Hand in hand, through each endeavor;

[fauxbot]

WHO: Chipp, and many others! (+1 open prompt!!)
WHAT: GUESS WHO DIED
WHEN: Post-event, post-revival!
WHERE: About Nightwake
WARNINGS: Talk of death, awkward apologies, goopy sappy feelings for everyone

[A] (CLOSED to Evangeline)

[He'd died.
He, Chipp, an immortal Grim Reaper, powerful being of divine origins, had died.

This isn't new for him. Back home, he dies all the time - in his gaggle of friends, it's even something of a running joke, a way to get Chipp out of their hair when he's being insufferable. He's used to being blasted through the chest, or beheaded by hand, or ripped limb from limb, or... any number of things, really.

But here? In Ellipsa? Where everything is peaceful, and everyone is mortal, and it's been quiet evening after quiet evening? He honestly thought it was impossible.
But it happened. He died. He ran out of magic, unraveled into dust and ash, and blew away in the wind.

And now here he is, back in the shed, sitting on his stupid little cot... staring at his phone, wondering just who he'd want to speak to after all of that.

...]

heyyyy
miss evangeline!
you busy?
i died
lmao

[Yeah, sure, that works. Aaaaand send.]

[B] (CLOSED to Rinku)

[... Likewise, after all of this, he does have something else on his mind -
The guy who got him to that point in the first place. Who pushed him to that edge, to the point where he allowed himself to drain his tank and come apart...
Ezra, of course.
And how he wants to apologize to him. Yes, even though Chipp is the one who died - he still feels it's Ezra owed the apology.
The problem is... he isn't good at that. At all. But you know who he figures would be?]

hey. this miss rinku?
sorry had to ask miss evangeline for your number
it's chipp.

remember your whole uhhhh
happy around thing?
i think i could use that right now.

[C] (OPEN)

[After all that...

... Chipp still hasn't spoken to Ezra yet.
He can't. Not right away - the whole thing stings in a way he doesn't understand, something feeling as though it's festering in his chest...
It's left him feeling torn and strange and uncomfortable, unable to really sit still for more than a couple of minutes.

And so he's brought himself out to a park in Blossomcrown, just to enjoy the flowers and spend some time in the sun.
With his Varoom, of course. He can't go hang out in the park without his precious little car, can he??
The little Pokemon seems happy to zoom around the bench Chipp's found, stopping every so often to nibble at flowers and people and benches and tables--

But that's where he sits for the moment, reclining on a park bench and staring up at the clouds... in nothing but a hoodie and the stupid pants he revived in, all of his belongings currently in the position of the guy who fought him to the brink of death.
Which includes everything. All of it.
No helmet.
No cloak.
No arm - the metal socket's just there, open, empty.
He doesn't even have his boots, out here in the park without them.

The misery (and irritation, and embarrassment) emanating off of him is palpable. And as much of a terrible cliche as it may be... maybe someone may want to come bother the poor guy?]

[D] (CLOSED to Ezra)

[And thus... the inevitable. He can't just leave this and ignore it -
Not only because he feels Ezra deserves to be spoken to, to be apologized to, all of that, but because, well.
Ezra has his arm??

And Chipp really, really doubts he knows where to send it, either. So.

After asking around the apartments for an address (and discussing some ideas, some options for how to do this with Rinku)... eventually, Ezra gets the dreaded knock on his door. It's a heavy one, obviously someone bigger than most others who'd be knocking -
But when Ezra opens the door, Chipp isn't right in front of it. He's on the other side of the hall, trying not to look at the exorcist as much as possible.

Instead, what's actually in front of the door, down in front of his feet, is... a cake. In a nice little container, yes, but it's also pretty clearly handmade - and handwritten, if the messy handwriting on top makes that obvious.
All it says is "Sorry", of course. ... With what he remembers Gabriel's seal looking like drawn underneath it in icing, too.

And, yes. Chipp is STILL trying not to look at him. He's kind of hoping Ezra's just going to take the cake and give him his stuff and he can leave and go run off to hide in the Segments for a week--]

Comments

[anenemies]

Eh?! He must be strong. [Or lucky.] Are you sure he isn’t a thief?

[He holds Chipp’s shoulders with the most earnest of looks.]

We need to get your stuff back.

[fauxbot]

The bastard's blessed by four different angels, ain't no fuckin' way he a thief.

[That is said only with warmth and fondness, of course. Surely. Maybe?]

... I'll get my stuff back. Later.
I just don't wanna see'im yet. I... dunno if he gonna attack me again or not.

[anenemies]

He’s holding your belongings hostage. Call it what you will, it’s all the same.

[Even if angels want to pretend otherwise.]

He attacked you first? [Smiling sweetly.] Do you know where he lives?

[fauxbot]

No, I don't. ... And even if I did, I ain't lettin' you go confront him for me.
'S my battle to fight, if he wants to fight it out again.

And this time, he can't kill me.

[So long as there's light, Chipp cannot die. Or, at least, that's how he sees it.
As far as he's concerned, he thinks Ezra's lucky he ran out of magic.]

[anenemies]

Who said anything about confronting anyone? I don’t work that way.

[He doesn’t look convinced.]

You don’t know that. Do you truly think you confronting him will work out better?

[fauxbot]

I do know that. Don't you go underestimatin' me.
My rapid healin' ran out 'cause o' what was happenin', all that darkness 'n shit... but now we got rid of all that, he can't kill me.

You saw it yourself - remember?

[Back during the masquerade, Kagami dressed as a vampire... and Chipp stabbed himself straight through his own hand to donate a shot glass of blood, healing immediately after the blade was removed.

Is he being cocky, saying all this? Oh, absolutely. But like... he just came back from being dead, he can have a little cockiness as a treat, can't he?]

[anenemies]

I remember. Are you asking me to bite you?

If the darkness caused it, how do you know he won’t try to trap you by replicating the environment? [He picks at a loose thread from his sleeve, lazy, voice sharp. No treats.] Are you sure you’re not saying that because he bruised that silly ego of yours?

[fauxbot]

His powers glow. How the hell he gonna replicate that shit when he can't even stop glowin' on his own?
'S like sayin' someone who fights with water might try'n use a desert against ya.

[Of course... Ezra's glow wasn't enough for Chipp to leech off of in the middle of battle.
But still. He was glowing!]

In the light like this, no one can keep me bleedin' long enough for me to die. You gotta work real hard for that to happen. Real, real hard.
Only folks who ever managed it back home were my friends - because I let'em.

[...

And, like, one (1) person who managed to outsmart him into falling into his own stupid trap.
And another person whose magic was powerful enough to turn Chipp into a fine paste. And a different person entirely who was strong enough to just rip his head off of his shoulders...
But Kagami doesn't need to hear all that. No one needs to hear that.]

[anenemies]

His powers glow. [Kagami repeats. He can't quite believe what he's hearing. Chipp then drops that helpful fact...he let his friends injure him to a point where he was dying. His patience already worn is frayed and splitting apart.

He claps his hands together.]

I suppose it's fine in that case! His powers glow, and you'll come back if you die, so it doesn't matter how hurt you get or how many times it happens! Goodness, I can't see a single flaw in your logic at all! How could I be so ignorant?

Do as you wish. I can't stop you.

[fauxbot]

...

[Kagami's getting his nose pinched.]

Stop it. It was just a stupid fight.
He caught me killin' criminals, decided he didn't want me doin' that no more - so he stopped me.

'S fine... really.

[anenemies]

Mn--

[That only makes him scowl.]

I suppose he'd rather they run around free?!

It's not fine. He...took your stuff!

[fauxbot]

That's what I said! I weren't just killin' any damn criminal, either - I was only goin' for the dangerous ones!

[He still doesn't quite grasp how what he did was wrong.
Like, he understands the basic concept. It's bad that he'd been killing people. It's a sin, or something like that.
He should not be doing it.

But also: there are less dangerous people in the world to hurt others???]

... 'N he didn't take my stuff; my stuff got left behind.
I'm pretty sure he scooped it all up to make sure none of it got stolen...

[anenemies]

Oh. How considerate of him.

[He looks outright disdainful and hums, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.]

You need your stuff back, and I think I know what would make us feel better.

[fauxbot]

...

I'm pretty sure I know what you gonna suggest, so - instead, I'm gonna get ahead o' ya, here.
If I tell you who it was... you gotta promise that whatever you do, it's gotta be funny.

Something even he can laugh at.

Ouais? 'Cause, I mean... even if he got me down to where I died, I still like the guy.

[Chipp is nothing if not several flavors of gooey underneath all those metal plates and spikes of his.]

[anenemies]

…I don’t think we had the same thing in mind.

[He thought killing more bad guys would help, but if this cheers Chipp up!]

You have my word it will be so funny your ribs will be sore. You’re way too soft. It’s going to— well, it’s impractical.

[fauxbot]

'M only soft 'cause this world ain't gave me a reason not to be.
But trust me, hun - this world ever do somethin' to deserve it, and it won't just be the Darkness everyone gotta worry about.

[And for all of this, Kagami's getting his hair ruffled.]

... I ever tell ya what I was like back home? Not while I was alive -
Back in the land of the dead, with other Grim Reapers?

[anenemies]

You don’t really believe that, do you?

[Not the hair ruffle. It stuns him and he blanks out for a second.]

…I can hazard a guess. You wanted to disembowel me at first, remember?

[Grim smile.]

[fauxbot]

I ain't just talkin' 'bout how I'm a murderer.

[... Though Kagami's getting MORE ruffles, because he's also not wrong with that assumption, either.]

Back in the land of the dead, the Boss used me as a weapon. Just aims me where he needs things destroyed and shoots.
There a big city back there called Othello - big place, sprawlin', but 's all blank concrete skyscrapers... like New York if it were brutalist.

He needed a distraction back in Othello, once, so he sent me in to destroy as much of it as I could.
I vaporized skyscrapers. Killed folks in the thousands.
I was the worst tragedy Reaperkind ever saw.

So... ouais. Yeah. I really do believe that.

[anenemies]

[Not the hair ruffles. It makes it so hard to focus and be cynical about what Chipp is telling him.

His pleased expression flattens, clinical and detached as he listens.]

His using you...did it have to do with you're being a Reaper?

[fauxbot]

Nope. Not one bit.
Just needed to keep the target distracted, 'n what better way to do that than rip apart they kingdom from the inside?

[He is, of course, choosing to omit the fact that it's yet another horrible thing he's done for more pure reasons - it was part of a rebellion, something done to dismantle the company oppressing Reaperkind at the time.
And, like himself, all the Grim Reapers who were killed would come back the next day, good as new.

But those don't sell his point any. So why would he mention that, shoot himself in the foot in such a way?]

[anenemies]

I didn't know any of those people. You were human before you died, and you weren't attacking humans. It's only natural some of those qualities would stick with you.

[He pretends to look at something interesting from afar.]

Did telling me that make you feel better? Do you wish for me to judge you now, or tell you that everything is fine?

[fauxbot]

No. That ain't why I toldja that shit -
You just doubted if I could.

[What with his whole "I'd destroy Ellipsa if it gave me a reason to" spiel and all.
Yet, somehow all of this is paired up with another affectionate hair ruffle...??]

... I know you ain't gonna judge me for the shit I done, Kagami. I can tell you ain't the type -
You woulda done it by now.

[anenemies]

[Chipp! How is he supposed to stew in his anger when he's being affectionate and kind?

He'll find a way.]

Speaking of what you could do! [Chipp gets hair ruffles now! Kagami has to reach a little...a lot...but it's worth it!] Why let someone self-righteous determine who you can and can't kill? I feel like there's a lot I could do, right now!