41 - There's a monster on the loose

[seeya_next_life]

Hey, chief, Stoneface, I meant to make a report earlier, but I was a little [pause] distracted. By now I assume you've heard Kagerou was killed, but it bears mentioning that she was killed by a monster from Crystala. And she wasn't on Crystala. In fact, I didn't find her anywhere near the bridge--she was along the southeastern bend on the coast

Comments

[moe_rapier]

Yes, of course. I'll make note of it on the schedule. Please take care.

[stonyfaced]

Thank you, Lea. I've been keeping track of the situation.

[His pen dwells on the page as he wonders what he can say. He hates this place. Children die.]

She was a good kid.

Quicklog

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud emerged from the Section One house Lea had given him the key to--the wind and rain had finally died down so he probably wouldn't sleep there tonight, but it was a great place to keep things like his box instead of constantly hauling it all over Edensphere with him.

Locking the door and pocketing the key, he headed for the elevator, intending to go find a decent restaurant and have dinner.

That plan lasted as far as the Bazaar. Stepping off the bridge, Cloud saw a familiar shock of red hair out of the corner of his eye. He paused for a second, remembering Lea's first post earlier that day... maybe the other man didn't want company. Well, he could just ignore Cloud if that was the case.

He moved a little closer before he spoke.] Hey.

Re: Quicklog

[seeya_next_life]

[Lea hadn't even realized he'd left the apartment until he was halfway down the street. He was still sort of waiting for the pain to hit him, waiting for the numbness to fade, waiting for... well, something. Anything, really. Was this what grief felt like? This strange and solemn heaviness? This peculiar sensation like something was just pressing down on his sternum and slowly crushing him? Wasn't it supposed to hurt

Re: Quicklog

[iattractmushi]

[Cloud raised an eyebrow at Lea's reaction--he hadn't been trying to sneak up on him.] ...sorry. [That's what he'd written in the journal--'I'm sorry'. He hadn't known what else to say, but it seemed even more useless now, facing Lea in person...] Were you headed somewhere?

[He paused for a second, considering Lea's wan smile and haunted expression. Unsurprising, considering what happened today, but still... it had to be said.] You look like hell, by the way.

Re: Quicklog

[seeya_next_life]

[Lea shook his head.] Don't be sorry. [It was his own damn fault, really, spacing out like that. And Cloud had already apologized once today, for things that surely hadn't been any fault of his. Kagerou was dead, and Lea was pretty damn sorry about that, too. He shook his head again.] Not... really? Ah... [Okay, he was stammering. That wasn't like him at all. He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets.] I was just gonna drop by the bar. That's what you do when somebody you care about dies, right? [A bitter half-chuckle grates from his throat.] You go drink your sorrows away, or however it goes?

[A pause at Cloud's assessment, and then he barked a genuine laugh.] You know, that's something I've always really liked about you, Cloud. [He clapped him lightly on the shoulder before withdrawing his hand, recalling how Cloud had seemed uncomfortable under contact that night in the park.] You always seem to know just what to say. [He nods his head, his eyes no less haunted, but his shoulders a little less

Backdated I guess but.

[paintitgray]

[A single pencil mark appears, as though someone had recognized Lea's handwriting and begun to write a greeting before reading what he'd written.]

[A pause.]

[And then something, probably a pencil point, punctures the page so hard that it rips the paper.]