Insert Evanescence Lyrics

[vocalis]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Bearings
WHEN: Day 052
SUMMARY: Aoba's late to get back from the party with intel that may not matter anymore.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.


[ Visions of the fund raising party are still in his head, dreamlike as he struggles to wake himself from a heavy sleep. From admist the swirling lights and silken fabrics, there's a sense of urgency. He needs to reconnect. Fragments of memory are flung haphazardly through the network, frantic and scattering. Shards of a broken ice sculpture slide across a ballroom floor, cold, worried.

A string quartet mixes oddly with an off-rhythm beat as his thoughts try settle back into some semblance of order. Thud, thud - his pulse and the threat of a headache mix with the memory of a dreamed up applause in a theater. One not his, but of the man whose mind he entered that night. He had tried to get the information he found out to at least one other host, but there's no recollection of success in his half-awake state.

Finally, a connection is established. A somewhat coherent thought, as he jolts up- ]

Goram Saffit is in contact with H+H1...!

[ He's a little late to leaving the party and joining the current time. A groggy look around his empty room and the pristine state of his bed are a clue. ]

Ugh... I'm afraid to ask, but... how long was I out?

Comments

[shiro2hero]

(I know I'm not... entirely stealthy. A little too big for that.)

[Unless he's sneaking around a Galra ship, apparently. But even then... It tended to be hit or miss. None of them were really stealthy. Except Pidge.]

[He nods -- though whether or not that's communicated through the link is uncertain. It makes sense.]

(Sure, do what you have to. Just... don't think nothing came of what you did. There's got to be something there.)

[Because he would be a terrible leader if he didn't at least try and give a peptalk. Even if the next request throws him for a loop. As much as he does his best to contain the surprise, it leaks anyway. It's the last thing he expected to hear.]

(Yeah... yeah, sure thing.)

[vocalis]

[ Shiro's surprise... is it just surprise, or is it dread too? There are a lot of emotions swirling around his still tired mind regarding Shiro. It's an effort to keep them from similarly leaking outward. Their mental barriers, visions of stars and memories of remixed music, are not solid things. He struggles to hold in his anxiety, gripping at the sheets again, though one thing does slip through-

Gratitude. ]

Thanks. Can I meet you on the rooftop in a couple hours?

[ He's not even sure what time it is now, with his room so sealed off and dark. He needs a chance to get ready, and he wants to see Angel first, even if she's not responsive. ]

[shiro2hero]

[It's surprise. Pure surprise. Because he'd figured they wouldn't speak again, in person. Or of anything beyond pleasantries or mission details. He's not upset by it -- just... honestly surprised.]

[The same goes for the gratitude, too.]

(That's no problem. I'm usually up there anyway.)

[vocalis]

Alright. I'll come find you soon.

[ He withdraws from the line of connection like ending a call. It's easy to imagine it, like pressing the end button on his coil. No more emotional contact, no more stress, no more surprise. It's an effort not to feel it right now, but cutting him off so abruptly helps. Something else he'd apologize for later. ]

[shiro2hero]

[He almost says he'll be there, waiting. But then it goes "dead". It's not like a comm signing offline, but the feeling of holding a dead phoneline is there all the same.]

[Well. That went well.]

[He'll be up there though, alternating between idle workout routines and taking breaks to watch the city below. What better way to kill time?]