[once upon a time on a station where nobody gave a shit that the teens weren't getting an education, Dave cracked a joke about him not ratting Ryuji out for not doing his space homework.]
[that's still true — even though there may now? apparently be space homework? won't know for sure until they actually get to these classes Dave's been convinced to go to. and while plenty of other students might get nervous about the first day of school, he's, uh. well.]
you think this things important
[attached is a picture of the Artificer's office. more specifically, it's a picture of that weird gacha globe.]
[The decision to sign up for Academy took a while for Ryuji to really wrap his head around. In the end, getting an education was something his mom would've wanted for him, and even though he's scared, really scared, that he's going to flunk out, he can only blame himself if he didn't even try. Which is not the Sakamoto style, by far.
And having never step foot in a building that was basically a giant nerd factory for knowledge assembly lines, the interior of the place looks slightly intimidating.
What the hell is Dave doing at the library? AND WHAT DID HE DO TO THAT THING?]
Oh shit dude I'm so turned on you know I love it when I get sent pics of balls
Hey, Sakamoto-kun... do you think you could give me some tips? For running, I mean. ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ
I want to try to get stronger, but I still get winded really easily... Also it's really boring!! <(｀^´)> I keep trying to think of songs to motivate me, but that just makes me want to play piano instead.
You seriously wanna get into running!? Hell yeah I'm stoked!
It's boring 'cause you probably haven't hit that super zen ass moment you get when you really get into it! Once you hit that promised land it's like, so goddamn amazing
[A present has been left for Ryuji, taped to his door and wrapped in cloth. Inside he'll find a wooden ornament carved into the shape of Seiten-Taisei, a card with a little crow doodled on it and a note. The note reads as follows:
I realised that I don't know you very well yet. I know facts, of course, and I can make inferences and all that. But I would like to get to know YOU better, if that's all right with you. I appreciate how you're treating me even when you have every right not to be kind and you're free to revoke that kindness at any time. I won't seek you out for revenge. (This is a bad joke.)
So this is what I decided to give you. The ornament is obvious. The card is something I gave to Akira as well. It's an 'Akechi stop lying and tell the truth' card. You can use it anytime, either for an active lie I'm telling or a lie I've told in the past or something you suspect I would lie about if asked.
You might think it's cheating to have a card like this. I'm going to continue to try to be better regardless but I know for certain I won't be perfect at it and have not even tried to stop lying before. So use it as you like or don't, but I at least wanted to give some... physical form to my promise to try.
I'm rambling and I hate this letter. Please don't mention this letter to me because it sounds nonsensical. Thank you and Merry Christmas.
[For the record, he's keeping that letter for pretty much... ever. The smile it brings up on his face is aged cheese levels of dorky, and as he sucks air through his teeth, he pockets the Get Out of Lies Free card.
Something like this deserves the right moment. He'll have to keep this in mind. The ornament, on the other hand- that's going to hang from a knob of his dresser until the last day he's here on the moon base.]
[Pictured, a few panels away, Ryuji. Nearly dead after eating three instant ramens. There's a low mumbling, groaning sound from the other side. He's filled with ramengrets.]
Ughnnn...
Hol...d... on...
[One
Two
Three.
Okay, he can get out of bed. Ryuji makes his way to the door, and opens it.]
[ Of course, Akira make Ryuji a ramen bowl ornament... This time refined thanks to Matthew's tips and tricks. On top of that, he got Ryuji a nice black wrap that reminds him of Captain Kidd. Basically, it has a bright yellow skull on it. Conveniently, it's big enough to wrap two to three people if needed. There's also a note, a lot longer than expected from someone as quiet as Akira, but he had a lot to think about over two months.
A lot has happened, too, and he isn't sure he could wrap it all up in one letter. It's still an attempt. ]
December 21
Dear Ryuji,
We never got to spend Christmas together, so I was ecstatic to celebrate it with your this year despite the circumstances. We might not be home and our friends might not be here, but I feel that as long as you're around it's almost the same.
I don't think I ever got to tell you, or at least from what you remember, how much I appreciate you. I don't think I ever told you what I thought when we first met, either. It was one of the lowest points in my life and I only wanted to avoid trouble, but meeting you may have been one of the best things to happen to me. You helped me remember to do what's right. Sometimes I wonder where would I be if we didn't meet. Would I still be trying to be an honorable student? It's a scary thought... A life without you or the Phantom Thieves.
Anyway, I didn't want the steal the day away from your new bae, so I'll be patient and wait. Speaking of which, it kind of felt like I missed out on a decent part of your life at this space station, but I'm glad that you found someone. He's a cute guy from what I've seen from afar.
Finally, this Christmas or Candlenights as they call it, I want you to know that you're loved. You mean something. You always will to at least one person and that's me. Keep yourself warm. Keep on smiling. Remember that you're a bright star to all around you.
[It's mid-morning, a few? days?? after the fight with the yuan-ti, when Ryuji's bracer gets a text. Buzz-buzz!!]
Sakamoto-kun, I have a weird question for you!! (´△｀)♪ Qrow-sensei made me think of it. Since you're dating a boy, do both of you give each other Valentine's chocolate, or do you both just wait until White Day?
Do you ever think that like the whole idea of giving someone chocolate on Valentine's day is kinda one of those dumb traditions we oughta leave behind with us? Cause like, if I do something for him that woulda meant that I'm supposed to be the girl in the relationship but if he does it then that means he is, but actually none of that shit really matters in the end, cause if it's a holiday to celebrate our relationship I'm just cool doing that every day in our own kinda way.
Which is a pretty long winded way of sayin' that I have no goddamn clue, but I was thinking about taking him out on a motorcycle ride? Like, nice and easy or something.
do you know were there are any places that do bbq me and the dojoboy had to run away from the place i had found there was a fight and my meat was thrown before i could eat it (╬ Ò﹏Ó)
[Holy shit, he's accosted with the promise of food. That's all he ever needed to hear.
Ryuji's voice is still a little off from recovering, but by now, it's mostly just a lingering cough and a somewhat deeper tone than usual. Although not caught off guard by Qrow, he does feel a smidge awkward after their caverns ordeal. Ryuji tries his best not to let that get in the way, though.
He'll start sipping that water.]
Free food? You're speakin' straight to my stomach soul. You know, that other soul that sits right next to my persona 'n all.
[it's like the second night or third night in Lyrabar, and after two or three days wandering down the wide expanses of the marketplace, with more shops and eateries than he can even remember there ever being in Houston, Dave's found something.]
[something extremely important.]
[which is why, at some point in the evening, he reappears, poking his head in the cheapo hotel room they're sharing.]
[This is probably the nicest place they've been to in all of their time here, and it's nice to have their own dive to chill out in when the day comes to a close. Probably not the most amazing of accommodations, but this one at least doesn't come with the added mishmosh of motorcycle parts all over the place.
Somehow, Vista Virs had felt a little more like home because of that, but Ryuji's pretty happy, nonetheless. Currently chilling on the bed they share, tossing a ball back from camp up and down and catching it, he feels Dave before he actually sees him. He's gotten this oath thing pretty down pat.
Which sucks for being surprised or trying to surprise either of them, but at this point, less surprises are probably better.]
Oh, man, I dunno, I'm playin' with this sportsball and it miiiight go on until at least 2... 3? in the morning.
[because who would Dave Strider be if he didn't have at least one long, meandering ramble to a username he knows won't answer? who would he be if he didn't at least try to break what's become an utterly unbearable silence, both textways and oathways?]
[so, the bracer starts dinging. sorry in advance for your inbox!]
hey so i found something kind of fucking dumb stroke of luck considering whats his books thought he more or less had all the info on istus there was at least im assuming its something its mostly a bunch of shit i cant read a cryptic poem and more shit i cant read what the fuck does k2p2 mean or p2tog its a lot of talk about yarn though so the only thing i can guess is that this is actually one of roses romance novel edition wizard fanfictions like she wrote it when she went all eldritch horror red lobster grimdark did i tell you about that that was a thing that happened but ill work on figuring it out not like ive got anything left but time anyway
holy shit i found a turntable ima come back for that
[the last time Dave opened with that line, it turned into a joke about a roomba. and maybe there's a reason for that? maybe he's trying to loop a thread of normalcy back into a relic reclaiming quest that's been low-key, then very high-key, shitty for the past several months.]
like does the word normal even have any tiny fuckin minuscule shred of a definition anymore [oh ... no, wait, he's actually getting philosophical. chalk it up to him not really having any other ideas on how to process.]
also isnt having a ghost square during permanent halloween horror nights kinda redundant
Getting all Plato on me and shit. I mean, do we get to wear togas for this at least?
[Oh, it's one of those things where he's saying what he means through the use of extended metaphor. Ryuji retracts the toga statement.
Although, one day.
Togas.]
Dude, reality check. Have either of us even known what normal actually looks like in literal years at this point? I came from a place where you could rip your soul out of your body to use it as a pocket monster and you were stuck in a video game.
Normal's kinda relative to some made up point in your head that goes right up to the end zone of "what the hell is this bullshit" and "I guess this is alright."
Anyway, as a rebellious teenager and your bf I'm s'posed to tell you normal sucks. Shit, we're kicking it straight into adulthood at this rate. Lookin' forward to retirement
I dunno
Maybe ghost square is just putting all the ugly this place has right out in the open. Like some sick asshole who made this place is sayin'
"Look, I'm messed up. You didn't know? It's right here, can't you see it?"
[it's probably happened more than enough times by now.]
[you know, the part where Dave's internal clock is a little too insistent thanks to a death punishment, and instead of binging on all-loopers like a bunch of them probably are, he instead politely, involuntarily, sticks to an eight-hours-of-sleep-no-matter-what regimen. which has led to him curled up on the ground, having long since whizzed past Sleepytime Junction, right when everyone returns to starting position at noon — only to wake up an hour or two later, awfully disgruntled and more than happy to complain about it.]
[this time, however, is different.]
[it's two hours past a naptime entrance, and instead of his usual candor on the subject, he's silent. anxiety — at least, what could be sensed through a paladin oath — is oddly absent. if there's anything there to feel at all, it would be the sense of someone doing a lot of thinking, and not quite reaching a conclusion on how he's supposed to be feeling.]
[which is pretty much exactly on the time god nose. he probably knows he's got that sense of out of tune radiating off of him, and he doesn't really want to make the guy on the other end of the line worry, so at the aforementioned 2 p.m., he slides into the seat next to Ryuji.]
Hey. [casual as ever! but there's something else, too. it's no longer wanting to cling to all the hiding, all the shielding himself that he's done in 18 years he's lived. it's, "hey, i've got some shit on my mind, and you're the only person in the multiverse that i trust with it."]
[Listen, he might've taken advantage of one or two of those 8 hour dead to the world sessions to get himself killed. The motive behind that was voluntary, but the death... well, yeah, that was pretty involuntary. But he wanted to find out more about the dilemma they were in. He wanted to rebel against the whims of fate- push something in order to break it from going the direction it was always meant to go forward from. If he could find one... just one way to change the events, that meant progress, right?
Ryuji is a little more educated about the bullshit of time mechanics than other people are, considering who he's dating, and they've had talks about it at highly crucial points in their relationship. That also doesn't stop him from abandoning his sense of self-preservation in open defiance of it.
And that's where his head is at when he feels Dave wake up. He's excited; it means that he won't have to go through a loop without catching really... much more than a glimpse of him. These spots of time between two goalposts reminds him of how much he can't really stand being away from Dave that long any more. An entire loop is like an entire life, and he's not around for it... Yeah, it goes in a dark place, at least a little bit. But it's still true.
When 2pm hits, and the other slides into the seat next to him as easily as Dave slides into his DM's with the most random shit, Ryuji has to take a double take for a second. Up until now, he's always felt Dave approaching with a sort of true north feeling inside him as he draws near. This time is a little different, a little less weighed down by everything that's going on, and Ryuji flashes a warm, and slightly goofy smile.]
Hey good lookin'. [He brightens up even more-] Question. You ever think we developed morning wood as a part of evolution to stop us from rollin' off cliffs?
[ There is an obnoxiously yellow box waiting for Ryuji outside his Bureau dorm room, bright and early on the 25th. Because even if Lion genuinely had no idea what to get him, they can't abide not doing anything, given everything else.
Inside is a stuffed bear plushie - not a teddy bear, but one of those adorably floppy, Almost A Real Bear If You Kinda Squint ones - and a tin of cookies that have been meticulously cutter'd and iced to look like skulls. They're... mostly cinnamon flavoured, but swapping a few out for a ridiculous amount of chilli powder felt appropriate.
There's also a note, in their too-formal, annoyingly neat handwriting. "Happy Candlenights, Ryuji-san. Apologies if the bear is a bit on the nose - but I thought it might help to have a reminder, for now." ]
[ ryuji will find a handmade ornament of himself, some homemade ramen, and a card from maya wishing him happy candlenights! the card is full of doodles of him in various poses, such as: punching an inky blob labelled 'hunger' in the face, eating ramen, riding a motorcycle, and etc. the card details how tough she thinks he is, how happy she is to have him as a teammate, and assures him to have hope. it also wishes him happiness and safety. ]
[Happy Candlenights! Ryuji receives: Sugar cookies decorated to look like abs. A t-shirt painted to look like abs. Socks decorated to look like abs. Merry Absmas.]
[A messily-wrapped box, with Ryuji's name written directly on the colorful paper. There's a handmade card on top, decorated with stickers and doodles of wintry images like snow, gingerbread men, etc. It's not properly signed, but the signature isn't necessary. On one side of the interior:]
Tall green trees in lights twinkling bright, Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white, The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too, A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]
I saw this and thought of you right away! You're friends with the kitsune, right? I bet they're pretty warm right now. Thanks for always being nice to me, and thank you for taking care of Dave.
ヽ(＾＾`▽´＾)八(＾◡＾∞)ノ
[Yes, she hand-drew the kaomoji.
Inside the box is a graphic tee in a similar overwrought style to Ryuji's usual t-shirts that bears a design of a kitsune and reads I DON'T GIVE A FOX, and an I.O.U. slip for one sick sled ride together.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
un: hudie; i have no idea when this is man sometime during week 2 probably
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un: turntechGodhead
[that's still true — even though there may now? apparently be space homework? won't know for sure until they actually get to these classes Dave's been convinced to go to. and while plenty of other students might get nervous about the first day of school, he's, uh. well.]
you think this things important
[attached is a picture of the Artificer's office. more specifically, it's a picture of that weird gacha globe.]
[it's now hot pink.]
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And having never step foot in a building that was basically a giant nerd factory for knowledge assembly lines, the interior of the place looks slightly intimidating.
What the hell is Dave doing at the library? AND WHAT DID HE DO TO THAT THING?]
Oh shit dude I'm so turned on you know I love it when I get sent pics of balls
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un: joker
I wanted to ask if you've talked to Akechi already?
[ He can't help but sometimes think this is all a feverish dream, but! It seems like other people interact with the ghost.
Basically, it's time to compare notes. ]
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Uh, yeah. I don't think he was gonna approach me so I went to go talk to him.
You?
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un: joker
[ AKIRA IS WATCHING RYUJI WHEREVER HE IS IN OLD ASPEN, hidden in the shadows. This is the game they're going to play—cat and monkey. ]
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@akapassionata
For running, I mean. ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ
I want to try to get stronger, but I still get winded really easily...
Also it's really boring!! <(｀^´)> I keep trying to think of songs to motivate me, but that just makes me want to play piano instead.
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It's boring 'cause you probably haven't hit that super zen ass moment you get when you really get into it! Once you hit that promised land it's like, so goddamn amazing
But we can start out small and build up
Good inspiration as any, gettin' stronger
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december 25th
I realised that I don't know you very well yet. I know facts, of course, and I can make inferences and all that. But I would like to get to know YOU better, if that's all right with you. I appreciate how you're treating me even when you have every right not to be kind and you're free to revoke that kindness at any time. I won't seek you out for revenge. (This is a bad joke.)
So this is what I decided to give you. The ornament is obvious. The card is something I gave to Akira as well. It's an 'Akechi stop lying and tell the truth' card. You can use it anytime, either for an active lie I'm telling or a lie I've told in the past or something you suspect I would lie about if asked.
You might think it's cheating to have a card like this. I'm going to continue to try to be better regardless but I know for certain I won't be perfect at it and have not even tried to stop lying before. So use it as you like or don't, but I at least wanted to give some... physical form to my promise to try.
I'm rambling and I hate this letter. Please don't mention this letter to me because it sounds nonsensical. Thank you and Merry Christmas.
- Akechi]
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Something like this deserves the right moment. He'll have to keep this in mind. The ornament, on the other hand- that's going to hang from a knob of his dresser until the last day he's here on the moon base.]
Perfect is pretty goddamn boring anyway.
Thanks, dude. These were great gifts.
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it's the morning of the 26th.
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Ughnnn...
Hol...d... on...
[One
Two
Three.
Okay, he can get out of bed. Ryuji makes his way to the door, and opens it.]
Oh, hey. 'Sup.
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12/25 even though i'm late
A lot has happened, too, and he isn't sure he could wrap it all up in one letter. It's still an attempt. ]
Dear Ryuji,
I don't think I ever got to tell you, or at least from what you remember, how much I appreciate you. I don't think I ever told you what I thought when we first met, either. It was one of the lowest points in my life and I only wanted to avoid trouble, but meeting you may have been one of the best things to happen to me. You helped me remember to do what's right. Sometimes I wonder where would I be if we didn't meet. Would I still be trying to be an honorable student? It's a scary thought... A life without you or the Phantom Thieves.
Anyway, I didn't want the steal the day away from your new bae, so I'll be patient and wait. Speaking of which, it kind of felt like I missed out on a decent part of your life at this space station, but I'm glad that you found someone. He's a cute guy from what I've seen from afar.
Finally, this Christmas or Candlenights as they call it, I want you to know that you're loved. You mean something. You always will to at least one person and that's me. Keep yourself warm. Keep on smiling. Remember that you're a bright star to all around you.
Akira Kurusu
un: fireballin17
hey there, ryuji. you free right now? i hear i owe you a rematch.
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You musta heard that
It's the sound of the crowd cheering my name
Ryu-ji! Ryu-ji! Ryu-ji!
Now I def can't lose.
[Destroy him.]
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un: turntechGodhead 1/19
whatre you doing right now
[hopefully he didn't catch Ryuji at a time where he's stuck mooing.]
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But a totally killable bitch
Just freeze his ass over and over again until he's
Ah shit game's starting brb
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backdated to 1/10
Would you bounce a coin off of Dave’s ass?
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2/14; @akapassionata
Sakamoto-kun, I have a weird question for you!! (´△｀)♪
Qrow-sensei made me think of it.
Since you're dating a boy, do both of you give each other Valentine's chocolate, or do you both just wait until White Day?
[This is. Incredibly Important.]
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That makes him smile a whole lot.
And then frown a whole lot.]
Do you ever think that like the whole idea of giving someone chocolate on Valentine's day is kinda one of those dumb traditions we oughta leave behind with us? Cause like, if I do something for him that woulda meant that I'm supposed to be the girl in the relationship but if he does it then that means he is, but actually none of that shit really matters in the end, cause if it's a holiday to celebrate our relationship I'm just cool doing that every day in our own kinda way.
Which is a pretty long winded way of sayin' that I have no goddamn clue, but I was thinking about taking him out on a motorcycle ride? Like, nice and easy or something.
Why, what's with the question?
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un : tonbokiri - Backdated to before stuff happened
me and the dojoboy had to run away from the place i had found
there was a fight and my meat was thrown before i could eat it
(╬ Ò﹏Ó)
[She hunger]
i'm so sorry this is so late - please forgive me
Like, yeah but you have to be okay with eating kobold meat?
Some people kinda got weird issues with eating things that can talk
They taste pretty good tho
Don't worry Roxas appeased her with chicken
roxas is a good boy
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March 30th sure
Stop doing whatever it is you're doing. I'm gonna buy you lunch.
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Ryuji's voice is still a little off from recovering, but by now, it's mostly just a lingering cough and a somewhat deeper tone than usual. Although not caught off guard by Qrow, he does feel a smidge awkward after their caverns ordeal. Ryuji tries his best not to let that get in the way, though.
He'll start sipping that water.]
Free food? You're speakin' straight to my stomach soul. You know, that other soul that sits right next to my persona 'n all.
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before the vore
[something extremely important.]
[which is why, at some point in the evening, he reappears, poking his head in the cheapo hotel room they're sharing.]
Hey. You got some time tonight?
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Somehow, Vista Virs had felt a little more like home because of that, but Ryuji's pretty happy, nonetheless. Currently chilling on the bed they share, tossing a ball back from camp up and down and catching it, he feels Dave before he actually sees him. He's gotten this oath thing pretty down pat.
Which sucks for being surprised or trying to surprise either of them, but at this point, less surprises are probably better.]
Oh, man, I dunno, I'm playin' with this sportsball and it miiiight go on until at least 2... 3? in the morning.
[And smiles widely-]
Whatcha thinkin'?
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post shark empty chatbox spam
[so, the bracer starts dinging. sorry in advance for your inbox!]
hey so
i found something
kind of fucking dumb stroke of luck considering whats his books thought he more or less had all the info on istus there was
at least im assuming its something
its mostly a bunch of shit i cant read a cryptic poem and more shit i cant read
what the fuck does k2p2 mean
or p2tog
its a lot of talk about yarn though so the only thing i can guess is that this is actually one of roses romance novel edition wizard fanfictions
like she wrote it when she went all eldritch horror red lobster grimdark
did i tell you about that
that was a thing that happened
but ill work on figuring it out
not like ive got anything left but time anyway
holy shit i found a turntable
ima come back for that
[he's not coming back for that.]
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theyre knitting patterns
cool i guess im knitting a time goddess summoning circle or something
or like
a watch cozy
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all done!
a nondescript spooky point in september
philosophical question
[the last time Dave opened with that line, it turned into a joke about a roomba. and maybe there's a reason for that? maybe he's trying to loop a thread of normalcy back into a relic reclaiming quest that's been low-key, then very high-key, shitty for the past several months.]
like
does the word normal even have any tiny fuckin minuscule shred of a definition anymore [oh ... no, wait, he's actually getting philosophical. chalk it up to him not really having any other ideas on how to process.]
also
isnt having a ghost square during permanent halloween horror nights kinda redundant
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Lay it deep on me man
Getting all Plato on me and shit. I mean, do we get to wear togas for this at least?
[Oh, it's one of those things where he's saying what he means through the use of extended metaphor. Ryuji retracts the toga statement.
Although, one day.
Togas.]
Dude, reality check. Have either of us even known what normal actually looks like in literal years at this point? I came from a place where you could rip your soul out of your body to use it as a pocket monster and you were stuck in a video game.
Normal's kinda relative to some made up point in your head that goes right up to the end zone of "what the hell is this bullshit" and "I guess this is alright."
Anyway, as a rebellious teenager and your bf I'm s'posed to tell you normal sucks. Shit, we're kicking it straight into adulthood at this rate. Lookin' forward to retirement
I dunno
Maybe ghost square is just putting all the ugly this place has right out in the open. Like some sick asshole who made this place is sayin'
"Look, I'm messed up. You didn't know? It's right here, can't you see it?"
Kinda sad when you think about it
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un: cupcakegirl; about a week after new arrivals
hi this is ryuji right?
everyone said you're the other barbarian
i was wondering if maybe we could talk about ... how to be one?
[ Yes. Very smooth. Good one. ]
this is fuckin adorable
At least, I think I'm the only Ryuji here
And definitely the only Ryuji that's a barbarian
Whatcha wanna know? It's mostly just hittin' stuff until your rage bar builds up
[Why does it come down to MMO mechanics with him, always?]
dfkddkjf <3
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toward the end of the looping
[you know, the part where Dave's internal clock is a little too insistent thanks to a death punishment, and instead of binging on all-loopers like a bunch of them probably are, he instead politely, involuntarily, sticks to an eight-hours-of-sleep-no-matter-what regimen. which has led to him curled up on the ground, having long since whizzed past Sleepytime Junction, right when everyone returns to starting position at noon — only to wake up an hour or two later, awfully disgruntled and more than happy to complain about it.]
[this time, however, is different.]
[it's two hours past a naptime entrance, and instead of his usual candor on the subject, he's silent. anxiety — at least, what could be sensed through a paladin oath — is oddly absent. if there's anything there to feel at all, it would be the sense of someone doing a lot of thinking, and not quite reaching a conclusion on how he's supposed to be feeling.]
[which is pretty much exactly on the time god nose. he probably knows he's got that sense of out of tune radiating off of him, and he doesn't really want to make the guy on the other end of the line worry, so at the aforementioned 2 p.m., he slides into the seat next to Ryuji.]
Hey. [casual as ever! but there's something else, too. it's no longer wanting to cling to all the hiding, all the shielding himself that he's done in 18 years he's lived. it's, "hey, i've got some shit on my mind, and you're the only person in the multiverse that i trust with it."]
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Ryuji is a little more educated about the bullshit of time mechanics than other people are, considering who he's dating, and they've had talks about it at highly crucial points in their relationship. That also doesn't stop him from abandoning his sense of self-preservation in open defiance of it.
And that's where his head is at when he feels Dave wake up. He's excited; it means that he won't have to go through a loop without catching really... much more than a glimpse of him. These spots of time between two goalposts reminds him of how much he can't really stand being away from Dave that long any more. An entire loop is like an entire life, and he's not around for it... Yeah, it goes in a dark place, at least a little bit. But it's still true.
When 2pm hits, and the other slides into the seat next to him as easily as Dave slides into his DM's with the most random shit, Ryuji has to take a double take for a second. Up until now, he's always felt Dave approaching with a sort of true north feeling inside him as he draws near. This time is a little different, a little less weighed down by everything that's going on, and Ryuji flashes a warm, and slightly goofy smile.]
Hey good lookin'. [He brightens up even more-] Question. You ever think we developed morning wood as a part of evolution to stop us from rollin' off cliffs?
[
....
yeah.]
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forward dated to the 25th
Inside is a stuffed bear plushie - not a teddy bear, but one of those adorably floppy, Almost A Real Bear If You Kinda Squint ones - and a tin of cookies that have been meticulously cutter'd and iced to look like skulls. They're... mostly cinnamon flavoured, but swapping a few out for a ridiculous amount of chilli powder felt appropriate.
There's also a note, in their too-formal, annoyingly neat handwriting. "Happy Candlenights, Ryuji-san. Apologies if the bear is a bit on the nose - but I thought it might help to have a reminder, for now." ]
present!
25th.
25th
Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white,
The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too,
A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]
I saw this and thought of you right away! You're friends with the kitsune, right? I bet they're pretty warm right now. Thanks for always being nice to me, and thank you for taking care of Dave.
ヽ(＾＾`▽´＾)八(＾◡＾∞)ノ
[Yes, she hand-drew the kaomoji.
Inside the box is a graphic tee in a similar overwrought style to Ryuji's usual t-shirts that bears a design of a kitsune and reads I DON'T GIVE A FOX, and an I.O.U. slip for one sick sled ride together.]