deernet | Video: UN - Runeseeker

[Vira-Lorr was not doing well. On the surface, it wasn't going to be obvious. The omni showed her on the shoreline of Trench, bundled up and watching out to the iceflows of the winter. There were, in the background, greeters tending to the last steps of the arrivals. The beasts from the ocean weren't breaking out of the ice right now, and it was past the usual time for sleepers to wash up, so the winter festivities were being closed up. Everything was safe. She just looked like she was finishing up a vigil. Anyone who knew her knew that she did this every month. She was usually waiting for a few people in particular. She just ... didn't publicize it like this.

Her eyes were rimmed red. It was clear that she'd been crying, but she wasn't doing it currently. Instead, she was smiling, though it was a distant and pained thing. One hand reached up to rest on her shoulder, to feel where the mark had been placed.]

I... don't need to tell some of you this. You will know. You always do. This is for other people in town who might care.

[Usagi would know. She didn't name Serenity, but she knew that she would know that a Senshi had departed, and if she knew then Makoto and Hotaru would know very quickly afterwards. Either by connection, or being told. This message wasn't specifically to tell them that Venus had gone home, though she would appreciate hearing from her friends. It was for the ones who weren't connected like they had been, like she had been.]

My wife, Minako Aino, is fine. She has safely returned to the sea. I felt the distance as it progressed, and ... I know that nothing caught her amongst the monsters below. She's safe. She will be safe in her home. I ... I want all of you who care about her to be certain of that.

[Her lips quivered a little and she sighed. She'd dealt with this before. How many people had she lost since the nightmares? How many had she tried to love? To get close to? Only to lose them too. She'd lost Minako twice now this way. She could handle it. Yet, this time was different. In so many ways it was different because deep down, she knew there was a chance Minako did not remember her where she was going. Usagi, Makoto, Hotaru, they would be reunited one day, but they might all forget her. It hurt.]

I'm fin... no, I'm not. I'm not going to lie. I'm not fine. My wife is gone, and I will come back every month to see if she returns to me, to us. I'm a patient woman. People have come back to me before. I have centuries to wait. My race gives me that luxury. but today hurts. A lot.

[There was a momentary pause and she sighed.]

I could probably use some company over the next few days. I'll be running the shop to help get my mind off of it, so if you need a reading, I just won't be a hundred percent is all. I've been very moody lately. Not sure why, but this is not helping.

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[She managed a thin, reedy chuckle.]

It's... a more refined process than when I first did it accidentally on the network. I barely make any mess at all. Infusing it with power is trickier. I'm not Julia after all.

But, honestly, it's good to keep in practice and my body is more malleable than some.

[Yeah, he grimaced.]

Is it still... like... gross?

Well ... yes.

It's still me producing ink the old fashioned way, so a little disgusting, but there's no mess! So that's a bonus.

[Keith grimaced.]

Well, I guess that's a good thing...? Maybe? [He rubbed the back of his neck.] The no mess part...

[Gosh, this was so weird to talk about. Just like when Shiro had pointed out that eating calamari was weird now. Because, well, it was.]

Being a squid is weird... [He thought some people comparing Galra to cats after he'd found that out about himself had been bad enough.]

Oh yes. Wouldn't want to waste the ink... and the cleanup is such a pain.

[On the upside it was diverting her attention? But it was definitely the sort of thing that was weird and she was way too comfortable with.]

I don't know. I am an absolutely adorable squid if you ask me. I even have three eyes as a squid!

[That piqued his curiosity for a moment. Keith wasn't really up on squid anatomy... which, maybe he should get better at that now.]

How many eyes to squid normally have?

Two, and only the two. I suppose it's rather telling which one is me because it is the adorable purple one with three. Quite the rarity I'm told.

But we're sleepers, so of course we have unique forms.

Purple, huh? [He smiled a bit.] Apparently, mine has purple on it, too... purple and red. Sasuke also said that I had a propensity to propel myself out of the water all the time when he had me and Lance in his courtyard pond. Lance did, too, apparently. His was blue.

[Really... the colors shouldn't be surprising. Those color-coded protags...]

I could see it. Neither of you were ever the sort to be held still. Sasuke likely had his hands full just keeping you all in one place. I can't imagine how Shiro does it sometimes when you're not squids.

Eh-heh. [Keith smiled a bit sheepishly.] Yeah. I've looked back at things and wondered that, too. Especially when we argue. It would get worse sometimes when we added Hunk and Pidge to the mix. We definitely all had our moments. Allura asked us early on after we met her if all humans ever did was fight and argue. It got that bad sometimes.

Heh. I do miss her. She could be a little adorable at times, in how she misunderstood some races. Still, each of you are such different people. It would be hard not to butt heads now and again, though...

I admit it's hard to imagine Hunk doing that.

Heh, yeah. We all made mistakes like that with people as we traveled around the universe, and learned about each other. But, yeah. we were all very different in so many ways... but we managed to make it work. We had the same goal.

[The comment about Hunk, though? Keith actually chuckled, smirking slightly.]

You'd think that, yeah. But he definitely brought the salt when he felt it was deserved. And he usually tried to be the 'voice of reason' when the crazier ideas came out from the rest of us. He liked to play things safer sometimes. But... He's one of the bravest guys I know. He never hid that he was scared, but he still went out there and did what we had to do. I truly think that it's really brave to be so scared, and still move forward.

Oh I definitely know how brave he could be. I suppose I just had the pleasure never to quite see so much of the salt. Probably for the best nobody got him that riled when I knew him.

[Poor guy got overwhelmed a lot in the nightmare.]

Yeah. I'd say it likely was. It was rare back home, too. He has a long fuse. Much longer than mine. [For his temper anyway. Hunk was more likely to react with "flight" when presented with a "fight, flight, or freeze" situation. Keith was the "fight" type.] I didn't see him much while he was still here... [Keith regretted that a bit.] Though, I'm not sure what's worse... having him here, or knowing he's floating around in the ocean as an unaware squid.

[She sighed. Because this touched on her own struggles a lot.]

It's one of the hardest parts of living here. On the one hand, you want them back. I want... I want her back. On the other, you don't want them to suffer in this place. It's not wrong to feel both.

No... I guess it isn't... [And then it clicked that he had come over here to try being a distraction for her from exactly that situation. Oof. He sighed.] Sorry... I uh... I didn't mean to bring that up.

[She reached over and patted him on the knee, offering him a conciliatory wink.] It's... fine, Keith. In a way, just having you here to talk, it helps. It's taking away the edge of feeling alone a tiny bit. But thank you. I'm glad you understand.

[If anyone understood feeling alone, it was Keith. He nodded, managing a small smile in return.]

I'm glad it helps.

[He put his hand lightly over hers in a show of comfort.]

(I'll hit you up for a new one sometime soon. If you've got anything you want, just lemme know.)

Video: UN - Runeseeker

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Wanna call this one here?

Yes, this is a perfect moment to end the scene in wholesome array