[Lights! So they're not just meant to stumble around in the dark this whole time--which is great, they're already off to a better start than she was expecting. She'd half-expected to find her hands suddenly wandering over monster flesh rather than wall or the incorporeal air. And she's eager to see what this city is like, especially if Justy knows it; she's never lost her love for finding somewhere new.
But then there's this stillness in the air, a quiet that even the Anchorage had never held, even in its slipshod, haphazard mixture of life and home and hearth. Like the city is holding its breath, waiting for something that may or may not arrive.]
[ As if another switch is flipped, suddenly the whole area is filled with sound. It comes on in layers, the bustle of a busy city; the hum of mixing conversations, the frenetic energy of drunks and fights and laughter. Mechanical sounds are there too; crafts taking off, landing, the clink of pachinko and slots.
But... there are still no people. The lights flicker sadly, stores empty as Justy spins around to look at all th store fronts. Some of them have gone black. ]
Huh, that's... weird.
[ He looks confused, but he starts moving away again, almost speaking to himself. ]
[She can't help but wince as sound suddenly blankets the city, the hustle and bustle she's used to but louder and in more crowded locales. The neon lights are somewhat familiar (though there are so many!), the alleys reminiscent of another port city she'd once visited, but the sounds of so much coin and the whir and crash of the machinery? That's new. It's loud and jarring and harsh in a way she's no longer used to.]
So this is the city you know? And what's the Soyokaze?
[How did stuff he knows so well get into this haunted house?]
[ Justy answers and starts walking again, right towards a pitch black alleyway. It feels right. So right that he almost marches right into the new darkness, wherever it leads. He takes a few steps, squinting into it.
Many of the decorations fail up close, the only real pathway in the haunted house is forward, into the dark. But it still somehow feels familiar. Eerily. Scarily. The decision that had hurt the most.
There's no way back now. Trapped, no choice. Stores keep closing, opportunities passing, people leaving. Some doors slam, making Justy jump. The noises are so loud but he can still hear his heart beat in his head. It makes his skin itch. ]
I think it's this way. Sorry... about all of this.
Edited (I was deeply unhappy with it dhfhfh) 2022-11-02 09:01 (UTC)
[Is this unsettling him? Wave tries to peer at him, but in what little light they have here she can't be entirely positive yet.]
You don't have to apologize. This is something aimed at you, isn't it?
[It's a little weird, that it would be so specific to him, but it's not the first time she's been in such a place either. Wave's mentally preparing herself, expecting that she'll see a familiar face sooner or later--but until then? She doesn't mind being here for Justy. She relinks their hands with a firmer grip, tucking in closer to his side so that hopefully as they keep walking, he'll remember he isn't here alone. Whatever it is about this situation that's meant to scare him, he doesn't have to face it on his own.]
[ Justy glances at her when she tucks in at his side. He leans in her direction before nodding and stepping forward. Her presence is a comfort, one that keeps his knees from shaking as he audibly swallows. If this place could do this much, there's no way to know what awaits them in the unknown.
He didn't completely remember the walk back then, so it's only fitting that they're forced to trudge through this alley. The sound of rats and skittering in the dark accompany them as the louder sounds behind them grow dull. Up ahead, uneven light spills from a door. It illuminates the trash, junk, and dubious puddles along the edges of their mostly clear path.
Once they pass the threshold, Justy's tense shoulders relax when his eyes fall on what appears to be the front end of a massive blue ship. A space ship, though it would be easy to mistake as sea faring if it weren't stored in a rundown hangar that is almost as uncared for as the ship itself. The area around them is littered with haphazard equipment, tools, ship parts, and trash. Outdated, the blue ship is rightly a piece of junk now.
Yet you wouldn't know it by the warm, genuine smile on Justy's face when he looks up at his ship in the middle of being stripped down to nothing, not a repair. Justy brings his heels together, straightens up, and salutes it with his free hand. One of the tiles spelling out Soyokaze in bold yellow Japanese, hiragana, falls with a loud clatter. Something electric pops above it, a visible and audible spark from one of the wires attached to it's hull.
Justy can't look at her. ]
I know it's not real, but... it's nice to see it again. This ship was home for a while.
[ He means it, in sort of a bittersweet way. Mixed in with the trash at their feet are newspapers with moving marquees without end. Some have headlines announcing victory, some with Tylor's photo in dress whites plastered across them. All he has eyes for are this ship as he starts walking toward it, to squat before the "ze" tile that'd landed on the ground.
It appears to trigger another thing he hates: paperwork.
A mass of them start to flutter from the darkness of the ceiling. His school reports, doodles, art, love letters already in pieces from being passionately torn to shreds, photos of a toothy young Justy Ueki Tylor with big eyes and a smile too big for his face. He's alone in every one. Other faces burnt out, some of them disintegrate before they touch the ground, but most survive.
A hail of student IDs follow, clattering with a less energetic face on each one as the years go by, a study in the progression of youth to reality. Some official looking documents mix in and are missing sections, charred out, but enough multiples fall that it is easy to piece together.
Justy Ueki Tylor. Born July 7th, UC 6978. UC 6991, a Keian High School graduation photo, looking far too young even before the math can be done. University acceptance letters, UC 6992, degrees from UC 6997 economics, industrial distribution. His military file paperwork is thick, peppering the ground with countless reports regarding one Lt. Commander, Justy Ueki Tylor, age 20, Captain of the undefeated Soyokaze.
Justy refuses to look at them, emotion draining from him with the effort. But he doesn't stop her from it, doesn't do much of anything except squat before the tile, frozen there. The ship groans, metal fighting metal, until it slowly begins crumbling to dust.
It's too much, the sound of it as the paperwork keeps piling around him. He laughs. But it's so forced that it's sad, and his body goes lax after that. His voice, small. ]
It's not fair. This isn't... this isn't scary at all.
[It's a far cry from the headless horsemen and murderous girls of the floor below, a far more quiet and insidious sort of scary, she thinks. This isn't the horror that jumps out at you from around the corner; this is the horror that waits for you to come to it, patient, because all men must discover it in their own time. This is the horror of living.
It's not something she wholly understands; her fears have always had form and shape, a name, a place, a voice. How do you fight a fear when there's nothing to fight against?
But even as the papers swirl around them, even as she tries to sneak a peek at the papers falling around them, Wave doesn't let go. It doesn't weigh as heavy on her, so she can stand tall for the both of them, even as the paperwork falls, the IDs hail down on them, even as she starts to piece together that this man before her... there's been a weight on his shoulders for a long time, hasn't there? Unbidden, she thinks of another man she knows, and she thinks that maybe she hasn't been looking at Justy this entire time.]
...sometimes the scariest things out there are the ones that don't look like they are at first glance. It's not always something you scream and run away from.
[ There's no feeling in it, like he's agreeing on instinct. But he does. She is the reason their hands stay connected, he doesn't fight it. He doesn't want her to let go, but he doesn't say it. ]
... I'm not going to stop you, if you want to tell anyone. People should be free to make their own choices.
[ Even when that freedom means they choose to leave. As the ship disappears, so does the tile. But he keeps staring like it's still there. Across from them, visible now in the Soyokaze's absence with the depths of the repair pit separating them, a lonely figure is propped up against the wall. Eyes downcast, lonely, empty. Justy doesn't look up to see his shadow across the way. ]
I won't live with regrets, but none of this is me anymore.
[She opens her mouth to respond, but before she can say anything there's a new voice, a man's voice, coming from behind them.]
Wave? Is that you?
[Even if Justy's not looking up, he'll probably feel the sudden pull at his hand as Wave sways, her entire sense of balance thrown off by the sudden twisting in her gut. There's no way it can be Dusk, not here. And yet, as she turns over her shoulder to look, her grip tightens because there's no way to mistake the way he carries himself, the aura of confident and capable and strength almost rolling from his shoulders. The way he meets her eyes, no actor could imitate; the way he casts his glance over the situation--over the hangar in its disarray, the two Justys, the mess of paperwork that originally littered the floor--impossible to replicate. Something in her seizes, a terror flooding her veins that she hadn't expected to feel the next time she came face-to-face with this man.]
Justy...
I was surprised when they told me you were in here, and with no one to protect you properly from the horrors you might encounter. [He smiles lightly, looking now to the Justy she's still holding on to.] Though it seems you've found replacement guard for the moment. This is...?
[ Justy blinks at the new voice, swallowing his crisis whole in favor of reality. It's whiplash but natural. The distraction would even have been welcome if this guy, and Wave's reaction, didn't say everything about how welcome his appearance is. Justy stands when she sways, standing and holding steady beside her.
He smiles at the man politely, but he squeezes her hand just like the first time downstairs. Justy brings his free hand too, patting her upper arm as he talks and leaving it there in case she starts to fall. ]
Oh, you almost guessed it! Justy Ueki Tylor, age 20.
But you're wrong. Wave's so strong and beautiful, she doesn't really need a guard! And I'll be here as long as she wants me to be.
[On the one hand, she's grateful to Justy for keeping hold of her hand, for the support, but on the other, the hand on her upper arm triggers something within her that she still can't fully understand, something that makes her eyes drop to the floor as he speaks, her voice dead in her throat. Dusk, on the other hand, always has something to say, and this time is no different.]
Yes, she is that, isn't she? [He nods politely.] Dusk Calerin, Lord of the Second Sector.
[They're two incredibly different men--in sharp contrast to Justy, Dusk holds himself tall and confident, his dark hair cut and styled neatly, his clothes fitted and sharp. He positively reeks of arcane power, violet eyes almost seeming to glow a little in the dim of the hangar (but it's a trick of the light, she tells herself; Dusk's eyes have never glowed before).]
You're welcome to stay if you'd prefer, but I trust you won't mind my joining you. [His smile is warm as he begins to walk toward them. It looks as though he'll head to Wave's other side, so Justy can keep holding on if he wants.] I've come a long way to join the festivities this week.
[ Justy, in all his contrasts to the other man, seems unfazed by all of it. In his own way, he holds his ground beside her, neither shielding her nor hiding behind her. He notices, thumb attempting comforting circles if she accepts them. ]
No, thank you!
Actually, this resort is invite only. [ Justy goes on, sounding genuinely remorseful-- ] And I'm afraid there's just no Mr. Duck on the list.
[ Then he tilts his head to innocently whisper to Wave, though it really isn't that quiet. ]
Hey Wave, is he always this bad at taking a hint? Let's ditch him.
[In her mind, it had already been a done deal. It would go the same way it always does--Dusk is well-spoken, quick to choose his words. She hadn't been prepared to feel him taking her arm in his, but she'd expected it all the same.
But Justy's refusing him instead, and it reminds her of why she's here. What she'd come for, what she wants. She bites the inside of her lip at "Mr. Duck," trying to keep a little smile from cracking while Dusk pauses, then shakes his head.]
Yes-- [She starts to say it, but is interrupted by Dusk.]
You'll find your host is aware of my presence. He invited me, once he learned my w--
Stop. [Wave finally finds her voice, cutting him off. It's hard at first to force the words out, but she gains assertiveness as she goes on:] Go away, Dusk. You're not real.
[He's undeterred by either of them, and if he's annoyed by their words in any way, it doesn't show. Dusk smiles again, this time indulgent, as though she's said something amusing.] Should they not know the truth? I would think your potential suitors would want to know they were flirting with a married woman.
[...and just like that, it's like a switch has flipped. There's a pressure in her chest that Wave can't stop to consider, a tingling of adrenaline rushing through her as Dusk outs the secret she's been holding onto, but her expression goes from blank to set, reaching for the small bag tied at her waist.]
[ Justy shuts his mouth once Wave starts, letting her find her footing. But he's still here, smiling softly at her like Mr. Duck doesn't exist. He doesn't, really, but that's not what is really important to Justy at the moment. Wave's wellbeing is.
But the threat of a weapon has Justy reacting, reaching for her. He puts no force into actually stopping her, but he leans over with a step to try and break her line of sight. Justy won't stop her, but he does try to catch her eyes. ]
Whoa, hey, it's okay.
[ Successful or not, he goes on, softer-- ]
He's not real. And... if you don't want to be married then you aren't. Who cares what some spooky ghost or piece of paper says?
[She's actually remarkably fast on the draw, a long dagger in her hand before he manages to break line of sight. For a moment she leans away, eyebrows furrowing as she tries to catch Dusk in her sights again, but then she'll let Justy get her attention, even though her mouth is still taut as she listens.
She has no idea what he means by a piece of paper, but it's not the important part in what he's saying, so she leaves that aside for now.]
It's not just that. He... [Her eyes flit to the side, over his shoulder, then back. Lords, how does she even begin to explain it?]
He killed me first. Not entirely, but a part of me. I won't let him do it again.
Then whatever it is, I wouldn't stop you from killing the real one, but--
[ Justy keeps his eyes on hers, wherever they wander, while ignoring the knife now that it's drawn. If they've still got their hands connected, he keeps them that way. Whether Duck is still around or not, Justy ignores it. ]
He's not really here, I promise. It's just me. And you don't really wanna stab me, right?
[But here in this moment she can appreciate his unflappable calm. He's right--Dusk's not here (probably), she's not going to be forced to go back to Coriolis after this (supposedly), and it's just the two of them standing alone in the middle of this haunted house (hopefully). His hand in hers is a welcome anchor in the midst of all this, the complex storm of emotions surrounding her and Dusk held at bay.
She wants out of this hell. Wace forces herself to relax a bit more and nods. She doesn't make any move to put the dagger away, but rolls it in her palm, tucking the blade in against the flat of her arm.]
Oh, I don't doubt it for a second. It's this place that's so scary.
[ Her move with the dagger is enough, not that he ever seemed to consider it a threat once it was out. Not while it's in her hand and she isn't seeing him as Duck or anything. He didn't like this place. His world is largely the here and now, what he can see and touch. The illusions here were too much.
He jumps at a distant clang from the darkness with a little yelp and his grip tightening. It's dark again, save for the exit light buzzing to life above a door. He's already moving towards it if she is when he answers her-- ]
[It seems as though the haunted house has one last surprise for them, a narrowing of the passageway as they near the exit. It's a tight fit, narrow enough that they can't walk through side-by-side, and Wave would swear her shoulders are brushing up against the walls, but that can't be because Justy's just ahead of her, right?
Ordinarily this would have set her off, but with everything that's happened between the abandoned city and Dusk, Wave just holds on a little tighter to his hand, closing her eyes and focusing on the feeling of that and the knife pressed flat against her arm.
And then they're out, breaching the stairwell, the darkness of the floor chased away by the sunlight filtering in. Wave lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd begun holding, blinking a few times as a wave of dizziness sweeps her (how long had she been holding her breath...?).]
I take back anything I said earlier about going through that. That was awful.
[ Justy keeps their pace, quiet when he glances back to see her eyes closed. He doesn't mention it. But oh, the sunlight! Justy takes in a deep breath of fresh air like they've been trapped for weeks in there. He stretches his free arm up as high as he can before dropping it with a happy sigh.
His smile is bright as he looks at her, as if they'd been on a picnic. He squeezes her hand before his hand relaxes. No attempt to keep her there, but not pulling away either. ]
Yeah, but I sure am glad I had such a pretty lady there to protect me. Thank you, Wave.
[And just like that, he's gone back to the same man he'd seemed to be when they first met. It's strange now, hearing the same easy flattery dropping from his lips--knowing that there's much more beneath the surface than this. She doesn't think this is a lie, not any more, but... wow, the difference is striking.]
I should be the one thanking you. I thought that if I saw him again, I'd kill him. But I just froze instead.
[She glances down to their joined hands, but she makes no move to let go just yet. Instead, she reaches down to the bag at her hip, holding the pommel of her weapon in thumb and forefinger while she flips the top open and then slides the dagger inside. It's definitely too big to actually fit in the bag properly, and the edge should definitely cut through its material, but hey! Magic!]
I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there. So thanks, Justy. What you said... it means a lot.
Well, then it's a good thing he wasn't real, right? [ Justy swings their joined arms, just a little to lighten things. ]
I hope you never have to see that guy again, but if you do then this was just a test run. You won't freeze next time and he won't ever know you froze either! Boy will Mr. Duck be surprised. [ A laugh ] That's not so bad, is it?
[ He shakes his head at the rest though, still smiling. ]
Oh no, I did what anyone would. Nobody should have to live by anyone else's rules-- [ But then he definitely gets distracted by that knife pouch-- ] That's so cool.
[She's distracted when he is, a laugh interrupting her as a smile comes to her face.] Isn't it? I bought it from a guy when my world was destroyed. He said he was some sort of magician working on the... [Pauses, turning her eyes upward as she remembers the phrasing] "quasi-theoretical extension of the physical plane by manner of spatial compression"? He was a little hard to understand, and from what I could tell he wasn't satisfied with this one, but it works well enough for me.
[And it made it possible to keep certain things hidden after she'd gone home the first time, too! Wave thinks for just a moment, then finally lets go of his hand so she can remove the bag from her waist, holding it out to Justy.]
[ Justy rapt attention only falters when his blank stare takes over once she gets to the words 'quasi-theoretical'--- but he renews interest by staring at the bag while she goes on. Magic sure was something else. ]
Sure.
[ He's surprised, but looks so genuinely happy right after that you'd think no one ever trusted him with weapons (they don't). Justy takes it, examining it with more than a little awe. He waves a hand under the bottom like a magician. ]
So much magic is used for storage issues. How much can you fit in one of these quasi space bags?
[ Like what would happen if you put your head in one of these? ]
[It's really nothing special to look at, a small leather bag kind of like this one, soft and supple from use. Since it's magic, Justy can easily wave his hand underneath!]
I'm not entirely sure. The gist I got was that he wanted it to have a defined limit so that when it was full, you could tell because you'd feel it as soon as you reached in. This one... if I understood him right, if you put too much in there, stuff starts getting lost. It somehow passes through the magic he did and shows up somewhere else. Only he's got no idea where it goes, or even if it would all wind up in the same place.
[So she hasn't exactly tested it to its limits yet! When you have a magical hole in your magical pocket...]
[ The outward plainness is what makes it all the more interesting to him. Justy listens, but doesn't stop fiddling with the bag. He opens it to look inside, apparently with no fear of anything popping out since he peers right in up close. ]
I wonder what it's like in there... How do you know what you're grabbing?
[It's weird when he opens it up--at the same time as it looks empty, it looks as though it's full too, strange shadowy shapes layered over top of one another. Nothing will really be defined enough to tell what it is specifically, but it's apparent that the bag Contains Items, even at the same time as it doesn't.
But man, he's making her work! Wave really hadn't questioned it, being from a world with magic in the first place.]
I guess I just... know? I reach in expecting to find something, and it's there under my hand. You do have to focus a little bit; if you aren't focusing on what you want to pull out you'll just get something random.
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no subject
But then there's this stillness in the air, a quiet that even the Anchorage had never held, even in its slipshod, haphazard mixture of life and home and hearth. Like the city is holding its breath, waiting for something that may or may not arrive.]
Are you sure? It's so quiet.
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Yeah, you're--
[ As if another switch is flipped, suddenly the whole area is filled with sound. It comes on in layers, the bustle of a busy city; the hum of mixing conversations, the frenetic energy of drunks and fights and laughter. Mechanical sounds are there too; crafts taking off, landing, the clink of pachinko and slots.
But... there are still no people. The lights flicker sadly, stores empty as Justy spins around to look at all th store fronts. Some of them have gone black. ]
Huh, that's... weird.
[ He looks confused, but he starts moving away again, almost speaking to himself. ]
Oh, but maybe they brought the Soyokaze here too?
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So this is the city you know? And what's the Soyokaze?
[How did stuff he knows so well get into this haunted house?]
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[ Justy answers and starts walking again, right towards a pitch black alleyway. It feels right. So right that he almost marches right into the new darkness, wherever it leads. He takes a few steps, squinting into it.
Many of the decorations fail up close, the only real pathway in the haunted house is forward, into the dark. But it still somehow feels familiar. Eerily. Scarily. The decision that had hurt the most.
There's no way back now. Trapped, no choice. Stores keep closing, opportunities passing, people leaving. Some doors slam, making Justy jump. The noises are so loud but he can still hear his heart beat in his head. It makes his skin itch. ]
I think it's this way. Sorry... about all of this.
no subject
You don't have to apologize. This is something aimed at you, isn't it?
[It's a little weird, that it would be so specific to him, but it's not the first time she's been in such a place either. Wave's mentally preparing herself, expecting that she'll see a familiar face sooner or later--but until then? She doesn't mind being here for Justy. She relinks their hands with a firmer grip, tucking in closer to his side so that hopefully as they keep walking, he'll remember he isn't here alone. Whatever it is about this situation that's meant to scare him, he doesn't have to face it on his own.]
Let's keep going.
no subject
[ Justy glances at her when she tucks in at his side. He leans in her direction before nodding and stepping forward. Her presence is a comfort, one that keeps his knees from shaking as he audibly swallows. If this place could do this much, there's no way to know what awaits them in the unknown.
He didn't completely remember the walk back then, so it's only fitting that they're forced to trudge through this alley. The sound of rats and skittering in the dark accompany them as the louder sounds behind them grow dull. Up ahead, uneven light spills from a door. It illuminates the trash, junk, and dubious puddles along the edges of their mostly clear path.
Once they pass the threshold, Justy's tense shoulders relax when his eyes fall on what appears to be the front end of a massive blue ship. A space ship, though it would be easy to mistake as sea faring if it weren't stored in a rundown hangar that is almost as uncared for as the ship itself. The area around them is littered with haphazard equipment, tools, ship parts, and trash. Outdated, the blue ship is rightly a piece of junk now.
Yet you wouldn't know it by the warm, genuine smile on Justy's face when he looks up at his ship in the middle of being stripped down to nothing, not a repair. Justy brings his heels together, straightens up, and salutes it with his free hand. One of the tiles spelling out Soyokaze in bold yellow Japanese, hiragana, falls with a loud clatter. Something electric pops above it, a visible and audible spark from one of the wires attached to it's hull.
Justy can't look at her. ]
I know it's not real, but... it's nice to see it again. This ship was home for a while.
[ He means it, in sort of a bittersweet way. Mixed in with the trash at their feet are newspapers with moving marquees without end. Some have headlines announcing victory, some with Tylor's photo in dress whites plastered across them. All he has eyes for are this ship as he starts walking toward it, to squat before the "ze" tile that'd landed on the ground.
It appears to trigger another thing he hates: paperwork.
A mass of them start to flutter from the darkness of the ceiling. His school reports, doodles, art, love letters already in pieces from being passionately torn to shreds, photos of a toothy young Justy Ueki Tylor with big eyes and a smile too big for his face. He's alone in every one. Other faces burnt out, some of them disintegrate before they touch the ground, but most survive.
A hail of student IDs follow, clattering with a less energetic face on each one as the years go by, a study in the progression of youth to reality. Some official looking documents mix in and are missing sections, charred out, but enough multiples fall that it is easy to piece together.
Justy Ueki Tylor. Born July 7th, UC 6978. UC 6991, a Keian High School graduation photo, looking far too young even before the math can be done. University acceptance letters, UC 6992, degrees from UC 6997 economics, industrial distribution. His military file paperwork is thick, peppering the ground with countless reports regarding one Lt. Commander, Justy Ueki Tylor, age 20, Captain of the undefeated Soyokaze.
Justy refuses to look at them, emotion draining from him with the effort. But he doesn't stop her from it, doesn't do much of anything except squat before the tile, frozen there. The ship groans, metal fighting metal, until it slowly begins crumbling to dust.
It's too much, the sound of it as the paperwork keeps piling around him. He laughs. But it's so forced that it's sad, and his body goes lax after that. His voice, small. ]
It's not fair. This isn't... this isn't scary at all.
no subject
It's not something she wholly understands; her fears have always had form and shape, a name, a place, a voice. How do you fight a fear when there's nothing to fight against?
But even as the papers swirl around them, even as she tries to sneak a peek at the papers falling around them, Wave doesn't let go. It doesn't weigh as heavy on her, so she can stand tall for the both of them, even as the paperwork falls, the IDs hail down on them, even as she starts to piece together that this man before her... there's been a weight on his shoulders for a long time, hasn't there? Unbidden, she thinks of another man she knows, and she thinks that maybe she hasn't been looking at Justy this entire time.]
...sometimes the scariest things out there are the ones that don't look like they are at first glance. It's not always something you scream and run away from.
[Lords, does she know that one.]
no subject
[ There's no feeling in it, like he's agreeing on instinct. But he does. She is the reason their hands stay connected, he doesn't fight it. He doesn't want her to let go, but he doesn't say it. ]
... I'm not going to stop you, if you want to tell anyone. People should be free to make their own choices.
[ Even when that freedom means they choose to leave. As the ship disappears, so does the tile. But he keeps staring like it's still there. Across from them, visible now in the Soyokaze's absence with the depths of the repair pit separating them, a lonely figure is propped up against the wall. Eyes downcast, lonely, empty. Justy doesn't look up to see his shadow across the way. ]
I won't live with regrets, but none of this is me anymore.
no subject
Wave? Is that you?
[Even if Justy's not looking up, he'll probably feel the sudden pull at his hand as Wave sways, her entire sense of balance thrown off by the sudden twisting in her gut. There's no way it can be Dusk, not here. And yet, as she turns over her shoulder to look, her grip tightens because there's no way to mistake the way he carries himself, the aura of confident and capable and strength almost rolling from his shoulders. The way he meets her eyes, no actor could imitate; the way he casts his glance over the situation--over the hangar in its disarray, the two Justys, the mess of paperwork that originally littered the floor--impossible to replicate. Something in her seizes, a terror flooding her veins that she hadn't expected to feel the next time she came face-to-face with this man.]
Justy...
I was surprised when they told me you were in here, and with no one to protect you properly from the horrors you might encounter. [He smiles lightly, looking now to the Justy she's still holding on to.] Though it seems you've found replacement guard for the moment. This is...?
no subject
He smiles at the man politely, but he squeezes her hand just like the first time downstairs. Justy brings his free hand too, patting her upper arm as he talks and leaving it there in case she starts to fall. ]
Oh, you almost guessed it! Justy Ueki Tylor, age 20.
But you're wrong. Wave's so strong and beautiful, she doesn't really need a guard! And I'll be here as long as she wants me to be.
no subject
Yes, she is that, isn't she? [He nods politely.] Dusk Calerin, Lord of the Second Sector.
[They're two incredibly different men--in sharp contrast to Justy, Dusk holds himself tall and confident, his dark hair cut and styled neatly, his clothes fitted and sharp. He positively reeks of arcane power, violet eyes almost seeming to glow a little in the dim of the hangar (but it's a trick of the light, she tells herself; Dusk's eyes have never glowed before).]
You're welcome to stay if you'd prefer, but I trust you won't mind my joining you. [His smile is warm as he begins to walk toward them. It looks as though he'll head to Wave's other side, so Justy can keep holding on if he wants.] I've come a long way to join the festivities this week.
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No, thank you!
Actually, this resort is invite only. [ Justy goes on, sounding genuinely remorseful-- ] And I'm afraid there's just no Mr. Duck on the list.
[ Then he tilts his head to innocently whisper to Wave, though it really isn't that quiet. ]
Hey Wave, is he always this bad at taking a hint? Let's ditch him.
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But Justy's refusing him instead, and it reminds her of why she's here. What she'd come for, what she wants. She bites the inside of her lip at "Mr. Duck," trying to keep a little smile from cracking while Dusk pauses, then shakes his head.]
Yes-- [She starts to say it, but is interrupted by Dusk.]
You'll find your host is aware of my presence. He invited me, once he learned my w--
Stop. [Wave finally finds her voice, cutting him off. It's hard at first to force the words out, but she gains assertiveness as she goes on:] Go away, Dusk. You're not real.
[He's undeterred by either of them, and if he's annoyed by their words in any way, it doesn't show. Dusk smiles again, this time indulgent, as though she's said something amusing.] Should they not know the truth? I would think your potential suitors would want to know they were flirting with a married woman.
[...and just like that, it's like a switch has flipped. There's a pressure in her chest that Wave can't stop to consider, a tingling of adrenaline rushing through her as Dusk outs the secret she's been holding onto, but her expression goes from blank to set, reaching for the small bag tied at her waist.]
I'm going to stab him.
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But the threat of a weapon has Justy reacting, reaching for her. He puts no force into actually stopping her, but he leans over with a step to try and break her line of sight. Justy won't stop her, but he does try to catch her eyes. ]
Whoa, hey, it's okay.
[ Successful or not, he goes on, softer-- ]
He's not real. And... if you don't want to be married then you aren't. Who cares what some spooky ghost or piece of paper says?
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She has no idea what he means by a piece of paper, but it's not the important part in what he's saying, so she leaves that aside for now.]
It's not just that. He... [Her eyes flit to the side, over his shoulder, then back. Lords, how does she even begin to explain it?]
He killed me first. Not entirely, but a part of me. I won't let him do it again.
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[ Justy keeps his eyes on hers, wherever they wander, while ignoring the knife now that it's drawn. If they've still got their hands connected, he keeps them that way. Whether Duck is still around or not, Justy ignores it. ]
He's not really here, I promise. It's just me. And you don't really wanna stab me, right?
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[But here in this moment she can appreciate his unflappable calm. He's right--Dusk's not here (probably), she's not going to be forced to go back to Coriolis after this (supposedly), and it's just the two of them standing alone in the middle of this haunted house (hopefully). His hand in hers is a welcome anchor in the midst of all this, the complex storm of emotions surrounding her and Dusk held at bay.
She wants out of this hell. Wace forces herself to relax a bit more and nods. She doesn't make any move to put the dagger away, but rolls it in her palm, tucking the blade in against the flat of her arm.]
Let's get out of here.
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[ Her move with the dagger is enough, not that he ever seemed to consider it a threat once it was out. Not while it's in her hand and she isn't seeing him as Duck or anything. He didn't like this place. His world is largely the here and now, what he can see and touch. The illusions here were too much.
He jumps at a distant clang from the darkness with a little yelp and his grip tightening. It's dark again, save for the exit light buzzing to life above a door. He's already moving towards it if she is when he answers her-- ]
Don't have to tell me twice.
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Ordinarily this would have set her off, but with everything that's happened between the abandoned city and Dusk, Wave just holds on a little tighter to his hand, closing her eyes and focusing on the feeling of that and the knife pressed flat against her arm.
And then they're out, breaching the stairwell, the darkness of the floor chased away by the sunlight filtering in. Wave lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd begun holding, blinking a few times as a wave of dizziness sweeps her (how long had she been holding her breath...?).]
I take back anything I said earlier about going through that. That was awful.
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His smile is bright as he looks at her, as if they'd been on a picnic. He squeezes her hand before his hand relaxes. No attempt to keep her there, but not pulling away either. ]
Yeah, but I sure am glad I had such a pretty lady there to protect me. Thank you, Wave.
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I should be the one thanking you. I thought that if I saw him again, I'd kill him. But I just froze instead.
[She glances down to their joined hands, but she makes no move to let go just yet. Instead, she reaches down to the bag at her hip, holding the pommel of her weapon in thumb and forefinger while she flips the top open and then slides the dagger inside. It's definitely too big to actually fit in the bag properly, and the edge should definitely cut through its material, but hey! Magic!]
I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there. So thanks, Justy. What you said... it means a lot.
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I hope you never have to see that guy again, but if you do then this was just a test run. You won't freeze next time and he won't ever know you froze either! Boy will Mr. Duck be surprised. [ A laugh ] That's not so bad, is it?
[ He shakes his head at the rest though, still smiling. ]
Oh no, I did what anyone would. Nobody should have to live by anyone else's rules-- [ But then he definitely gets distracted by that knife pouch-- ] That's so cool.
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[She's distracted when he is, a laugh interrupting her as a smile comes to her face.] Isn't it? I bought it from a guy when my world was destroyed. He said he was some sort of magician working on the... [Pauses, turning her eyes upward as she remembers the phrasing] "quasi-theoretical extension of the physical plane by manner of spatial compression"? He was a little hard to understand, and from what I could tell he wasn't satisfied with this one, but it works well enough for me.
[And it made it possible to keep certain things hidden after she'd gone home the first time, too! Wave thinks for just a moment, then finally lets go of his hand so she can remove the bag from her waist, holding it out to Justy.]
Want to try it?
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Sure.
[ He's surprised, but looks so genuinely happy right after that you'd think no one ever trusted him with weapons (they don't). Justy takes it, examining it with more than a little awe. He waves a hand under the bottom like a magician. ]
So much magic is used for storage issues. How much can you fit in one of these quasi space bags?
[ Like what would happen if you put your head in one of these? ]
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I'm not entirely sure. The gist I got was that he wanted it to have a defined limit so that when it was full, you could tell because you'd feel it as soon as you reached in. This one... if I understood him right, if you put too much in there, stuff starts getting lost. It somehow passes through the magic he did and shows up somewhere else. Only he's got no idea where it goes, or even if it would all wind up in the same place.
[So she hasn't exactly tested it to its limits yet! When you have a magical hole in your magical pocket...]
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I wonder what it's like in there... How do you know what you're grabbing?
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But man, he's making her work! Wave really hadn't questioned it, being from a world with magic in the first place.]
I guess I just... know? I reach in expecting to find something, and it's there under my hand. You do have to focus a little bit; if you aren't focusing on what you want to pull out you'll just get something random.