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[sorte]

MURMUR + TETHERS.

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delicately crashes in here

[vixenish]

I have a proposition for you.

[ without warning, a few days after they … “arrive.” ]

❤️!

[sorte]

Oh, I'm all ears, my dear.

[vixenish]

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now how pressed we are for supplies. People will start getting desperate very soon.

I’ve been stockpiling. Weapons, food, clothes. Help me. The faster I can build up my stock, the more influence we’ll be able to wield. [ we. intentional. it’s an offer. ]

I’ll be sure to award you accordingly, of course. Or perhaps you might like to be business partners~?

[vixenish]

Aventurine.

[ she sounds ... tired. the month's barely begun and already the effects of the blood moon are wearing on her.

still, it's not as if she can afford to stop or slow down. the world will keep moving even if she does not. ]

I have something I'd like to show you.

[sorte]

Of course.

[ he can sense the weariness and while he knows it could be the blood moon, there's no reason to bring attention to it if she doesn't first.

he's not suffering nearly as badly as he could be just yet—of if he is, he's managed to stifle it even through the murmur. ]

I'll meet you somewhere, if you like.

[vixenish]

Please. And I'd like to keep this between us. I'm sure you understand.

[ it's for the good of the business, after all. ]

I'm not far from midtown. Are you anywhere nearby?

week 4 of TNDNBTG

[sorte]

• time reference

after: this conversation, which takes place after Jinx's Murmur Announcement

• murmur connection between Aventurine, Kalmiya, Toki, Sharon, Jaskier.

---

I'd like to discuss the situation regarding One and Sleep that Jinx revealed to us earlier.

In person, I don't trust that One is able to be kept out of our personal affairs within the Murmur short of a shared tether, but if he's flesh and blood he most likely has to make some inconvenient effort on his part to eavesdrop physically.

Unfortunately, Sleep is an Unknown, so we just have to work with Her being assumed Omniscient.

In short... I think we may have a problem with a capital P fast approaching, and it's not to do with Sleep's encouragement for Jinx to deliver Her the results of an indoctrinated killing of Her first vessel.

Although it's short notice, I need you here [ he'll give them a location and visual of the Crosby Hotel ] by noon tomorrow.

( meeting link )

[dethangel]

[That's a lot of complicated-sounding stuff Aventurine just said, but if they're gonna have to talk in person, then Toki probably shouldn't say a lot here, even if he's got a bad feeling and a million questions he might not even be able to pose in a way that makes sense.

That can all happen later.]

Okay. I'll go.

[sorte]

[ hard not to feel his apprehension through the Murmur, and Toki is a tricky honest soul. So Aventurine wants to reassure him without giving too much hint. ]

I can promise you, at least, that nothing here is going to have me try and encourage you to give up on being friends with and protecting One.

I just don't want him privy to our discussion because, regardless of the type of person he is, he's currently ruled by a deep-seated fear. If he so badly wants to hear what's discussed about him, then he's welcome to show his face at the meeting to be a part of it. That's plenty fair exchange, especially after what he's already done to us.

Does that help?

[merged]

[ This catches her by surprise, but she welcomes the invitation. Anything about Sleep has her full, undivided attention. ] Yeah, all right, I'll be there.

[sorte]

Glad to have you aboard.

[ he listens! And Sharon is very convicted even if she is young. He definitely thinks she's got a good head on her shoulders, and he also has a personal set of feelings regarding gods (and family) so he can relate to her more than one might expect. ]

[licensetotrill]

[ Weren't you the one that pointed out that Jaskier had some apparently privileged information, sir??? Not that Jaskier is suspicious by nature, but still... ]

This isn't some kind of trap, is it?

[ An actual one or a "you really fell for that? I'm disappointed in you." kinda trap. Then again, outright asking is probably kind of silly, too. ]

[longwillows]

[Ah. Responsibility, her favorite thing...

There's a rumble of something like begrudging acceptance across the Murmur, as if someone has just agreed to carry a heavy object that's a little heavier than they expected. Despite that, her voice is playful.]

Ooh, a privileged invitation. I'll be there with bells on, darling.

[trashblaze]

[ This is a sticky note with this appearance left at Aventurine's bag. It's been placed right on the top, where it's impossible to miss! It's handwritten in their home language, Universal Script. ]

Aventurine,
Don't forget to smile today! For yourself!
You've really worked hard all this time. I want you to know that I've noticed it all and appreciate your efforts.
You're always doing your best, even without the pressure of the IPC here. It just proves the honest nature you have.
You know I'm always here, right? You don't have to do everything alone. Don't hesitate to come and bother me anytime!

Galactic Baseballer

[sorte]

[ sighs softly, what is he gonna do with his baby raccoon? how long before he has to worry this place is going to start zapping all that positive energy away if they can't make progress? he really can't let that happened.

he carefully takes the note and slides it in a blank-date agenda book he has been using for everything and puts it neatly protected on the inside cover. ]

November, before the Subway Expedition. A Stray Cat (and Fallen Angel) Finds The Man in Sunglasses

[closetdweller]

[It had been an interesting few weeks of settling in the Hotel at Aventurine's invitation. The residents were a motley bunch- but that was hardly a surprise. It was familiar, even. But Urushihara knew that it was high time he fessed up about a few matters to the man who was hosting him.

It was a matter of safety for everyone, after all.

After his usual hoodie had gotten sodden while helping Jayce, Urushihara had found a selection of hoodies to swap around while he laundered them, incident ridiculously pink sleep hoodie with fleece lining to wear while hunkered down in the hotel hiding from the beasts that were starting to emerge.

He looked almost comical as he approached wherever Aventurine was- it was the serious frown on his face that dampened the humor.]

Oi, Sunglasses? Do you have a minute? Or, maybe five?

[sorte]

[ Aventurine is in the dressing room, reading (aka: pretending to read and looking at manga panels) by the fireplace. He glances over his book when he hears someone approaching, lowering his book fully when address. ]

—Oh, you know, that's such a cute color on you~.

And yeah, I got some time, shoot.

Late January

[trashblaze]

[ After a certain incident at the Murmur, there's no way Caelus was sitting back. Aventurine already has a bad habit of keeping emotional issues to himself, so there's no time to delay. Without hesitation, he leaves his room to head to the Avgin's own, coincidentally running into someone just as special right in that hallway.

Caelus doesn't need to ask. He knows why Nicola is here, too. There's a kind smile as he approaches the Italian man first, then holds onto his hand before heading to Aventurine's door together. One knock, first. So not to startle. ]

[sorte]

[ there's a brief moment of silence before Aventurine opens the door himself rather than telling them they can just come in. When he sees who it is, he'll open the door wider, shoulders relaxing a bit and some tension in his jaw dissipating as if he had been anticipating someone he didn't want to deal with. ]

Hey, you two. How's the day going?

February

[vixenish]

[ no more than a few hours after this mess.

she won't talk to, or stay long with, either of them after they all finally escape. mostly, she just wants to get the FUCK away from Dazai, though Aventurine, at least, will get a brush of reassurance and gratitude from the murmur before she takes off.

it isn't until later that night, once she's had a chance to recuperate and calm down, that she reaches out. with a deeply sour note of mixed irritation and complaint: ]

I didn't even know you two knew each other. What was all that about?

[ what she means is how he and Dazai spoke to each other, more than what actually happened. that, she understands perfectly well, even if she's still angry about it hours later. ]

[sorte]

[ he is more than willing to let her go peacefully once he is sure she is well enough to be on her own even if he's very careful about letting any of that be known beyond the two of them between their own connection. He certainly can't blame her for running off, either: he would have done the same thing in her position.

When she reaches out to him, though, he will answer. He's drained emotionally as much as physically, but that's partly because of the way this place behaves and how the voids are. With him being a Lightweaver, he's apparently even more troubled with them than the already unacceptable norm they're all suffering. Still, he doesn't complain. ]

I do, he lives at the hotel.

... I don't like his behavior about death, and he assured me at one point he wouldn't let Sleep win just to die. I won't let him so easily go back on his word about it.

[ of course, that's not the whole story he's willing to offer, and he doesn't try and hide that in their tether. He also doesn't care to overwhelm her with information, though, so unless she asks for more specifics he won't trouble her with the rest. Between their link, though, she will feel that she's welcome to ask further, and that he's not intentionally hiding anything so much as trying to give the simplest and most straightforward answer he can in the fewest words. Dazai is exhausting, at best, even when merely the topic of a conversation, afterall. ]

He's very hard to trust left to his own devices, though, once Sleep gets into his head and plays tricks on him.

week iv

[salaryman]

[ Anemic and strung out, he ignores how sweaty his hands still feel. The clamminess that rests on the back of his neck and panic that surged down his throat. It was all quite tiring, but it's over.

Sleep teases the idea that it didn't have to be this way, and he wonders what her way might've been. Who's to say? It's the path untraveled. He is lying on the floor of the cathedral that he's taken rest in; none of his tethers have snapped and that's very good news.

His hands rest over his chest as he tips his chin up - and reaches out: ]

It seems as though we're still connected. How are you feeling? Grounded?

[sorte]

[ Aventurine is one hell of a stubborn survivor. When he's reached out to, he reaches back, a soft mostly humorless chuckle preceding his words. ]

I'm not so easy to get rid of, I'm afraid.

I wouldn't say I'm feeling grounded after everything, exactly; but I'm... relieved. It's like being able to breathe normally again. She made such a mess this time, even though she insists it wasn't her that created these voids.

Are you all right, my friend?

welcome to week 3

[revolts]

[ the shadows around town are growing longer day by day, week by week, and one day toji looks up and finds he doesn't have anything in particular better to do.

it should probably be a point of self-reflection that toji, who has a child here and ostensibly some other personal obligations, has nothing better to do, but this man lives his life like a shark for a reason. he keeps moving forward, because if he stops even for a second, all the things he should be doing and all the things he should be aware of might catch up to him and suffocate him to death where he stands. so he doesn't think about it, he just moves, exiting the back of the abandoned van he's been sleeping in for the last few days and heading off in the direction of aventurine's place.

he comes in through a randomly selected window without any kind of knocking of warning, not calling out until he's well inside. ]

Hey, you alive, kitten? You home?

[sorte]

[ Aventurine pops up from under a blanket on the couch like he was holding his breath underneath it (he was) when he realizes who it is.

right this guy likes his windows as doors. better him as a surprise than one of those faceless flower things with teeth or whatever the hell Sleep cooked up this time. Someone needs to take away her interior decorating license, honestly...

He still huddles under the blanket, though, using it like a hooded cloak. ]

I'm both! No way am I giving that witch the satisfaction of dying here... [ stares at Toji before huffing a bit. ]

... Ugh, are you really not even a little bit cold? Do you even own a jacket here? [ or another shirt?! ]