that time i got reincarnated as a baby catboy.

[lockedon]

WHO: Eustace, various
WHAT: Post-dissipation / September catch-all
WHERE: All over Horos
WHEN: From the ~22nd of Firaseri onwards
WARNINGS: just max amounts of shitposting

Comments

gray, gen — rebirth (round 2)

[lockedon]

[ For the second time in six months, he wakes up encased in crystal. 

It unfolds in much the same way as the first time, a vague sense of discomfort giving way to alertness and then a spike of panic as he feels familiar walls encasing him, inhibiting his movement and the supply of oxygen being delivered to his lungs.  (Has he remembered that he doesn't technically need to breathe? Not yet.)

The upside is that he knows what to do this time around, jumbled memories filtering back into his mind as he claws at the chrysalis surrounding him, ripping and tearing as best he can with what limited strength his body can afford.  It feels, once again, like the whole process takes forever, each second agonizing and stretched paper thin, when in reality his escape takes maybe a few minutes at most.

He lands on the hard ground with a thud, too busy coughing and gasping for air to pay any attention at all to his surroundings, his brain frantically trying to assess his current internal condition rather than worry about any external force that might wish him harm. ]

[gravings]

[ It's been a long few days. Gray knows how to wait, and she waits well. When Gen leaves her alone with Eustace's shard, it doesn't feel especially foreign or frightening for her to sit alone with Add, becoming lost in the hours and the dispassionate drone of nature. It's even nostalgic, and she has plenty of time to reflect on how much has changed, and how much she has changed since she last kept watch over a silent and solitary corner removed from the rest of the world.

The only blip, more like a catastrophe in her terms, comes when Add stops responding to her. So comes a deep and mind-seizing panic, and soon afterward she also finds that her ability to hold communion with other Aions has severely deteriorated. But those are crises she can do nothing about, and she holds it together, quietly fretting until Gen returns to the shrine soon afterward.

Gen's return is a balm to her anxieties, but there's a high tension in her posture as the two of them continue to play the waiting game. It's only when she hears a crack behind her that her tension fractures, and she moves quickly to the crystal Eustace emerges from with a cascade of emotions to speed her there.

There are some things they prepared for his arrival, but Gray forgets them completely as she hovers anxiously, waiting for him to catch his breath. In the back of her mind, she worries that somehow he may not be completely intact in body or mind, her one green eye nervously reflecting the light of the chrysalis. The other is still covered in clean bandages running over a large corner of her face. ]

Mr. Eustace...?

[ She tests the waters gingerly, waiting to see how he'll respond. ]

[epiprocta]

[ Unlike Gray, Gen is bad at waiting.

But that's not too surprising, is it? She might have gotten an inkling of it from the moment Gen had crashed for exactly one night at the Seeker's shrine before declaring that, now that Gray was settled in to the shrine and Eustace was on his way to being revived, he was leaving for a bit. To keep an eye on things in the surroundings, to make sure they weren't being pursued. And while he'd returned in a hurry the moment he hadn't been able to contact Gray through her shard, his time spent away from the shrine hasn't done that much to temper his restless demeanor. While Gray spends her time patiently attending to Eustace's burgeoning chrysalis, Gen wiles away the hours constantly on the move -- sleeping for a few restless hours curled up in a corner, pacing around just inside the shrine, doing a round of the immediate surroundings before returning to skulk around at the periphery of Gray's field of vision.

By the time Eustace begins to stir, he's slumped over near the entrance to the shrine, leaning against a small cluster of rocks as he nurses one of his carefully-rationed remaining cigarettes --

and he jerks to his feet the moment he hears that rustle of movement and the quiet sound of Gray's voice. ]

-- is he waking up?

[ It's a matter of such importance that he doesn't even pay attention to his cigarette slowly burning away between his lips as he stumbles over, gaze fixed intently on the twitching chrysalis. And while he does give a slight flinch at the sound of the harsh crack and the slop of viscous fluids as Eustace spills from within that strange cocoon ... he can't bring himself to look away, either. His entire focus is on watching the rise and fall of Eustace's shoulderblades with each breath -- that concrete proof that Eustace is alive once more. It's only once Eustace has finished hacking up that fluid that he manages to find his own voice, his words emerging uncharacteristically small and breathless: ]

... Eustace. Are you ... [ alive? well? okay? ] ... yourself?

[lockedon]

[ Past the sound of his wheezing, he can hear voices filtering in: one soft and high-pitched, the other gruff and low. Both familiar and both precious to him, and he grabs onto both with clumsy fingers, letting the two voices anchor him as he gets his bearings.

Once he no longer feels as though his world is tipping side to side, he raises his head to blink blearily at his surroundings. A familiar cavern wall to each side, reflecting rays of multicolored light. A shrine, then, though which one he isn't too sure. They all look the same on the inside. Though usually he's walking in from the entrance and not clawing his way out of a crystalline enclosure. Which means...

Confusion ebbs, replaced with somber understanding. He's not unfamiliar with the concept of dissipation, even if it's largely been a theoretical for the Kenoma up until now. Clearly he'd died at some point in Achamoth, and Gray and Gen had managed to bundle him up and cart him somewhere safe. But despite how much he tries to remember the circumstances that have led him here, only bits and pieces flash into his mind. Barnaby, face cold and aggressive, as he aims lightning-quick kicks and punches. The vivid bloom of pain through his body as his ribs had shattered. The light of the Sanctifier's glow reflecting off sharp claws. Anger, pain, an unrestrained urge to destroy. And then....nothing but an uneasy suspension, spiked through with the occasional press of worry and fear.

He lets out a slow breath, the rise and fall of his chest evening out into something more steady. ]

Gray. Gen.

[ There's a faint rasp of exhaustion to his voice (because breaking out of a crystal cocoon is hard work for a baby catboy) but at least he sounds fully aware and cognizant of who he is and who they are. ]

Where are we?

communion!!

[salvageable]

[ Guess who's been poking at Eustace's Communion space these past few days in an effort to reach him. This isn't like when Joonghyuk had disappeared and there had been a feeling of an unreachable distance between them, so Dokja tries and tries again until one day, something gives.

He pushes a bit harder, an insistence coupled with an anxiety that's been persisting ever since the return from the raid. ]

Eustace? You there?

[lockedon]

The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

[lockedon]

[ No, just kidding (again), he's finally here this time, some four or five days after the raid on Achamoth concludes. He sounds tired (but when hasn't he in the past two weeks) but his (mental) voice is clear and alert. ]

I'm here. What is it?

[salvageable]

[ Get smacked in the face with this massive wave of relief coming from Dokja's end. He tries to reel it in, but imagine being in control of your emotions.

There are so many questions he wants to ask, but he thinks he knows the answer to some of the more pressing ones, so. He'll save them for later. ]

I have your gun.

[lockedon]

[ It's not that hard? Just practice for a decade and you'll get it right?? Haven't you been alive for 22k years now, buddy???

He doesn't think any of that, too busy both being smacked in the face by a wave of relief and also startled enough by the news that his own (smaller) wave of relief also floats out. Whatever other thoughts he might have been occupied with before get immediately tossed away, his attention now fully on Dokja. ]

How?

han sooyoung

[lockedon]

[ Eventually, they make it to Godsblood.

The first order of business is securing a place to live. By some miracle (RP magic) Dokja's lonely depression cave apartment hasn't yet been rented out, and he quietly hands the landlord a hefty amount of jools and moves in.

The next order of business is finally getting a proper change of clothes. As much as he's thankful to Johnny for lending him a change of clothes so he doesn't have to traverse the great outdoors completely naked, too-short shirts and too-short pants (with heart patterns on them) aren't exactly his preferred fashion of choice, and it's a relief when he can finally change into a nice pair of well-fitting pants as well as decent shirt (both black).

After that is when the fun begins. Dokja may have done him a solid by returning his gun back to him, but he still feels naked without a few more blades on his person. So into the nearest weapon shop he goes, beelining for the display of daggers and hunting knives. That's where Sooyoung finds him, a shopping bag at his feet with a peep of pink heart-patterned cloth sticking out, and a dagger in his hand as he squints at both the handiwork and the price tag.

Can he really afford this now that he's not Kenoma anymore..... ]

thank u val hehe

[pyojeol]

[Imagine Sooyoung throws yet another piece of paper in Eustace's ikemen face.

Except this time it's a purposeful meet-cute! Rather than an accidental one. If meet-cute can be defined as Sooyoung just straight-up approaching Eustace and glancing down at the knife he's currently perusing. She clicks her tongue at the price, glancing from the tag back to Eustace and his (1) man-purse. VAL DOES EUSTACE HAVE HIS GUN??? anyway,]

How's the balance?

[Sure, she could have kept her distance and just watched Eustace warily, but she's too curious to keep her distance from the other Aion who she had assumed was Pleroma, then remembered is Kenoma-turned-Pleroma? Also, Dokja's... something? Like, they kissed?? SHE REMEMBERSE THAT??]

[lockedon]

[ HE LEFT HIS GUN AT HOME it's too noticeable

But also thanks for not slapping him with another piece of paper, his ikemen face can only take so much abuse. That doesn't stop him from looking over with first surprise and then suspicion when Sooyoung's dulcet tones wash over him, the fingers around the hilt of the dagger tightening ever so slightly. Not because she's any sort of enemy or anything, but simply because he has trust issues. (But who doesn't around these parts. He could be a lot worse. He could be YJH.) ]

It's a little heavy top side.

[ Not his ideal, but beggars can't be choosers!! Though he will offer her the dagger in case she wants to take a little look-see-feel for herself. Please don't stab him though. ]

Finished all your writing already?

[ What's that thing about the pen being mightier than the sword, shouldn't she be in a stationery store? ]

[pyojeol]

[if eustace stabbed hsy then he would be the second of dokja's boyfriends to do that... weird that it happened twice....

Sooyoung takes the offered dagger and stabs Eusace, jk. She hefts it in the palm of her hand and flips it once, then tries to balance it on her fingers, but like Eustace says, the hilt of the knife tilts further down than the blade.]

Oh? You remembered.

[HSY SOUND LESS SURPRISED??? Though honestly, with everything that's happened in the past few weeks, she wouldn't have faulted Eustace for not remembering her angry scrawl. Also, she has no idea he DIED like she did, otherwise she'd be even more impressed.]

I've put that on hold until Kim Dokja does something to piss me off again. Right now I'm trying to compile a summary of everything that's happened. [SPEAKING OF...] Would you be annoyed if I asked you to help me with that?

communion; it's september now the ban has lifted

[expiera]

[it's about a week or so over after Eustace's recovery from being a piece of shiny rock that his shardphone goes off. ring ring! the caller ID is his ex-coworker.

what do...]

weeps tears of joy

[lockedon]

[ he sees the caller ID



immediately hits the block button ]

[lockedon]

[ JUST KIDDING

Their last phone call had been terse at times but not overly malicious, and Eustace has no particular reason not to pick up a phone call from the ex-wife coworker. Of course, whatever good terms they might have been on before are gone now with his choice to become officially 'the enemy' and it's once again with caution that he picks up. ]

Yes?

[ What's up.... ]

1/2

[expiera]

[aight guess they're only meeting after Gen hobos home with a smol doggo on the top of his head sometimes later down the line]

[expiera]

[JOKE'S ON WHO THO

Eustace picks up, but there is no audio. It's video, in fact! A decently well lit room? Sheets... and a pillow?(???) But most notably


there's a waving, bouncing curl of fur.

wag wag, wag wag.

that's it, that's all the footage. A blueeige tail.]

closes my eyes, 1/?

[lockedon]

[ ..................................







wat da fuq ]

[lockedon]

Ciel?

[ hello??? she is not usually like this, where is prompt and direct communication he is used to, did he really piss her off that mu— ]

[lockedon]

[ ............ ]

[lockedon]

[ ..................................



is that ]

[lockedon]

[ is that really????? ]

NO I POSTED TO THE WRONG COMMENT

[lockedon]

[ d




d-do














dog? ]

forgive me father for i have sinned, i must go commit seppukku now

[lockedon]

[ softly, almost reverently: ]

C-cute.............



[ this is the best day of his life ]