ACE

[ballies]

(pirate noises)

Comments

[selfimmolation]

[ sorry he's taken out of his own angst a bit by; ]

The cath--were we in a church.

[ballies]

[ :amen: ]

If the place looked the same? Then yes.

Naixatloz is a cult. They have two cathedrals under their Tokyo offices.

[selfimmolation]

...

[ there's such a long silence ]

Why. [ anyway. ] It blew up. And then everyone was injured. And the place collapsed.

[ the end. ]

[ballies]

[ just waves her hand. ]

Cult. Nothing about them is sane.

...

Yeah. It blew up. Everyone was injured. [ ... ]

And everyone survived. Injured, life changing in some ways. But everyone back home survived. If it was mimicking what Ryuki and I know that closely, then...

[selfimmolation]

... They didn't.

[ he looks at his hands which are like. fucked up. like when you claw desperately at some rocks, say. ]

Lillium's friend and Luffy were trapped under rubble. I couldn't... we couldn't get them out. And they couldn't move the others ones without me before it collapsed. But I...

[ there's a long pause ]

He's my brother.

[ballies]

[ NOT MY IRIS AAAAAAAAAA. ]

...

[ she could tell him that happened to one of the group, but they still survived. it took years, and did a number on people's mental health with them being gone, but they survived.

but.


how is telling that story going to help? ]

...

What they do in those places isn't real. But it feels like it is, even down to the more mundane things. [ so. she's careful about where she touches, as his hands are a mess apparently?? :( but she gives one of his hands a small squeeze. ]

I'm sorry.

[selfimmolation]

[ kind of looking at their joined hands blankly ]

... It wasn't. I know it wasn't, but I...

[ it felt real. it still sort of feels real. ]

[ballies]

[ squeezes them. ace your termite brain. ]

But it feels like it was. And that messes with you.

[selfimmolation]

... Yeah.

[ he doesn't know what else to say to that ]

[ballies]

[ she sighs. ]

... I don't know if it will get better. It'll take time, either way.

[ stares at zia through the internet, directly. ]

[selfimmolation]

... It's fine. I know it wasn't real. I just... need to remember.

[ too bad his brain is swiss cheese ]

[ballies]

... Take your time. Trying to force everything back won't help -- sometimes it can make it harder to remember if you're forcing it.

[ wow! just like canon. ]

[selfimmolation]

... I'd rather forget about all of that.

[ballies]

[ he JUST said. ]

Then don't focus on it. If it comes back, it comes back. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Either way, you'll work through it.

[selfimmolation]

... Yeah. I guess so.

[ballies]

[ me, determined to keep these threads going so you have to keep tagging me dammit. ]

Have you at least seen Will, or had a remedy shoved at you yet? I don't know if that will help, but it might be worth trying.

[selfimmolation]

Yeah, yeah, I saw Will...

[ for the record. he just got generic first aid he never got real heals ]

[ballies]

[ i hate him. ]

...

[ she sighs. ] Alright.

Why is everyone so against getting checked over half the time?

[selfimmolation]

... I'm not against it, but these injuries aren't anything that big...

[ this is just his pain tolerance speaking ]

[ballies]

[ ... ]

You lost your eye last week and you're saying that to me.

[selfimmolation]

Okay, I definitely let Will heal me last week.

[ballies]

After telling us to have him heal everyone but you while you bled from your empty eye socket, yeah?

[selfimmolation]

That's triaging. The other two couldn't even stand on their own.

[ballies]

You were all really injured?? And eye wounds are bad! They can cause you to go into shock if they’re not treated for infection quickly!

[selfimmolation]

Yeah, yeah... it's fine now, so what does it matter?

[ IS IT FINE NOW ]