02.50 - week two, saturday

[afflictionmods]

W2 SATURDAY

Like last Saturday, everyone will get an announcement on their tablets; this time, the announcement is preceded with a bell of some sort before Lorelei appears on the screen again.

"Good morning, everyone. This is an announcement to let you know that today's lesson will take place starting at 8:15 tonight. Again, today's lesson will be starting at 8:15. Please meet at the lower campus exit near the lecture by 8:00pm; Florence will be waiting for you there.

If you have a bag for some snacks and, perhaps, an item you can use for self-defense in the case of an emergency, please arrive with those things on you. We will provide you with an overview of what to expect when you arrive at 8pm.

Thank you."

The alert ends.

You have the day to prepare, ask each other what the hell is happening -- Florence and Lorelei do not seem to be available, strangely enough. There's a lot to take in with the information you have now. But before you know it... night falls.

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[ignihidden]

[He would, most definitely, explode. He does get a bit more aggressive and cleaning up his tears with the handkerchief. What a waste, though, a high-value item is getting contaminated... And, well, it just seems like he's releasing a lot of the stress that's been building up.]

M'laydee... Shibuku... d- da door ish locked... bwe.... gotta get out...

[he's becoming more incomprehensible while crying]

[magicam]

[Cater had been through it time and time again before. He'd leave. He'd never see anyone from his past again. The only difference now was that he'd get a chance to graduate with the class he entered school with.

Some would believe some bullshit about that bonding them together.

Some would also believe a situation like this could bond them together, too, and maybe that was a little more correct... or would be, if Idia found his courage.]

It is easy. People from his past contact Cay all the time, yanno? He ignores them every time. They just want something from him, anyway, they're not real friends. They didn't force him to remember why they meant something.

[He takes that pessimism and makes it worse, he knows. Really uses it to dig into Idia's current insecurities.

And then agrees with him outright.]

But we're the only ones that can take advantage of this event, right? So why are you hesitating? Don't you want this memory? With me?

[He even tilts his head back a little for him to punctuate the question, baring his neck (dangerous) and making sure there's nothing to get in the way of whatever Idia wants to do with that shard.]

[mirrite]

You forget that I'm used to being on the battlefield, unlike yourself.

[He gives a slightly harder squeeze to punctuate this, relishing the sensation of Phantom trying to dig his nails in, as if that would somehow be enough to persuade him to let go.]

Or have you forgotten why mirrites exist in the first place?

[Unlike Phil, Phantom has never treated him as anything beyond a tool, a bargaining chip, something to be used when it's convenient for him. There's absolutely no reason for him to care about how Phantom feels about all of this when Phantom himself has never once stopped to consider Marcus' side of things.]

We get used to this sort of thing real fast, sorry to say.

[It hurts, of course. He can feel the pressure of his hand around his own neck, and that's exactly how he knows that he's squeezing just hard enough to ensure that Phantom is feeling exactly what he wants him to feel out of this.]

[ignihidden]

[with the ghost forcible ejected due to the sheer force of idia's social anxiety, he's now all by himself to deal with................ this]

N- No way! In fact, I'd rather not talk to him again ever! Yep, it's better for both of us if we maintain a vow of silence from this day forward!

[magicam]

Oh, they do like the fake me. That's the point.

[He's bubbly, cheerful, outgoing, the picture of a great friend, a good senpai... sure, he comes across as kind of dumb and airheaded, but...

Well, he was popular, so it must have been endearing. Besides, those were "acceptable" flaws, for the type of person he ostensibly was.]

The real me doesn't matter. The real me might not even exist anymore, right?

[sicklysweet]

[There's a long, long pause. Owen hesitates, but he relaxes in Hien's hold nonetheless.]

...I don't know. I don't want to be forgotten again.

[ignihidden]

... Eh, but...

[It's a horrible, terrible, teenage boy game of chicken. The first person to admit they wanted to be friends showed a vulnerability.]

... what if he doesn't want to?...

[sicklysweet]

Of course it matters.

[He says it so matter-of-factly, too.]

If there wasn't a real you, there wouldn't be a fake you. Once the fake you disappears, the real you will be left behind.

[...]

Like with your doubles. The one left is the one that matters, and I doubt your real self is gone forever.

[undertakings]

[Hmm, he could probably try to knock out Sholmes, but since he's back to being reasonable, Shin's expression reverts back to that frigid blankness instead.]

I'll be fine... I can defend myself. [knife sharpening sounds intensifies--] You ought to worry about some of the others instead. Aren't there people who can't fight?

[Not that he sounds like he cares all that much if Sholmes goes and helps them or not.

Also thankfully for their legs, Shin has enough sense to change targets when it's apparent the door is solid enough to withstand direct kicks. And since rp timelines are fake anyway, we can pretend this is when he started kicking the door handle so they can actually get the stupid thing open (and then Sholmes can later watch him lose his tablet oops)]

[herlocksholmes]

.......

[Sholmes doesn't even jostle when, with a sound like a cork being removed from a bottle of champagne, a ghoul just pops out of his chest, thrown away. Yeah, apparently Sholmes is feeling cheered up about how he isn't absolutely useless because he's great at being miserable, b ecause yeah, he's weird like that.

As soon as that happens, Sholmes just casually stands up, dusts off as much of his back as he can, and poses]

It's time to get moving, Mr. Owen! Ghouls are abundant right now.

[magicam]

It won't disappear. I won't let it.

[If the fake him disappeared, then what would he do? Sure, his real self slips out sometimes - now, especially, possession or not - but... that Cater wasn't likable, ad far as he was concerned.

Better to be a fleeting, pleasant, memory than something tangible and real.]

Shouldn't you be helping someone else, though? Really... It's not like I'm bothering anyone here.

1

[exofractured]

[Truly this new neighbor acquaintance and Phantom are on the same wavelength, because here's one more person looking for a pillar to hide behind. They can probably share.]

I think it would be prudent to follow our original plan.

[Cater was serious about leaving the fighting to the others, right? Because Phantom was most definitely serious. Although he's clutching his bag like he's prepared to brain the first thing that moves with it.]

[ignihidden]

[That does trigger a bit of a response where his fingers extend and he gets the wiggle room he's looking for. There is a bit of blood starting to pool in the cup of his hand but closer inspection says it's all surface-level with no real damage done to the underlying muscle.]

[he doesn't seem opposed to following Sholmes. Still, there's a part of him that has to stop and say,]

... hey... based on what you've seen, do you think... we'll remember any of this? Should we successfully pass the program and return home?

[big "if"s he understands]

[magicam]

[They can absolutely share! Truly great minds think alike.]

H-hopefully they have success fighting whatever is going on here.

[He was absolutely serious about leaving the fighting to the others. He's just a magical high schooler without his magic, here. Basically useless!

...Though, Phantom clutching his bag defensively does get a bit of an approving glance. Yes, good, they have something to, uh... helplessly bap an assailant with.

...

Better than nothing.]

[ignihidden]

[There's something infuriating about it. To be likable enough that people do want to call or text you. To be able to return their calls. He can't sympathize from where he's standing. He can't understand it. He just knows that he doesn't want to be forgotten.]

[It's not even that he wants to be the one that calls he just wants an easy solution to it all. A cheat code. A convenient red thread to keep him from falling down into a pit.]

... y- you know, [he mumbles] ... you're pretty uncute right now...

[There would be something different, if Cater were acting like how he "normally" did. After all, it's not like the popular and casual Cater attracted his attention. The only moment he started acting more naturally was when they both showed these sides of themselves. If this was what he could be given then, then...]

[His grip tightens on the shard and Cater will feel the corresponding pain. Then, Cater will feel his own. A pressure point that causes blood to start to well up, then dragging it down. It catches against the neckline of the shirt, not quite sharp enough to tear through cloth despite damaging skin.]

[selfconcept]

I'll remember you.

[ He can't really tack a "I promise" because that feels much heavier with Owen. ]

So you can rest assured that at least someone will remember you.

[selfconcept]

... Then I'll ask him for you.

[exofractured]

Posturing--

[Phantom loses the thread of whatever he was going to say in a pained little grunt as Marcus's grip flexes. He can feel the sting of his ineffective scrabbling in his own wrist, enough to make him flinch. Marcus doesn't even seem to notice.

He redoubles his efforts, pain or not. But thrashing only makes the grip feel tighter, his vision swimming for a moment. Likely not from loss of breath, not this quickly. Maybe simply from the sense of panic flooding him, dizzying and overwhelming.]

As if--Phil ever used you like that. Not even for the treatment.

[Ah. Maybe that's the part of this that feels familiar. Pain and dizziness. Weakness. Feeling his own body fail to do what he needs. He has memories like that in abundance from Phil, doesn't he?]

[sicklysweet]

[??????????]

Are you kidding me?

[Well, he wasn't expecting that.]

[sicklysweet]

Maybe you should.

[He reaches up to poke Cater's cheek. Apparently impulsiveness just makes him obnoxious but in a far less creepy and unhinged way.]

I want to be talking to you, though.

[magicam]

[The problem was... the thing they liked wasn't genuine, so their liking wasn't genuine. They only ever reached out when he could give them something, anyway, because he was ~just that nice of a guy~ so what was the harm in ignoring them?

He wasn't ignoring Idia now.]

Totally uncute.

[An agreement - followed by a wince of sympathetic pain as he feels the shard dig into his hand through Idia.]

And it'll be super memorable for you to see me at my most disgusting, right?

[So what are you waiting for?

Though it seems like he didn't need to goad him further that time. Regardless, he doesn't regret it, as he feels the broken, jagged edge drag through his skin. It catches on his shirt, but that really only digs the point in a little deeper, there, and serves to stain the blue dark with red.]

[exofractured]

Most of them seemed quite confident. We can support from the back lines.

[Or they could if they had their magic. And not just one heavy book in a bag.

...Did he just hear something. He's pretty sure he just heard something.]

...Or perhaps find a more defensible location.

[iubar]

[ there's some relief as it seems that there is something getting through here. that this isn't just some conversation where he's going to be dismissed.

and with the words sabo speaks about his existing and how important he is to him, there's just a soft look on his face. the frustration melting away. despite the sharp pinch on the side. ]

It took a long time. But I realized it, in the end. So... Thanks.

[ he didn't mean to turn this in about himself. he was more making the point that he had no idea to immortalize one's self. it just... happens.

he glances down at the arm, a bit of fondness on his face. even with the ink from sabo's hand, he knows the tattoo is still there. ]

Sorry I never properly believed it until the end.

[sicklysweet]

I don't want to be remembered.

[Does he? Doesn't he? He doesn't know, but that makes it sound like Hien's going to leave-]

I don't want to be left behind again. Please.

[magicam]

...Why?

[Why to... all that, honestly. Just. Why.]