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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[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?

[breakaleginhalf]

[Gil's hand drifts down to brush Coda's hair behind their ear, an innocuous gesture made tender by just how delicate he's being with them.]

Like I said, saw their Summer copy use it on the Beast. It was geared up to attack them, then they just-- shone like the moon for a second, and the Beast started backing down. Acting all twitchy and nervous, it's-- not allowed to run away from a fight, but it didn't want to be anywhere near them. They gave it just... pure, mindless terror of them.

[placeheld]

[ Artemis watches the gesture, unable to untangle the mix of emotions it inspires in him - tenderness and longing and just a little bit of jealousy all at once. Nothing that would take him anywhere good, so he focuses on the image Gil's painting with his words. ]

That's powerful. [ Coda probably weighs like ninety-eight pounds soaking wet, and they'd taken on something even bigger and badder than the Gil sitting next to him. Artemis decides: ] Good. All this shit freaks me the fuck out, but this probably won't be the last time there's something to fight in here.

[breakaleginhalf]

Unfortunately, there's the catch. [He doesn't miss that emotional cocktail, but he chooses to ignore it, looking back at Artemis tiredly.] Most Blessings don't have Catches - Coda's does.

[You can practically hear the capital C there.]

Whenever Coda uses it, they get backlash. Whatever they give to someone else, they suffer from a less intense version. Give someone terror, give yourself panic. Give someone a fugue, make yourself dissociate.

[placeheld]

[ Artemis makes a face, wondering why exactly everything seems to have to suck for them. Magic powers? With a catch? Bullshit. Still: ]

-That's okay, here. We'll just have to have their back. [ The same as he's planning to keep an eye on Gil's mental health. Never mind that he's just as unequipped to deal with that as he is a fight. His foot, the one hanging off the mattresses away from the other two, jiggles restlessly. ] If they need it. If they'll let us.