the third investigation

[airlockedmods]

[This week has been an interesting one to say the least. Feelings found, feelings lost, feelings repressed. Just feelings all around in one way or another. But there's always that terrible chance that PAL's motive has had the intended effect.

When the champions are awakened by the morning announcement their original abilities and powers have not been returned to them. It could be a good sign, a sign that they haven't lost another friend, but there's still that sinking feeling of dread that's starting to go hand-in-hand with Fridays.

Time to explore the mansion.]

Comments

[scourgingstars]

We were fortunate on all counts that I did. I seriously doubt it to be contagious, but that was more of a gamble than I was willing to take on a mere doubt.

...How is he?

[motherfucking_ghost]

Got him bandaged up. People watching out for him. Nari knows what the fuck she's doing, growing up with a doctor for a dad and all.

[He's not going to talk about what it felt like to see him lying there dead. Not because of Ardyn's...returned condition, but because if you ignore something and don't talk about it, you don't have to face it, yay!]

[scourgingstars]

Good--I'm sure he'll be fine.

[Ardyn still sounded largely unaffected; even less so than he usually was. The switch from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other had been just a little too sharp for him to be all that functional at the moment.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

He'll bounce back. Be upset that he didn't have any choice about whether you got it back or not, but I warned him that would happen, so.

And we meant everything we said, you know. Not gonna back out of it now because of this.

[scourgingstars]

I meant it, as well.

[he said, sounding dead inside.]

As much as I can't quite find whatever shred of caring I actually had right now, I did mean all that I said.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[He can deal with dead inside. For now. Even before losing it all, being Lucis Caelum again, he'd still managed to emote just enough to...somehow make fucking friends with these people. Church can't fully imagine what it must be like, but he won't push it, because he suspects it's really fucking sucky to have it suddenly mute everything down. He knocks his arm lightly against Ardyn's.]

Just covering the bases.

[scourgingstars]

...I know.

[He managed half a smile, but it was a thin shadow of even the attempts he'd shown before this week had happened.]

Are you alright?

[motherfucking_ghost]

Fuck no, but I'm keeping it together for the sake of the collective, so I've got that going for me.

[Helps to not have been close-close to the deceased, but still...Takumi. After Finn. And they'd been talking, and learning to play older, more complicated chess. He gave him Finn's jacket. Damn it.]

[scourgingstars]

You're doing well. [That felt like something, even if it was only the mostly-empty obligation Ardyn had started out with. Even that was some recognition of what to do here, which was better than nothing whatsoever.]

[That half-smile still on Ardyn's face, he put a hand on Church's shoulder.]

We can get through this, and then we can start picking up whatever may be left.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[It's almost not enough. Compared to how vibrant Ardyn had been, to see him reduced to merely going through the motions once more--but Church has dealt with it before, and he's dealt with making due with not enough. That Ardyn's trying, that he's making that effort, means he wants it. He wants to feel something. Maybe does, deeply inside, the way Junpei had described. Not gone, just under a deep, dark ocean, and only anger is allowed to be felt in spades.

It's almost not enough, but it's enough for now.]

One thing at a time. One bullshit crisis at a time. We still have to pin the tail on the culprit, and then we can move on from there.

[scourgingstars]

We've managed it before. I'm confident enough that we'll accomplish that once more.

['Confident enough' meaning just about what Church thought--he was making as much of an effort as he could.]

It's as I said--however this may go, I'm with you to the end of it.