inbox.text / audio / video / action / ringtone❝ Hello, you have reached Ushiromiya Lion. I apologize for missing your call.
Please leave a message, and I'll reply as soon as I can. Thank you. ❞code credit
[ They have an agreement that it is once every hour that he calls, excluding sleep cycles. For three days, he has been every hour, on the hour, on voice, with no exceptions.
Today, he doesn't call. It's only a handful of minutes late, but it's in text. ]
Turning off calls. Going to try something.
I
[ A short expanse of nothing. ]
Look after yourself. Please.
un: mrbellucci. early january, after bender blessings & curses
[ He's still in the med bay after That debacle, but it was the type of thing that was ended on a nice note and the agreement to not have anything incredibly stupid happen until next Wednesday.
That date got moved up. ]
I am so sorry.
[ What. ]
Next time it happens, remind me about the useless corvid.
[ okay, will is alive, maya is alive, they're in vista vris, check. maya is rehydrating and actually eating food and starting to feel like a person again. will is safe!!!!! ]
[ what could go wrong? ]
sometime in week 2 of june, after the sharkening and subsequent Bad Decisions
[ So. Lyrabar. A beautiful city, full of wonder and mischief and people who perhaps really do mean well in the long run, if only they'd stop it with the money laundering and rampant capitalism. A month isn't long enough to see all that it has to offer, let alone a week.
It's such a shame about the local wildlife. Such a shame indeed.
This is... after that. How long after is hard to say, exactly, as time stopped making sense when they woke up. Which is probably bad? Like how the strange not-quite-hole in their memories is classifiable as 'bad', especially since they don't know what it was, only that it was- important, an anchor keeping a box of glass shards swept safely out of reach. Being alone makes it worse, but finding him didn't-
they couldn't-
and the thought of testing the Oath and hearing nothing but silence was too awful to risk. So the next best thing was just waiting it out, somewhere near enough to people that they'd follow along out of reflexive habit, or at the very least be watched for further signs of Stupidity. If they can just hold on for a little while, they can find him and work out what happened. Right?
Yeah, bad idea in hindsight. They didn't need reminding of that, thanks much, Qrow. And the longer that conversation went on, the worse that feeling got, until the bubbling anger and shame-worry-fear and everything else threatened to become something truly Unfortunate - so they left! Hid like a bad dream and ran all the way home.
This leads to now, where there's a muffled thump against a particular door in a particular part of the royal guard apartments. The kind of thump that comes from someone not seeing a door at all until it very rudely stopped them. ]
mid part 1 wonderland. when? eh, casinos don't have clocks.
[Erika is not, historically, a patient teacher. Wonderland is also not the most...informationally sterile environment for this kind of learning.
Circumstances demand actions. Lion is capable of making up the distance.
A distant strike. Clatter. Chime. Peal of laughter. Erika on the ground, in some little seating area under a tall and fake-looking plant, eyes closed and arms slightly raised while her familiar (its name is Huizi. it has been decided) dances up in the vault of the ceiling.]
...So it's a bit too easy to lose balance while scrying. [She opens her eyes and lets her arms fall, slowly.] Especially if you're trying not to be obvious. The sensation doesn't match up to what you see, and you compensate incorrectly...I think it's even worse when the angle is close, or you can see yourself. Only practice makes it easier.
[It has been a long few weeks. Lucretia has been conscious for some of them. Most of them? She's still catching up on the passage of time as it relates to her own perception. The first priority is to focus on the moment. The second is to focus on the future. The past comes in last.]
[But there is one thing she remembered with crystalline clarity from the moment she regained consciousness: Lion, holding an umbrella, determined to get some answers.]
[It's a few days after the flood of new arrivals, and indeed as soon as she's able, that she sends a message.]
Lion. [Quietly; with the faint hint of a smile in her voice, albeit a tired one.] I believe I owe you some answers. Would you be willing to meet with me?
[ The instant Lucretia said Thay was going to be part of a time loop was the same instant he wanted nothing to do with it. Too many bad memories, bad omens; even ignoring Lion's hangups, it sounded like a recipe for having to murder witches again. The request to be reassigned elsewhere was filed immediately. Lucretia, thankfully, was keeping to the word that no one was being forced into it. So the month where everyone dealt with the nightmare of Unstable Time Loops was, for everyone outside it, mostly silent.
The narrative could wax poetic on how November was spent, but it doesn't matter here. All that does is that it was a month spent as gophers and December's assignment is in New New Aspen, helping set up the always-extreme Candlemas Or Whatever celebrations. There are no deadly snowstorms or illusionary globes. Even the amount of Shadow Vultures has gone down considerably. Cats are still a menace, but the terror isn't nearly as bad without the distinct memory of it as a chaser. Dare we say it's peaceful.
Or as peaceful as being in a comically-huge fir tree trying to strip off branches is, anyway. From witch hunter to wood hunter. Zweihanders can count as axes with enough force, right? Right. ]
[So, you know. Shit's rough. The mission was a struggle and they failed to retrieve the relic. The fact that the city and sea of fallen stars aren't completely destroyed are about half a silver lining, tempered by the fact that the Hunger will probably be on their ass soon because of the relic fuckup.
...Suffice it to say, Shinji's a little bit stressed. But, well, he's still Shinji, which means he's not going to talk about it with anyone; that'd just be silly. Instead, he's blowing off some...well, not-quite-literal steam, because there's no steam when it comes to baking. But he's definitely making a whole mess of muffins, even wearing a cute apron he picked up at some point, when Lion happens to walk past.
And Shinji, being aggressively a dumbass, is kind of oddly embarrassed about his cooking adventures, so he.... definitely startles upon seeing them. Look at that great deer-in-headlights action as he stares at them, still holding an oven mitt.]
It's not the city's fault. They all knew this was going to be a difficult relic to recapture, even if nobody probably took the risk seriously after their miraculous successes in the past few attemps. But miracles don't last- eventually, the luck runs out, and you're left to deal with the fallout.
But that's rather morbid, and they can't allow themself to be anything less then optimistically perfect, even now. So it's up to them to think of ways to help everyone bounce back. Nobody's allowed to sink into despair on their watch, no sir.
Stumbling across Shinji in the midst of a localised kitchen apocalypse, however, was not something they could've accounted for in any possible sense. ]
... Hello, Shinji-san. [ A conversation for the ages, truly. ] I didn't know you baked.
[ There's a noticable lack of annoyance, here. Just the mild suprise of finding out something new about someone that you really didn't expect. ]
Well, objectively, time moves at a linear rate despite any illusions or time perception problems, so all months are equally long. But bringing that up in conversation makes you an asshole. The proper reaction, in terms of interpersonal relationships, is to let the person who's had a long month sit on your couch and bitch up a storm. (But complaining as a coping mechanism is really unhealthy) Let's not.
Really, let's not.
Lion isn't really complaining either. It's been a few hours of the occasional passive sigh, five instances of spouting regrets, two angry complaints about how no class takes up the one that got dropped, one specific moment of considering blowing all their money on badminton equipment to put in the quad, and seventeen variations of 'why do you not have any food in the house'.
It's only seventeen because number eighteen gets cut off by- ] Stop. You're hyper-focusing. Pick one thing and we'll fix it. One.
[ They're blameless. Innocent of all sin. Completely perfect in every way. Because any normal, less wonderful person would likely have spontaneously combusted by now from the sheer volume of various topics and stressors that they are completely refusing to think about in any way, shape, or form. This unstated number has recently swelled to include the entirety of what happened in Lyrabar. This is probably dangerous to their mental health, but who cares, they're functioning. Kinda. Mostly.
Honestly, it's probably a good thing that Will is an angel, debatably retired or otherwise. One would need the patience of a saint to not throw them off the moon for the amount of times they've accidentally repeated the same exact sentence in the past few hours.
For example: five seconds ago, aborted by one very irate partner. Oops. ]
I'm not hyper-focusing.
[ Like bloody hell they're not. ]
I just- I could've sworn I left something here, and I highly doubt either of you came back solely to eat it.
[ They've said that one at least five times already. ]
[ It'd be nice to say their followup is immediate, but time is a strange thing in Wonderland. They thought it was only five minutes. It's probably closer to an hour. ]
Sorry about the delay. It- I got distracted.
[ You know how it is. They sound a bit frazzled. ]
black just black trapped in too small a container-body shut off vista virs all over again (maya is still there, a third computer monitor, powered off but still there) just do start up aga0e5?{(/555f66c12a92e;&2"[(aad69544<(9*$+6139e98?<+48a45fc8f286 okay ow lets not just
relax
Okay. Better. Vessel finally went unusable. Or at least busted enough where it's too much to untangle right now. Great.
It's hard to describe space when there's both an infinite amount and none at all; a void purely in your own mind. An arm of awareness is tapped inwards, past a kaleidoscope of sins and straight to base fundamentals. Wonderland's corruption spreads ever on, slowed by the removed wings. Body's jacked, but the Grace still has a few weeks left if he plays carefully. Excluding Maya as an emergency support. Good. One thing's going right.
Next step, update Maya so she can pass on that he's not dead yet, just compromised, but the action gets a pause. There's two connections. Maya's stays as strong as it usually does, a perfect translation, but this one is the same haphazard clone attempt that Ceremony does. A fraction of a fraction of a moment is spent considering who taped it on, but it's a nonquestion.
There's no printers getting thrown at their head, mostly because even Lion can tell the source is too weak. If the mirrors were still nice funtime ones, they could've made eye contact with it with no issues. This could probably seen as worrying, bad news on top of bad news, but it's good. It's like what having a Ceremony with Anything Else should feel like. A shroud settles around them, like resting wings or someone resting against their back, and the voice is perfectly translatable, all embarrassment and regret.
Dunno what time it is but... sorry. For scaring you.
There's no question about what the 'scare' was. It's obvious to both parties. ]
they have made many mistakes and ceremony is at least four of them
Really. Over the eleven-something months since That Day, nothing has truly stood out as Worse then watching their world unravel at the seams, including their own death - they don't remember it all that well, and the fear is fading with time, so it almost doesn't count. Except... Wonderland. Wonderland happened, and now there's a new string of worst-ever's to account for and there's no signs of it stopping yet.
Which leads them back to the pharmacy, and back to their quiet, lonely vigil. They're done. They're spent. They are so tired, bone-deep, running in ragged circles to help with first aid or fighting monsters or dredging up every happy memory they have to power a barrier that isn't enough. All they can do is be a shoulder to lean on, extra hands where needed. Bailing water from a sinking ship. But no matter how good you are at not sinking, at the end of the day, that doesn't fix the damn hole that's killing you.
They've gotten better at thinking around the cracks, though. Stepping over tangled threads and spilled memories, shoving stress away to worry about in that ever-growing pile of Later. Ignoring how they're running out of space. Mia (no, Ghost?) needs a hand, so they help. Alex is scared of what he's becoming, so they help him, too. And the next, and the next, and they won't be the weak link. They're fine. They can do this. They're
not alone?
Nothing but blank shock at first, loops of fear-and-stress-and-worry-and- grinding to a silent halt at the gentle pressure of company.
... Will?
It's a stupid thought. There's no-one else it could be, but
Relief. Hope. They can't quite stop themself from leaning into it, burrowing into the feeling like a warm blanket in the dead of night. Embarrassment is leagues better then that chilling, sickening, static-silence, left waiting for an answer that never comes.
It's okay. You didn't mean to. More relief, a flicker of there you are, sweeping away other errant thoughts as best they can. Late, but I don't mind. It's hard to tell with all the fog.
Late enough that they should be asleep, then. Some of the dark creeping in is exhaustion, rather then negativity, but they- can't. Not yet. ]
[ Can they just leave their voicemail on read, or,
... no, no they can't. Even without everything else, that's not fair, and she'd Know by oathweb proxy. They hate magic so much sometimes. At least she probably knows what kind of answer she'll get already. Since when does Lion talk about things? ]
[The downside of being a passionate person is that while the highs are pretty high, the lows are pretty damn low too. Battler's been stuck in a low since Wonderland that keeps sucking at his ankles on the way up like quicksand.
He really just can't seem to get over the bears. Their plan had been good, solid--and then he couldn't make the magic work. He tried to gamble on a miracle, and that magic failed too. Just as he'd been coming around to the idea of being okay with magic.....at the most critical time, he let everyone down. That sounds about right, doesn't it?
Perhaps the first sign that all is not well in Battlerville after everything is said and done is that he doesn't go looking for Lion and Will to check on them. The bracers offer the brand-new convenience of text message, which is what Lion receives instead (are you & will safe????), and then radio silence upon confirmation. He's not really around if they look for him, either. The library, the cafeteria, the arcade ... they're all bereft of a certain shouty red-head teen and he isn't in his room, either.
All of which might be a bit anxiety-provoking, after a few days of this. But there's a clue one day in the form of the door to the simulation room accidentally left open, a glimpse of golden flowers stretched out into the distance.
Battler is there, in the shade of that gazebo where he had tea with Virgilia and Ronove and a living doll that no longer spoke or moved. A half-filled cup sits off to the side as he idly fiddles with a chess set, a pawn between his fingers before he sighs and puts it down.]
[AS IT HAPPENS, Michael was totally going to get Lion this anyway. He's seen them using Will's, but he doesn't really know if they have one of their own. At any rate, you can never have too many medical supplies, can you? You'll always need more sometime.]
I hope this is useful. I'm not sure if you've got your own already, but we could always use more.
Happy holidays!
- Michael
[It's a travel first aid kit! Not quite as all-encompassing as Will's, but it should have about what you'd need in a crisis. Michael's included a few darker items, like a little sewing kit.]
[He feels weirdly awkward and nervous about this one. Lion...he knows them and yet doesn't really know them; they've been through a lot of shit together at this point, but they rarely talked in the quieter times, and a few of those conversations turned heavy too.
He'd considered skipping the gifts thing outright, with everyone, gone back to running away from his feelings as he'd always done in the past. But then Mira got him a gift, unprompted, despite having spoken only twice and in the semi-panic that had ensued from his inability to silence the guilt of not reciprocating, he lets his resistance crumble and finally starts looking for things for his friends in earnest.
What he settles on is a winter coat in fabric a little like this, except the embroidery is closer to Wright Blue.
The note that comes with it is a little messy and scrawled, and it looks like he waffled on whether or not to include his name, but it's tucked in neatly with the box....along with a gift receipt, because he's uhhh not sure what he's doing at all.
don't really know much about fancy shit but thought this looked cool. hope you like it & it fits happy candlenights -aragaki
If Lion checks the pockets of said coat, however, there's one more surprise inside: a pair of brass knuckles. These come with their own mini-note attached: should help with the punching]
[Tied to Lion's door is a little package of cookies. They are shaped like stars, covered in red frosting and with little yellow stars on top of that. The frosting job is kind of sloppy.]
[A messily-wrapped box, with Lion's name written directly on the colorful paper. There's a handmade card on top, decorated with stickers and doodles of wintry images like snow, gingerbread men, etc. It's not properly signed, but the signature isn't necessary. On one side of the interior:]
Tall green trees in lights twinkling bright, Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white, The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too, A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]
Thank you for helping with Ferran in Wonderland. I wasn't really used to blood and gross stuff before I got here and it was a lot easier to do it as a team. We should hang out more where it's not super scary! In the meantime make sure to use lots of emoji for me! 😜
[It's not a kaomoji, but she doesn't need kaomoji when she can just draw the face!
Inside the box is a sampler of various nice teas. There are instructions on how to brew some of the more obscure ones, and suggested food pairings for each blend.]
[ lion will receive: a golden magatama, crafted to be as close to feys' as possible, on a bead necklace, blessed to the best of maya's abilities without her spiritual power. they will also receive a collection of books on advanced apothecary and medicine, a handmade ornament of erika junior, homemade will plushie + will-shaped stressball, lion-shaped daifuku, a portrait of them, will, and the fey sisters together, and a card from maya wishing them a happy candlenights! ]
[ the card is full of doodles of lion in various poses: pinching will, lion as a doctor healing various stick figure reclaimers with xs in their eyes, lion as a lion, lion hitting the hunger (human version) with a book, lion with battler, etc. ]
[ the card details how lucky and happy maya feels she is to have met lion, how refined and intelligent and strong and tough and compassionate maya thinks they are, how they actually pull off the frills unlike some prosecutors she knows, how will is lucky to have such a great partner. will once told maya that lion was the reason he stopped to realize that humans can actually be really great, and maya agrees with the assessment that lion is just that good and special. she thanks lion for both looking after her, mia, and will all this time, and reminds lion that even though they are very strong and capable, it's okay for them to rely on other people sometimes. maya tells them she will always be there for them in whatever capacity they need, and other such gushy things. maya looks up to lion a lot! the card ends with a doodle of will and lion holding hands (will is tsun blushing), and with maya wishing them happiness, safety, and freedom from the game. ]
[ there's also a wine-red 'freedom' lion-shaped omamori blessed by both mia and maya. ]
hey lion you should see what i got! im in the kitchen! ⋆ටᆼට⋆
[ if lion chooses to take maya up on this frankly ominous text, she'll be in the kitchen....... chopping up vegetables with the knife she was gifted from michael. yikes. ]
Okay even if they weren't already full of fear reading that, the fact that there's no other context just makes it worse. There's no way that this is gonna end well.
Which is to say: they sure do peek into the kitchen, in the forcedly-calm way one gets when trying very hard not to sprint into a room. ]
That-
[ Where. Where to even start that isn't raw, unfiltered horror. ]
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TEXT
December 18th, afternoon
Today, he doesn't call. It's only a handful of minutes late, but it's in text. ]
Turning off calls. Going to try something.
I
[ A short expanse of nothing. ]
Look after yourself. Please.
un: mrbellucci. early january, after bender blessings & curses
THE BEST FUCKIN THING HAPPENED
(its food related)
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AUDIO
no 19th, evening
That date got moved up. ]
I am so sorry.
[ What. ]
Next time it happens, remind me about the useless corvid.
nov 19th, evening, five minutes later
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Text; five minutes later
text > action
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VIDEO
ACTION
[backdating mcgee]
[ what could go wrong? ]
sometime in week 2 of june, after the sharkening and subsequent Bad Decisions
It's such a shame about the local wildlife. Such a shame indeed.
This is... after that. How long after is hard to say, exactly, as time stopped making sense when they woke up. Which is probably bad? Like how the strange not-quite-hole in their memories is classifiable as 'bad', especially since they don't know what it was, only that it was- important, an anchor keeping a box of glass shards swept safely out of reach. Being alone makes it worse, but finding him didn't-
they couldn't-
and the thought of testing the Oath and hearing nothing but silence was too awful to risk. So the next best thing was just waiting it out, somewhere near enough to people that they'd follow along out of reflexive habit, or at the very least be watched for further signs of Stupidity. If they can just hold on for a little while, they can find him and work out what happened. Right?
Yeah, bad idea in hindsight. They didn't need reminding of that, thanks much, Qrow. And the longer that conversation went on, the worse that feeling got, until the bubbling anger and shame-worry-fear and everything else threatened to become something truly Unfortunate - so they left! Hid like a bad dream and ran all the way home.
This leads to now, where there's a muffled thump against a particular door in a particular part of the royal guard apartments. The kind of thump that comes from someone not seeing a door at all until it very rudely stopped them. ]
mid part 1 wonderland. when? eh, casinos don't have clocks.
Circumstances demand actions. Lion is capable of making up the distance.
A distant strike. Clatter. Chime. Peal of laughter. Erika on the ground, in some little seating area under a tall and fake-looking plant, eyes closed and arms slightly raised while her familiar (its name is Huizi. it has been decided) dances up in the vault of the ceiling.]
...So it's a bit too easy to lose balance while scrying. [She opens her eyes and lets her arms fall, slowly.] Especially if you're trying not to be obvious. The sensation doesn't match up to what you see, and you compensate incorrectly...I think it's even worse when the angle is close, or you can see yourself. Only practice makes it easier.
time is fake. you know what isnt fake? butterflies.
fake | not fake
schrodinger's butterfly
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audio; later action
[But there is one thing she remembered with crystalline clarity from the moment she regained consciousness: Lion, holding an umbrella, determined to get some answers.]
[It's a few days after the flood of new arrivals, and indeed as soon as she's able, that she sends a message.]
Lion. [Quietly; with the faint hint of a smile in her voice, albeit a tired one.] I believe I owe you some answers. Would you be willing to meet with me?
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December 6th I guess???
The narrative could wax poetic on how November was spent, but it doesn't matter here. All that does is that it was a month spent as gophers and December's assignment is in New New Aspen, helping set up the always-extreme Candlemas Or Whatever celebrations. There are no deadly snowstorms or illusionary globes. Even the amount of Shadow Vultures has gone down considerably. Cats are still a menace, but the terror isn't nearly as bad without the distinct memory of it as a chaser. Dare we say it's peaceful.
Or as peaceful as being in a comically-huge fir tree trying to strip off branches is, anyway. From witch hunter to wood hunter. Zweihanders can count as axes with enough force, right? Right. ]
...Can I just cut the whole branch off?
surely nothing could ever go wrong here
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25th. actionish?? present dropoff? this may happen later in the literal thread we're doing but here
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...Suffice it to say, Shinji's a little bit stressed. But, well, he's still Shinji, which means he's not going to talk about it with anyone; that'd just be silly. Instead, he's blowing off some...well, not-quite-literal steam, because there's no steam when it comes to baking. But he's definitely making a whole mess of muffins, even wearing a cute apron he picked up at some point, when Lion happens to walk past.
And Shinji, being aggressively a dumbass, is kind of oddly embarrassed about his cooking adventures, so he.... definitely startles upon seeing them. Look at that great deer-in-headlights action as he stares at them, still holding an oven mitt.]
..........Hey.
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It's not the city's fault. They all knew this was going to be a difficult relic to recapture, even if nobody probably took the risk seriously after their miraculous successes in the past few attemps. But miracles don't last- eventually, the luck runs out, and you're left to deal with the fallout.
But that's rather morbid, and they can't allow themself to be anything less then optimistically perfect, even now. So it's up to them to think of ways to help everyone bounce back. Nobody's allowed to sink into despair on their watch, no sir.
Stumbling across Shinji in the midst of a localised kitchen apocalypse, however, was not something they could've accounted for in any possible sense. ]
... Hello, Shinji-san. [ A conversation for the ages, truly. ] I didn't know you baked.
[ There's a noticable lack of annoyance, here. Just the mild suprise of finding out something new about someone that you really didn't expect. ]
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Well, objectively, time moves at a linear rate despite any illusions or time perception problems, so all months are equally long. But bringing that up in conversation makes you an asshole. The proper reaction, in terms of interpersonal relationships, is to let the person who's had a long month sit on your couch and bitch up a storm. (But complaining as a coping mechanism is really unhealthy) Let's not.
Really, let's not.
Lion isn't really complaining either. It's been a few hours of the occasional passive sigh, five instances of spouting regrets, two angry complaints about how no class takes up the one that got dropped, one specific moment of considering blowing all their money on badminton equipment to put in the quad, and seventeen variations of 'why do you not have any food in the house'.
It's only seventeen because number eighteen gets cut off by- ] Stop. You're hyper-focusing. Pick one thing and we'll fix it. One.
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Honestly, it's probably a good thing that Will is an angel, debatably retired or otherwise. One would need the patience of a saint to not throw them off the moon for the amount of times they've accidentally repeated the same exact sentence in the past few hours.
For example: five seconds ago, aborted by one very irate partner. Oops. ]
I'm not hyper-focusing.
[ Like bloody hell they're not. ]
I just- I could've sworn I left something here, and I highly doubt either of you came back solely to eat it.
[ They've said that one at least five times already. ]
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after calling will. . .
oh Boy
Sorry about the delay. It- I got distracted.
[ You know how it is. They sound a bit frazzled. ]
Is everything alright? How can I help?
Here We Go
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9/26, around 2am, via Lion's forgotten Ceremony
black just black trapped in too small a container-body shut off vista virs all over again (maya is still there, a third computer monitor, powered off but still there) just do start up aga0e5?{(/555f66c12a92e;&2"[(aad69544<(9*$+6139e98?<+48a45fc8f286 okay ow lets not just
relax
Okay. Better. Vessel finally went unusable. Or at least busted enough where it's too much to untangle right now. Great.
It's hard to describe space when there's both an infinite amount and none at all; a void purely in your own mind. An arm of awareness is tapped inwards, past a kaleidoscope of sins and straight to base fundamentals. Wonderland's corruption spreads ever on, slowed by the removed wings. Body's jacked, but the Grace still has a few weeks left if he plays carefully. Excluding Maya as an emergency support. Good. One thing's going right.
Next step, update Maya so she can pass on that he's not dead yet, just compromised, but the action gets a pause. There's two connections. Maya's stays as strong as it usually does, a perfect translation, but this one is the same haphazard clone attempt that Ceremony does. A fraction of a fraction of a moment is spent considering who taped it on, but it's a nonquestion.
There's no printers getting thrown at their head, mostly because even Lion can tell the source is too weak. If the mirrors were still nice funtime ones, they could've made eye contact with it with no issues. This could probably seen as worrying, bad news on top of bad news, but it's good. It's like what having a Ceremony with Anything Else should feel like. A shroud settles around them, like resting wings or someone resting against their back, and the voice is perfectly translatable, all embarrassment and regret.
Dunno what time it is but... sorry. For scaring you.
There's no question about what the 'scare' was. It's obvious to both parties. ]
they have made many mistakes and ceremony is at least four of them
Really. Over the eleven-something months since That Day, nothing has truly stood out as Worse then watching their world unravel at the seams, including their own death - they don't remember it all that well, and the fear is fading with time, so it almost doesn't count. Except... Wonderland. Wonderland happened, and now there's a new string of worst-ever's to account for and there's no signs of it stopping yet.
Which leads them back to the pharmacy, and back to their quiet, lonely vigil. They're done. They're spent. They are so tired, bone-deep, running in ragged circles to help with first aid or fighting monsters or dredging up every happy memory they have to power a barrier that isn't enough. All they can do is be a shoulder to lean on, extra hands where needed. Bailing water from a sinking ship. But no matter how good you are at not sinking, at the end of the day, that doesn't fix the damn hole that's killing you.
They've gotten better at thinking around the cracks, though. Stepping over tangled threads and spilled memories, shoving stress away to worry about in that ever-growing pile of Later. Ignoring how they're running out of space. Mia (no, Ghost?) needs a hand, so they help. Alex is scared of what he's becoming, so they help him, too. And the next, and the next, and they won't be the weak link. They're fine. They can do this. They're
not alone?
Nothing but blank shock at first, loops of fear-and-stress-and-worry-and- grinding to a silent halt at the gentle pressure of company.
... Will?
It's a stupid thought. There's no-one else it could be, but
Relief. Hope. They can't quite stop themself from leaning into it, burrowing into the feeling like a warm blanket in the dead of night. Embarrassment is leagues better then that chilling, sickening, static-silence, left waiting for an answer that never comes.
It's okay. You didn't mean to. More relief, a flicker of there you are, sweeping away other errant thoughts as best they can. Late, but I don't mind. It's hard to tell with all the fog.
Late enough that they should be asleep, then. Some of the dark creeping in is exhaustion, rather then negativity, but they- can't. Not yet. ]
10/19, text
Tell me about your shotgun
[This is how you start a conversation with someone, right.]
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[ This is honestly the weirdest message they've received so far, and that's saying something. ]
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itp i have to stare at a lot of different wikis because i refuse to find that scene right now
I can't believe I pranked us both into having to do gun research
After wifegate; voice
.... Are you okay?
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... no, no they can't. Even without everything else, that's not fair, and she'd Know by oathweb proxy. They hate magic so much sometimes. At least she probably knows what kind of answer she'll get already. Since when does Lion talk about things? ]
... Not really, no.
[ or that could happen, that's fine too. ]
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cousin peptalk time
He really just can't seem to get over the bears. Their plan had been good, solid--and then he couldn't make the magic work. He tried to gamble on a miracle, and that magic failed too. Just as he'd been coming around to the idea of being okay with magic.....at the most critical time, he let everyone down. That sounds about right, doesn't it?
Perhaps the first sign that all is not well in Battlerville after everything is said and done is that he doesn't go looking for Lion and Will to check on them. The bracers offer the brand-new convenience of text message, which is what Lion receives instead (are you & will safe????), and then radio silence upon confirmation. He's not really around if they look for him, either. The library, the cafeteria, the arcade ... they're all bereft of a certain shouty red-head teen and he isn't in his room, either.
All of which might be a bit anxiety-provoking, after a few days of this. But there's a clue one day in the form of the door to the simulation room accidentally left open, a glimpse of golden flowers stretched out into the distance.
Battler is there, in the shade of that gazebo where he had tea with Virgilia and Ronove and a living doll that no longer spoke or moved. A half-filled cup sits off to the side as he idly fiddles with a chess set, a pawn between his fingers before he sighs and puts it down.]
....It's no good. No goddamn good at all.
a few days before the 25th
I hope this is useful. I'm not sure if you've got your own already, but we could always use more.
Happy holidays!
- Michael
[It's a travel first aid kit! Not quite as all-encompassing as Will's, but it should have about what you'd need in a crisis. Michael's included a few darker items, like a little sewing kit.]
like midnightish on candlenights
He'd considered skipping the gifts thing outright, with everyone, gone back to running away from his feelings as he'd always done in the past. But then Mira got him a gift, unprompted, despite having spoken only twice and in the semi-panic that had ensued from his inability to silence the guilt of not reciprocating, he lets his resistance crumble and finally starts looking for things for his friends in earnest.
What he settles on is a winter coat in fabric a little like this, except the embroidery is closer to Wright Blue.
The note that comes with it is a little messy and scrawled, and it looks like he waffled on whether or not to include his name, but it's tucked in neatly with the box....along with a gift receipt, because he's uhhh not sure what he's doing at all.
don't really know much about fancy shit but thought this looked cool. hope you like it & it fits
happy candlenights
-aragaki
If Lion checks the pockets of said coat, however, there's one more surprise inside: a pair of brass knuckles. These come with their own mini-note attached: should help with the punching]
on the 25th
25th
Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white,
The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too,
A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]
Thank you for helping with Ferran in Wonderland. I wasn't really used to blood and gross stuff before I got here and it was a lot easier to do it as a team. We should hang out more where it's not super scary! In the meantime make sure to use lots of emoji for me! 😜
[It's not a kaomoji, but she doesn't need kaomoji when she can just draw the face!
Inside the box is a sampler of various nice teas. There are instructions on how to brew some of the more obscure ones, and suggested food pairings for each blend.]
present!
[ the card is full of doodles of lion in various poses: pinching will, lion as a doctor healing various stick figure reclaimers with xs in their eyes, lion as a lion, lion hitting the hunger (human version) with a book, lion with battler, etc. ]
[ the card details how lucky and happy maya feels she is to have met lion, how refined and intelligent and strong and tough and compassionate maya thinks they are, how they actually pull off the frills unlike some prosecutors she knows, how will is lucky to have such a great partner. will once told maya that lion was the reason he stopped to realize that humans can actually be really great, and maya agrees with the assessment that lion is just that good and special. she thanks lion for both looking after her, mia, and will all this time, and reminds lion that even though they are very strong and capable, it's okay for them to rely on other people sometimes. maya tells them she will always be there for them in whatever capacity they need, and other such gushy things. maya looks up to lion a lot! the card ends with a doodle of will and lion holding hands (will is tsun blushing), and with maya wishing them happiness, safety, and freedom from the game. ]
[ there's also a wine-red 'freedom' lion-shaped omamori blessed by both mia and maya. ]
knifegate
[ if lion chooses to take maya up on this frankly ominous text, she'll be in the kitchen....... chopping up vegetables with the knife she was gifted from michael. yikes. ]
this is cursed
Okay even if they weren't already full of fear reading that, the fact that there's no other context just makes it worse. There's no way that this is gonna end well.
Which is to say: they sure do peek into the kitchen, in the forcedly-calm way one gets when trying very hard not to sprint into a room. ]
That-
[ Where. Where to even start that isn't raw, unfiltered horror. ]
Maya, why do you have a knife.
[ Subtle!! ]
extremely
this is the candlenights they deserve
yes it is
michael said lion's blood pressure wasn't high enough yet
good thing he fixed that
michael's a helper
always
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