{005} Network Video + Log

[lovesickkiller]

[Misa is obviously freaking out a little. He eyes are wide, she's breathing fast, and she is newly blonde since she last appeared on the network. But her latest echoed change isn't anything that's visible.]

The lights over Tokyo— something is happening, I'm going home. If anyone is coming and needs a place to stay, my apartment is open to you. It's not very big, but I'll make room for anyone who needs it. Bring a sleeping bag or air mattress if you can. Private message me for the address, and if you have a doppelganger either do it in person or by phone. I don't want any uninvited guests showing up.

[[ooc: feel free to handwave Misa giving your character this information, as long as they are not a doppelganger and we have some previous CR.]]

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Who: Misa and ALL THE PEOPLE
What: Crash at Misa's one-bedroom apartment during insanity in Tokyo. SLUMBER PARTY. There will be separate header threads for different weeks, plop your person anywhere.
When: April 10-28
Where: Tokyo, Misa's place

Comments

2/2

[evowhisperer]

Doubts of his own start to materialize like a swarm of unwanted mosquitoes, and he's trying to calculate the probability that he might've been cheated on without either of them realizing it. Could Lazarus really be that insensitive? Or (equally possible), could he really not have realized that either of them might have objected had they known?

{How long has this been going on?} The signs come slowly. If he were speaking, he might've stuttered. The next question leaves faster as it occurs to him.

{What else have you two done together?}

[dead_black_eyes]

He's immediately on-edge, looking for all the world like a child who knows he's done something wrong based on the reactions of adults around him, but he can't figure out what. He hurries to come up with some answers.

"I guess... um, she brought me some chocolates on White Day," he says, nodding to punctuate the answer. "It was a strange day. My doppelganger was there and making things just... bad in general and we fought and that started an echo train. It wouldn't stop, and she kissed me on the cheek during it and she was traumatized and she asked me to lay in bed with her, and I felt responsible so I did. After getting rid of the doppelganger, of course. And then when Nathan was missing I went to the shower and she followed and we both got our clothes wet and talked for awhile, so I don't..."

He shakes his head, looking spooked.

"What is it, are you angry? Why are you angry?"

[evowhisperer]

Chocolates. Cesar got those too, but he hadn't thought anything overtly unusual besides the obvious. She'd said she'd gotten his address from his doppelganger. Had delivering chocolate really been all she'd hoped for? What would've happened if he'd been anything but politely friendly?

He wants to ask more, but Lazarus' question comes first. He's in too much disarray to be delicate.

{I'm not angry. I think Misa's been attracted you for a while. Did you ever do anything else? Like kiss her back? Touch her?}

[dead_black_eyes]

Lazarus is noticeably relieved when Cesar says he's not angry, but he still seems like he's second-guessing a fair portion of the last few months, or at least seeing them clearly for the first time.

"I... never kissed her, but we might have touched a few times. Like..." he rubs anxiously at the bridge of his nose. "No genital contact but her hip might have bumped mine once when she was walking past me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Also I offered to buy her a Bentley."

[evowhisperer]

That last one derails him a little. {You offered to buy her a what?}

He waves his hands.

{Nevermind. That's not important.} Deep breath, Cesar. It's not very kind of him, but he's taking some reassurance from Lazarus' distress. His instincts feel blind and unreliable after the incident with the doppelganger, but surely Lazarus isn't skilled enough at acting to hide something like this? ... Not that there isn't trust between them, but they're still at such a fledgeling stage of things that Cesar isn't above considering anything.

{It sounds like it was all a big misunderstanding. You see now why this was more complicated than someone just walking in on us the way we were?}

[dead_black_eyes]

"A Bentley. It's a kind of car," Lazarus offers helpfully and informatively.

But it's not important, seemingly, and he backs down at Cesar's dismissal.

"I guess I see why. You think that she was attracted to me and had the idea that I wanted her to be my girlfriend, and this is how she found out about us."

Though he gets it, he still sounds dazed, as if he's struck by how immensely unfair it is that this should in any way be his fault or responsibility.

[evowhisperer]

He nods. {I do. From what you said, there were more than enough signs. Fortunately she'll probably realize that you didn't do this on purpose. You're not very subtle.}

It's all absurd, made worse by the fact that it's also completely serious. Cesar's strained grin fades as quickly as it appears, since now he's being the inappropriate one. How did everything get so convoluted?

He studies Lazarus' face as though it might have the answers, and his brow furrows. They're not within arm's reach, so Cesar steps towards him, absently tracing his fingertips with his thumb on the hand he wants to put on Lazarus' shoulder.

{Are you ok?}

[dead_black_eyes]

Initially, he looks like he maybe wants to argue that he can absolutely be subtle, but if that's true, it's probably only relative to his Doppelganger. He bites his tongue on the words, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting this all continue to sink in. Just because it's happening slowly doesn't mean he isn't getting completely saturated with every negative emotion that comes with it. Lost and tired, Lazarus' face stares back at him when he's joined.

"Yeah..." he replies half-heartedly. "It's just... I'm pretty sure there are actual extraterrestrials that feel less like aliens on Earth than I do. It's not even a recent thing. It's always been true."