[ he's just wandering around outside somewhere because he's sick of stale clown air. waves at aerith... ]

Definitely revoking that half a star now.

[your clown air...but she waves back, and it's easy to see she has some sort of black script right on her arm for god and everyone to see but it might be hard to see what it is right away.]

Yeah, the whole ritual sacrifice thing kind of puts a damper on things. [not a great joke, but things are grim fam. but she still manages to offer him a smile.] How are you doing? Did you figure out where you're staying yet?

[ it's fine, this is a dry humor safe zone. he'll take a peek at the writing if a good angle presents itself, but he's not going to try to look hard enough to be obvious about it.

he nods. ]

That old theater. [ motions vaguely toward the building. ] Sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. You?

[her bracelets might be in the way sometimes, but he can sort of hazard a guess and figure out that it does say "loss."]

Oh, the clown show. [DON'T CALL IT THAT?] But there's a little room to spread out, so that's not so bad. We're over at the church.

Thaaat's the one.

[ he just called it the clownatorium in another thread so she is perfectly valid ]

The church seems pretty tolerable, at least relatively speaking. Though I guess you've got... whatever's going on with the Bible??

Our cursed bible and our phantom bell that rings in the middle of the night when it shouldn't. But it's really not so bad. There're worse places we could be...the mortuary comes to mind.

Oof, yeah, that definitely seems like the bottom of barrel... Must have been especially creepy getting subconsciously drawn into that one, too. Like, "Hm, is this trying to tell me something?"

Right? Especially after yesterday...that just feels a little like an extra insult. But I'm sure the people who were drawn there can handle it! Even though it's so dark and...you know. Full of coffins.

[perhaps they should just be grateful for that alone.]

[ looking out at the field at the ranch like, damn, but in a good way for once. he smiles and waves at aerith. look at this!! ]

I didn't think we'd get this many things from the wishlist this quickly!

[ he never even GAVE them the list... ]

[she immediately waves back but she's quick to move over to his side, eyes wide as she takes in the sights of the island.]

Neither did I...you must have really convinced them somehow. [she does not know he didn't give them a list. she is aware this is likely because the fog just does this shit, but...you know. can't hurt to tell him this anyway.] It's so much nicer than I would've thought after being in the town last week.

[there's like. no way she wouldn't go and check on him after that disaster, so she's giving him a little bit of time and space to decompress before she seeks him out. wherever he may have gone (and hopefully it's an island house to rest), she'll venture in and take a moment to let him recompose himself before announcing her presence.]

...Todomatsu? Mind if I come in?

[ it is rosie's house! ]

Mm, you can come in.

[ spoken from where he's sitting up in the bed; the door is unlocked. he's taken a bath and is now in blood-free clothes, so he looks a little better, though he's still pale and borderline grey, and has a bandage wrapped around one of his hands. ]

[love that you really picked a specific house. but she will come in! he looks better, but still not great, and it's for that reason she comes and just has a seat on the edge of the bed to give him a once-over.]

Getting cleaned up probably helped a little, huh? [at least to wash off the grime and try to ground them back into reality.] How're you feeling...?

[ now that she's looking more closely, she can see that in addition to his lightning scar, his neck is also littered with pairs of healed-over puncture marks. they weren't there when she saw him before today, but look like they've had a lot of time to heal somehow. ]

Just tired and sore, mostly. The others were in worse condition than I was.

[puncture marks...are they similar to vampire teeth, perhaps. she would know, on account of having her own puncture marks that're currently covered with a bandage. but she is frowning because who made totty a chewtoy?]

Even if that might be true, this still isn't great. You worried us. [by coming back in varying states of dead, mostly.] None of us expected you guys to just disappear. Geto said you went into the fog...?

[ they sure are similar to vampire teeth!!!!

also he is. still in kind of a state of dead. ]

I mean, not on purpose, but. Yeah, we just kind of got lost in it and ended up on some trail in the woods that led to a walled-in city with a castle up on a hill.

I don't think we were just walking through these woods, though, I think the fog... took us somewhere.

[why!!]

Knowing what we know about the fog, I can't say I'm that surprised. [like. she's annoyed, but not too surprised.] Where do you think the fog took you? Were you just meant to get closer to the city?

[ because atsushi is a dick!! ]

Yeah... there was this... necromancer, I guess, who seemed to be behind pretty much everything, and she was there in that city. I think she brought us there so she could try to use us to get out herself, or something like that.

...the evil lady with the tree, right? I think Alfyn mentioned her. [the fuck.] You had to fight her off then?

[is that how you all got so fucked up...please say yes and not that you actually fought each other.]

[ hm, ]

Yeah. We were separated for a long time before that, and I think she put each of us through something to try to make us desperate enough to make a bargain with her.

Predictably, she didn't want to take no for an answer.

People like that rarely do. [she's seen it a few times, watching some people be so desperate enough it's driven them insane. but the idea that it happened to the four of them is uncomfortable, to say the least.]

...but it didn't work, right? [a gentle, non-judgmental prompt. what horrors did you experience that this woman used against you.]

I told her I wasn't going to accept any help from someone who helped get me into that situation in the first place, so she could fuck right off.

[ his tendency to react to emotionally stressful situations with anger and stubbornness actually worked to his advantage... ]

...I don't know about everyone else, though. I think Geto-kun took her up on it to some extent, at least, because she had enough influence over him to get him to attack the rest of us.

[ mostly him!!! because she was mad at him for rejecting her, he guesses!!!! ]

[honestly? good for him, she would support that so much.]

Can't say you're wrong for that. [like. why would you accept help from someone who essentially forced your hand? the rest though is...bad. and it kind of puts some context to some of the things geto's not telling her.]

Did you guys even have a way to really fight him back? [she sounds alarmed a little because, um, hello? between the three of you don't you technically only have alfyn's axe???]

Pickles and I both still had knives with us from the part where we were all separated, and Alfyn-san had his axe... and all three of the others had some kind of special powers.

[ which was good for alfyn and pickles, but geto ALSO had powers and was out there summoning deities and shit while todomatsu's normie ass just had a knife. ]

Eventually, like, halfway through the fight, I got some temporary powers too, though, which helped.

...I'm not sure where those came from, actually.

Edited (he didn't read her brackets where the axe was already accounted for...) 2024-06-23 12:25 pm (UTC)

[why did todomatsu not have powers. she's just frowning at this because what the fuck. she can't just ask why he doesn't have powers though, that feels rude.]

Temporary is better than nothing, you're right, but...it doesn't change what happened before that. [but she furrows her eyebrows a little.] They only appeared when you had to fight against Geto? Maybe it was a blessing in the end.

It was... specifically right after I ragged on him for being her puppet while he had me pinned down, yeah.

[ the exact phrase was "little bitch" actually, but he already reached his swear quota for this thread. ]

So. I don't know, I guess maybe the mystery power granter appreciates a good burn.

[you know what. that makes sense actually, why wouldn't random miracles come up at opportune times.]

Could be. [she would appreciate a good burn, frankly.] Or it's the fact you kept fighting back at all. Some people would still fall apart under those circumstances. I'm kinda impressed.

[this probably sounds mildly insulting even if she doesn't mean for it to be, but he is so painfully normal.]

Yeah? Thanks...!

[ given that everyone else there DID cave to some extent, he will accept this as an actual impressive thing worth complimenting and feel flattered by it. instant mood boost. he would probably be blushing a little right now except his blood is not currently circulating. ]

I suppose I can be kind of stubborn sometimes, haha...

[NOT HIS BLOOD. it's fine, we are just going to be grateful he did not join our five-body pileup.]

Pretty sure being stubborn is gonna be one of the things we need to get out of here. This place...really, really wants to make us cave in different ways. This feels like another attempt, but you got through it. You should be proud of yourself for at least that much. Even if the rest will take time to heal from.

["you came back", goes unsaid. that's enough.]

[at some point when the party winds down a little...she's still in the vineyard! sort of just glancing around at their set-up. she's still somewhat transparent on-sight but it doesn't look like she's going anywhere for a bit.



is the booth still here actually.]

You know, I don't think we've had a normal Wednesday since we got here. Kinda funny, right?

Edited (watches my html break immediately) 2024-07-24 09:49 pm (UTC)

[ it sure is because he doesn't want to lug it all the way back to the market ]

Yeah, we've had a lot of crazy ones, but I think this one kind of takes the sad frog cake.

I'm surprised you guys haven't disappeared altogether by now...

[FAIR.]

Small blessings, or something like it. To be honest with you I don't know how long we get to be here, but...definitely not as long as we'd like to be. Guess we just have to make the most of what we've got for now.

[ nods ]

Yeah, I guess. Kind of sucks that we still can't really discuss the important stuff even when you're right in front of us, though. Would be a lot more convenient than all those vague letters.

[ ... ]

Were you the one who sent that smoothie?

No kidding. Every time we try it's just poof! Gone in a flash. At least we're able to come back, but it's still pretty annoying. Maybe that's a sign for us though. Like this visit is just meant for us to catch up in other ways.

[but she shakes her head.]

I thought about sending one to you, but somebody beat me to it! Plus I was afraid it might not be as good by the time it got to you.

I guess so. Really makes you wonder who made it happen in that case, though.

[ what magical entity out there actually gives a shit about their social lives...

anyway, that last part gets a little laugh. ]

Uh, yeah, honestly, it was lukewarm and pretty questionable looking. Appreciated the gesture, did not drink it.

Wish I could tell you. [she thinks about this...] This if the first time items were able to come through the mail, so maybe it's connected? [she is not entirely sure.]

I won't tell if you won't though. Maybe when this is over we can actually bring you a fresh one? Like a congratulations treat or something! [for beating the shit out of the cult.]

Oh, huh. Maybe so. Like whatever power is required to send tangible things across the border is gradually improving?

[ try sending nancy on her own or something and see what happens!! ]

Haha, well, I don't think I'd say no to that! Something with strawberry or peach, preferably!

Maybe! It could also be—

[well whatever she was going to say gets lost immediately because she blips out of existence! goodbye.




give her a second, she'll return shortly after that and she looks so annoyed.]

Seriously, we're being monitored now? [LET HER TALK!!!] And yet somehow we talk about about Jamba Juice. I'll keep that in mind though, the strawberry ones are really good.