droptheious | Deerington inbox

Deerington inbox

FROM:

SUBJECT:

	FERN	Ooo slang part the second
	FERN	i think we just shared electrons, because i'm feeling a covalent bond between us
	LANCE	Pidge, I need your help. I gotta send a meme to Chloe but ...
	DIPPER	Hey Varian. You know those crazy alchemy bombs you used...
	PETER	Hey Varian, this is Peter. Um, Peter Graham.
	USAGI	Soooooooo~ How'd the date go?
	MAKO	Varian— Checking in.
	SHIRO	i think one of us put a chicken patty in my toaster
	EDDIE	Hey. We need to talk.
	MELIUS	𝐻𝒾. 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉
	EDA	Hey, kid. I... owe you an apology.
	LUZ	Valentines
	MAUL	I have a proposition for a project I think you'll be interested in
	USAGI	I LOVE YOU
	FERN	DUDE you still have your bandana!
	BUZZ	Morning. I heard from Fern you wanted to go out into the blizzard.
	FERN	dude your profile changed
	USAGI	Ruby told me about the breakup.
	GLITCH	Varian, I'm gonna go live somewhere else for now
	MAKO	A "nerd" is somebody smart...
	MAUL	Gifts
	FERN	heeyyyy quick question
	FERN	Christmas is coming up!!!
	CHLOE	god who the FUCK ever thought emojis were a good idea???
	KRISTOFF	Varian,It's getting colder so I thought you could use this
	FERN	heyyyy Variable
	RAPUNZEL	okay not to put you on the spot but...
	EDA	Potion time
	NEO	Dude, I can mine antidote shit here!
	GLITCH	Got this in my basket.
	EDA	hey smart kid
	TEN	Hallo
	ADAM	Hey, k-- uh, Varian. I just wanted to check in
	USAGI	I'm sorry I worried you and fainted on you yesterday.
	AMARA	i lived, bitch
	NEO	Debatably good news, asshole
	USAGI	Hey Varian! It's Usagi
	OSCAR	I'm sorry, Varian. Tell me what you need
	FERN	a dark past huh
	MAUL	Varian. I am in great need of your assistance
	FERN	Varian VARIAN I CAN EAT FOOD
	USAGI	How much moon essence do you have?
	USAGI	VIVI-KUN, VIVI-KUN GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT!
	RICHIE	well I promised
	FERN	A TOTALLY INCOMPLETE LIST OF OOO WORDS 'N SLANG
	GLITCH	VARIAN ARE THERE BUGS IN THE WATER?!
	USAGI	To help with restless nights and the...
	VIRA-LORR	Little alchemist. I have a gift for you.
	MARTIN	Hi, Varian. This is Martin. I wanted to reach out...
	USAGI	Hi Varian, sweetie! I have a question for you.
	GLITCH	varian I need to talk to you. it's important.
	USAGI	I need you not to panic after what I tell you.
	FERN	dog you have so many vests
	IRONHIDE	HONK HONK
	USAGI	... I'm sorry I couldn't help you better, Varian
	EMERALD	Hey, V. Not that I care that much or anything...
	FERN	tell me when you're alive
	FERN	Varian i stabbed two people
	AMARA	hey weirdo i have something for you
	FERN	is the Rapunzel in town your Rapunzel?
	PENNY	Salutations!! You do not know me, but my name is Penny Polendina
	YANG	Hey, is this Varian? I think we've met once before.
	FERN	hey can we talk
	FERN	you told ruby
	MAUL	Surviving another year is always an occasion worth celebrating
	USAGI	Hey I wanted to apologise
	USAGI	VARIAN-KUUUUNNN!!!!
	FERN	birth
	MAUL	Look what just arrived for me.
	KATHERINE	Do you want to get paid to make more purple goo things?
	FERN	ok i know you're good with plants but what about animals
	FERN	dog interested in means girls or guys

TO:

SUBJECT:

	USAGI	So. Maul dropped by, he's got his memories back.
	ADAM	I'm worried about Shiro
	FERN	Hey handsome
	OSCAR	You've been weirdly quiet lately
	FERN	Guess what I haven't told you lately?
	USAGI	Hey. I'm back from the dead and I feel like trash.
	FERN	I made meatloaf that may or may not poison us!
	Emerald	Hey. I know you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now...
	BELLA	Hey Bella. You've dated someone who's a different species to you right?
	BILL	Hi, Fern mentioned you were interested in interdimensional portals...
	FERN	Aw, your pictures are nice!
	KURT	Hey. Are you around?
	RICHIE	Is it just me or is Eddie acting weirder than usual?
	QROW	Hey. Checking up on you.
	EDA	Hi Eda. Hope Ruddiger found you okay.
	GLITCH	Hey. What happened between you and Maul?
	LUNA	Luna- I uh... I think I need your help
	EDDIE	So hey, I finally worked out how to replicate the Antidote
	OSCAR	So, I noticed Ozpin has shown up.
	ROGUE	Hey, I managed to replicate the Antidote
	KURT	Hey. We're back. None of us are dead.
	QROW	Uh... hey. How are you guys holding up?
	PETER	You gave Ruby the haunted dolls
	GLITCH	Hey, Bud. Sorry I tried to murder you with a robot
	KURT	I'm probably the last person you want to talk to...
	JON	I'm sorry I attacked you
	JON	Stay away from Fern.
	FERN	Hey you still haven't got me those baking ingredients
	FERN	Okay so the Betties are upping their war...
	USAGI	Hey. So. Update.
	NEO	You tried to bury her alive? SERIOUSLY?
	USAGI	Emotions are really difficult
	FERN	OH MY GOD YOU HAVE ONE TOO
	FERN	Okay this better be to Fern this time.
	WYNONNA	So guess who got into the fridge and ate literally everything in there.

code by

cawaii

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[Yeah. She doesn't buy that tone at all. Normally she might be okay with the idea of letting it slide but they had just made a promise.]

It sounds like more than nothing.

If you don't want talk about right now that's okay. But I'd appreciate it if we could try later on?

[They had made a promise, and he knows if he says nothing it will eat at both of them until he does. He lets out a soft, sad little sigh, closing his eyes.]

It's something I said [sang] just before my final assault on the Kingdom. Ready as I'll ever be.

[Part of her thought it might take a bit more prompting to get him to talk about it. It's why she was willing to let it slide for the moment. She can't help but feel a pang of guilt when he explains what was bothering him. His past kept getting slapped in his face and she had done it herself without meaning to.

She rubbed her shoulder nervously.]

Hey. I'm sorry. You didn't need another reminder after everything that's happened.

[He'd made a promise to her, and he's not about to go back on it now. Not after the big deal he'd made about her hiding the truth about dying from him. He doesn't want things to be unsaid and hurtful between them. ]

It's...it's okay. [It's not, but he doesn't want her to feel at blame for his own minefield of hangups. He offers her a small smile.] You didn't know. It's just been a long couple of months is all.

[She does feel bad about it but she realizes it isn't something she could have known or even guessed.]

I know. It hasn't been easy and you've been stuck with a lot of reminders about what happened.

[She reaches up and let's her hand rest on his shoulder.]

I couldn't have known but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt you all the same. I can still take responsibility for that

[She couldn't have known her decisions would get Clover killed either. She knew her actions could have reaching consequences.

And just like with Clover she could work to make things better.]

...But why don't we go have some fun instead? Take our minds off awkward missteps.

That's been the theme of the last month. Being stuck with reminders.

[The last two months, if he's honest. ]

You don't have to. It isn't on you.

[He doesn't want her to blame herself for this if he can help it. He takes hold of the offer to move on quickly. He doesn't want her to feel bad, and he's very tired of feeling bad at this point. For once, a run might be a welcome distraction.]

I don't think exercise counts as fun, but yeah, sure. I'm very okay with taking out minds off it.

[She gives a faint nod to show she acknowledges that. She didn't want to beat herself up too much about it either, she had a made a misstep but she knew better for next time. She could live with that.]

Okay. Maybe it's a little like torture, but it's fun torture.

[Right. Moving on to something else. She leads him over toward the sidewalk and gives one final stretch before she starts off in a jog.

She's ran with him long enough now that she knows the pace that he tends to run at. She's good to adapt and slow down enough to more closely match his pace. Their run was to help him improve, not leave him in her dust.]

I'm pretty sure that's an oxymoron.

[Still, he'll jog after her, ugh exercise. Still, he guesses she is right. He's probably better off being at least able to run away from something that might kill him. Probably.

If the exercise doesn't kill him first. That's possible. ]

Are you sure?

[Ruby fortunately wasn't going to let him die by exercise. She didn't think it was fair given he didn't have an aura or a semblance.

Still... She had missed doing this with him. Not that jogging during July with all the heat, pesticide and death robots would have been a good idea even if they weren't at each others throats. She just appreciated any time they got to spend together and it made her feel good to see him get better as they went along. No matter how small that improvement might be.]

So what's new? What have you been working on lately?

Pretty sure yup.

[It is nice to spend time with her, and if he was absolutely pressed into admitting it, he'd say the fresh air was pleasant too. His natural habitat might be his lab, but even he needs to see sunlight once in a while. ]

I've been trying to see if I can help Maul out with his eyes. But figuring out how to re-create eyes from scratch is a lot harder than other prosthetics. Especially if I want them to work. You said someone from home had mechanical eyes, right?

[Luckily he doesn't have to worry too much about being pressed for it. Ruby liked staying inside to read, play video games or work on weapons too. She just didn't often get to do that back at home because she was on the open road so much. She had manage to strike a nice balance between that and training here in Deerington.]

Huh. Yeah. That sounds like it could be tricky.

[Her pace slow downs but just enough to completely match his while she thinks.]

Yeah. My kinda sorta mentor has them back home. Penny's dad made them for her, actually. Same with Yang's arm.

I don't know if she's got the same skill set as him but that might be a good place to start.

That's true. She might have some knowledge on how they were made.

[A smirk crosses his face a little.]

What with her being a Secret Robot and all. Probably has it stored in her memory somewhere.

Edited 2020-08-11 23:31 (UTC)

If not I could always ask for some to be delivered and we could try and like alter and reverse engine-

[She stops mid sentence because her jaw has to hang open briefly.]

I-er-uh-blegh. Did I let that one slip? Because I thought I only messed up with that one time and I didn't think it was with you.

[She wracks her brain a little.]

Except I might have let it slip with you one time too but I didn't think it was that bad of a screw up!

And not that I'm trying to keep secrets from you or anything. I'm really really doing my best with the whole cards on the table thing. I just think that Penny and the others while they're here deserve their privacy too and I don't want to trample all over that-

[She takes a second to breath. That all came out in half the time it should have.]

I have no said entirely too much and should probably just stuff my foot in my mouth, shouldn't I?

[A proper chuckle does bubble out of him as he flaps a hand at her, trying to ease her worries.]

No-no no, it wasn't you this time. I came across her in the Labyrinth. She'd broken her leg right off. Her leg with all the obvious robotic inside it. She tried to pass it off as a prosthetic, but I know what robotics look like. It's fine, this doesn't count as a secret- it's not yours.

[It's Penny's and he respects her enough not to go dragging it out in front of the whole dang town. He guesses she must have a reason for pretending she was human.]

Nothing wrong with respecting your friend's privacy, you know. I get it. And I haven't told anyone. She seemed pretty rattled by the thought I might have worked it out.

[She's just going to let out one big sigh of relief. Followed by some light laughter.]

Oh phew! I was worried for a second. Secrets aren't exactly my strong suit.

[...They never seemed to go well for her in the long run at least.]

Ouch, oh jeez. That would do it. Ugh. I told her to be more careful around here. Her legs are kind of like a hundred times more complicated than any of the prosthetic you'll see around here. Except for maybe Yang's but even that's not quite as complicated.

[She gives a smile and picks up her running pace a little.]

I appreciate that. I know I say it's kind of complicated for everyone who shows up from Remnant, but I'd say it's especially so for her. She hasn't had much of a chance to really get out there and experience life. She's giving it a shot and I'm just trying to support her as best I can.

I'm not surprised. Did you let her have it in the end or what did you?

Nah, you're good on this one.

[He nods. Penny's attempts at covering her own nature had been... pretty laughable. But he at least understands why she'd want to keep it quiet, especially around someone she bearly knew.]

I let her have her secrets. It's not my place to push her into revealing herself for what she is. If she wants to keep up what she's got going, then that's her choice. I just hope the town doesn't find a way to turn it against her in the future. We both know it'll do that one day.

[Ruby gives a grim little nod at that. It wasn't something she could argue. She had watched it happen not only to Varian but so may other people in the town. She just hoped one day the more positive aspects people had would shine through against the town instead.]

That's really great that you gave a win. I'm sure it wasn't easy.

Yeah, I know. And I'm probably saying more than I should but she's had problems with it being turned against her before she got into Deerington. Which is probably why she's trying this.

[They get further into town as they run. Ruby catches sight of an alley way up ahead and gives him a playful little smirk.]

C'mon! Let's a take a detour off our normal route!

[Don't mind her as she takes his hand and guides him into a turn around the corner.]

Well, no, I kind of wanted to learn all about her. There are so many androids and the like here, it's fascinating!

[He put his decency above his desire to LEARN. Be proud of him, Ruby. ]

But it's more important that she's comfortable. She might not be human, but she still has thoughts and feelings and that's important to remember.

[He arches one eyebrow, letting her pull him along.]

The smirk worries me.

There are a bunch of them. I appreciate that you did that for her. Give her some time and I'm sure she'll open up to you about it.

I might even put in a good word for you.

[Because she's definitely super proud of him.

She keeps their jog going at the same pace as they start down through the alley, letting go of his hand once they've made the turn.]

Nothing sinister! The library's not on our normal route so we're going to have to improvise a little.

Aww, thanks. I'm sure a vouch from you would make a big difference.

[He'snot being sarcastic. He's pretty sure it WOULD.

He brightens like a kid being told they're going to the candy store. That is a magic word, right there, Ruby.]

...Okay well if you wanted to motivate me, good work! Man, I haven't been there in forever.

[Mostly due to diving off the deep end and then wallowing in self-loathing back home. You know. Regular reasons for not going to one of your favourite places.]

I'll see what I can do, pull some strings. [There's a big old snort there.] Get it? Has she shown you her weapons yet? They're swords attached to wires. They're pretty awesome.

[Yep. She's hilarious. She smiles wide seeing him brighten up like that. After everything that happened it was just nice to see they could still light up like that.]

That was the idea, I had a feeling it had been awhile. I told you it was going to be a fun kind of torture.

[They round another corner and she's a little too distracted on the path directly ahead of them and occasionally looking his way to get a look at that smile to realize just who's ghost was being slammed into a wall ahead in the alleyway.]

She hasn't, but those sound pretty useful in a combat situation. [A pause.] Also, har har, funny joke.

[You're a riot Ruby Rose, obviously. ]

If you'd added the library to this from the start I would have complained about it a lot less, is all I'm say- oh.

[Ruby might not have noticed the ghost, but Varian sure has- he stops dead in his tracks, eyes wide and unblinking at it. Oh no. Oh no]

I thought I di-huh?-What's wrong?

[Ruby hadn't expected the sudden stop. She comes to a skidding stop a few steps ahead. At first she looks back to Varian with a hint of confusion in her eyes. Then she turns to see just what he's staring at and she feels her stomach lurch as the bottom falls out.

She hadn't actually known where it had happened. Neo's illusions had been dialed up to 11 last month and she had gotten herself lost in the confusion. She hadn't meant for them to run into it like this.

She hadn't meant for a lot of things to happen last month.

They aren't close enough to make out all the details but she can see the way body twists as Hush was plunged into it for the first time. It's more than she wanted to see or remember right now.

She turns around and moves to place a hand on Varian's shoulder, fingers shaking as she tries to get a grip on it.]

This was a bad idea. I'm sorry. Let's just take the main roads to get to the library.

[Varian remains stock-still, watching in wide-eyed horror. He's seen someone he cares about die before, of course, Fern's demise is firmly rooted in his subconscious. But now this one will be added to it. He knew she'd gone, and she'd gone brutally. It had come up in Neo's trial, after all. But seeing it on the Fluids and seeing it replayed like this are two very, very different things.

He's dimly aware of Ruby's hand on his shoulder. It takes him a few moments to be able to tear his eyes away, and then he looks at her again, he's pale, his lips a thin line. He knows ghost should be dealt with. He learned that much thanks to Fern. It's... probably not wise to leave it carry on like this.]

I don't... are you- [he wants to ask if she's okay, but obviously she's not] Um. Do you want me to help get rid of it? I... uh. Fern helped me with mine. You can make them go away so no one else has to see it.

[Ruby was pale on good day, she was ghostly white after seeing that scene play out again before her. Watching the strength and life fade from her ghostly body each time the blade struck her, until there was nothing left and the ghost dissolved into nothing before reforming and playing again.

She's more eager to turn and bolt it. She didn't feel ready to face something like this and she certainly didn't want Varian or anyone to else to have to deal with it.

Which is why his offer to help get rid of gets her to stop in her effort to pull it away. She hadn't really dealt with a ghost here before, she had no idea how they worked.]

I uh- Well... [Her eyes look to the ghost again briefly. Then she turned to him with a curious and sad eyes.]

That's something... You can do?

[She gives it a second to think it over. She really didn't want anyone else to run into it. She could only imagine how her family members would react to it.

Her voice is shaky but there's still a hint of resolve in her tone.]

Yeah... I'd like that.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

CW: Mentions of stabbing and death going forward

all that fun stuff

no subject