#but oh well I don't nind

[starpros-sunshine]

seb you strike me as the kind of person that would play the trombone and/or tuba

I suppose I can see it nodnod... If anything I'd probably play one of those instruments you have to blow into

[freewillacquired]

Nemesis laughed again, seeing how weirded out Rain was. There was a certain amount of amusement to be had in people's reactions to his body just flat out regrowing itself whenever it wanted to. If he was going to be this ugly, he may as well be good at tricks. As she described his antics like a clown game straight out of a carnival, Nemesis nodded. "Well... grow-ing ut... in school... I was al-ways... the class clown... so that tracks," he said.

"Hey... ith it nakes you theel detter... go a-head. What's an ug-ly dude... like ne... good thor... ith not sone stress re-lieth...?" If Rain would really find it funny or cathartic to deck him, Nemesis really didn't mind. Having an almost instantly-regenerating tank of a body had made him far less shy about taking hits, be they from friend or foe. "Night want to use... sone-thing else... o-ther than... your thist, though. You night dreak sone thingers." His teeth were... pretty damn hard. Punching them might not be the best idea in the world.

Really, this was all about Nemesis being able to laugh at himself, at what he was now, and about his situation. If he couldn't do that, he'd die inside, becoming a shell of himself. Humor kept him going, as did the prospect of helping someone, making someone feel better, or protecting someone. Didn't matter who it was, or if they were grateful to him at all, just as long as he was still able to do things like that. His sanity and surprisingly vulnerable heart absolutely hinged upon that.

"Right?!" he exclaimed with bursting excitement at her reaction to him using his tentacles as weapons. "Really usethul." His tentacles whipped around behind his back, as if pleased with the praise. "Eh..." Nemesis said, shrugging. "Sone-times... they get handsy. Ten-ta-cley? What-ether. They get rude... and I hath... to cor-rect then. Kindoth like... herd-ing children."

He chuckled at her wanting to know what the tentacles felt like. "They theel... exact-ly... how they look," Nemesis said, taking hold of one of his tentacles, which immediately began coiling around his wrist and arm with an almost cute sort of affection. "Like extra long dicks. They're all nuscle." He extended the arm the tentacle had coiled around for her to touch the warm, muscular appendage if she wanted. "Go ahead. They don't nind... and neither do I."

The humor left him though when Rain shared that she had actually, at one point, been a law enforcement officer. Now he felt like a huge asshole. Although his expression didn't change at all - mostly because it really couldn't - his tentacles seemed to droop and cling to his back, as if trying to hide in shame, responding to his emotion. Same of course, for the ones that were more fused to his shoulders and over his collarbone. "I'n sor-ry... I intersonated... an othicer." Impersonating a police officer was something real police officers were understandable touchy about. Using that kind of ruse was all fun and games until he had to look someone with a real history in law enforcement in the face and justify what he did. It all seemed so petty and pointless now, though... given all the shit that had happened after his little stunt.

"Thank you," he said to getting the cartridge as a gift. He could certainly do a lot with his tentacles, or just himself, but having a ranged weapon that wasn't part of his body had its advantages. Despite being fairly sure he couldn't get infected any more than he already was, that didn't mean Nemesis wanted to get up close and personal with some of the crazy creatures the T-virus had frankensteined out of what used to be normal animals and people. "Yeah, I can... dut that doesn't nean... I al-ways want to," he admitted. "Sone things... are just really gross... and I'd rather not.... get into a wrest-ling natch... with then." Him calling other mutated creatures gross was a bit of pot, kettle, black, but oh well.

In a world ravaged by a virus that primarily creates monsters, nasty encounters are in no short supply. When Rain begins to hear heavy footfalls—when she feels them practically shaking the ground beneath her, she figures she's about to have another.

Cursing under her breath, she unholsters her gun.

The days were blending together in depressing ways now. Nemesis was shocked at how quickly things had gone to hell after the Hive and Raccoon City Incidents. It had taken him quite a while to regenerate after the city's "sanitation," but once he was on his feet again, he realized the gravity of what was happening to the world.

Alone and with nothing left to do in his current mutated state, Nemesis had taken to showing up at Umbrella facilities unannounced, and destroying as much of them as he could. The digital feed supplied by the retinal implant attached to his right eye and sewn up into his head gave him a lot of useful information, especially after his mind was liberated from Umbrella's control. May as well put it to good use, right?

He'd acquired more clothes and equipment this way, with the boots and leather trenchcoat-style getup being standard issues for a creature called a Tyrant, which he apparently now was. They seemed just about the only things that were going to fit his... unique body shape nowadays.

Learning about himself and destroying Umbrella assets were good pastimes, but Nemesis was extremely lonely. The few survivors he came across now and then either screamed and ran from him or shot at him. Bullet wounds were nothing more than annoying mosquito bites to him now, thanks to his thick hide, but even so... it was demoralizing. All he wanted to do was help. He was almost getting used to being alone all the time, by necessity rather than desire, until that unexpectedly changed. While exploring a city one day, he rounded a corner and-

"Raaaain!" Nemesis bellowed the moment he saw her, unable to contain his excitement upon seeing her. "Oh... ny god!" He couldn't believe his eyes. Well, eye. He still had two, but one was... indisposed. In a move that probably looked damn near ridiculous to the other, he lifted his hand... and waved to her. "I'n so glad... to see you! How... are you... alithe... right now?" he tried to ask, his massive chompers getting in the way, as usual.

Nemesis couldn't get his voice to be anything other than a monotone growl, and with monstrous teeth and a noticeable lack of lips, his speech was something of a garbled mess. It took him a while, but he'd learned to make certain sounds in other ways, using his throat and tongue. Essentially, he'd had to relearn how to speak. Some sounds and words, though, were lost forever. None of that did anything to curb his enthusiasm at seeing Rain alive, however. Was he finally losing his mind? Hallucinating, maybe? No, the target identification system is identifying her as Rain... Right now, Nemesis didn't care either way. Just the sight of her was one for sore eyes, since his last clear memory of her was being at death's door.

"I thought... the anti-thirus... didn't work...?" he said, his elation at seeing her alive completely overriding his common sense. Nemesis wasn't thinking about the fact that Rain wouldn't recognize him anymore, or about how negatively she would likely react to seeing the hulking beast before her. Not to mention his tentacles, rooted at the backs of his shoulders, which were excitedly coiling and undulating in their own right, reacting to his surprise and happiness. He batted one of them with his hand. "Cut it out...!" he admonished the obnoxious appendage. It recoiled temporarily before returning to its idle activities.

Then it dawned on him, especially with how she had her gun at the ready. Oh no... she has no idea who I am. "It's Natt," he said, laying his hand on his chest. "Natt... Ad-di-son." How pathetic is it that I can't even say my own name correctly anymore? he thought grimly.