A day or two into Lotus Mingle

[ninjayeehaw]

[Kinji sounds... less himself than usual. There's a distinct lack of energy to his words, the very strong impression of his face being buried in his hands.]

If anyone who got sent off t'Walkabout wants t'know what happened durin' Harrogate, I came back with a whole heap a' my overlay's footage. Still gotta go over an' edit it, but I got the whole final battle, fer the most part, an' a pretty decent chunk a' the rest a' the month. So long as y'all don't mind it bein' filtered through me. [because he knows how many people he actively annoys just by existing]

Anyone want out a' that footage, lemme know an' I'll fix that. Alcuin, I'm gonna go an' ask that I get t'keep all the footage we got durin' yer interview, but if y'all don't want it hangin' round, then by all means lemme know. Anyone wanna help me add t'this, make a full account a' what went down an' not just Kris's, gimme a shout. Anythin' I ain't got footage for, I got memories I plan on uploadin' too - gonna leave everythin' in the library when I'm done.

Comments

[youandyoualone]

Messire Thompson?

[The mental voice sounds almost, but not quite, like Agent Delaney's]

[ninjayeehaw]

Agent--? [wait no] ...right, I s'pose y'all'd be that French 'ghost' Delaney was talkin' 'bout.

M'name's Kinji, normally. Kinji Takigawa.

[youandyoualone]

Yes, I would be. Alcuin returned my consciousness to Anton's body when I tracked him down after his escape from the guard station.

Anafiel Delaunay, Messire Takigawa. I am very pleased to be in my true body again.

[comebewe]

...We were all risking death, madness, and mutilation, and those two idiots were filming.

Why am I not surprised.

[ninjayeehaw]

I really ain't too sure what y'all were expectin', quite frankly. They couldn't do much else in the circumstances.

[ninjayeehaw]

I dunno if that's a normal French thing or not, but there ain't no need fer titles with me, I sure ain't nothin' fancy. Just Kinji's fine. Good t'hear y'all're in one piece, mind.

[cloudpotter]

[there is poignant discomfort, first. (he doesn't want to be the one who brings this up.) then a sense of resolve. (get him out of that footage.) then uncertainty. (but Skye featured so heavily in it, that cutting any trace of him out would leave almost nothing left.) then back to the discomfort. (they both know full well why Skye is such a prominent figure in that footage.) then back to the resolve. (even more reason to be rid of it.) then back to--

he'll keep this frustrating loop up for quite a while.]

Private, no protection

[ninjayeehaw]

Yakki.

[At the very least, he can give his best friend a modicum of privacy.]

I can edit y'all out.

what is psychic protection we just don't know

[cloudpotter]

[surprise, embarrassment -- how dare you call him out -- and then steely, firm, Igasaki-style resolve.]

Then you'd have precious little left worth showing, and any valuable hints those two missed could be lost.

something for NERDS

[ninjayeehaw]

[There's something like acceptance flitting across; or perhaps just resignation.]

Skye done borrowed this camera fer his witch video. [You know. Just so you're aware.]

Private

[helborn]

... You need anything, Kinji? I can help with adding to the account, but...

[Worry, worry, he knows that Kinji's a badass ninja cowboy or whatever but he's still his friend and...]

I'm more worried about you, really. Do you want help sleeping, or food, or... anything?

[ninjayeehaw]

Gettin' an Investigator on this'd be right useful, actually. Did y'all get hit by some a' those nightmares too? It'd be good roundin' up a few a' those fer comparin'.

[He's just not gonna address that last bit.]

[helborn]

[He'll address him later, he is apparently the Mom Friend, let him Fuss.]

Yeah, I did. Both with other people and without it. We managed - well, Thorne and Alcuin managed - to sift some meaning out of the one without it. Pretty sure it was the Arcana giving me some hints, which is... weird.

[ninjayeehaw]

Ain't too sure what Kris's was, either way. [He had them too, yaaaaaay] They were just.. yeah.

...Kris just about woke up from one a' them screamin', so.

[helborn]

... Yeah. I can... make it so you can fall asleep and not have dreams, if you need some rest without nightmares.

[ninjayeehaw]

Already been hangin' 'round those lotus flowers a bit, I oughta be right.

[No offense, Casper, but he is a ninja. He's not gonna let anyone forcibly put him to sleep.]

[helborn]

[And this is why he offers, rather than springing it on people. Never mind that doing that is a lousy thing to do anyway.]

Okay. ... I can make up some old movies or something if you want to come over and just hang out. Or... anything.

[There's a burst of nervousness. Is he doing friendship right?]

Just let me know if you need anything, okay?

[comebewe]

You realise this might be a problem if we ever have to go back there again, right? [God he hopes they don't have to go back there. Not ever.] It's tricky enough returning to jaunt worlds without bloody video evidence of your last visit floating around the internet.

[ninjayeehaw]

[His mental tone softens a bit.]

I 'preciate the offer, Cas. Really. [You are doing friendship right, son.] But right now I think I just need some alone time. Get my head on straight. I ain't never at my best right after Infiltratin'.

[ninjayeehaw]

I know y'all saw the channel. How much a' that d'you reckon any a' their viewers thought was actually real? A solid half a' the comments Kris got were askin' after his editin' software. People're gonna think it's a hoax, or some stunt t'get their channel or viewers back.

[comebewe]

Not something we can rely on. Especially since the people most likely to be a problem are the ones who'd recognise that their stuff was real.

[ninjayeehaw]

Y'all can come an' go over the footage if y'wanna check the damage. [It's... bad, though. The damage, not the footage.]

Least it's just a couple crackpots on the internet an' not, as a totally wild example, some a' the local pantheon.

[comebewe]

I...



...I don't need to look at it.

[Not now. Maybe not ever. If they ever do go back, they can deal with it then. For now, Matthew doesn't want to relive it]

[all_onis_are_true]

...

I have to say, your overlays had an astoundingly low self-preservation instinct.

[Says the guy who had the epitome of paranoia as an overlay.]

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

...any information on... his... weaknesses can and must be preserved.

Save it. Make it available to those who need it.