Inbox for ryslig

[polarvoid]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 018.07.154.55 <Daisy>This is Basil! I'm not around right now, but if you leave a message I'll get back to it as soon as I can. <BANNED USER> SCREENED MESSAGE. UNSCREEN? Y/N -- sample for when you ban someone <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <USERNAME> First sentence of message.

Comments

cw: implied domestic abuse

[zoomingupthathill]

[ Max doesn't like to barge into people's rooms. She's had it happen to her enough—or, overheard it, nights when she couldn't block it out with her pillow—to be hesitant. But no response whatsoever. Nothing. No shuffle or gasp.

He can't have been caught in the early lights of the sun. He's good about pulling the blinds. And he's not that heavy of a sleeper.

Worry wins out. After a few knocks, a few quiet calls of his name, Max lets herself in, finding Basil utterly disoriented. Her hooves clop on the floor softly, and she raises her voice. ]

Basil? Hey, are you with me?

[polarvoid]

...Max?

[When Basil answers her, he doesn't turn around. His voice comes out in a small whisper, barely there, as he wraps his arms around his middle in a self-hug.]

W...where did all of these pictures come from?

[zoomingupthathill]

[ Of course she can hear him. Of course, she can catch every shred of distress in his voice. ]

You took them. [ Quiet, almost equally so. She closes the door behind her, as she makes her way toward him, leaving photos where they are. ] This last week, you... You thought you did it all the time.

[polarvoid]

[He took them? He...

Basil shakes his head a little, but he doesn't move from the middle of his bedroom. He's avoiding looking at the pictures, which are all of people in Ryslig, going about their day or posing for the camera...he can't stand looking at them.]

...I h-haven't....taken pictures like this since Mari died. I haven't wanted to.

[That...isn't entirely true. It's more that his desire to had been snuffed out by guilty association.]

[zoomingupthathill]

[ Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Max swallows behind him. It would make sense if it was tied to that, wouldn't it? That's how trauma works. ]

Basil... [ She can't find the right words. Instead, just walks up and reaches for one of his hands wrapped around his middle. To try and get him to move, something. ]

[polarvoid]

[It helps. When she feels her hand take his, it prompts Basil to shift, his claws curving a bit around her fingers so he can take her hand properly, even if his grip is a little weak. He doesn't seem like he's panicked or anything, just...confused. He's been taking pictures on rare occasions, like when Nanami asked him to, or Ingo...but never recreationally. Never for himself.

He looks over to her finally, his expression a touch frightened.]

I...I don't like it when I can't...remember stuff like this, Max.

[zoomingupthathill]

[ Thank goodness. She can meet his eyes. It doesn't change anything, just feels like a step in the right direction. ]

I know. [ Softer than usual, in an attempt to be soothing. ] It was a...one of those things. Okay? A lot of people had different memories, last week. It wasn't only you. I'm... Even my memory's a little...hazy.

[ Not incredibly. But it's strange. Disorienting. Like everything's been moved slightly, and she has to sort through it. ]

[polarvoid]

[So he's not the only one.

One of those things...]

...but I was. Different. Right?

[He had to have been, to be doing this.]

[zoomingupthathill]

[ After a hesitant pause, Max nods. ]

You were...happier. More...carefree.

[ Is Max happy that he's not anymore? How...awful is it, to think that? ]

[polarvoid]

...o...oh.

[Happier. He...has an inkling as to what could have possibly been the reason, but thinking too deeply on that makes his stomach hurt.]

I see. I'm...I'm sorry if that was...weird, at all.