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[grinninggrifter]

[For those that still remember Grift’s handwriting, it’s just a bit shakier and slanted than ever, though it seems he’s making a concentrated effort to keep his script as graceful as always.] It seems that this place feels the need to return the crucified back to life. A pointless endeavor, if you were to ask me, though no one did. It does

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[coughcoughshank]

[asldjf surprised ink drips]

Grift-san?

[grinninggrifter]

That is what I said. Surprise.

[coughcoughshank]

I wasn't expecting to see you again!

[Obvious samurai is obvious]

[grinninggrifter]

Nor was I particularly expecting to see you again, but here I am.

[man_genius]

...You. You're back!

OMFG, what took you so long?!

[grinninggrifter]

Yes, me. I can't say that I had much of a choice in the matter.

lets talk around your sucide shall we?

[man_genius]

Don't talk like that.

Things are different since you ...left.

AVOIDING IT WILL MAKE IT GO AWAY

[grinninggrifter]

Or so your brother has told me. The winds of change, some would call it.

[weaver_girl]

[There's a rapid, scratchy line here as someone's pen slips.]

Oh. Oh my.

Lyle had your things, last that I know. [There's a pause for wiping away stray tears; she doesn't think he'd appreciate her crying onto the journal.]

Welcome back.

[grinninggrifter]

Thank you, Kagerou. You, I do remember.

[weaver_girl]

Is that a good thing?

The bar is still around, like Axel sort of is saying. Please do come over if you feel like it.

[grinninggrifter]

Remembering you? I should say so.

That's good. I suppose it's gone through a few changes in my absence, but I will be over to visit at the least. And for a drink, of course.

[live_ringer]

[It takes a good amount of blinking before Lyle believes what he's seeing.]

Gotta say, I wasn't expecting to see you claw your way back.

Unfortunately, I didn't really have the room to keep your hats around. I have something I think you'll want to see even more, though.

[grinninggrifter]

Neither was I. Fate does like to play these little tricks on us.

No? What a pity. I hope you sold them for a pretty penny. [A saaaaad pause.] Unfortunately, Cross Punisher is no longer mine. Chapel was born alongside me, and it's rightfully his. I only regret that I never got to use the rocket launcher attachment.

[live_ringer]

Chapel, too? This place is like a revolving door. Not that I'm complaining. [Not complaining, but it does cause a bit of a morbid pause when he thinks about the death some days earlier. Is the Sphere playing an odd game of one life for another?]

Maybe if you ask him really nicely, with some pretty pleases thrown in there, he'll let you blow something up. That said, it's not like you'll come out of this empty-handed. I kept a fair few of the guns, too.

[grinninggrifter]

Yes, him too. I think I'm safe in saying that none were more surprised than I when I popped out of the cocoon with him beside me.

He'd better let me blow something up. I took damn good care of that gun. [An interested pause.]

My guns? That may well be the best news I have heard all day! A hat is what a man needs to stroll out of his home in peace, perhaps, but a gun is what prevents him from walking out in pieces.

[seeya_next_life]

You always have to make a dramatic entrance, huh. What took you so long, boss?

Can't help you with the hat, but I might be able to do something about the drink.

[grinninggrifter]

There's no use in making an entrance at all if it's not done with flair, Axel. Though I gather that I am no longer in the position to be called boss.

The hat can wait, the drink cannot. I do hope you kept up my tradition of giving away free drinks to newborns.

[seeya_next_life]

I suppose you're right about the entrance thing, but the name stays. I'm a creature of habit.

But sure, drop on by and I'll mix you something myself. I never did manage to come up with a recipe for a namesake drink for you after you left, so... maybe you can give me a few pointers.

[grinninggrifter]

Then I won't complain. Whether I'm the boss or not, it is a title that rather agrees with me.

I will. I am sure that there is plenty to get caught up on, though at the present, I think that a mixed drink would pale in comparison to something simple and sharp.