inbox / purgastory.

[transmit]

HELLO

"You've reached Elysium! Lost? Need an ear? I'm your guy! I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

GOODBYE

TEXT | VIDEO | VOICE | ACTION

inventory bc i don't know where else to put this:

cursed chihuahua papers

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[transmit]

No you aren't.

[ He clumsily grabs onto Thorns' wrist. ]

What did you come here for?

[oversea]

I wanted to see if you remembered me or not.

[ he still cannot tell... ]

I still don't even know what happened that got you injured in the first place.

[transmit]

I do.

[ He doesn't. But he feels it's important to keep Thorns with him, anyway. And is it that much of a lie when he's gone on an entire ass quest to understand the extent they're supposed to know each other? ]

If you wanted me to tell you about what happened, I can.

[oversea]

[ ...

it still doesn't feel right, but he'll take what he can get. ]

You can do a quick summary, then. I don't want to keep you.

[transmit]

[ His brows furrow. ]

What if I want you to?

[ The irony that he wouldn't be nearly as forthcoming in any other scenario. But it feels like if he lets go of this arm, Thorns will disappear. So——he tugs him inside the room, closes the door. Stay. ]

I can start from the beginning.

[oversea]

[ thorns steps a little more inside so that he isn't just standing right next to the door. the uncertainty is radiating off of him. ]

... Okay. Whatever you can remember.

[transmit]

It's going to be a long story. You don't want to sit?

[ The way these rooms are unfurnished… but there is the bed!!! ]

[oversea]

You always worry...

[ it's muttered, but he will walk in further to sit on the edge of the bed.

he waits. ]

[transmit]

[ okay.

He can accept this… he just makes himself comfortable on the floor between Thorns and the door. He's trapped now. ]

You haven't heard anything from anyone else?

[oversea]

No.

[ because he crazily wanted to hear it from elysium when he stopped being an amnesiac... and he got tired of waiting. ]

Just tell me what you remember.

[transmit]

I remember most of it aside from the end. Just——that I was really desperate for something. I'm pretty sure it was you.

[ Wording it like this still gives him the benefit of doubt, doesn't it? But he doesn't let that linger for too long before moving on. ]

Yosuke, Siffrin, Reirin, and I. We were living entirely different lives for a while… and in those lives, we were meant to give them up for a greater cause.

[oversea]

[ he does still remember what elysium was deliriously saying before he fell into the water, so he... supposes this tracks with that. ]

What do you mean?

[ what... greater cause? how did that lead to them being so injured? ]

[transmit]

It was a greater cause where people were set up to fail every year. But we still wanted to try our best.

[ Thanks, Aki!!!! ]

I can't say we were any more successful than the people that came before us, but we did make it up the mountain we were supposed to——only after we got as injured as we did, and only after we saw so many us die. It's still kind of hard for me to face the people that did.

[oversea]

[ he's still confused by some of this, especially the logistics of it all. but the maze is difficult to figure out. ]

... Was it people from here? Or ones you don't know?

[transmit]

From here. Dahut, Lucien, Hien, Hak, Edamura, Tokinaga, and Rafayel… then there were three others Siffrin was supposedly close to back in their original world.

[ He folds his hands in his lap, pressure building until his fingers blanch.

It's more complicated than that, because of course it is, but he knows the story is already way out there as is. ]

[oversea]

How did you get out of there? You said you made it up a mountain, but what happened?

[ he vaguely explained how they were so injured, but how did they go from there to a morgue? ]

[transmit]

… Well. That's where my memory starts turning up blanks. You'll have to ask the others about it.

[ your bestie is being vulnerable in front of you for the first time in your however many years of knowing him. don't be mean. ]

[oversea]

Hm...

[ he looks at him for a moment, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a necklace with a gemstone. ]

This suddenly ended up in my hand right when you appeared in the morgue.

[transmit]

Did it? It doesn't seem like it'd be a part of your style.

[ Looks at Thorns' many rings. ]

I feel like I'd know that kind of thing.

[oversea]

... Mm.

[ he pockets it again.

before getting up off the bed and plopping himself onto the floor, right in front of elysium. ]

How are you?

[transmit]

I'm fine. It's just been a little exhausting.

[ For once, this seems true.

There's even a little flicker of relief when Thorns approaches, where uncertainty had been. ]

[oversea]

I thought I was going to lose you.

[ the severity of his injuries was beyond what he thought they could take care of, when things are so limited here. ]

How would I explain that to your captain?

[transmit]

We were meant to go up against a deity, so I'm surprised we even made it back. That was the purpose of the supposed trip.

[ Extending his hand, he holds it out palm faced up. Unfortunately for Thorns, he isn't about to let him derail their conversation. ]

Do you think I'm less myself?

[oversea]

That feels like an insult.

[ he's still elysium, at the end of the day. he carefully reaches out to place his own hand against his, a little amused that this was the reason he had been originally searching for him the other day. ]

You are always you. But I'm still not sure how much you remember. You're being a little too careful with me.

[transmit]

[ His hand closes around Thorns', tugging him close enough to flout decorum, but not enough to erase the space between them entirely. There is still a gap between them—insurmountable, maybe, given the context, but his fingers press into the back of Thorns' hand anyway in an attempt to keep him anchored in place. ]

If I am, does it matter, then? How much I do or don't? I know you're important to me. I think that's enough to know what I should do.

[ Tacking on an 'I know' is a little different from leaving it as just 'you are,' but that's exactly why he's keeping his hold firm, eyes trained on Thorns as if he's meant to pin him down. It's not as if he doesn't understand his awkwardness——he would be, too, were it the other way around. But unless they address it, are they getting anywhere at all? ]