#030066

[passio]

It’s Dextera.

I hope everyone has recovered from the town’s most recent mystery. I had intended to make this post earlier, but I think all of us were distracted. It’s confusing, and I’m sorry if it’s hard to read as well.

My brother - Sinistra, #610B0B - and I went into the forest to try to recover the rest of the items I’d found with Guren. We were able to get the pocketwatch, but it’s broken. If anyone knows how to fix it, I would appreciate your instructions.

It does something as it is, though. It’s strange. When I hold it, it feels like nothing exists. It feels like none of us exist. It’s scary. I don’t know how else to describe it. The town feels like an illusion, and all of us even less than that. Those of you that have just arrived still feel “real,” but the people I’ve known for a long time are barely here. I'm barely here.

There are some other people who don’t feel as if they exist at all. We haven’t figured out that criteria yet. I don’t know why or how it’s like this. I’m sorry. I don’t know if the watch works for anyone but my brother and I, but I don’t want anyone else to touch it. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m sorry, again, but my brother or I will answer any questions you have.

Comments

[passio]

[ it’s optimistic for some, but dextera has been entertaining fantasies of staying here with guren forever—disappearing or returning home are equally bad options. ]

I want to see what it feels like when new people come through the well. The instant they arrive, if I can. But I will be responsible.

Do you feel any different than when you first came here?

[heartsteals]

Then I insist you be careful.

I cannot say that I have noticed any differences in my being, save for perhaps not eating very well - I don't feel as if I will fade away, if that's what you mean. [ ... ] You said certain people feel like they don't exist at all. May I ask who?

[passio]

My brother and I were the people we first noticed, and I thought maybe it was just because we discovered it, or because we’re twins, but there are others.


[ … ]

I don’t want to scare anyone by naming them, so is it all right to message you privately? Or… we could meet somewhere. I actually have good news that might temper the bad.

[heartsteals]

[ he'd guessed it would all be people who have been here for longer; Sinistra being among them means that's not the case. Dextera already said they couldn't figure out the criteria - he should have known it wouldn't be that simple. ]

I will come give you some company, then. Shall we meet at your house?

[passio]

Please.

Should I make tea?

[ text cannot convey how thoroughly bewildered he is by hospitality in general, but he knows that lupin is a gentleman and zelda taught him to make tea for people to come over. ]

[heartsteals]

[ dex... is sweet. ]

If you have it on hand I will not turn it down.

[ he doesn't need to use up precious tea resources just for Lupin, though. In any case, he heads over soon after sending that message, and it doesn't take long for him to arrive, knocking politely on Dextera's door. Despite not wanting him to use tea on him if he doesn't have to, Lupin's got a little bag of something with him. ]

[passio]

[ dextera is not good at making tea. he’s got some dried dandelion leaves which, by all accounts, can and sometimes should be used as a tea, but the problem is he doesn’t really understand the process. he’s only prepared instant hot chocolate before, after all, and so what he does is just…

he just pours the boiling water over the leaves, and even if he knows this isn’t how it works, a part of him sort of expects them to dissolve. when they don’t, he winces, and by the time he’s trying to figure out how best to get the leaves out of the hot water, lupin knocks. ]

Ah…

[ he’s just going to leave that, and so he looks a little flustered when he answers the door. ]

Lupin.

[heartsteals]

[ it's okay, dextera won't be the first person in chroma to literally offer him boiled leaves and say that it's tea. That's just his life now.

Of course, the tea isn't really on his mind when he comes to the door - and it vanishes even farther from the forefront when he hears a most unexpected noise upon said door's opening: Dextera's voice. His eyes widen in shock. ]

-- Dex? You can talk?

[ his voice is so little...! ]

[passio]

[ with everything that’s happened, he isn’t quite as cheerful about it as he was at the beginning of the month, but having it pointed out to him does remind him and help him re-center his thoughts. ]

Ah…? Heh…

[ almost sheepish, he touches his throat and nods. ]

I wished for it.

[heartsteals]

[ that may be the best use of a wish he's heard after Lottie's giving her house modern amenities. Knowing it's something Dex wanted, too - and presumably not something he had to pay for in trade - Lupin breaks out into a grin, looking pleased as punch, and gives him a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. ]

Well, that's great! It's nice to have some good news, for once - it's good to finally be able to hear you, too. I have to say, you don't sound like I'd imagine you would.

[ yet the voice matches his personality, if not his appearance. Lupin idly tosses the satchel in his other hand once before holding that out to Dextera, as well. ]

Here. I brought some treats for your lady friend. I'm determined to earn her favor yet.

[ it's some seeds and dried berries... for Leliel, naturally. ]

[passio]

[ lupin is as charming as ever, and whether he intended it or not, the hand on his shoulder is a welcome reminder of his own physicality. he’s here, he’s real—and his chicken is quite real, as well. regardless of what the watch says, he’s standing here and having a conversation with lupin, isn’t he? ]

She’ll love it.

[ lupin gets a shy smile from dextera for his efforts, as his posture eases in response to lupin’s easy, comforting presence. ]

Here, um… come in.

[heartsteals]

Heh. Let's hope I'll be so lucky.

[ he tips his hat to Dextera before taking it off and tucking it under his arm as he steps into the house. ]

You're looking better than I was expecting. I'm glad - that post had me pretty worried about you.

[passio]

I…

[ dextera exhales, some of his brightness fading a little as he remembers why lupin is over in the first place. ]

I think I’m used to it. That feeling. It just surprised me… for others.

[heartsteals]

It's still lingering?

[ immediately, Lupin's eyes go to Dextera's clothing, looking for a pocket with a suspicious lump or a chain or something like that. He'd gotten the feeling from that early response that Dextera wasn't actually going to put it down... ]

[passio]

No, I…

[ more worrying, then, is the fact that it isn’t lingering, that he doesn’t have the watch on his person right now. ]

It’s something from my world. That sensation… you don’t need to worry about me.

[heartsteals]

[ there's a slight narrowing in his eyes, an uncertainty about what that actually means - Dextera already gave up his voice, and could throw away his memories. Lupin wonders just how much of him is missing if he feels like he's vanishing enough to be used to it. But he doesn't pursue the topic, or he doesn't yet, at least. ]

A bit late for that, isn't it? [ a small smile. He worries about Dex a fair amount, actually. Almost every other time he runs into him. He's like Minato in the way he seems ready to give up anything and everything if someone just gives him a good enough reason - and unlike Minato, he doesn't give an impression of being steady and well-grounded enough to endure it. In a way, it's not surprising that Dextera always feels like he's fading. ] Your world or not, don't go fading away on us. You'll have the whole town crying.

[passio]

Ah… I’m trying to stay around. I am.

[ for everything that happens to them in this town, his friends are here. even if his voice goes away again, even if he does some day become truly intangible, he isn’t trying to disappear.

(the pocket watch, for what it’s worth, is sitting on the table next to his laptop.) ]

So don’t cry.

[ it’s probably a turn of phrase, since he can’t really imagine lupin of all people shedding tears, but that just might be his bias. ]

[heartsteals]

[ a smirk. Dextera's got him read right there - he hasn't cried since his mentor passed years ago. ] The gentleman thief doesn't cry, my friend. But very good.

[ Arsène Lupin might. Still, that's neither here nor there; he nods his head towards the watch on the table. ]

Is that it?

[passio]

[ dextera nods. ]

It looks like something from your time. [ pause. no offense? he doesn’t dwell on it, though. ] But that’s all I know.

[ it’s polished and bronze, but otherwise very clearly aged—there used to be something engraved on it, though it’s long since been erased. of course, as dextera mentioned, it isn’t ticking either. ]

[heartsteals]

[ none taken - it just looks like a regular old pocket watch to him, obviously, so he didn't realize it might be something dated. Naturally, he doesn't touch it; he just stares at it, trying to make sense of the remnants of the engraving. ]

Unfortunately, I don't think I can give you any hints about it, even if I'm a fellow antique. It looks perfectly harmless.

[ but it's clearly not. There's something ominous about a broken watch giving visions of death (or perhaps just nonexistence.) Lupin's eyes go back to Dextera's. ]

... I do want to hear the names. I'll not spread them around - but I want to try and understand what this means with you.

[passio]

[ dextera nods again, going over the names in his head before speaking them aloud. ]

There’s me and my big brother. Vriska… Minato. John. Akira.

[ truthfully, he hasn’t been looking for people with the pocketwatch on him. with the exception of sinistra and akira, they’re all blue, because blue is easiest for him to get to. (akira lives with guren. his brother is obvious.) he pauses, rubbing his wrist.

there are theories, of course there are, but none of them seem quite right. ]

[heartsteals]

Akira...?

[ that one, he wasn't expecting - his brow furrows a little. But after a moment, his eyes widen, and he makes a connection. ]

Wait. Vriska is dead. Akira's died, as well, here in town... and so have you, as I recall. [ ... ] ... I can't speak for your brother, nor Minato and John, but I hardly know the latter.

[ but Minato... he suddenly feels a dreadful sinking feeling in his stomach. It's too early to assume anything, but if he tries to connect the dots, remembering past conversations... ]

[passio]

…

[ dextera opens his mouth, then closes it again. it’s true. all of those people are dead or have died—minato included, whether lupin realizes it or not. it’s not dextera’s secret to give away, however, and his shoulders are suddenly a little tense with the realization that he may have revealed something ominous.

if the watch picks up on death, then the fact that it expresses it through steadily chipping away at existence is a scary thought. ]

My brother is dead. But that…

[ he seems uncomfortable now. ]

[heartsteals]

[ Dextera's reaction leads him to believe he's right on the money. His blood's running cold on the inside - not from the matter of the stopwatch, but from the implications this has about Minato. Perhaps he's selfish to concentrate so wholly on one name when there are five others alongside it, but how can he help it? He's been friends with Minato since the day he climbed out of the well; there's no one in this town he trusts more. Always, he's been impressed with Minato's cool; for many months now, he's been worried about it, as well, thinking that there was something off about the way he so readily accepted everything, how he didn't seem concerned for his own health or his own future. What if that was because he had no future waiting for him? And there was the matter of Aigis, too--

it all makes sense. The worries flood Lupin's head, and his expression darkens, a crease forming between his brows. But he forces himself to put them aside. For now. He knows he won't be able to escape this until he confronts Minato about it directly. ]

-- that means we should avoid getting killed. Whatever's keeping us here weakens when we die. Maybe.

[ there's a terseness to his tone that suggests he's distracted, but he does his best to focus. ]

[passio]

[ lupin must know. dextera won’t confirm or deny it, unless he asks directly, but even then it seems like too big a thing to tell even under the greatest duress. minato has been so careful about his secret, dextera knows, and to have someone as passionate as lupin worrying after him would probably make him only feel guilty.

so dextera assumes, anyway, and so he doesn’t want to push the issue. ]

…yes.

[ he says, slowly. he’s distracted, too. ]

If that’s what it is… I think death is tied to our existence here. The people around me lost memories of me when I died.