[ The idea of multiple planes of existence that... well, coexist alongside one another within one realm isn't too farfetched, especially for someone like Juniper whose life has been so thoroughly shaped by her experiences in such planes. Intellectually speaking, to wrap her head around this business of an "on" and "off" world and so on so forth shouldn't be too awful, but...
...Juniper has never been an intellectual sort.
So instead, after the initial excitement of a new adventure!! has worn off, tutorials and what not completed, she is left feeling... confused, and most of all hungry. If she's not careful, she could veer right into the territory of being hangry.
Which brings her now to the banquet hall of Dodo, where one (1) Juniper Veltris is piling pretty much anything she can find onto a plate before she turns on her heel and nearly collides into someone— ]
[ If Declan had a copper piece for every time he’s found himself in a place… disconnected, let’s say, from home, he’d have two copper pieces. Which is not a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. Barovia had proven to be alien in a lot of ways, but this place really, really takes the cake. The clothes, the technology, the vague recollection of a life he surely has not really lived tumbling around in his head.
It’s enough to give even a brilliant mind like his own the beginnings of a headache. Well, if Gideon were here, he’d say it was high time to raid the liquor cabinet – so that’s what Declan’s set off to do. This charming and strange and charmingly, strangely magical house must have a bottle of wine stashed somewhere right?
So distracted is he by looking around, he sure doesn’t realize someone else is right there and they nearly go running right into one another. ]
Gah!
[ He skirts back a step or two, nearly falling flat on his ass, but he manages to catch his balance. ]
[ Juniper's reflexes kick in most fortuitously, allowing her to balance the pile of food on her plate perfectly. But soon enough a familiar voice reaches her ears as they twitch atop her head, and then someone is pointing at her.
Nearly undoing her hard work, she hastily draws a hand away from beneath her plate to POINT BACK!!! ]
[Has Declan taken to exploring the Dodo house as a fresh new arrival? Well, so has someone else. Or two someones, to be precise. One that lopes ahead a little faster than most, with a quiet yet powerful feline gait.
Turn a corner a little too fast or a little too obliviously, and Declan might literally run into what appears to be a huge black panther, all fangs and claws and taut, coiled muscle. It startles to a stop, ears pinning back in annoyance, tail sweeping back and forth. A low, rumbling sound emanates from the hollow of its throat, looking at him with red eyes.
[ Declan sure is looking around! There’s a lot to take in, and so, so much of it is completely different from what he’s used to. His attention is being pulled in a dozen different directions at once, so of course Declan “single digit passive perception” Steelsong isn’t looking where he’s going!
He runs smack into that cat and he does not scream, thank you. He yelps. But like… with dignity. ]
Ah… um. Hello there kitty. Out for a walk, are we? Heh… please don’t eat me?
[The feline's ear twitches when Declan lets out a totally very dignified yelp. It chuffs again, lip curling slightly, but then simply decides to sit on its haunches, looking up at the man in a way that's impossible to read. Maybe it will eat him. Maybe it won't. Who's to say?
Thankfully, the second wanderer of these halls makes his appearance before anyone can truly find out. Footsteps sound from... behind Declan (he had lost track of his familiar, okay), and he speaks up in a low tone.]
But fresh meat is its favorite. Stay still, now.
[Is he joking? Hard to say, the smile's so faint. But anyway, V's dressed like this because the offline world took away his peak goth clothes, but he still clutches a cane in one hand.]
declan? i'm sorry to ask but i really need your help i dont know who else to ask - can you come to the starling suite as soon as you can? please it's an emergency
[ Vash is a 'texting people in full sentences using the right capitalization' kind of guy so the fact that he's asking for anything let alone kind of disoriented about it speaks for itself. ]
[ Give Declan a moment to stare at his phone and remember how it works. And also to remember how he supposedly knows this person. Being here is sure disorienting! ]
[ In the meantime, Vash has propped the suite door open. When Declan arrives, he'll be able to see them even from the doorway: Vash has moved Nai to the couch in the common area and tried to make it as comfortable as possible, propping up his neck and tucking a blanket over him.
Vash himself is kneeling by the couch with Nai's hand clutched between his own. For a brief moment, his expression is slack; angular markings stand out against his skin, glowing a bright and intense blue. He doesn't care, in this moment, if anyone can see him or that the last time Nai resonated with him he tried to destroy his mind. Vash is terrified. Nai is clearly breathing and physically unharmed, but Vash has never seen him so much as nap, let alone fall unconscious. He doesn't understand why he can't resonate with Nai and fix this.
The moment he hears any noise or notices movement, Vash seems to shake out of it, the glow beginning to fade. When he looks up at Declan, it's obvious that he's on the verge of panicked tears. ]
I know we haven't really met but I remembered you helping me and I - I didn't know what else to do. I found him on the floor. He won't wake up.
[ He inquires over the network with Declan if he's had a chance to work on his bingo card, and says he'd be chuffed to bits to help him out with it sometime. Really it's an excuse just to hang out and catch up. Both of them seem to keep busy between all their respective projects, to say nothing of recent events.
On world, Brickston looks every bit like his avatar with the addition of small demon horns sprouting out of his forehead and thin sinewy spade-tipped tail behind him which emotes with all the same energy his hands do as he walks and talks with Declan. Despite technically not having met, he chatters on about the latest episode of BotBattle with all the excited ease as if he's found an old friend, a kindred spirit. ]
—And that part where the hubmotor disk just FLEW OFF and splintered into shards! What force! Absolutely brilliant. Glad to say I didn't lose a bet on that one.
[ Of all the people that these new memories tell him that he supposedly knows, he was the most delighted to get a message from Brickston. A kindred spirit if there ever was one. Even back home, Declan lacked friends with the same sort of… enthusiasm for tinkering. He was an oddity that most people tolerated, which had always suited him fine.
Oh, but here, now? Listening to Bricks ramble on about Declan’s newest favorite television show that he didn’t know existed until a couple of days ago? It’s a feeling of camaraderie he didn’t realize he’d been missing. ]
A bit of it hit the lights, did you see? All that glass came raining down. Oh, I long for the day when someone manages to throw a whole robot up that high!
[Somehow—quite bafflingly, really—an impressive bouquet of flowers has been delivered either to your door, or already somewhere within your room. It’s a tall and overstuffed thing in its vase, brimming with gladiolus, hyacinth, and long stems of amaryllis, each blossom vibrant and contrasting against its neighbor.
With it comes a little personalized note that reads:]
A “thank you” for your assistance amid the treacherous slopes of Mount Cumulo. May these blossoms never wilt. (I was told that they won’t.)
[ After Vash left him, Knives had turned over in his bed, uninterested in engaging with a world that has left him so weakened. Passing out may not be the answer, but the exhaustion and his own unwillingness to face reality compound into him sleeping through the rest of the day and into the night.
It's well after three in the morning when he suddenly awakens and realizes that he can't seem to fall back to sleep. This is how it works with humans, he knows, and yet he still doesn't feel much like existing at the moment.
Still, his stomach turns, that gnawing emptiness that he now knows as hunger. At least if he wanders out at this hour, it's unlikely that he'll come across anyone. Not his brother, not the Punisher, not that willful girl or any of the other people he's been forced to work with in the short time he's been here, filling in bingo squares and completing dungeons and quests.
He leaves the suite without incident and makes it all the way to the house's banquet hall without encountering another soul.
Or so he thinks. With the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up almost all the way around his face, his peripheral vision is suffering a bit. He also still feels like he's been run over by a sandsteamer despite the many hours of sleep, so he's not as alert as he might otherwise be. ]
[ Or so he thinks. As is the rule for eccentric inventor types, Declan keeps weird hours. He’s not so elven that he doesn’t need to sleep, like Juniper, but he has a bad habit of staying up until the wee hours anyway. And here in this world, with so many things to learn (or remember), it’s all too easy to get caught up in something and lose track of time.
While he had dinner at a somewhat normal time, his stomach had been telling him it's time for a snack, so down to the banquet hall he went. Not wanting to disturb anyone, he didn’t bother with the lights. The ambient light from the city outside and the soft glow from any appliances are more than enough for him to see by.
Still, he’s taken quite by surprise when someone else wanders in, and Declan turns sharp on his heel to find… Vash’s brother? ]
[He isn’t entirely sure how he got signed up for this… Love Love Matchmaking ambassador program. (Juniper has some explaining to do.) But the notifications keep popping up on his phone, buzzing away as a constant, hard-to-ignore distraction.
So, at some point, V gives in, scrolling through the information. It’s only when he catches a glance at the reward—a month’s supply of chocolates? Chocolates that cure a status effect in the ON world?—that his interest turns dimly sincere, and then he begins scrolling through the names available to him. The other ambassadors in which he’d have to pretend at a romantic date to nab this titillating reward.
And he sees— Well. That’s certainly someone he knows.
A text message appears!]
I was going to lead with a couplet or two, but romantic gestures are better saved for in-person.
[Like that’s any less confusing of a lead-in.]
Hello, fellow “Love Love Matchmaking” (heart emojis on either side) ambassador.
[ Please, that first text really is confusing, what the heck. It’s just as well that he spends a moment or two staring at it so context can swiftly appear. ]
You too, hm? I don't recall signing up for this thing, and somehow here I am!
[ In theory, Vash understands that a certain type of magic is just supposed to come to him naturally, and that most people don't find spells difficult to master. The problem is that "following his instincts" or "relinquishing some control" or even using specific gestures and incantations are all things that make absolutely no sense to him.
While his Gate has remained mostly closed to him, the few ways that it can manifest are mathematical and precise. Even if Vash doesn't touch it, he feels like he's starting to understand the underlying principals of his Gate. This other power granted by Duocaeli is wild and strange. It doesn't help that he's particularly reluctant to learn, and the only reason he's attempting to start now is that he's worried about what might happen if this new power continues to grow uncontrolled.
As reluctant as he is to bother Declan yet again, he's the person who makes the most sense for Vash to ask for help. He understands magic, and he's good at breaking things down in a way that makes technical sense. Vash offers what he can in return, if Declan is interested -- anything from daily coffee delivery to help with cleaning, to flowers or physical self-defense lessons. Whatever the agreement, Declan meets him as promised, and even despite his tutelage Vash is... he could do worse, maybe? It's not really that he doesn't understand anymore, but that he's too scared of what will happen if he makes even the smallest mistake.
He ends up on his butt in the grass, catching his breath after yet another failed attempt to manifest something useful from the darkness. What's worse, he feels like he's nearly tapped out even after that lackluster showing. He gives Declan a wry, apologetic smile. ]
... Sorry, I think I just wasted your time. I'm out of power. [ He knows, in theory, they can transfer spiritual energy between them, but he's already asked a lot of Declan today. ]
[ Declan, Vash is quick to find out, is happy to help most anyone with anything at any moment, so he practically jumped at the chance to help Vash with his magic. (He doesn’t even really ask for much in return, though he knows some form of repayment is probably headed his way regardless.) Perhaps the way the arcane worked in Duocaeli was a bit different than in his own world, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t figure it out together.
And while they sort of do, it’s quite clear that Declan’s grasp of his game-given fire skills surpassed that of Vash’s with his darkness magic. As Declan is a firm believer in “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, they’re at it for most of the day.
At last, exhaustion takes its toll, and Vash practically collapses. Declan offers a sympathetic smile – he knows how that feels! – and crouches beside him. ]
Nonsense. If you learned anything at all today, no matter how small, then I would consider that a success.
[He’s not visited the Nightlife District yet, though V is as intrigued as ever. The request to provide the ghost of a sorrowful courtesan some manner of solace and closure is an interesting one of paper — in person, it’s practically delightful. He swears he can hear wailing echoing down each passing alleyway, faraway and otherworldly. Rumors of guests being ousted from their rooms in local businesses, stumbling out as white as a sheet, are easy to believe amid this haunting, vaguely surreal locale.
It doesn’t help that it’s nighttime, of course, and the shadows cast by flickering lampposts and storefronts are long and dark. His and Declan’s own stretch like tendrils along the path as they make their way down the sidewalk.]
Now this is fun.
[It’s novel! Maybe they’ll see a real ghost.]
I’ve never gone ghost-hunting before. But I've read stories... tall, void-like shadow figures, looming ominously at a distance. Or approaching far too quickly. It's enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
[ Here one can clearly see the differences in a pair of people from wildly, wildly different circumstances concerning the supernatural. Put V in Barovia for like half an hour and we’ll see if he’s still having the time of his life!
Declan frowns a bit. He’s had more than his fair share of experiences with ghosts, and none of them good. What’s happening here might skew a little comical, especially compared to what he’s seen in Barovia, but there’s still an anguished soul here. ]
I’ve seen ghosts, you know. Spoken to them. One of them even gifted me new lenses for my goggles. Typically, there’s not much entertainment to be found in their circumstances.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clockworksoul) wrote2023-04-30 08:50 pm
OFF / action.
...Juniper has never been an intellectual sort.
So instead, after the initial excitement of a new adventure!! has worn off, tutorials and what not completed, she is left feeling... confused, and most of all hungry. If she's not careful, she could veer right into the territory of being hangry.
Which brings her now to the banquet hall of Dodo, where one (1) Juniper Veltris is piling pretty much anything she can find onto a plate before she turns on her heel and nearly collides into someone— ]
Woop! Sorry, I didn't hear you there!
/2
It’s enough to give even a brilliant mind like his own the beginnings of a headache. Well, if Gideon were here, he’d say it was high time to raid the liquor cabinet – so that’s what Declan’s set off to do. This charming and strange and charmingly, strangely magical house must have a bottle of wine stashed somewhere right?
So distracted is he by looking around, he sure doesn’t realize someone else is right there and they nearly go running right into one another. ]
Gah!
[ He skirts back a step or two, nearly falling flat on his ass, but he manages to catch his balance. ]
It’s quite alright, I’m sure we–
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Wait a godsdamned second.
POINTS!!! ]
Juniper?!?
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Nearly undoing her hard work, she hastily draws a hand away from beneath her plate to POINT BACK!!! ]
You!?
[ Why are they pointing!? ]
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Wait a g*dsd*mned second. ]
...Uncle Dee!!
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OFFLINE WORLD, DODO HOUSE
Turn a corner a little too fast or a little too obliviously, and Declan might literally run into what appears to be a huge black panther, all fangs and claws and taut, coiled muscle. It startles to a stop, ears pinning back in annoyance, tail sweeping back and forth. A low, rumbling sound emanates from the hollow of its throat, looking at him with red eyes.
Hi, it’s a big kitty.]
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He runs smack into that cat and he does not scream, thank you. He yelps. But like… with dignity. ]
Ah… um. Hello there kitty. Out for a walk, are we? Heh… please don’t eat me?
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Thankfully, the second wanderer of these halls makes his appearance before anyone can truly find out. Footsteps sound from... behind Declan (he had lost track of his familiar, okay), and he speaks up in a low tone.]
But fresh meat is its favorite. Stay still, now.
[Is he joking? Hard to say, the smile's so faint. But anyway, V's dressed like this because the offline world took away his peak goth clothes, but he still clutches a cane in one hand.]
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TEXT
[ Vash is a 'texting people in full sentences using the right capitalization' kind of guy so the fact that he's asking for anything let alone kind of disoriented about it speaks for itself. ]
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I'm not far! I'll be right there.
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[ In the meantime, Vash has propped the suite door open. When Declan arrives, he'll be able to see them even from the doorway: Vash has moved Nai to the couch in the common area and tried to make it as comfortable as possible, propping up his neck and tucking a blanket over him.
Vash himself is kneeling by the couch with Nai's hand clutched between his own. For a brief moment, his expression is slack; angular markings stand out against his skin, glowing a bright and intense blue. He doesn't care, in this moment, if anyone can see him or that the last time Nai resonated with him he tried to destroy his mind. Vash is terrified. Nai is clearly breathing and physically unharmed, but Vash has never seen him so much as nap, let alone fall unconscious. He doesn't understand why he can't resonate with Nai and fix this.
The moment he hears any noise or notices movement, Vash seems to shake out of it, the glow beginning to fade. When he looks up at Declan, it's obvious that he's on the verge of panicked tears. ]
I know we haven't really met but I remembered you helping me and I - I didn't know what else to do. I found him on the floor. He won't wake up.
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ON / action
On world, Brickston looks every bit like his avatar with the addition of small demon horns sprouting out of his forehead and thin sinewy spade-tipped tail behind him which emotes with all the same energy his hands do as he walks and talks with Declan. Despite technically not having met, he chatters on about the latest episode of BotBattle with all the excited ease as if he's found an old friend, a kindred spirit. ]
—And that part where the hubmotor disk just FLEW OFF and splintered into shards! What force! Absolutely brilliant. Glad to say I didn't lose a bet on that one.
hello new bestie
Oh, but here, now? Listening to Bricks ramble on about Declan’s newest favorite television show that he didn’t know existed until a couple of days ago? It’s a feeling of camaraderie he didn’t realize he’d been missing. ]
A bit of it hit the lights, did you see? All that glass came raining down. Oh, I long for the day when someone manages to throw a whole robot up that high!
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delivery; a day or two after their dungeon run
With it comes a little personalized note that reads:]
[A more better personalized line follows:]
-V
text, sometime later that day | un: steelsong
id: v
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OFF / action
It's well after three in the morning when he suddenly awakens and realizes that he can't seem to fall back to sleep. This is how it works with humans, he knows, and yet he still doesn't feel much like existing at the moment.
Still, his stomach turns, that gnawing emptiness that he now knows as hunger. At least if he wanders out at this hour, it's unlikely that he'll come across anyone. Not his brother, not the Punisher, not that willful girl or any of the other people he's been forced to work with in the short time he's been here, filling in bingo squares and completing dungeons and quests.
He leaves the suite without incident and makes it all the way to the house's banquet hall without encountering another soul.
Or so he thinks. With the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up almost all the way around his face, his peripheral vision is suffering a bit. He also still feels like he's been run over by a sandsteamer despite the many hours of sleep, so he's not as alert as he might otherwise be. ]
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While he had dinner at a somewhat normal time, his stomach had been telling him it's time for a snack, so down to the banquet hall he went. Not wanting to disturb anyone, he didn’t bother with the lights. The ambient light from the city outside and the soft glow from any appliances are more than enough for him to see by.
Still, he’s taken quite by surprise when someone else wanders in, and Declan turns sharp on his heel to find… Vash’s brother? ]
Oh! Hello! Fancy meeting you here!
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i'm dying at "mister too much cutlery"
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quest time, fake dating flavor.
So, at some point, V gives in, scrolling through the information. It’s only when he catches a glance at the reward—a month’s supply of chocolates? Chocolates that cure a status effect in the ON world?—that his interest turns dimly sincere, and then he begins scrolling through the names available to him. The other ambassadors in which he’d have to pretend at a romantic date to nab this titillating reward.
And he sees— Well. That’s certainly someone he knows.
A text message appears!]
I was going to lead with a couplet or two, but romantic gestures are better saved for in-person.
[Like that’s any less confusing of a lead-in.]
Hello, fellow “Love Love Matchmaking” (heart emojis on either side) ambassador.
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You too, hm? I don't recall signing up for this thing, and somehow here I am!
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text; "anonymous" 1/2
Thank you for your participation in Love Love Matchmaking ambassador quest! Please complete this survey.
1. Where did you go on your date with: Uncle Declan Steelsong?
2. What activities did you do on your date with: Uncle Declan Steelsong?
3. Approximately how many times did your heart do a little bunny kick in your chest while on your date with: Uncle Declan Steelsong?
2. On a scale of 10-10 where 10 is "amazing," how would you rate your date with: Uncle Declan Steelsong?
Your responses are appreciated and will help us improve our services in the future!
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Dear Valued Ambassador,
Thank you for your participation in Love Love Matchmaking ambassador quest! Please complete this survey.
1. Where did you go on your date with: V?
2. What activities did you do on your date with: V?
3. Approximately how many times did your heart do a little bunny kick in your chest while on your date with: V?
2. On a scale of 10-10 where 10 is "amazing," how would you rate your date with: V?
Your responses are appreciated and will help us improve our services in the future!
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ON / sometime in June
While his Gate has remained mostly closed to him, the few ways that it can manifest are mathematical and precise. Even if Vash doesn't touch it, he feels like he's starting to understand the underlying principals of his Gate. This other power granted by Duocaeli is wild and strange. It doesn't help that he's particularly reluctant to learn, and the only reason he's attempting to start now is that he's worried about what might happen if this new power continues to grow uncontrolled.
As reluctant as he is to bother Declan yet again, he's the person who makes the most sense for Vash to ask for help. He understands magic, and he's good at breaking things down in a way that makes technical sense. Vash offers what he can in return, if Declan is interested -- anything from daily coffee delivery to help with cleaning, to flowers or physical self-defense lessons. Whatever the agreement, Declan meets him as promised, and even despite his tutelage Vash is... he could do worse, maybe? It's not really that he doesn't understand anymore, but that he's too scared of what will happen if he makes even the smallest mistake.
He ends up on his butt in the grass, catching his breath after yet another failed attempt to manifest something useful from the darkness. What's worse, he feels like he's nearly tapped out even after that lackluster showing. He gives Declan a wry, apologetic smile. ]
... Sorry, I think I just wasted your time. I'm out of power. [ He knows, in theory, they can transfer spiritual energy between them, but he's already asked a lot of Declan today. ]
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And while they sort of do, it’s quite clear that Declan’s grasp of his game-given fire skills surpassed that of Vash’s with his darkness magic. As Declan is a firm believer in “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, they’re at it for most of the day.
At last, exhaustion takes its toll, and Vash practically collapses. Declan offers a sympathetic smile – he knows how that feels! – and crouches beside him. ]
Nonsense. If you learned anything at all today, no matter how small, then I would consider that a success.
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quest time, fake marriage version.
[He’s not visited the Nightlife District yet, though V is as intrigued as ever. The request to provide the ghost of a sorrowful courtesan some manner of solace and closure is an interesting one of paper — in person, it’s practically delightful. He swears he can hear wailing echoing down each passing alleyway, faraway and otherworldly. Rumors of guests being ousted from their rooms in local businesses, stumbling out as white as a sheet, are easy to believe amid this haunting, vaguely surreal locale.
It doesn’t help that it’s nighttime, of course, and the shadows cast by flickering lampposts and storefronts are long and dark. His and Declan’s own stretch like tendrils along the path as they make their way down the sidewalk.]
Now this is fun.
[It’s novel! Maybe they’ll see a real ghost.]
I’ve never gone ghost-hunting before. But I've read stories... tall, void-like shadow figures, looming ominously at a distance. Or approaching far too quickly. It's enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
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[ Here one can clearly see the differences in a pair of people from wildly, wildly different circumstances concerning the supernatural. Put V in Barovia for like half an hour and we’ll see if he’s still having the time of his life!
Declan frowns a bit. He’s had more than his fair share of experiences with ghosts, and none of them good. What’s happening here might skew a little comical, especially compared to what he’s seen in Barovia, but there’s still an anguished soul here. ]
I’ve seen ghosts, you know. Spoken to them. One of them even gifted me new lenses for my goggles. Typically, there’s not much entertainment to be found in their circumstances.
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oh my god that image
here to make things as awkward as possible
bless you
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