!!! ??? !!!

[idolpro]

Who: Nemesis, Hurricane, you!
Where: ?Somewhere?
When: Day 496

[ The sound of an engine roars through the city, unfamiliar to any of you. What is that—? That thing, flying in the sky—Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Or—

Is it a giant mech adorned with naginatas and a shield, flying through Tokyo-F at great speed? Is it Hurricane and Nemesis, coming to say their goodbyes? Or is it the sound of their departure. . . ? ]

Comments

[bondsofsuffering]

Not with someone who saw the real me - in my heart.

[Because opening up was - and still is - such a painful thing.]

But even knowing that, you treated me as a friend. ...I really was excited when I realized I could be a friend to you too, you know?

[crossmyheartandhope]

You're a real good friend.

A real good boyfriend, too.

[bondsofsuffering]

You made it easy.

[He brings up a hand - scrubbing at his eyes with a palm, taking in a breath, trying to calm the whirlwind of emotions.]

I'm holding you up again, huh?

[crossmyheartandhope]

Naw. I still got stuff I wanna give you, remember?

[bondsofsuffering]

That's... pretty much what I mean, though.

[He takes in another breath, nice and slow - a twinge of annoyance at himself, for continuously falling apart like this.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Hey.

[There's a low ache of something tangled and thick: love, and regret, and something so bittersweet it nears pain]

You ain't nver holding me up.

[bondsofsuffering]

[He laughs a little, sadly.]

How long have you been trying to hand your work off to me now?

The least I could do is keep up with it after you go.

[The pain in that will no doubt continue to echo over time, but it's not like he was ever any good at leaving things be, either.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Hey. You don't gotta do nothing you don't wanna.

[There's echoing pain, to answer]

You wanna skip the serious stuff, we can. I'll just get you the thing that ain't serious and we'll call it a day.

[bondsofsuffering]

[He shakes his head.]

You worked hard to gather all this stuff, right? Let me get to work on it in your absence.

[crossmyheartandhope]

I don't want you taking stuff on just cause you feel like you gotta.

[bondsofsuffering]

Keeping busy helps, anyway.

[And boy is he wanting for a distraction now.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Well -- there ain't much to actually do.

[bondsofsuffering]

You never know. Maybe I'll come across something later and it turns out you dug up a critical hint about it.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Guess you never know.

Well -- lemme get you what I got. You probly got most of it, anyways.

[bondsofsuffering]

'Kay.

[He'll just try to keep calm in the meantime even as their time together inevitably grows shorter by the moment.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Going to tug Izanagi along to his room, still not letting go of his hand -- presses warmth and reassurance out his way]

[He digs his notes off his shelf, and hands them over]

Sorry. I know it's a lot to sort through.

[bondsofsuffering]

I already wrote my thesis, you know. I think I can handle it.

[Still taking every bit of that warmth and reassurance he's offered, though.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Keeping hold, then, and sending more out Izanagi's way as he crosses over to the closet]

Guess you're ready for about anything, then.

[bondsofsuffering]

That's right! So lay it on me!

[Despite the badfeels, he's still good at smiling.]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Digging in the back, into the hidden compartment]

[He passes over a goblet of holy water, a flash of holy oil, an orb covered in a silver lattice, and Mehniel's journal]

Take care of these, yeah? The last two especially. We ain't supposed to have em.

[bondsofsuffering]

[He takes each of them carefully. Can Mehniel's journal be read?]

What are these?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Probably!]

[He gestures to them each in turn]

Holy water, holy oil, Mehniel's journal, and --

Well, touch that last one. You'll understand.

[Nodding toward the orb]

[bondsofsuffering]

[He takes each of them, pausing when he touches the orb.]

...

I see.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Yeah. They don't know we got it. Don't know we got the journal, either, and they were looking for it.

[bondsofsuffering]

I'll have to get an upgrade to keep them safe.

Is there anything else...?