deadtention | R1 DEADLAND

[It's true, the day has been long. But he's still nervous about going back there... the offer makes him sit up straighter in interest, but then just as soon as he remembers his shoulders slump again.]

I-I wish we could... the rooms are smaller this time though. We didn't have roomies.

[Thinking back, Yoosung grumps about that.]

But it sucked. No one would have ever messed with me in there if I was still sharing a room with Henry.

[Henry would have stabbed the intruder, and this is a mental image that he can treasure. Then again maybe Mishima would also do that and he should give him a chance!! (Of course he will, in his heart of hearts he doesn't actually want any more violence to happen in the dorms.)]

Maybe we can just... pick out rooms next to each other. Or have a sleepover...! [Then again, why not both?]

Yeah. I might even know a little more of what to look out for... There was some more stuff about those guys at the summer house. Not much, but I at least know their names now.

[He lets his innertube drop along the side of the pool, then gives a thumbs up.]

Superman Yoosung joins the party!

[She hadn't realized she wasn't alone. She turns her head-- and almost immediately drops her eyes.]

...oh. Yoosung...

Yes. It's just me.

[She smiles sadly-- she'd like to pretend but... it wouldn't do much good.]

I'm sorry I'm late.

...I'm sorry. I've left you here alone for quite a while. But I know... you've all taken care of each other.

[She'd had faith in them. So she hadn't needed to worry while she was gone.]

Oh, Eve...

[She moves to comfort her distressed daughter.]

I'm sorry for making you take care of things on your own for so long. But I'm back.

...hello Viral.

[Well you might not know her, but she knows you.]

I suppose... you wouldn't recognize me. My old photo was taken out of the office... I am... Vivienne Gallivan... the person before... the robot.

[Ah...]

...I messed up. No... maybe this is just a sign... I never should have interfered...

[She's hurt so many people. She... deserves to be here.]

But... why? I thought you were still incognito...

Hey, don't tell me someone-! [You know what he thinks "someone" did. But he doesn't even want to say it if it isn't true!! Who would hurt the nicest girl!!]

Oh. Seriously? Did they remodel the whole dorm or something?

[ That's kind of a disappointment. Besides providing emotional support -- which seems like it's probably an important thing now that his earlier inference has just been verified -- he just thinks it would have been fun to share a space with someone who wanted him there, where he didn't have to worry about being pushed into the role of the third wheel in his own room (again).

Then again, he's never shared a room with anyone for longer than two weeks, and they could potentially be stuck here for a thousand years, so maybe it's for the best after all that he doesn't jump right into the deep end of the living situation pool. They'll, uh, probably both want privacy at some point anyway. ]

Yeah, that still sounds good! You want to go, then?

[ He's assuming an affirmative response, so he goes ahead and picks up his mug from the table. ]

Yeah... oh, but let me take care of that! [The mug he means. Washing the dishes. He's the big brother figure here, he's decided.]

You can pick where we stay. I mean... whatever room assignments we had in the remodeled dorms, they don't mean much now. [Since Mishima wasn't even one of them. And hopefully they won't fill up so quickly that someone else will barge in.]

Are we going to drop the act now, Vivienne? [ Her tail curls around her body. ] Explain how you could come here, in that other form...and just what "here" is?

Huh? Oh-- Thanks.

[ Stands up and hands his mug over... Having someone else offer to do something for him feels weird and a little embarrassing, but he appreciates it! ]

Just tell me if it looks like I'm going to pick a bad one, okay?

[ i.e. your room. ]

Maybe I can find Eve-san on the way and see if she can get us an extra mattress or futon or something. I think they're usually pretty generous, as long as the request isn't too abstract or off the wall.

[ He leans against the kitchen counter near the sink. ]

Do you want me to dry?

I... messed up. It's not... it's no one's fault but my own. I... I chose this.

I... Connor and I got into an argument. He... thought I was putting the students at risk. So, he tried to destroy the things in my lab. When I tried to stop him he... he had a taser. I shut him off to stop him so he wouldn't be punished but...

I really messed up.

...I... don't know. But I think... it's better that I stay here. That I stay dead.

I'm sorry I lied to you earlier. That other form... I borrowed it. But I'm done hiding.

[She tiptoes around her answers, but then-- well she's never been good at talking to people. And she seemed shaken, so perhaps it's related somehow.]

[Yoosung is loyal to a fault, so he's inclined to take Vivi's side on this first of all.]

What! How could he do that! You always did your best for us...

[...Even so, this sounds pretty bad. Especially how she said she messed up. With what he heard about what happened to Henry and Viral, that sets off some loud alarm bells.]

I-I don't know anything about robots. Is shutting Connor off dangerous?

[No, maybe he should just get to the point.]

What did you mess up?

[ A flick of her ears. ]

Then, can you do anything to help with this? With...why we're here, instead of our respective skies? I'm...very long overdue, to see StarClan.

[ All she wants to do...is die peacefully. ]

[As Yoosung takes the cups to the sink, he responds to all of the little ideas with things like "deal" and "sounds good." Avoiding his room was the idea and he trusts that Mishima knows what he's doing with Eve... he glances over when he leans on the counter, smiling faintly. They probably don't really need to form a washing-drying assembly line when it's literally just two mugs, but Yoosung is so emotionally drained and mentally exhausted, it's honestly just kind of nice to have someone staying close. So he goes ahead and passes the first one to him as he works on the second. It's not an experience he's had very often, even before infiltrating Magenta. He was living alone, after all... but he thinks he could get used to hanging out like this.]

[ Room 2 ends up being the one he settles on, once they get to the dorms. He'd gravitated toward 3 by default just because it's kind of his number, what with his name and everything; but the room to its left just... felt right for some reason, and Yoosung seemed glad to take the room next to it, where there was no neighbor on the other side.

Mission: Futon Acquisition is a success, thankfully, and once that's set up, there's... not a whole lot left to do. It's not like he arrived here with a suitcase or anything, so there's really nothing else to set up or unpack. (He'll look into finding some game consoles and stuff later.)

When it's time to hit the hay, Mishima brushes his teeth with what he desperately hopes is a brand new toothbrush by the sink, and flops onto the bed with a sigh. Man. He's really come to appreciate sleep a lot more since he's been dead.

He props himself up on one elbow after a moment to look over toward the futon. ]

Is that comfortable enough?

[~~please imagine the obligatory Yoosung toothbrush CG at the same time.~~ Yoosung rolls over on the futon to glance back. He finds it neither too hard nor too soft, but there's not tons of floor space, so he's basically lying parallel to the bed on the futon stretched beneath it.]

Well, I think as long as you don't sleepwalk I'm good... I might have to count some sheep though.

[It's still an entirely different environment. And a bigger obstacle, he's still got a lot on his mind. ...Maybe not different things. But things that are a lot. Death is heavy.]

Can I ask... what you did on the first night after you died?

[ It doesn't escape his notice how goofy that question would sound in any other context, but he's not going to comment on that right now.

He furrows his brow slightly, shifting onto his side as he thinks back to it. There hadn't been anyone here -- or there, wherever they were -- to welcome them at the time. They'd just been dropped into this place with no explanation. (There had been pancakes, though. That part was kind of weird.) ]

Mm... I think I just stared at the ceiling, honestly. I'm pretty sure it was at least a day before I actually managed to get to sleep.

[ It's hard when all of your regrets keep playing in an endless loop in your mind. ]

...Once I finally did, I didn't really do a whole lot else. I always wanted to hurry up and finish the day, but there wasn't usually anything to look forward to the next day either, so it was just... kind of a cycle of rushing from one day to the next with no end goal.

[ It was the opposite of high school in that sense. As a first year back home, he'd always stayed up way later than he should have because he'd dreaded the arrival of another day, and wanted to put it off for as long as possible. ]

Yeah, I did.

Well... Yeah, I guess. I don't think you need to apologize for it.

[ He feels like he probably has more to be sorry for.

(Though, you know, if she wants to offer an apology for ever being involved with that shitty school in the first place, he'll always take one of those.) ]

Where were you, though? And why are you here now?

[ Yeah, Mishima feels that life. (Er, death. Whatever.) He has seemed noticeably less miserable since Yoosung got here, at least. Like, still depressed, but it's less debilitating! ]

Hey, Aiden.

[ Did he just flip that paper over...? ]

What are you working on?

[ Because it kind of looks like a blank piece of paper. ]

R1 DEADLAND

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cw: suicide. sort of. It's Complicated

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hallway