blindsight

{ secondbracelet } "I should've protected you." (ignore the fact that i completely forgot to do ur prompt earlier Whoops)

Clover’s heels clicked against the wood of the small church-like room she had found herself in. Her pockets were bulging with bracelets, and speckles of blood were dotted all over her body. Her left hand was clutched around a long-handled axe, which was dragging on the floor behind her. She hadn’t expected there would be two doors with 9, though. She walked towards the one on the right, when a sudden noise made her stop.

Thud, thud, thud. Thud, thud, thud.

She spun around. There was no way anyone could still be alive, after what she’d done… She shook the thought from her head. She soon located the source of the noise when more thuds rang out- a large coffin, with a latticed pattern was sitting on the altar. As she grew closer, the thuds picked up speed and frequency. Whatever was in there was desperate to get out.

Clover didn’t think twice before swinging the axe down on the lock system of the coffin. Nothing would be keeping her from what was inside now- and if what was inside could have killed her brother, she was going to kill them. She stepped back, holding the axe with both hands, ready to swing at whoever or whatever came out of the coffin.

The weight on his chest was familiar to Light— it was Clover, undoubtedly— but the quick beat of his heart was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, because the smell of blood was overwhelming, clogging his nose, fogging his perception because all he could think about was Clover, is she alright, she’s hurt, someone hurt her and I didn’t protect her—

"Clover— are you alright? Is this blood? What happened— are you okay?" he said, his words coming out quickly and panicked.

Lowering his voice when she didn’t respond, he said, “Where are the others? Clover, say something.”

Clover was trying to breathe steadily, trying to stay as calm as possible, but it just wouldn’t work. She breathed in sharply, and when she exhaled, she couldn’t stop the tears anymore. Whatever callous that made her strong enough to kill someone, that had built up ever since Light had appeared missing, and even supposedly dead, shattered completely. How could she tell him what she’d done…? Instead of the rejoice she knew she should be feeling, She felt full of sadness and regret. She almost preferred the numbness that graced her before she found her brother.

Unable to find the proper words, she reached into her pockets, and retrieved the bracelets that she had acquired. One by one, she dropped them into his hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks, dyeing her face with splotches of red. Hiccups caught in her throat, and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for her brother’s reaction.

#ic #clover #rips heart out

Light felt every muscle in his body tense, freeze-- his breath caught in his throat, but almost immediately, like instinct, he dismissed his reaction. He forced himself to remain still despite the hurricane of thoughts in his head-- panic, questions, worry, both for his sister's well being and that of the others'.

Clover came first. Clover always came first.

But these were bracelets-- not one, that could be dismissed as the Ninth Man's, not two that could be dismissed as a rare find-- but three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight bracelets, she killed for these, she had to, there was no other way--

"I should have protected you," he said, his mouth moving on his own. "This wouldn't have happened."

Light placed the bracelets on the bottom of the coffin, reaching forward to brush Clover's tears away. It didn't matter what she had done, nothing mattered but her safety.

"Everything's going to be all right," he whispered to her-- useless, of course, in an empty ship. "We're going to escape from here, Clover."

cillianhelps-blog

"the living wake" starter prompts

"I drink to bring myself down to the level of the common man."

"The common man drinks, therefore, I must drink twice as much."

"That organ means I’m doomed, huh?"

"Here’s your invitation to my wake tonight."

"We know it’s short notice, but he only just came to terms with the whole affair last night."

"I look forward to meeting her in the afterlife… which may or may not exist."

"You’re not dying!"

"Do you suppose it’s God’s fault?"

"God will forgive my sins? …Come on, all of them?”

"Damn, just broke a rule."

"Go ahead and flog me."

"Today I’ve passed out twice, been beaten up once, and just flogged myself, so the blood may be from any of those."

"If you think that’s ridiculous, wait ‘til you see the finale!"

"THE SMOKE IS A METAPHOR!"

"I have shit in all of your pants."

"There’s a twenty-dollar bill taped to my left testicle for anyone who’s brave enough to get it."

"I present to you, my friends, whose names I honestly cannot recall!"

"It’s fifty extra for your friend."

"You were alright. A little strange, but alright."

"Don’t make me get my pimp!"

"Oh, majestic goat."

"Are you alright, friend? You’ve transcended pale."

"How did you die?"

"I’m not dead?"

"What is the key to a good life?"

"I carried you out."

"Did I faint?"

"There’s just not enough time!"

"I’ve been dead for two hours."

"Someday I’ll explain it to you in a brief, but powerful monologue."

"I’m dead? …Well, that wasn’t so bad!"

"The organ’s for effect."

"My whole life’s been awkward. Why stop now?"

"Perhaps we’ll see each other in the void."

"You have made a dying man very happy!"

"Collect all the stamps you can. If you control the postage, how can they send you threatening letters?"

"Jesus Christ, this is a long driveway."

“‘Love thy brother’? Oh, that won’t do. My brother’s an asshole.”

"YES! I’M STILL ALIVE!"

#//these are actually pretty good #//as usual feel free to send phi some too i dont wanna clog #prompts

roleplayaskmemes

Frienship starter sentences!

“You’re my best friend, you’re supposed to tell me when I’m dating an asshole.”

“Bro-date, just you me and some nachos.”

“As your friend I’m allowed to tell you when you’re being an ass and you’re being an ass.”

“Remember that time we pretended we were dating because that creep wouldn’t leave you alone? Good times.”

“You’re not alone, you’ve got me.”

“Only you would find my offensive jokes funny.”

“I’ll be your wingman!”

“I know what you need, icecream and a bad movie!”

“No wonder people think we’re a couple, we eat pizza naked together.”

“Please don’t tell anyone, I trust you.”

“Don’t push me away, you’re my best friend.”

“You’ve told me that story twenty times already.”

“You’re such a bitch/jerk, it’s a good job you buy me food.”

“Someone was talking smack about you, long story short I spent a night in a cell.”

“I’m only saying this because we’re friends, you can do so much better.”

“They think we’re together, I think we should play along.”

“No homo, but I love you like I love pizza.”

“I know we’re not kids, but I really think we should have a sleepover.”

“Are you eating my food?”

“Ugh, I can’t stay mad at you.”

"You borrowed this three months ago, can I have it back?"

#//no homo #prompts

{ secondbracelet } "I should've protected you." (ignore the fact that i completely forgot to do ur prompt earlier Whoops)

Clover’s heels clicked against the wood of the small church-like room she had found herself in. Her pockets were bulging with bracelets, and speckles of blood were dotted all over her body. Her left hand was clutched around a long-handled axe, which was dragging on the floor behind her. She hadn’t expected there would be two doors with 9, though. She walked towards the one on the right, when a sudden noise made her stop.

Thud, thud, thud. Thud, thud, thud.

She spun around. There was no way anyone could still be alive, after what she’d done… She shook the thought from her head. She soon located the source of the noise when more thuds rang out- a large coffin, with a latticed pattern was sitting on the altar. As she grew closer, the thuds picked up speed and frequency. Whatever was in there was desperate to get out.

Clover didn’t think twice before swinging the axe down on the lock system of the coffin. Nothing would be keeping her from what was inside now- and if what was inside could have killed her brother, she was going to kill them. She stepped back, holding the axe with both hands, ready to swing at whoever or whatever came out of the coffin.

For the first time in his life, Light couldn’t see.

No matter what, even after losing his sight, he was always aware of his surroundings— touch, scent, smell, hearing, balance, time, temperature, pain, proprioception— the list of senses he still had full use of vastly outnumbered the one he had lost, and they had all become significantly stronger as a result. Even when he faced difficulty, Light worked out a solution fairly quickly, coping magnificently with what he barely considered a disability. But now— now the walls of wood felt as if they were pressing in on him, muffling his hearing, giving him nothing but smooth grain to feel, cutting him off from the outside.

His awakening had been slow, groggy, most likely from drugs of some sort, and at first all he heard was what sounded frighteningly like a screech in the back of his mind. He had dismissed it as remnants of a dream before getting to work investigating his new and entirely unfamiliar surroundings.

Light wasn’t buried alive— that much he could tell by the tone of the echo when he knocked on the wood— but this wasn’t anywhere on the ship he recognized, at least not this time, and his continued knocks proved useless in time when no voices were heard even after five, ten, fifteen minutes.

He had very nearly went to find another way to open the box— perhaps there was a seam in the wood, or a mechanism of some sort he had missed— when he heard a hard, dragging sound, surfacing memories of nails on a chalkboard, but duller, and further away.

Opting not to raise his voice, Light pounded on the wood harder than before. Something had to work, he had to get their attention, someone had to be out there and then he could leave and get back to his sister and finally complete this game once more. He was frankly uninterested in the mystery when compared to Clover’s safety. Questions were for later, after she knew that she’d never see the inside of a ship ever again.

The dragging stopped, closer to the coffin, and footsteps that had been nearly drowned out by it took a few more strides in his direction— they had noticed, he knew, they had noticed— and a sharp whoosh sounded as something heavy, something flat, most likely, struck down on the side of the coffin.

Light flinched at the sudden noise, wary now that he had an idea of the shape of the object, before dismissing the line of thought when there was a sharp click then the top of the box yielded under his touch.

He shoved it off much easily than he had expected, pushing it off to the side with his good hand. A surge of air rushed into the space, not fresh but certainly not the hot air that had been trapped in with him. He breathed in deeply, then turned to his right, where the noises had come from.

"Who is this? What’s going on?"

For Clover, the air completely froze. She felt like she should be relieved, not struck with complete horror. She dropped the blood-covered axe, and it dropped with a thud louder than the silence. Her heart was the only sound in the room after that.

As she was stepping forward, she relaxed completely. Her knees gave out from under her, and she stumbled onto the person in the coffin. She landed on him as gently as possible, and was hit with a realization she both wanted and loathed. He’s alive, she thought, he’s alive and nobody else is. She She suddenly felt overwhelmed again. Tears gathered in her eyes. The smell of blood was likely obvious to her brother, and she hoped he wouldn’t notice. How could she tell him what she’d done?

The weight on his chest was familiar to Light-- it was Clover, undoubtedly-- but the quick beat of his heart was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, because the smell of blood was overwhelming, clogging his nose, fogging his perception because all he could think about was Clover, is she alright, she's hurt, someone hurt her and I didn't protect her--

"Clover-- are you alright? Is this blood? What happened-- are you okay?" he said, his words coming out quickly and panicked.

Lowering his voice when she didn't respond, he said, "Where are the others? Clover, say something."

#ic #clover

{ secondbracelet } "I should've protected you." (ignore the fact that i completely forgot to do ur prompt earlier Whoops)

Clover’s heels clicked against the wood of the small church-like room she had found herself in. Her pockets were bulging with bracelets, and speckles of blood were dotted all over her body. Her left hand was clutched around a long-handled axe, which was dragging on the floor behind her. She hadn’t expected there would be two doors with 9, though. She walked towards the one on the right, when a sudden noise made her stop.

Thud, thud, thud. Thud, thud, thud.

She spun around. There was no way anyone could still be alive, after what she’d done… She shook the thought from her head. She soon located the source of the noise when more thuds rang out- a large coffin, with a latticed pattern was sitting on the altar. As she grew closer, the thuds picked up speed and frequency. Whatever was in there was desperate to get out.

Clover didn’t think twice before swinging the axe down on the lock system of the coffin. Nothing would be keeping her from what was inside now- and if what was inside could have killed her brother, she was going to kill them. She stepped back, holding the axe with both hands, ready to swing at whoever or whatever came out of the coffin.

#this took a half hour to write and i dont want to cringe by rereading it #ic #clover

For the first time in his life, Light couldn't see.

No matter what, even after losing his sight, he was always aware of his surroundings-- touch, scent, smell, hearing, balance, time, temperature, pain, proprioception-- the list of senses he still had full use of vastly outnumbered the one he had lost, and they had all become significantly stronger as a result. Even when he faced difficulty, Light worked out a solution fairly quickly, coping magnificently with what he barely considered a disability. But now-- now the walls of wood felt as if they were pressing in on him, muffling his hearing, giving him nothing but smooth grain to feel, cutting him off from the outside.

His awakening had been slow, groggy, most likely from drugs of some sort, and at first all he heard was what sounded frighteningly like a screech in the back of his mind. He had dismissed it as remnants of a dream before getting to work investigating his new and entirely unfamiliar surroundings.

Light wasn't buried alive-- that much he could tell by the tone of the echo when he knocked on the wood-- but this wasn't anywhere on the ship he recognized, at least not this time, and his continued knocks proved useless in time when no voices were heard even after five, ten, fifteen minutes.

He had very nearly went to find another way to open the box-- perhaps there was a seam in the wood, or a mechanism of some sort he had missed-- when he heard a hard, dragging sound, surfacing memories of nails on a chalkboard, but duller, and further away.

Opting not to raise his voice, Light pounded on the wood harder than before. Something had to work, he had to get their attention, someone had to be out there and then he could leave and get back to his sister and finally complete this game once more. He was frankly uninterested in the mystery when compared to Clover's safety. Questions were for later, after she knew that she'd never see the inside of a ship ever again.

The dragging stopped, closer to the coffin, and footsteps that had been nearly drowned out by it took a few more strides in his direction-- they had noticed, he knew, they had noticed-- and a sharp whoosh sounded as something heavy, something flat, most likely, struck down on the side of the coffin.

Light flinched at the sudden noise, wary now that he had an idea of the shape of the object, before dismissing the line of thought when there was a sharp click then the top of the box yielded under his touch.

He shoved it off much easily than he had expected, pushing it off to the side with his good hand. A surge of air rushed into the space, not fresh but certainly not the hot air that had been trapped in with him. He breathed in deeply, then turned to his right, where the noises had come from.

"Who is this? What's going on?"

Mayday Parade drabble prompts

Anywhere But Here: One muse trying to contact the other.

Bruised and Scarred: One muse losing the other.

Get Up: Our muses going on a road trip together.

Ghosts: One muse's ghost haunting the other.

If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?: Our muses fighting.

In My Head: Our muses meeting in a club.

Jamie All Over: One muse has a dream about the other.

Kids in Love: Our muses falling in love as teenagers.

Last Night For a Table of Two: One muse trying to cheer the other up.

Miserable at Best: One muse missing the other.

Oh Well, Oh Well: Our muses parting on bad terms.

The Silence: One muse has a nightmare.

Stay: One muse trying to convince the other to not leave them.

Terrible Things: One muse giving their kid advice.

When I Get Home, You're So Dead: One muse making the other cry.

When You See My Friends: One muse asking the other to deliver a message for them.

#ok im rebloggin these again too i can't find many good ones ok #AGAIN U CAN SEND TO PHI IM JUST NOT REBLOGGING TO BOTH #prompts

basicbrother

Send me a ¿ for a question my muse has always wanted to ask yours.

#idk man #AGAIN DONT BE AFRAID TO SEND TO PHI IF YA WANT......#prompts

lxckwolf-archive

Symbols

☹ My muse is visiting your muse on their death bed

♫ A drabble about our muses inspired by the next song that comes on shuffle

☻ A drabble of our muses on their wedding day

☺ my muse trying to piss yours off

ت our muses running into each other after not seeing each...

#im reblogging this again bc there's a Ton and it's good #prompts #you can send them to phi too #sorry 4 link it's too long otherwise

Anywhere But Here (thirdbracelet) (and yea its a band)

Anywhere But Here: One muse trying to contact the other.

Attempting to find someone who does not want to be found is a daunting task.

Attempting to find someone who does not want to be found and knows how to hide their trail effectively is nearly impossible.

Even so, Light dedicated some of his free time to attempting to discover more about the two that had kidnapped them months ago, forced him to relive the Nonary Game once again. He never let it take too much of his time, made sure he never became as dedicated as Junpei or resentful as Hazuki in doing it— but when he heard the crinkle of paper in an old jacket’s pocket, when he realized just what it was, he couldn’t help the surge of excitement.

The top half of the paper was blank, at least through the senses Light knew. However, as his fingers drifted lower, he felt bumps— no doubt transcribed by Clover at his asking ten years ago— that made up a phone number.

It was almost futile, he knew, and his common sense almost led him to throw away the precious slip of paper containing fifteen-year-old Aoi Kurashiki’s phone number. But recalling the closeness with Aoi during the First Nonary Game, imagining how excited Junpei might be at the news of contacting the Kurashikis once again, he supposed it was worth a try.

Willing the number to somehow work against all odds, Light typed out a text, inserted the number, and hesitated only a second in sending it.

{ Who does this phone number belong to? }

{ haha yeah }

{ guess ill SEE you then }

Aoi glanced out the window, watching the sun slowly set behind the buildings. If it was just a few days, he’d probably need to get going soon, depending on where Light was. Probably not anywhere nearby. Of course, Light would be useless with directions…

{ can i talk to clover? }

{ Not now; she’s busy. Once she comes home I’ll explain everything to her and give her your number. }

'Busy' was a vague word— in actuality, Light simply wasn't sure how to explain that Clover and he were secret agents, and wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell him. After all, the Kurashikis had been suspected to be related to Free the Soul at some point, and although those suspicions had been dismissed, he doubted that a higher-up would take it very well if he told them that he had confided such a thing in a known criminal.

Aoi sighed. Of course she was. Oh well. It wouldn’t be that much of a snag. He’d just have to wait until she was free. A few hours weren’t much of a difference. But…

{ ugh, fine }

{ youre at least capable of giving me an approximation of where you are, right? like a city name or some shit }

{ whats clover up to, anyways? its six pm on a /saturday/ for fucks sake }

#//i'm like.... 99% sure they live in los angeles #//if not who cares they do now #ic #aoi

{ Ah, of course. }

{ We live in Los Angeles, California. It's quite difficult to miss. }

{ And she has a shift at the coffee shop where she works. It shouldn't be much longer, I usually expect her home within a half hour or so from now. }

It was only a half lie-- Clover did have a part-time job at a coffee shop that doubled as a coverup for the job she had at the SOIS. Light didn't have to have any coverup-- his training progressed more quickly than Clover's, and his occasional harp playing usually covered any suspicion anyone had.

ت { thirdbracelet } well. months. years. close enough oop

Although Light was very good at navigating for someone who lacked sight, not needing a cane or walking stick of any sort, crowds were a whole different matter. What information he could have gathered from sound was immediately drowned out by voices— people chatting on their phones, talking to each other, asking for money— making it quite a bit harder to get by easily. As such, bumping into others was an inevitability.

When he felt a shoulder slam into his on the way home from the coffeeshop where his sister worked, he immediately turned to apologize to whomever it was— however, the other beat him to it.

"Hey, watch where you’re going, ass—" was all Light managed to hear before the painfully familiar voice cut itself off.

The retort that Light normally would have voiced died in his throat. It was a stroke of fate, simply sheer luck, that the circumstances had driven them together again. Light quickly regained his composure, speaking quickly to the other.

"Aoi?"

"Relax," Aoi said, flopping down on the couch, "I… probably won’t be staying that long.” He sighed, running his fingers over the edge of the couch. Clover had chosen one with an interesting texture, probably for Light’s sake. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay for much longer than a week, and even if he could, it would probably be overstaying his welcome.

"I’ll probably end up, what? Half-blind?" Aoi ran a hand through his hair, which was noticeably longer as well as a tangled mess. "Could be worse."

Light walked to the other side of the couch, sitting more gently than Aoi had while maintaining his distance. “Yes, it could always be worse. For example, you could, say, be recognized as a criminal by the government with many, many people looking for you and no long-term place to stay.”

Pausing for a moment, he continued. “You’re sighted, so can you see my point? Unless this place proves dangerous for you to stay at any longer, there’s very little reason to leave. Disregard any ridiculous ‘politeness’ standards. I still haven’t paid you back for the toilet ordeal, have I?”

Aoi rolled his eyes, drawing his legs close to give Light more space. “Look, I don’t need to be reminded of that, for one thing,” he said, “And for another, that’s every reason to get out of here after about a week.”

Aoi paused, still fidgeting with the couch. He avoided looking at Light, even though he knew Light couldn’t tell one way or the other. There seemed to be a massive flaw in his logic. Yes, he had no long-term place to stay. He really couldn’t have a long-term place to stay. This wasn’t any different.

"Look, I don’t wanna put you and Clover in any more danger… Well, any more than I already have, I guess."

"Ah, still bitter over that incident, I see," Light said, just barely resisting making yet another joke at his own expense.

Light put his hand on his chin, leaning forward. He tapped his foot on the ground as he thought. "I certainly won't force you to do anything. I've never been a fugitive myself, so I do not have experience pertaining to what to do in this type of situation," he began, "but I'd like to at least say that the idea of you being on the run and in constant danger is not comforting. I can protect Clover and myself. Your concern should be on your own wellbeing as well."

#ic #aoi

{ secondbracelet } ☨ my muse searching for your muse

It took Clover a while to find where she was when she was unfrozen. It took her even longer to get back to the small town in California where her brother was probably waiting for her. She didn’t know if she’d been gone five months or forty-five years, but either way was an eternity. She only knew that the date was sometime in April.

She finally found herself at the doorstep of the cottage where they lived. It took almost a seven-hour taxi ride, but she’d finally gotten home. The yard was completely overgrown, as a blind man doesn’t make for a good landscaper. She could see her colorful furniture through the window, which was adorned with neon flower-print curtains. Her heart was racing. She didn’t know whether or not the man who would open the door would be twenty-five, seventy, or not there at all… She shook the thought from her mind that he could be dead.

Slowly, she reached for the door. She felt it more appropriate to knock, rather than simply coming inside, not that she could. Her keys were missing from her wallet. Maybe she’d left them on the counter? Hell if she remembered. She hit her hand against the door four times with as much strength as possible. All she could do then was stand and wait.

"Yeah.. Forty-five. It was with Crash Keys, too.. I think I was frozen, or something… From what I remember, I couldn’t contact you at all." She didn’t even want to think about how lonely Light would have been without her for forty-five years. She could have sworn there was something in the back of her mind that she just couldn’t remember.

"Do you know what happened all while I was… taken, and stuff…? I don’t remember anything from at least a week before. And what’s happened since I was gone? Has anything happened? Like, with Aoi… or something?" The memory of Akane in the AB game struck her- if she’d been in charge of it, where was Aoi now? She knew that Junpei was looking for Akane, and Clover had some idea of what was happening with that scenario.

"… Aoi? Why do you ask? We haven’t had contact with him since the Second Nonary Game," he said, throwing a quizzical look at Clover. "As for what’s happened in your absence…" Light trailed off, attempting to recover memories he had tried to suppress.

"You said you don’t remember a week before you disappeared, correct? Well, you and Alice were preparing for that very important mission. You had stayed late one night with her. You never came home, so I was given a ride there to check on you, and there was a canister of Soporil Beta on the ground and an open window," he recounted, facing downwards.

"Nothing of global importance has happened since then, but I haven’t been as up-to-date with the news these past few months." There was no point, after all, he almost added. The world could be falling apart around him and Clover would still be his greatest concern.

"Yeah.." She trailed off. She had wished that Light had seen Aoi- she was concerned for him, now, knowing his sister had likely just up and left.

"Oh… Alice… I woke up, and she wasn’t there. I dunno where she is now, but I haven’t seen her since then, I guess…" She said. Her mind was pointing in a thousand different directions. With all of the timelines and stuff, was it possible this was one where Alice was still stuck somewhere? She was worried for all of her friends.

"Did something happen with him? Was he involved with the Nonary Game you're talking about? And if not, who was Zero...?" Light thought out loud, furrowing his eyebrows. "I cannot see why anyone would host another game. Then again, I cannot see anything."

"As for Alice... is it possible she woke up at another location, or left earlier than you? I'm not quite certain how this brand of pseudo-scientific nonsense works." Morphogenetic fields he had gotten used to, having experienced their powers firsthand-- whatever involved time travel and teleportation he had no definite exposure to. He had read many books on the subject, yes, but they were purely theoretical, never by someone who had definitive proof.

#ic #clover

{ secondbracelet } ☨ my muse searching for your muse

It took Clover a while to find where she was when she was unfrozen. It took her even longer to get back to the small town in California where her brother was probably waiting for her. She didn’t know if she’d been gone five months or forty-five years, but either way was an eternity. She only knew that the date was sometime in April.

She finally found herself at the doorstep of the cottage where they lived. It took almost a seven-hour taxi ride, but she’d finally gotten home. The yard was completely overgrown, as a blind man doesn’t make for a good landscaper. She could see her colorful furniture through the window, which was adorned with neon flower-print curtains. Her heart was racing. She didn’t know whether or not the man who would open the door would be twenty-five, seventy, or not there at all… She shook the thought from her mind that he could be dead.

Slowly, she reached for the door. She felt it more appropriate to knock, rather than simply coming inside, not that she could. Her keys were missing from her wallet. Maybe she’d left them on the counter? Hell if she remembered. She hit her hand against the door four times with as much strength as possible. All she could do then was stand and wait.

She tried getting comfortable, but everything felt unreal. She was feeling everything far too much.

"I guess.. sometimes… there were a lot more timelines… I was frozen, I guess. Lots of the time, I was gone for forty-five years…" The thought of her brother looking for her that long made her heart drop. She knew if she was gone that long, he still wouldn’t give up on finding her… He’d search and search until he couldn’t anymore.

"And in most of the timelines we were in space… and there was another nonary game, and an apocalypse back on Earth, and a huge disease…" She was overwhelmed just from thinking about everything that both had and hadn’t happened in all of the timelines.

"… Forty-five years? It has certainly been a very long time, but not that long,” Light said, raising his eyebrows. By the way she phrased it, it seemed as if in at least one timeline, that was reality. The thought made him uneasy— if this had happened to him after just four months, it would be impossible for anyone predict what kind of toll forty-five years would take on him.

Light rested a hand on Clover’s shoulder, causing her to trail off. “You have never been the best story-teller, Clover. Don’t worry about it for now. It seems like quite the story,” he said, smiling in her direction.

"Yeah.. Forty-five. It was with Crash Keys, too.. I think I was frozen, or something… From what I remember, I couldn’t contact you at all." She didn’t even want to think about how lonely Light would have been without her for forty-five years. She could have sworn there was something in the back of her mind that she just couldn’t remember.

"Do you know what happened all while I was… taken, and stuff…? I don’t remember anything from at least a week before. And what’s happened since I was gone? Has anything happened? Like, with Aoi… or something?" The memory of Akane in the AB game struck her- if she’d been in charge of it, where was Aoi now? She knew that Junpei was looking for Akane, and Clover had some idea of what was happening with that scenario.

"... Aoi? Why do you ask? We haven't had contact with him since the Second Nonary Game," he said, throwing a quizzical look at Clover. "As for what's happened in your absence..." Light trailed off, attempting to recover memories he had tried to suppress.

"You said you don't remember a week before you disappeared, correct? Well, you and Alice were preparing for that very important mission. You had stayed late one night with her. You never came home, so I was given a ride there to check on you, and there was a canister of Soporil Beta on the ground and an open window," he recounted, facing downwards.

"Nothing of global importance has happened since then, but I haven't been as up-to-date with the news these past few months." There was no point, after all, he almost added. The world could be falling apart around him and Clover would still be his greatest concern.

#ic #clover

ت { thirdbracelet } well. months. years. close enough oop

Although Light was very good at navigating for someone who lacked sight, not needing a cane or walking stick of any sort, crowds were a whole different matter. What information he could have gathered from sound was immediately drowned out by voices— people chatting on their phones, talking to each other, asking for money— making it quite a bit harder to get by easily. As such, bumping into others was an inevitability.

When he felt a shoulder slam into his on the way home from the coffeeshop where his sister worked, he immediately turned to apologize to whomever it was— however, the other beat him to it.

"Hey, watch where you’re going, ass—" was all Light managed to hear before the painfully familiar voice cut itself off.

The retort that Light normally would have voiced died in his throat. It was a stroke of fate, simply sheer luck, that the circumstances had driven them together again. Light quickly regained his composure, speaking quickly to the other.

"Aoi?"

"God, you weren’t kidding," Aoi said to himself, taking a look around the living room. Clover had… interesting taste. The colors, surprisingly, went together well, but were all hideously bright. It was very clear that a nineteen year-old girl and her blind brother lived here.

"Oh well. I don’t have plans to leave within the next few hours, so it’s not like she’ll miss much," Aoi said, shrugging. Before the Nonary game, he’d done the same thing on an almost-daily basis, so he couldn’t blame Clover in the slightest.

"I would have prevented such a catastrophe if I could. Unfortunately, I cannot, so the most I can do is hope that the clothing she picks out for me is not as… obnoxious to the eyes," Light said, tugging his shirt down as if trying to assess it.

"Anyway, make yourself at home, or as close to it as you can in a place that’s likely to render you as blind as I am after a week." He took off his jacket, hanging it up in the coat closet and stretching absently.

"Relax," Aoi said, flopping down on the couch, "I… probably won’t be staying that long.” He sighed, running his fingers over the edge of the couch. Clover had chosen one with an interesting texture, probably for Light’s sake. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay for much longer than a week, and even if he could, it would probably be overstaying his welcome.

"I’ll probably end up, what? Half-blind?" Aoi ran a hand through his hair, which was noticeable longer as well as a tangled mess. "Could be worse."

Light walked to the other side of the couch, sitting more gently than Aoi had while maintaining his distance. "Yes, it could always be worse. For example, you could, say, be recognized as a criminal by the government with many, many people looking for you and no long-term place to stay."

Pausing for a moment, he continued. "You're sighted, so can you see my point? Unless this place proves dangerous for you to stay at any longer, there's very little reason to leave. Disregard any ridiculous 'politeness' standards. I still haven't paid you back for the toilet ordeal, have I?"

#ic #aoi

Anywhere But Here (thirdbracelet) (and yea its a band)

Anywhere But Here: One muse trying to contact the other.

Attempting to find someone who does not want to be found is a daunting task.

Attempting to find someone who does not want to be found and knows how to hide their trail effectively is nearly impossible.

Even so, Light dedicated some of his free time to attempting to discover more about the two that had kidnapped them months ago, forced him to relive the Nonary Game once again. He never let it take too much of his time, made sure he never became as dedicated as Junpei or resentful as Hazuki in doing it— but when he heard the crinkle of paper in an old jacket’s pocket, when he realized just what it was, he couldn’t help the surge of excitement.

The top half of the paper was blank, at least through the senses Light knew. However, as his fingers drifted lower, he felt bumps— no doubt transcribed by Clover at his asking ten years ago— that made up a phone number.

It was almost futile, he knew, and his common sense almost led him to throw away the precious slip of paper containing fifteen-year-old Aoi Kurashiki’s phone number. But recalling the closeness with Aoi during the First Nonary Game, imagining how excited Junpei might be at the news of contacting the Kurashikis once again, he supposed it was worth a try.

Willing the number to somehow work against all odds, Light typed out a text, inserted the number, and hesitated only a second in sending it.

{ Who does this phone number belong to? }

{ yeah, yeah }

{ i didnt say YOU had to be the one giving the directions }

Aoi shifted, scrambling into no small number of sitting positions in the next few minutes, unable to keep still. He’d never adjusted to being alone; even after months without Akane, there was still a void, a nagging sense of wrongness to everything he did. He’d adapted to feeling lonely as a kid, but the sensation of being alone was a weight, pulling at him every second of every day.

The idea of seeing Light again made things a little easier.

{ Understandable. }

{ I’ll get something set up within the next few days, if at all possible. I’m looking forward to it. }

{ In a metaphorical sense, of course. I’m blind. }

Considering Clover wasn’t home (training with Alice to catch up, he remembered), notifying her of the arrangements would have to wait for tomorrow. For now, all he could do was look forward to the event— which he did, genuinely. He had never had a sense of closure since the Second Nonary Game, had always felt that there was more to come; perhaps this was what it was all leading up to.

{ haha yeah }

{ guess ill SEE you then }

Aoi glanced out the window, watching the sun slowly set behind the buildings. If it was just a few days, he’d probably need to get going soon, depending on where Light was. Probably not anywhere nearby. Of course, Light would be useless with directions…

{ can i talk to clover? }