Linus's voice amongst the chatter she normally heard, and assumed Linus was saying something so she turned, only to see him not looking at her. He seemed to be talking to himself if anything. Part of her wondered what he was mumbling about so after a moment's pause. "I don't have it that bad in the head, okay?" she said, trying to assure him she wouldn't murder him then and there. "....I'm not a monster."

Michi fell into a silence, Linus' bitter laugh somehow making her only feel as though he didn't believe her. She clutched the gardening hoe tightly, trying not to think too far into it. Just like you... we're all monsters together out here. The words spun around in her mind. She didn't really want to think of herself as a monster. Sure, she wasn't completely human at this point, but she was still the same kid before she was whisked away into the island. She was still the same girl before everything went south. The voices in her mind seemed to buzz--louder than before they entered the tunnels. And for a moment, she couldn't tell if it was from a memory or the voices just egging her on, but she heard her sister's voice yelling over the noise: Mom's little monster. The voices kept on talking. After a moment, everything seemed to melt together. She couldn't hear Linus. Perhaps longer than necessary, Michi was just standing there staring blankly at the ground.

Michi probably took a while, drowned in the voices in her head, stuck in a loop of whether the voices were trying to get something out of her, or it was old memories resurfacing. It was then she realized movement in front of her, remembering where she was at the moment. The girl silently reprimanded herself for spacing out in the middle of the conversation, muttering apologies for it, but more so when she realized the tears that started to pool at the corner of her eyes. Michi turned her face away to compose her face. "Yeah, sorry, I spaced out," she told him. "It's nothing, sorry. I'll get back to work in a bit."

Linus went quiet and returned to work, and Michi decided to just follow suit, not aware of the things the other was thinking off. In the few minutes of working, she managed to ignore the voices, which made her realize Linus hadn't spoken in the last few minutes. "Linus?" she called quietly. Well, as quiet as she usually does. "Everything okay over there?" she asked, stretching out the first letter a bit awkwardly.

Michi had the nerve to jokingly tell him 'There's never truly any quiet for me to appreciate,' but the words went unsaid. She told herself maybe it would only make her look worse if she went and joked about it that way even thought she had always done so with literally everyone she met. Instead, Michi chose to just laugh it off and give the guy a faint smile. "Well, thanks for the concern," Michi paused. Thought for a second before continuing, "But honestly I wouldn't be able to tell much." Michi tapped her head, sporting a smirk, reminding him she had literal voices in her head chattering endlessly. She took another few swings at the ground for good measure until she decided that should be enough tilling for now. Probably. She didn't really know how much she had to do, but that looked good enough for now. "So... any plans on when and where to get the plants for this?"