castaside | [Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

[WHY YOU SAY THIS NOW.]

[He trips a bit over the doorframe and has to catch himself on the railing, over arm around Korone.]

That-

LATER!

[ omfg - ]

Later.

[ squishes her arms around him a bit, hiding a grin against his plastron ]

Let's go up.

Menace.

[Grumble grumble, BUT HEADING UPSTAIRS.]

Your menace.

[ UP THEY GO ]

Upstairs, there is a single room, with a pointed ceiling because clearly. There is a painting or drawing tacked onto the wall, a shepherd's crook leaning against another wall, and a ship in a bottle sitting on the floor.

Unfortunately. Overly dramatic sigh.

[Up the stairs and then he'll put her down.]

[Oooooh.]

A ship in the bottle? [Gonna investigate.]

[ Heh. There's a hint of a trill at his griping, something affectionate and teasing. But then she's down on her feet and she sobers herself up some; they still have a job to do. ]

I'll take a look at the art after.

[ She'd rather wait just in case Donnie needs an assist. ]

It is a very intricate ship in a very dusty, cloudy bottle. Obviously it took someone a great deal of time, but that looks to have been so long ago. Parts of the ship are falling off, dangling at odd angles. One of the sails is torn.

Do you touch it?

[He's absolutely gonna touch it.]

You are worried about being alone. When you're not alone, you fret about it. You know the feeling of being tossed aside. That terrible sensation of being thrown, not knowing where you're going to land.

You don't ever want to feel that again.

[Oh]

[Oh no]

....I kind of want to see if fixing the ship would help.

Its.

Lonely.

Lonely …

[ Oh.

Oh no. ]

I'd … I understand the feeling of wanting to fix it. But I'm not sure we should interfere with it that much. [ Her hesitance is clear. So clear that Donnie won't be able to miss it. ] Loneliness is something we can help with on the outside.

....

Its really hard not to. [As it is, he's brushing away dust from the bottle.]

We can help outside though. That is true.

Really, really hard. [ She rests a hand on his shoulder, light enough to be easily shrugged off if he doesn't want it. ] I get it.

Maybe we can leave him a note? That way we're not changing anything for him; we're just ... reaching out.

.....

A note sounds good.

[He will. Put down the bottle.]

[ Korone sits down next to him, and pulls out her notebook and some pens. A few of them are purple, because of course. ]

Here. We could write one each ... or write one together?

[ Either way, she offers him the pens and paper. ]

[He sits down beside her.]

We should check the other memories before leaving something. Just in case its not just....loneliness.

... Mm.

[ She leans, very, very gently, against his arm. It's barely more than a brush of contact; a question, rather than a demand. ]

It wouldn't surprise me if there's elements of loss and grief. Maybe ... struggling to let go. That kind of thing. The feeling of being stuck waiting for someone who might not ever come. [ It's a guesstimate based on the prevalence of the cracks and the clocktower. ]

I can check the art and the crook.

[Donnie leans back against her.]

[He nods.] It would explain the clock.

Are you sure? Loneliness can hit you rather hard.

I'm sure. You're right here.

[ Presses her forehead against his shoulder. ]

Loneliness still hurts. A lot. Of course it does ...

But it's easier to climb back out of the pit when I think of you.

[He rests his cheek on top of her head.]

It is a lot easier to recover from things with you.

Grab one. Then we'll see about the other one.

M'glad to hear it. [ THAT'S LOVE, BABY. A quiet chirp of mate and partner. ] Life's better shared, you know? The world doesn't feel so overwhelming when I'm with you.

[ She has to pull away, however reluctantly, to touch the painting. Which she does, braced but as ready as she can be to roll with the punches. ]

It's difficult to tell what the painting is of, you can only see a blue sky with big fluffy clouds and perhaps the top of a mountain range? It might be this place before it was covered in ash for all you know.

You are a six-eared macaque, and you have been rejected.

The other monkeys chittered about you for only a few minutes before summarily throwing you out of the nest, out of their group. Pointing at your ears, some hissing, some howling with laughter. Saying you're bad. The noises hurt in all ways it's possible to hurt.

You don't understand their reaction until you go look in the water and see your reflection. You don't look like they do. You lift a shaking hand to three ears where one should be.

What are you? Were you a mistake? You just want to be with the other monkeys.

You'll never be allowed to be with them as long as you have these ears. You've got to find a way to get rid of them.

[ ... ]

[ oh. ]

[ oh, that hurts. ]

[ that hurts like a knife to the gut. like a thousand paper cuts, dozens layered upon dozens, one after another after another after another after ten, twenty, thirty at a time. a hollow agony with the weight of an anvil, an anchor, all sharpened points and inevitability. ]

[ korone stares at the painting, the tip of one finger still oh-so delicately pressed against it. ]

It is. [He said as she reaches out.]

[Then she is very still, just staring at the painting. He moves over to her.] Choco?

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

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Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door

Re: Level S (sub 1) - East Door