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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yeah ill see u soon.

[ If anyone asked, Ragna would absolutely deny rushing to the cave to find Jinx, but that couldn't possibly be further from the truth; he was already on his way even as they were exchanging the last few messages, running at high speed to get there as soon as possible. Ultimately, it doesn't take long until he arrives at the site, though he imagines it might have felt much longer for Jinx, considering her... questionable state. Using Ars Magus, he creates a small ball of light to shine on the way inside the cave as he ventures inside. ]

Hey, Smurfette. You in here?

( she hears his boots before his voice and although it's familiar to her, jinx is still rather wary. because what if he isn't who he said he is? he could be one of the monsters who shapeshifted down to size just to gain her trust before taking her in for a snack. jinx cautiously pulls up to her feet -- words flowing pass her lips before she can catch them. )

Don't come any closer!! H-How do I know you're the real deal?

( maybe a short little trial to see if he's ragna or some fake will be simple enough to do, right? they've known each other for a good several months... so there must be something the real ragna would know about her than nobody else would thus far. )

[ Ragna comes to a stop, not willing to risk causing her any further distress, not when she already sounds on edge as it is. The man sighs, wondering how he's supposed to prove his identity to her when they don't actually know each other all that well. There again... ]

Let's see... You tried to mug me the first time we met.

[ It feels like an eternity has passed since then, even though it's only been a couple of months. A lot has happened in the meantime, now that he thinks about it, and Jinx was no small part of it all. That's the reason he's out here, ignoring the wails and screams ringing in his ears, instead of staying holed up at his place and trying to get some rest from what he assumes is related to the "sentencing" nonsense. That's why... he can keep recounting things that's happened between them, much to his own surprise. ]

You hate it when I call you a kid. And your birthday was last month. I brought over a cake. [ He hesitates for a brief moment, not eager to bring up something so sappy, but─ here goes nothing: ] ... You've still got the keychain, right?

( so far what he says seems to be checking out, but what sticks out the most to her is the keychain he mentions. she blinks almost in disbelief then her gaze is down to her hip -- the purple skull dangling still slowly and silently as ever. she carefully caress it over with the padding of her fingers before peering back up to her partner.

the tension of her muscles and her nerves vanishes and somehow noticing, her body then moves entirely on its own. jinx rushes up to him to dive right into his arms for an embrace. her arms wrap tight around his torso and her face burying deep in his stomach/chest (depending how tall he is, idk). )

[ Like the previous time she's rushed to hug him, Ragna practically freezes the moment she throws her arms around him, a proverbial deer in the headlights. Unlike the last time, however, he doesn't immediately move to try and push her away ─ instead, he manages to regain enough composure to (somewhat awkwardly) place one hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, while putting the other one gently on her head. He's... not entirely sure what else to do, so he just lets her stay pressed against him for as long as she needs it. Lord knows she looks like she could use it. ]

... Yeah, good to see you, too.

( they don't stay like this for too long, because there's something that jogs her memory that causes her head to jolt up. her eyes appearing concerned and fearful. )

The monsters. ( she says quickly, words fumbling over themselves. ) — D-Did you see 'em? Are they are out there? Are they waiting for me?

( ragna doesn't seem banged up and there's no blood on him, so maybe he managed to evade them somehow? he is one of the most strongest people she knows here so... )

[ Ragna looks down at Jinx with a small frown. He was kind of wondering about that while on his way here; what was that thing about monsters, anyway? Sure, it's not like those are uncommon here, but this feels like something different. He doubts the girl who could (and absolutely would) blow up this whole town sky high if she stubbed her toe was so afraid of any of the usual beasts that hang out in the local forest. For a brief moment, he considers that was he watches her eyes. They remind him of something, though he can't quite put his finger on what at first...

Ah. Right, he remembers now. It's the same kind of look Jin would give him whenever he'd climb into Ragna's bed, insisting that "the Moon is going to fall". It was all nonsense, of course, but it never stopped him from comforting his little brother. Whether the monster Jinx speaks of are real or not, that's no reason for him not to try and do the same for her, too. ]

No monsters in sight. You're fine.

[ The man shakes his head, stroking her head delicately as he speaks. ]

( while she wants to shrink into herself, the stroke over her head is soothing enough to release all the tension off her shoulders. so exhaling out a trembling breath, jinx nods to him to take his word for it and peeks over to the cave's entrance. )

O-Okay, good. Good... so I'll be able to get outta here with no problem. I'll... I'll be just fine.

( this is more a pep talk to herself than to him. so that way when silco gets here, she'll be able to move out of here without any complications. that is, of course, the monsters decide to come back and seeking for their meal again. )

Yeah.

[ The man nods, though seeing her act so paranoid brings little relief; it's pretty obvious there's a lot going on in her head, but at the very least he seems to have managed to get her to calm down a bit. Ragna shifts his weight awkwardly; he's fairly certain he's not competent enough to handle whatever the fuck is the root cause of all this, but if nothing else, he should be able to provide some distraction so she doesn't need to think about it too much either. ]

... Wanna sit down for a moment? Chill out while we wait.

Sit?

( she repeats as if sitting is such a foreign concept to her. but when she thinks about it, sitting inside the cave shouldn't be a problem. he's been doing that for the last few hours, so what's an additional twenty minutes?

after all, the monsters are far too large to enter inside so they should be extremely safe. the teen nods again while taking a step back, then plops herself where she stood with her legs tugging close to her chest, arms clinging to them. )

[ Ragna takes a sit right next to her, only to realize he's painfully ill-equipped to handle this situation. What... is he even supposed to do next? Small talk? He sucks at that. Comfort her over the loss of her friend? ... Yeah no, he'd probably just end up saying something stupid and hurt her in the process. Maybe it's better to leave that subject for now. Weather is always an option, but he's not that pathetic, thank you very much.

After a moment of extremely awkward silence, the man clears his throat and finally speaks up: ]

... You're, uh. Not cold, are you?

[ There. That is almost a conversation, no? ]

( given jinx is not at all dressed accordingly to the weather, it's a miracle she hadn't caught a cold or a the flu yet. she blinks before a sheepish grin dances along her face, and her fingers brush along her bangs to move away from her eyes so she can address him better. )

Pfffbbbtt, naaaah. What's a lil' chill? — If my skin's not turnin' blue then there's no worries.

[ So she'll be sitting out here, freezing her ass off until she becomes a literal Smurfette. Ragna can't help but roll his eyes at that one. ]

Uh-huh.

[ The man takes his coat off and throws it right into Jinx's face with zero warning or explanation. ]

I'll be taking it back, so don't get too used to it.

( her yelp gets muffled by the jacket whacking to her face, and she clumsily peels it off to take a better look-see. is he really offering his coat to her when he could freeze out here too? it's such a sibling thing to do if she stops and thinks about it. she can imagine vi doing something like this, if there's leftover of anything or something to be shared, she would give it to her rather than keeping it for herself.

jinx brushes over the stitching over the clothing wordlessly, stuck between if she should say, "thank you" or keep up the snarky persona. the teen chooses to be mute for now while swinging the coat over her, slipping it in. it's comically big for someone of her size, and it appears the jacket itself is going to swallow the poor thing whole instead of some monster. in spite of everything, however, her heart warms over the gesture, and she curls more into herself with it -- taking in whatever scent he might use on himself or just his general aroma. )

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005. 💥 (TXT) ⇁ CHARM

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