Deerington Inbox

[spiritwalks]

[ video / audio / text ]

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voice; un; glitch

[glitchinthesystem]

Hey Vyng, needed to ask an important question so don't laugh or be weird about it.

Where's your tattoo?

voice; un; cariboy

[spiritwalks]

[ Sorry, Glitch. Telling him not to laugh or be weird is pretty much a guarantee that he's gonna do at least ONE of those things. ]

I'm gonna answer a question with a question: What would you say if I told you it was on my low back?

[glitchinthesystem]

....I wouldn't care? Does that matter really?

IS IT on your low back?

text : un: luckedup; before october

[luckthis]

This is out of nowhere but do you maybe have

Parenting advice?

Of the angsty, super powered teen sort.

text : un: cariboy

[spiritwalks]

I can't promise it'll be GOOD advice, but
I'll give it my best shot.

What's going on? Is this about Glitch?

[luckthis]

Hey, the bar is on the ground here.

No offense.

Yeah.

Your kid back home, and stop me if this is too personal, were they angry? From a bad situation? Truth be told I don't know what exactly I'm doing.

Video misfire | un; glitch early October

[glitchinthesystem]

[ Glitch had the camera up and he's looking at his fluid trying to send a message to a certain someone. ]

Okay. How do I even fucking start?

Uh.

Heeeeeey, Hunk.

No, that's stupid.

Sooo, Hunk. You're cool. I'm cool. Why don't we-

No, that's really fucking dumb. [ He lets out an aggravated sigh, scrubbing at his face. ]

How did fucking Varian ask Ruby out on a date? Maybe I should just get into that mindset.

'Hey. I'm a science guy. Let me just mix these potions together and lets get the dating on.'

[ He scoffs at it and he continues to babble away. ]

No. That's even worse if I'm taking that route. Why am I even taking Martin's advice...fuuuuck.

Just forget it. Just ask him straight out. 'Hey Hunk, when the month from hell is over do you want to hang out like date like? I think you're cool and want to get to know you.'

Maybe I should forget-...

wait why does it say 'sent'?

[spiritwalks]

[ Vyng plays through the video a couple of times, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Where did this even come from? ]

[ God, he's gotta put his Responsible Adult hat on again today, doesn't he. With a small sigh, he fires back a response. A gentle response, mind you. ]

Look, I'm flattered. Really. But...don't you think I'm a little old for you?

action for meditation things; backdated to early october before all the Death

[bolstafir]

[So it's...about four or five days into the month, and Qrow is super fried. Not being able to sleep isn't exactly entirely new for Qrow, but not being able to sleep after a week of the equivalent to a massive Grimm invasion? That's a bit different...especially when certain methods he used to rely on to knock himself out are no longer an option.

He's exhausted enough that even his typical hypervigilance about potential avenues of bad luck is flagging a little; he nearly knocks right into Vyng while ducking into the library to avoid the corpse hour, pivoting on his heel just in time....but unfortunately right into a bookshelf, leaving a mini-avalanche of paperbacks to avoid instead of one person-shaped collision.

He rubs at his neck sheepishly, apologetic.]

...Hey.

[spiritwalks]

[ Vyng stumbles back in surprise, wincing with each book that falls onto the ground. But thankfully, Qrow doesn't seem to be hurt. ]

Hey yourself, ahahah.

[ But then he takes a closer look at him, noticing the telltale signs of a man who hasn't rested in awhile — bags under his eyes, disheveled hair, and an apparent lack of focus. ]

Lookin' kinda rough there, buddy. Lemme guess...no sleep for you, either?

delivery late october

[glitchinthesystem]

[ On Vyng's doorstep, he will find a package wrapped in brown paper. Inside, Vyng will find a set of Strange bone charms. A note attached says; ]

Vyng. Got these in my basket with your name on them. I think they do something so. Here you go.

-Glitch

video; un: notbatman

[saltyadam]

Hey, Vyng? Just wanted to thank you. And apologize. So thank you, and I'm sorry that I've been ... strange, lately. You've been a good friend, and I'm not the easiest person to be friends with.

video | un: cariboy

[spiritwalks]

[ Vyng's pretty disheveled when he answers, wild hair fanned out around his head in a way that strongly suggests he's sprawled out on the floor. His eyes are a little tired and bloodshot...but his expression is bright. ]

Really? You think I'm a good friend?

text; sometime after their snow adventure

[shiro2hero]

Hey, it's Shiro.

I meant to tell you sooner but things kept happening. Sorry.

Anyway, I have something for you.

video | un: cariboy

[spiritwalks]

[ ...! GASP. ]

[ He shoots back a surprised video message. ]

Really? For me?

text; around 3/10

[shiro2hero]

quick!

whats a good reason for me to have rug burn on my chin??????

[spiritwalks]

You wanted to show somebody a neat fire trick?

Weird way to shave, though, I've gotta say.

[Somebody didn't read the text properly.]

text; early april

[bolstafir]

[Okay, alright. Qrow's had a few days to process things, after Clover's departure. Cried a bit, passed along several of Clover's final messages, spent some time with his family and with Oz and he's feeling more prepared to handle things. There's one in particular he's put off until he was in a frame of mind to think it through, and he's...well, he's about as sure as he'll ever be that he's doing the right thing, now.

The last hurdle is figuring out how to say what he needs to say, but after about fifteen minutes of writing and scrapping unsent messages he just decides to rip the bandaid off and dive right in.]

hey
so listen
clover's gone
i think the dream falling apart these last couple months worried him because he left a message for me in case it happened, and he told me some stuff he wanted me to tell people in case he never got the chance
he said to tell you it was never your fault
and i think
he'd want you to understand what was actually going on back then
we've owed you an explanation for a long time, really

[Maybe he's wrong. But Clover isn't here anymore. So he can only use his own best judgment, here. (How unfortunate.)]

we came to deerington from different times, see
i was behind him, by maybe a couple weeks
in his time, he'd just died
i didn't know for months, until i found out in october
and then we both died here and i found out some other things about home and i was really messed up
but we were still trying to act like everything was fine and nothing had really changed and we didn't talk about it
part of that's on me, i'm shitty at talking
and feelings
i mean that's WHY i only ever did meaningless hookups before

[Shit, he's rambling. The typing dots disappear for a minute as he tries to collect his thoughts, and then they pick up again.]

anyway that's not the point
i had feelings for him i wasn't ready to admit to before i found out he died and everything else was going to shit at home too and i used to deal with shit like that by getting drunk

[He leaves that implication hanging. He's not actually admitted to being an alcoholic to anyone, and that feels too intimidating here, when he's already trying to explain all of this.]

i didn't want to make him babysit my feelings about his death and ended up hurting him anyway hooking up with someone while i was still figuring my shit out
i think he mentioned you in his message for me as a way of apologizing for taking it out on you

and i'm sorry too
just
for all of it

[spiritwalks]

[Well. That's...a lot.

Vyng reads over the message a couple of times, a stormy mixture of emotions clouding his mind. "Clover's gone" twists into his gut like a knife, catches in his throat with the realization that they'll never get a chance to hash things out themselves.

But the rest of Qrow's missive stokes the coals of righteous indignation, too. Because Clover definitely admitted in writing that Vyng hadn't done anything wrong. So why didn't he just tell him himself? Instead, he put the burden on Qrow. Qrow, who by his own admission, sucks at talking about feelings. To the point he became an alcoholic, before having to grasp at the nearest warm body in order to stop himself from sliding down that rabbit hole again.

Clover's apparent denial and existential dread that came from confronting his own mortality...is, well, understandable. Vyng's relationships with alcohol and sex became pretty unhealthy after his own encounter with those things back home. But it sure as hell doesn't excuse it, either.

"Man, that guy's an asshole," he grouses to himself when he's finally finished combing through Qrow's message for the third time. "We've all fucking died, buddy."

In the end, Vyng ends up taking a walk through the dusty roads of the newly-degragated neighborhood. Lets the sun beat down on him, as he stares up at the sky.

The dream's falling apart. That part from Qrow's message hangs over him too. Nobody knows how long it'll be before the fabric of reality starts popping apart completely, unable to support the Sleepers' weight and dumping them...god knows where. Maybe into oblivion. With that bleak thought, the hot anger simmering in his belly is doused under the cold reminder that the world is bigger than petty grievances. Words like "should have" or "why didn't he" are pointless.

What matters is that Qrow screwed up the courage to send his message. And he's probably waiting for a response. So Vyng settles down in the shade of his own patio. As he gently nudges Francis the wooly pig's curious nose away from his fluid, Vyng tries to craft a suitable message.]





K

2/3

[spiritwalks]

[Shit, hold on, Francis nudged his hand into the "send" button. Vyng hastily types a follow-up.]

Whoops! Didn't mean to do that. Give me a second here.

[spiritwalks]

[A few minutes later:]

Thanks for letting me know. That was probably tough for you to write. So I appreciate your passing the word along...and explaining why everything got so out of hand. The context helps a lot, actually.

There probably isn't anything I can say that makes him leaving hurt any less.

But for what it's worth...I'm not angry with you. And I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Clover. It's clear you really love the guy.

voice; un; glitch | dated april 21st cw; limb loss mentions

[glitchinthesystem]

[ His arm...his stump still hurts so much. Guess that's what happens when it's sliced and cauterized with a blade made of energy. The skin around it had been blackened, and while it's been cleaned now, the blisters were beginning to become the worst thing to deal with in terms of the pain.

He's kept from crying out loud too much by shoving his pillow into his face. He doesn't want to wake the whole household. But, he needs something...so he has his fluid in his hand and contacts Vyng. His voice hoarse and stuffy like he's had a really terrible cold...or been crying far too much as privacy permitted; ]

Vyng. Um. I.

I need some of your medicinal stuff. Some kind of cream or pain reliever. Do you got anything?

video | un: cariboy

[spiritwalks]

[An audio-only message, where Glitch's voice is thick and gravelly, doesn't bode well. Vyng's seen this song and dance enough times, to know it usually means the other person is trying to hide how they're really doing. Almost like a wounded animal that doesn't want to expose its weakness.

But that's not going to stop Vyng from gazing into his screen, expression pinched with concern.]

How much medicine are we talking? How bad is it, on a scale of 1 to "holy shit"?

text;

[prayed]

[ It really takes her longer to start reaching out to people than it should. Kyoko doesn't want to, really. She doesn't want to know who's still here. She wants to know who isn't even less.

After all, coming back to an empty house again wasn't easy.

Still, eventually she does. It'll just be annoying otherwise, right? Everyone freaking out because she was gone for months...

It takes several minutes for her to work up the courage to send something, after writing and rewriting it, and all she manages is a single word: ]

hey

[spiritwalks]

[GASP.]

Woah, Kyoko! Long time no see.

I thought you'd gone home for sure. Where are you?