sevenvirtues | (no subject)

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You awaken to blackness. Frightening, although familiar--this is the same terrible thing you narrowly avoided during your first trip into Lebensbaum. The pain of your death is still real, echoes of the wounds you suffered appearing on your skin. Inspecting your surroundings will tell you that you've woken up inside of the cooled, empty bonfire pit....and the town as it was is nowhere to be seen.

The sky is a whirlwind of blank, dark void. What previously acted as roadblocks on either side of the town seems to have moved upward, blocking out most of the sun's light. The street is barren, filled with piles of broken concrete, shattered glass, and smoking craters where many of the buildings used to be. Old bloodstains dot the pavement, mixing in with overturned cars and crumbling brick walls. Lebensbaum is a dead town, in more ways than one.

Except for the hotel. It stands, as dusty and abandoned as it ever was, but no worse for the wear. Scorch marks can be seen on the ground around it in a clear border, as though it had a barrier protecting it from whatever destroyed the village. If you venture inside, everything is in its place, as though the outside wasn't completely obliterated.

The living can be seen walking around, going about their daily lives, and if you concentrate, you can even see the buildings as they once were--in working order, clean, and in one piece.

As of Monday on Week 10, however, there is a door, seemingly pasted into the middle of the street. As the days tick by, the doors will increase in number, one for each victim.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

HRFF—

[The sound Gilbert makes when Break punches him in the gut at long last... Well, after letting Undyne torpedo him into a dying old man, he probably deserves at least this much. HE'LL TAKE IT.

Even if he's also wheezing a bit now but that's fine because Break's clearly having an even worse time, and he's definitely grabbing his dumb comrade by the shoulders as soon as Undyne sets them down so he can get a better look.]

Are you hurt anywhere? Your injuries should have healed, but...

[Break is an outlier...]

[noooo why the yelling!! Clover likes Break too much to get into a yelling match with him, don't yell at her, and the peal of giggles over being hefted into the air cuts out and she looks a little like a kicked puppy. dejected pink attack chihuahua getting hollered at for chewing up the furniture.

But okay, as long as Gilbert's got the important stuff, i.e. minimizing just how dead and dying grandpa currently is, she can focus on marginally less important additions:] Um. [sniff] Ghosts can't kill each other. [she is sure of this. it has been tried. this is reassuring to know, right]

Um... [sniff sniff] ...We missed you?

[missed interactions that weren't ghost charades, anyway. you know what she means.]

[WOW WAY TO RUIN THIS TOUCHING SHOUNEN FRIENDSHIP MOMENT BREAK!! Undyne just snorts, because she's used to dealing with Emotionally Stunted Bullshitters by now.]

Yeah, yeah. Good to see you too, Break! [She slaps him on the back cheerfully, because now that he's a ghost she doesn't have to worry about his 5HP fragile grandpa state.] You totally missed us too, you're not fooling anyone!

[ It's what he does best, honestly. Though at the very least, some part of him is grateful, because having to deal with these three right away definitely gives him a lot to put his attention towards. His eyesight is finally starting to adjust, so he looks at Clover and Undyne in turn, though his expression is definitely odd. His gaze is sharper than it usually is, though it's only something that they'll notice now because of how usually indirect and wandering his gaze tends to be to obscure the fact that he can't see anything. The expression itself is as if he's seeing them for the first time, and that's especially true of Undyne. After all, it's one thing to be told that Undyne is a giant beefy fish woman, and it's another to see it for yourself.

Though he'll get to that in a moment, because Gilbert fussing over him takes a bit more priority. He catches his breath and sighs as he looks back to Gilbert, and he reaches up to place a hand on Gilbert's. He grips it gently and gives it a small squeeze, and though he doesn't say as much, there's a very quiet, gentle sentiment in it. For all his worrying these past few weeks, it's a relief to see Gilbert especially. It's not as if he doesn't care about Clover and Undyne in his way by now, but Gilbert had been his motivation to continue forward instead of giving in to despair a second time.

It's not quite that he's going to say anything about that, since it's still too soft a sentiment for Break to comfortably express, but it is something to subtly convey that he's glad to see him. However, that's also rather quickly forgotten, since as he looks Gilbert in the eyes (and really looks, which is a nuance that Gilbert might be able to pick up on), something dawns on him. That serious, softer expression is gone as quickly as it came, and it's instead replaced by one that's nothing short of incredulous. ]

You... have both arms?

[ He's speaking to Gilbert, but this also makes no sense. Yet Break says this as if there's something deeply wrong with that fact... The state of the arms has finally come. ]

Edited 2016-04-25 04:56 (UTC)

[Gilbert definitely does notice that, because he was too much of a knucklehead to realize Break had lost his sight in the first place, but he's spent enough time being dumb grandpa's eyes to recognize that the usual indirect, somewhat meandering gaze isn't there anymore. So, at about the same time Break asks his own question:]

You can see...?

[AAA IT'S A MIRACLE--

But also wait, what the heck was that.]

—What does that even mean?! What?! [WHAT. Did someone do something weird to his body when he wasn't paying attention... He's also gripping Break's shoulder probably a little too tightly in his confusion, but he totally understood the soft sentiment that came before it, at least. Even if it was immediately buried in stupid.]

[She notices the way he looks at them but doesn't actually connect it to anything until Gilbert pipes up. But they sure don't waste any time giving cause to make that "AAA WHAT IT'S A MIRACLE" expression a "aaa arms what the fuck" expression instead, huh.]

...He...does? We do? [why is it a question, clover. she's holding both her arms out in front of her and looking at them almost like she's doubting their existence right now????] We—we all have both arms? [armsgate????????] What?

[WE WERE TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT BREAK WHY IS THERE A PROBLEM]

Uh...yeah, duh? I know you're blind Break, but geez, did you guys never hug or touch or anything? [I mean, she's not that shocked Break isn't a hugger, but she sure is that Gilbert isn't clingy as fuck!

okay bringing this back full circle though] Wait, you can see?! [BECAUSE GUYS THIS SEEMS A LITTLE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE STATE OF THE ARMS]

No, of course we didn't.

[ Despite what certain people (who aren't Undyne, actually) would think, they're not that gay... Or more accurately, even if Gilbert is clingy, he's learned to not be clingy with Break since he'll get beat up. Case in point: getting socked in the stomach a moment ago.

Break reaches out and touches Gilbert's arm as if thinks it's going to fall off any minute, but... He supposes this isn't that strange? He can see again, so maybe these kinds of injuries and damage just go away when you're dead. He can't really say for sure, since he's never done this before. ]

I— suppose it's fair enough. If I can see again, I suppose your arm could come back too.

[ He stills seems baffled, though. At least it's over both the sight and the arm... ]

[SHOOTING UNDYNE A LOOK at about the same time Break verbally refutes her totally untrue assumptions. That is 100% correct, Gilbert learned not to cling with Break because his kneecaps or gut get pummeled into oblivion otherwise and he kind of needs both.

That said, when Break reaches out to touch his arm, his expression goes from "seriously" to "why are you doing this".]

Where did it go? Did someone - do something, after I died?

[LOOK, HE DIDN'T GET TO SEE HIS OWN MUTILATED CORPSE he has no idea, maybe Break's talking about him missing an arm there?! Why is this happening. MORE IMPORTANTLY--]

—How can you see again?!

[She was absolutely trying to figure out how to subtly tell everyone else to just act like Gilbert's arm just sprouted into existence somewhere along the line and roll with it for at least a bit because she's a jerk but no, Gilbert's already asking real questions about the arm thing, plot spoiled.]

I don't know why dead people being able to see again is the weird part of this for you guys. [like. we're ghosts, guys. yes sight is weird but NOT WEIRDER THAN ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE PAST LIKE THREE MONTHS, her standard of comparison for these kinds of things has just been completely wrecked]

[Why is everyone looking at her like that she thought you two were friends. What kind of friends don't give each other hugs and noogies and wrestling matches all the time, wow!!]

...oh, Sadie did chop off your hand! Wow, I totally forgot about that. [SHE WAS A BIT PREOCCUPIED OVER THE HEAD PART OKAY...] But Clover's right, it's not that surprising that we wouldn't have old wounds when we're ghosts.

So if you can see, what do you wanna check out first, Break? The roof? One of the doors? Oh, I can take you to go meet Rahab! [BECAUSE SURELY A SKYSCRAPER SIZED SEA MONSTER IS SOMETHING EVERY PERSON WANTS TO SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES]

...Well, yes. [ But don't get him started on that because he will go hunt down Sadie and finally stab her in the foot. Or in the neck. Keep Break away from Sadie, honestly. ] But I meant the one you gave to Raven...

[ Now granted, Break and Gilbert already had their talk about Gilbert's apparent resurgence of amnesia, but Break is fairly certain that missing an arm and not knowing why would be a bit outside of the scope of that. So, yes, it's taken these two that long to figure out that they're from different points in time instead of just attributing it to weird canon bullshit.

Break at least pulls his hand away, since that's about the extent of how much touching other people he can take in a day. He looks to Undyne instead, but his confusion and slightly flat expression aren't quite fading away yet. ]

Do I even want to know what that is?

...I gave one of my arms to Raven?

[WHAT THE FUCK BREAK, TAG YOUR SPOILERS. Also--] Sadie cut my hand off?! [WHY. No one mentioned this to him and he's Concerned.

But also, since he hasn't yet heard of Undyne's magical Rahab adventures yet:]

Who's Rahab...?!

[WHAT'S EVEN HAPPENING.]

[For just half a moment there's a look on Clover's face that implies that we really do not want to meet Rahab. Ten minutes of having sight is not adequate preparation for meeting Rahab. Save yourselves.]

Okay, well, you have all your hands and your arms now, anyway. [so what's the issue!!! still worth fighting sadie over though don't think for a minute clover won't enable this] Rahab's a giant sea monster. He and Undyne are best friends now. [JUST SO EVERYONE'S PREPARED FOR THE EXPLANATION UNDYNE'S ABOUT TO GIVE]

Well, cutting your hand off was like the least worst thing she did? So it completely slipped my mind. [Do they need to mention the record player thing too does he know about that...] And you shouldn't be giving your arms away to people, gross!

He's not my best friend. But he's super cool. I'm trying to convince him to just eat the demons already, even though they'll probably give him indigestion. [SURELY THIS CLEARS EVERYTHING UP]

[ There are a lot of things to try and focus on here, from whatever the fuck happens in pandora hearts to a giant sea monster, and Break is definitely momentarily overwhelmed by the conversation. However, his smile does turn very sharp for a moment as Gilbert asks about Sadie.

But don't mind that, really. That very worrying smile instead falls as soon as a sea monster is mentioned, and he just ends up too baffled to keep with the idea of whatever he was just thinking about. He looks to Clover first, but his gaze settles on Undyne. He does not seem impressed. ]

...Is this what you meant by "pet"?

[He sees that smile, Break. This is the reason he's going to keep him as far away from Sadie as possible in the coming days...

THAT SAID...]

You don't think something like that would actually work, do you?! ...Would it?

[no dude beat up your friend's murderer's ghost, been there done that, nothing could possibly go wrong]

I mean, trying couldn't hurt. [#yolo and we're already dead, so] He, like, talks and stuff, so I dunno if "pet" is right.

[Yeah, seeing as how Lucifer stopped Break from getting his fair shots in, Undyne also...sees nothing wrong with this at all...good fucking luck Gilbert]

He's not a pet, he's a monster! We're not slaves. I just couldn't come up with a better explanation for what he probably is to whichever demon lives in his door that would fit on Break's hand.

And we might as well give it a shot! I mean, what else is there to do right now except try every option we've got?

[ You know, he's actually slightly frustrated hearing the actual explanation, since he really never would have gotten that at all. He's not even sure if it's important, but Break at least won't say that. He appreciates the effort, considering he had asked Undyne to act as his eyes, but at the same time... Why. He just has to wonder "why" sometimes. ]

Rest, for one.

[ Which is probably the first and last time you'll ever genuinely hear Break say he's tired. This, of course, is completely meant to be ignored because I'm giving Cappy the chance to princess carry Break. ]

As exciting as it would be to go talk to a giant sea monster or whatever you've stumbled upon, I did just die, I'd like to remind you all.

Oh...

[Yeah he. He just sometimes forgets there's an adjustment period after dying. Look, it's been almost a month since he bit it, okay. HE JUST FORGETS THESE THINGS!! These moderately important things...

But he'll glance over toward Undyne and Clover, trying to be somewhat reasonable for once.]

Maybe he should rest first.

[Or, you know. He can rest in Undyne's arms like a swooning maiden.]

Yeah, that's a good first step...

[And Clover knows exactly where this is going and it's pretty much the opposite of a problem as far as she's concerned. This is the ideal mode of rest-destination transportation and she's just gonna step aside so Undyne can get to Break.] You've more than earned a nap.

[here we go]

Whaaaat, napping already? Ghosts don't need to sleep, y'know! [Her voice is teasing rather than bullying though, since yeah Break's definitely earned a rest at this point. Too bad he won't be getting it.]

There aren't exactly a ton of places for you to rest out here, but... [And then the Jaws music starts playing in the background as Undyne begins getting closer and closer to Break before doing the expected and swooping him up into a princess carry thank god she can finally do this without worrying about shattering all his bones]

There! You can nap here for now until we find you somewhere better. [Or never put him down, she's cool with that too.]

[ As soon as Clover steps aside, Break pretty much knows what's going to happen. He holds up his hands in Undyne's direction, which to him, is a gesture of "please go away and leave me alone," but to Undyne, it probably just means surrender. ]

Don't you da—

[ But dare she does, because that syllable is cut off by Undyne swooping in. Thus, Break finds the old adage to be true: swooping is bad. He makes a short, sharp noise of frustration, but this isn't actually as bad as the last few times he's gotten carried. After all, he can see as well as feel the fact that she's carrying him with much more certainty. He doesn't have to live in constant fear of being dropped. But that's not to say that he's any happier for this turn of events, since that sharp noise is repeated as his expression turns sour. ]

Why do you never listen? I don't need to be carried!

[Even Gilbert panics for a hot second before remembering OH RIGHT, THEY'RE GHOSTS. It doesn't matter if Undyne carries him around now because she can't break his ass again! Good work, team.]

If you're that tired, this couldn't hurt, right?

[RIGHT, BREAK?? Really, the alternative is dealing with the rest of the club being a fretty mess so this is probably the more merciful option, honestly.]