iron bridges, melodic chimes; things i made for you back then

[fonomena]

Who: Jade Curtiss & you
What: You ever wake up from a nap so long and ill-advised that now it's four months later and everything's been on fire and the apocalypse apparently may or may not be incoming--
When: Latter half of January, we're wobbling timelines as much as we like for this one folks
Where: Cabin 133 --> Cabin 109, various locales of the ship afterwards
Warnings: Potential high volume of gross feelings and unexpected hugs from unexpected places, also mad teenaged punching probably, but otherwise uuh probably nothing terrible??


(closed to steve & natsuno); folding chairs and building blocks
[For the first thirty seconds or so, Jade doesn't notice anything amiss. This is on account of not actually opening his eyes, and not actually thinking about anything, for the duration of those thirty seconds. It's quite nice.

The perpetual rock of the ship still sways, as it always has. All is quiet, as this hour of morning always is. This has been...a rather deep and dreamless sleep, which does happen for him on occasion, though it's a rarity. The couch-bed is oddly quite comfortable for once, as well. All told, this might just be the best night's rest he's had in possibly years--

And then he opens his eyes, and turns his head, and the serenity promptly evaporates.

(Gets up from an--actual bed, which is ostensibly Natsuno's bed. The rest of the room--all articles of furniture technically where they should be, yet there's a clean and distinct emptiness, more akin to inn quarters freshly turned over by housekeeping than a place two people have lived in for well over a year. Nothing in desk drawers, or the wardrobe. And all that before stepping out the cabin door, and into...a portion of the residential hall that's far further along than it ought to be. "133", reads the placard on the wall...?)

It's more an automatic impulse than practical sense that leads Jade's highly disoriented self down the hall to cabin 109. Are there...singe marks, on some of the walls? A scattering of debris even here, that he's rather certain hadn't been here yesterday? Later, worry about it later, whatever has transpired overnight. First things first. He reaches for the handle and the lock...does not budge. So.

Jade knocks crisply on 109's door instead, frowning slightly and arms folded expectantly. Surely not a particularly alarming sort of person to find on your doorstep at just a few minutes past six in the morning: a tall man in some sort of teal military uniform, unnaturally red eyes peering critically behind a pair of glasses, when the person on the other side of the door is revealed to be...hmm.]

...Well now, you're certainly not Yuuki. [It's not meant to be accusatory, at least?! ...Well, alright, it might be a little accusatory. Sorry Steve--]

(open i); magic mirrors to pretend
[The rest of the day progresses along, of course, as days tend to do. At some point Jade manages to make it out of the cabin hall (if not probably without sustaining a good punch or two from potentially multiple emotionally compromised teenaged youths in the process), but his feet take him around on something like autopilot while the rest of his thoughts still reel from the inevitable news reunion brings. Months, several months of absence. All while events continued transpiring, the situation upon the ship slowly but surely unraveling ever further out of hand, and now...

It really is as if some sort of disaster has swept its way through the majority of the public areas, residue from the chaos of the "launch" yet to be entirely cleared. Jade wanders from the atrium to sundries, the dining room and the library, the sprawling mess of the promenade and all the way up to the sports deck, a rough mimic of the route he'd always take in semi-daily walks of the ship to canvass its status in the past. The strangest part, of all this, is how it still feels as if he'd taken such a walk just the other day...and yet.

...Lingering overly long upon it only makes it increasingly, stiflingly disquieting. As his wandering progresses, Jade is increasingly wearing an air of searching for something, though it's difficult to divine exactly what that might be from a distance. In the interim, he can be accosted just about anyplace: perhaps squinting at the new shirts in the Bric-a-Brac, or opening the door to the Tommy Bahama and nearly tripping over the small wave of hot dogs that pour through it (???????), or peering pensively at the single lonely signpost holding sentinel between the pool bar and the adult pool. "The signs have been hidden. If anything comes here, it’s better that we tell it where we come from or where we want to go on our own terms..."

It really does seem that he's been returned none too soon. But whether it's entirely too late...well. Perhaps there's no point in fretting over that now.

Perhaps...]

(open ii); seismographic data in our hearts
[In the end, it's the memorial that finally makes it feel truly and unnervingly tangible.

He almost misses it in weaving carefully around the other various keepsakes left here, yet in the end it's the ridiculous rappig-shaped sticker affixing it to the little display that catches the corner of Jade's eye and holds it. Recognition sinks in as he approaches, the shape of the notebook paper, the densely narrow handwriting that's his own. Then, legible as he draws to a halt in front of it...the actual contents of the words. A partial argument proposal draft, started long ago, never finished. "On the societal integration of living replicas..."

The one good deed he hoped he'd ever accomplish. It had felt pointless to complete the draft, upon learning that this existence was likely simply an offshoot of the man still undoubtedly pursuing this cause back in the world of Auldrant. That other Jade who would certainly, ideally, strive to remedy the plight of replicas in his own stead. Yet still, someone looked at this paper here and now, and decided it was still a cause that could represent his memory--even here.

...Ah. Perhaps this is how it must feel, then, to stand before a grave with a heart that isn't numb. What a chilly and sinking sort of sensation. Or is this just a particularly unique sort of experience one gets, when visiting the metaphorical coffin you've all but literally been buried in?

Jade stands and stares at the paper for far too long, and even when he does reach out eventually, fingertips only pinch at a corner and do not pull--uncertain whether it'd be better to take it back, or leave it here.]

(wildcard); let's invent them all again
[Feel free to bring a prompt of your own if none of the above quite fit! 🎉 Jade can be found pretty much anywhere on the ship rn so, go wild go crazy]

Comments

ii.

[decohere]

[she watches quietly, from a distance, for awhile. afraid that interrupting might break the illusion and send Jade dissipating back into the Nothing, or whatever has replaced it since. but he does seem real enough.]

You wouldn't be the first to take something back.

[fonomena]

[He's real enough, it seems, for the page to flutter gently back into place when he releases it. Turning towards the familiar voice, instead, and offering Ava that customary pleasant smile of his after only a slight moment's delay.]

Hm, not the first, is that right...? [The internal debate will go on a bit longer: does a draft that will never be finished hold much more value tucked away in a drawer again? Here, at least, it was placed to mean something. Even if the meaning is now perhaps subverted, by him being...here again.....ugh. It's a strange train of thought. Let's pursue this other one instead--appraising Ava's person with a slight and curious tilt of his head, as if he could divine how she's faring of late at a glance.] I do wonder, actually. Has there been a particular influx of returning passengers lately, Miss Ava?

[decohere]

Mrs. [gentle correction, as she steps forward. she assumes it's his own notebook he's thumbing through at least. but. he is a necromancer, isn't he. she wouldn't put it past him to rummage through belongings of the dead. judgment free zone here.]

We... stopped. Getting anyone new, awhile back. But. A few have returned, yes. Even a couple stragglers from the last realm. [that she collapsed or whatever, no big deal.]

i

[myagic]

[Jade's teal uniform is so iconic, so identifiable and recognizable, that Rita notices it immediately out of the corner of her eye when she steps out of Sand Dollars--he's walking away from her, and she stares for a moment, heart sticking in her mouth. She can't breathe. Because she feels like she's seeing a ghost.

She rubs her eyes, the movement feeling weird and distant and thinking way too hard about Number 2 invoking Jade's name back in the Village, but--he's still there, walking along the Promenade, and-

Something in her brain finally reboots and then she's abruptly dashing at him like her life depends on it. Jade will get to hear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps behind him before someone bodily runs into him--something between a desperately relieved hug and a furious attempt at beating him with fists simultaneously, even as she starts screaming-]

YOU ABSOLUTE JERK--DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA--HOW LONG-?!

[Also sorry Jade, she was carrying a latte but it's definitely all spilled down your uniform now.]

[fonomena]

[It's truly a testament to how utterly preoccupied Jade's thoughts currently are, that he pays absolutely no heed whatsoever to the sound of steps rapidly approaching from behind. Not until it's entirely too late, and there's something short and frantic running into him--

It's a very graceless and undignified collision all around. Caught utterly off guard, Jade is summarily tackled to the floor in a flurry of half-hugging half-punching limbs with nary a chance to get a word of surprise in edgewise. There's screaming, mainly on Rita's part. There's his glasses very nearly getting knocked off his nose entirely. And there's latte...everywhere, just everywhere now, it's a disaster. This is a disaster. This is...?

Rita--? [Wheezed out from somewhere underneath her, as a gloved hand struggles free to grasp at her back. Maybe it could be parsed as an attempt at reassurance, though it's equally also an attempt at coaxing her off of him.] I--could you kindly settle down, your drink's--

[The sentence is unfinished, on account of an errant halfhearted punch knocking out what little wind's left to him. Wow, ouch, that's probably around the same spot Natsuno had also punched earlier. Ah, some part of Jade's realizing belatedly in this moment, I should have sent her a message right after...

Alright, so maybe Rita's earned herself at least one more punch or two. So long as it's not in the face, anyway...and so she's not actually pushed off, for a few moments longer at least.]

[myagic]

[There is a very, very distant part of her brain that initially notices the oddness of Jade not reacting, that worries maybe he really is just a hallucination, or even--maybe--a gho-

But it's not enough to put the brakes on and he turns out to be incredibly solid--just as much as she remembers from the last time she smacked him one--and they sure are going down in a chaotic tangle onto the promenade floor. He even says her name--she hadn't even stopped to think about whether or not he was the same Jade, their Jade, but--hearing it and getting that additional layer of confirmation just makes her eyes burn, and she is going to give him another smack or two (not the face, at least!).

Eventually, taking shuddering breaths, she straightens up a bit so she's just. Sitting on top of him, seeing that face with his glasses askew and how he's apparently resigned himself to a bit of anger. Stupid, same old Jade. And there's maybe an attempt at a sniffle to keep from outright crying (an attempt that's definitely not going to be futile or anything). She has no idea what to say--she at least doesn't scream in his ear, but everything still comes out in a mess-]

You--idiot--just showing up--how could you--after you--you idiot! What do you have to say, huh?!

Hallways

[makesomedeals]

You.

[ There is a sense of ohthankgoodness in there even in the short non-greeting. ]

Finally. We have much to discuss.

[ He is prepared to straight up drag Jade to Skulduggery like a cat bringing in a bird. ]

[fonomena]

[Very nice to see you again too, sir! Truly the most heartwarming reunion of them all, right here,]

--Oh, Maximilien. [The note of something that might just be relief, somewhere in Max's enunciation of this non-greeting, is surely not missed. Pausing in his steps down the hall and turning, Jade can only wonder if he's about to disappoint that relief in any particular way...but all the same, outwardly pleasantly casual as anything:] I have a feeling 'much to discuss' may be an understatement. I suppose you've been looking for me...? I'd apologize for my extended absence, but...well.

[A slight pause, and an equally brief gesture of his hand to the general surroundings.]

It was not exactly by my own choice, rest assured. I only hope I've not been returned too late...

[makesomedeals]

I think you've come back in the calm between the storms. Post chaos, and pre-whatever horrific thing is about to unfold.

There's probably still time to mitigate some of the damage - depending on what exactly those idiots have done. [He doesn't believe for a second this was all Ari. She may be determined but that kind of caper takes coordination.] How much do you know of what has transpired?

magic mirrors

[goodweather]

He sees him standing at the post where the signs had been.

Phil gapes. He stands there, frozen. The blonde hair, the glasses, his willowy stature, it's all the same--he absently mutters something under his breath. (Heresies against 2. If nothing comes for him, then he is still here, and this is real.)

"... Jade?"

Phil approaches. He looks... worn. They both do.

[fonomena]

The pool area is quiet. Nothing comes for him, for either of them. For at least this brief window of time there's only Jade, seemingly not a hair any different since they'd last spoken all those months ago.

But...a bit worn at the moment, yes. Perhaps not half so much as Phil, but the moderate existential surprise this day has been thus far is doing a number. Still, Jade's smile is pleasant as it's always customarily been when it's drawn up.

"Yes, that remains my name, last I checked. Returned to this place alongside the rest of myself, it would seem, in one fairly cohesive whole." He turns to Phil as he approaches with hands slipping into his uniform coat pockets, tone lilting casual as if to dull the edges of the four month gap that's apparently now between them. "...Things have been a bit busy lately, I've heard! Seems you have been too, by the looks of you."

'Busy' isn't the word, no. Do they really need the proper word right this second, though?

[goodweather]

Jade wouldn't know, but for Phil, the gap is even larger. The joys of being time displaced all on your own. The Village was so many times longer for him than it was for anybody else.

His expression folds into something that is equal points smile and grimace. "I look that bad, huh?"

He sighs, glancing down at the empty post. "Yeah, that was my project. Me and--me 'n César, actually. Gathered everybody for a big arts and crafts project where e made a traveler's signpost forest, pointing to all our homes or to where we wanted to go. Some kinda... community thing. You know." Inhales, a little roughly. "I took it down, you can probably guess why. But, ehn--if you, if you want to... if you ever wanna throw one up with the rest, feel free to do that. Either on your own or page me for help. You wouldn't be the only one."

ii

[saltwaterlungs]

Is that... ?

No, it can't-

"Jade?" Darcy asks, carefully approaching at the memorial, sotto voce just in case. You know. It's only what's left of him.

[fonomena]

A figment of the ship would probably be liable to evaporate at even a slight provocation as this one, yes. Which means it's probably a good sign when Jade's looking up at the sound of Darcy's voice instead, smiling idly and eyebrows arching slightly in the face of the quiet approach.

"Not an apparition, no, if that's what you were wondering. You wouldn't be the first today, if it's any reassurance. But I suppose in your line of work, one can't be too cautious of ghosts even here and now, is that right?" There it is, that mildly sardonic sort of cheery inflection. Maybe not quite in full force, but present. He steps back from the paper. "So long as you aren't about to try punching me just to be sure..."

AH FUCK THIS GOT LOST IN MY NOTIFS

[saltwaterlungs]

Ah, Darcy'd forgotten how pleasant that tone is to hear. Like there's some grand joke that Jade is always letting you in on.

"Punching is like, the worst way to tell if someone is a ghost, don't worry. I only punch things that I know are ghosts."

She gives a little up-nod and asks- "anyone caught you up to speed yet?"

i

[sabigoe]

[ Fio is scrawling over scraps of drawing paper, while surrounded by a few open children's books at one of the tables in the library. When she decides to stop for a moment, she looks up just in time to see Jade wander in. She stares.

Is that... Fio's very first friend on the cruise ship, the one who told her that the buffet food was poison? The one that had the important duty of a "crow-romancer"? And the one that comforted her after the first excursion? ...She keeps two capacity cores with her now. When she first realized Jade's disappearance, she kept crying to a minimum, in public at least. She didn't even cry in front of Natsuno. Most of the time, she kept a brave face to not worry anyone, always telling herself that she'll one day see everyone again. But now, she can feel her eyes grow hot with tears. She stands up from her seat.

Incoming! Those are some excited little footsteps sprinting his way! (Judith is being strung along of course, looking the same as when he last saw it with her lovely rainbow stitches.) For once, she isn't mindful of how loud she's being in the library. ]

Mister Specs, Mister Specs, Mister Specs!

[ She is not going to just stand on her tiptoes to politely wait and see if he'll lean over to scoop her into a hug. It looks like... she's going to try forcing him to do it. Because she's running towards Jade at full speed. As soon as she gets close enough, she springs forward with all her strength, arms open to tackle him into a hug. Although, she is... rather small to actually knock him over? So if she's successful, she might just latch onto him and dangle there like some tiny animal... ]

[fonomena]

[The library is surprisingly rather less damaged than the rest of the ship, all things considered, and--well, that's about all that Jade has time to actually assess the area. He's not given much more than a moment or so to pause in the entrance and peer inside, after all, before--

A raised voice, quite familiar. Alongside a head of blonde hair as well, of course, and from there the scatter of picture books and drawing stationery make a great deal more sense. But Fio's excited steps are quite swift, and there's no chance to get a word in. There's--? Now, a small girl practically hanging around his middle?]

Ah, Fio-- [This is approximately the second time Jade has been tackled today! But this occasion is considerably less disastrous than the first one had been, as they're not on the floor and there isn't a spilled drink everywhere. Progress. (Jade probably still smells a bit like coffee at this close range all the same, though...) The fact that Fio's actually dangling just a bit off her feet with how tightly she's hugging him is somewhat alarming, though; reflexively Jade's reaching down, looping his arms underneath hers in...? An attempt to support?? It's sort of a hug back. He's only freezing up a bit this time, really we're doing very well here!] My, with energy like this, it seems you've been faring well. ...Here, let's--get you down...

[Leaning down a bit, but...is she even going to loosen her arms enough to let her feet touch the floor properly...oh dear.....]

I have been made aware, that I have been rather absent of late. I suppose it's worried you... [There's not much use in being apologetic, when he still doesn't know why his grasp upon this reality had so abruptly slipped--or perhaps the metaphor might be more akin to falling through a crack, the exact location of which he still can't quite recall. No, it's not terribly productive, to apologize for something he cannot seem to have prevented against his best wishes. ...But all the same, a slight note of apology can't help but slip into Jade's tone anyway, feeling the tightness of those little arms around his waist and having glimpsed the look upon her face.]

[sabigoe]

[ The only sign of damage is probably a chewed up cushion on one of the couches and perhaps a few strange gaps in the shelves after a couple of books with sigils inscribed on them ran off after growing a pair of legs. Perhaps the library remains the most put together after recent events, due to Fio's efforts protecting it along with a handful of other people.

As he leans over, only the tips of her toes make contact with the floor. She totters, a little unsteadily. Her grip around him doesn't loosen. She refuses to let go, as if he might suddenly vanish a second time. Or she's also making sure this isn't any hallucination. It may be a bold move coming from her, when she usually tries to be polite. She presses her face against him, emitting a faint muffled sniffling. Sorry, a small child is going to sob into the fabric of his clothing. ]

...I missed you. I was really sad when you went away, but I knew we'd meet again someday. I think that... for a lot of people that disappear. A lot of stuff happened. I still keep your capacity core with me at all times. I have both of them now.

[ And if he looks at her left wrist, she has both of gold discs attached like a bracelet. ]

a little magic mirrors, a little wildcard, all dad

[light_mischief]

[at some point while Jade is walking up to the sports deck -- or maybe away from it, or maybe simply while he's standing there contemplating life -- Skulduggery unobtrusively appears at Jade's side the way he likes to do sometimes. his hands are in the pockets of his coat, which Jade might recognize, and his skull is tilted towards the horizon.]

Do I need to reintroduce myself, or do you recognize me? Just wondering.

[fonomena]

[A bit of life contemplation might have been afoot, yes, where Jade has been standing off to the side of the sports deck by one of the railings. Hands in his own coat pockets, scanning the skyline where it meets the boundary of the artificial sea beyond as if he might yet be able to pick out exactly where that alleged "rocket" had somehow punctured the barrier. There's not a trace to be found by the naked eye at all, of course, and the ocean looks exactly the same as it always has errant hotdogs and all...but in the end he does find something quite a bit closer and decidedly more tangible instead, now doesn't he?

Here, yet another voice he'd heard just the other day--by his own perception--immediately recognizable for a fact, with that uniquely accented lilt it always has. Jade already knows who it is before he turns his head, but the question does leave such a tempting sort of opening...]

Hmm, I might need just a moment, sir! If you don't mind. I'm afraid I'll have to mentally sift through the abundance of skeletons I've been acquainted with thus far... [But there's no blank confusion on Jade's features. Nor his tone, which lilts pleasantly sardonic as always; it's paired with a fully aware smile, directed Skulduggery's way, while eyebrows arch slightly at the quite familiar getup.] My, but I must say, that's a rather sharp coat you've got over there. Wherever did it come from?

[Natsuno, he's pretty sure, considering the apparent status of most of the rest of his possessions. But, you know. Let's have this bit for just a moment here--!]

[light_mischief]

There are a lot of us. [Thank the Erda for this little boon. Calmer heads are exactly what they need right now, after everything that's happened. Someone with more formal military knowledge, who can help bring a bit of sense to things now that they've escalated past reason.

Also, it's good that it's the same Jade, otherwise the gag with wearing his coat could have been misconstrued as a threat or overture...]

Oh, you know. Saw it at a yard sale, thought it'd look nice. A bit big in the shoulders, but what can I say? Not many jackets are designed for my slender silhouette.

magic mirrors to pretend

[moonlesstides]

Jade, my man, my friend, how's your memory? The dead girl swimming past Bric-a-Brac, gliding through the air like it was water, is dressed in a sharp suit and tie with odd clasps on the legs, stops when she spots you. In all senses but the literal, math equations float in front of her face. This person seems familiar -

- Oh! Yes!

Grace swims up directly into Jade's personal space: ~You are the gentleman Jade, the learned man of sorcery who is the friend of Wise Rita, yes? You were at the party of prom and then absent.~

[fonomena]

His memory has always been pretty good, at least! If we kindly discount the yawning four month gap of completely lost time that he now has under his belt, anyway. For him, that 'prom' party wasn't very long ago at all...

And so, despite the different sharp suit, the floating girl who drifts into view through the air is promptly familiar. She has several quite distinct qualities to her, after all! Jade's squinting at the new array of Bric-a-Brac shirts is promptly sidelined, and--well. Before he can get a word in, here she comes first, right through that personal space bubble--

Jade reflexively takes a polite step back nearly into the rack behind him, but his smile is genuinely pleasant at the least. Even a bit amused, actually, considering that particular title just dropped.

"Wise Rita, is that right? I see she's gained quite a lot of esteem around here, since last we spoke!" Well, esteem with this one particular girl here, anyway. At this point Jade has probably still been putting off scraping into the lurking iceburg of just how many other altercations Rita may have gotten herself into with Darcy others aboard this ship in his absence, but. Anyway! "Your memory is correct, miss...I believe we were introduced at that party. Your name is Grace, correct?"

...Ah.

"I've indeed been absent for quite some time...I was not given much opportunity to leave notice of it either, I'm afraid. Were you ever able to find a teacher in lieu of myself, I hope?"

[inhairently]

( maybe in any other situation, at any other time of day, steve would have met this mildly accusing tone with some sense of understanding. he gets it, you know? people disappear every day. nothing is certain. it sucks when you expect to see a friend and find someone else in their place.

it's a pretty big maybe, yeah, but the chances are significantly higher than, oh, say at 6 in the morning.

as such, he jerks open the door open just a crack, bracing his other hand against the jamb as he squints blearily at jade. )

Nope. ( short. to the point. a little rude. ) And I don't remember ordering room service sooooo...

( he starts to inch the door shut. bye dude!!!! )

[fonomena]

[Wow not so fast young man!!!!]

Now now, surely we both know that room service here used to be rather less tangible than I am at the moment-- [Cheerfully, with a prompt and beaming smile to accompany it, as Jade wedges the toe of his boot into the crack in the doorway right before Steve can quite pull it shut. Very unfortunately, it's a reinforced boot. Probably actually steel-toed.] --Not an early riser, I take it, quite fair enough! I'm afraid I've a rather pressing problem at hand here, though, and it really just cannot wait.

You see, sir, I know for a fact that Natsuno Yuuki resides in this cabin. Furthermore, I myself have also been residing in this cabin, as recently as yesterday. For some reason I've awakened in entirely different quarters this morning, however, and the lock here no longer seems to work for me...would you happen to know anything about this?

[Jade is...pretty, sure? He hasn't seen Natsuno hanging around with this person anytime recently, if they're acquaintances of any kind at all, so it sure does beg the question as to what in the world this stranger's doing in 109 at this hour. Maybe also linked to Jade waking up in a completely different bed? Maybe!! ...There is still something vaguely familiar here too, though...where has he seen this kid....the hair's pretty distinct. Might have spotted it across the buffet a time or two. Must have been awhile ago, though? Hmm...]