[text, handwritten]

[sugarslice]

[ working at a grocery store means working christmas day. working at a bed and breakfast means working christmas night. working, in this case, means being sociable with a pleasant-enough elderly couple who lost their condo in the earthquake and are rolling in enough dough to stay at a b&b for now.

after everything is cleaned up and put away, angeline squirrels away to her room, only to experience the hollowing sensation of an echo before she gets inside. perplexed and just the slightest bit concerned, she continues to her bedroom, only to find a set of clothes lying haphazardly on her bed. given that her room is locked in her absence, their appearance strikes her as doubly odd.

was it... blood keys? the only other time she had experienced that hollowing sensation had been in their presence. she nervously creeps to the window, as if she could detect an intruder if there were one, but comes up with nothing. she searches the room, but finds nothing missing.

finally, she glances at her notebook.

grabbing it and a pen, she leans against the headrest of her bed and writes her network number down.

in slanted script: ]

Someone left some clothes on my bed. They must have done it within the last hour because the clothes weren't there the last time. Is this the work of Blood Keys?

Are any of you Blood Keys?

Sorry, I'm new.

Comments

[dragon_blossom]

the entire city but you we exist just to fuck with u

[grannyfucker]

It's from me. I've been hiding in your closet all this time waiting to spring that on you.

[text]

[pianistofraielin]

i'm pretty sure the blood keys aren't going around leaving people clothes. are sure it's not just a christmas present from someone?

[Video]

[destinedforrock]

Well! Whoever left them... [In spirit she's partly seconding the above as a suggestion, but even if it was a "pulsed" gift.] Happy Christmas, dear.

[sugarslice]

Merry Christmas to you, too.

Voice

[saiyanscholar]

I . . . wouldn't think they would leave clothes in somebody's house. [That doesn't sound like a gang thing, and all.]

[sugarslice]

[ ................ she checks her closet (with her brush in one hand). this includes hitting several dresses with said brush just in case.

she returns to her notebook to reply, then realizes she hadn't checked to see if there were any signs of an intruder in her closet. brb checking now.

can't... really tell... ]

You're joking, right?

[grannyfucker]

What makes you think I'd be joking? I'm dead serious right now.

[text]

[sugarslice]

I lock my room when I'm not here. The only other way inside is through the window.

[text]

[pianistofraielin]

oh wow, i think i have this one figured out.

you have somehow attracted the attention of...


A GIFT-GIVING NINJA!!

[text]

[sugarslice]

[ oh



my god. ]

Happy Christmas to you, too. Sorry this is probably really rude, but are you a real unicorn or an animation?

[text]

[sugarslice]

[ she automatically 'shh's' him, even if he... won't hear it... ]

I wouldn't, either, but I felt the same thing now when I met them the other day. Except the other day they took my purse, so I'm... confused.

[sugarslice]

No, you're not. You would have come tumbling out the moment I opened it.

[ RIGHT?? she kind of has a lot of clothes built up over the past several years.

but what if? ]

[text]

[sugarslice]

[ uh. ]

Are there a lot of them among yous?

[ it feels weird to include herself, like she's intruding on a party, though not one she wants to be attending. ]

Voice

[saiyanscholar]

[He'd apologize if he knew she'd done that. And then explained how people outside the network can't perceive it. But he remains blissfully ignorant.]

... An Echo, then. [Lots of these little "gifts" showing up lately.] You're okay, right? After what happened to you the other day?

[grannyfucker]

Who said I'm still in there now, hmm? I might be somewhere else in your house!

[text]

[sugarslice]

That depends on how you define okay. I wasn't hurt, but that's because I gave them my purse without any fuss. I'm out of my phone, wallet, keys, my favorite lip gloss... It's been a real pain.

What do you mean "an Echo"? [ an echo of what? ]

[sugarslice]

[ THIS PERSON IS SUCH A LIAR






but what if they really aren't...

NO, GONNA FIGURE IT OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL. ]

What's my hair style?

[ an unwise question. in the event that this person is speaking the truth and answers correctly, angeline will have allowed herself to be potentially identified in public by her unusual hair style.

go angeline! ]

[grannyfucker]

How the hell should I know? I've been hiding from you this whole time, it's not like I've got many chances to take a good look!

Voice

[saiyanscholar]

Considering what happens to most people who try to fight back, yeah that qualifies as okay. [Better to have your possessions taken than your life, and all that.]

An Echo . . . that's one of the terms that's been used to describe that feeling you mentioned. The explanation behind that . . . well, it's not the most believable thing, to be honest.

[sugarslice]

[ no, her tactic has failed!!



wait. ]

Then how could you know my size!

[grannyfucker]

I'm actually just taking orders from someone else. They bought the dress, it was just my job to get in and deliver it.

[text]

[sugarslice]

[ dang, she feels just a teensy bit guilty about complaining at that, but then she justifies herself (all of her essentials in that bag!) and doesn't feel guilty any more, just put out. ]

I guess.

What is it? The Blood Keys are forcing a hostile makeover?

Voice

[saiyanscholar]

[Beats being dead, come on!]

[He blinks at that, then lets out a faintly amused chuckle.] If only.

Um, I don't actually think they're the ones causing the feeling. They seem to trigger it, but this has been happening to people long before they ever ran into those guys, and some of us haven't run into them at all. The Echoes . . . Well. The theories behind them seem to range from past lives to alternate universes and things like that.

[He's just going to sit here and wait for you to tell him he's crazy.]

[text]

[pianistofraielin]

considering how many people have been getting stuff lately, i think there must be. i mean it's mostly pulsecho stuff but maybe gift-giving ninjas are behind the delivery part.



...oh my god that means one of them managed to change out my clothes WHILE I WAS WEARING THEM