[ic inbox]

[darkinferno]

Dante Rantanen

"Hey, you've reached Dante. I'm not in right now--you know what to do."

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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TEXT → FAST-FORWARD TO FEB 13

[tarotcards]

[ On the morning of the 13th, one day before Valentine's Day, a sudden text message appears from a Souji Seta. Perhaps you've talked to him before. Perhaps you haven't. Perhaps you're wondering why the hell you are receiving a text at six in the morning but look, let's not sweat the small details. Pay attention to the larger ones, like the contents of this very important message: ]

Hello.

Through the tides of fate, you have been chosen to participate in this year's Valentine's Day event: Blind Dating. It is believed that no one should be alone for such an important day and as such, you have been paired up with another lonely soul.

Your match is with Evie Frye. Please contact them to plan out your date for tomorrow.

However, if you and your partner do not know what to do, there will be a booth in Recollé Square for the sole purpose of assisting unsure or confused participants of the event. There will be date suggestions, booklets of pick-up lines, and refreshments.

Happy Valentine's Day.

- Cupid

[darkinferno]

[Hang on a second WHAT--]

hey i told you two to leave me out of this half-baked plan

i'm doing well enough on my own and i'm definitely not lonely

[YOU DON'T KNOW HIM etc etc]

2/13

[intrepidsister]

Hello,

It would seem we're "Valentines" at least in some sense of the word. Either way, I'll cut to the chase. Meet me at 5PM at the square. Don't be late or I'll leave without you. I've already made reservations at a nearby restaurant. If you foresee any difficulties with our date, please let me know in advance.

Evie

[darkinferno]

[Well! He isn't expecting her to have already taken the initiative to set everything up for their date. Does this bode well or poorly for him? He's not entirely sure.]

sounds good to me

i'll be looking forward to meeting you in person, evie. with any luck it should be an enjoyable evening

3/1

[alienates]

[ and, as promised, dante is going to be getting a link sent to him. ]

AMAZING

[darkinferno]

[Oh. Oh. This is gold. And so, as promised...]



["hard g. it's not spelled JIF.

since you asked."]

text; misfire!

[twelfthspark]

I think it's time to have some fun. 💃🥂 Is your house free later this month?

[darkinferno]

some fun, huh? you sure you sent this text to the right person?

but hey, i'm always up for some fun. what're you planning?

[Don't think you can get away without letting him in on this now, Arlene...!]

3/4 misfire, before the blackout occurs

[daemonized]

Do your cats try to eat your hair in the middle of the night? In any case, I think one of them tried to smother me in my sleep. We've a killer in our midst. If my lifeless body is found within my home one day, please remember this wayward cry for help.

[This confounding message was definitely not for Dante.]

[darkinferno]

[what the hell prof]

what are you telling me this for

are you hoping i'll use your teaching to take your cats to court for murder

because that's not happening

3/7 misfire

[chiseler]

okay but then I was like "can you MAYBE have shittier aim so you stop hitting me in the face?" and that just pissed her off further. I don't get it. why books? I never asked to get smacked with the law

[darkinferno]

[Dante has to read this a couple times to parse it properly.

And then...]

honestly knowing you, i'd say you were probably just asking for her to throw the book at you

[Why yes he is just going to answer this with a pun. Yes, he is.]

DELIVERY

[catsudon]

( Strange. Haven't people been talking about getting these? You'll find a delivery from Retrospec at your home, or at some place you often frequent. Thank you, says Retrospec. For all you do.

Inside the box there is a single feline plushie. Tied around its neck is a bit of ribbon with a note: ♥ From Yuri's Angels. There is nothing else. The box from Retrospec, the plush kitty, and that note.

Congratulations. You are the lucky mistaken recipient of a Yuri's Angel Cat Plush. What a wonderful day this must be!!! )

let's say that for some reason this got delayed in the mail...

[darkinferno]

[Honestly, Dante's first instinct is to throw the whole package into the garbage without even looking at it. After the past month he is 100% Done with Retrospec and it's bullshit. But if there's one thing Dante's retained from his previous life, it's his insatiable curiosity, so in spite of himself the box is brought inside and opened.

...huh.

He wasn't expecting it to be a plush stuffed animal. And it's pink.

For a good few minutes Dante just absorbs the sheer absurdity of it all, squishing the plush head and running his fingers over the beans in the tentacles. There's no understanding what this network is doing, between the memories and this.

Finally, the plush gets set up on the top of his piano, two of its tentacles spread wide to "hold" the pages of the music in place. Why the hell not, right?

After a couple days, Dante decides it's time to investigate: he takes a picture of the plush on top of the piano with the tag and its words visible. It'll be sent to Yuri, along with the message:]


don't tell me this has anything to do with you

3/9 misfire

[ghostories]

hey hey
hey
hey!!
have you ever wondered what a fat chocobo looks like?

omg

[darkinferno]

[Wh...

What..................]

not really

but i'm guessing you've got a picture waiting in the wings to show whoever it was that was supposed to receive this text in the first place

so fire away i guess

3/10 Misfire

[megabond]

Sorry to disturb you, but have you seen jacket?

It seems that I left it back in the lecture hall.

[darkinferno]

[Now who the heck is this? Dante's actually starting to get used to the network misfiring now; after all, the past three days something weird has happened, be it a text not meant for him or a package in the mail.

So this time, he decides he's going to have a bit of fun.]

you sure you got the right person?

but i might've seen it. what's it look like?

misfire, 1/2

[twelfthspark]

Looks like a Shakespearean character. 🎭 Enter Fellatio, soliloquizing.

2/2

[twelfthspark]

You've got to be kidding me. Again?

3/20, buries you in tags, i'm sorry

[daemonized]

I remembered something else, if you care to hear it.

never apologize! it is a glorious death

[darkinferno]

[Oh. Ardyn coming to him? This is new, isn't it? It's felt to Dante so far like it's always been him, bitching and moaning about how ~hard~ his life is. So while to call him eager might be a bit too far, he's definitely interested in what Ardyn has to say.]

sure, lay it on me. what'd you remember?

3/23 action

[chiseler]

[An early morning text on Thursday ensures that Luke tells Dante to meet him at the Recollé Fitness Center later in the afternoon for their first training session. Saturday had been a mess after the information he gathered on Friday and their schedules hadn't aligned before now.

It's no problem for him though. It is what it is and that's why when he strolls into a practice room with a box under his arm he appears to be perfectly calm. He has his actual rapier, the blade sharp and ready, but he also has practice rapiers and two fencing vests.

He doesn't entirely trust Dante to start swinging around a sharp blade without practice, but he won't deny him the chance either. As he waits for the boy to show up, Luke's stretching himself out and giving a few practice swings with the practice rapier, moves finishing with a flourish and generally stretching out his wrists. When he hears the door open, he looks over his shoulder and grins.]

Better late than never, right?

[darkinferno]

[After his (mild) success with his experiment on Friday, Dante's more than ready to try fighting again when Luke texts him on Thursday. Even though he barely knows what he's doing, there's something that feels undeniably right about it, like it was a part of him before he was even him. So when he enters the practice room, a bag slung over his shoulder with a rapier handle sticking out of it, he grins back at Luke.]

Yeah, definitely. Thanks for agreeing to help me out here.

[He sets his bag on the ground, taking a moment to do a couple stretches of his own to loosen up.]

So how'd everything with the conspiracy chart turn out? You guys any closer to figuring out what's going on here?

fwd dated 3/26

[mercurio]

yo dude everything cool?
we're still going to the arcade today yeah!

[darkinferno]

[Fuck. He'd forgotten about that. And after last night, Dante's not in any mood to see anybody.]

no

[He stares at the text screen for a little while, at a loss for what else to add.]

forget it

3/13 | while he's texting anya about his date and advice for this date

[catsudon]

( while sitting next to Anya and being shown the following, he ends up texting Dante: )

good luck lover boy

[darkinferno]

[WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL

NO REALLY WHAT THE HELL WHY IS YURI TEXTING HIM THIS AND CALLING HIM LOVER BOY AND HE'D BETTER NOT HAVE....]

shut up

[Very articulate.]

4/3 | text

[constellates]

[so you know those retrospec glitches

it's what leads to anya sending this creepypasta over at some point in the day]

10/10 !!
the best story so far !
very good !
dante please read and enjoy !!

[darkinferno]

[Wait, she's sending him... a creepypasta?]

hang on, isn't creepypasta supposed to be a SCARY story?

not that this isn't a good story but when i think of creepypasta i think more like bad attempts at horror not heartwarming stories of guardian ghosts

text; ambiguously dated sometime before the gala;

[uncagedbird]

Dante?
Do you have a minute? It isn't an emergency or anything, but I
Um, that is

[Why is she so bad at this.]

Call me back when you can? Texting feels so impersonal. I'm nervous enough!! Ugh, this is dumb.

[darkinferno]

[Dante isn't one to leave Ari hanging! He'll call her back as soon as he gets the opportunity--which means that he's calling her back within the next five minutes, likely.

"Nervous enough?" Very suspicious, Ari...

Ring ring! Once she answers...]

Hey, Ari. I got your text. What's going on?

Text; 5/01

[redarm]

KNOW ANYONE WHO WOKE UP WITH EXTRA BODY PARTS???

CAUSE I WOKE UP WITH A FUCKING ARM. WHAT THE FUCK.

[There's a good chance that Noah meant to send this to someone else, but really. IT doesn't matter. he wants to just scream forever right now]

[darkinferno]

hang on

i'm not gonna ask you to calm down but

what the hell do you MEAN you woke up with an arm?

[WHAT THE HELL NOAH???? Are we talking a real arm or one from a mannequin? Is it attached or was it just kind of hanging out in the bed with you? THERE ARE QUESTIONS HERE THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED FIRST.........]

5/1

[standalonehuman]

You know, I know where Furugawa keeps his lunch. If there's any sort of reason that retribution should be visited upon the man.

Which I guess is my way of asking if you're all right?

[darkinferno]

[It's tempting. Really tempting, honestly.]

i'm fine

[For the most part. It's definitely helped to see people coming to his defense, even if he is stymied by the fact that they'd even noticed or cared what Isa said to him.]

i can't say the same for how he'll be once i'm done with him though, i may take you up on that offer

he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about

Text; 5/09

[redarm]

[It's been nearly ten days since Noah woke up with this arm, and by now, he's been to see Lucian about it. He's even been enrolled in physical therapy, and it hasn't been entirely fruitless.

So you think by now, even if they don't have any real answers about what it i, Noah might be calming down and accepting his new reality. Especially when they have problems like being shrunk down to bug size.]

hey dante.
wanna help me damage this arm?

[ N O P E ]

[darkinferno]

[Ohhh, has Noah come to the right person. Dante grins, reading the text. He's been experimenting a little bit with the sword he's recently learned how to summon, instinctively knowing somehow that it's some sort of magic weapon, as crazy as it sounds. But so far no matter what he's tried, he hasn't been able to find anything that the blade hasn't been able to cut through, and it's never been anything less than sharp enough to split hairs with.]

what, decided you'd rather go back to the old one

nah i get it don't waste your time answering that, i'm game, i got a pretty badass new sword i can test out on it

where do you wanna go to try this?

5/12 | action

[erythristic]

[it's instinct, that she runs over when she sees someone take what looks like a brutal fall. the motion had caught out of the corner of her eye when she was passing by. having gotten off of work, when the person fell, she hadn't thought about it. close enough to come over, crouch down, register that this is Dante from the other day when she thinks for a second.]

Easy...where does it hurt?

[close enough to touch, but she doesn't know him well enough to reach out and touch his shoulder. so, not yet. instead a question, with no traces of laughing at him. they can laugh at his failures once she's assessed his condition.]

[darkinferno]

[Using his newfound skills to try and zip away from a wall is... slowly starting to get a little bit easier. He's still not in total control of his own motion, but there have been a couple times where he's been able to ride the source of power until he lost his balance, falling off the surge of energy in a way that almost feels similar to someone falling off of a skate- or surfboard. By the time Grell comes by, Dante's definitely ripped up the knees of the grass-stained jeans he's practicing in, palms (where they aren't covered by his half-gloves) and knees skinned up from one too many falls on the concrete.

He's also gotten tired of practicing a simple kick-off and, now that he's back to his usual height and size, Dante's been testing to see what else he can utilize this energy for. He's discovered that if he jumps onto a rail of any sort he can activate that energy again, a pink/purple glow that surrounds his form and floods him with power, but it's just as difficult to control as ever and Dante bites it hard. For a moment he's atop the rail, sliding down it like a skateboarder grinding, but too easily he overbalances, tipping forward and trying to catch himself, but only succeeding in preventing his face from smashing into the concrete as he hits the stair, then tumbles down the remaining few to the ground.

Normally he might lie there for a moment or two before dragging himself back up to his feet to try again, but Dante isn't expecting someone else to have noticed his wipeout and to come over to him. He blinks when Grell appears in his vision, crouching down beside him, but sighs, lifting his hands up so he can roll his wrists.]

Ow.

You saw that, huh?

[It hurts everywhere, honestly; he's a big mess of bruising from the constant practice and falling. But he'll be okay, just give him a minute!]

5/13

[daemonized]

[Sometime in the afternoon comes a text from Ardyn. There's no preface to it, but they're rather past the point of that by now, aren't they?]

You'll recall when I spoke of healing magic?

[darkinferno]

[It's true, in a kind of way that might be weird if Dante stopped to think about it too hard. Seeing "the prof" show up on his text alerts is common enough now that he doesn't even think about it before sending back a response.]

yeah i do

did someone give you a chance to try?

5/13

[heiroglyphs]

Okay so look
I need some advice
Actually a lot of advice
But we'll start with one subject for now.
Help?

[darkinferno]

i don't know apparently everybody in my life thinks i need their advice too but

i can try

what's up?

6/1; text; mid morning

[uncagedbird]

Good morning! I'm going through my clothes so I can donate the ones I don't want anymore. Do you want me to take yours too? We can grab lunch if you're not too busy.

[darkinferno]

i don't know how much i'll have to donate, but you know i'm always up for lunch

do you want me to pick you up later? with how many clothes you've got we might need the trunk space

TEXT → 06/02

[tarotcards]

What do you call a pile of cats?

[tarotcards]

A meowtain.

6/7

[mercurio]

why are you talking to togusa about me

[darkinferno]

because i asked him how to make a fight club without landing all our asses in jail and he immediately assumed you were involved

i'm assuming you're gonna be involved by the way you don't have to fight but it'd be a good idea to go

what'd he say