![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
( semi-open ) though it may hurt today
WHO: Roland (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gradenine) & some of you guys
WHAT: July catchall + event
WHERE: Vaults, then some formalwear shop (get in losers we're going shopping)
WHEN: The rest of July
WARNINGS: Major Ruina and Leviathan spoilers in the first prompt. Death, murder, the usual Project Moon warnings apply, probably. Please refer to his opt-out for more info.
art credit | plotting comment | event log
hmu if you want a starter!
gradenine) & some of you guysWHAT: July catchall + event
WHERE: Vaults, then some formalwear shop (get in losers we're going shopping)
WHEN: The rest of July
WARNINGS: Major Ruina and Leviathan spoilers in the first prompt. Death, murder, the usual Project Moon warnings apply, probably. Please refer to his opt-out for more info.
art credit | plotting comment | event log
hmu if you want a starter!
finally here for insanity days later
Just kidding, it sure ain't, otherwise Welt would be a lot more indifferent to the sight in front of him. He had been slowly sifting through the seemingly endless vaults contained within the bank - is his own in here somewhere, are there any other names listed that might give him some sort of clue as to the secret behind this place - but the abrupt noise has his head snapping around and his feet moving forward of their own volition. ]
Hey—
[ His mind follows the frantic pace of his footsteps, conjuring and then dismissing possibilities one after another. One hand reaches out as he crouches down, fingers wrapping around the other man's. ]
It's alright. It'll be alright.
[ Maybe it won't be alright, he can't know that for certain when he has no other clues to go off of, but it's the only solace he can offer right now. ]
also collapses here a couple of days later.....
but then fingers wrap around his, and he snaps back into reality with a couple blinks of his eyes. an unfamiliar-looking man is reassuring him, but welt may as well sound like he's miles away from roland's point of view right now. ]
I... I... [ his voice is still shaky. the shame is settling in now, and he swallows. ] You... You saw it, right? That memory...
[ this isn't the first time roland's memories are exposed for everyone to see, but he'd like to know if he isn't the only one experiencing this, thank you very much. ]
take it easy.....i hear projmoon fandom is going thru it right now u_u
His eyes flick upwards, away from the fallen man and back towards the interior of the vault. Cold, unfeeling deposit boxes stare back at him, gleaming dully in the low light. If there's anything to see, it's the pale faces that reflect back at him, devoid of their usual good humor. An already less-than-pleasant scene, made worse by the tension that hangs thick in the air. ]
...No.
[ The word comes out reluctantly, as if pulled out against its will. If he had seen, maybe he could have understood better. Then again, if it was something so wretched to elicit a scream like that, maybe it's for the best he hadn't seen. It must have been deeply personal. Deeply painful.
It doesn't feel right to pry into something that must have been deeply personal, deeply painful, and yet neither does it feel right to let this man suffer by himself. ]
What is it that you say? [ Ah, but— ] If it's too painful to talk about though, there's no need to. Focus on catching your breath first.
CRIES yeah we took so many Ls.... 😠please bear with us till then u_u
that's really unfair. for once, he'd like it if everyone else knew the pain he's been harboring this entire time.
but for now, he breathes. inhale, exhale. he closes his eyes in an attempt to stop his tears from falling, but to no avail. he sniffles, looks down at the gloves he's holding, and shakes his head. ]
No... It's fine. Things like these... They happen in the City all the time.
[ the city he's from, anyway. ]
I just remembered how my wife died. These gloves belonged to her.
take all the time you need!! i'm hoping for a good resolution for you guys 😔
He can't understand the exact pain this man must be going through, his own personal relationship experience sitting at a big fat zero, but he can sympathize with the loss of a loved one. The photograph in his coat pocket is a reminder too of all the people he's lost over the years. ]
That's a cruel joke to play on anyone. I'm sorry. [ Trite words for an awful situation, but they're all he has at the moment. ] It must have been unpleasant, for you to remember it so vividly.
clenches fists, thank you... 🥹
it makes him angry, honestly. and he has half a mind to punch this guy out of sheer rage, but thankfully(?) his own sadness is dampening the urge to do so. instead, he swallows. ]
That's... That's the weird thing about it. The fact that it felt so real.
[ he can afford to think rationally here, too. he has to, or else nobody in this safe is getting out of here alive. ]
If you recognize the item in your box, [ sniffles ] don't touch it. If you don't wanna remember either.
no subject
Welt, for his part, is oblivious to the inner workings of this man's mind, and would no doubt be glad to have avoided a punch to the face. (Even if I think he still should have gotten one.) The warning comes as bit of a surprise but he takes the words seriously, nodding in slow understanding as his gaze goes back to the deposit boxes. ]
I'll see how long I can leave it in there.
[ Though somehow he feels that'll bite him in the butt eventually. ]
Do you have... [ what's the right word here ] visions like this frequently?
no subject
in any case, roland rubs at his eyes and takes another deep breath. ]
Not frequently, but... [ nods ] I don't recommend it, 'cause other people can sometimes even see them.
[ welt should be thankful he's spared from seeing the wreckage and bloodshed. memshares are not good either way, but since the guy can't see it in his perspective, roland has no choice but to tell him. ]
My wife... She died from a sheer accident. I was away on a mission, and our house just collapsed with her and our unborn child in it. [ he looks down on her gloves. ] This is all what's left of her. The whole thing is common enough in our City so I shouldn't be this upset, but...
[ yeah. ]
no subject
no subject
He's sorry, too, for making this man repeat a clearly unpleasant story. ]
Just because it's common doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Emotions are complex things and hard to control even during the best of times.
[ Sorry, he will continue to be a reasonable human being because it's either that or finding some trauma hole of his own to stick his head into, and that's not happening just quite yet. ]
Are you planning on keeping them [ with a nod towards the gloves ] despite everything?
no subject
but it's fine, roland can manage to sober up from his breakdown the more he focuses on other things, like the fact that welt is... sad about this. wild how people from other worlds are capable of something like that, and how a little sympathy can go a long way.
he swallows, and tightens his hold around the gloves. ]
...Yeah. I mean, I don't really trust this entire place. They'd pretty much given back what was rightfully mine with little consequence. [ just endure a little bit of trauma and they're all good to go! ] And-- I'll be fine. Thank you, uh...
[ he finally looks at the guy. shit, he really did break down in front of a complete rando, didn't he. ]
Name's Roland. I'm just a washed-up Fixer, but that ain't important in this City. You?
no subject
Good on Roland for taking things in stride though, even if the fact that he can so easily is, well, as stated before, extremely depressing. But if he wants to move on then the least Welt can do is respect his wishes and follow right along.
He's seen worse in his 80-some odd years of life, you good Roland. ]
Welt Yang. [ If that sounds familiar, it's because he's one of the handful of losers who only knows how to set his display name as his real name. When will someone teach him about internet safety. ] I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but...
[ Well. That would be a bald-faced lie. MORE IMPORTANTLY! ]
A 'fixer'?
[ How obvious is that capitalization there.... ]
no subject
and - yeah, if only they'd met in better circumstances. technically roland had already met yang over the network, but it was behind a mask of anonymity so it doesn't really count. maybe. he rubs at his red eyes, grateful for this topic change. ]
Yeah. A mercenary. We "fix" whatever the client wants for a price. I'm Grade 9 though, so don't expect too much from me. [ hence the "washed-up" part. ] And being a Fixer means your life is always gonna be on the line, so...
[ gestures at the high mortality rate. really, these things are normalized in his field of work. ]
Like I said, that doesn't matter here. Jobs like that are rendered useless when this City can just give you whatever you want. Right?
no subject
Truth be told, while he understands the individual words - Fixer, Grade 9 - rattled off, in conjunction with each other they turn into something closer to a foreign language, evoking blurry images that don't fully click into place. It's fascinating in its own way though, his inherent love of history and culture poking its head foward despite the gravity of the situation.
If only he'd had the chance to pursue that path more thoroughly in the past. Ah well. ]
It doesn't seem like much matters here apart from following the arbitrary rules set up in this place.
[ He murmurs it mostly to himself, a frown on his face. Anyway. ]
Did you choose that career path for yourself? Most people with families usually opt for safer, more low stakes jobs.
[ Is the pay that good.... ]
no subject
[ all he can manage is a sheepish laugh. at least he feels marginally better now that he can laugh about it. ]
Can't really afford it. I live in the poorer side of our District, and becoming a Fixer's the most lucrative job there is. We did plan on retiring for a while, though.
[ he got the money in the bag, can you believe it. but then shit happened so now he's back to square one u_u before he can elaborate though, the heavy vault doors open with a resounding creak; seems like someone else had finished their sharing session and has open sesame'd them to freedom. ]
no subject
At least Roland is spared from further personal questions by that low groan of the door opening. Finally, they're both (physically) free from the shenanigans piled onto them by the bank. (But are they free from the many ghosts that haunt them at night....probably not.)
Welt looks towards the door, then to Roland. He's not going to keep this man here any longer than necessary but: ]
Are you going to be alright?
[ To stumble off home or to some other place where he can pretend like nothing ever happened. ]
no subject
...Yeah. I'm used to it. That's that and this is this, y'know?
[ he sounds fine, he looks fine despite the puffy eyes from all the crying, despite the hollow pit forming in the bottom of his stomach. no use dwelling too deep over stuff that had already happened. ]
please don't ask why i wrote my top level in this comment box, i'm in tears
Well, Roland's a grown man capable of taking care of himself, and it's not as though Welt has that much to offer after stumbling his way into another man's very private moments. The least he can do is give this man a nice graceful out. ]
If you're certain.
[ He still sounds WORRIED because that's just how he is, but thankfully he doesn't make any further move to keep Roland in the vault. ]
Take care, then.
[ Please don't go stumbling into any other trauma while you're out there.... ]