dataBURST: IC Inbox

[breakaleginhalf]

Hey, it's Gil. Either I haven't got my phone on me, OR I'm actively ignoring you. Text me if it's important, try harder if you're dying. TEXT | VOICE | VIDEO | ACTION

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[breakaleginhalf]

Yeah, of course. [He gives them a soft kiss on the top of their head - a habit he'd forgotten he had, more than anything else - before he stands up and shoves the table as far away as he can so there's mattress space.] Tonight's pillow fort night. Get everyone's heads back in place.

[And he'll start getting mattresses into the lounge. His own on the bottom, with the thoroughly scratched and torn cover face-down, and Artemis's on top, before he goes on the hunt for pillows.]

[placeheld]

[ Artemis doesn't knock before he comes back in, but he is sure to make a lot of noise on his way back down the hall - walking more heavily than normal, humming quietly, anything to let at least Gil know that he's on his way. He wasn't oblivious to the way certain things were being talked around, before, and he doesn't really want to walk in to the middle of a conversation he isn't meant to hear.

He opens the door slowly, too, peaking in to see what's happened in his absence. ]

Room service - guess who found some extras?

[senseloss]

[By this time, Coda's sort of nested into one of the blankets, curling up into a little Coda-ball, blinking quietly like a cat when Artemis steps back in.]

Good, there'll be enough for everyone, then. Come here?

[You know, so they can curl up between the boys and just...crash.]

[breakaleginhalf]

[Gil's finishing setting up the bedroom's current pillows, and both ears flick up before his head does when the door opens. He's been listening and appreciate the telegraphing, and gives Artemis a slight tilt of acknowledgement from behind Coda's head. His laptop is on the couch and wirelessly streaming to the TV in preparation of background noise, and within reach as he settles down next to Coda with a slight grin.]

Yeah, come get some cuds bro.

[placeheld]

Only if you never say it like that again.

[ Artemis is shedding his shoes at the door, though, so that he can drop first the armful of pillows he's found and then himself into a sitting position on the other side of Coda. He gives their hair a little ruffle. ]

Hi.

[senseloss]

[Coda shifts just enough to rest their head lightly on Artemis’s thigh, one arm draped over Gil. They snuggle their way into a comfortable position and let out this world weary sigh, closing their eyes.]

Hi. Is it weird if right here feels more ‘home’ right now than my room?

[breakaleginhalf]

'Home is where the heart is' is corny as shit, but it's not necessarily wrong.

[He rests his hand on Coda's arm, getting himself comfy without dislodging them.]

Feel free to pass out, mate. We got you.

[placeheld]

[ Artemis shifts around a little, either in an attempt to make himself a better pillow or out of discomfort. Even he's not really sure which, though he does glance over at the door. He doesn't move, though, just lets out a quiet sigh that sounds enough like agreement. ]

Yeah, we do.

[senseloss]

I know you do.

[Coda nuzzles Artemis’s leg once, and then they’re out, batteries completely drained. They don’t snore, at least.]

[breakaleginhalf]

[Gil's gonna give Coda a few minutes first; he knows they've probably just passed right the fuck out, he can practically smell their exhaustion and can definitely feel their relaxing heartbeat with his hand against their arm, but it's more just to be safe.

If nothing else, he puts a movie on the TV so there's some background noise, so when he does finally turn to Artemis with a bit of a tired set to his own features, it's not going to abruptly wake them up.]

So where d'you want me to start?

[placeheld]

[ Artemis hand stays in Coda's hair, stroking occasionally with his thumb, and his eyes track what's happening on the television without really taking it in. He's thinking too hard, about too many things, and he just wants to stop. He's stuck here, though, if he doesn't want to hurt these people - and he doesn't.

He glances sideways at Gil, and then back at the screen. ]

It was you, wasn't it?

[breakaleginhalf]

[Gil can take that hint, but something about the looking away again stings, and an ear twitches as he looks back at the telly too.]

...my doppelganger. Coda was talking to him and he worked out he was a doppelganger. That. He was gonna disappear. [He swallows dryly. When he speaks again, his tone is a little bit too casual.] So he took it into his own hands, you know? As you do.

And Coda's Summer doppelganger killed the other one I have running around that's just. A monster.

[placeheld]

[ Artemis hears exactly how casual that tone isn't. His free hand fists around the pillow on his other side and his jaw works. ]

With a blessing that isn't. [ There's a question there, too, but he'll circle back around to it. ] So one of them chose to off himself, and the other decided to become a monster. How are you not freaking out right now?

[breakaleginhalf]

I'm really good at dissociating. [Wait that's too real.] No, I, uh. Already did my freaking out at Bugsy about the Beast - formal title, by the way. It's... what I would've been if I didn't escape.

[He lifts his arm gently off of Coda and flops it across his own lap.] And I can show you the timestamp for when I found out about the human one, who never got Taken. I'm still kinda processing that, but... I'm not actually surprised, now.

[placeheld]

[ Way too real, and it earns him a startled look before Artemis commits to moving past that just as hard as Gil is. This conversation is difficult enough without doing all his thinking about it at once. ]

I don't really need to see it. I believe you. [ He takes a deep breath and runs his free hand through his hair, getting it out of his eyes and then letting it fall right back. ]

I just need to ask one question: how likely are you...

[ He needs to ask, but he can't make himself quite finish the sentence. ]

[breakaleginhalf]

[It possibly takes a moment too long for the answer to come.]

...no. [But his tone has a finality to it, a firm and quiet certainty.] I thought about it, when I first got Out, but I didn't. So, I won't.

[placeheld]

Good. [ There's relief, there, but also a certain sort of vehemence that's almost anger. Artemis glares at the TV for a moment before making himself relax. It's - fine, it's over, there's no reason for him to care about any of this. He wasn't there. ] It would be really stupid to have survived everything you did and waste it.

[breakaleginhalf]

[He almost smiles; certainly a small huff escapes him, the ghost of an amused snort.]

Yeah, well. People found a better use for me, is all. Got me into a routine so I don't have to worry about finding reasons for myself.

[placeheld]

Pretty much anything's better than being recycled early, c'mon. [ Artemis rolls his eyes at Gil, though his expression's softened. ] Or... turned into worm food. Whatever the fuck you guys do.

[ Not important, Artemis, focus. ]

So that's the suicidal one. The other one...?

[breakaleginhalf]

[...ah. This one's less fun.]

We've both said before that being Taken changes us. Turns us... less than human, more like Them. But that's only if we get out. If we don't, we, uh. Don't stop changing.

[He lifts a hand and runs his fingers through his mane idly, only halfway consciously.]

That memory you saw of mine... that was my breaking point. And after that, I had to make a choice. Fight harder, get out, save myself... or give in. Let myself get turned into whatever the Director wanted.

[He's silent for a few moments.] That me got turned nearly fully into one of Them, and Summer-Coda killed it because it was too dangerous to let live.]

[placeheld]

Not going to ask how you're feeling about that.

[ He's worried, of course he is, but - well, the Gil that matters got out just fine, since he made a better choice, and he's not going to off himself when shit gets stressful. Both of those things make Artemis feel like this is the right Gil, or at least the one he likes best.

He's also the one that probably doesn't need to talk to Artemis about his emotions, or so Artemis is choosing to believe. ]

I am going to ask how Coda killed you, though. If you'll tell me.

[ It's probably easier for everyone involved than asking Coda themself. His eyes flick down to check that they're still asleep. ]

[breakaleginhalf]

[Artemis doesn't ask, so Gil just shrugs one shoulder.

He'll answer the question that does get asked.]

Electrocuted it, used their Blessing to terrify it into submission, and killed it with a spear.

[placeheld]

A spear?

[ His eyes dart between Coda and Gil, because he's got some serious doubts about the upper body strength involved in pulling that off. Maybe Summer!Coda is shredded? ]

-Wait, no, that's not exactly what I meant. You guys keep talking around the blessing thing.

[breakaleginhalf]

[Gil doesn't look at Artemis for a few seconds, before he sighs quietly.]

I'm calling in that Favour. [He turns to Artemis then, and there's a stone-cold seriousness very rarely seen on Gil's face - probably ever, really.] You can't tell anyone about Coda's Blessing, or their Kith, unless someone else tells you word for word that they know what it is. Not anyone, not even Bugsy.

[And a cool breeze suddenly ghosts through the room, bringing the faint smell of leaf mold and a chill that makes Artemis's heart race for a few quick seconds. It's there in a second and gone again just as fast, before Gil continues in a more natural, albeit still somewhat urgent tone.]

Like, I trust that you have Coda's best interests in heart, I do, but this means something to them. They're a Moonborn. Their entire, I dunno, idiom is driving people insane. Their blessing is called Lunatic's Kiss - they can drive someone literally insane, for a whole month if it's someone without magic.

[placeheld]

[ There's a certain relief in the Favor called in being something Artemis would have done anyway. He is, if nothing else, excellent at keeping secrets. He looks back with equal seriousness - and a subtle widening of his eyes as his heart goes nuts - before the moment passes and things feel normal again. ]

-Oh. [ They'd promised not to, and Artemis believes them, but the idea of anyone fucking around in his head is ... he doesn't like it. He gets why Coda doesn't, either. ] That's some blessing, what the fuck.

[ He looks back down at Coda, a little incredulously because... he can be told they're not human all day, and he can see the horror in someone like Bugsy or Gil, but Coda? Coda's never felt anything but harmless. Safe. ]

How did you find out?