01. nightmares | action/phone

[ryuuzaki]

[BEDROOM: Action for Shirley]

[An invisible boulder is crushing L's chest. The pain is more intense than anything he's imagined, radiating in every direction, making the world contract to the range of his dimming vision. He should be aching from falling out of the chair and hitting the floor, he should be covered in bruises, but the heart attack--it is a heart attack, it must be--completely eclipses it.

Losing consciousness would be a relief, a chance to be oblivious to his suffering until the worst of it passes. He knows that he's dying, though, so he fights for every breath, for the last moments he'll ever have. He's frightened, and helpless, and cold.

Light Yagami looms over him, lips stretched in a deranged grin--awful--and L feels an exhausted sense of satisfaction, an understanding that he's seeing Light's true face for the first time. Everyone else in the room is oblivious to it, looking in the wrong places... he no longer has enough time or strength to be frustrated by their blindness. They'll think the shinigami has done this on its own, and Light will pick them off, too, when he can, when it's convenient... an aspect of their situation that they've never seemed to fully understand. Weeks will pass before someone else takes up the case, and Watari has just deleted all of the data. Light will have plenty of time.

The world is shrinking to a pinpoint and a few lights that are too bright; they hurt L's eyes, which flutter shut if he doesn't make the effort to push them open. He's so tired. He tries to make his mouth work, to say something that the others can hear, but he can't even voice a sigh.

How stupid to try to keep his eyes open; he'll die whether they're closed or not. It's better to resign himself. By letting them close, he can have a few second of relative comfort before the end. The pain is separate from him now. Someone else will catch Yagami; it will be in motion soon; L will win, by proxy, in the end. I wasn't wrong, he thinks, but I....

The world is gone, everything is gone, nothing is left but darkness.

He wakes with a start and a sharp intake of air. Then he feels the mattress against his hips, the edge of the pillow touching the tops of his shoulders. With a relieved sigh, he lets his head drop to rest on the pillow.

While he's had any number of similar nightmares in the past few months, this one was more realistic, more linear, and more terrifying than most. His heart is racing like that of any other frightened animal, but that's normal after a bad dream. There's no sign of the pain or pressure that were both so visceral only a few minutes earlier. Even as his breathing slows, he continues to inhale deeply, as if to compensate for the way he hadn't been able to take in any air at all before he woke up.

His eyes adjust to the darkness in the room, and as details begin to emerge, he realizes he's not in his own bedroom... and that someone is in the bed with him. He hears soft breathing and catches a hint of a fruity scent that he can't place. Before he has a chance to examine his surprise companion any more closely, that person stirs.

There are two options: pin them down and demand answers, or get across the room and possibly out of it as quickly as he can. The first idea seems like it could be asking for trouble, and the second seems unnecessary: if they were a danger to him, why would they be asleep in bed next to him? It would have made more sense to hurt him before he woke up, and the fruity scent... it's like a young woman's soap or shampoo, like something he's smelled on Amane before.

He's too curious to leave. The third option, he supposes, is to watch and wait.]

[LIVING ROOM: Action for Misaka]

[Meet your new "parents": a pale, dark-haired man in his mid-twenties, and a red-haired woman so young that it might be more appropriate to call her a girl. They stand in the living room in the nightclothes they woke up in: white pajamas with blue stripes for him, a short, filmy nightie for her, with a sheet wrapped over the top of it for decency. The expression on the man's face as he looks around is a combination of bewilderment, frustration, and intense annoyance. He picks up an old-fashioned photograph of himself with the woman and two children he's never seen, peers at it, then hands it to her without a word. The woman stares at it, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, her brow furrowing deeply, and her hands flexing just a little as she clutches the frame a little more tightly.

These new additions to your household haven't made a lot of noise, but maybe it's been enough to attract your attention. You're in the picture too, after all.]

[PHONE w/ all appropriate filters: The next day]

[The man's voice is soft and low.]

It's my understanding that there are some of you who would be willing to help a new arrival as much as you can.

If that's the case, I'm curious: what were you doing before you came here?

Comments

[ phone ]

[clarities]

[ Such straightforwardness. Though, Diana can't help but feel a bit... bored herself, so: ]

Oh, you know - the usual. Find the cure to the common cold, save the country from a meltdown, and still have time to develop an efficient system to make peace in the world.

Re: [ phone ]

[ryuuzaki]

[His tone is dry, almost ironic.]

Oh, only that.

[Voices can't always be analyzed with 100% accuracy--some people sound much older or younger than they actually are--but he's relatively sure the voice is young and female. Pert, too. Under other circumstances, he might be amused.]

In all seriousness, though. Your situation... was it difficult?

[Phone]

[1_truth]

Um... sleeping.

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

[It sounds like a young boy. L frowns at the phone.]

What had you been doing before that? Anything hazardous?

phone

[roadroller]

[oh did you have a question? Rin has one too!]

Is this Hideki Ryuuga? ♪

Re: phone

[ryuuzaki]

[That gets his attention. Shirley doesn't seem to be responsible for this situation... he's not yet sure that anyone is responsible, that it's not some kind of previously unanticipated afterlife... not sure of what it is at all.

Now, it seems that someone is aware of the cover identity that he used primarily at To-Oh, and that she recognizes him by voice, almost as if she was expecting his call. She sounds like a young girl... similar, but not identical, to Amane. Something is off. Her voice is more musical, and more mechanical.

A recording? He decides to answer with a question.]

Who am I speaking to?

[Phone]

[questionauthority]

[You sound almost familiar, stranger on the phone. But it's taking Edward a moment to recall.]

Answer: Outsmarting the "World's Greatest Detective" once again.

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

[His hackles go up, and then he lets out the softest of sighs. What is it with these people?]

It sounds like an impressive achievement. [His tone is entirely even.] How did you pull it off?

[Phone]

[myblimpisbigger]

I was attempting to prevent a world-wide war despite being gravely injured. My doctor decided it would be wisest to enforce my ordered bed-rest with guns and extremely concentrated tranquilizers. You must admit, such dedication is admirable.

[Man, realizing that was over a year and a half ago is kind of strange.]

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

I can't argue against it.

Precisely how severe were your injuries?

[phone]

[kicka55ia]

I guess I was playing wi--I mean why the hell are you doing asking stupid questions like that, huuuh?!

Re: [phone]

[ryuuzaki]

Curiosity.

What were you playing at?

[He realizes he's changing the phrasing, but he wonders if the other man will notice.]

Phone

[originalnumber]

Aah- You are new then? [Statement of fact... Probably?]

...I will offer as much assistance as possible, however, I am afraid that any assumptions toward the nature of capture will likely result in a 'dead end' as I have heard others call it. I was entirely non-corporal in my realm, and more importantly did not require sleep- very few were able to see or hear my presence, so the fact that I abruptly 'awoke' with a solid form in clothes of some kind has yet to have its methods explained.

[A pause, and then-]

...I should introduce myself.

I am 'Astral'.

Re: Phone

[ryuuzaki]

Astral.

[A beat; he's confirming the name, and processing the strangeness of what he's been told. In the meantime, he can address the point that interests him most:]

A dead end?

phone

[last_to_kneel]

I died.

[Varon gives the generic answer since he's not really sure if he is alive or dead back home.]

Re: phone

[ryuuzaki]

I see.

[The pause isn't awkward at all.]

Can you tell me what happened?

[OOC: OH GOD YOU IN PARTICULAR HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS IN TWO PLACES IN A ROW I AM SO SORRY. ;___; ]

action!

[lovepowered]

[Shirley rouses, slowly at first, eyelids fluttering as she does. Her subconscious registers a profound wrongness in everything around her before her conscious mind can even piece together a single detail. She can only remember a face peering down from above her. His face. Lelouch's face. Was he still here? She swore she could feel a male presence nearby. It was comforting, in a way. She gives a tiny smile to the air as she murmurs one word.]

Lulu?

[Then as she stretches, her long legs kicking out underneath the covers, it all comes rushing back. Terror, pain, and then a strange sense of peace, in that order.

She'd died. She remembers that much now. But she also remembers a lingering peace she did. She told Lelouch the most important thing. There was a painful, bittersweet sadness to knowing that her life had been cut short, that there were so many things she'd never get to do, to think of the sad faces on her mother and friends when they realized what happened to her. But there was one beacon of hope, too, one single happy thought: if she was dead, maybe that meant she'd get to see her father again...

Shirley roused herself completely and sat up, rubbing a sleepy eye.

That was when she saw it. Or him, rather. A person, who was most certainly not her father or Lelouch or any man she was even remotely familiar with, and who was staring right at her. He was wearing pajamas and she realized, to her sudden intense embarrassment, that so was she.

No. Not even pajamas. A skimpy thing she would never have worn of her volition.

Immediately, Shirley did the only thing she could do.

She turned red, grabbed all the sheets in her hands, clutching them to herself tightly, and screamed.]

[ryuuzaki]

[Definitely a young woman, or a girl. He doesn't know who Lulu is... a friend, a sister?... but before he can reply, I'm not Lulu, she's seen him, and is screaming.

Her shriek makes him wince--so high-pitched--and then he realizes that there's a different kind of danger, now that she sees him as a threat.

He has to make a snap decision, so he reaches towards her and covers her mouth with his hand, smothering the sound, hoping she won't bite him.]

Shh! Please calm down and tell me who you are.

[--where we are, why I'm here, why this is happening--there are so many possible questions, but the most important thing is to get the girl--her skin is smooth against his palm--to stop panicking. He sounds sleepy and harassed.]

[answerer_sword]

...My work.

[That is all she is willing to say.]

[ryuuzaki]

Was it a dangerous situation?

[ phone ]

[outlandished]

I got th' wrong person mad again 'n they threw me in prison again all 'cause I stole somethin' tha' was rightfully mine anyway. But! I escaped from bein' hanged again 'n life's great so far!

Why ye ask, love?

Re: [ phone ]

[ryuuzaki]

"Again"?

[He lets the question, posed in a dry tone, hang in the air for a moment before continuing.]

-- Hm. Curiosity. I wanted to know what the most common experiences were. I thought it would be comforting to know that I'm not alone.

[There are any number of things he hopes to acquire through this line of questioning, but consolation isn't among them.]

actiiooon

[misakanetwork]

[The noise does attract the attention of a keen-eared Misaka, enough so that she pokes her head into the room where the pair are standing in a curious manner.]

'Ah, does this mean Misaka has finally procured a pair of parents who are not drones?' Misaka muses aloud to herself.

[Sorry. Your daughter narrates her speech and uses third person.]

Re: actiiooon

[ryuuzaki]

[L stands stock still: it's the girl from the photo, in the flesh. He doesn't take his eyes off of her to glance back at it to check. Clearly, they were shown as some kind of family unit, but....]

Drones? What do you mean?

[ phone ]

[normality]

It was.. well, I don't think it was anything that special. I can't even really recall what exactly it was, it was that normal of an action.

[ A very light chuckle. ]

Maybe I just went to bed back home and woke up here.

Re: [ phone ]

[ryuuzaki]

That's weird in itself, wouldn't you say?

[Phone]

[technologic]

Um, I was preparing to defend a city I was helping to rebuild from an attack.

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

A noble goal.

[His voice is bright: he wants to make a show of being impressed with her altruism. When he speaks again, though, he sounds more serious.]

These attacks were common? What was their nature?

[Phone]

[hisnameisthecaptain]

Being digested, I guess?

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

That doesn't sound pleasant. You were conscious?

[Phone]

[riastrad_ridire]

Dying. [Completely casual, even sounding like he's just discussing less than favorable weather.] Again.

Re: [Phone]

[ryuuzaki]

... "Again"?

What happened?

[ phone ]

[extraordinarily]

I was trying to get my fellow brigade members ready for a flower viewing party!

Re: [ phone ]

[ryuuzaki]

That sounds pleasant.

[It sounds like a waste of time, but there might be more to it than is initially apparent, so he keeps his tone of voice interested.]

What kind of brigade was it? You were military?

[... and if that's the case, why were you out looking at flowers?]

[wannafightnow]

Fighting a war.

[ryuuzaki]

Who was winning?

[forgottenmagia]

I was attempting to squash the resurrection of my adversary. [FEED COMPLETELY UNFILTERED, COME AT HER MIKO]

[ryuuzaki]

Resurrection?

What kind of adversary was this?

[heartmaestro]

I was attending my highschool graduation.

[ryuuzaki]

That sounds pleasant.

Was everything going smoothly?

phone

[thegirltwin]

[Nina feels a bit sadness, hearing that voice talking about being a "new arrival"... it's hard to be sure, but it sounds to her like he doesn't remember being here before.

That happens sometimes. She knows that. That doesn't make it not sad, though. Even if she and Ryuuzaki weren't what anyone would call close, it's still one more person she knew who probably doesn't remember her anymore.

Probably. She does recall the stunt with the gun, though. He might remember after all and, for some reason fathomable only to him, believe the best course of action is to pretend he doesn't remember. He hasn't given much away at all.

There's only one way to find out.]

Ryuuzaki? Is that you?

Re: phone

[ryuuzaki]

[This is the second person to recognize his voice and address him by name... but it's a different name. His eyes widen, then narrow, and he stiffens.]

Who's speaking?

[It doesn't sound like Amane, nor does it sound like Wedy, and they're the only women who should know him by that alias, particularly by voice alone. It couldn't be Misora; she would only know B by that name, and it didn't sound like her either. And she was dead, but he was beginning to understand that that might not be a bar to her presence in Mayfield.]

phone;

[italktomyplants]

Working. [ She can't exactly say what she'd been doing, it was a big can of worms ]

Re: phone;

[ryuuzaki]

[L likes proverbial worms and prying open the cans they come in, but only time will tell how tight the lid is on this one.]

What kind of work was it? Dangerous work?