They.... Didn;t know what to make of Clam? Clam gave them hope that they have a chance to change--to be better. But at the same time, they are so scared they’ll ruin everything.
They have no base opinion other then Clam seems like a good, honest person, or at least trying to be... And goodness, does he look like someone Star would want to hug.
(( i fell asleep before i could post this one but, sequel to this log w clams, ftf. this isn’t technically done-done bc at the end of what’s posted here, we made a discord to rp with three people instead of two, but it was like 6am so i ended up snoozing rather abruptly. orz
vvicissitudo
> You wake up and it's dark. Amice has dimmed the lights a little, likely knowing Felide is more at home in lower levels of light. You feel like you slept on.. well, a plank of wood, but you're rested, and you stir, stretching quietly.
> You don't want to open your eyes yet. Things might have gone to shit. Please not yet. Just a few more minutes, dad...
amourete
You're sitting on one step with your back to the wall, your knees pulled up to your chest, your arms crossed over them. You look over when you see him stir, watching the way he moves. He seems to be awake...
"You can sleep more if you'd like. It seems like you needed it."
vvicissitudo
Nnnf. You're up now, you guess. You roll up to sit, sighing out. "... No, it's fine. I'm a deepwaterdweller, my metabolism is slow and a little goes a long way.... How is everything? Any news?"
Your fins twitch, and you look over to her, the tiny amount of gold threaded into your eyebrow in the form of two small rings raising.
amourete
"Yeah, yeah." You roll your eyes, bringing a smile to your face. "Good news and not-so-good. The good news is, Vici *did* know where Vis is. He's safe at Vici's place, unharmed."
vvicissitudo
> You settle back, relaxing a little. "... That's good. What's... The not so good?"
> Your phone buzzes and you lean over. When you see who its from you quickly pick it up, drop it, and pick it up again, to type fervently on it, Felide ignored for the moment.
amourete
You let him do as he pleases, waiting for breaks to speak.
"The not so good is that he's in a bad way. He's very shaken - can't talk about what happened without breaking down. So he's not physically injured, but he does seem to have some... mental strain, at least from an initial reaction." You frown. "Time will tell if it stays or goes. Vici said he doesn't want to leave Vis alone. He did, however, say that he wanted to see you, and -"
You look at your wrist, where you've scribbled in old Alternian script all the things Vici had asked you to pass along. "Said that if you needed a place to hide, to come to him. He also sent me a lullaby to give to you, infused with hope powers. I'd like to get that off my phone as soon as I can, if it's possible."
vvicissitudo
> You look up from your phone, to listen to Felide. There's a smile on your face, soft and loving and god, it's like you just lost a decade or two of age, and its easy to see why Meenah fell in love with you. The smile keeps up as Felide talks, and falls when she mentions the lullaby.
"Oh, uh, right. Here, let me see your phone." You hold out your hand and stand. Vis is okay!! And Meenah is okay!!
amourete
You hand it over willingly, unlocked. That's trust right there. "He said you should probably listen with headphones. I... Don't touch godly stuff with a ten foot pole, so that's likely best. Otherwise I wouldn't mind listening... Singing is such a soothing sound."
vvicissitudo
> You walk over and place the phone on a stand, on a small end table. "Amice, download the lullaby, delete all traces of it from the phone in question, and save it to my archives, please..."
> A smooth, light voice replies, -(Of course.)-
Then you turn, to look at Felide. "... Meenah texted me." you say quietly.
amourete
Amice. You commit the name to memory, pairing it with the voice. You aren't familiar with technology enough to know how they function, but you know some AIs speak like this - and you assume that's what Amice is. You'd find out later that you were right.
The truth is, you value voices above little else. They're soothing, and listening to Clams and even Amice talking has helped you calm significantly in just the past minute.
When Clams speaks again, though, you're on alert. "She did? Wh - can you say that she said?"
vvicissitudo
> You nod, staring into your phone some more.
And then you choke a little. and one hand goes to your mouth, and tears bead at the corners of your eyes.
> It's one thing to know she maimed someone, it's another thing to hear her say it, to describe it, to hear her tell you about your child screaming in pain, how bad the burns really are.
"She... She said she wants you to know everything. She... She said she took Cho's arm... Aya's burnt real bad, even on her face, I..."
You sit down. Your legs are weak. Your head is spinning.
amourete
You move the instant you see him falter. "Clams - Clams, focus on me. Focus on my voice."
Your hands move faster than your voice, catching him under his arms to help lower him to the floor. It's careful, cautious. "Breathe in, deep for me. Take a break. I think you jumped back to this stress too quickly..."
vvicissitudo
It's so hard to take a breath, so hard to look at the words on the screen and know.... Meenah is at fault here. You don't know what to do about it. She jumped to conclusions, and heavily overreacted, and you want to tell her, you can tell her, but you don't want to tell her, to see the look on her face...
Felides voice cuts through your head, and you listen, and you take a breath, and you drop your palmhusk to the ground, and breathe.
amourete
You don't think to catch the palmhusk - that's half-stupid, in retrospect, but by the time it occurs to you, the moment has passed. It has a case anyway, to hell with it. Your eyes are entirely on Clams and you're kneeling in front of him, one hand on his shoulder and another where he can reach it, if he chooses to take it.
"It's going to be okay. No matter what. We're going to make it through this, come hell or high water." You stay in his field of vision, softly, gently watching him. "Just focus on me for right now. Everything else can come later. Deep breaths - you're doing great."
vvicissitudo
You close your eyes and focus on her voice. "She did it," You whisper. "She didn't even... know who hurt Aya, she just assumed it was Chosis, and just assumed it was malicious intent. She did it in cold blood, I don't... I knew she was having some issues... But she didn't even... know..."
You're flabberghasted, you're floored, you're absolutely... "God, there's no way this is going to end good for anyone, it's her fault if it was an accident, and theres no way to tell, cho is comatose and sal is malfunctioning, and vis can't talk, I..."
No, deep breaths. Deeeeep breaths. You rest your weight there, and breathe.
amourete
"Shhhh." You urge him silent, all but begging him to breathe. Between his panic you can pick out the information you need, and all of it confirms your worst fears. You wait until he's breathing somewhat evenly.
"There will be time for this. That time is not now. Cho will wake up. Sal and Vis will heal. Meenah will come home, and we will find a way. She's not unreasonable - we can work with this. It isn't the end."
vvicissitudo
You drag your hands down your face, moan softly, groan too. When you open your eyes, they're... strange. Like tiny computers, but the overlay fades after a moment, and you gesture with a hand to her phone on the stand. "... She wants to talk to you."
amourete
That... was weird.
You move to the stand, inspecting the console thoroughly as you walk. Before you take your phone, your motions resemble that of a bow, your hands clasped, and you accompany it with a "thank you" soft enough that you hope he doesn't hear - but you have no way of knowing.
"She can reach me however she likes, whenever she likes. She knows that. What, um..." You hesitate, then gesture to your eyes. "What was this?" Meaning, the computer screen look.
vvicissitudo
Nnf. "Dangerous body mod," You explain quietly. "I never wanted to be without access to a phone or leave meenah without a way to find me forever again..."
You say what you can without saying that you've got the same mental uplink software in your head as Sal does, because Felide won't know how to handle that, you think.
amourete
Good thinking, Clams.
"Technology is amazing," is what you offer in reply, with a little smile. You give him a little nudge, but you're almost afraid that small motion will send him tumbling down the steps, armor and all.
"Come sit with me. I'll talk to her. Thank you."
vvicissitudo
You shuffle over to her and sigh. You... You don't think Sal is coming. He'll have cooled off a little by now, and you're pretty sure he won't leave Cho anyway...
You begin to strip off the top layer of your armor. The cloak comes off, the pauldrons disattach, the arm guards... You leave the torso plating and neck guard on, though. You're not /stupid/ and that's the hardest part to get on.
"Alright..."
amourete
You watch this display with some amount of fascination, an amused smile growing on your face.
"And here, we observe the seadweller in his natural environment, shedding his skin..." Your voice mimics a nature documentary you saw once, exaggerated and deep, with an accent you can't place. "He will peel off layers to stow away for the cold dark seasons, at which time he will take arms against whichever enemies may battle for his turf."
vvicissitudo
> You can't help but laugh, and shove her lightly... And then you get a dawning look of realization, and you look up the stairs. "... I... I forgot, I..."
You're a bad person, you're a terrible person. How could you forget theres someone else here. Someone who's probably more hurt by meenah being gone than you are.
amourete
?
You're confused. "You forgot?"
vvicissitudo
> You bring out your palmhusk and type furiously on it, anything else all but forgotten.
"Mituna... Meenahs' mituna. He's so quiet sometimes, I forget he's here... He has, uh, issues, her leavin can't have been good.."
As you type, your brow furrows more into the worry lines most people know and love as your own grow more into existance. You were right, tuna isn't good. Aggh. What do you do.
amourete
You fold your fingers together, watching him worry. You let him operate in silence for a minute, then say, "If he's here, invite him to the stair picnic."
This is obvious for you. It's just the best possible plan. Your encampment here on the stairs is officially deemed "the stair picnic."
vvicissitudo
You nod, and begin typing up on your phone. "Yeah, I'll invite him down. Gimme a sec."
> You do so, and then show her the small log.
[05:39] LS: hey
[05:39] LS: you wwant to come dowwn to the first floor
[05:39] LS: share some food
[05:39] LS: felide is here
[05:39] LS: do you knoww her
[05:39] LS: shes meenahs red
[05:39] AO: K1ND 0F
[05:39] AO: 4 L177L3
[05:39] AO: 1
[05:39] AO: 1LL C0M3 JU57
[05:39] AO: H4NG 0N
[05:39] LS: alright
Then you speak. "So uh, we're hanging on I guess."
@clockworkkatana replied to your post: // imo the one that follows first should be the one to initiate conversation
@vvicissitudo replied to your post: [[Me personally, I like when the people following make the first initiative, as the majority of my characters, barring Court, aren't the type to go out and say hello to strangers.]]
@vivacioustenacity replied to your post: (( one that follows :o
@auriustaziam replied to your post: person following !! }
mother-rosa-maryam replied to your post [ooc discussion: first contact]
((i think that the one who follows should try to initiate. when people can do greeter posts for their followers it's great! but sometimes it's hard to keep track of who you have greeted and who you haven't. so if the new follower is interested enough in your character to follow you, it's easier and faster if they start interaction, be it ic or ooc))
(( okay i think this is all the “person who follows” responses - extra thanks to those of you who included reasoning! <3 it wasn’t required but it’s great for sparking conversation, which is what we’re going for here. opening up ooc dialogue is the objective.
when i was in touch w the undertale rp community there was a pretty popular sentiment that following was a clear indication of interest in rp. when i came here, though, i noticed that there are a lot of rpers that will follow people just to read their writing? i did it too for a time with some people, because i thought they were cool but i felt very intimidated - clockworkkatana, you were among them - and i think both perspectives have their advantages, but the blend can be confusing at best.
so in light of that, the person following speaking up could confirm that their act of following was, in fact, an indicator of interest. the other side of that though is, if the follower thinks the act of following is an indicator on its own, they might see it as redundant, or they may even think they’re annoying the person they’re following by being “so insistent.”
