o6 - video

[stoicloyalty]

[ After the first note of the evening sirens rings out, this video feed cracks onto the network as suddenly as a flash of lightning. The light is terrible in the image; after the camera trembles initially, faint white stripes emerge from the murky shade of green so dark it could be black. Anybody familiar with the grass of the baseball diamond will

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[audio]

[12second_orz]

[Silently, Tonegawa notes the baseball diamond, her shallow breathing, the look of shock that vanishes past the angles of the camera. He hadn't had her down as the sort to up and vanish without a word. Too loyal, too practical.

Old habits die hard; unprofessional though it may be in his new surroundings, his new place in Siren's Pull, Tonegawa is relieved to see Laforet. She's hardly a brother or even, god forbid, a sister in the way that she might have been back in Tokyo, but it's a difficult frame of reference to remove oneself from. He's had yakuza blood running through his veins for far too long now to see things otherwise.

At any rate, she looks far more vulnerable here than she ever has in his office- and if there's one thing he can say for certain it's that he's always taken care of his boys.]

Welcome back. Do you need transport?

video;

[stoicloyalty]

[ Despite that short bout of time spent 'home', away from the memories and the presence of all the Port's people she had worked with, she recognises her boss's voice almost immediately. However it is nearly a minute before she rouses herself to respond to the inquiry, with all to show that she even heard it in the first place is a stillness that takes her posture.

Gradually she stops trembling and lifts her hands from her face, lowering them to her breastbone, and while she does not face the NV -- as though replying to Tonegawa in person -- she gives a slow shake of her head. It is a very sure motion, even with the knowledge of the Darkness creeping up on her. The rational part of her is telling her she can walk back to her house fine, ignoring her state, the weakness in her legs. ]

[audio]

[12second_orz]

[There's a pause before she finally answers- and no wonder, if she's just found herself back here from wherever she'd disappeared to. That sort of thing can be a terrible shock to the system.

The eventual shake of the head is a surprise, to say the least, but it's assured enough that one has to wonder how effective arguing against it might be. Tonegawa's suspicions aren't positive on that front, though he's not entirely certain as to how much of this is the bull-headed obstinance that comes from pride as he's used to. He takes a different tack, shifting in his chair, and in the background comes the the sound of ice clinking against glass.]

If you're quite sure. Are you injured at all? [Calm, even and without judgement. Not out loud, at least.]

video;

[stoicloyalty]

[ She closes her eyes. Somehow it is more comfortable to respond whilst disregarding the NV, a gradual return to the system in the Port that was unheard of at home. That, and Tonegawa's tone is contagiously calm; Chane manages a thin sigh before shaking her head again. ]

voice;

[payback]

Woah. Chane?

video;

[stoicloyalty]

[ There is no audible gasp to accompany the jerk of her head out of her hands at the sound of Rin's voice, her glance upwards, or her moment of blinking uncertainly before her gaze finds the NV. But Chane does not move; she stays sitting with fingers clenched and frightened eyes, unblinking. ]

voice 4evr;

[payback]

Are you okay? No one's there, are they?

video forever;

[stoicloyalty]

[ Only then does she snap away her gaze, eyes flickering anxiously at her side and looking away from her, around her, to confirm. She doesn't know if she is okay, and right now, doesn't have the capacity to think about what Rin considers to be 'okay'. She watches the feed from the corner of her eye but cannot face it fully. Answering Rin's question, making her worried-- that's too heavy a burden for her to place on her housemate. ]

Action!

[vinovidivici]

[ The video projects onto the wall of the dugout unnoticed: he was up at the window at the first sign of her return, and that's where he stays transfixed (he knew it was her and he knew she'd be back but the sight itself is still stunning). Until she falls. Then he's out the door and eating up the distance between them as fast as he can. ]

Chane!

action forever?

[stoicloyalty]

[ She does not hear his call instantly-- the sound is momentarily lost in the layers of the wailing sirens and the night breeze nipping at her skin, blurring her judgement. Yet, the wind carries his voice through a moment later. While indistinct, the sound of it is enough to dissolve the tension in her upper body, shoulders and arms loosening just enough for the anxious glance she gives over her shoulder to come naturally. Within the memories and thoughts of this place stewing raw in her mind with her sudden return, she finds him, and holds her breath. ]

4eva bb

[vinovidivici]

[ He doesn't slow until he's reached her, momentum carrying him past as he turns and drops to the ground to crouch in front of her. His body is still moving faster than his mind, and his hands are at her shoulders almost before he realises it, holding them protectively. ] You're back. [ From her body language he's satisfied she's not hurt, at least, but she's... lost, and anxious, and he remembers at this inopportune moment what Firo had said about not wanting anyone he cared about to be pulled here with him. The grip on her shoulders tightens fractionally. ] You all right? Chane?

[stoicloyalty]

[ The feel of hot palms pressing against her cool shoulders gives her a gentle shock. She starts minimally, trembling still, but soon her eyes find and lock with his. His presence missing from 'home' yet existing so vividly here-- it feels dreamlike, blurred by her longing for her world to have in it the people it ought to, whether in Manhattan or in the Port. To see him here is almost surreal, the pulse she can feel thrumming against her skin and the questioning look in Claire's face-- her lips part in the disorientating shock of the moment and move, seemingly hesitating on a word. Or, perhaps, a name. ]

video.

[troparion]

-- You alright over there?

[he hadn't thought much when someone had noted how she had been quiet, but... huh. so, she really had disappeared. (was this the same Chane, though?)]

video;

[stoicloyalty]

[ A voice she does not recognise. Observation overlapping the concern. It is not hostility that keeps her position locked, unmoving, but unwillingness to address that somebody she has not encountered might be interested in her safety. Similarly the look she shoots sideways, eyes low beneath her eyelashes, seems more pointed than she intends; she is waiting for something else for this person to prove themselves with. ]

video;

[troparion]

[unfortunately, he's not the best at proving himself. he only raises his eyebrows at her, pauses -]

... You even remember this place, lady?

video;

[stoicloyalty]

[ She raises her eyebrows. Part of her wants to dismiss this person entirely but-- she is intrigued by the question. Why wouldn't she remember? For now, she gives a slow inclination of her head, hands lowering to show a little more of her face. ]

video;

[tinderfoot]

[He recognizes this girl; she's one of the newer ones who lives at the boarding house. She'd baked for everyone.]

Hey! What are you doing out there?

video & text;

[stoicloyalty]

[ This person-- in her short conversations with him, he was friendly, if difficult for her to understand. She recognises him as another resident and acquaintance but once the idea forms in her mind that her distress has disturbed yet another person residing near her, she feels a guilty pang.

The video feed has changed somewhat since her initial post, however; her surroundings seem to be moving lightly behind her as she is carried in black-sleeved arms, one shoulder obscuring hers in the corner of the screen, and over the audio there is an energetic voice speaking over quick footsteps on the grass of the diamond-- ] --then on Tuesday there was this thing out there that had some kinda spikes comin' out its spinal cord and I almost went out because you know, what woulda happened if you turned up while that was moochin' about the place? But then it took off and... [ -although judging from her usual intent look when writing responses via her NV, Chane is not paying much attention to the story. ]

I was pulled back from my previous world.

text;

[tinderfoot]

[Huh, well, she seems to be safer now, so at least he can be glad for that, and she's chosen to send him a message instead of just talking. Seeing as she has company, Tyrell responds in kind.]

You went home?

video & text;

[stoicloyalty]

[ The nature or form of the response does not matter hugely to her; granted, nothing will be given away through a text conversation, but she doubts they will exchange anything private that Claire would want to read anyway. She seems to incline her head minutely as she writes her response. ]

Briefly.