[Silver arrives at Elda's place pretty quickly, all things considered; he's something of a spectacle to behold, with as many of his belongings shoved into his backpack as he can manage. It's something that Elda should recognize, really. Silver's surprisingly good at taking up and suddenly leaving, and it seems like that's exactly what he did. The nervousness both in his expression and posture are vastly different from the online experience, nevermind how he usually is around Elda. No attempts at looking relaxed are going to change that.
[ Elda's there immediately, of course, and when she sees him... her eyes widen and her stomach feels leaden all at the same time. Who did he run from now? Has he come back to her? And he looks so nerous, the poor boy...
Two things: 1) I got a part-time job at the Tachibanas' book store. I start tomorrow. 2) I would like to see if getting a new phone entirely will get rid of the app.
[ guess who's home? this guy. and he knows that they've got a lot to talk about. he should have probably brought up the job last night, but he'd been talking to makoto about it after dinner, so...now they have a chance to talk about stuff over dinner.
[ What's for dinner is the sort of food that they have around (though not necessarily on!) Toushiro's birthday every year. The manor here has been here for generations, but Elda still remembers the food that her grandmother made in her youth, the food of the Old Country. Elda has no real talent for making it, but she's making a heavy English-ish dish. Roast beef, vegetables, Potatoes, Yorkshire pudding.
It's what she makes when she's stressed and needs some nostalgia.
The growing thickness of the smoke bothered her, the stars fading and even pulling her apart from the assailing of that memory of bats. Without too much to draw on, she tries to adapt to the darkness... and can't. Nothing works. And the dragging continues until such time that-
The weight becomes more pronounced.
And she tugs once more saying - ]
Professor-?
[ Tug tug.
... Wait.
She reaches around to feel him and- No. No, she's not - He's on the ground. Oh my God he cannot be serious she can't see anything, she feels heavy, he's down- ]
Get up, already.
[ With a light shove - after feeling around for his head.
... Voices begin to echo around in the darkness. She doesn't recognize them. ]
Should we continue where they find themselves in another location after waking up?
[Even if he's on the verge to unconsciousness, he managed to feel the tugs Elda made in her attempts to wake him up. However, he starts to hear voices in his head along with the memories he got, which doesn't enable him to think clearly nor hearing her voice.
Yet, he is able to open his eyes to see her.]
Elda...
[Using his last strength to say this, he closes his eyes as he is completely knocked out.]
[Silver's spent the week studying, going to work... Actually going to school- there are two weeks left of it for him, next week is finals week, and he does actually want to graduate- but it's not like he's been telling Elda where he goes... Or doing much other than sleeping in the guest room she's letting him use, showering early and quickly, and coming home late. And that's certainly not going to change on a Saturday afternoon when there's no work, no school, and he can do whatever the hell he wants, right?
...Well, it turns out that once he thinks Elda's gone for the day, he started cleaning; toilets are shining, cat boxes are clear, the trash is out, the counters are wiped and tables are cleaned... He's not going to risk dusting or touching any of her stuff, but after a quick vacuum he's decided to mop the damn place. It's what you do with the area you live, and more than that, if he's going to be staying here, he's got to make it up to Elda somehow, since she's not even going to let him pay rent. She... Also never needs to know that he's doing anything to help out, but hey. That's why he's doing it while she's out. Then he can just make an offhanded comment about how Toushiro must have done it being responsible and stuff, and that will be that.
So whether Elda's returning early because she ran out of things to do or forgot something, she's going to return to something of a sight: namely, Silver mopping intensely while dancing around and singing along to Taylor Swift, blissfully unaware of the outside world as he jams to songs on his phone.
[ She's back because she forgot something! She stepped out in the morning and got some last minute items she needed before stepping out into the Dreadful Women's club event. She had told Silver and Toushiro about it earlier, so it's likely that he (justifiably) figured she'd be out most of the day.
And she was supposed to be!
... But she had forgotten something for her purse and- Oh.
It'd be perhaps a bit much to say that he's concerned about Elda - the woman can take care of herself, he has no doubt about that much, and it isn't as though he's been given explicit reason to believe that he should be concerned as it stands. But just the same, the past month has been...strange, and once in a while he remembers that they're reasonably close, and he should probably...well.
It's probably a good idea for me to ask this privately. The fact that bats are involved and that you seem to have problems with sunlight sort of remind me of vampires, old myths of that sort. Even if it ends up not being that? I would suggest you be careful about sunlight until you know for sure.
After all, it was usually fatal for them, n'est-ce pas?
[ She can't help but let her finger linger above the "send" button for a little while before sending this one. She feels pretty weird doing this; if Toushiro saw her, it'd probably be a bit of a weird confrontation. But at the same time, to sit back and do nothing also feels pretty weird...
Still, Toushiro's mom isn't a bad person. She can be annoying as hell, yeah, and she was a real slave driver with her lawn, but, if she's feeling that sick...
Fuck her bleeding heart. ]
heard you were feeling like shit im leaving a basket on your doorstep dont you dare try and thank me for it hope youre not allergic to any of this get better already
[ Embarrassing. But the basket in her hand isn't an entirely bad gesture; flowers seemed way too goddamn tacky, but anyone can appreciate sweets. It's mostly filled with cookies that she grabbed at a bakery on the way home from school, but there are also...eyedrops?
...Well, it's the thought that counts. Maybe Elda can catch her on her way off the porch...she only just mowed this shit, how fast do these weeds grow? ]
[ Well it is a pretty big lawn, all things considered. That said, Yoshiko was a good worker and when she wasn't being a shit kid she was being a good enough kid. So while she could intercept her in order to talk to her or thank her personally, she opts not to. It was the bright ass day, after all, so she gets back to this in a few hours: ]
[Silver is home. It won't be home for long, but he's home. And presumably- hopefully- so is Elda. When he finds her, he calls out pretty much immediately to say-]
Hey, Elda, I-
[...But then stops himself, because holy shit, her hair is fucking purple. Not that his hair is doing much better, being bright red and all, but her hair is purple, her hair definitely wasn't purple before, and-]
[ For the record, yes she is. she's sitting in the curtain covered foyer, wishing she could open the blinds and curtains to see the daylight but knowing she would need to wear her damn sunglasses indoors if she did. She's currently drawing something, but closes the sketchbook as he enters. ]
[Jaeger's life has just been horrible lately, so the best way to escape from horrible situations is to play around with that bingo card, right?? Right. Anyway, he's calling Elda up because he figures Elda is the person who will care least about what he has to say.]
Oh Elda~! I've got something only you can help me with~!
[The sing-song tone is already annoying as fuck, I'm so sorry.]
It's Officer Togusa from the Recolle Police. I have to inform you that the privacy complaints that you and a few others offered up last month have vanished. We knew this was a possibility, but I still wanted to let you know that it happened.
Are you and your son all right? Has anything happened this month that you might label as reprisal?
Every member of my family has a changed hair color now and my own eyes changed earlier as well. I'm not sure those can be called reprisals when other people get arms replaced though. We've also all gotten a steady stream of memory-hallucinations.
Hey, Elda, where are you? The monsters haven't hurt me too much, but I'm in a jungle for some reason, and Uh, I'm alright. Toushiro was okay too, last I checked. Come on, answer me already. I'm worried about both of you.
Shit.
[A few days later, once he's done being mad at those not getting through-]
We found a camp with supplies. I didn't think I'd take to roughing it in the wilderness, but I'm still in one piece. Jaeger's a pretty good cook. He can make anything taste good. Oh yeah, Jaeger's with me. He's really good at fighting. We make a pretty good team. I'm sure you're doing fine. You've always been really strong. You're pretty cool. Take care of Toushiro for me. I mean, not that you need me to tell you that.
[somewhere around 8/14]
My battery's starting to run out, but I'm still alive and in one piece. We're in some old abandoned temple. The traps in here are like something out of a movie or video game. We're gonna make it out of here, no big deal. I'm probably making you worry. I never wanted to leave like this again, although it's not my fault this time. I was supposed to come over all the time so it's like I never moved out. So much for that, huh? Sorry. I'll see you soon.
I imagine this isn't going to go through for you, either. It seems the app is down.
[08/03; 10:32 AM]
...Of course not.
[08/03; 10:35 AM]
I suppose there's not much point in continuing to send these, but perhaps it's possible that something will decide to start working. Magically. Who knows, stranger things than that are currently happening here.
[08/03; 10:48 AM]
I've expressed to your insane German neighbor that I would like him to ensure that you're all right and still in one piece. Hopefully he has the sense to do that in my stead. I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself - I know fully well by now that you can - but it's still something I would prefer be done, and while I'm certain that he's being obnoxious about it he's presumably doing his best. Try not to punch him too hard for it?
[08/03; 10:55 AM]
There are eight others here with me. No one I know well. It seems that we're on some sort of ship, a cruise liner perhaps. There was some sort of automated message that was a bit worrying but not cause for immediate concern. We're going to see what's here, or if there's a way to discern where we are in terms of coordinates.
[08/04; 9:02 AM]
There's a doctor on board with us. He seems trustworthy enough.
[08/04; 9:04 AM]
No progress has been made just yet, escape-wise.
[08/04; 6:20 PM]
If by some miracle this goes through, check to see if any cruise liners have gone missing in the Caribbean. Start with Royal Caribbean in particular and work your way outward from there. You're looking for The Crown Royal in particular.
[08/04; 6:22 PM]
Morale is questionable but at least no one's at each other's throats. We have enough supplies to last us a while.
[08/08; 2:57 AM]
I don't know why I'm continuing to send these, outside of the notion that perhaps eventually this will work.
[08/08; 2:58 AM]
Even if the app is still down, even if I don't have a signal here, even if all of these are getting bounced back.
[08/08; 3:00 AM]
It's pointless and I'm well aware of it, but the fact of the matter is that it's some godawful hour and sleeping is out of the question.
[08/08; 3:02 AM]
The ship we're on is stalled. We have very little power and no idea how to solve that particular problem.
[08/08; 3:05 AM]
We think there's likely a backup generator, but honestly? I don't know how much good that's going to do at this point, even if we manage to start it.
[08/08; 3:12 AM]
From the sound of it, the ship is taking on water at an alarming rate. I can hear the sounds of the ocean rushing in; it's enough to both fuel determination and make me fully believe we're all going to die here and no one will be the wiser.
[08/08; 3:16 AM]
This isn't the sort of thing I should be telling you, is it?
[08/08; 3:25 AM]
To be blunt, I don't know what I should be telling you right now. I imagine false assurances would just make you angry... And you deserve better than that, anyway.
[08/08; 3:27 AM]
I don't often tell you what I think of you, do I?
[08/08; 3:30 AM]
Not that I imagine some hideous time of night when I'm fairly certain I'm going to die is the best time to start.
[08/08; 3:35 AM]
You are important to me, though. One of the few people that I consider to be such. I don't think there's much denying that we aren't terribly compatible people in the end, but I genuinely do enjoy your company and want to keep you close. That isn't something that I really experience toward most people.
[08/08; 3:36 AM]
You're different than most, however.
[08/08; 3:38 AM]
Is it odd to say that I enjoyed that time at the cemetary?
[08/08; 3:44 AM]
Doing things like that really isn't anything I'm accustomed to; it's good doing them with you, however. It seems strange to say that I appreciate doing things that don't have any particular purpose behind them with you, but trust me, it's a compliment.
[08/08; 3:46 AM]
I'm possibly the least charming person on the planet, aren't I.
[08/08; 3:49 AM]
I ought to at least attempt sleep so I can pretend to be awake come morning.
[08/10; 6:45 PM]
We're about to attempt something stupidly dangerous.
[Week 1] Let's see if sending texts to you will work. No? Didn't think so. Oh well, I'm going to send them anyway because I know you'll be mad if I don't at least attempt. Silver is here with me; he's safe and I'm looking out for him. I was separated from Wesker and I don't know what happened to him. He's probably fine, maybe. Take care or yourself.
[Week 2] I hope you're doing better than I am wherever you are. I'm still doing my best to look out for Silver. My battery's dying so I can't give you any more information, but we'll be fine.
[Sometime later in the afternoon- not too late, but late enough to indicate that he absolutely was doing other more important things and didn't just... Sleep through the majority of the day- Silver knocks at Elda's door.
He's clean now, that's a bonus; his arms look a little odd from the tail end of healing, but aren't covered in bandages. He's wearing fresh clothes- cheap, but clean and newly purchased- and... Well, he can't hide the fatigue from his expression, but at least he looks significantly more presentable than he would have if he showed up last night or right when he got back.
[ Elda, for her part is... asleep. She's sleeping in the armchair in the sitting room immediately off from the main foyer, curled up on herself and lightly dozing. Given the open sketchbook before her, it's clear that she had been doing something else before she dozed off.
The sketchbook is open to a freehand from memory sketch of Toushiro, though the shading shows him with the black hair he used to have, not the white he does now. ]
Apparently you're not too busy to tell people to kiss other people, and I'm not buying that you're suddenly busy just now. You can't just leave this conversation anyway, this is in a text format, your words are still right here regardless.
[Well, after the relative heart attack that was inviting a guy over to fix her kitchen plumbing, shopping therapy is in order. Not to say Sakura has that much money to her name at this point - John's rate was reasonable, she's just poor - but she also figures as long as she's got two nickels to rub together, there will be something she can buy.
Though that definitely rules out clothes shopping. Fetching groceries is too much a chore to feel therapeutic, either. It isn't until Sakura checks the sad state of her art supplies that she knows where she's going, and so she takes the bus to Tisse on her day off, hitting up one of the local art stores. It's a moderate-sized building, only one story but stocked with high-end products and bargain bins alike.
It's that latter which Sakura practically dives into, and settles herself for a good half hour of comparing watercolor pigments. Time to make her thin wallet work for her.]
[ Elda Marker is here too - designer sunglasses and all. The small woman's shoulder length purple hair is done up in a little ponytail today, mostly because she's going practical. This shop happens to have the high end inking pens that she wanted. She's always been a bit of a sketch artist more than anything - hobby more than calling - but she's been...
Well, it's been a good way to try to give form to the memories she's been getting. And a part of her wants to refine on one particular one in the back of her book, see if she can't make it a more proper drawing. To that end, she's also considering working out toner...
The point is, she's here. She also needs a new sketch book. ]
[ . . . How is it this self-aware? But then, she thought she saw him? She hangs her head, biting her lip. She feels vulnerable now, probably looks it too - so tired, so... so everything. She brushes her own hair back, the purple shade. She thinks about it all, and the glances back at Toushiro. Toushiro, with his natural black hair. Just like... ]
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