neverplaysfair | Game 041 [Written/Action]

[ Joshua was used to empty space. For more years than he'd cared to count, it had been all he'd ever spent most of his time in. He didn't need friends. He didn't need companions.

Without his city, maybe he'd grown too attached to his Producer. That had to be what it was. The one bit of it all that stuck with him, even here. Even through all of it, Sanae was his one connection to what he was. To Neku, he was a friend. To Shiki, he was a bother. But to Hanekoma, he was the Composer, even here with no Shibuya to watch over. He'd said that if he ever found a way home, he'd be sure to bring Joshua with him. So was this an accident, or was that a lie?

Early Tuesday morning, a written message goes out over the journals. Joshua doesn't trust his voice right now. ]

Kat's Kradle is closed until further notice.

[ After that, he heads down the stairs, doesn't bother locking the front door, makes himself a cup of coffee, pulls a stool up to the bar, and sits. He doesn't drink the beverage. He just holds the cup in his hands and stares off into space blankly over the counter top. Not moving. Not thinking.

But there were a few things left behind, and at least one of them should be dealt with. So if the intended recipient doesn't show up at the formerly-a-cafe before the early evening, he's finally going to move and make his way to house 44, a note in his hand. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[~~I appreciate that because I apparently read the post too fast~~ Blinking, she sees him, the very minimal movements and only him.

The pit in her stomach feels like a bowling ball. She doesn't like it.]

Joshua.

[A wisecrack would be natural for her right now. But in any of her encounters with him she'd never seen him so despondent and coupling it with his message. Her throat feels too tight.]

[ ~~time paradoxes make things annoying, anyway~~ At the sound of his name coming from the voice which he's heard enough for it to be familiar, he turns. His face is completely blank. No emotions. ]

There was a letter for you.

[ Joshua leaves the coffee on the counter and stands up. Without making any indication of whether she should stay or follow, he turns and heads straight for the stairs. ]

[That look sends a tiny shiver down her spine. And then the realization of what he said sinks in and her insides twist up and clench.

There's a letter. People only leave letters here for one reason.

She decides to follow behind him silently, not really caring whatever he planned on.]

[ He makes his way up the stairs and down the hallway. The first bedroom they pass is his own, still full of easels, paintings, papers and the like scattered about.

The second bedroom he walks into, and it's almost as empty as if no one had ever moved in. Almost, except for a couple of sparse piles of paper neatly organized on the desk. Joshua walks over and picks up a piece of paper sitting on its own, then hands it over to her without a word. ]

[She follows, tail fidgeting behind her and then they're in his room and it's so plain and empty and he's not here. Not, not anymore and she stops abruptly, staring at this strange room she's never been in before - not like this - and takes the paper from him wordlessly when he suddenly turns.

She stares, red eyes just staring at the sheet labeled M and she's all over this paper. Sketches of her profile, yet she's goddamn glowing and she sees the willow and he drew these...?

She sees the little note, just a few lines. And all of a sudden she's torn. Between ripping it to pieces. To screaming. To slamming her foot into the floor and hoping she breaks her own toes. All that manages to come out is a dry:]

You invited the wrong devil woman for that now, Sanae.

[Coffee. He wanted to get coffee.]

[ Joshua stays quiet. He doesn't do comfort well, not without empathy, not without sympathy and he can't allow himself either of those right now. His hand unconsciously drifts to one of the piles, the top paper of which is a drawing of his own Noise form he drew a few months ago. On the backside, hidden from view, words that he's already memorized replay in his head once more.

'Meanwhile, the Composer's situation has remained safe and stable. He remains in my company willingly'

He moves his hand away and starts to head back downstairs. ]

[He couldn't have helped her. His silence is one of the few things she's grateful for right now. She doesn't want to talk. She doesn't want to be here anymore and she folds the paper up, slips it up along the long fold of her sleeve by her elbow.]

Thanks.

[And she carries herself a few steps in front of him because her chest and her stomach and Netherworld, her whole body feels sick and strung out. It's hitting her too strong and too now and what has been with this damn year.

She needs to get out of here.]

[ A soft noise to acknowledge the word, and nothing more. He follows without complaint. Joshua just needs time to himself right now. Being so close to people means he moves faster than he's used to. He's used to his own pace. Years had long since lost their meaning, but now he's in a world where months and days all matter again.

He's gotten too close to being human again.

He shouldn't miss Sanae this much. ]

Game 041 [Written/Action] - Empty Room

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject