ic inbox

[handfast]

ok

nicknames

rafayel - scaredy cat
fiammetta - old lady
tokinaga - mr know it all

Comments

[aspirings]

Understood!

[He will carefully open the door and scoot in, ushering one of the cats away as he does. No!! No, mittens-kun!!

Ahem.

He closes the door behind him, turning to finally look at Hak properly. How's he looking...]

[handfast]

[ poor mittens....abandoned and left to die out in the hallway. she mrows pitifully. :(

hak meanwhile looks fine. no more bishounen long hair or worrisome blood but ig his cat ears are still there, thanks mods. gulfan fixes his beady eyes on tsukasa. perhaps he smells prey.....? ]

You check up on everyone else already?

[aspirings]

[I mean. He looks fine.....

Tsukasa just comes closer, tupperware in hand. Though he is absolutely watching that bird warily. Hmmmm...]

I've checked on Yuma, and I will check on Duchess Solon after this!

Are you... are you alright?

[handfast]

[ gulfan smiles.....just kidding, birds can't do that ]

Yeah. Soo-won took me to the river. [ so physically, he is fine! ] I've just been resting since then. Seems like what everyone does after one of these trips.

[ wish they didn't have to do that but alas....but he will eyeball the tupperware. what's in there, my guy.... ]

[aspirings]

They can be quite taxing, after all. Rather... it seems like they always are.

[Tsukasa opens up the tupperware to present... onigiri!]

I know we don't exactly get hungry properly here, but I still think a proper meal can be comforting. So I've made onigiri! No need to thank me, of course!

[handfast]

[ oh. that's kind of cute actually. hak peers into the tupperware. ]

Did you poison them? [ no, just kidding. ] ....Thanks. Did you do this for everyone last time too.

[aspirings]

[He puffs up immediately at the "accusation" just as Hak expects, because he's easily riled up--and then exhales when it becomes clear Hak was just winding him up.

Hmph.]

You're most welcome. I promise they will be delicious.

[Tragically, he is actually a good cook.]

But... ah, no, I didn't--rather, I was too... taken off-guard the first time.

[aka cal forgot about inboxes until very recently]

I do wish I could have done more for all of them though.

[handfast]

[ takes an onigiri and starts eating it.....damn, this really is good ]

This is already plenty. Making sure they're taken care of, making sure they know they can lean on someone if they need it. [ he sighs. ] Wish we knew how we could stop it from happening again.

[ but he obviously hasn't made any progress on that front. ]

[aspirings]

I do too. I did wonder if we could perhaps try to keep everyone close together around the end of the week. That is when we've previously... gotten "lost", right?

[But it's doubtful everyone would be willing to stick together for that long.]

[handfast]

We'd have to lock all of us in a room to make sure. But not everyone would wanna stick around like that.

[ thinks of their rowdy children (he is a rowdy child) ]

[aspirings]

[Yeah Tsukasa is at least partially thinking of Hak.]

... Rather than preventative, is there something we could do to make it less dangerous?

Ah, but no... your group had combatants in it and still, things went poorly...

[handfast]

[ tears up in our rolls ]

Not sure what else we can do other than be ready whenever a group comes back.

[ it's frustrating, but he's not the only one frustrated. ]

Must be worse for the people who have to sit playing those stupid games.

[aspirings]

[He just sighs a little, brows furrowing as he does.]

You're right. I truly do wonder... what the purpose of all of this is.

Sure, perhaps we are being challenged in some way. Certainly, we have to rescue our loved ones from the depths of the maze.

But why an Orpheus and Eurydice scenario to begin with?

[handfast]

[ sorry but ]

A what and a what?

[aspirings]

Hm? Oh, Orpheus and Eurydice?

It is a myth about a man--Orpheus--who went deep into the depths of the underworld to rescue his love, Eurydice.

It mirrors our situation quite well!

[handfast]

So the person in your shard is your girlfriend or boyfriend?

[ this is not the lesson he should be taking from this ]

[aspirings]

Wha--No!!! She's my sister!

[HMPH.]

It doesn't have to be taken so literally!

[handfast]

[ snickers briefly before he sobers up again. ]

Sorry she's stuck here too. [ though at least....sleeping? or whatever it is their most important people are doing. ] We'll get her out.

[aspirings]

[Hak grows more solemn, and Tsukasa does too--though he just lifts his chin.]

Of course we will. I don't have a single doubt.

[Though as opposed to his usual bravado, this is said quite simply. They'll get her out, because there isn't a universe where Tsukasa wouldn't do anything and everything for Saki's sake.]

We'll save everyone stuck in the depths of this maze and get them home where they belong.

[handfast]

Have you ever had a doubt in your life?

[ but for once he appreciates that steadfast nature instead of finding it annoying. ]

Found an out yet?

[ he's mostly joking. ]

[aspirings]

Not about any of the things that matter! There's no time for doubts!

[He's human, of course, and has had plenty of doubts.

But with Saki on the line, there's just no room for it.]

And!! I haven't found an out at all!!! [Don't be so proud of it, Tsukasa.]

But that hardly matters! We can worry about that after we find your princess and Saki and everyone else.

[handfast]

[ another long pause ]

I'd think that's what matters most.

[ tsukasa..................................................whatever, he's moving on. ]

What's your sister like?

[aspirings]

[Oh, his favorite topic. Even more than himself. Finally.]

Saki? She is...

[... A sigh, a little wistful.]

Saki is the strongest, most amazing person I know. She has been dealt circumstances that nobody should have to go through, and yet! She still approaches life with a smile and her chin held high, ready to experience everything to the fullest.

I really couldn't be prouder of her.

[handfast]

[ in this way they are alike, willing and ready to praise the people in their shards in a moment's notice. the genuine affection in tsukasa's voice is enough to make hak smile, even slightly. ]

Sounds like a pretty incredible girl. [ almost like someone he knows! ] Is she the person you look up to the most?

[aspirings]

[He blinks at that, tilting his head, brow furrowed a little as he processes it.]

It isn't... inaccurate, in its own way, and yet... I don't know. I'm her older brother! I ought to be the sort of person she can look up to, not the other way around.

[But. It's true, at least to him, that Saki has gone through much more than him, and is much stronger in so many ways.]