( open )

[overclocking]

Date & Time: Several days after the necromorph outbreak
Location: A VR room
Characters: Chrono + Rosette + open!
Summary: Lil bit of coping in-between zombie apocalypses and civil wars, nbd
Warnings: None! KEVIN AND BREAK
Notes: Feel free to tag around also! ♥


[ Chrono doesn't bother to close the door when he finally decides to try one of these rooms for himself. Something about the last few days (weeks) (months) has left him unwilling to stay in enclosed spaces too long, with no obvious path of exist. Too much like a lab or an undead-lined hallway.

But these concerns slowly melt away as he sets about instructing the AI, and the room gives way to a place that isn't a room at all.

Mountains rise up in the distance, framing a blue, clear sky, and a faint breeze rustles the treetops of a thick Michigan forest. Birdcalls ride that wind, and the air smells cleaner, fresher, than any moon base could reasonably boast. Where the blanket of trees ends, a large, glassy lake gleams in the sunlight. He takes care with this part—instructs the AI to make the water a temperature a bit too low to be entirely comfortable for swimming, knowing full well that this won't actually be a deterrent. But it wouldn't be right, otherwise.

He takes his time strolling from one familiar landmark to the next, having the computer make adjustments as necessary. He doesn't miss details, either; for all the times that Rosette brought him to this very place, his eyes had missed nothing. They were wide and all-absorbing, like someone who had been born anew and was discovering the world for the first time.

(Likely because, in all honesty, he had been.)

He stops once he circles back around to the open door—a black silhouette hanging oddly in the landscape, and the only giveaway that none of this is real. It's here that he surveys the scene as a whole, the sum of all its little memory-parts. ]

Perfect.

[ Well. There's still a thing or two missing. ]

... Almost.

Comments

[overclocking]

... No. No, you're not wrong.

[ Tries again after his false start, and his voice is oddly mechanical. Like he's reciting words heard many times from others, answering questions formed from nothing. ]

The holy maiden who could see endless time—past, present, and future. [ Uses past tense without realizing it, because it seems there has never been a time in his life when she wasn't just that. ] Mary Magdalene.

[firstroar]

[he watches him speak, watching where the words led both thought and feeling, but not taking the step forward he needs to follow those paths too far away from himself.

it's...very strange. Chrono might as well be talking about the same woman, using words like that.]

Not unlike her, in a way. Yours and mine.

[overclocking]

[ Some small part of him almost wants to laugh at the happenstance of it all. ]

You know... we were in the cafeteria, in the UE. [ Somehow, he rather assumes Blue does know. ] She was sitting alone. I sat across from her because she was familiar.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.

[firstroar]

[thinking on her captivity in the UE hurts; he was certain he'd have known better, been able to keep her from following whatever malignant mind was luring her away.

it's only a small comfort to know someone like Chrono was there, though he knows he should be more grateful. but it waters down to others tending to something he's claimed as his – his treasure, as it were. and no matter how much he insists on giving her to a kinder world, he's still holding onto her too tight to share.

that may be the difference between them; Chrono's walking forward with his past in tow, but Blue is sinking with his, even with his eyes forward.


he swallows against unpleasant feelings, looking past Chrono's recollections. he nods, and in nodding brings his gaze back to Chrono proper now that he's his bearings once more.]

I'll remember that. It's something that's...not so simple as keeping a stranger company. It feels important.

[soul_sister]

[As Blue pulls his attention back to the here and now, he's barely finished speaking as an overly big crown of flowers drops over his head... sliding down his forehead and catching on his ears.]

... I might have to work on sizing.

[A beat.]

Chrono! Come over here, I have a better idea for you!

[overclocking]

[ Oh—his mouth is open, halfway through some kind of response, when he suddenly loses sight of Blue behind a ring of freshly-picked flowers.

He couldn't fight the smile that creeps up, even if he wanted to. ]

... Define "better idea."

[firstroar]

[Blue's stiffened up with a quiet kind of surprise; on the inside he's rather alarmed he didn't notice her coming at all. his vision is overtaken by flowers one one side, which makes Chrono look weirder still.

but it just takes a second to understand–] ...Rosette. [–that it's nothing harmful. still, he's slow to pick and lift the sagging side up for him to see, turning his head.]

[soul_sister]

Do you doubt my artistic genius? You'll just have to come over and see!

Hmm, hang on. [She holds up a finger to Chrono and appraises Blue again. She pulls a few longer daisies out of her belt pockets and reaches up to tuck them behind Blue's ears. Flowery platforms for the crown to rest on.]

[firstroar]

[he is as still as he can be, his hand still hovering where he'd tried to lift the flowers out of his eyes, blinking repeatedly as she fidgets, causing his bangs to shift this way and that.

so since he's captive to Rosette's accessorizing, he can't do much but look at Chrono with a questioning stare.]

[overclocking]

[ Chrono follows her beckoning, watching her adorn Blue all the while—he doesn't seem particularly surprised by this turn of events. Had expected it, perhaps.

But it it's Blue's puzzled staring that cracks him, and he laughs. ]

[soul_sister]

Don't make fun, you're next.

[In moments, Chrono's braid is punctuated by bright blue Forget-Me-Not clusters.]

[firstroar]

[Blue doesn't offer much, just stared in that still-mildly-dazed way of his until the atmosphere can seep through him.

his expression softens and warms, watching them. it's a comforting sight.]

[overclocking]

[ Chrono is pliant and cooperative as Rosette stuffs his hair with foliage, and reaches back to fix one when it comes loose.

It doesn't take long for his gaze to drift back to Blue, and he can't help thinking that this expression suits him much more than the earlier ones. They ought to keep it around, if they can. ]

How do you feel about bonfires?

[firstroar]

I...don't believe I've ever given it much thought. [his expression clouds with a little confusion, looking from one to the other for clues.] What do you mean by it?

[soul_sister]

It's a place where friends gather. We can watch the stars, roast marshmallows. Sing or tell stories.

[firstroar]

[ah...] It sounds pleasant. More than that, really.

[overclocking]

It's one of the best ways to fall asleep. With the embers fading, and the stars above you, and people all around you...

Everyone should experience it at least once.

[soul_sister]

It's decided then! I'll go get the firewood!