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[reparator]

Who: Cerealians from all over!
When: Various
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GENERAL OVERFLOW
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Comments

wright in the kisser;

[feytality]

[From here]

[Wow, Phoenix, this is a party. Anyway, Maya might have kicked ferociously, but that guy is just no match for Phoenix's inexplicable linebacker build. Off he goes.]

[Maya lets herself be dragged off, almost forgetting to quip back-]

When am I not pulling your bacon out of the fire, Nick?

[-While she's on watch for any other attackers. Regardless, they're going in the closet. Better hope there's something to keep it shut with, Phoenix!]

oh my-a

[bewrightback]

[Well, that inexplicably worked. Off to the closet! But Phoenix tries to counter quip as they move.]

When I'm the one pulling out yours!

[But then they make it to the closet, and Phoenix quickly tries to block the door shut. Luckily there's a mop nearby. Sorry if you accidentally (?) get splashed a little by the mop while it's being propped up, Maya.]

she's a nick off the ol' block

[feytality]

[It's true, it was very convenient.]

Please. My bacon is tender and crispy! I always grill it to perfection! Yours would get all shriveled and burnt up without me h-- HEY!

[She sure did get splashed. And she's now puffing her cheeks]

[Is this a supply closet? Someone's been watching too much movies. There's banging on the door, but they can't seem to get past the mop. It is indeed a formidable mop]

[(Will it stand up to weapons?)]

That was really close. You really need to be more careful, Nick.

[hello kettle this is pot]

but with extra mayo

[bewrightback]

My bacon's been doing just fine, thank you very much!

[He sighs. At least no one's using weapons on the door, so they may be safe for some period of time.]

Maya... again, you're the one who drew the attention of an entire crowd of murderers at the same - never mind.

[He can't stay made, or even irritated. Maya's back again - she's alive. So he glances at her with a light smile.]

Are you alright, Maya?

Once more, with feenieing

[feytality]

Yeah, thanks to me. [A very short period of time. Better make use of it while it lasts, because they're essentially trapped.]

[Meanwhile, Maya chooses not to wave off his completely inaccurate complaining.]

Thanks to me, you've still got your pointer arm and hair attached! You're welcome, Nick.

[And she's grinning right back at him, apparently not at all upset about all the attempted murder and literal Hunger Games scenario.]

Me? I'm just fine! What about you, old man? that must have tired you right out. I can't believe you actually managed to kick a guy away like that! Bam!

[Thanks, Maya]

[bewrightback]

[As usual, it feels fruitless to try to argue with her. But that still feels nostalgic in a way.]

I did do that, didn't I? [Phoenix scratches at his head.] Don't worry, I'm fine, and I think I still have some more where that came from. I did eat my Wheaties this morning!

[He chuckles, but then his expression softens a little.]

But I'm glad you're alright. And... and, you still remember this place?

[feytality]

[Better get used to it, old man.]

You have such boring taste in cereal.... I can't believe you almost looked cool for a second, there. [Is that supposed to be a compliment? Well, it's... almost a compliment?]

[But she's straightening up to get a better look at him, now that the imminent threat of death is slightly less imminent. Is he looking okay? Did he get even older??]

What, you think I'd forget you going even more old and gray? C'mon! Did you age another ten years while I was [where was she, anyway?] gone?

[bewrightback]

[He feels that's as close to a compliment as he'll get, so he'll take that. And then lineface at the rest of what she has to say.]

H-hey. I still look pretty cool, you know! [He takes a moment to adjust his tie. He pretty much looks the same as he has throughout his time in the colony. No further aging happened. In fact, I- I feel even younger!

...It hasn't really been that long that you've been gone. [But so much happened. And... so much might have happened. To you.]

[feytality]

[Yeah, that is the closest he'll get to a compliment out of her. He's right to settle.]

I wouldn't go that far.

[Thanks, Maya...... But he seems to be fine, more or less. She relaxes a little.] Geez, if you have to say that, you really are over the hill.

If it hasn't been that long, what were you getting so worked up about earlier? Did you miss me?

[bewrightback]

Hey now, there isn't even a hill in sight!

[He tries to churn that comeback out before he goes on. It's hard for him to think back to that altar and what he found there. The eerie feeling it left with him.]

Yeah! That's it. I just missed you, that's all! [He can't say he didn't miss her, but it sounds like he's clinging it as an excuse.] And I was just thinking... I just wanted to check something about your memories!

[feytality]

It's an expression, you dork! An expressssiooon!

[Nick is such uncultured swine, needing Maya to explain this to him!!]

[But his behavior is weird and off. It's obviously goes deeper than him just missing her-- did something happen? She starts to consider it, until the memory question.]

[And then she's tensing up a little, hedging.]

H-Huh? Hey, you're the senile one, not me! What about my memories?

[bewrightback]

I know what you mean. [He sighs with a light laugh.

But he's tensing up a little too, even as he tries not to, while he faces that question.]

Well... Are you sure you don't remember anything unusual? Like, before you showed up here, but after your last memory of the city?

[feytality]

If you say so, old man...

[But, wow. Not only are these two losers tensing up, but if Phoenix has his magatama handy (technically her magatama), five psychelocks will pop up when he asks her if she remember anything unusual.]

[Oops]

Huh? Like what?

[bewrightback]

[When he's been holding onto it for about a decade, is it really hers anymore? Anyway, he does have it on hand, and so his face grows pale as he witnesses the Psyche-Locks. He pauses for a moment before he manages to keep speaking.]

Like... well, you know. Not being here. Being anywhere other than in the city. Like... in that Nexus Code dealy. Or... any kind of weird, dark room?

[feytality]

[It's definitely still hers. He has to return it one day! Probably.]

[This is actually a hilarious case of misunderstanding, but she doesn't like the look on his face.]

A weird... dark room? The Nexus Code? No... nothing like that. [She does actually know what that is, and shakes her head. No psycholocks there! That's possibly a relief]

Why do you ask?

[bewrightback]

[It sounds like she doesn't remember, which lifts a wait over his shoulders. He looks more relieved, and he softly shakes his head. But he is a little nervous as he responds.

Ah... No reason! I just - I wondered if anyone could remember what it's like after disappearing, and thought I'd test it! [But that's not the whole truth. And that would make a good number of psychelocks appear.]

[feytality]

[Well, Maya doesn't need a charged magatama to know when Nick is lying or hiding something; he's not hobo edition, so it shows really plainly on his face. Such as now.]

Aaaand the real reason is...?

[Gosh, Phoenix]

[bewrightback]

[Ouch. It was shot down so quickly; Phoenix's smile quickly fades in favor of a more concerned look.]

Maya...

It- it's just about something I discovered. And we don't even know what it means! ...But it's not pretty to hear about, at all.

[feytality]

[Sorry, Phoenix... your face is an open book when you're not hoboing it up]

Come on! Whatever it is, I can handle it. Trust me.

[She's had quite the murder adventures, after all. A little bad news is nothing.]

[Plus, they're stuck in a closet together, she can totally elbow him if he withholds evidence]

[bewrightback]

[He gives her a good, long, look. The last thing he wants to do is burden her with this possibility.

...But is it her that I'm hiding this possibility from? ...Or myself?

Even with all the time she was in Cerealia before, it's still so odd to look into the eyes of the Maya from years and years ago. From the beginning. They faced so many uncomfortable truths, and Maya endured so many traumatic events. But she's still able to smile, even today. She really could survive anything; he's sure of it. And that's what it all boils down to... why he chooses to answer Maya.

Phoenix trusts her.]

We've made some uncomfortable discoveries in the last few months. [He speaks seriously, sounding almost weary as he recalls this.] We found out that there's a hidden dark room that has what seems to be a sacrificial altar in it... complete with dried blood, and odd mementos left lying around. According to another person's report... some people from among us have been offered to the spirits of this world, as sacrifices.

And... This is one item I found when I inspected the altar. [Phoenix presents a necklace that looks identical to Maya's, with a pained expression.]

[feytality]

[Maya waits impatiently for his answer while he stares at her, and barely keeps from looking away. The way he's looking at her makes her uncomfortable; almost like she's a witness on the stand. But also, it's a reminder of how oddly she clashes with the rest of the people from home. Pearly was her age, everyone else is much older, she isn't in Nick's future until they finally write her back in in AA6 and even if she tries not to think about it, sometimes she feels like she isn't meant to be with them. Like she's the wrong Maya, even if she's the only Maya. This is one of those times.]

[But when he finally fesses up - there isn't much of a reaction from her. She almost laughs - just because this isn't the first time something like this has come up, (she was a sacrifice already, technically, not that CERES should know that) but she reaches forward to take the necklace from him, to take a better look at it.]

Sacrifice, huh... I guess it'd be pretty ironic if a spirit medium -- in training -- got sacrificed to a spirit.

[But slowly, a smile starts to spread across her face]

But as you can see, I'm one hundred percent flesh and bone! No spirits gnawed away at me! And I definitely don't remember anything about an altar... so it's gotta be a trick, or something.

[bewrightback]

[Her reaction does calm him down, and so he breathes a sigh of relief as a sad smile crosses his face.]

That... that's what I've been thinking. [There are some doubts still within him, but the other point she raises helps to root him in the present instead of worrying about that.]

You're right. You're here and alive right now, Maya. And that's all the evidence we need. ...That's what matters right now.