slt_archive | (no subject)

The place the dorm needs guarding.

[Gestures to the hole in the dorm. It seems... larger than it was. Less patched. Nearer to the ground.]

[Also, on the wall just beside it, someone has made a sign. It is very neat, and carved into the wall. It says, "Exit :)"]

Oh, that hole. I--

Hold on. It wasn't like that before, what the fuck is going on?

[Glances at it. :|a]

...I'm going back to bed. Just stay away from it, okay?

[And he's going to start making his way very carefully back up the stairs.]

No, wait a moment.

I'm pretty fucking sure nobody made that sign here. You sure this isn't one of your things...?

[and if it's not I'm not even trying to go out, not coming close to that thing ever]

I already told you- she's not mine. She's not like the golems.

[He's still heading up.]

That's not what I mean— you sure this is real? I mean... could be something like last time with our bodies.

[Pause on the stairs and turns back to look again. :(a]

She looks the same as she always did.

The hole doesn't.

Maybe someone made it bigger. Or something did.

Okay, what about the sign?

[Gllllancing at it. But it is a look that looks like it doesn't especially want to. Be facing that way.]

...obviously it's not the exit.

You don't say.

What's with that look...? Come on, little guy. I gotta make sure this isn't judge influence again.

[There is a flicker; in the corner, the shadows throb and skitter. Very slowly, all color begins to bleach from the world, leaving Mitsuru, the walls, and the stairs in shades of grey, and if you happen to glance down at yourself, you are as well, somehow washed out and flat.]

Just stay away from it, okay? I'm going back upstairs.

[And he turns away to start picking his way back up again, refusing to look at that sign.]

[one one hand, this is enough to make him sure that this really has to be judge influence. But on the other, this is creepy and weird, and he doesn't have time to sit around and wait for it to be gone]

So you're just refusing to deal with this shit? Come on.

[Pauses.]

No. I'm refusing to let you deal with it. Leave it alone, Aoi.

It's got to be judge influence, come on! What's that sign? You can't just say "stay away from it" and not explain, for fuck's sake.

It's not the exit. That's all you need to know.

[Starting to head back up again, slowly. :|b]

[well fine, I am just going to follow]

You said that thing isn't like the golems, right? So you're not the one summoning it...?

Wrong. It's the golems I don't summon.

She has to be called. She isn't a made thing; she thinks for herself.

Man, you really should explain how your magic works.

So when did you call her? She wasn't here when I let Parrot enter.

She was...

[Pauses again, a bit longer this time.]

...she was waiting. She's been here for awhile.

And don't you think I would have noticed her before...?

[The walls flicker; the room flickers. The bleached-out world seems to flatten even farther, giving everything a shade of unreality.]

Maybe you weren't looking.

I pay attention to what's in here.

[especially with you injured, but I'm not going to say that]

And let's face you, you would have told me beforehand about this. It's stuff that could get me killed, yeah? Of course you would have told me.

[Still not moving from where he's holding onto the wall.]

...mm. Maybe.