deernet | video | un: Da Silva

( The feed opens to a woman who's clearly seen better days, hair a mess of disheveled layers and eyes circled in dark. Fellow Warmbloods might be able to relate to the way she moves — as though hardly daring to, even the most subtle shifts of her body resulting in little stabs of pain.

Despite the wince that flinches across her features as she settles back against a nest of pillows, the woman offers a quiet laugh. )

This is probably the worst time to show my face on here, huh. But I hope the rest of you who have this flu, or whatever it is, are taking care.

Anyway, since all I can really do is sit here... ( —a wry little smile; it's been weeks and she's still not too thrilled about being home-bound— ) ...it's been giving me a lot of time to think.

( She reaches very slowly for something that was just off-screen, drawing it gingerly into her lap. It's a brown teddy bear. )

This is something from my home that ended up here with me. It's my daughter's. When she was little, she had a very hard time with sleep. ( An understatement to be sure; the progressively dangerous sleepwalking spells are what she now knows were supernatural callings to her daughter's fractured soul. But Rose won't divulge that quite so openly. )

This guy brought her comfort, so in turn, he brought me comfort, too. ( She can't quite hold the stuffed animal to her chest the way she wants to, not with physical contact being as painful as it is, but one arm dares to loosely curl a bit closer around it, protective. )

Do you have anything here with you, from your home? If you don't mind sharing, what does it mean to you? This sick old lady would love to hear your stories.

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[Normally, he wouldn't be jumping to share too much about what he has on him in a situation that isn't forced by circumstances but he kind of winces at this poor woman's condition, and he figures he might as well share.]

Sorry you're not feeling the best, Miss.

Um, I've got...this hat. [He points to the hat on his head.] It belonged to a friend of mine. He kind of threw it away when he was trying to become confident instead of being scared. I called it stupid-looking at the time, but it's still the one thing I wanted back.

[He shrugs.] I'm better at telling made-up stories than real ones. Real ones are way harder to share. And I know I'm a stranger, but if you want anyone to talk to, I'm open.

It's all right, I have a really good nurse helping take care of me here.

( Rose's smile softens as she listens to him speak, her complete attention fixed on the boy's words. )

I know what you mean, real ones can be hard to share. But I very much liked listening to yours. It's nice to hear about people's friends, and... why certain things mean what they do.

( Something seemingly as simple as a hat can be symbolic of something else; she knows that well. It's a memory, an association... a piece of one's history. And it means something dear to her, to get to hear snippets of other people's experiences like this. )

I'd really enjoy that, thank you. My name's Rose.

( A beat, before she wonders— )

Did throwing away the hat work for your friend? Did he become more confident after that?

[At least she's not alone. And he can tell when intentions are genuine - and she seems genuinely interested in what he has to say. Which is a rarity among adults, at least back home. Thus, Kokichi is relaxed enough to open up.]

I agree. Little things can mean a lot. I've learned that pretty well as time has passed....really, if I wanted to remember any of my classmates, they all seemed to carry at least one thing important to them each. [He tips his hat a bit in greeting.] I'm Kokichi.

[He nods, and there's a certain light in his eyes.]

When he abandoned this...he got conviction. He decided to face the truth instead of hiding away, and for a detective like him, that made him almost unstoppable. One of the most capable people I've ever met. Guess that's why I took this instead of anything else.

It's something I've been thinking about a lot, since I came here. The things that people choose to keep with them... And the things this place lets us keep. For all the horrors here, that much seems like a little dose of mercy.

( Unless it's meant to be cruel, but... for Rose, having little items of her daughter's was the only thing keeping her going when she first washed up here. )

It's nice to meet you, Kokichi. ( She's listening to him, smiling at the words, picturing the scenes play out in her mind. ) That's really incredible, and it seems very meaningful that you chose to keep the hat afterwards. I'm sure he'd be glad to know that you're still taking good care of it here.

It does. We need all of that we can get. I don't think it's all bad here, though, since we've all got each other. It'd be much harder if we were alone.

[...He's got experience with that.]

Nice to meet you, too. [He beams, nodding.] I mean...he'd probably be surprised, really. I wasn't exactly the nicest to anyone at home. So this is kind of me turning over a new leaf, too.

I'd like to assume he'd be happy, though. That's what I always hope for.

No, that's a very good point — I agree with you. Community helps a lot. ( And for all its strange similarities to Silent Hill, this place is much less horrific in some ways. Which is.... an odd awareness to have. The standard of horror has certainly been shifted for her, these days.

Rose is still smiling as she listens, tilting her head thoughtfully. )

That sounds like a difficult thing to do, turning over a new leaf. But a very rewarding one. And I do think in some ways, this place can be... a kind of second chance, can't it? I feel that way, too.

( It's almost like getting to live a new life. Rose is still adjusting to that thought, but she's progressively wanting to embrace it, too. )

[Kokichi sees it as amazing leaps and bounds of improvement over the Gifted Inmates Academy, which...isn't difficult, but it's the biggest spark of hope he's had for a while.]

It's definitely hard. I was confused where to start, but I've got a general idea for where I want to take things now. Accomplish what I couldn't at home with this second chance.

...Which is making people around me feel better 'stead of worse. Hard to say exactly how in some ways, but I've thought of opening a toy business. Toys and games are kind of an untapped market here.

Oh! That's a wonderful idea. ( Rose's smile brightens at the thought. She hasn't heard anyone around here talk about something like that, yet. )

There are so many kids around here, and the orphanage.... I think that would be such a great addition to this place.

Would you make the toys yourself? I'm sure there are people around here with woodcarving skills and things, who would be happy to lend a hand with something like that.

I'm glad. Most people I've proposed the idea to seem pretty positive. And the orphanage kids are gonna be my test group. Whenever I've got a new toy, I'm gonna let them try it. Give their thoughts. Maybe leave a few more 'test' copies out for any kid who can't afford 'em, and sell to anyone that can buy.

[He hums, nodding.] But you're right. I should get some more people to help. I'm a pretty good inventor, but the more hands I get with expertise, the more creative I can get. Maybe I should make a network post when things are calm enough~

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