action and text; @bacura

[mellowyellow]

[It's late on the seventh when Masaomi wakes up on a church pew. At first, he can't bring himself to do anything other than stare at his hands. Slowly he raises them above his head, takes in the palms, flips them over, hesitantly touches the backs, slides his fingers down his own arms.

He's whole.

Suddenly, he digs his nails in. It hurts, and he pulls back, leaving harsh red marks. Masaomi sits up then, still staring like he can't believe his own senses.

He's not crying. You're crying.]


[It's not until the eighth that he sends out another text. No ominous snapshots this time.]

Didn't cut it as a carny.

Comments

action

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora's been creaking open the door and staring into the church blankly once a day since he dropped off the lantern. He doesn't really know what he's hoping for. Jason was the guy's actual friend, he shouldn't be this invested. If he had to guess, he'd say he's just scared, vaguely, of not being able to do anything at all. None of the dead he's seen in the obituaries have ever come back. That one in three statistic is harsh.

Today he pulls open the door to see... Nothing again. He doesn't know what he was expecting. Time's almost up. He's about to pull it shut when he feels more than hears the air move in there.

He pushes the door in again, and a silhouette's sitting up in a pew. ]

Hello?

[ He'll walk in, lantern raised. He's caught a few other people here before by accident, has had to apologize before retreating. He's prepared to do the same thing here. ]

Audio @ Stone

[scarsolderthanyou]

[It took Stone a while to work out what exactly had happened to Masaomi, given all the damn text messages, and nothing really showing up on the network confirming or denying... but the not-ever-showing-up-again-for-days made it more obvious. So here he is, squinting at the text message, not knowing what a carnie is, but knowing who this is.]

Hey. Kid. Where are you at?

[Masaomi might be getting another hug if he spills where he's hanging out right now. Sorry, Masaomi.]

[mellowyellow]

[Masaomi is so lost in his stupor that he doesn't notice the door opening. When Sora calls out though? The very sudden and overwhelming realization that another person is here with him scares his saliva right back down his throat. He jumps, flailing as he slips off the pew and slams to the floor in a tangled mess of limbs.

Hi, Sora. Meet Masaomi.]

@lonk; audio

[sublimebeast]

[Ah, this fellow again... Link can't help but feel a little annoyed with this person for being reckless but his heart is also breaking with concern over his well being.

A voice, low with a bit of a steely edge but also heavy with worry speaks.]

Where are you? Are you okay?

...All things considered, I mean.

[arsarcanum]

[ Well okay!! Okay whoa! That was his bad! Definitely 100% his b!! He's just gonna scurry on up and maybe vault a pew to check out if this person is okay. ]

Hey, you good? [ And his lantern hits blond hair and Sora just freezes. This is the kid. This is the kid in the picture with the parade and the lights. Please hold, galaxy brain moment. ]

text forever and ever times infinity;

[mellowyellow]

In my room.

Dreaming of libraries and librarians!

teeeeeext eternally;

[mellowyellow]

Peachy keen! Plum brilliant! Fresh and fragrant!

All in one piece even.

text | @kol

[unpredict]

[ well. thank god this kid's back. press f for masaomi's carny dreams going down in flames. ]

Glad to have you back, mate. I take it you won't be chasing after any circuses for a while?

[sublimebeast]

Well that's...good?

I think.

Uh, is anyone coming to get you?

[mellowyellow]

Define "good."

[The words are muttered into the fabric of his sleeve, but a few seconds later, he manages to straighten himself out. Once again, he sits up, but this time it's to get a better look at the dude who'd startled him.

He's... very spiky. And athletic. But otherwise, Masaomi doesn't recall seeing him around. Huh.

His hand wanders to the back of his head, rubbing at the lump he can already feel forming.]

I mean, I'm great at gacha games.

[mellowyellow]

Oh, I've already been got.

It was a very funky feeling. Do not recommend for casual players.

[Texting in disconnected, unfunny metaphors: the coping mechanism.]

[mellowyellow]

Definitely sticking to skirts from now on.

Those actually get better once you talk your way into them!

[arsarcanum]

[ Masaomi is talking to someone who had a slidephone well into 2014. He has no idea what a gacha game is. Also, Masaomi is alive, so he'll have to excuse this jockbro looking guy staring at him like he's seen a particularly inspirational but still quite dead ghost. ]

You're the kid from the picture. [ He, uh, will collapse to a knee, his lantern clunking very dangerously on the pew next to them as he looks Masaomi up and down, blue keyhole eyes welling up with. Hm. We'll call it concern. ] You - are you all here? Do you remember everything? [ He shakes his head. He is not making any sense, but he's having trouble stopping himself. ] Not - just Beacon - nothing missing? No gaps? You didn't go anyplace before coming back here, right?

[sublimebeast]

[Link does suspect the humor is an attempt at either coping or deflection. He does similar things himself.]

Well luckily I'm not a ...casual player?

Actually I dunno what you're saying.

But...Listen, I know this is probably not what you want to hear right now but when you're up to it could you contact me and tell me what, exactly, happened out there?

It won't be a pleasant conversation but I need to know everything I can about this ...thing... if I'm going to find a way of stopping it.

[From what little he knows jumping on it and stabbing it in the neck with a sword won't work which means his usual approach is useless.]

[unpredict]

Speaking of talking... Did you hit on one of the spirits?

[ no offence, but if he did, kol can now see why masaomi got murdered. ]

[mellowyellow]

[Masaomi instinctively leans back when Sora falls to his knee. The staring is uncomfortable, sure, but he can snark that awkwardness away with ease. It's the sudden movements and loud noises that keep pumping adrenaline through his veins. When every unexpected thud or whip sends his heart racing all over again... Well. It's that much more difficult to pretend he's okay.

It's also damn near impossible to pretend he's okay while thinking about everything that happened.

He gulps back his protests. Instead, Masaomi focuses on carefully reaching out a hand to slide Sora's lantern off the pew.]

If I had the choice to go somewhere else, I wouldn't have come back to this horror show. I just woke up here is all. Nothing else. Didn't even dream. [He shakes his head.] If I'm missing any pieces, you'll have to tell me.

[mellowyellow]

No.

[Two letters. That's the extent of Masaomi's response. Which part exactly is he saying no to? He has declined to elaborate! But it might be the part where Link tries to stop the parade.]

[mellowyellow]

No! I do have standards, you know.

[His standards are: boobs.]

[unpredict]

[ you are an embarrassment. ]

Like? I'd certainly hope her being real and perhaps corporeal might be two of them.

@elvira

[vampirella]

better luck next time. maybe practice your juggling

[sublimebeast]

Listen, this is important, that thing is clearly dangerous and we don't want it hurting anyone else, right?

[A small groan; the sound of him sitting back, rolling his neck and giving himself a silent moment to curse whatever Gods may be for this whole situation.]

Stopping it doesn't mean I intend to fight it, you know. Maybe we can reroute it. Maybe if we know more we can, at the very least, safely track it so we always know where it is.

So...If you change your mind, contact me, okay?

My thing is "lonk".

[Goddammit.]

@cherylbombshell

[sweetwater]

Too many limbs? Not enough limbs?

@darkness

[evulsed]

Well looks like you got lucky.

Did you have fun?

text; un: mollymauk

[mollymocked]

Nonsense. You just need a carnival that won't kill you.

[arsarcanum]

[ Hey, Masaomi. Have you ever made a fellow dumbass dude cry before? Well, now you have!

Sora's head will drop forward for a sec, as though he's pondering his reply, and then he'll look up, and there will be tears rolling right out of his eyes! Like it's nothing! Like what the fuck! This is literally the first time they've met! And so on. ]

That's... a relief. Um. [ Sniff. Sora is a little mortified that he's having such a big reaction at all, but he is working through this, man. ] Hey, uh, sorry! That was kind of a fall. Is your head all right?