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

anyway i'm sorry to boba, who was not informed in advance of my shitpost intentions

[lockedon]

[ He gets the answers to his questions, though once again they don't fill him with any particular joy.

His hand goes slack when Gray pulls away, falling down and back to his side in order to give her space. Now that she isn't huddled into his shoulder either, he takes the time to drag himself more fully upwards, settling into a kneel on the cool ground. The (slightly) higher vantage point and steadier position means he has an easier time looking between both Gray and Gen. Both look—terrible, to say the least. The bandages swathed around Gray's face prompt an immediate deepening of his frown, though he keeps his mouth shut for the time being. He had died back in Achamoth; it shouldn't be a surprise that those around him had sustained their own grievous injuries.

It also shouldn't be a surprise that Gen is busy contemplating the possible repurcussions of his actions. He might be quick to anger and quicker to fight, but he's not stupid. Which leads to the current disconnect at hand — if he'd known about the consequences he would have surely faced, why still bring him (his shard) all the way out here?

Surely Gray must have known as well, although her apparent lack of connection to the Kenoma provides a partial explanation on it's own. (He remembers also the last time he'd talked with Ciel, and the silent image of Gray with her tear-streaked face she'd wordlessly sent him.)

Still. Still. ]

Why? Why didn't both of you bring me back?

[ He wouldn't have faulted either of them if they had. He'd known the risks that going back would have entailed, and would have accepted the consequences of death or recapture. It never strikes him that he might not have severed all the relationships he'd made in Achamoth, or even that any of those bonds might have been strong enough for someone to want to prioritize him over their own safety. ]

looks at you both

[gravings]

[ A protest immediately bubbles up in her at Gen's declaration that he should leave. Maybe he can see it in the way she stiffens and turns to completely face him. But before she can formulate a response, Eustace speaks up with a question that doesn't need a second's thought. ]

If the Regent had your shard, they would have done something to you. Maybe the same things they did to Mr. Barnaby and Mr. Liem. Or... maybe they would have tried to make an example of you.

[ Just like Abel and Himeka. If the Regent saw fit to torture and tamper with people who were still Kenoma, even if they were rebellious, she doesn't want to know what they would do to someone who switched completely to the Pleroma. As if to chase the dread of that thought away, she reaches to take the clothing (singular??) that Johnny had brought and adds her dusty but voluminous cloak to it. She offers these things to Eustace almost absently as she returns her focus to Gen. ]

You can't leave. [ She puts that out there before the notion of Gen taking off alone can settle in too deeply. ] We'll be safer together. If the Regent sends someone to take you back... it really will be the same as with Mr. Barnaby.