lingeringlegacy | 07 ☆ Returning Returner

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07 ☆ Returning Returner

The Tree has seen fit to greet my return from the elevator with a flashy getup I cannot change out of and alterations to my personal effects. I suppose it confirms that one thing has not changed since I last wrote.

Youth, 00, Smoke, Mindelan, Gene, Huo & Hawk - My gratitude for your concerns. I am safe and sound. It was difficult to tell apart day and night back there, but from the cycle of eating and getting hungry, I estimate 1-2 days have passed. Yet, the number of journal pages filled suggests a longer period. How long have I been away? I ~~mis~~ would enjoy meeting you over a cup of tea or coffee. Or pie or pasta. Or anything, really. Foodless is fine too.

Dr Valeth and [Housekeeping NPC supervisor] - My apologies for the absence. I shall report for duty on Monday if it is acceptable to you. By acceptable I also refer to the long fringe trims on my jacket. They look awfully easy to get caught in things.

How did post-hurricane cleanup go for everyone? My house got through just fine, but the humidity seemed quite severe, judging from the state of my components rack. (Unlikely but) does anyone have a proper chamber oven for baking PCBAs? Otherwise I'll have to use a toaster oven but... not sure if the heat distribution's even enough.

-Stellaris

[ooc: Mun feels like going local. For the Rockstar event, Stellaris is dressed as Anggun from her 90s 'lady rocker' days [1][2], meaning: red beret & garish fringe jacket, with black top, denim shorts and suede boots. Accessories include xbox hueg digital watch, at least 3 necklaces and enough bangles to compete with an Indian bride.]

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[The corner of his mouth quirked upward in satisfaction at the pink tone spreading over Stellaris's cheeks and he gave the fringe one last playful swat before answering her.]

Hopefully you won't have to sneak up on anyone any time soon.

[He paused for a moment as he tried to recall the events of the past few weeks.]

You've heard about the reconstruction efforts already, so I won't bore you with that. There was a little event in the park. A barbecue with food shaped like people in the Sphere. It was kind of creepy. [A huge understatement given what the event was meant to signify, but he wouldn't get into that just now.] A lot of people got their names back and, recently, a lot of our weapons have been replaced with harmless stand-ins. I think that's all the high points.

[He considered mentioning that Youth's son had disappeared, but he didn't know if the two were close and if she'd even know who he was referring to.]

[It's easy, too easy to slip to playfulness with him.] I'll have you sneak up for me if it comes to that.

It sounds like the usual fare, then. [She didn't think the food's resemblance to people would be that much.] I just met Gai, so I know about his. Who else get their name back?

Because I'm so stealthy at the moment? [He spread his hands a little to emphasize his outrageous state of dress.] Though, with all this black I think I'd be set to take someone by surprise at night.

Something like that. [So she did know You-Gai. That would be good to keep in mind.] Let's see, there's Derrick, now known as Richard Castle. Or just Rick. And some guy that used to go by Lea who's now known as Axel. I believe that's it. Doesn't seem like much, but it's rare that they happen so close to one another.

[Or maybe many weren't open about their real names. He knew Neil wasn't.]

So what about your time away, hm? I was promised stories about weightless frolicking, after all.

Diversion tactics! They'd be too distracted to realise you're spying on them. [She really just made them up on the spot.]

I don't know Derick, but he's... Genius' brother, if I recall correctly? I know Lea as Kagerou's brother. I'm glad she's back now.

[Yes, Derick with one 'r'. Genius typo'ed his name on her Adhoc Storage post. And Kagerou's return was definitely a factor to 00 looking happier now than she was in the Camp.]

Maybe we should find a seat before I tell you about that.

Ahh, clever. [While he didn't show it, there was... something about that last phrase that struck home. Hm.]

That he is. And I saw that she had. Quite a few people seemed relieved for it. [He'd only talked to her a bit over the journals but she certainly came across as a nice girl.]

That exciting, hm? In that case... [He craned his neck and looked out over the crowd to spot a small outdoor cafe, which he pointed out to her.] Will that do?

[She nodded, advancing to the cafe with a crink-crank along the way, tugging the small wheeled suitcase she always took for major shopping trips. Picking a spot furthest from the counter, she skimmed the tabletop menu. Her voice was such that only Gene could hear her. It was not top secret, but not something relevant to others.]

Well, as the words implied, I was somewhere like a space station. Aim told me before that he visited a familiar setting in the fourth floor, so when the elevator jammed, I wasn't too surprised.

[Having seated himself opposite of her, Gene nodded a bit at the description.]

Were there any defining characteristics about the place? Anything in particular that stood out?

Aside from the microgravity, I recognised it as space because our ringed Earth is visible from an observation deck. The place was incredibly spacious, with some very long hallways, but most of the doors are locked.

[She was interrupted when a waitress came to take their orders. Hers was caramel latte.]

[Gene requested coffee with milk, no sugar, then turned back to Stellaris once the waitress trotted off.]

Hm. Do you think it was a base of sorts, or did it seem better suited to research and observation?

[Gene found himself wondering if this was the same place that Stardust had described from her memory.]

It's hard to tell when I was locked out of most places, but among those I could access was a huge hall adjacent to airlocks. My guess would be hangar. And there was another room but... [Furrowing her brows, her eyes shifted to the right.] it had a really eerie atmosphere. Dimmed fluorescent lights, and... a lot of large glass containers. Reminiscent of the glass cocoons that covered those people with hourglasses some time ago. Did those remind you of anything?

A hangar makes sense, all things considered.

[Gene's brows raised slightly at the description of the unsettling room.]

Aside from coffins? [Because, unfortunately, that's very much what the hourglass cocoons reminded him of.] ...Maybe something medical, like a type of hyperbaric chamber. It'd make sense, if it was the same size as the cocoons. Or maybe a sort of specimen container, if the place was geared towards research in space.

[Stellaris nodded.] It's logical for any kind of space structure to have a hangar. The hall's empty, but appears to be high enough for a Gundam.

I don't think people make coffins out of glass. ...or do they? [The instinctual feeling she had when seeing Amurui's glass cocoon in the park was not one of hopelessness, but like waiting for someone to regain consciousness.] But they don't look like coffins to me. They're vertical, connected to some kind of wall terminal, and lots of wires. But the power was down.

Not in any normal, practical senses. I think it's been done for religious displays and reliquaries, though. [Though he couldn't remember any specific examples beyond a vague feeling that it was something that was done. ...Not that it was particularly relevant to the conversation to remember, and so he shook his head and focused on the important details.]

Vertical and connected to a terminal with wires... maybe they were used to run some sort of diagnostic. Did it look like the sort of thing someone could step into?

[His question made her momentarily shudder.]

It did. I—I did... I stepped inside. I got tired and there weren't anywhere I can rest at without floating aimlessly, so I...

[She went silent. It was hard to find words to convey the intense anxiety she felt inside one of those glass pods.]

[His eyes widened visibly at this news. That wasn't what he had expected to hear. Though it did seem to answer whether the receptacles were meant to hold people or not.]

Damn. That sounds really claustrophobic. [It would be hard to miss the unease evident in her voice and expression.] ...Are you all right?

[Sure, she had seemed physically sound, but that didn't necessarily cover all the bases of well-being.]

[It was embarrassing to be seen unable to control her emotions. She thought it was over; the visceral reaction should have stayed behind after leaving that room. She looked down at her shaky, clasped hands on the table—when it started shaking, she didn't know.

The waitress arrived with their order at that moment. Seeing Stellaris' pale face, she cast a suspicious glance at Gene while setting their cups on the table.]

[The waitress's suspicious look was met with a look that said she could very well bugger off. The woman narrowed her eyes at him, sniffed indignantly, then turned to see to another table.]

Hey... [Gene hadn't missed the fact that her hands were shaking. He reached out to rest a hand on top of her clasped ones.] I guess avoiding small spaces made of glass is something to keep in mind for the future, hm?

[There was a bit of levity to his voice, an effort to make whatever it was that was getting to her seem less dire.]

[Stellaris briefly caught the waitress' look and sniff as she turned to thank her for the coffee, but she forgot what she was going to do when the surprise touch landed on her hands. At first she stiffened, before letting out a whiff. Something was unclogged in her mind but made her want to simultaneously laugh and cry.]

That was... I... seem to be growing a list of things to avoid, do I? And I had wanted to just... relax today. With you and the others.

[She tried smiling, and got the intent in Gene's tone, but at the moment many emotions flurried inside her brain.]

[He caught the stiffening in Stellaris's posture, but attributed it the subject matter making her jumpy. Her statement only furthered that impression.]

That tends to happen a lot around here, sorry to say. [He had certainly accumulated his fair share of things to avoid. Gene gave her hands a small squeeze before letting go in order to set the guitar slung over his back on the ground, as it had started to dig into his back.]

So how many of the others have you managed to run across today? [It seemed like a subject change was in order. As shaken as Stellaris appeared to be, it didn't look like talking about the fourth floor was going to get anywhere.]

Edited 2010-11-12 18:52 (UTC)

Everyone takes it so well, I don't know why I—

[She felt a pang at the squeeze on her hand, unsure if she wanted his hand to stay or leave. She did not know why certain things filled her with dread. The first trail of thought was something—or things—must have happened in her past life. Bad things. Things that made her scream in that dream as if her throat was going to burst. Reaching for the latte cup and sipping the warm drink gave her something to do, at least.]

...I went to 00's house earlier, then met Gai for a sushi lunch.

I don't know if I'd say that. Sometimes it's easy to miss when people take something badly.

[He had certainly had his share of negative reactions, though his first instinct was to pull away and avoid everyone when something truly bothered him. He wasn't exactly the type to talk it out.]

Is that so? Gai... didn't make the sushi himself, did he? [He had heard things about Gai's cooking, but it was hard to tell if Bell was exaggerating about that or not. And she wasn't showing any signs of food poisoning, which was encouraging.]

Edited 2010-11-13 20:00 (UTC)

[What Gene said was logical. But in so many occasions all she saw was her getting moody or distressed while people remained steady. She heaved a sigh and remarked meekly.]

Sometimes it just feels I'm worse at handling it than most...

[But instead it was like hitting an invisible wall, multiple times because you were never sure where the boundaries lied. And the current trail of conversation could not be fruitful, she thought.]

No, we went to a joint near the burger place. Have you ever been there?

Eh, reactions like that are usually pretty circumstantial. I'm sure the roles are likely to be reversed at some point. [He shrugged, leaving it at that.]

Can't say that I have. [His brows draw together and he looks a little leery.] Raw fish was never much of a draw for me. I feel like it might twitch when I'm least expecting it.

Hmm. You could be right.

[She closed her eyes for two seconds, composing herself. Perhaps it was still hard to recall her fourth floor experience, but she told herself that after getting calmer, she could just write it down in her normal notebook and show it to Gene later.]

Is that so? [His leery look pulled a soft laugh.] When the ingredients are fresh, like what I just had, I think they're delectable. But they serve cooked, fusion-types too if you ever want to try.

I... think I'll try my hand at that cooked version before venturing into any raw food frontiers.

[It wasn't that Gene wasn't adventurous, or disinclined to experiment. But... he just had a hard time fathoming why someone would have something raw when taking the next step to cook it couldn't take that long.]

07 ☆ Returning Returner

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