theairlock | the final week

[Eight weeks. Eight weeks of friendship and love, death and loss, hope and despair all muddled together in a cocktail that's too sweet on the tongue and leaves an acid-y pit in the stomach. With nine of them left (ten counting their dear but lone surviving host), things look darker than ever. Come Sunday morning the last of the Champions missing memories will be returned to them while they sleep. For some of them this will reveal answers, for others it might just be a fate worse than death. They could even be death.

But how does the song go? "It's always darkest before the dawn"?

There are no announcements from PAL this week. Not even morning and evening announcements.

Sunday Monday Tuesday

[ooc: Welcome to endgame, everyone! We're all very proud of you for making it all the way to the end. As you can see this is going to be a short IC week but we promise things will not be going down until this weekend (7/7-7/9). On Tuesday we'll be unveiling the OOC post for what to expect during the final investigation. There is no official AC this week, just a check-in and as mentioned above characters will be at their true canon points on Sunday morning.

Buckle up, kids, the ride's not over yet.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Early on for Leonard is still not as early as Nari and Queenie usually get up for breakfasting so she actually comes in a moment or two after him with a fresh cup of coffee, looking like she's been crying, and... When she slips in and sees him there she snatches her hand away from where it had been resting on her belly a moment before, wrapping both hands around her coffee mug.]

Mornin cap'n...

[He's about as surprised as she is, jerking, and...the box is awkward and heavy in his hands even though it's not actually either of those things.]

...Hi.

I, um.

This belongs to you? [He holds it out, and there are possibly some vials of memories still left in there, people who didn't want theirs, or wanted them kept safely away.] I guess you might want it back, right?

I dunno... [She doesn't need it back, the box itself was just something she transfigured out of a shelf from Kip's wardrobe... And with what Ardyn and Heart have said about the memories she's not sure she wants them back. Or if she could even handle the weight of the knowledge in them.]

I should. 's the least I can-

[She bites her lip, staring down into her coffee.]

I dunno if I'm as brave as Ardyn...

[O...kay, he will...reel it back in then. Sure did definitely get awkward.]

...I can keep it, if you don't want it...?

[Why is this so awkward? Leonard has always been the person she was most comfortable around, even more than Tani sometimes. She takes a deep breath, shakes her head.]

No, 's fine... [Her coffee mug drifts over to the night stand and she steps closer, reaching out for the box.]

Even if I don' want the memories I can... do something with it. [Shove it in the bottom of the closet.]

I mean, the memories aren't for you.

I mean, they're yours. But. Not yours anymore. Not for you. Some people weren't really about it, and I'm keeping them safe here. But it's technically yours, so...

If... if they don' want 'em I should take em back. It'd be... [The right thing to do.

Now if only that wasn't so terrifying. It'd be what Ardyn would do. Surely if he can face millennia of horrific memories she can handle pieces from one night.]

No. You left them for a reason. They're not yours anymore, even though--even though I wish you could take them all back. It wouldn't be fair to only have some of them, and maybe--maybe the ones that didn't want them might want them later. You'll have to ask. ~~[since unsure how many people that might be]~~

[She flounders for a moment... unsure what to do now that she doesn't have her coffee in her hands as even a small distraction from what's going on here. He's so distant somehow, not the anger from Sunday but further away from her than he's ever been, even when she couldn't understand half of what he was talking about.]

If... if you think it's best. [Whatever he wants, whatever he needs as long as he comes back to her. Somehow... eventually... Morgana's Grace but she needs him.]

I...think so.

...I'm sorry I snapped at you. That I was--I was really angry. And upset you. But I was upset. I'm still...kind of upset. About things. I don't mean to worry you.

It's alright, y'know... being upset. Being upset with me.

[She bites her lip, takes a deep breath to steel herself for what she has to offer here.]

If you want- need me to give you some... space. So you can sort out how you feel.

[The breath rushes out of her and she drops onto the foot of the bed, pulling her knees up.]

I can do that.

God, absolutely not. I need you around me, okay? I need you to be here, for me and with me.

I just feel like being around me is makin you upset, though. I don't-

I can't read yer mind and I don' know how ta make any of this okay, honey.

Well, then we're in the same boat, huh?

Stuff...happened. I remembered some stuff, and it wasn't...it had to do with memory. I remembered being told I'd forgotten stuff, and then things that weren't pleasant happened, and I guess I'm touchy about...memory. Now.

[She pats the bed next to her, hoping he'll at least come sit beside her.]

I'm sorry. I'd never ever take memories from you if you didn't want me to. I only offered to Ardyn so... if he needed-

[She bites her lip but Ardyn insisted he'd talked to Leonard about it so...]

So if it got too much he knew he had another option.

You wanted to...see. it. And I wasn't in a position to--

[Okay. This is fine. He settles slowly down next to her, instantly reaching for her hand.]

I didn't know how to react because we lost you. I know he's got a fucking show to run, but god damn, I can't just...pretend like I didn't feel...how I felt when we all thought you were executed. I don't know what I would've done if it wasn't for what you left for me.

...Speaking of.

[One of the other reasons he came to find her, then. He pulls out Nishitani's letter, addressed to her. Sets it on top of the box.]

If you're ever ready for that.

Seeing ain' the same as taking... I'm a legilimens remember? It's still not back but I'm sure, with my wand, if I did the actual spell I could see it just fine. I don't gotta take anything out to See it, you just gotta let me in 's all.

[She tangles their fingers together and squeezes his hand, relieved but unsure if he's going to pull away. She'd never be able to squeeze tight enough to hurt him but her nails might bite into the back of his hand a little.]

I don't know what you saw, cap'n, and I'm so sorry you had to- I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt any of you. I love you all so much...

[The letter, gets wide eyes and she traces her fingers over her name in Tani's crisp writing. Not now. Not with him. She will read that alone where she can cry her fill without worrying anyone.]

the final week

Box talks oh no

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