[narrations + overflow]

[darkinferno]

[A collection of narration bits that don't belong anywhere else from Dante/Riku's time in Recollé.]

[Or, a personal overflow.]

Comments

May 2017

[darkinferno]

[Overflow for the Borrowers event!]

Kiyomitsu

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


Yeah, no problem. [Blade clean, Dante's resheathing his sword in its little cardboard sheath.] After all this, I don't think I'll have second thoughts about smashing them ever again.

[As Kiyomitsu gets closer, Dante notices the sword he's holding.]

Whoa, nice. Was that sword sent to you, or did you just happen to have it lying around?

[sharplydressed]

I'll catch your back next time if you need help.

[Because even if he screams a lot when bugs bleed and get their weird little bug guts everywhere (seriously, what's up with bug guts and why are they so gross??), he's reliable when things are down to the wire.

The question has him glancing down, though. It's strange - the blade in his hand fits there naturally, to the point that he often forgets he's even carrying it.]

Oh— yeah, this thing? They sent it to me. I don't really keep swords lying around the house, that's my roommate. [HIS ROOMMATE THE SWORD WEEB.] Retrospec's really big on the whole... fighting thing lately.

[darkinferno]

[There's a nod--he understands exactly what Kiyomitsu means.]

Yeah, seems like it. They sent me a wooden sword at the end of March to train with. Now it seems like everyone's remembering how to fight.

[Not that that's a bad thing! Dante gestures toward the mantis, frowning slightly.]

But with all of this, it looks like they might've been preparing us.

I can't decide whether I want to be pissed or glad.

[sharplydressed]

Pissed. Definitely pissed 'cause they're totally the ones behind this too, so that means they set us up and gave us knowledge and weapons to deal with it. Makes it seem like some kinda test, doesn't it?

[Or maybe his tinfoil hat is on a little too tightly but look... If there's one thing he's good at, it's being salty about Retrospec and everyone who works there.

He can put his salt on pause for a hot second though, because looking at the mantis reminds him--]

We should probably get outta here before scavenger bugs start showing up.

[darkinferno]

[The big question here is, are they responsible for it? It's an easy enough jump to make, all things considered, but after his talk with a certain professor long ago, Dante's leery about jumping to conclusions. Even though all the pieces seem to fit, they don't have any proof yet...

(Just wait until he sees all those maps inside the Retrospec building. Then he won't care about jumping to conclusions.)]

Well, if it's a test, then I'd say we aced it.

[Too bad there's no cheating on that sort of a test. Another "fuck you" to Retrospec...]

You're right, let's get out of here. I don't know about you, but I've got better things to do than hang around playing with bugs all day.

Kaiba

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


[It's not so much that he considers it to be a virus (though it certainly is), as it is that it would be much easier to explain away if this guy wasn't a Retrospec user.

But when the guy proves to know exactly who he is, Dante has to put a little bit of effort into remembering who he is, whether that's someone from this life or the one when he'd been touring with his parents. Give him just a moment here...

Aha. He does remember meeting someone with that same expression--the same sense of arrogance, one that had grated on him in a somewhat hypocritical way. Dante gives a fairly flippant shrug.]

Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover, I guess. I've had this app since February, visions of the past, random abilities, and all.

Remind me of your name again?

[Look, he just ate it. The niceties aren't his first priority right now.]

Ardyn

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


Well, that's what the frame is for, right? It won't crumple, so as long as we're inside the frame, we're good.

But I'll try and make sure we don't have to find out if I'm right.

[Even if the idea is a little bit tempting...]

I picked it up at a hobby shop the same day all of this started. Knew I didn't want to waste all my time trying to walk back and forth or climbing up onto the bus. I don't have any pets like some people do, so... [A shrug.] This was the obvious solution.

How've you been handling all of it? If it weren't for all the opportunities this gives us to check stuff out, I'd be pretty pissed off.

[daemonized]

[Ardyn is tempted to argue the point further, but he concedes for now. Instead, he opts to answer Dante's question, not focusing on the threat of their impending doom.]

It's been nothing short of frustrating, and even more so that others are treating this as if it's normal to live highly inconvenienced lives. You can't imagine how long it takes to walk to campus.

[And he laughs, despite everything.]

I didn't consider using any of my cats as transportation, yet I somehow think that may not work very well to begin with. They're independent creatures, and probably wouldn't take kindly to being led around at someone else's whim.

[darkinferno]

[There's a grin from Dante.]

What are the odds you'd wind up trapped underneath them in a patch of catnip somewhere?

[Honestly, the mental image of the prof struggling to grab his hat while pinned down by purring feline is almost enough to make him laugh himself!]

[daemonized]

That's a thought I'd rather not entertain at the moment, if at all possible.

[He can't imagine getting lost in that wilderness of cat fur. Sure, it's an amusing thought on paper, but probably not so much if it happens in reality.]

Thankfully they've not seen me as a plaything in my current state. I should count my blessings.

[darkinferno]

[It might not be a thought that Ardyn wants to entertain, but it's definitely an idea that's going to have Dante laughing up his sleeve for a while. He doesn't know what types of cats Ardyn has (Souji and Yu might have tried to drape cats on him at one point, but he doesn't know if those were theirs or his or what was even going on that afternoon), so he's just imagining some cat the same color as Ardyn's hair writhing around...

Yeah, it's probably not hard to see the laughter on his face.]

Sounds to me like they're sleeping on the job, then. How are they supposed to catch any mice if they aren't chasing after anything the same size?

Arlene

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


[Oh, she is absolutely getting a smirk and a raised eyebrow from that one. A rough ride, huh? And then she's ducking down, yelping in surprise, and Dante's laughing because it's just a bug, Arlene, it's fine.]

You can take a rough ride, huh? What're you gonna do if we come up against anything actively wanting to eat us?

[There are divots in the ground ahead where, full-sized, someone must have driven a truck through. Now they're full of water and mud, the having done its work, and they're perfect to splash through at a high speed. Incoming!

It's bumpy, the RC car at all different levels as they bounce over the rough trough created by the wheels, and Dante's grinning as the tires spin in the mud, kicking them back up and out of it. Okay, so this isn't anything he'd ever be interested in normally, but it's a bit more fun when they're so small!]

[twelfthspark]

Um, hello, bug zapper.

[She waves her hand as she says that, and a trail of lights follow, like a lit sparkler on the fourth of July.

Aww come on Dante, that thing's full of mud, why. Arlene ducks again, this time to avoid the inevitable splashback as they rattle through the trench. Despite her complaints though, she can't help laughing, pleased with the adrenaline rush despite the mess.]

[darkinferno]

[There we go. Dante's pleased when he hears Arlene's laughter; this is fun! Come on.]

Have you gotten any further with using that since last time? Or is it still only enough for a couple minutes' worth of power?

[twelfthspark]

That's still about it.

[She pouts a little. Being able to do magic at all is still pretty awesome, but it would be nice if she could do more with it.]

Sora

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


[He isn't thinking straight. He wants to know more of those other voices, voices that might belong to his real mother and his brother. A brother he only remembers from the single picture he has of the pair of them, the brother of whom he has no memories of his own.

His twin...]

Yeah.

Let's keep going.

[Is it a good idea? Who knows? But right now, Dante can't bring himself to care one way or the other.]

tbh same tho

[destiny_key]

[Sora nods at the affirmation, and waits for Dante to catch up before he moves forward again. It's slow going, with the forest floor littered with fallen logs, abandoned trash, and years worth of dead leaves and debris. Even worse, being small meant that it took ten steps to equal one regular one.

The voices continue to grow in volume, too, taking over all of Sora's senses until they're the only thing he can think about. He's only vaguely aware of Dante walking beside him, of the thin strips of sky overhead growing steadily darker, but everything else is drowned out in the din.

It's no longer just his father he hears, though he's definitely the loudest, but his own brother and other family too. They're drowning out each others words, and it's nearly impossible to discern the words now, but the promise of their presence is alluring, and Sora can't focus on anything else.]

[darkinferno]

[It isn't that it takes Dante a while to realize that something is amiss, but... it takes him a while to realize that something is amiss. The voices are so easy to listen to, so compelling in their promises. They promise that they'll be together, that they'll be a real family, that he'll be loved and wanted and held close, they'll laugh together and he can be himself... that they'll want him near...

"Yes, yes. Very amusing. I'm sure your wit made you quite popular with your parents before they sent you away."

The words are harsh, hard, at odds with the gentle promises whispered on the breeze. The soprano hits a high, shrill note, and everything seems to run into each other, like an invisible car wreck happening all around him that only he can hear or see.

What is he doing here? Why is he following these voices out into the middle of the woods? His parents wouldn't be caught dead in the woods--both of them hate the great outdoors, preferring cities. And he has no idea where his mother or his twin are; he hasn't kept up with them outside of the once or twice his dad pointing her out to him on advertising materials. Why would they be here, in the woods outside of Recollé, singing arias and calling out to a brother he might not even remember he has?]

This isn't real.

[It's murmured to himself at first, but he repeats it again, louder, hands curling into helpless fists against the whispers of the wind through the trees. It hurts to acknowledge it, it hurts to know the truth, but his parents aren't here. The family he's never known isn't here, either. It's all fake, some sort of trick being played on him.

Being played on both of them.

Abruptly his attention snaps to Sora, who hasn't stopped while Dante's been fighting with his revelation. Dante's been frozen for longer than he thought--the other boy is almost entirely out of sight, lit only by the light of the glowing flowers as he keeps pushing forward.

Dante doesn't think about it. He gives chase.]

Sora, don't chase the dreams! They'll lead you nowhere.

[Just to heartbreak and abandonment once more.]

It took me two days to digest how good that tag was jfc

[destiny_key]

[Sora's mind is far, far away now. He almost doesn't see the forest around him, and trudges aimlessly forward, ignoring the scenery in favor of the more pleasant surroundings in his head. The stray sticks and debris scratch at his hands and face, and catch at his clothes, but he can't feel them anymore. Everything feels like a blurry polaroid, shifting and merging until the world make him dizzy.

His head is painting a far more appealing picture.

Instead of a forest, there's a beach, and instead of a tiny house with only two people, there's a big house with a big family, more people than he can count. His dad is there, smiling, his brother is there, smiling, and his mom is happier than he's seen her in years, face free of the wrinkles that recent years had given her.

He wants it, wants it more than he's wanted anything in his life. He wants to go back to home, back to when he played on the beach in the sun all day and there were no problems that he had to push through. He's so tired of being who he is. He wants to go back to when he didn't have to be anything, when his smile was real all the time.

And then, just like that, the illusion is shattered.

From behind, he hears a voice. In the haze, he can't quite place it, but it sounds so, so familiar, and it almost feels like two voices on top of each other.

Sora, don't chase the dreams! They'll lead you nowhere.

Sora blinks, and the beach is gone, to be replaced by trees and glowing flowers. He stops walking. His arm is outstretched in front of him, like he was reaching out for something invisible, and he quickly lowers it. Now, he starts to feel the sting from the cuts on his face and hands, but he ignores them. The heartache is far worse.

There's the crunching sound of someone running up behind him, and slowly, still dazed, Sora turns to look to find Dante running to catch up with him. It hits him that one of the voices he'd heard must have been Dante.

But, who was the other voice? Were there two Dantes?

He reaches up to rub at his eyes, trying to get rid of the last of the dream.]

Where'm I?

Aria

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


[Aria might be finding it all hard to believe, but Dante's had several months to get used to this sort of thing. Even though his blade is gone, he's poised to act as he watches her taking care of the spider, straightening up when it becomes apparent that the spider is no longer a threat.

Once she's away from the spider, looking back toward him, Dante gives a firm nod.]

Nice. Have you ever used one of those before?

[The sword, he means. Has she had practice with them, or did she just remember how to use it the same way he had?]

[ghostdrives]

[She doesn't respond at first, staring only at Dante for another minute. When he looks at the blade again, it all sinks in, how she used it and also how she just dispatched that spider, and she nearly drops the blade too.]

I-- um... [She looks back at him, a little unsure and stunned. Her movements and methods were crude, and that single thought bothers her immensely. Like she actually knows how to fight.]

I know I didn't wake up knowing how to use one this morning. [She half shrugs, a half-hearted smile on her face, mostly out of nerves.] This is so weird.

[She nods to him and his... now missing weapon? How odd.] What about you? Have you had practice?

[darkinferno]

[Dante's watching her, shrewd eyes not missing the way she seems to be in shock, the uncertainty to her expression and her movements. In contrast, he's relaxed, calm--there's adrenaline racing through his body but he feels alive in a way he's only tapped into a couple times before this.]

You could say that.

Up until a couple months ago I hadn't touched a sword in my life. But I decided to give it a try and found out I could use one, so I've been practicing with it since then.

I'm guessing you're still pretty new to all of this, huh?

[ghostdrives]

[She nod firmly, one hand over her chest in an attempt to still her beating heart. The adrenaline is slowly fading away along with the shock.]

...If someone told me two weeks ago that I'd be fighting a spider that was bigger than me, I wouldn't be able to believe them.

[She's new. Brand new to this brand of batshittery. Taking a deep breath, Aria finally feels calm and gives Dante something of a grateful smile, moving closer to pass the blade back to him.]

Thank you, by the way.

Malik

[darkinferno]

[[continued from here!]]


Malik?

[He doesn't know exactly what it is--some minute change in the other boy's voice, maybe?--but Dante starts heading back, pushing through the void to try and find him.]

Keep talking to me. What's going on?

[And why does it seem like the shadows are getting thicker? He's going back in the same direction he'd come from, isn't he...?]