✝ic inbox.

[invocation]

[The melodious sound of chewing can be heard.]

"Leave a message, if you want.

If it's something stupid, don't waste my time with it."

Beep. _

text | voice | video

image edited by squeaks.

Comments

voice; sometime on sunday

[fortissimos]

You probably won't get this, but...

[ A pause. Two days debating whether or not to send this at all, and not one moment thinking about what she was actually going to say. ]

... I wanted to say thanks. You're still really annoying, but I think I misunderstood you. [ She sighs; this is way too hard already. ] Anyway, don't get the wrong idea. It's just something I needed to say, so don't go bringing it up if you're hiding or whatever.

[ A Responsible Message. ]

text; late on monday

[invocation]

[She would use voice, but she doesn't really trust herself to, not after...

It's strange, to hear Sayaka's voice. Even though she's relieved (deeply relieved, that she was here, alive, and safe), it still makes a chill go down her spine. It would take her a while, to get accustomed to the time discrepancies in play in this place.

The text is short, blunt, and to the point:]

i wasnt hiding

[Where are you? she wants to ask. But how much does Sayaka know, she wonders. She will wait and see.]

text;

[fortissimos]

[ Oh, awkward. There's no way she's going to use voice now that's gone through, so part of her is grateful for the excuse to switch format. ]

then what? i [ couldn't find you ] haven't seen you in days. [ This is a long time when she's dealing with a stalker!! ]

text;

[invocation]

[A long pause. For a little while, it seems as if Kyouko has abandoned the conversation.

But finally:] i went back to mitaikihara

text;

[fortissimos]

they sent you back there? that doesn't make any sense.

[ Sayaka almost doesn't ask this next bit, but it's too important to ignore, so after a few minutes spent hesitating: ]

everyone's okay, right?

text;

[revelation]

I haven't seen you around lately, I hope everything is okay. （；へ；）

If there is anything I can do, don't be afraid to ask me.

text;

[invocation]

everythings fine

[After a while, another message is sent:]

i got somethin to talk to u about

text;

[revelation]

Oh, okay! Do you want to meet somewhere or... ?

text;

[invocation]

yeah. its about sayaka

text;

[revelation]

( there is a delay between when she receives Kyouko's message and sending her own response, busily trying to think what just might be wrong. )

Okay, where do you want to meet?

kyouko is fat and this is ninja action

[fortissimos]

[ KYOUKO SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TO GET YOU, but she's on a stuffed animal roll so this will be left outside her door at some stupid hour. Between the front paws is a box with some cookies in it, and while they don't look fantastic by any means they at least appear edible. She tried! ]

oh boy action time

[invocation]

[Kyouko's hardly ever in her room, but on Christmas she stops by, presumably to sleep...for once, and happens upon the little stuffed animal. She immediately thinks it's Madoka. She picks up the toy with a surprising amount of tenderness, and unwraps the box of cookies.]

Huh? [Damn, these things look jacked. Madoka was not on her A-game today.] She usually makes 'em look better...

[Well. Maybe she had been tired making a million cookies for people or feeding orphans or whatever it was really nice people like Madoka did on Christmas. They probably taste just as good, right?

She takes a big bite of one, and makes a face.] Ugh...who made these things? It couldn't have been Madoka.

[Eating them anyway. Once she gets past the burnt parts, they're at least passable.]

from Riku's tablet; backdated to the 13th

[thephix]

[ when the video comes through, it's a standalone message, rather than a direct call; there's no connection. ]

[ riku is still for a moment before smiling, checking the video function. ]

Hey.

Sorry this is such short notice--but the Initiative gave me a mission this morning, and it looks like I'll be gone for a few weeks. [ he brings a hand up to his lips, thinking. ] I should be back sometime soon... so don't worry.

[ his eyes come back up to the camera. ] Don't have too much fun without me, alright?

[ no more responses will come from the tablet, though that's typical, since they're expected to be left behind during missions. ]

text

[revelation]

Do you think that you can meet up with me tomorrow? I'm finally have everything together to tell you what we talked about before.

And, um... if you can. Could you try and get Sayaka to come along? I'd ask her myself but... I think the only person that could get through to her is you.

text

[invocation]

[It takes a while for a response to happen, but finally:]

yeah
where?
shes not gonna listen to me but ill find her anyways

text

[revelation]

In the observatory at noon. I know she be hard about it but... I really do think she'll listen to you more than me, either way- I appreciate it.

Oh! And there were some missions recently, by the way. I left some new food they brought back for you in the room since those protein bars start to lose their taste after a while.

text

[invocation]

[a long time, before her next response.]

i got it
ill get her there 1way or the other
uh
thanks
what did u leave?

text

[revelation]

Um...

Some real fruit and a couple of snacks, I think I got the kind of things you like.

If not they got a lot more in the cafeteria.

text

[fortissimos]

[ She doesn't say much, when they're together — it's mostly just hours spent sitting quietly on the floor, and while she's content with that (nothing she has to say is important, anyway), there's something Kyouko needs to know. But she's a coward who can't say it to Kyouko's face, so she sends a text when she's sure she won't be found easily. ]

i told mami-san what happened back home

text

[invocation]

[She'd expected Mami to find out, of course (eventually), but not for Sayaka to tell her. She figured it'd be on accident, someone would make a slip. Or perhaps it'd be broken to her in a calmer way, through Madoka's interference.

Kyouko has no illusions it went well, if Sayaka was the one to break it to her.]

what for

[fortissimos]

she deserved to know

[ But that wasn't the whole reason, and she might as well be honest. Telling Mami that she died would come under the 'deserve to know' umbrella, but she said a lot more than that, and there was a different reason for it.

Someone like Mami shouldn't be friends with a witch, after all. ]

she wanted to be friends with me
i had to tell her why that was a bad idea

[invocation]

u idiot
if she wants to be friends with u be friends

[The hypocrisy isn't lost on Kyouko, but she continues on.] what else did u tell her

[fortissimos]

everything
what happened to her
[ ... ]
what happened to me

[ Another pause. ]

she told me to leave so i did
i dont think i should talk to her again

[not here: christmas day]

[limitstorm]

[ when christmas rolls around, you can expect riku to find out where kyouko is and where she's gone. he hasn't been able to contact her for a while, but while he worries, he's not the boss of her.

in a white box with a maroon ribbon lies her presents.

there are five chocolate apples, each one wrapped in cellophane. they're coated with milk chocolate and have toffee in the center; peanuts lightly coat the outside. beside that is a bag of dried mango chips, crispy and crunchy with an audible crack when bit into.

a red jacket lies beside the apples and mangoes; it's fluffy and soft, especially so in the hood, where light tan faux fur sticks out. in the pocket, something jingles--

it's a key, hanging on a flat wooden keychain, cut out in an apple silhouette. a note attached reads merry christmas. use this if you need a place to crash. along with the address written on the back of the apple in white. ]

[firstroar]

I have the Transporter coordinates you need: 2932.12.22

AI is prepped for travel as well, and should be waiting in one of the drives by the computers.

Be safe.

[date of receipt: 1 day prior to your ic mission.]