text; @bacura

[mellowyellow]

[The first thing Masaomi shares is a picture. It's dark as always, but for once, that doesn't affect visibility. Half of the picture is filled with Masaomi's anxiously grinning face. He's pointing over his shoulder where a parade of bright colors and surreal costumes is marching past the school.]

Nobody told me Beacon had a circus! This shit's insane!




[Aaaand that's it. That's all anyone gets.

Masaomi will not respond to this post. He is officially a dead boy.]

Comments

[sublimebeast]

[Link listens to this and quirks a smile at Sora.]

If you gotta go out there I'd feel better if I was with you... Or at least if I could know your plan.

Because you're my friend too!

[He reaches out and playfully claps Sora on the back, trying to draw some levity into a situation that's starting to feel heavy on his heart.

This existential despair he sees in the other youth strikes at the core of him. When Link started to Awaken he'd felt a similar sort of uncertainty.]

And we're real, you know? Regardless of who we were before. We're here now and living or...er...

[He pinches his nose. Words are hard.]

Existing.

You and me have our thoughts and minds and experiences so that makes us real. Who we are now matters.

[unpredict]

[ wow, vanitas. tell us how you really feel. ]

Something new, I guess. Do you treat everything with suspicion?

[ paranoia is the way to go about things... ]

[evulsed]

[ :') ]

I've been here long enough to know better.

[unpredict]

Were you here during the first expedition to the Lighthouse?

[evulsed]

Yeah. Why?

[arsarcanum]

[ Jason's.... his wingman? Does he really mean that? BRO... ]

so we're a team huh
i like that
haven't been on a real team for a while

[ Around 40 minutes later, Jason will receive a message in his inbox. Within the time limit, as promised! ]

[really_sketchy]

I'm waiting for him at the bonfire.
I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him.
I'm worried but I think if he knows that we're all waiting for him, he'll come back.

[arsarcanum]

[ That's a little lighter, the clap lifting some of the weight off him. Maybe making people feel better is a part of the hero bit too? Or maybe this entire conversation has been what's left of Sora trying his best to be whoever other people needed him to be. (Then again, his other was pretty good at that too. Kind of a macabre thought.)

This next smile comes out a little more easily, anyway. (Hey, words are hard. Relateable.) When it comes down to it, that's the only thing that's ever been important. ]

Who we are now. Okay. I believe that. I do.

The plan's just to go there, see if he's still there, and come back to report. I wanna do more than that, but I've made too many promises now. I can't. [ He laughs, but it's a little wrung out. ] I can't even follow you if you try to go in and rescue him yourself. So don't. I think that'd kill me.

[sublimebeast]

Fine.

I won't go, but you have to come back okay?

If you die out there I'll kill you.

[He lowers his gaze, brow furrowing.]

....We all need to make it.

There's another lantern we have to protect. No matter what.

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora... sort of frowns. Does Link not trust himself to charge in? Is that how far down this hero thing goes? That's... scary. ]

Don't worry, I won't. [ Sora sort of chuckles. ] Rosinante said there's a one in three chance that you don't come back if you die. [ He pauses, looks down at the forest floor. Now's not the time to joke about what happened to the Sora here who got lost in the forest months ago. ] I don't like gambling.

[ ... He'll lift off onto his feet, then turn to Link. ]

Are you... sure you don't want to go together?

[sublimebeast]

Honestly... I'm not sure how I'd handle the parade.

I just figured I'd work things out in the heat of the moment.

[He growls.]

Otherwise I would.

[He stares down at his fingertips and considers his own words. Should he elaborate? He should probably elaborate.]

I mean, 'cause of the sound. I don't have ear plugs and my ears aren't like yours.

Uh. As I'm sure you've noticed.

[He reaches up and tugs at an earlobe.]

My hearing is better than a round-eared person's. My people can detect even the faintest sounds around 'em. Which is pretty useful most of the time but probably works against me in this case...

Tying my cap around my head probably wouldn't be enough, would it?

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora nods along! Elaboration completely appreciated here, thank you. So it was just a problem from the plan from the start. Phew, one of the very few times Sora being worse at something than someone else has actually been an advantage. ]

Next time, we can think of a plan that we can do together. [ Sora looks at Link... then at Link's lamp. Why did he have to leave his lamp? Was it because of the wolf? And the darkness? Hm. ] I think I have a couple ideas of how I can help you, at least when it comes to things like the parade.

[ He holds out his hand to Link. Want up? ] If something happens to me, and I don't come back in a few, you guys have permission to find me to kill me. Even if I'm already dead! Deader. [ He scratches his own head. Yeah, words are hard. ] I trust you guys will find me. I'll come back to you. I promise.

[sublimebeast]

[Link accepts the offered hand despite not needing it. He tries to push up with his free arm anyway, knowing that he weighs a bit more than people usually expect.]

Good, you'd better.

[He steps over his lamp and retrieves it from the low branch he'd hung it from. He'd noticed Sora looking between him and it with a curious expression.

It's probably not something he should comment on but the words tumble out of his mouth anyway.]

Yeah, my lamp.

Don't worry about that! I've got that whole thing under control, I promise!

[Which is actually Link for "this stunt will kill me someday but that's on me."]

[unpredict]

I'm trying to play catch up on my Beacon history. Who's attacked us, who hasn't attacked us… Why some people would run to a spirit circus and why others would deem them bloody idiots.
Other than the fact that little to no marketing for a spirit circus does raise a few questionable eyebrows in itself.

[evulsed]

I thought he was an idiot anyway. The parade just proves my point.

That parade, that music, can manipulate you into doing things you wouldn't otherwise.

Nothing in this town is without a price.

[arsarcanum]

[ Same hat. (Not literally, Link's hat is a very singular hat.) He'll haul and look at Link oddly. He... doesn't have cybernetics, does he? That's the same weight he'd expect of himself or the soldier.

Sora looks at Link, and then the lamp, and then Link, and then the lamp. This explanation means nothing to Sora, misser of context clues. ]

Okay, now I have to come back alive. I have so many questions for you.

[ But he'll just start... reluctantly moving away. He doesn't actually want to leave the company of a friend... but now he's got a mission and he has to see it through. ]

You'll hear from me in thirty minutes. I swear! [ And as long as Link doesn't stop him, he'll walk a little ways backward, and then get back on track to the school. Hopefully, Masaomi's okay! 8^) ]

[unpredict]

[ poor masaomi. ]

You definitely have a point there. This place is dressed up in a nice little bow, but it's still a spiritual realm that has us at its mercy. Sometimes it's a lot easier to pretend it's a vacation away from everything else.

I do hope he comes back. No one deserves to be taken out by a ridiculously costumed spirit, even a supposed idiot.

[sublimebeast]

[Link doesn't follow but Sora will feel his watchful gaze until the light of his lantern disappears into the trees.]

[arsarcanum]

[ Within the hour, a message as promised! 15 minutes before the deadline, in fact. ]

[arsarcanum]

will do

[ And around 35 minutes later, the soldier will receive a message in their inbox. ]

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora does feel that watchful gaze. Scary, but it's on his side. It's a good feeling.

Around 15 minutes later, Link will receive a message in his inbox. ]

[evulsed]

If you say so.

[ which part of that is he replying to? probably all of it ]

[notthatjason]

[They were flying together...pretty sure that makes him a literal wingman.]

Exactly.

[notthatjason]

Do you want some company? I like to visit the bonfire. It reminds me of my friends back home. I stay at The Invincible, so it's close by...but if you'd rather wait alone I understand that too.

[really_sketchy]

I don't want to trouble you.
I don't know when Sora will be back.