Snowblind IC Inbox

[termineur]

"Uh, hi there. I'm probably out stomping through snow right now, so...leave a message?"

[Text, audio and video formats available. Feel free to contact him for any reason.]

Comments

Late as heck on 304/early 305; voice; @betterhalf 1/2

[darkincrement]

[ At first he intends to leave a voice message. But once he gets to his inbox, he's quiet. Gabriel might be able to pick up the sounds of the building Vanitas is in, but nothing more for a couple of seconds. Then Vanitas is throwing his tablet across the room with a loud clatter. ]

text; @betterhalf 2/2

[darkincrement]

[ When he manages to calm down, he picks up his tablet again. He's not even sure what he's after seeking him out like this.

He types something out and then deletes it. There's a few more tries as he struggles with words. Nothing seemed right and any sentimentality will feel stupid when Billy comes back in a couple of days anyways.

Finally he decides. ]

You're not allowed to die.

[ Yup. That's enough right? ]

@godsend, video

[termineur]

[ Gabriel was sleeping, but the alert on his tablet wakes him up immediately. The audio is odd enough that he replays it a couple times as he moves out of the room, making sure he doesn't wake anyone up.

When he gets the text, he finally sighs and turns on the video. He still remembers using it so often, maybe it'll just be a habit here, too. Besides, Vanitas could stand to see him. The only indicator he just woke up is his hair, flying in every direction. ]

I'm not going to die. And if I do, this place isn't gonna let me go.

[ Both sentences said in all seriousness, as if he could be certain. ]

What happened?

@betterhalf; video

[darkincrement]

[ He makes sure his helmet is on first. After spending a false future with him and the others, Vanitas isn't completely certain over his composure. This place sucks.

He'll have the camera on himself for a moment. He's sitting against the door and it's still quiet. No dumb hero types in the background pointing out that some people are trying to sleep. ]

We were careless.

[ He's keeping his voice detached. ]

[termineur]

[ The 'we' explained it all, honestly. He could remember the extra years they'd (fake) spent together. He remembered running around with him murdering people. Vanitas was not exempt from needing someone around to travel with, as much as he liked to think he was. ]

Billy died. Anomaly?

Glad you made it inside, at least.

[ Whatever happened, it wasn't a total failure if Vanitas made it inside. ]

[darkincrement]

Locked out.

[ Nodding his head to the door behind him. He waited until Billy was no longer responding before trying to message Gabriel. He's not even sure why. ]

It won't happen again.

[ It's a statement to himself. Already trying to figure a place to leave Billy's stuff for when the other comes back.

If the other comes back. ]

[termineur]

You were both exploring. Okay. Damn, that's a rough way to go.

Are you going to keep track of where he revives? Wait for him?

[ He doesn't respond to Vanitas kicking himself over this, because he suspects his words would go ignored. At least the kid isn't calling him to tell him to stay away or that he hates him or something. Maybe they've gotten past the 'friendship is a weakness' thing? ]

[darkincrement]

[ They were exploring, but they were also goofing off. Taking their time and playing keep away. He looks over at the stupid cape that he took just before the door locked up. ]

Not waiting for him.

[ He's not fully over it. Still trying to reconcile the false memories this place gave him along with everything else. ]

[termineur]

You should come find us, then. Hop in the maintenance tunnels and catch up with us.

I mean, it's probably not gonna be quite as fun as when we nearly took out half the population, but- more productive, I hope. We're making a pie.

[ His own memories were still a little rough to pull apart. So much of them were violent- but when he was traveling with Alfie or Vanitas, those were pretty good times. He wants the kid with him. ]

[darkincrement]

[ Turning to look at the screen once more, and for a moment he's less tense looking. Between the past memories and the future, he knows he really doesn't mind the company.

But it also means he'll be careless again. He'll lose something of his again. He's not really sure where Billy fit in, but he was something. Vanitas had relaxed and was letting his guard down more and more.

And then he had to go get locked out. ]

I'll think about it.

[termineur]

[ Gabriel rolls his eyes, but he does understand. He's just got to let the kid settle a bit. ]

I don't want you to be across town on the off-chance we actually bake this thing. At least try to be nearby?

[darkincrement]

[ Wow don't roll your eyes.

Freshly baked is something that didn't really click until he said that. He can't remember a time he had anything freshly baked before or after being split from Ventus. ]

I'll try.

[termineur]

[ It's very important that Vanitas has a chance at pie (or some sort of pie amalgamate, whatever it is they end up with). ]

Okay.

[ He will be checking in nearly every day now. All those memories have solidified Vanitas' role as a friend in his life. ]

[darkincrement]

[ He seems to relax at that. Reaching over to something off screen. ]

I'll stash most of his belongings some where first.

[ The keywords are most and doing that first. ]

[termineur]

[ And that makes Gabriel relax a little, as it sounds less like a maybe and more like a plan. ]

Sure. That's a good idea.

You remember traveling with me too, right? When I was- [ 'Different' isn't entirely accurate, now that he thinks of it. ] -when I hadn't met Al?

@duster, audio, Day 307

[bywolves]

[ A pause, as there's just... silence, on the other end of the line, as Royce tries to figure out what he wants to say. ]

I hope you remember killing me too, or things are going to be strange. More strange. [ Yeah, he'll go with that. ]

@godsend, audio

[termineur]

[ Gabriel hadn't been sure where they stood, and probably had avoided calling Royce a little too long. ]

Yeah, I do. Uh, sorry about that. I remember wanting to find you and meet back up with you and see if you ended up killing me too.

... [ He sighs heavily. ] Turns out in every other possible iteration of this place, I'm my old self. How'd you do with all the extra memories?

[bywolves]

[ It's okay, Royce is on the same page. ]

I probably would have killed you if we'd ended up in the same place again. You caught me off guard. That would not have happened again. [ A beat. ] I'm dealing. With the extra memories. [ Dealing poorly, but listen. ]

[termineur]

And if I met up with you again after that? --no, it doesn't matter. Didn't actually happen. I remember liking you, even then.

[ He remembers hoping they could eventually be okay with each other, but he was more independent then. ]

Guess I'm dealing, too. It was the worst when they were all just as real as the others. You get any good ones?

[bywolves]

I didn't like you, but I respected you fine. [ Usually does respect the people who get the jump on him. ]

... One or two. [ As for the rest. A long pause, and then: ] I traveled with Alphonse for a long time. And Ecks. Separately.

[termineur]

Fair enough.

[ He perks up at hearing about Al. ]

Really? That is good. He's pretty good to travel with, huh? Thoughtful. I bet Ecks would be pretty good to travel with, too.

[bywolves]

Yeah. I - we were friends.

[ He's still coming to terms with that. ] With both Alphonse and Ecks. People I trusted. I trusted them to watch my back, but it never happened.

And even so, I can't forget it.

[termineur]

At least as far as mine went, it was all something that could've easily happened. I made a slightly different decision and didn't meet up with Al. So it feels more real than I would've expected. Maybe we shouldn't forget them.

In one of my memories, I ended up traveling with Alfie. It was good.

[bywolves]

Mm. There were plenty of memories where I just - didn't stay with Alfie.

[ His heart hurts to think about those ones. He knows he's in deep, but it's really all he has to cling to, here. ]

He's not a completely horrible traveling companion, is he? [ That's fond and soft. ] He snores, though.

[termineur]

He does. [ The agreement is immediate. ] I liked that, though. Before I ran into him- that time, anyway- I'd been alone for too long. Knowing there was someone else there was something I needed.

I'm glad you found Alfie and stayed with him here. This time. Just like I'm glad I stayed with Al. He's good for me- especially if all those other times are any indication. But- I'm glad I remember the rest of it. It's the sort of information I needed about myself.

Hopefully it won't happen again, though. Once was plenty.