IC INBOX - Austice
Nov. 3rd, 2022 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
finalbowsKuja has a phone as of December 16th! He got sick and the thanatophobia won lmao <3. Feel free to contact him by text, voice, or video now-- he's terrible at answering his phone right when it rings, though. He tends to leave it sitting around, and sometimes even leaves it at home.
Kuja can very easily be found around town. He kind of sticks out, what with the height (the official height chart says 7'1" but I nerfed him to 6'7") and the habit of floating around places.
He has a habit of perching atop buildings, so a good place to look is Up.
If you want to hit him up at home, that's cool too!! I have a comment below describing his.. abode.
Kuja can very easily be found around town. He kind of sticks out, what with the height (the official height chart says 7'1" but I nerfed him to 6'7") and the habit of floating around places.
He has a habit of perching atop buildings, so a good place to look is Up.
If you want to hit him up at home, that's cool too!! I have a comment below describing his.. abode.
Feel free to talk to him!!
(why does it look like the town is on fire behind him? ....don't worry about it.)
COME VISIT SUNNY KUJA'S LAIR
Date: 2022-12-02 03:47 pm (UTC)Kuja's house is outwardly non-descript; he sometimes gives it some minor exterior decorations to match what people explain to him about the townfolks' commonly shared holidays. It's two stories high, well-sized but not big, and often has a window left ajar on the second floor.
The front door isn't always locked. He usually isn't downstairs, and sometimes he forgets to close it up. Inside, the first floor is a mess, save the kitchen. It's messy in the way of having been tossed about carelessly, furniture overturned and objects scattered loose on the floor. It looks almost purposeful? (It is.)
There's a glowing light at the top of the staircase leading upstairs.
... walking upstairs, you may start to feel something foreboding, and then prickling, and then painful, heavier and heavier with every step up. this would be Kuja's mysterious defense system.
You see, uh...
Hidden somewhere in the chaos of the first floor is a glittering red stone. If you remove it from where it's been carefully placed, you'll feel an energy release, and the stone will turn into some kind of trinket. Congrats, you get a prize! And also you can go upstairs now.
Second floor has five distinct rooms:
- evil body horror lab
- miscellany room containing mysterious glowing crystal
- master bedroom suite
- unused room 1
- unused room 2
12/24
Date: 2022-12-25 08:39 pm (UTC)Which is what she's going to do, which room is the one with the open window ]
SOBBING AND CRYING BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE TO FIND THIS UNTIL NOW
Date: 2023-01-24 06:43 am (UTC)Kuja, meanwhile, is minding his...living... tool... pet... things, again. They're all very underfed and weedy after his illness; little feedings of magic are sort of, like, an optional but very very recommended part of the growth process, like miracle gro for your plants. Whilst he was sick, he couldn't get good enough sleep to recover any mana, so...
His body horrors. They are hungry. ]
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Date: 2023-01-25 10:06 pm (UTC)Shuffling quietly across the floor, she peers over at the flopping couch first, and then when she doesn't spot Kuja immediately she tiptoes out the door into the hallway. Where does he keep his body horrors, if Kuja isn't home to play with her then she'll have to find other playmates ]
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Date: 2023-01-25 10:34 pm (UTC)Kuja, meanwhile, is in the middle of carefully transferring an ooey, pulsing meat-thing from its old, too-small container, into a nice and fresh bigger jar, where it has a lovely new delicious solution to bathe in awaiting it. The old one is too... Don't look too closely at it. He's currently on the "very very gently unsticking it from the old jar with a blunt butter knife" step. ]
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Date: 2023-01-27 07:07 pm (UTC)BOO!
[ as if she hasn't learned from all the other times she tried to "boo!" people ]
1/2
Date: 2023-01-27 08:30 pm (UTC)Kuja (currently) possesses the composure to not holler like some startled mutt, but what he doesn't have the composure to keep from doing is accidentally stab the butter knife down.
hey, neat. the weird ooey thing has blue blood like a squid. ]
Anya, I don't need any more "Kleenicks," and I would GREATLY APPRECIATE if you stop--
2/2
Date: 2023-01-27 08:33 pm (UTC)[ he dropped the knife. you disarmed him emotionally AND physically! ]
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Date: 2023-01-27 09:25 pm (UTC)[ it sounds like some sort of food, maybe one you feed this weird ooey thing if it's still alive after that stabbing. is it still alive? she's going to poke it ]
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Date: 2023-01-28 12:00 am (UTC)--oh, hell, the carburetor's bleeding out! ]
Aht, aht! No touching with bare hands! You'll give it an infection, it doesn't have skin!
[ where did he PUT that styptic-- ]
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Date: 2023-01-28 01:47 am (UTC)It's okay, it's okay~ My hands are clean, see?
[ she shows him her palms, smeared with dirt and grit from the roof tiles ]
Haven't you, like, ever poked your eyeball? It's fine.
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Date: 2023-01-28 04:43 am (UTC)[ Disappointingly, it's just tissues. ]
You know, your eyeball isn't raw, it has a protective layer, that's the... finally, here it is! Tongs, tongs--
[ Kuja hurriedly tends to the carburetor(?)'s wound, though by this point the liquid of the container's full of billows of blue. M..maybe it'll make it. He'll feed healing magic to it if it's still pulsating in a few minutes. Immediately flooding it with energy could kill it as a good as not doing anything at all. ]
There.
...
[ He draws himself up straight. Deep breath in, out. The immediate distracting task gave him an excellent chance to not lose his composure. ]
So!
How! Was, your adventure? I must confess I know very, little, at all. [ despite weeks of neurotic hunting about it. yes, his pride is hurt. ]
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Date: 2023-01-28 04:46 am (UTC)[ Even the kleenicks is more exciting, which she takes from the box, looks at it, and then carefully folds it and sticks it into her pocket for later. Her hands she can wipe down on the sides of her skirt. ]
What is that? When's it getting skin so I can poke it?
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Date: 2023-01-28 05:08 am (UTC)I don't have anything to fit over it, so once it's all together, it'll start growing a shell. Once the shell is solid... Then you can poke it. Gently.
[ a beat. he forgot to say what it actually does. ]
Pulls in air to mix with the fuel. The lung isn't functional yet, but eventually it'll start breathing.
[ Kuja is extremely easy to distract by telling him to ramble, good work Ala. ]
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Date: 2023-01-28 05:28 am (UTC)[ Because a squishy little thing like that is so tempting— she sticks her hands inside her jacket pockets to resist the urge, but at the same time, a breeze seems to pick up inside the room, swirling about Ala's feet just lightly enough to lift the ends of her hair. ]
There you go little squishy thing! Have an air snack!
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Date: 2023-01-28 06:54 am (UTC)--You were there at the train, after all!
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Date: 2023-01-28 08:03 pm (UTC)[ So that's what she did, and it worked, and then it didn't, and she had to be ritual summoned back into existence. It's hard for her to understand, so she just doesn't think about it. ]
Awkward bonding go
Date: 2023-01-31 07:32 am (UTC)He's not going to sneak out yet, but he might soon- Kuja was due for his regular visit so it was too risky anyway. For now he is reading a book that Kuja may find quite familiar- a copy of "I Want to be Your Canary". Hard to tell without a visible face but he seems quite happy.
He only looks up when he hears the door. ]
Hello
[ a very casual greeting. He's getting used to Kuja's visits. ]
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Date: 2023-01-31 07:56 am (UTC)[ Who? Who knows. All that's obvious is that Kuja's complaining as he comes in, quick to work himself out of a coat he wore only reluctantly when the wind chill was ridiculous this morning. It's warm in this house, he'll suffocate keeping that thing on.
Kuja slinks into the living room where Vivi's been set up, nice and toasty beside Yuri's improvised fireplace. He leans over the back of the couch, leveling the Black Mage with a quiet, evaluating look before he answers... Watching the gears turn behind that man's eyes is always a bit like watching a cat size up a bird. Even if he's forgotten his nature, he's every bit something that prowls... but that look has become much less threatening than it used to be, when it's the look Kuja has every day when he's checking that--
...
--there's been no obvious shifts in Vivi's condition as far as he can sense, through methods mundane and not. ]
You're chipper. What's that you've got?
[ Kuja's.. leaning over at an angle that makes it so that he can't see the book's spine. Rip. ]
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Date: 2023-01-31 11:34 am (UTC)[ The world really had not wanted him to get to the end of this story for one reason or another. First the ticket, then the kidnapping... and then he got stolen while reading it. Honestly... ]
I love reading plays and stuff. They're fun.
[ he does tilt his head innocently at Kuja, though, concern entering his tone. ]
Woman? Did the Queen do something..?
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Date: 2023-01-31 12:07 pm (UTC)[ It sort of goes without saying that Kuja... also loves 'plays and stuff.' Lord Avon's a favorite, of course, but he was no opera composer - and Kuja had learned to parse sheet music specifically to better understand librettos. Kuja's in the middle of leaning in to snoop on what page Vivi's on when he pulls a sour look at his question. ]
...No, Her Majesty doesn't... do, much. She hasn't a voice, and neither could she hear me. It was someone else. [ Though the potential candidates for Kuja's claim were all of... seven people? Maybe? Mayyyyyybe? ]
Are you past the swordfight?
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Date: 2023-01-31 02:28 pm (UTC)Oh. [ A glance at the book ] No, this is my copy from home.
[ He'd bought one, hard cover, some time after their adventure ended in hopes he could finally finish it. Kuja's question of if he's past the sword fight is met with a thoughtful hum ]
Not yet. I was reading it back from the beginning... but I remember that part from watching Tantalus perform... I almost didn't get to see the play at all. Even if it ended badly I'm glad I went...
[ Vivi looks up at him, shifting a little over in bed so Kuja can join him with the book more comfortably ]
Did you like the sword fight?
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Date: 2023-02-01 12:22 am (UTC)[ He's seeing the book with a new eye, now, knowing Vivi had went and bought it. Not a terrible pick for what was out there, considering Vivi was, like. A year old. ]
Tantulus, Tantalus... Wasn't that... when those bandits stole away the princess. [ oh we may in fact stumble upon some of Kuja's newest memory losses here. ] That was a fiasco.
[ All three Waltzes failed or went into conniptions, and Brahne had cornered him in a rage at her nearest opportunity, demanding to know what his angle was with the Black Mage 'planted' among the kidnappers...
Endless headache. He had to say, though, it was some stellar work on his part, defusing the situation. ]
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Date: 2023-02-01 01:50 am (UTC)[ He's not sure what Kuja knew or didn't know about that night, so he expanded on it quietly, ]
... I like Blank. Both the character and Zidane's brother.
[ He still has nightmares about what happened to Blank. He'd felt so guilty for running when Blank got trapped back there. ]
... It was a lot, though... I don't think I ever properly apologized to Dagger for catching her cloak on fire...
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Date: 2023-02-01 02:07 am (UTC)He's distracted reading the passage Vivi's left open, except... ]
You lit the fire? I just thought Her Majesty was lying about mishandling her own Bombs.
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Date: 2023-02-01 02:26 am (UTC)[ He tries to order his thoughts ]
See they started to do improv on stage when they captured the princess. she took the place of Cornelia. They were in the middle of a death scene because she'd taken a sword from her father for Marcus, and that's about when the guards chased me up on stage. I used a little fire spell to try and get them to leave me alone, but it accidentally caught part of the princess's cloak on fire when I did. So she threw it off and... well, her identity was revealed and everything got worse.
[ And that's putting it lightly to say the least. ]
After that the others kinda scrambled to get out of there while we fought the knights on the stage... After that was when the queen used a bomb.
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Date: 2023-02-01 02:44 am (UTC)Delightful. My goodness, and I hadn't even heard the half of it.
So Dagger was...? One of the guards, at the time? A little young for the job...
[ Vivi clearly said he'd lit two different people's cloaks on fire. ]
How far were you down the page? [ now that he's started reading over vivi's shoulder he's getting invested... ]
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Date: 2023-02-01 02:58 am (UTC)Dagger's the princess. We called her that after we escaped with her 'cause she asked us to. We couldn't call her Garnet or we'd be caught.
[ ... And now he just habitually still calls her that. He blinks at the question. ]
Oh um, I was almost done with the page, but I can wait.
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Date: 2023-02-03 02:29 am (UTC)What? Dagger was the one... dark hair. Very orange, very pretty, but-- that wasn't the princess.
Post-Mini Memoria
Date: 2023-03-07 09:52 pm (UTC)Kuja..?
[ He's politely knocking on the lower door of his hideout this time before opening it, peering up the stairs with his glowing eyes to see if Kuja was even around. Was the genome avoiding him too? He hadn't done anything wrong, did he..? ]
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Date: 2023-03-08 01:05 am (UTC)Listen, after Kokichi strolls straight through your barrier to shake you down for soul shards, you have to admit your jrpg puzzle game needs more work.
As Vivi's checking out the stairs, where there's a distinct lack of Vibes associated with the barrier Kuja would normally put up-- but what does happen is he hears something delicate fall and shatter from the kitchen, followed by a slightly ungentlemanly curse. ]
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Date: 2023-03-08 10:43 am (UTC)Kuja...?
[ Softer, more hesitant this time, and with an edge of concern. Now he was poking his head shyly into the kitchen, likely calling to mind a cuter version of when Vivi used to follow Kuja around the house. ]
Are you okay..?
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Date: 2023-03-20 01:05 am (UTC)seems like he's made something simple; the kitchen doesn't really smell like good cooking, but it does smell like tolerable cooking. ]
...Hello, Vivi.
[ that's certainly a notable lack of answer to being okay.
...can't really go anywhere with a mess of shards at his feet, so he's just going to sweep it up without turning.
..it really is nostalgic. Vivi bobbing about his house like a little duckling, following the sound of Kuja's activity... ]
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Date: 2023-03-20 01:41 am (UTC)O-oh I'm sorry. I can come back later...
[ He hadn't meant to interrupt a meal after all- and he'd made him break a plate, too... Qus may thrive on making and sharing food but time in Treno taught him that most people are not fond of sharing. Especially food. This would have gotten him screamed at before, he's certain. ]
I just... wanted to check on you.
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Date: 2023-03-20 01:52 am (UTC)I was distracted and dropped it. You're too quiet to be heard from that far off.
Anyway, you've seen me now. I remain quite whole. Is your curiosity satisfied?
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Date: 2023-03-20 02:10 am (UTC)Besides, he's really not that quiet, right?
He hesitates, reaching up to grip the brim of his hat- something Kuja would recognize by now as a self-soothing gesture for when he's anxious.
Funny how being around someone will teach you things like that. ]
... Why..? Why did you want to bring Memoria back so badly? I don't understand.
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Date: 2023-03-20 02:19 am (UTC)[ Kuja gets up, and reaches for a satin pouch resting on the counter-- he plucks it up by the drawstrings, letting it dangle freely in the air from his fist. ]
This is why.
...I thought going back to Memoria was what I wanted from the moment I first got here. As long as I was still dying, that was the solution, right?
I came to the Nest when I had just reached the crystal. It was close enough to touch. I didn't think it would be so... small.
[ as he speaks, he's pulled the bag open-- there's something wrapped in layer upon layer of soft cloth inside, which he's set to unraveling. ]
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Date: 2023-03-20 02:32 am (UTC)He knows better than to interrupt a story, though, and Kuja explaining things like this always sounded like he was reciting a story. Some epic or poem. Such was the cadence of his voice. Every word a performance, even in a situation like this.
Instead he toddles closer. Not too close as to get into the genome's personal space, but close enough to better see what Kuja was unwrapping from the bag ]
But that... wouldn't solve anything... isn't it better to be with the ones who love you..?
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Date: 2023-03-20 03:03 am (UTC)Hahah..! Ahh... Love? Who loved me, when I came to this place? To people here, I was a stranger, and to the place I'd left behind -- a nobody valet, turned infamous backstabber.
[ that description.. doesn't match Vivi's experiences at all. Nobody's going around calling Lord King anyone's valet. the familiar, twisted smile and barking false cheer he'd assumed starts to drain back into the storyteller voice. ]
...I had my plan, in mind, and I kept working toward it, letting it simmer-- tested at what the people here could do, what in this world could be the proper kind of threat-- really, I got so lucky when I had the chance to lure you all into fighting me! I couldn't have provoked Garland into a fight like that.
[ ...there's only a few layers left. he gets back to unwrapping. ]
But I'd-- before just the other day... I'd even decided... I wanted to stay here. [ it was all much sappier than that. he liked the people here. ] But something happened. ...I... shall admit I panicked.
[ ...
the wrapping's all off.
It's Kuja's gem.
It looks a little bit look a blooming flower, from how deep the cracks in it have pierced to, pieces slowly pulling apart from one another. The red core looks like a stain, spilled into the heart of the blue-- there's a ribbon of clear quartz blossoming through part of it, and little curls of black eating at the tips of each chunk.
.. It's... bad, in short. ]
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Date: 2023-03-20 09:42 am (UTC)Maybe not the others when you first got here but people certainly love you now. You have friends. You have Ala and Yuri and me. Zidane cared about you a lot. He risked his life to save you.
[ he pulls his own little gem out of his pocket and holds it out to him. Not nearly as damaged as Kuja's own but he's making a point, not comparing. ]
If you don't care. If you want me to believe you don't care, take it and kill me, then.
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Date: 2023-03-20 03:56 pm (UTC)[ very immediately proving Vivi's point. ]
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Date: 2023-03-20 06:25 pm (UTC)And for better or worse Kuja cared about them back. Vivi wished it didn't have to be so complicated, but the cards have already been dealt. At this point both of them have already played their hands. Vivi doesn't know why either of them are still here. ]
See? You don't want to do it like this, so what would going to Memoria have done? It's just this on a bigger scale. You'd have killed me and Ala, and everyone else along with you.
[ He sighs ]
I know... I know it's scary but it's worth being with the ones you care about with the time you have.
cw suicidality in brackets but . That's sort of been here from the start
Date: 2023-03-20 06:45 pm (UTC)[ the hand that's flown up to Kuja's mouth to cover it, a vain effort hold back what's already been said, is a clear sign he sees right where he's been led. ]
Enough. You're right.
...I couldn't... I didn't want it enough.
[ from the moment he'd looked down at that humble altar, everyone's tributes to the people they missed... from the moment he started pouring everything he had into something he could feel wasn't working...
collapsing time and space to a singular point wasn't exactly something you could do without putting your whole chest into it. and he hadn't been.
then there was a point where it stopped being "we're all going down together." ]
...realized that a little late, of course. Could have spared myself a good amount of trouble. [ When he says 'trouble,' he taps a certain spot on the gem-- the newest crack, made the day he'd Trnaced. He doesn't trust his hands, especially right after fumbling a plate, so he's just... going to lay his gem down on the table. He'll wrap it up properly later. ]
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Date: 2023-03-20 07:21 pm (UTC)... You scared me. I don't wanna fight you...
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Date: 2023-03-20 08:01 pm (UTC)Except he's not cold, imperious Kuja. This is the man who'd nearly blew a spell up in his face when he saw Vivi faint.
His hands flex uselessly once, twice-- oh, hell. There's a crying child clinging to his leg that he doesn't want to see sad, and Kuja can't deny even he knows a remedy for that.
He hoverhands over Vivi before he sets a hand gingerly on his back. ]
...I'm done, Vivi. No more schemes to bring down countries. No more... Memoria. I won't be giving you more reasons to.
[ Then,
While at first it seems like Kuja might be trying to dislodge him, he's actually--
Came down more to Vivi's level, so he can hug him back.
...
He has no idea what he's doing, for the record. He doesn't really know what to do with his hands. But Kuja is notably soft and warm, which are two qualities in his favor as a hugger. His fuffy tail knows better how to circle around someone comfortingly than he does. ]
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Date: 2023-03-25 05:29 pm (UTC)Once he's down at Vivi's level, the boy more than makes up for Kuja's hesitance by instantly tossing his arms around Kuja's shoulders and hiding his face once more.
This really isn't something he ever expected to do. Not ever. Not even when accepting that Zidane wanted to save Kuja. He never imagined it getting to this point.
Part of him wants to ask Kuja to promise. Knows that Kuja is prone to saying things he doesn't mean and going back on it.
But he's learned part of giving someone a chance is taking a chance. Blind faith has gotten him this far. ]
... Okay.
[ No questions. No conditions. No skepticism. ]
I trust you.
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Date: 2023-03-25 06:55 pm (UTC)Kuja's bereft of things to say.
He's heard the words, but no one has ever offered that in earnesty, when they had the full measure of who he was. Like gauging a weather pattern, or dealing with a devil-- "well, Kuja's a liar and a cheat, so I'll plan around it."
No one here knew that better than Vivi. He'd shown Kuja his resolve, before, that he would act as his heart decreed, rather than his head, and that it was up to Kuja what would come of that.
This... was something utterly different from their previous arrangement.
The real measure that Kuja is serious is the lack of further assurances, promises, or even explaining clinically how he himself would explicitly benefit from not going back on his word. He's just... quiet. Calculating, maybe, he never stops calculating--
( Kuja actually isn't even thinking about what this can mean for him, going forward. How he can use this. His usual aloof attitude as an observer astride each moment rather than inside it has been dissolved by the feeling of a surprisingly fierce display of...
"Love?" That was... certainly the word Vivi had used. )
...
He feels a little twitchy, because he really really isn't used to pure, friendly embraces at all, especially one this long. Vivi can feel him fidget. Words, finally, are soon to follow. ]
I wondered-- That is...
You're... alright, after...?
I mean that-- [ lmao he sounds SO stilted saying this. ] I, ah... I saw it when you collapsed. [ He can't help but think Vivi's delicate, slapped twice now with the sight of him turned out like a light. ]
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Date: 2023-04-03 11:28 pm (UTC)I'm okay. Andy just didn't know that I'm made of magic, so...
[ that power turn off ability really sucks for him! At least it hadn't proven deadly to him ]
Are you..? The memories we saw weren't... very fun.
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Date: 2023-04-03 11:39 pm (UTC)...I wouldn't know precisely what you saw, appointed outside the rift as I was, but whatever it was, it is... certainly, solidly in the past.
[ says local man who has never gotten over anything in his life.
there's wary curiosity in his voice, though. ]