mid-week 11; un: monday

[vogelfrei]

[ With the regression of the city, working at Sunset Theater has quickly become less enjoyable than it used to be. Though the cast remembers the rapport McGillis had built with them, even if they're more standoffish now. And it's not as though McGillis had placed much stock in his interpersonal relationships to the random citizens, but... the shift in atmosphere serves as a tangible reminder. That this is temporary. That this world is susceptible to insane levels of mind manipulation. That he wants to leave.

Leave and... do what? That's the question that has haunted McGillis for weeks now, and the countdown is mercilessly continuing. Soon Braphine will release them from her hold, one way or another. Soon, he'll have to know. And so will everyone else. ]

Just a little over two weeks until we're free from this, if Braphine really keeps her word and the God of Conflict doesn't swallow up all her power. Until then we'll doubtlessly face a number of additional challenges and hassles, but while we're still in the quiet before the storm...

Are you going home to your own worlds after this? Or will you take Braphine up on her offer and come along with one of your 'bonds'? What is your world like? What is making you return? What is making you abandon it?

And if you're like me and cannot return to where you came from no matter what, maybe the answers can give you some perspective.

Comments

[vogelfrei]

Am I now? What wondrous news.

Will a certain three be accompanying me, perchance?

[ They should not be indulging the fantasy at this point, but...]

[cirquedesang]

[They really shouldn't be, but... Call it the calm before the storm.]

Oh, I'm certain Argenti, Fray, and Sayaka would love to join you.

[He knows damn well those aren't the three he was referring to.]

[vogelfrei]

How lucky that all my favourite people will be there, then.

[cirquedesang]

[...Okay, while the mental image of McGillis babysitting a gaggle of teens and the lovebird knights is very silly, the combo hit of Mafuyu's comment with the "favorite people" implications is enough to get him to relent. A bit.]

We couldn't leave you to suffer in such a peaceful world alone.

[vogelfrei]

[ Yeah. There certainly was an implication there - McGillis was just coming around to using the 'friends' category again, but then they all just had to go and burst out of it and become something different yet again. This is as close as McGillis can currently get to putting words to it. ]

I was counting on it, yes.

[ He'll go with the three of you, and sit under a tree in the bright afternoon sun. He'll look at each of them properly, this time. ]

[cirquedesang]

[If this is as close as he can get to putting words to it, then so be it - it's not a terrible selection of words by any means, and likely the same ones Celeste would have chosen himself. 'Friends' wasn't enough, certainly.]

Good. Perhaps you and I will even learn to relax. 😲
Or allow ourselves... downtime...! 😱

[He's dragging himself, too, but... it does genuinely sound nice.]

[vogelfrei]

Well, now you're just getting ahead of yourself.

[ He's not including any emojis, but it's hopefully easy enough to guess that he's smiling. ]

[cirquedesang]

[If McGillis started using emojis, they'd really have to worry about him.]

Maybe I am.
You'll have to forgive an old man his fancies~

private suddenly;

[vogelfrei]

You know... I was not going to ask because it seemed impolite, but now my curiosity is overflowing: how old are you exactly?

[cirquedesang]

[It seemed impolite........ oh that's cute.]

98... at least. We all seem to have come from different dates, but according to the calendar of this place, I'd be 99 by now, actually.

[He may just now be realizing he skipped a birthday in all the chaos, whoops.]

[vogelfrei]

[ 99...? Well. A little bit older than his father but not the oldest person he knows. That's basically fine then. ]

Oh, happy birthday then.

Do you usually celebrate?

[cirquedesang]

Thank you~

I celebrate turning anywhere from 22 to 35 depending on how old the humans around me believe me to be.

[So that's a no, but he presents as young enough that people will celebrate for him.]

[vogelfrei]

And once it's 13 years in one place, it's time to hit the road lest they grow suspicious?

[cirquedesang]

Give or take... The longest I'd be willing to stay would be 20 years. Acrobatics is a young man's job, after all.

[And being able to still do things on par with younger performers without serious injury would be where the suspicion would come from.]

[beathollow]

If they don't I'll drag them over myself.

( she almost does type the next message, but- pauses.

'i want to see you again too, after all'. there's

implications. implications that she's not sure what to think of.

... )

Even if it's not to stay, it sounds like a wonderful place to visit.

[vogelfrei]

[ There are a lot of implications here... but he'll let Mafuyu take her time on reasoning them out to the fullest. ]

Don't you worry, I think at the least two of them would love to explore that world with you. 'Dragging' will be unnecessary - you'll only have to ask.

[beathollow]

I enjoy your company too, though.

[vogelfrei]

[ ... oh no. That's... really sweet. ]

Not to worry. I'd be tagging along. I can't exactly leave them unsupervised - and catching up with you will be a treat as well.

[beathollow]

Good!

Regardless of where we end up, you're like family to me. So I want to stay connected.

[vogelfrei]

[ ... family, huh? McGillis doesn't share that sentiment, but that is most of all owed to his conception of family as a legal unit. Unlike Mafuyu, he'd never held any positive associations with the term even as a small child - so a family is a neutral thing, not inherently anything. It is not something he is seeking to replace or gain.

But he also understands what it means to her to be saying this and it's a strange yet warm sentiment. It had been impossible to miss the way she'd declared Celeste her father and Izou her brother after all. ]

I also hope that possibility will exist, to be clear. I am hesitant to count on it ahead of time, but if there is any venue at all then I would make use of it.

So what am I in your family set-up? A future in-law?

[beathollow]

If I had to put a term to it, I would say an uncle. But I think not everything needs a term, if that makes sense? I'm content to know you and have you in my life regardless.

[vogelfrei]

[ Uncle.... he regrets asking, somehow. ]

It makes perfect sense. I only asked for my own amusement, not because I am particularly eager to claim any specific title.

[beathollow]

( he asked, she answered! but it makes sense to her- an adult figure she respects and loves, but while there's advice and care, it's not in the same sense as celeste and yi sang. )

Nor am I really eager to doll them out. I'm not entirely sure what the vibes even would be, since I don't have a wide extended family.

[vogelfrei]

Neither do I. It was only me and my father, and the less said about that relationship the better.

Which is why I'd be hesitant to apply terms like 'family' to anybody... but that doesn't mean your sentiment is not received.

[beathollow]

We also need and want different things.

( she doesn't know the depths of it, but if family is a term he doesn't wish to apply to others, there's reason for that. she, however, wants to nurture the child that her mother mistreated. to give her more room to grow, to love and to be loved. )

I won't ask anyone to view things the way that I do. But I'm glad you understand.