[OPEN] I'm in here

[immobileyes]

Who: Mary Kozakura (immobileyes) and YOU
When: IC 2/27-3/01
Where: Residential District, right by the not-so-standing apartments
What: Mary tries to dig up things from her fallen apartment over the course of a few days, success is varied
Rating/Warning: None!

---

[ It was hard enough, waiting for the water level to go down enough so that Mary could return to where her apartment was (had been) without risk of drowning. Seto's hoodie, the jacket Hiro had given her... they were the only things she'd been able to find at the time, but now she can search for anything remaining from their apartment.

So feel free to come across a tiny teenager over the afore-mentioned days, getting drizzled on and trying to pry up pieces of the smaller rubble - and HNNNNNGHing at the bigger pieces of debris that she can't budge at all - as she hunts about. The stuffed animal she'd received from Lily is gone, the headband from Kaoru and Shiho has been twisted and bent beyond repair when she miraculously finds that... the dried flowers, from the bouquet Elza had given her... no sign of them. All of her tea...

Mary almost wants to cry, but not yet. She just keeps looking.

And don't be alarmed if she seems worn-out when you see her. It's not some weird elemental effect, she's just terrible at stamina. ]

Comments

[prosecutory]

Perhaps we can borrow one from the landlord.

[Edgeworth didn't keep a garden so he has no garden tools. And well...many of his tools are now reduced to rubble, too.]

[immobileyes]

I don't think I've ever met the landlord.

[ Oops. ]

[immobileyes]

[ SHE CAN'T EXACTLY WEAR IT OKAY, it's got a good use like this!!! ]

I'm just glad we found one of them... [ Even if the others got crushed beyond hope, there's at least this much.

... Mary, don't actually tear up. ]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Yes, I suppose that we'll see.

[immobileyes]

[ BACK TO WORK, THEN. See, Jade, she is being the most careful, are you not awed-- ]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He's too tired to be awed. He'll just stand there with his hands in his pockets and watch like the most bored of parents at a softball game, just in case anything dangerous happens.]

[coexistent]

Oh.

[he looks at it, tilting his head a bit. roxas is clearly still puzzled by the situation. is this what people do when they're in love? xaldin said love was a power... this doesn't look very powerful to him, though.]

I guess that's good then. Do you like stories like that? About... love. [yep, that's all he's taking away from this. your fujoshi ways are safe with roxas, mary.]

[immobileyes]

Friends? From your world?

[ Man, everyone's got friends from their world, it seems. Or most everyone. But then again, maybe he's talking about people he's met here, and she wonders if she knows them. ]

[immobileyes]

Yeah! [ Look at her sparkle, clutching the book close like a cherished friend. ] It's my favorite theme, and they say love conquers all [ including simple boundaries like BEING THE SAME GENDER ] and I think that's amazing.

[immobileyes]

... So it's still bad, then.

[ Well, she can understand that. ]

[coexistent]

It conquers all?

[it does sound pretty amazing, but he's not sure how that works.] I heard it was a power, but not that it conquers anything.

[...though he guesses that kind of goes together in some way.]

[overgrowth]

Yeah.

[ kanda throws another piece of rubble. and hey! would you look at that, there's a large-ish piece of cloth trapped under another rock, soaking wet and smeared with mud. kanda doesn't try to pick it up, because... he's not sure if it's actually a thing, or just a scrap of cloth. ]

[thatdamnknight]

[flynn listens silently. ah, so it's about a promise not being kept. interesting.]

Did the princess ever end up fulfilling the promise?

[immobileyes]

It's super strong! Even though it doesn't seem like much...

[ She can admit that. ]

[babermetrics]

Yeah, some of 'em. You ever met Kirigiri or Naegi?

[He's at least fairly confident in calling those two friends. Naegi had never said it explicitly . . . but Leon appreciates him. And he'd sent him a present, and who buys presents for someone they don't even wanna be friends with?]

Or Hinata! Actually, there's a whole lot of people here from my school.

[It's a little awkward in some ways.

He lifts aside another plank, taking a peek under it.]

[immobileyes]

She did, but that was because the frog showed up at the palace that evening. When the king heard what he had done for his daughter, he ordered her to grant the frog's request. So she did, even though she didn't like a frog eating off her plate or sitting beside her or sleeping beside her pillow.

And he did this for three days. Then, on the third night...

[ DRAMATIC PAUSE. ]

[harepiece]

[MARY NO DON'T CRY... This is an emotional moment, but still!!]

—Right! And it won't be too difficult for you to take care of now!

[He's quickly fishing in his pocket for a handkerchief HERE, SMALL FRIEND.]

[prosecutory]

Or from one of the other residents, if anyone here keeps a garden. The landlord may be quite...busy, after all that has happened.

[And despite "all that has happened", Edgeworth is supernaturally calm about it.]

[immobileyes]

[ THANK YOU, EQUALLY SMALL FRIEND. She'll accept this handkerchief and dab at her face with it like a truly mature young woman. ]

S-sorry-- I just... [ It keeps hitting her hard, when she least expects it. ]

[immobileyes]

... Are you okay? You seem okay, but...

[ Should he seem okay? ]

[thatdamnknight]

[no, don't end it on a cliff hanger!!]

What happened then?

[harepiece]

[She's going through loss okay, she deserves her moment.]

You don't have to apologize, Mary. Those things meant a lot to you, right?

[cutebutexpendable]

Wow. Seriously? Now that's sappy.

[ And then he remembers who he's talking to and how this whole thing got started in the first place. ]

- not that there's anything wrong with that! I mean, you can't go wrong with free stuff, right?

[sewayaku]

If what you've told me about yourself is true, you're much stronger than you realize, my dear.

[ Fiona is the same way, in some ways. ]

[immobileyes]

...! Hold on!

[ Wait a sec, is this her dress from that winter ball? If she squints, it looks like it was pink... once... ]