EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

[diceofthegods]

A CRASH IN THE NIGHT

In the dark hours of a snowy early morning, a sudden BOOM can be heard all across Town. It is swiftly followed by sounds of warping metal and then a screeching crash. Curious, albeit groggy, residents emerge only to find a smoking wreck just a mile outside of Town.

The strange craft appears to be almost nautiloid in shape with wrenched, broken tendrils streaming out the opening.

Much of it is metal although some of it almost seems... organic.

Those who with to get a closer look will be met by Charlie and Dimitri who are already on the job. They request curious onlookers keep their distance since this craft is, without a doubt, tremendously dangerous.

Later in the day, there appears to be an outfit of officials coming from the west to investigate and clean up the wreckage. Thankfully(?), you will all find out soon enough what's going on.

INVESTIGATION & PROTECTION

Deathcard Cabin by Jonah Senzel

4:07 / 13:06

▶︎

Click here to listen.

From the Inscryption OST: A unique and haunting sound paired with a unique and haunting game.

code

Charlie reports to the citizens of Town that an Illithid cargo transport. The pilot did not survive the crash, but they appeared to be transporting some kind of new breed of Intellect Devourers.

"We do not yet know what this new breed is capable of, but..."

Charlie does give everyone a rundown of what an Illithid and what an Intellect Devourer is, what they are capable of, and a keen warning to tread lightly. Many dead ones were discovered in the cargo but several of the enclosures were damaged in the crash and the likelihood of escapees is high.

Charlie reiterates: These creatures are to be killed on sight, or contained until someone can kill it. If you are not confident in your combat abilities, please remain in your homes as much as possible and seal all openings to your dwelling. Those who are capable though are urged to begin patrols of Town alongside Slayd, Dimitri and himself to ensure that Town and the surrounding areas are safe.

Please travel in pairs or groups, do not be alone! Attack from a distance when possible. Hoshiko will offer her assistance as a markswoman as well by picking off any Intellect Devourers from a distance that she can for those that are forced to travel alone. (Don't worry about any jokes she makes of her service not being cheap though. Charlie wouldn't actually let her charge you anything.)

Unfortunately, not even they can predict the blizzard that rolls through Town in the midst of all this. If you happen to see anything skittering through the snow, don't panic too much. It could just be a tiny woodland creature looking for a warm burrow to hide away in!

At least you hope it is.

PROMPT #3

Hybrid intellect devourers are unique from the regular ones in that the goal is not to kill their target, but to gather intelligence and act as a kind of spy network.

They will flee when confronted directly by greater numbers, but will attack a lone target. They do this by jumping at the target's head and wrapping a wet tendril around their neck. They will choke who they've wrapped around if anyone tries to remove it. They are also far more likely to try and attack sleeping target (hence the advice to keep your homes closed!).

These hybrids emit spores that will keep the target asleep during feeding. Their primary goal appears to be infiltrating the targets' minds and absorbing some of their memories. The target will have their mind left mostly intact... though they may suffer short term memory loss, confusion, distress, fatigue and head pain.

Here's where the fun starts!

Once one of these critters has fed on someone, they are onto their next target. When a fed Intellect Devourer feeds from another target, that target may absorb some of the previous target's memories. This can span across multiple victims and be erratic in whose memories taint whose mind. The memories will cross-pollinate in the form of dreams or waking visions and hallucinations.

If one of these creatures is killed, it will explode, releasing a powerful psionic wave and the memories it had absorbed from any recent targets. Anyone within ten (10) yards of the dying creature will be afflicted with extreme head pain in the short term and also witness the memories of it's previous victims.

Enjoy your muddled memories and leggy brain-hunting!

The outfit of people who have come to investigate are from New Svihelen's disaster containment squad and are investigating the hybrid creatures and the possible reason for an Illithid ship to crash here of all places. Right now, the running theory is that interference from the selfsame summoning circle that brought you all here could have caused the interplanar navigation systems of the ship to malfunction but nothing has been determined yet.

Eventually, these creatures will all be rounded up and taken care of. They are persistent and stealthy though in their efforts to survive above all else. Charlie assures that they're doing all they can to make Town safe once and for all but it will take some time.

Notes

⁂ The partner plotting post for this event/quarter is also up!

⁂ Additionally, we have a state of the game post available for people to read about updates, clarifications, and housekeeping items!

⁂ If you have any further questions or feedback about this event specifically, please comment here!

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[firsteditionbfs]

[Popp] point zero

[firsteditionbfs]

Some habits are so deeply ingrained in a person that, even when they know they should know better, they still fall into those habits. For Angeal, it's always been taking a hit for someone else, because he can generally take it.

And, well. That's not untrue in this case. He can take an ID latching onto him for someone else. And, fortunately, the way of things means it's easy enough to chase off of him and get him out of the moment.

Whether Popp kills it himself when it tries to make its escape, or is the victim - ultimately, the result is ultimately the same, because he is standing in a room, holding a black feather in his palm, and he feels sick.

The room is - some sort of study, an office, honestly it doesn't really matter in this moment. All that it matter is that it has Genesis tearing through desks and cabinets, muttering to himself, frantic and trying not to be. But that's Genesis. It's always been Genesis, burning hot and bright with action.

He's his eternal opposite. Right now, as he takes in the knowledge that Genesis has put onto him, all he can do is just stand there, his heart a lump of ice heavy in his chest.

The black feather feels as though it should burn straight through his palm.

He doesn't know when Genesis returns to him, but he's there suddenly, some sort of folder in one hand. The other rests along his own. Dragging his gaze up, he meets those pale blue eyes, the glow of them in this dim lighting. "We were never meant to be a part of this world, you and I," Genesis whispers. "This knowledge would always chase us down sooner or later. That we were always experiments crafted by a cruel hand."

It's human, to want to deny tragedy even when it's hanging over his shoulders. But can he still do that now...? He tries anyway. "We don't even know if I'm actually from that same project," he says, and can see Genesis's eyes flare in that temperamental and stubborn way of his. "Gen... I'll stay with you no matter what. It's just..."

That helps soothe a bit of Genesis's fire, he can tell from the way his jaw loses a little bit of tension, how his shoulders relax a touch. But it's still not enough.

"Then there's one way to know for sure," Genesis says, and his coat shifts.

A single black wing pulls out from his back, stored away in muscle and fat in no way that makes sense, and stretches out there in the room they stand in together.

Even just looking at it is enough to make him feel sick to his stomach. It's not because of how wrong it looks, either, although that doesn't help - the awkward joins of it, the way it bends sharply in places that it shouldn't. He's seen Genesis fly with just this one broken wing, and he doesn't know how.

But it's not just that.

It's what it represents.

And he is terrified of what it means to follow Genesis's subtle demand.

But he can't leave him alone. He can't say no. So he takes a breath, feels the way it seems to shake all the way through his lungs, and focuses on his own body. He's rarely done so before. If he were honest, the few times he's done so, maybe he's noticed something a little off, but... always dismissed it. Always had something more important to do.

Right now, focusing on his body is the important thing to do, as much as he hates it, so he looks inward. Feels the muscles of his back. Feels something that's more than that.

It's almost funny, in that way in which it's not funny at all, how easy it is to move muscles and internal body parts that he never knew existed until just now. Easy, but not necessarily... comfortable. How could it be, with flesh squirming against flesh, things moving underneath his skin? He has no idea just how close it is to surfacing... until he can hear, feel, his own shirt tearing just a little bit as something pushes through.

He almost doesn't dare look. But Genesis does, his gaze following the long lines of something else, and he breathes out something almost like a sigh of adoration. "Oh..." The redhead reaches up, touches gently against something so distant that it's the faintest of touches. "How beautiful."

When he finally forces himself to look, he can't see what the beauty is at all. A set of large white wings - both on the same side, one far tinier than the other. Not so broken, but not right either.

He feels sick to his stomach.

It's proof. There's no more getting back to how things were the way before. Even if they manage to cure Genesis...

"It's beautiful, Angeal."

[snapp_crackle]

Popp is well aware of the psychic explosion phenomenon by now, but he's getting so tired of people getting hurt on his behalf! He has a lot of memories to that effect that keep getting dredged up, it's a sore spot. He doesn't think twice about absolutely obliterating Annie's attacker and the last Devourer from the swarm with his first successful dualcast. He doesn't have any time to celebrate before he gets an agonizing headful of entirely new worries.

The terror, the sickening dread at reality and what it's going to do, that's familiar, and it's very disconcerting to feel that from a perspective of a guy who he looks up to as someone who has his shit together. The solid knowledge that he wants to stay with his friend (okay okay more than that but Popp isn't up to processing being second hand in love with a man for a moment on top of everything else especially since it is much closer to how he feels about Dai than it isn't) and back him up no matter what is familiar in a more positive way.

The specific dread of being some sort of non-human monster... is not familiar from the inside, that's for sure! Dragon soul aside, that is. Being wrong about who you think you are and having to face it is really upsetting, too... Popp doesn't know what the whole wing deal actually means, but he has a pretty good idea about how Angeal feels about it and that's even more upsetting!

He'd be in actual tears right now if the memory hadn't shocked him out of it with one final sideswipe. His eyes are wet and his nose is running a little anyway, but that could just be the cold.

"Wait, Annie's short for Angeal?!"

That's not important right now actually! Popp shakes him by the shoulder that he didn't have wings coming out of in the memory. Shakes in spirit, this is a lot of supersoldier to move in any capacity.

"Annie! Wake up, wake up wake up...! Don't make me carry you out of here, c'mon!"

He'd do it, or die trying, don't get him wrong, but he would complain the whole time!

[firsteditionbfs]

The good news at least is that Angeal can wake up pretty fast, for some mysterious reason that Popp might have an idea of (maybe). It doesn't take too much of a shake for the body Popp is holding onto to suddenly jump beneath his grip, and Angeal lunges into a crouch before he's even taken in a breath. He blinks his eyes a few times, just to make sure the world really has reoriented itself right, before immediately looking to Popp.

"Did we get it - oh boy, I'll take that as a yes." Reaching over, he uses a warm hand to tilt Popp's head back just a little bit. He won't wipe away the tears yet, but only if so Popp has a second to do so himself first.

"Did it give you trouble?"

[snapp_crackle]

That was fast! Inhumanly fast, even. For all of Popp's various biases, he's startled by the movement alone and not actually put off by anything he's learned about Angeal.

"No way, they're not that tough once you know where they are."

He sounds shaky, but relieved. He doesn't bother to wipe his face before Angeal can get him; but the fussing is mutual - what he's done in this time frame instead is fumble around in his pockets and retrieve a bag of hard candy.

"Here, these help a ton with the headache I bet you've got right now."

They're made from the painkilling fairy nectar. Not quite as potent as drinking it right from the frog, but much more portable.

[firsteditionbfs]

Honestly, right now, the adrenaline (and alien biology) is probably helping keep away the full force of the headache. Still, Angeal accepts the gift for what it is, and tucks a piece into his mouth. He thinks he recalls his parents saying you should always take a painkiller at the first sign of a headache rather than waiting for it to get far worse...

"Thanks," he says, tucking it into the corner of his cheek. A quick wipe of his hands on his pants, and he leans back sighing.

Alright. So. At least it's dead. That's good. But now... He eyes the look on Popp's face, whatever it may be. "How are you feeling right now?" He doesn't want to know what just happened, but he knows he should probably know.

[snapp_crackle]

Popp looks upset for certain, and in pain, though that part fades once he pops one of the nectar candies into his mouth and outright crunches it. Being upset tends to push him into aggression, and this is one of those times! He leans right into Angeal's personal space when he leans back and grabs him by his... suspenders, or lapels, or whatever equivalent is on his outfit.

"Not the least bit scared of you, first of all! You're a small town baker. That chicken in your yard's more of a threat as far as I'm concerned!"

His voice rises and cracks. There are probably more tactful ways to ease into this but tact is not Popp's specialty! He knows what he wants Annie to know first, okay?!

[firsteditionbfs]

Considering how they're both recovering from that unpleasant psychic blast, Angeal is honestly expecting at least a moment longer before there's any big reactions. Especially with how Popp had to take a candy for himself to recover from that moment.

Things are never that easy for him, however. He's pretty sure of that much if nothing else in his life.

Doesn't mean he's any less startled when Popp lunges forward, fingers in his jacket, all the kind of passion that you only really have when you're that young. It's such a surprise that he almost doesn't process what he says, but when it hits... There's a grimace. "Well, that's because you haven't seen what I can do," he says, and just... awkwardly pats one of those hands. "Try to take a breath, alright?" Because Popp seems like the kind of person who'd react badly to calm down.

And maybe he's trying to delay talking about the memory he clearly saw.

[snapp_crackle]

"Shut up! What you can do and what you would do are completely different things!"

Popp takes a sharp breath in and doesn't really calm down so much as he becomes a little more focused about all of the scrambled mess of feelings he is having all over the place.

"Some people back home were scared stiff of my friend Dai, and he's a lot like you. He has human blood, and some other things, and it makes him really strong, way stronger than any normal person could be... But he always uses his power to protect people, just like you took that hit for me just now! So - that kind of thing doesn't bother me, got it?"

A lot of this is Popp being extremely worried about his absent friend and remembering how shocked and sad he looked when the crowd in Bengarna turned on him... He's projecting a lot; Angeal is a lot more mature than Dai. He does mean everything he's saying, though.

[Avan] yesterday was better

[firsteditionbfs]

You're standing outside of your own house.

At least, it was your childhood home - a simple little two story with not a lot of room to it, crammed inbetween some other houses near to the square in this part of town. The part of town where a lot of the workers lived, including his departed father. It's not much, but it's been kept in better condition than some places thanks to all that hard work that they put into it.

And you don't dare enter, not even with Genesis. You're.... It's shameful to admit it. You're SOLDIER, First Class, and you've been in war. You've fought against monsters five times your size. Even as a child, you never felt any fear when you picked up a shovel to smack them away from the dumbapple orchards. But you're terrified right now.

You're terrified to look at your mother and not know what you'll find. What she'll think of you. But you can overhear the conversation Genesis has with her, the way she tells him don't do anything you'll regret. How she still calls him a good boy, after all this.

Genesis walks out the door like he can escape hearing those last words, but that's never worked for him. Not with his hearing.

So you take a breath, push yourself away from the wall, and step inside. Genesis is going to his own parents' house, and that... You don't know what the conversation with them will be like, but you should have enough time for your own. Genesis has a temper, and he's hurting, but... You should finish this up in time to go be with him.

Your mother sits there at the old dining table that's been in the exact same place since for as long as you can remember. Her face is tired, drawn, a life lived that you never had any idea about. Not the full extent. Her shawl is drawn tight around her shoulders, and she does the same thing you always do: a deep breath, in through her nose, before she looks up at him.

Before the mako sunk into you, you used to have her eyes. You wonder if yours look just as tired and regretful.

Even with all the time it took for you and Genesis to arrive back in Banora - Chocobo and then flight once you hit the island shores - you still don't know exactly what to say. You don't know how to feel. It is undeniable that your own mother held a part in what's so wrong with you, and Genesis, that she contributed to children becoming monsters...

But you sit at the same table, and her hand lays over your own large one, and you think about how much of your childhood - your shared childhood with Genesis staying over as much as he could get away with - how much of that was bright and shining and warm for all that you were just a poor family...

She confirms everything that Hollander told Genesis, and which Genesis told you. She confirms Project G.

And she says she's sorry.

What are you supposed to do with this knowledge? With the feelings choking your own heart and throat? You don't know what to do besides gently take her hand in your own.

That's around time that something feels wrong. It's hard to describe it, besides that the back of your neck prickles, and you realize you just - you have to go. So you're still holding your mother's hand as you get up to your feet, and you look her in the eyes. Can you offer forgiveness? Can you do it on your own, without Genesis right there at your side? You still aren't sure. But you know this: you can look her in the eyes and tell her softly, "I love you."

And you mean it, even as you let go of her hand, and make a run for the largest house in Banora, there at the top of the hill.

You've not even at the base of it before you can hear, distantly, Genesis's enraged roaring, and you kick it up a notch. A hill like this, it's not even that big, so why the hell does time drag so much as he goes up it? And the entire time, he can hear the Rhapsodos's voices. Hear an argument.

"Are you scared of me? A real father wouldn't be." Genesis's voice shouldn't be that quiet. Angeal can hear it, just barely, and it shouldn't be that quiet. Shouldn't be like a taut string. Genesis has a temper, but this-

Jean Rhapsodos, next, a voice he knows most from complaining he'd done at his own parents. "They said you were missing. The Director called-"

"A real father would be happy to see his missing son again."

"Why did you come to Banora-?"

"Real parents wouldn't have a shotgun to greet their son. Are you afraid of me? Are you scared of me?"

You're not fast enough to beat the speed of words, the quickening pace of the argument, a spray of firepower suddenly going through the open doorway up ahead. The spray of blood up ahead.

By the time you make it to the door, and screaming from Catarina Rhapsodos stops, it's far too late.

Your soulmate lets out a long, slow breath as though he hasn't breathed in years. You don't think he realizes it, but his body is shaking. From what he's done, or from his normally fast healing factor needing to pull all the energy to can?

Genesis's voice is - it's not right, it's not right. It should never be this quiet, should never be this unsteady and violent, a flame in a hurricane. You can't tell if it's going to be snuffed out, or become a firestorm. "I have a warpath to carve against ShinRa. I start with their deceivers. I stop the lies before they can hurt me anymore."

For a moment, you and Genesis just stand there, together, in his old home, the bodies of his parents at his feet. You feel sick. You should have stopped this, and you didn't. Even if they were just lying about their care for Genesis, even if they were just ShinRa plants from the day Genesis was born, you should have stopped this, shouldn't you've?

Rapier hits the ground hard, and you jolt, gaze snapping back into focus right onto Genesis, right where it always goes. He's swaying in place, now, unsteady, and - fuck, fuck, blood loss again, he got hit with a shotgun, and you dig your fingers into your pocket for a Cure materia -

"Mom?" You freeze. Genesis is looking right down to where Catarina's body is laying, cooling in the Banoran heat. "Mom?" he echoes again, and there's a hint of begging to his voice. Like - like he doesn't understand. Doesn't realize she's dead for good, even as he hits the floor next to her dead body.

You are going to throw up.

You should have stopped this.

"Mom..." He's sobbing, and you could kill yourself right now, guide his hand to your throat and slit it, too, but you can't do that to him, not in front of his own eyes. So you just force yourself forward as he crumples to the ground. Help him up, hand to his back and shoulders, even as he grabs Rapier to make the job easier. "Why you?" he mutters, tears carving a path down his cheeks, carrying blood splatters down with him. "I trusted you my whole life..."

On one level, you know he's speaking to people who can no longer answer him. You know he is demanding an answer from the lips of corpses. And yet, as you stand there besides him, you feel it's on you.

You should have stopped this, because Genesis trusts you, and you didn't.

All you can do is pathetically make up for it all, your arms around him, and trying to keep your breath steady from where it slips into his hair along with your face. "I'll dig graves," you say, and you don't know if your voice is steady enough. "Let's go, Genesis."

Genesis looks at you, then, and you try not to think too hard about - everything. The way his eyes have lost their shine, grown paler. How his skin has only lost color all the more since Wutai. It takes him a second to focus on you, really focus properly on you, and you're not sure if it's just because of grief.

"Angeal," he breathes, as though you're salvation, as though you're an answer, and you don't deserve it. You don't deserve the way he looks at you, his hand finding your wrist and tightening hard around it. You notice there's holes in the back of his glove, small wood splinters still clinging. "You'll stay with me, won't you? You'll help me - with them, with all of ShinRa?"

And what can you say?

"Always, Genesis."

And that's around the time that Angeal yanks an ID straight from where Avan had poked his head out a window, claws clenched tight around the nuisance brain. "Got you," he growls, the sound definitively more animalistic than normal thanks to the changes he's gone through. He doesn't destroy it immediately - not after the encounters he's had so far - but instead shoves it into... yeah that's sure a burlap bag. Do not worry about it!

Then again, if Avan didn't worry about things, he would haven't suck his head out the window in the first place at all the ruckus (perhaps mild explosions) that involved chasing a walking brain.

[1/2]

[avanture_time]

That sure is a lot to take in all at once! But Angeal will be able to see it on Avan's face when he peels the intellectual devourer off of him: his primary takeaway from what he's seen is anger, a righteous fury at this tragedy that never should have come to pass. The fierce scowl would make for a comedic contrast with the pink bandana tied around his hair to keep it out of the way in the kitchen, if it weren't so uncharacteristic.

[avanture_time]

And then it's gone, replaced with a more typical look of concerned confusion.

"Mr. Angeal? How are you planning to kill it?"

Because he can understand not wanting to kill it right here given the whole, y'know, exploding thing, but he is going to kill it, right?

[firsteditionbfs]

Angeal knows what that look means. It was quick, but he's on high alert due to the situation they're all in, so he spots it. Which, well.

Fuck him.

He tries not to think too heavily on that, at risk of getting distracted. Instead, he just ties up the sack quick and decisively, despite all the thrashing that's already kicking off inside of it. "At a distance," he says gruffly. "Going to turn this thing into fireworks. My husband loves a chance to shot a large enough fireball at something. And if we get it airborn, it won't have anything to hit in the aftermath."

So he doesn't have to see anyone else's memories either.

Fucking thing.

"Do you need a second to sit down? I know these things can be problematic."

[avanture_time]

"No, I'm alright. I'd be in trouble if they actually devoured intellect, though!"

He laughs at his own stupid joke and rubs the back of his head.

"I'd invite you in for some tea or snacks, but I'm guessing you want to take care of that thing right away. Oh, but hold on a second before you go!"

With that, Avan disappears from the window. If Angeal looks in, he'll see that Avan was cooking something, but smartly removed the pot from the heat before sticking his head out of the window. Avan himself is rapidly working on something on the counter nearby, but his back is to the window, so Angeal wouldn't be able to see it. Regardless, it's not long before Avan returns to the window, holding a small pouch that he holds out.

"Here, take this. It's full of candy made from fae nectar. It'll help with the headaches if you can't get it far up enough!"

[firsteditionbfs]

Well, it's good to see someone that knows a bit of kitchen safety. The last thing they need, with everything else that's going on, is a sudden fire. Sure, there's probably plenty of houses to move into that would replace it.. but that doesn't do anything for the trauma and pain of losing a house, nor the effort it would take from the rest of them to put out the flames. Plenty of time for other critters to escape on the loose.

So Angeal just braces himself against the window sill, making sure that the ID is tied up securely. The candy he's given is familiar, thanks to patrolling with Popp, and he accepts the little pouch.

"Thanks. I have a pretty good throwing arm, so it shouldn't be too bad." But better to have something than not. Although before he goes...

Ugh. There's no good way to bring this up. His jaw tenses a bit. "...Listen. Whatever you saw, don't worry about it."

It's.... fine. ish.

[avanture_time]

Ah, his reaction must have shown on his face. But now that face broadens into a wide, toothy smile.

"Hehehe, it looks like maybe I should be the one saying that!"

And then that cheeky grin softens, becoming something more gentle and sincere.

"I didn't see anything that would change my opinion of you, and I'm not the kind of guy who gossips, either. You don't have anything to worry about from me."

[firsteditionbfs]

That's at least something, but Angeal doesn't look entirely reassured. It's nothing against Avan, of course, just... Well. Words are easy to say. It's just hard to figure out immediately what will stick.

That, and, well... His mouth twists. "Even so, you probably understand that something even leaking out a little bit isn't exactly... pleasant to know." Just an uncomfortable feeling in general, in more than a few ways. Still, he guesses he has to be upfront. "What was it?"

He should at least put the anxiety of not knowing to rest.

[avanture_time]

"Ah, well, I don't have all the context, but..." Avan places a finger on his chin as he glances up and to the side, recalling the memory. "You and Mr. Genesis visited your mother, and after he left, she told you about an experiment performed on the two of you."

He doesn't bother going into detail because, well, obviously Angeal already knows. He doesn't mention that he saw what happened after that because, well, obviously Angeal's already worried enough. Avan knows the knowledge won't be a problem, so there's no reason to concern Angeal with it.

He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry if I made a scary face! Not even I can forgive such callous regard for children!"

[Rosie] never second guessing

[firsteditionbfs]

Rosie looks in on herself.

It's probably a funny feeling, as is the feeling of actually being tall for once in her life. You know, tall in the way that lets her fit into the average human building. And this is more than just a simple human building, but a little karaoke booth for the two of them. Two of you?

The Rosie that she can see seems to have shorter hair, and a distinct thought that lays in the background of her mind of how there should still be a ring on her finger (but it's not his place to judge). Really, it's such a quiet background thought that it might get completely washed away because she gets to watch herself make a silly sort of 'oops aw fuck' smile after a flicker of some sort of emotional vulnerability and ask a simple question. Ask about what he cam here for.

And there is an overwhelming tide of oh fuck, right.

The following conversation is an awkward mess. The dancing around the timing of the conversation. Knowledge that at least one version of Rosie has made a shipping chart. A deep belief that, apparently, Angeal Hewley-Rhapsodos is gay.

And she herself, having to say with his mouth, that actually he's not.

The tears are nearly immediate, following the crack of her voice, and she's just not fast enough to hide it as she ducks her head down. The trepidation that Rosie as the viewer can feel overflows into concern and a sort of regret - not at the truth but that the pain she's feeling can't be taken away in any capacity. Not in an easy magic wish sort of way, at any rate.

The only way to fix this is to keep pushing through, she does, rubbing her own back with a large sturdy hand. An understanding somewhere deep in her bones - in Angeal's bones - that he should be someone's rock, and he wants to be.

There's some talk. The admission that Angeal has never wanted to betray her. Rosie in turn admitting to some rather deep-seated issues on her self worth. An instance in which Rosie's whole-ass head is taken in Angeal's massive hands and turned to face him, which could probably be a sexy thing in any other scenario that wasn't the confrontation of her sex-based self worth by someone whose opinion she very obviously cares about.

And then words. Said in a voice deeper than Rosie's, even as she in some way says them, or experiences the feeling of saying them.

"I realized that I liked our relationship so much more without sex ever being involved."

Rosie gets to watch herself take this in. Talk about her own experiences in a world with such... encouraged sex, and the realization that it still doesn't have to happen if they don't want to. That maybe...

"I think I like it more this way, too."

And she looks down at a Rosalina Nurumi with slightly red eyes and messy white hair who looks up and smiles. Soft and, even despite everything, happy.

If the secondhand feelings she gets to feel in this moment are any indication, a soft happiness can be no less deep and powerful enough to be aching in all the best ways. That's what Angeal's heart says, even as the conversation moves into sillier topics, unimportant ones in the grand scheme of things. Smiles that are brighter, and a little more ridiculous, even when they finally pick up long abandoned drinks and hold them up to each other.

Kanpai, Rosie.

And Angeal lightly smacks her cheeks a couple of times. "Rosie? Can you hear me?" He really hopes that she didn't see anything too fucked up, considering her whole life is already like that, but, well, it's not like he ever gets his wishes granted with these sort of situations. All he can do is hope that she feels alright enough.

Maybe if they're both lucky, she won't remember what lead to her getting jumped by those god damn brains.

[hasitsthorns]

It is a surreal experience to see herself through someone else's eyes. She feels both large and so tiny simultaneously; it is a bit novel, being so tall in this perspective, but hard to really appreciate it with the scene unfolding as it is. (There is a lot to process, really, and she does get a little stuck briefly on that ring- Was she married? Or going to be? What happened?)

In a way, she can also find the comic, cosmic irony in it all: That Rosie believed Angeal to be gay. This one did too, actually, but only because he knew who the other gay men were (like Ardyn) and she only ever heard of his boyfriends. It made sense. But it also makes sense, really, that she would assume such a thing in two realities over. At least, in this one, she didn't put her foot so horrendously in her mouth about it.

Here, she can see what a friendship like Angeal's would mean to her as just that. She can see what a man wanting her - not her body, but her - could look like. And that it could be okay. It could even be better than okay, in the end. It could be something that heals and helped her in ways she couldn't fathom even from the memory alone despite the echoes of those feelings present.

As her mind switches from Amani remembrance through Angeal's eyes to the current day, she can hear him. It takes a moment to un-cross the wires of 'that's his voice, not mine' and that she's back in her own body. Man. Yeah, the world is a lot smaller like this. That kind of sucks, but- She'll swoon over a much taller man before long and remember how much she enjoys her height.

"Yeah. Yeah, I. I-" Lucidity comes with fresh waves of emotion. It's almost on instinct, really, as she starts to cry that she also reaches out to hug him tightly. "I saw me. As you? And we were talking, and-" She's trying to articulate it, but she might need to take a moment to remember how to breathe and form coherent words once more.

[firsteditionbfs]

Automatically, without even thinking twice about it, he wraps his arms around her in return as she embraces him. His hand goes to her hair, slowly stroking it. "Hey hey hey." Soft, meaningless little words that are meant more to let her know she's not alone than to truly articulate anything.

"Take your time. Take a breath."

And he can only hope she really didn't see a memory about when she died.

[hasitsthorns]

"It was my birthday?" she manages next, more a question because she thinks it was from what she can recall. A celebration for her, at least, and that's what she assumed cake and alcohol would mean.

Her breath comes in damp, shallow gasps still for a moment before leveling out to something less painful for her and perhaps difficult to listen to as well. Her grip on him is so tight, at first, but then gradually loosens as she is soothed. She wants to say more, but she's still reeling from all the strange, conflicting emotions and trying to find the right words to explain what she did see.

[firsteditionbfs]

Aw fuck. If it was her birthday, then... No, no, it's fine. Angeal tries to tell himself this. He can... find a way to spin this so it's not so much as a disaster.

Although... Somehow, it doesn't feel like the right kind of tears for learning she died. He doesn't know what kind of tears they are yet, granted, but something about them is just different.

One thing at a time. He continues to rub her back a few times more - an experience that may feel weirdly familiar thanks to that memory, even if she's now on the other side of it. "Okay. Do you think you can get up? We'll get you sat down somewhere, get something to drink. Replenish those fluids. Alright?"

[hasitsthorns]

Somewhere, she knows from that memory that she met a terrible fate. Angeal had thought it, had felt worried about her state after- It clicked into place what he was referring to now that she is sifting through all the thoughts, feelings, and perspective that wasn't hers. The tactile feeling of the hand rubbing against her back is familiar yet still distant as she remembers part of a life that wasn't necessarily hers.

"Right," she answers, to his statement but also to that she can get up. "We, uhm. We were talking, and- I got upset? About something unrelated, but somehow it came up that I thought you weren't into me. And you weren't - aren't? - but not... in a bad way, just." It's hard for this Rosie to conceptualize, honestly, that anyone would like her for reasons beyond her fuckability when that was all she was told mattered the last few years. At least, that any straight or bisexual man would so it's why she'd safely assumed Angeal was gay. If her main appeal wasn't applicable, then it made sense to find the other parts of her enjoyable since there was no choice. But when there was and they didn't go for the immediate draw of how hot she was, it just felt like a failure on her part after being conditioned to dump all her worth into the success rate of seduction.

"Sorry, I'm trying to make sense. It was just... a lot take in, suddenly."

[firsteditionbfs]

If Rosie says she's good to get up on her feet, well. Then Angeal will choose to believe her. So he gets up a little more, one hand to hers and another at her back, helping her rise up. Just in case she needs something to steady her.

Especially when she reveals more of the details and ah. It was that conversation, rather than a different one. Relief floods through Angeal, for more reasons than one.

One kind is, of course, that he doesn't have to explain to her the clusterfuck that was her death. But the other is simply... He knows, a bit, that she hasn't really believed him about some things he's said. About his confidence in her, about how to be friends with her, all those little things. It hasn't stopped him from sticking with her, just... It's been a bit of a bump in the road, something he had figured he'd have to keep chipping away at for ages.

Probably he'll still have to keep pushing forward a bit... but if she's seen that, then maybe...

"I know," he reassures her gently. "It was a pretty big conversation. I remember being on pins and needles for it." Rosie can remember this too, better than another version of herself can even. "You... don't have to talk about it right away, you know. Let's just go and sit down for a second, okay?" Until she can get over the crying headache, anyway.