( funnily enough that's one of the conversations he's fixated on, and he's honestly boiling with rage listening to what he feels are a couple of suspicious, untrustworthy as-good-as-Lords manipulating his dad. and also the "i'd die for the cause" thing? NOT COOL? but he can't really say shit, because isn't he just as bad, talking about giving his masks away and feeling responsible?
so he just... goes blank for a second, staring at the words on the page. yeah? of course it's zephyr? why—
( "forgot," or like, just never apparently knew in the first place? he still doesn't understand that memory discrepancy thing, but it hasn't been that much of a roadblock until, uh. until now. )
i didn't really know how to bring it up. you would've thought i was crazy. or got upset or something. he's been here all along. same as me. and yeah, he's real.
i wouldn't have believed it either if i hadn't found out the way i did. kind of a sucky time for you to find out though. this whole thing with the leaders is crap. and there he is giving them the speech like they aren't just counting on people like him to
anyway, i dunno. sorry i didn't mention it sooner.
And.. you know, I'd much rather find out this way. This place could do so much worse.
[ for example: Finding out he was here by finding a freshly dead zephyr? THAT WOULD BE WAY WORSE ]
They're all kind of really terrible at working together, aren't they? But your d Zephyr, even in the short time I knew him, he had a knack for making people work together, even if they didn't want to. Is it really a bad thing if he could manage that here too?
ran into him in person. it was my first week here and the first time i ever saw what the incense could do. jaguar sent a bunch of us from the coterie to coatepec to meet some of their people, but halfway there one of the guys i was with just started going insane and trying to kill us. everybody started attacking each other and then the wolf monsters showed up in the middle of it and i was the only person who got away. i was just booking it toward coatepec covered in blood and kinda freaking out and that's when i found him getting piled on by wolves. i thought i just completely lost my mind
( frankly all these months later he's not 100% convinced he didn't, or hasn't. the falneitz was acting crazy, maybe it blew up in space and this is all just some kind of Afterlife Space Fever Dream?? anyways. )
i guess. i just don't know if i trust them. only thing i do trust in that situation is him. he's not stupid, so i'm staying out of it.
[ There's a really long pause before everything Law has written receives any kind of response. The words remain on her lap, fingers clutching the journal, and there's a faint hoot from a certain bird as he wiggles his way onto her lap, peering up in concern.
Kiichpan may have been awful, but at least her initial arrival had been relatively simple by comparison. Wrapping her fingers around her medallion with its melted edges, she takes a breath. ]
Law..?
Hey..
If I'd been through that, I...I know I'd feel the same way. Especially if it was my dad. [especially if. He knows full well how intimately familiar she is with losing a parent.] That whole mission sounds so awful. And that was just your first week here?
I still wouldn't be trusting my eyes or anything else, if that had been me.
I think not trusting those 'leaders' is the smart play here, but you..You should tell your dad. That you trust him. So he knows you're watching his back, just in case. Even if you think he already knows.
( when there's no written reply, he's not really sure what to make of it. probably that she just doesn't know what to say to all that, which... valid. reading over what he wrote, he has to admit it's kind of a huge blob of words, kind of an infodump, and also the story is... pretty fucked up? sitting there half-listening to the coterie post and half trying to wonder what he'd do if this were reversed, he wouldn't know what to say either. so that's okay.
but then he gives a start when Rinwell cuts through the chatter on his medallion and takes over, the chain dangling from his wrist and the medallion itself laying on the table—speakerphone. )
O-Oh, hey. I—yeah, I mean, it was a real wakeup call, but it—it turned out okay, so it's no big deal. Besides the part where the other Jaguars died, but uh... y'know.
( shit happens i guess? )
I don't know if... I mean... it's kinda none of my business, isn't it? Besides, he's probably right. My gut feeling is like, broken. Everybody that sounds off to me isn't another Ganabelt, y'know? And it's not always that black and white no matter how things look. So... it's kinda dumb to feel...
( sighing uneasily, why is it so hard to just say? and then he realizes he's doing that thing again where he just kind of dumps his thoughts on her and stops short. )
Nah, never mind, it's stupid. Geez, you're the one that just found out he was here, shouldn't you be the one talking to him? I know he'd like to hear from you.
[ Given he'd been concentrating on the broadcast, it doesn't entirely surprise Rinwell that he wasn't expecting her to reach more directly; after all, she'd started it with the messages, hadn't she?
She likes that he's never held back from trying to tell her things, info dump or no, even when he couldn't find all the words right away. And maybe, just maybe, she's still worried after all that dead-inside burnout, where the honesty cut a little too close to the bone sometimes. And now, where he's just shying away from it instead. Or so it sounds to her ears, at least. ]
It sounds like a big deal to me. [softly] For anyone to have to deal with.
[ Sure, shit happens, but you don't have to pretend it didn't. ]
Being here and having to live with everything, whether we want to or not, kind of makes it our business, though. [ours - not just his; he's not alone in his doubts, not from where she's sitting] You and I both lived in Cyslodia...maybe it's just one perspective, but it's one that everyone else lacks. That they won't consider when they're listening to these people, because they never had to live under Ganabelt's rule, how the city was back then. So...Why would you think it's dumb to worry about that?
I don't think it's stupid.
[ She pulls her knees up to her chest, carefully wrapping an arm about her legs; Hootle burbles softly as he flutters in place, regaining his balance. ]
He would..? Why?
[ She's...well, she has missed his presence. A lot. He made a big impression in a very short period of time on her. But she's not anywhere near as important a person to Zephyr as Law is. ]
( it's a relief to hear he's not the only one to see what he sees when listening to the conversations taking place on that broadcast. maybe it's because Rinwell lived in Cyslodia her whole life and he hadn't, but Law's tended to assume the best of people in most cases that allow him the luxury of it in a way that sometimes put his judgment at odds with hers. still, he hasn't forgotten those silent glances they'd sometimes shoot at each other—even about their own friends. he kind of missed that reassurance. the yeah, seems sus to me too. )
Well, yeah. It not that part, exactly. It's just... ugh...
( getting the words out of his mouth feel impossible, but after a false start he finally manages it: )
I just feel... protective of him. I guess. A-A little.
( not a little, a lot. but Rinwell wouldn't know just how much the game has changed since Cysloden—hasn't seen the letter he found, or noticed the way they act around each other. but then again, would anyone else really get it, either? he hasn't talked about it. )
Why wouldn't he want to hear from you? He saw you before you, uh, lost your memory or whatever happened, and if he was like me, hasn't seen you since. And you guys knew each other, right? So...
[ 'The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.'
Growing up with Renan broadcasts means the one over the medallions is beyond childish by comparison - and poorly scripted, given the literal brawl that seemed to occur earlier. That doesn't mean Rinwell trusts those words, even as Viper had, eventually, started answering the questions she'd peppered her with.
She can't help the tiny smile that forms at Law's admittance, however, not that he can see it. Might be audible, though. ]
I'd be too, in your shoes. I mean, he's your family. [softly] You got your father back, Law.
[ Of course you'd be extra protective. Who wouldn't be? ]
Oh. I guess.. [..If he's been here as long as Law has, then...There's a faint groan.] This memory lapse...thing is really annoying.
( soft, awkward, but a little mollified. it doesn't quite strike at the heart of the matter, but if his surface-level feelings are validated, then at least that gives him some purchase. he's not really sure what to make of the smile, though. and this is a sensitive topic for Rinwell—he hasn't forgotten the last time, what if he messes it up again?
just. don't say anything critically stupid this time, Law. how hard is it?? )
It probably should've been complicated, and I guess it is, but I just kinda... I don't care about all that. The stuff in the past. Just that he's here, and I, uh... it's the only chance we're gonna get.
( he opts for "we" instead of "I" because it's safer. )
No kidding. I still don't get... eh, it's okay, though. We'll get you back up to speed. All that matters is you're safe.
Feelings make stuff way more complicated than they probably should be. Even when they're valid ones to be having.
[ Good feelings, as well as the bad and sad ones. It's very easy to be blinded by them, whether you're ready for them or not.
There's a soft churrr in her ear (and no doubt audible on the line) as Hootle reclaims his shoulder perch and cuddles close under her chin, and she gives him a light scritch just above his beak. ]
So you don't care about the past, but you're still letting it hold you back - theirs and yours?
[she picks gently at the logic there; she's always been better at that than emotions - but she's trying. that's the important part, right?]
If this really is the only chance you both have, then what are you waiting for, Law?
[ She wouldn't, if she was in his shoes. And maybe, someday, she might be. This world is crazy enough that it's a possibility - and that's a different level of frightening thoughts to have all together. ]
..I'd feel safer if we were all safe together.
[she's reluctant to admit that, but it's true nonetheless. the stray feral mageling misses having a friend unit in one place to rely on.]
Edited (edits that laaaast bit out, whoops) Date: 2022-02-01 09:52 pm (UTC)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 10:50 pm (UTC)The pen work looks unusually sloppy, as though her hand might be shaking. (it is) ]
Me too.
I didn't realise you could hear everyone talking on these, if you just activate it and listen. But..
Law, there's someone who
[ ..is he going to think she's crazy if she finishes this sentence?
there's a series of dots, as she keeps listening to the chatter, before she starts again. ]
One of the guys talking to Salamander.
They kind of sound like Zephyr
no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 10:59 pm (UTC)so he just... goes blank for a second, staring at the words on the page. yeah? of course it's zephyr? why—
oh.
oh shit. )
that's because it
is
it is zephyr. that's my dad.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 11:09 pm (UTC)but
[ 404 rinwell.exe has encountered a problem, please stand by ]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 11:39 pm (UTC)i forgot you
( "forgot," or like, just never apparently knew in the first place? he still doesn't understand that memory discrepancy thing, but it hasn't been that much of a roadblock until, uh. until now. )
i didn't really know how to bring it up. you would've thought i was crazy. or got upset or something.
he's been here all along. same as me. and yeah, he's real.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-28 11:45 pm (UTC)Think you were right. Not to say anything. Right away, I mean. It was already really weird, and I
I can't believe you forgot to tell me later though, wow, Law
:P
That's. Gotta be a lot, though.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 12:22 am (UTC)would you have actually believed me??
it's
definitely a lot.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 12:28 am (UTC)Or cities being set on fire.
But I WOULD have believed you, eventually. You're not a liar, Law. And this...this isn't something you would lie about. Ever.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 12:44 am (UTC)i wouldn't have believed it either if i hadn't found out the way i did.
kind of a sucky time for you to find out though. this whole thing with the leaders is crap. and there he is giving them the speech like they aren't just counting on people like him to
anyway, i dunno. sorry i didn't mention it sooner.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 12:53 am (UTC)And.. you know, I'd much rather find out this way. This place could do so much worse.
[ for example: Finding out he was here by finding a freshly dead zephyr? THAT WOULD BE WAY WORSE ]
They're all kind of really terrible at working together, aren't they? But
your dZephyr, even in the short time I knew him, he had a knack for making people work together, even if they didn't want to. Is it really a bad thing if he could manage that here too?no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 12:59 am (UTC)everybody started attacking each other and then the wolf monsters showed up in the middle of it and
i was the only person who got away.
i was just booking it toward coatepec covered in blood and kinda freaking out and that's when i found him getting piled on by wolves.
i thought i just completely lost my mind
( frankly all these months later he's not 100% convinced he didn't, or hasn't. the falneitz was acting crazy, maybe it blew up in space and this is all just some kind of Afterlife Space Fever Dream?? anyways. )
i guess. i just don't know if i trust them.
only thing i do trust in that situation is him. he's not stupid, so i'm staying out of it.
text; -> voice;
Date: 2022-01-29 01:22 am (UTC)Kiichpan may have been awful, but at least her initial arrival had been relatively simple by comparison. Wrapping her fingers around her medallion with its melted edges, she takes a breath. ]
Law..?
Hey..
If I'd been through that, I...I know I'd feel the same way. Especially if it was my dad. [especially if. He knows full well how intimately familiar she is with losing a parent.] That whole mission sounds so awful. And that was just your first week here?
I still wouldn't be trusting my eyes or anything else, if that had been me.
I think not trusting those 'leaders' is the smart play here, but you..You should tell your dad. That you trust him. So he knows you're watching his back, just in case. Even if you think he already knows.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 01:35 am (UTC)but then he gives a start when Rinwell cuts through the chatter on his medallion and takes over, the chain dangling from his wrist and the medallion itself laying on the table—speakerphone. )
O-Oh, hey. I—yeah, I mean, it was a real wakeup call, but it—it turned out okay, so it's no big deal. Besides the part where the other Jaguars died, but uh... y'know.
( shit happens i guess? )
I don't know if... I mean... it's kinda none of my business, isn't it? Besides, he's probably right. My gut feeling is like, broken. Everybody that sounds off to me isn't another Ganabelt, y'know? And it's not always that black and white no matter how things look. So... it's kinda dumb to feel...
( sighing uneasily, why is it so hard to just say? and then he realizes he's doing that thing again where he just kind of dumps his thoughts on her and stops short. )
Nah, never mind, it's stupid. Geez, you're the one that just found out he was here, shouldn't you be the one talking to him? I know he'd like to hear from you.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-30 03:22 pm (UTC)She likes that he's never held back from trying to tell her things, info dump or no, even when he couldn't find all the words right away. And maybe, just maybe, she's still worried after all that dead-inside burnout, where the honesty cut a little too close to the bone sometimes. And now, where he's just shying away from it instead. Or so it sounds to her ears, at least. ]
It sounds like a big deal to me. [softly] For anyone to have to deal with.
[ Sure, shit happens, but you don't have to pretend it didn't. ]
Being here and having to live with everything, whether we want to or not, kind of makes it our business, though. [ours - not just his; he's not alone in his doubts, not from where she's sitting] You and I both lived in Cyslodia...maybe it's just one perspective, but it's one that everyone else lacks. That they won't consider when they're listening to these people, because they never had to live under Ganabelt's rule, how the city was back then. So...Why would you think it's dumb to worry about that?
I don't think it's stupid.
[ She pulls her knees up to her chest, carefully wrapping an arm about her legs; Hootle burbles softly as he flutters in place, regaining his balance. ]
He would..? Why?
[ She's...well, she has missed his presence. A lot. He made a big impression in a very short period of time on her. But she's not anywhere near as important a person to Zephyr as Law is. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-30 07:55 pm (UTC)Well, yeah. It not that part, exactly. It's just... ugh...
( getting the words out of his mouth feel impossible, but after a false start he finally manages it: )
I just feel... protective of him. I guess. A-A little.
( not a little, a lot. but Rinwell wouldn't know just how much the game has changed since Cysloden—hasn't seen the letter he found, or noticed the way they act around each other. but then again, would anyone else really get it, either? he hasn't talked about it. )
Why wouldn't he want to hear from you? He saw you before you, uh, lost your memory or whatever happened, and if he was like me, hasn't seen you since. And you guys knew each other, right? So...
no subject
Date: 2022-01-30 08:29 pm (UTC)Growing up with Renan broadcasts means the one over the medallions is beyond childish by comparison - and poorly scripted, given the literal brawl that seemed to occur earlier. That doesn't mean Rinwell trusts those words, even as Viper had, eventually, started answering the questions she'd peppered her with.
She can't help the tiny smile that forms at Law's admittance, however, not that he can see it. Might be audible, though. ]
I'd be too, in your shoes. I mean, he's your family. [softly] You got your father back, Law.
[ Of course you'd be extra protective. Who wouldn't be? ]
Oh. I guess.. [..If he's been here as long as Law has, then...There's a faint groan.] This memory lapse...thing is really annoying.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-01 08:56 pm (UTC)( soft, awkward, but a little mollified. it doesn't quite strike at the heart of the matter, but if his surface-level feelings are validated, then at least that gives him some purchase. he's not really sure what to make of the smile, though. and this is a sensitive topic for Rinwell—he hasn't forgotten the last time, what if he messes it up again?
just. don't say anything critically stupid this time, Law. how hard is it?? )
It probably should've been complicated, and I guess it is, but I just kinda... I don't care about all that. The stuff in the past. Just that he's here, and I, uh... it's the only chance we're gonna get.
( he opts for "we" instead of "I" because it's safer. )
No kidding. I still don't get... eh, it's okay, though. We'll get you back up to speed. All that matters is you're safe.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-01 09:22 pm (UTC)[ Good feelings, as well as the bad and sad ones. It's very easy to be blinded by them, whether you're ready for them or not.
There's a soft churrr in her ear (and no doubt audible on the line) as Hootle reclaims his shoulder perch and cuddles close under her chin, and she gives him a light scritch just above his beak. ]
So you don't care about the past, but you're still letting it hold you back - theirs and yours?
[she picks gently at the logic there; she's always been better at that than emotions - but she's trying. that's the important part, right?]
If this really is the only chance you both have, then what are you waiting for, Law?
[ She wouldn't, if she was in his shoes. And maybe, someday, she might be. This world is crazy enough that it's a possibility - and that's a different level of frightening thoughts to have all together. ]
..I'd feel safer if we were all safe together.
[she's reluctant to admit that, but it's true nonetheless. the stray feral mageling misses having a friend unit in one place to rely on.]