reverienet | [text/video] un: @skull

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[text/video] un: @skull

[A few days after gravity is restored to the station, Ryuji returns to the mess hall from Haru's garden to find a small robot flipped upside down, panicking through a series of morse beeps and boops, which- okay, that's kind of cool, and quickly figures out that the paneling and suction entrances of the little guy means it's probably meant for filtration and cleaning.

Looks pretty study, looks... waterproof, maybe? He lends a hand to get him right side up and it starts slowly moving forward. Ryuji takes out his communicator and immediately films this as it happens, because, why not?

He posts two videos on the network- the roomba moving down the hall and one, a few hours later in the fitness center as it crawls from the edge, and dives right in.]

Oh shit! Are you supposed to do that?

Whoa, whoa- I don't know how to fix you if you--- WHOA, COOL.

Hey, sup?

Just lettin you guys know the pool looks crystal clear now. All thanks to this little dude.

I figure I should give 'em a name but uh

Everything that comes to mind is kinda lame

Anyway, I think it's good? Anyone wanna give it the first try?

[Complete with file0033.png - a picture of crystal clear water.]

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I first noticed it with the uniforms. The jumpsuits, they're very depersonalizing. The same goes for the rooms; though they're comfortable, they're void of any real sense of having been lived in. The food will sustain us, though it's clear we're not meant to enjoy it. But perhaps the most prison-like quality about this place is the isolation. We're cut off from the rest of civilization. All that is missing are wards, and frankly, if we need an element of terror and oppression, that much is already covered. Being so separated from society...

[he glances sidelong at ryuji]

It's no wonder you were feeling lonely.

[This is honestly, a complete 180 in the way from which he was thinking before. He had never really seen the parallels between the penal implications of being a criminal and the motifs present in this station. But it's... kind of fucking him up, now that he has.

It all just plays in the back of his mind, too, knowing that Ren... went to juvie for a while to pay for what they all had done over the last year. Not that he came from that point in time, but knowing the future. It was scary.]

You think we're payin' for what we did as thieves?

[His shoulders slump downward, even in the pool, and he wants to just... go under water for a while. Hear the emptiness under the top layer. Not have to worry about this shit for a few minutes. But--- he has to clear something up first.]

That's not why I was feeling lonely, by the way.

[There. He owned up to it.

Making a friend with a robot and personifying it into something more than a robot was completely, easily a dead give away and Yusuke's sharp eye had pierced straight through it.]

I don't think there is any particular reason why we are here, though I could be wrong. And if we are being punished for our actions as Phantom Thieves... then, a jailbreak is in order, I would think.

[in some ways that's the simple answer, but it comes from a place of faith. faith in himself, in ren, in ryuji, in all of the phantom thieves.

he puts his hand on ryuji's shoulder after a moment. physical reassurance? not yusuke's forte. but ryuji has always been comfortable with casual affection, and it's bled into how yusuke approaches him.]

That aside, what was it that has you feeling this way?

[How sad is it that he's starved for physical contact as it is, that he just finds himself easily being swayed by Yusuke's hand there. He turns his head over his shoulders to look at him, feeling a little awkward for it, but it's not a bad thing, either. Just sort of... smiles at him.]

Yeah, we gotta get out of here, huh?

[It's not said with conviction or the normal fanfare that comes with his shounen manga protag expressionism. Part of him... really, really wants to go home, and yet part of him wants to stay here. If not to figure out what the hell went wrong for everyone here before them, than at least... for the new people he's met that are also stuck here and can't return. And then, the friends he's made in the last month.]

Eh. Just life in general, I guess. [He gestures vaguely with one hand coming off the ledge of the pool where he was holding himself up against.]

[yusuke keeps his hand there. just two dudes floating in a pool five inches apart cause they're not gay]

Have you been feeling uninspired?

[that's the best way yusuke can relate feelings of depression to others--it all revolves around his inspiration, or lack thereof]

[Ho mo rules, friend. Ho. Mo. Rules.]

Huh? No, it's not...

[Ryuji has to stop and think about that for a moment. What the hell is inspiration anyway? Does it just plop down on your lap one day and yell "HEY IDIOT, I'M HERE, TAKE MY HAND AND WE'RE GONNA BLOW THIS POPSICLE STAND?"... or is it something you have to go and look for yourself?

Why does Yusuke always make abstractions that never make sense, and yet, completely do, at the same time.]

It's more like... when a race starts, but you get a leg cramp and end up not bein' able to push off.

Has your leg been bothering you recently?

[he went from abstract to literal in like zero seconds]

[He wades his bad leg backwards through the water to check to see if it actually does. Some days, it's okay. Other days it hurts to do a lot of things. Usually after a lot of physical exertion, the day after it seemed to cramp up a lot. But no, feels okay today.]

I was... goin' for a metaphor here, bro.

You're worryin' too much about me, Yusuke. I'm fine! Just probably bored or something.

Would you say the same thing if it was Ren who was acting this way?

[Heartbeat sound.

Freeze time.

Fast forward to the confession booth.

Hell no, he wouldn't let Ren get away with it.]

Uh.

...

Uhh...

[Caught, yellow handed.]

Do you always gotta be right at the worst time?

[yusuke scoffs]

If I could not even see my friend suffering right before my eyes, how could I call myself an artist?

[he lets go of ryuji's shoulder and hoists himself out of the pool (still butt naked) to stand up. there's no shame here, and there kind of should be.]

Let us dry off and move this to your room, shall we?

[He's not sure what Yusuke is planning on doing, since he didn't announce that he was intending on getting out of the pool and...

He sees it.

He sees all of it.

God, why does he see all of it?

Immediately, he puts his forehead down against the concrete edge of the pool. This is more penis than Ryuji had ever wanted to see in one sitting. In any sitting.]

Please... please? Please be a little more modest. You're gonna give a guy a size compl---

[FUCK

FUCK ABORT.]

Yeah. Room.

That's a better idea.

[He lifts himself up.]

A what now?

[sure, let's just stand here butt naked dripping water everywhere]

Nothing.

[Getting up, he looks down out of the floor, but of course, it's STILL THERE in his peripheral. He gropes around for a towel on one of the chairs (thanks, Haru), before keeping his gaze averted and drapes the towel around Yusuke's shoulders.]

Here, dry off.

[Under his breath--] For both our sakes.

Oh, thank you. I did not think to bring one.

[and he's gonna get cold if he stands there for too long. time to dry off! and put clothes back on! ARE YOU FEELING LESS COMPROMISED NOW, RYUJI]

[That's it. That's the straw that breaks the camel's back.]

HOW DID YOU NOT THINK TO BRING A TOWEL IF YOU'RE GOIN' INTO A POOL.

[Neither did he though, and yes, he realizes that is completely hypocritical on his behalf, but then again, he didn't dive into the thing naked as the day the good lord Yaldabaoth decreed him to be so.]

Uh, er. Sorry, man.

[He picks the back of his undies down. Wedgies got him crazy like whoa.]

Can... I have that towel when you're done?

[you're so weird, ryuji]

I wasn't planning on swimming today until I saw your post.

[he'll hand back the towel after he's dried himself off]

[You can say that again.

He takes the towel and dries off his pristine legs, and then up to his torso, and eventually, his chest. It's going to suck being in his jumpsuit in wet undies, but- whatever, he can deal with that.]

Yeah, but it was refreshin', wasn't it?

[He tosses the towel back to Yusuke. Catch!]

Hold on, lemme get this... piece of shit back on.

[And starts redressing. Why does it have to be so tight? Ugh. Loose fitting clothes are always better.]

It certainly was. By the way, do you happen to have any writing or drawing supplies? For some reason, I've been having difficulty obtaining any.

[that's some cosmically bad luck there, yusuke. GET IT? COSMICALLY?]

[When the jumpsuit is back on- yep, it feels awful to be sloshing around with wet balls in a dry suit. Sorry, Yusuke, you get to experience him pick his wedgie for a second time today.]

Hm? Oh... oh shit, yeah, your artsy juices gotta be practically burstin' from the seams. Kinda like how dudes get if they don't---

[OPEN FUCKING MOUTH INSERT FOOT.]

I'm sure we can find you some uh... pencils or pens or some shit.

Stuff just kinda finds a way of finding us here, anyway. My mask was in the pool last month. It was electrifying it. And then ramen in my toilet, yadda yadda.

[always so elegant, ryuji]

Indeed. I am feeling fit to burst, lately.

[BOOM, PHRASING]

Your Metaverse mask, you mean?

[damn, the metaphysical implications of that are too much for me to wrap my head around]

[He reexamines all his life choices leading up to this point and it's coming up all whammies.

And he explicitly had said no whammies, no whammies, no whammies.

Wincing, he realizes that he kind of deserved it though. And maybe he should be mature enough to talk about this sort of stuff with other guys? Maybe?]

You just gotta... take care of that shit, then. You have a room all to yourself to make it happen.

[They're talking about art, right?]

Yeah! It was like... just in the middle of the pool. But this ain't the metaverse. My persona's here. IRL. [He says each letter of IRL out loud.]

[oh, a burst of inspiration! yusuke's eyes light up]

I often made art in my room back home, but the dull atmosphere in these assigned cabins has left me feeling bereft of motivation. But if I focus on changing that atmosphere with art, then the problem is solved! I'll simply need to cover every square inch of my room with it. And if I can find some paint, that will be even better.

[he turns to ryuji, FULL DETERMINATION BURNING IN HIS EYES, possibly leaning in a little closer than strictly necessary]

Let us adjourn.

[Okay, that's

totally normal.]

Wait, you're really gonna do this? What's the plan? How are you gonna... I don't get it.

You said you found your mask in the pool, and ramen in the toilet? Then all I need to do is start looking in unexpected places, and gather what I find. Something I can use for art has to show up eventually.

[that's it? that's it, apparently]

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