expiationnet | 005. 💥 (TXT) ⇁ CHARM

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005. 💥 (TXT) ⇁ CHARM

CW: PTSD, Separation Anxiety, & Hallucinations.

this is jinx i cant find my friend. ive been calling her all morning because we were going to make a bakery stand together and she wouldnt answer me. i broke into her room and all of her stuff is there but not her. i think they took her. she wouldnt just leave. who else is still here? who else did they take? i cant be alone here in this place right? if u know me, please tell me who u are and write back so i know im not here by myself. its hard to know who is who with these things. but dont send a video or call me. just write to me or the monsters will know where i am.

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[He knew. He had had her draw or describe her inner demons before, and the little exploration into her mindscape was enough to give him a good idea what she was hiding from. He had parsed out the identities a long time ago when she was still a child.]

Your monsters will desert when I arrive. I'll be there soon. You'll be patient until I arrive, yes?

ill try.

What else did you and this friend of yours do?

[Keep her talking. Keep her out of her head, even if he wasn't the only one talking to her. It was an assurance policy on his end to know she remained relatively safe.]

we went to the bakery once. the food got crap overtime so we wanted to make a bakery stand to show the bakers how its done.

Fancy baked goods are not a staple in Zaun, but I've been told baking is little more than chemistry. I expect you would do fine making one in future.

[Almost there! Oh how he would only hurry for one person.]

u think anyone would want to bake with me?

I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask.

[The cave is coming in sight from the trees, and there are none of the monsters that she had spoken of. It didn't matter to him; they were real enough for her.]

i dunno. itll make me look too girly. or sensitive.

Does appearing girly or sensitive make you less effective?

[He's at the mouth of the cave and walked inside, allowing his eyes a moment to adjust to the dark.]

Jinx.

( she'd answer back to his message but hearing his voice from afar becomes more important than some silly little idle conversation. immediately the teen gathers up to her feet, almost tripping over herself as she scurries off to where she assumes the direction is of the cave's entrance. jinx didn't do any twists or turns when she stumbled in here so it should be just a straight shot. )

I'm here!!

( she exclaims out so he'd know for sure she is in fact in the cavern still. if he listens closely, he can hear her boots stomping rapidly towards his general pathway. )

[He waited at the entrance for signs of his daughter before he was moving in her direction at the sound of her voice first and then her scrambling foot steps. He made certain to land more on his heels with each step so that the sound of them echoed off of the stone as he moved deeper into the dark.

Caves had never frightened him. He had spent too long living or playing in them as a boy and lurking in them as an adult.]

The entrance appears clear.

( maybe it's just been the overwhelming feeling of things happening to her lately is the reason for what she does next. she lost not just usagi but also scott as a friend (so she thinks) because of, well, how she is and she's still so angry that the council has the ability to control her whenever they feel like it if they believe she's been out of line.

so when she sees silco at the entrance, she immediately dives straight into his arms and embraces him into a clingy hug. it's hard enough losing two people and she can't fathom if silco would be the next one they take away from her. if that were to ever happen, she will rip this entire realm apart no matter how weak the council will make her. they'll have to kill her to get her to stop. )

[He moved deeper from the entrance in case she didn't quite believe that the monsters had gone. He could hear her steps growing louder as they closed the distance with each other. When she slammed into him for a hug, he was rocked back on his feet with a grunt as her arms closed around him.

It felt like this had been awhile. He lifted an arm and settled it across the back of her shoulders as they stood there in the dark of the cave.]

You're alright.

( if she's alright then how comes she doesn't feel alright? maybe she just needs some sleep, maybe her energy is still on empty, maybe this freaking out over maybe her "jinx" has something to do with usagi's disappearance is getting to her, or it could be all of those things and more. regardless, his daughter nuzzles her face more into his front -- not ready to let go quite and simply just want to take in this short little moment before they venture out of the cave again. )

...

[He knew that they would have to have a discussion as to the reason behind her freak out to put her into this cave. His priority was to be certain that she was safe both physically and mentally. Thus, he let her cling to him, knowing she was sensitive to having lost her friend.]

Are you blaming yourself for your friend's disappearance?

( her fingers curl tight on her father's clothing, squeezing her eyes shut because he's right on target on what she really thinks about usagi's disapperance. sure, the council definitely has something to do with it -- but this could be a punishment for her behaving the way she's been. or maybe it's a mixture of her "jinx" and the council being put together. )

It's... — My "Jinx" is happening again. Even here... I thought it wouldn't. I thought I've gotten rid of it...

[The squeeze was all of the verification that he required as to what had actually drove her to the caves to escape her inner demons. He shifted a hand from her back to place it lightly on the top of her head, offering a light pat of comfort.]

Jinx, you are who you are, and there is nothing wrong with that. Besides, if you honestly believe that you caused a friend to disappear just by interacting with them, this place would be already devoid of people.

[He stroked his hand down the back of her head and lightly tugged on her braids.]

More likely, the Council is responsible, though their methods of bringing or sending people away we don't yet understand. They are our enemy, and we must find a way of dealing with them.

( it does make a lot of sense when it twists the perspective in a different angle. she would be alone right now if her "jinx" had something to do with it. or... maybe it's just buying its time, plucking people one by one because it enjoys seeing the agony she goes through. but jinx forces herself to throw that possibility out the window. the curse isn't that smart to maneuver something so monstrous.

although when he mentions the council buzzes loudly through her ears, and jinx finds herself gripping to him again -- but this time with a different emotion attached. that's right... it's the council that's doing all of this. they are the ones who is causing harm to her and making her second chance of life so difficult. it's them who thrives on her living in agony over the loss of her friends. jinx can almost hear them now, laughing... and mocking how upset she is. the shimmer in her blood boils, teeth gritting and buried within his chest as the rage steadily spills. he's right. they need to be dealt with. them and that bastard jerry. )

Edited 2023-11-14 05:22 (UTC)

[His hand stroked one of her braids then the other as he felt her grip change on him, and he let a soft sigh from his nose happen as he could sense the change in her mood. From fear to anger. That's where she should be; he wouldn't want the Council to have so much control for much longer, even if he was biding his time and planning his move.

Jinx would, of course, change the situation on a whim. It was something that he couldn't always plan for, which also meant that the Council couldn't plan for it either. Good.]

Are you ready to go back to town, Jinx? We will deal with the Council.

( there are no words still, but is there something to be said? she doesn't need words to tell him that right now, she wants to jam her thumbnails against jerry's adam apple and press until he slithers away into the after life. or have the council tied up and doodle permanent designs against their skins with a jagged blade.

but regardless, his daughter nods to him and takes a step away from their embrace -- her expression no longer carries fear but holds the desire for recrimination, way more when they gave her the sentence. because this time, they took away someone who was one of her important people. and that is something you don't mess with it regarding her. )

[He tilted his head to examine her expression as she stepped back from him, letting his palm brush her shoulder in a further attempt to comfort her. It didn't seem particularly necessary if her expression was any indication. No longer were the voices haunting her to bring fear, and the Council being their target was back in focus.

The corner of his lips twitched in a pleased smile and he turned so that he could direct them both out of the cave again.]

We have much to do, Jinx. [They should probably talk about the boy, but he didn't care to ruin the moment.]

( he's right. there's definitely a lot of work the two of them need to cram through. aldrip and rumpitur are the two villages they've gotten a general idea of their people and what they have to offer. but there are still other villages out there: ketsora, gunma, and broudun. the first one may seem easier to travel to next but the others... not so much. according to the map on their tablets, they seem extremely far -- like the tower she wanted to investigate still. jinx definitely can't run with her speed for that long and ekko's hoverboard is becoming low on power.

...

maybe it's time for her to finally fiddle with the hexgem. jinx's been putting that off too due to friendship drama and a newly relationship. the one positive, however, the sentencing did threw her back into gadgetry -- another she hadn't given lack of focus. with her back straighten and her head now a little higher, his prodigy trails behind him and forgetting all about the "monsters" who are supposedly "waiting" for her out of the entrance. in fact, there are nowhere to be seen when they're out in the open. ... almost as if they weren't there in the first place. )

Edited 2023-11-18 15:36 (UTC)

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005. 💥 (TXT) ⇁ CHARM

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Action. cw: torture and killing talk. you know how we do.

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Action 🎀 unless theres more about "the boy" you want to thread or it can be in the text; tablet