arsarcanum | IN THE NIGHT

Sora,

Thank you for the whiskey. It seems strange to also say "you're welcome" after what happened last week but I am glad I was able to help with the spirits and introduce you somewhat to this place. I'm sure everyone finds their first days here a lot to take in. I know I did.

I should be the one apologizing for last week. I hope you're all right. I don't know what happened to the lanterns but it isn't the first time some of us here have experienced not being ourselves. Usually it comes in the form of temporary madness or hallucinations inflicted by the green-eyed spirits. This was something different.

But it isn't an excuse for how I acted. I'm no carpenter but I will be helping repair furniture this coming week also. See you around.

Sincerely,

Rosinante.

[After the Night Market has descended back into the lake, Sora receives an inbox message!]

THANK YOU FOR PURCHASING ONE (1) HINT FROM DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC. YOUR PAYMENT HAS BEEN PROCESSED.

[Sora will occasionally notice trails of footprints following him, either through the snow outside or in the form of wet, muddy footprints indoors. They never appear where he's watching...

This effect will fade at the end of the month.]

[ Oh, that's not so bad! Sora's a little creeped out by it at first, but he'll eventually find it kind of charming. Endearing even! He wishes he could make friends with whoever's making those prints, but the proof that they existed is enough for him. He'll miss them a little when they're gone. ]

[The next time Sora finds himself in the Landmark's lobby, the Concierge will flag him down to hand him a letter! It's written in bubbly handwriting in purple ink.]

Dear Sora!

OMG your letter was so sweet!!! Thank you! ❤ I totally feel you about the picture thing. Sometimes I print stuff out just so I can decorate with it, like all the selfies a bunch of you guys took a few months back! Yaaaay, I'm gonna hang up your picture with them! Can you give Rastus a hug for me?? I miss that guy. :( !

It's really super sweet that you're worried about me, but I promise I got it made up here. :P Like, it's really lonely and I miss people and I wish I could hang out with all you guys down there... but I can bring in kinda anything I want on the ferry! The lighthouse is lonely and the job is hard but otherwise there's a lot of perks, lol.

Buuuuut... OK I really don't NEED this so don't go putting yourself in danger just for my sake if you don't want to!!! But I would LOVE some pics of the amusement park! I never got to go there when I was in town, and I've always been sad about missing out. >:[ It looks really fun! It's in east Beacon, like past the armory by the cliffs?

I guess I should wrap this up but hey! You're not gonna waste my time with questions!! All of us are supposed to work together, you know? We can't be friends if you're going around thinking I'm more important than you, so like, don't! Sometimes you guys ask me stuff and I'm like, whoa, that's a totally smart thing to be asking, I never thought of that! OR I'm like, oh heck I didn't realize you guys didn't know that! Questions are good, I guess is what I'm saying.

Anyway, thank yooooooooou for everything! :)

Robin

Edited (i'm patrick star trying to read a compass) 2020-02-13 17:37 (UTC)

[ Clark hasn't even met him, but the guest record at least tells him where this "Sora" person lives. So guess what, Sora? You get some assorted handmade chocolates, too-- Clark's kept them all in a bag made of wax paper, tied off with a pink ribbon.

Dear Sora,

I hope this makes you as happy as your gift made me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Clark ]

[ Sora arrives at the door and!! A Valentine! For him? He cautiously opens it, surveys the message, and immediately has a heart attack and dies of love. No, he just squats down in the hall, clutching it to his heart, trying not to cry. It's perhaps the kindest thing that's happened to him all day!

No reply - it's Valentine's Day, it's supposed to be an exchange, and that is what happened - but buster, Sora WILL be keeping an eye out for this Clark guy!! (By the way, who fixed the elevator? Sora needs to thank that person too!) ]

Hello? Are you Sora?

yeah that's me! hi! who's this? (sorry, i don't think i've seen your un around before!)

I'm Quentin. I live a cabin. Grand Portal number 5? You left me a valentines gift?

[ A pause before the next message goes through. ]

oh yeah that was me haha
sorry i thought someone else lived there
my bad! you can have them if you want though

I'm happy to hear it, mostly because my whole speech about 'not being interested like that, but it's awfully sweet' is kind of lame.

Are you sure you don't want them back? You can give them to who ever is was you were trying to reach. I promise I didn't lick any of them.

lame? why would it be lame? i think it’s pretty cool that you’d want to let people down easy instead of just being like “nope”. sounds nice to me.

anyway, it’s really okay! i made enough for most people to have one! i was passing them out to everyone i saw on friday, even if i didn’t know them. if i don’t remember seeing you, and you don’t remember seeing me, that means i must have missed you. i like that i was able to catch you, even if it was an accident. now i’m connected with you! sounds like a win to me.

Thank you. I've had the opposite happen too many times to be an asshole about it like that. Also, my whole speech was longer? And I have notes, so.

Well, then. Thank you very much for the chocolate, Sora. That was really nice of you, and I will keep them. Maybe I can repay it some day, and accidentally give you something nice.

ay good on you for trying. double good on you for having notes? power move imo

np! and hey, they're valentines! this isn't elementary school, you don't have to pay me back :P just pay the good vibes forward and we're good

Edited (specificity) 2020-02-23 07:27 (UTC)

I'll think about it. Happy valentine's day!

right back at ya!

During the height of the dogsled face festivities, yet another recognizable spirit can be seen having an absolute ball. Ball? Ball! The scrapyard dog races past, oblivious, in the direction of Downtown. It seems someone's got the zoomies!

If Sora follows, he'll see the spirit deliver a scrapyard gift to one of the racing spirits, their tail wagging so hard their whole body wiggles. And then they're off again, back toward the scrapyard! The scrapyard dog repeats this series of actions, handing off a farewell gift to each of the competitors for the day.

Sora is SO BUSY... BUT THAT'S A GOOD DOGGO!! And hey, it looks like they're taking a super long trip all the way from the harbor and back? What a good dog! They shouldn't have to do that on their own.

Sora is going to spend at least a few hours seeing if he can't help them deliver their gifts. After all, he knows what it's like to say goodbye to a friend you don't know if you'll see again. They all do! If he can help the dog give them a good send-off, he will.

The next time Sora passes through the lobby of the Landmark, the Concierge will flag him down! Oh, they have a package for Sora!

...It's a little flower bouquet! It's made out of pages from old books, and smells as such.

There's a small note attached: ❤ Robin

[ SO CUTE! SO CUTE! THE CUTEST! sora is going to display this on his table, thank you. He just needs to find a good vase...! ]

are you reliving your first few weeks of homelessness at the library? it took me a few days to notice the lack of feverish shonen energy around here

( LOOK SORA, THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU. HOW IS THE BABE.

and if it was even a little bit about you, she'd never admit it. )

nice to hear from you too!! you know, i kinda am? it was way less wet around here last time though. :/

things happened real fast! i closed my eyes for two seconds and when i opened them the water was waist high. we were storing food for the librarian to eat here anyway, so we're not starving, but we're way stuck here :(

[ It is unbearably tragic, but Sora hasn't quite caught on that Carmilla stans hard for the Librarian and not so much for him! Might wanna disillusion him while this conversation's still salvageable. ]

( babe how could have you missed this, when their introduction was based on her vehemently defending the librarian... either way, she'll never admit it, but she's glad both of them are okay. )

it's wet everywhere, kid. no avoiding it. i saw somebody floating around on a piece of debris like he was a gondelier earlier.

there's worse places to be. i've already burned through all the books here, and we've got a good week of rain to go. you made out like a bandit, if you ask me

[ One part obliviousness, one part him wanting to take her at her word with regards to the "no shits given" image. He likes believing that people tell him the truth. (He does think she's a bit more fond of the librarian than she thinks, but won't poke the sleeping tiger too hard. He's not out to hurt anyone.) ]

was he singing too? that would've been pretty funny!

man, wish you and me could switch places. not that the librarian isn't literally the best, but i think you'd like being surrounded by books way more.

[ He's also nearly suffocatingly worried about Naminé, but he isn't certain if Carmilla knows she even exists, or if she'd care. ]

i could try taking some pics of some books if you want? not like there's a lot to do here besides that and selfies. (prompto's selfie game? strong.)

Sora! You said when you got the chance you'd tell me what "Homie" means where you're from!

( ooc: I'm sorry this just seems appropriate - here's what Pudding would have referred to offhand as Homies at some point in conversation )

oh yeah! forgot sorry
so your homies are like your crew yknow
like the people you run with all the time
they've got your back and you got theirs! that's what a homie is

[ Sora those are so many words with different contexts where she's from SLDKFJLK PROCESSING... ]

Oh! Your crewmates? I didn't know your world had that much seafaring! "Homie" is such a strange word for that!

[ :') sorry pirate adjacent chica, he's only vaguely aware of your nautical background! ]

what? wait i'm mixed up sorry
i haven't been on a ship for a really long time!

a crew is just like
a group of people you hang out with a lot
so your homie is like
fam
family? yeah that's it kinda

OH. Oh, that makes so much sense!

[ NOW YOU ARE SPEAKING THE SHOUNEN LANGUAGE! ]

Where I'm from, most of the world is ocean. People who all sail together on the same ship for a long time become like family at home, too. It's hard to make sense of it through the translator, but sometimes people use the same word for Friend as for Crewmate!

[ (Expy Common in fantasy worlds is a trip, I'm pretending it at least has the same rules as Japanese,,,) ]

most of the world is ocean? like rosinante's world?

[ ... Apparently, someone didn't get the memo about them sharing the same world. ]

yeah, that makes sense! that's really cool, that friend and crewmate can mean the same thing you're from
if you spend all that time together, you've gotta get close
i guess spending all that time together could be kinda annoying, but being together with people for a long time makes you close whether you like it or not, right?

Oh, yes! Turns out we're from the same place!!! I didn't know either until the portal brought Law here. (〃⌒‿⌒〃)

[ She lies, ]

Hehe, kind of like here, right? ( 〃￢ ◡ ￢〃) We're all kinda stuck together but at least we're getting to know each other!!

Edited 2020-09-30 07:35 (UTC)

[ oh he thinks that the faces are cute! he will appreciate it from his end of the network. ]

yeah
i mean, i don't want more people coming here, but it's cool to meet so many people i wouldn't have before
i don't know what i'd do without soldat to be honest
weird to think i could've gone my whole life without meeting them

I feel completely the same!! o(///>ω<///)o Especially about Soldat! He's been kinder to me than almost anyone I've ever known. Does that make us "Homies"??? I don't know if I could get used to using that word that way, it's so different!

lol hmm maybe
huh
it depends?
i dunno i think soldat's kind of like my dad and i dunno if that'd make him a homie to me
more like fam
a homie is like
someone you're a lot like i guess?
so you know they have your back because they understand what you're going through
i guess that'd make soldat a homie, though, and i don't think homies are your parents
do you think you're a lot like soldat?

[ SORA... SORA... ]

hahahaahahahahahahahahahaha yes actually I think we're more alike than I could probably explain to anyone properly! (〃/ω＼〃) He totally doesn't act old enough to be like a dad to me! Maybe... more like a brother?? Kind of???

[ SHE THINKS SO BUT HER ACTUAL SIBLING EXPERIENCES ARE... NOT GREAT... ]

[ Sora's only job is throwing really unexpected verbal curveballs! ]

yeah me too
wait i think i always kind of thought you were around my age?
then again, thinking about soldat like a brother would make sense for me too
i think i don't bc he gives me a lot of crap during training :P

idk maybe he's my friend
i think that works

Edited (sprinkles friendship on the floor and leaves gently) 2020-12-11 08:50 (UTC)

Well~ how old do you THINK I am? (￢‿￢)

[ Any romantically-inclined man would stop and answer that VERY CAREFULLY; she's real curious what Sora's response is gonna be. ]

Besides, he can be a big brother even if he is like a hundred. And, like, 50% of a big brother's job is to give you crap. [ THAT MUCH she knows. ]

But yeah... friend works. Whether he's like a big brother or a dad, those can be your friends too, right?

[ ...Yeah, that's back to academically. ]

like 19? idk i didn't really think about it lol

[ Sora may be a hopeless romantic but when it comes to cues? Uh. He's. Less on the ball on that front. ]

that's true
still can't think about him like a brother though
at least with a big brother you can give him crap right back
i can't talk back to soldat i'd lose every time haha

well yeah definitely!
i was about to be like, parents can't really be your friend, but i don't think that's true
it's just that they have extra stuff to deal with on top of that so i guess a lot of parents think that wouldn't be a good idea
i know soldat has to deal with a lot of me lol

IN THE NIGHT - IC INBOX

Post office box, Feb 1

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return gift!

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Text @ SuprNerd

text @ langit

text

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SORA ENCOUNTERS A DOGGO

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@ELVIRA (sometime slightly after the flood)

text forever;

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TEXT @purin (pls don't use courier! ♡)

text forever! (and thanks for the reminder, i genuinely needed it ouo;;;)

(np!!!!! I figured <3)

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hold up I just remembered Masaomi taught homegirl kaomoji pretend it's been like this the whole time

MASAOMI DOING EVERYONE A SOLID

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WAIT IT WAS MY TAG ALL ALONG...

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