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

[fauxbot]

Crush.

[cheers he'll drink to that bro




















Okay no I'll make this a normal tag. He's just gonna tag a swig (and peanut) of his own drink, first.]

... Far as I can tell, feelin' like a dog waitin' for its owner to come home?
You feelin' it big-big for this kid, for sure. I used to get that way, too - prolly get that way all over again if they end up back here in Ellipsa.

My advice? Just roll with it. Easier to take a punch if ya move with'em, right?

[boombam]

[Yeah, that's about the diagnosis he expected. Hereby diagnosed with: Gay for Todoroki Shoto.

But really... how could he not be? He's a teenaged boy just now blossoming into an adult with hormones that have been ignored up until this point raging around. And he's been in the same space with this other boy who he finds very pretty for months, now.

And also... y'know.]

...it doesn't help that we keep kissin' each other all the time.

[....aren't you just dating then??]

We did it once thanks to that gross, weird rain and now we can't stop. It's so fuckin' stupid.

[He looks and sounds pretty amused by it though honestly. Because he's wise enough to know that the two of them are being incredibly dumb for kissing and not doing anything else. The only issue that's keeping him from trying to pursue anything further is that he's not sure if Shoto is enjoying it the same way he is, or if he's just taking it as serious as he can.]

I keep usin' the magic as an excuse. "Oh, Todoroki, I'm feeling a little weak today mind giving me some stronger magic?"

And then next thing you know we're making out....

[fauxbot]

... Y'know you ain't even gotta use magic as an excuse, right?
You can just... kiss your friends. If y'all wanna. Ain't no one gonna stop ya.
You ain't gotta be nothin' more than friends if you don't wanna, kissin'im is still gonna be okay.

[Just, y'know, as an aside.]

But, ehh... he seem happy to do it? Like he enjoys it?

[boombam]

[....friends can kiss friends???? That's a thing they're allowed to do??????????]

...I think so? But I dunno. He's hard to get a proper read on.

[Katsuki takes another drink from his alcohol, and then looks into the cup thoughtfully for a few seconds.]

He's a lot like me in that he never had a reason to even think about romance until this point. Only for him it's even worse 'cuz he was forced to grow up a certain way by a dad who wanted him to be the Hero he couldn't be himself.

He wasn't allowed to even have friends until high school.

[Shoto has had such a hard life, and is a little oblivious and naive because of it. It's truly hard to tell what he thinks about something as complicated and intimate as romance.]

So I dunno if he looks at romance the same way as I do. I dunno if he sees the kisses as a mushy thing or if he just purely sees it as a way to get stronger. And... I dunno if I wanna ask and find out.

[fauxbot]

But if you don't ask, you ain't ever gonna know.
And... mmm.

[Hang on, he needs another swig-and-peanut.]

... You mind if I get all personal real quick?
'Bout myself, I mean, I ain't pryin' or nothin'.

[boombam]

Are you gonna tell me about "the one that got away" or whatever?

[Katsuki definitely doesn't mind the subject switch from himself to Chipp. So he'll let him have the floor, and drink some of his normal cola while he listens because woo boy this rum is strong and he needs a Break.]

[fauxbot]

Naw. Other way 'round.
I was nearly the one who got away.

[Okay, now he's just gonna plain finish off his drink entirely, peanuts and all, before shoving the cup forward toward the bar tender.]

... When I was a teen, I lived on the road. Runnin' around, stayin' outta sight.
Puttin' up with all kinds of abuse. Lettin' folks do whatever 'long as they gave me money for it.
As an adult, weren't any better. Just runnin' from the law, gettin' in fights, hurtin' others, gettin' hurt.
And once I died, just got worse. I stuck myself out in a desert, killed other Grim Reapers who got too close.

[Just the quickest, briefest summary of his entire life story, no big deal.]

But, ehh... by the time I ended up here... I thought I couldn't feel love at all.
If you asked me 'bout it when I first landed in Ellipsa, I woulda laughed.
Only reason I realized I can is 'cause I fell in love here... 'n they asked me 'bout it.

It gave me a reason to sit back 'n think 'bout it in the first place - I wasn't thinkin' 'bout it at all otherwise.

[boombam]

[Katsuki listens, sipping as he does and watching Chipp intently with those glowing red eyes of his. His life story was summed up pretty quick-- too quick to fully grasp everything but enough of an explanation for Katsuki to get where he's coming from.]

...so you're sayin' he might not even realize he has feelings unless someone asks him about it?

[Well. That's kind of how he found out he was capable of being into romance, himself...]

But.. what if he doesn't? What if he tells me that he just likes the magic stuff but doesn't care about romance? I... I'm pretty sure if I got rejected, I'd blow up half of Nightwake over it.

[Ah, there's his hesitation.]

[fauxbot]

If ya don't ask, you just givin' him a rejection yourself, bougre. You know what they say -
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Either ya keep it to yourself 'n you bottle it up 'n you end up hurtin'...
Or ya put it on the table, get a fifty-fifty shot of livin' it big with the man you love.

[And MAN if he hasn't become a strong proponent of "just fucking talk to them", thanks Nen.]

... Just prepare yourself for the worst 'fore you do it.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Can't have your heart broke if you expectin' it.

[boombam]

[It's so tough being someone who doesn't care about romance, and having to face this kind of issue. It'd be so much easier if he just! Never got mixed up in this romance stuff to begin with!!!! Even IF it does make him stronger in the long run-- it's just so confusing!]

Ugh.

[Katsuki sinks into the table, resting his chin on it in a very pouty and fussy kind of way. Obviously hating that Chipp is so right in his assessment and advice.]

We'll see if I get the balls to say anything. I really don't know what to do.

[If he gets rejected he'll snap and direct all that anger and hurt towards Shoto and he knows it. He just knows it!!]

Who's the guy you're so googly-eyed about? You said they were here at one point, yeah?