WE WERE DREAMING, WAITING FOR NIGHT.
» THE PARK — INTRODUCTORY NOTES
When District 3 opens up, subtle and silent at first, the most noticeable area is the large park. A mixture of open picnic fields and heavily wooded trails, the park offers an escape from the cityscapes for those who seek an oasis amongst nature. Benches and light posts dot the twisting paths, offering a moment's rest to anyone traversing the park for a leisurely stroll or running for… exercise. Unlike its smaller cousin to the south, this park is devoid of statues or monuments, instead more of a tribute to nature and the pursuit of its company. There are, however, several small playgrounds spread around the outer edges for anyone who seeks some playtime with their inner child.
Speaking of your inner child, should you venture to the southern half of the park, you'll find a small carnival that appears to be abandoned. The rides and stalls all appear to be in decent condition despite lying still and silent; if you choose to hop the fence, you'll find that the cables running haphazardly over the grass are connected but powerless. No amount of effort to turn on the rides nor break into the games will prove fruitful, but the park at large has posters stapled to trees here and there advertising the opening of the fun fair very, very soon.
For those who are brave enough to leave the paved walkways to venture deeper into nature, you may find hidden gems—a quiet pond covered in lilypads with a small dock to sit on and dip your feet into the green waters; a romantic pair of swings atop a small knoll overlooking a creek; a shortcut through the trees where even your footsteps are muted by the leaves and dappled sunlight barely reaches your face through the trees above. Here and there you'll find the woods open up to a secluded meadow where the grass is tall and the wildflowers grow thick.
You may also find yourself imagining things just out of reach, like shadowy figures darting from bush to bush, predatory in nature. The phantom call of a crow may echo through the forest's canopy though, like the rest of the city, there is no wildlife to be seen nor heard otherwise. Was that the shout of a woman in the distance, or the cry of a fox? The longer time stretches on, the harder you'll find it is to make your way back out of the treeline, and the trees stretch far above to block out any hope of navigating back to the familiar buildings of the surrounding city. You might want to call for help—if you get find service for your device, that is.
The new park is a permanent location that is open to residents 24/7 as there are no fences nor gates. It's larger than the one new City Hall and has more potential for exploring as well as different features from its cousin. For those that are familiar, it will evoke thoughts of New York's Central Park with its mixture of open areas contrasting with thick woods. Paved walkways, freshwater ponds, picnic areas, and a couple of playgrounds can all be found throughout the park. Along with these, residents may stumble upon other natural and man-made areas such as rocky outcrops, unmarked trails, bicycle paths, fountains, and other things typically found in large urban parks—minus the wildlife. It can be a romantic setting as easily as it can be a horrific one depending on the time of day as well as the company that you keep.
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THEN THE HEAT BROKE, THE NIGHT WAS CLEAR.
» THE FAIR — RIDES & ATTRACTIONS
At 6:00 PM City time on September 19th, the numerous light bulbs of the fun fair burst into blinding color simultaneously, lighting up the darkening sky as loud carnival music slowly churns to life from unseen speakers. The rides all spring into motion, operating on a strict schedule that will allow carnival-goers the time to get on the ride as well as stumble back off after they've had their fun. No one is running the rides that you can see, though they all have the typical podium with an array of buttons that could be used to start and stop the machinery that creaks and groans with age. If you'd like to see what it's like working as a rider operator, you're more than welcome—just make sure you're not making everyone sick.
Due to the fair's small size, the rides are all fairly tame in size and speed. There's a merry-go-round with brightly painted horses to ride along with a handful of mermaids, sculpted hair permanently billowing in the wind. One section at the edge is dedicated to a massive stationary head, evocative of a ventriloquist's dummy, with its mouth gaping open for riders to sit inside, perched on the tongue-shaped bench. For the braver riders, a few other unnerving steeds await, such as a lion with blood dripping from its teeth and claws, a zebra with eight legs, an uncomfortably hairy tarantula, and a gray-skinned creature with its eyeless head split open into a massive mess of razor-sharp teeth. Though the merry-go-round spins at a leisurely pace, staying on if for too long is likely to induce a strange sense of dizziness even after disembarking and attempting to walk it off. The repetitive groan of the pipe organ rings in your ears, hardly helping your disorientation at all though you seek a quiet place to recuperate.
Further along in the fair is a low building comprised of little more than a laminate floor, metal grating roof, and bright red railing that encloses all sides. Strewn about inside are bumper cars, big enough for two if you want to squish in together with a friend, but lacking seatbelts. As you run to find a car you like, you can hear the electricity begin to hum through the roof and spark with the bent antennae of each car as their motors awaken. Loud rock music drowns out the sound of squealing wheels as the drivers begin the arduous task of steering the bumper cars into each other. It's all fun and games at first, but it's easy for a little competition to turn into a grudge match.
The last ride looks like a large metal bowl with steep sides painted dark blue and covered with stars, plantes, galaxies, and a comically simplistic spaceship. The archway standing just in front of the ride's entrance calls it "THE GRAVI-ATOR" with a disclaimer in small print about holding on tightly to personal belongings once on the ride. Stepping into the door cut out in one side, you'll find there are no straps nor seats—everyone should find themselves a comfortable place to lean, preferably in one of the spots that has padding on the walls, because soon the ride will begin to spin and everyone will be pinned down by centrifugal force.
Though they may not be as thrilling as the mechanical rides, there are a few tamer attractions for those seeking a break from the bright lights and loud sounds of the carnival. A hall of mirrors stands to one side of the area, a gaping clown mouth serving as the entrance to the dark building. The laughter and screams from outside are quickly muffled as atmospheric music plays lowly while you try to navigate through a maze of mirrors, many of which distort your appearance. You may see flashes of people that you don't remember seeing come inside, oddly shaped and shadowy where the corners of two mirrors meet. Did you feel someone brush up against you? No, impossible in such tight corridors, but you should probably hurry along to the exit.
There is also, of course, a tunnel of love, though it is a cheap imitation of one. Rather than sitting in a romantic gondola, those interested in going through will do so on foot—a rather daunting task considering that you'll be in the dark once you walk through the heart-shaped door and through the musty red curtains. Still, there's enough time to steal a kiss, or grasp blindly for a hand to hold if you're scared of the dark. Has your lover always had such cold, rough hands? It might be soothing in the muggy warmth you find inside, or maybe it's reason enough to find the way out on your own.
Located in the southern half of the large park is a small fun fair that will open to the public the evening of September 19 with operating hours from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM City time. Before opening, none of the rides or games will be operational; however, there will be fliers advertising its opening all around the city on billboards and telephone poles, and adventurous characters are able to hop the fence and explore if they so desire. However, they will not be able to turn on any of the rides or games, and will not be able to break into the rides or booths under any circumstances.
Upon opening, there will be a number of rides running themselves on a schedule that allows people time to get on, have some fun, and then get back off again. Though there's something unsettling about the music they play, or maybe how shaky they feel, there's no apparent danger anywhere. Residents are encouraged to enjoy themselves with a group of friends, or maybe a date, and experience all that the fun fair has to offer! The fair will not be open forever, though; its gates will close permanently at 11:00 PM on September 30 and all traces will disappear that night to leave a large, open field behind in the park.
This is a good, ol' fashioned carnival designed to bring together groups of people for thrills and fun. Though there are no overt game mechanics at play, we encourage everyone to get creative and add their own flair to this month's event. If you have any questions about player plots you'd like to run, please revisit the Events & Interactions section of the F.A.Q. and drop us a comment on the mod contact for any additional questions.
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IT SEEMED AN HONOR TO HAVE A MOUTH.
» THE FUN — GAMES & FOOD
The majority of the fair is occupied by stalls full of fair games, their walls and awnings decorated in various themes to match. The shooting gallery is a scene from the American West, cowboys astride horses with a background of cacti and orange rocky mesas. The targets themselves are a variety of desert animals: vultures flying from the roof, lizards skittering along the ground, and coyotes chasing rabbits throughout the middle. A handful of rifles are waiting along the half wall in front, chained and bolted to the wooden surface to keep them from getting carried off, and an array of hats hang above them as prizes displayed for winners. There are the typical cowboy hats, then some pink and green ones, some multi-colored jester hats, and a few that look like uncomfortably realistic rubber masks of faces twisted into horrifying expressions.
The next stall over is as different as can be imagined with psychedelic rainbows, glow-in-the-dark smiley faces, and paint splotches covering all surfaces. Inside is a grid of brightly colored balloons that rain silver glitter once they're popped. Cups of plastic darts lie in wait for those who wish to try their luck to pop five balloons in a row, though the observant will notice there are only four darts per cup. The sides are lined with prizes ranging from sticky fingers, slide whistles, and bouncy balls to an assortment of blow-up weapons such swords, hammers, maces, and frying pans.
Another quintessential carnival game is ring toss, set up in an extra large stall with three open sides for groups to play together if they wish. The bottles are all uniform in size, shape, and their clear color, but if you get a good look at a few, some appear to have items floating inside of them, suspended in glowing liquid. Above, massive stuffed animals hang from every possible section of the ceiling. None of them look quite right, though, such as the smiling bear with an extra row of teeth or the goose with two heads at the end of one floppy neck. The dog is pretty cute, but it's missing an arm and a leg in a way that appears intentional, and that cat has its eyes sewn shut.
Of course, no fair would be complete without food. There are plenty of stalls ready to serve, much like the restaurants in the city, where residents are welcome to swing by for some greasy grub. Corn dogs, fries, funnel cake, pizza, shaved ice, and fried junk food are all easy to find around the carnival. Spread amongst the stalls are popcorn machines playing cheerful music, carts with towering racks of bagged cotton candy, and poles planted in the ground with rainbow lollipops and candied apples sprouting from them. In one corner of the fair where the biggest concentration of food stalls can be found, there is an area of tables with umbrellas for anyone to sit and eat. Food at the fair adheres to it's own unique reset cycle and can be found replenished every evening at 6:00PM just in time for opening.
Despite the potential for danger from the shooting gallery and balloon dart games, both are designed to be as harmless as possible—the bullets are rubber, and the darts are made of plastic. While they will still leave a bruise, there shouldn't be risk of blood loss. The shooting gallery guns are chained in place, unable to be stolen. Removing the darts from their stall will result in thiefs walking in a tight circle that always brings them back in hopes the darts will be restored to their rightful place.
Though the food and games are free, the prizes are not—anyone who attempts to steal prizes without winning the games first will find themselves misplacing their items before leaving the carnival. If residents become aware of this phenomenon and try extra hard to focus on not losing their stolen prize, it will nevertheless slip from their hands and be lost—though a keen eye might see it back in its rightful place at the game stall. If you have the right temperament, this could become a game in and of itself!
Additionally, if there are any fair games or foods that have not been explicitly mentioned above, players are welcome to assume they can be found. Nothing as extravagant as a theme park or amusement park will be present as all of the stalls are designed to be mobile—this is a traveling carnival, after all. Similarly, players are welcome to design their own brand of unsettling game prizes as long as none of them can be used as an actual weapon or to otherwise harm fellow fair-goers.
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WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.
This month's event headers come from "Midsummer" by Louise Gluck.
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citylogs2023-09-19 09:00 pm
the icon!!! screams
and of course, because heine's both strong and fast, he pushes himself forward to try and grab midnight's wrist, or arm, or something—anything to keep him from falling. instead, what he gets is his own foot catching the same fucking bolt and that, combined with midnight's brief but strong tug to his sleeve, has heine pitching over the edge of the ferris wheel too.
there's no such thing as a fatal fall for heine, but he's pretty sure this one won't even leave him with organ damage; still, he has just enough time on the way down to think that he's not exactly thrilled about hitting the bottom. ]
midnight is the whole 👏 damn 👏 circus 👏
Midnight can more than survive this fall, but the bruises aren't going to be pretty. New goal: do not make this something that Dr. Daan has to ever know about, ever. Which means Midnight's sole move is to tug Heine's head on top of him, squeeze his eyes tight, and —
Well, that whistly sort of exhalation of the ground and Heine's weight smooshing the air out of his lungs is fairly rubber fowlbeast-like. Squeak attained.
(Also, the crack of maybe a rib as the rest of Heine falls on top of him, but it's nothing he can't walk off. Probably!)
... Well, since Heine did him the great service of not falling on top of his head, Midnight's pretty sure he's not concussed, but after a moment, after the shock fades, he reaches behind his head to feel for blood. Just in case. ]
... You all right?
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the grip to his head takes him by surprise, but heine has scant seconds to realize what's happening before midnight hits the ground with a noise that can only be best described as a squeak. heine hits the ground too, but more gently than he would have without the vampire-shaped cushion beneath him—a knee on the concrete that scrapes off the top layer of skin even through his denim, a shoulder that immediately dislocates under heine's own body weight. but not his head, which is pillowed somewhat undignifiedly on midnight's chest. ]
Fuck me. [ heine groans and uses his good arm to push himself up to a semi-sitting position. his knee hurts. his fucking shoulder hurts. but that's a comparatively short catalogue of injuries in comparison to what it could have been, that's for sure. ] Give me a second—
[ he grits his teeth, braces his shoulder, and shoves the dislocated joint back into place. ]
Now I'm good. Are you?
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Surprised most of my blood's apparently still inside of me. Oof.
[ He finishes feeling behind his head, squints at his fingers... Yeah, that's a tiny little smear, but his hair seems to have cushioned his skull well enough. He pushes up when Heine's fully off him, twists to look at the little smear of blood on the ground, winces as his ribs protest in response. ]
I... think I'll be feeling this for a few weeks, at least. Anyway, you should back up a bit. If you see smoke coming off my blood, try to stay clear.
[ As Midnight rolls onto a knee, still cringing in various aches and pains, Heine might note that both the back of Midnight's head and the little smear of blood on the ground do appear to be giving off a very small, black vapor. Nothing dramatic, but there's probably something to be said about blood dissolving into smoke...? ]
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[ unless midnight's species also heals abnormally fast. heine doesn't know very much about vampires.
he does, however, know a little bit about blood, at least enough to know that it dissolving into little puffs of smoke that float away into the air is not the way blood normally behaves. he observes this for a second, then lifts his eyebrows skeptically. ]
What does the blood smoke do?
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Did it without thinking. Now that we're here, though... While I can say for certain that has just replaced the worst fall of my life, I don't think that was the worst hit I've ever taken.
[ He knows that vampires can survive a lot... in theory. In practice, Midnight's just a former callboy. He's learning just as much about himself as Heine is, honestly.
Midnight looks at Heine. Well... Safety first. Hurts no one to be honest. ]
In small amounts? Nothing. Still, I wouldn't risk touching my blood anyway, were I you. There's something quite toxic in my blood cells; if you get enough of it on you, you'll catch the same thing. The symptoms are very unpleasant, especially upon initial infection, so I do hope you don't mind if I stand a bit apace from you until things start clotting.
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toxic blood, though... heine doesn't want to test his own limits, not least of all because he knows what it's like to be treated as a specimen and would never put anyone else through that, ever, but he also doesn't have any particular worries about being infected. if only because his body was designed down to the gene sequence to be indestructible. ]
I don't mind, but I'm even harder to infect than I am to kill. [ still, he shifts politely away, leaving enough space that it's unlikely that midnight's blood vapor is going to get near him. ] I thought there was some biting thing involved with vampires?
[ the boy heard "i vant to suck your blud" one time and that's basically what stuck. ]
You can also tell me to fuck off if you don't want to answer. I won't take it personally.
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[ ... Honestly, the mention of his blood infection and his vampire roots in the same breath is enough to make his skin prickle a little in discomfort... But Heine doesn't know. He doesn't know. That's why he's asking. There's no need to be defensive. ]
It's... all right. Suffice to say from the start that my species and my infection have nothing to do with each other. They're... quite different.
[ ... Starting with the fact that he called a vampire a "species", rather than some kind of infliction. Still, at least that misconception does also exist in his world. Not as much blindsiding happening here.
... Also, he'll wordlessly gesture to a nearby bench. Honestly, neither of them should be at all vertical at the moment, but sitting has to be better than nothing. ]
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fortunately, the somewhat painstaking process of climbing to his feet in order to make his way over to the bench provides a good distraction from th emoment. as he stretches, feeling his joints and muscles shift, heine can tell that he's already on his way to healing, the ache in his shoulder fading as they speak. but when he stands up it's not without a twinge, plus a brief moment of vertigo that reminds him a little too much of how he felt after the bank.
he looks down at his knee, where his jeans are torn and a little bloody, and sighs a quiet but emphatic, ] Ah, fuck.
[ it's fine. they're just clothes. as long as he sneaks back to the apartment nobody will be any wiser. heine limps slightly over to the bench, then turns to make sure midnight's not too concussed to make his way over too without passing out. ]
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Midnight doesn't always catch what's going on around him, but he's completely capable of seeing when he's a bit better off than those around him. He slows, not stooping down to help — he is, unfortunately, still leaking smoke — but he's eyeing Heine. ]
Effective immortality doesn't save you from the nasty side-effects of sustaining injuries, I see.
[ Heine appears to be the sort to appreciate a bit of honesty when it comes to observations. It's nice, honestly. Midnight can do a bit of dancing, but when he sits down at the other end of the bench, wincing, it's nonetheless with the ease of someone who enjoys simplicity in their conversations. ]
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[ when heine mentioned that he heals fast, he wasn't kidding. back home, his knee would already be new skin by the time they even reach the bank; here, it'll take another minute or two, but if midnight's interested, he sure could just watch the healing happen as they sit. (but midnight is right: he does have to suffer the pain of it while he waits for the wound to close.)
heine slumps down onto the far end of the bench with a groan, then stretches out a little as he settles. ]
I was... created. [ this feels like fair information to offer, in exchange for having asked an awkward question about midnight's origins just now. ] As an experimental bioweapon. That's where the implant and the healing come from.
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[ Midnight leans forward, watches Heine mend. His... his skin is regrowing, very slowly. Like watching a small shellbeast crawl. Both gross and fascinating. Midnight is somewhat entranced.
Which means he almost misses Heine's explanation, but Midnight is a very good listener and multitasker, so he nods at the end of the explanation. ]
Sounds like something out of a movie. Or a comic book.
[ He read his share of manga as a boy... This is exactly like that. But... Well, human experimentation has to count when one makes a human, right? Grim. ]
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[ for him personally it's mostly come with two equally large helpings of trauma and baggage. but, despite his complex feelings on where he comes from, heine does appreciate that the healing factor is pretty useful—he tries not to put it to the test too often in case it prompts badou to strangle him, though.
the scraped skin of his knee slowly finishes its regeneration, leaving behind no indication that heine was ever hurt at all, except for the tear in his jeans and the blood on the frayed edges. if it weren't for that heine could probably pretend it's fashion. ]
Are your ribs okay?
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Midnight straightens, twists his abdomen gently, winces, untwists. He shakes his head. ]
So long as I don't breath in too deeply, it's all right.
[ He'd go to see Daan, but he did say that he'd be busy this month... And he doesn't want to make the effort to reach out to another doctor. Explaining the blood stuff is too tedious. No need to trouble them. ]
I do heal quite quickly, but I'll probably skip arm day and sword training for a few weeks.
[ Time to make those thighs juicy! ]
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[ marginally too repressed to provide commentary on midnight's thighs, but he is welcome to take it as heine's tacit approval of the leg day plan. both in the name of juicy thighs and in the name of not aggravating a healing rib fracture.
heine leans back against the bench and tilts his head to look up at the sky. ]
I'll call Kaveh later, probably. He's going to make fun of us.
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Quite right. My thighs are already very good, but there's always room for improvement.
[ The gains... they must get sicker!!
Midnight laughs at Heine's prediction, then winces again, touches his side. All right, no laughing for a bit, either. ]
Speak for yourself. I imagine he'll jump straight into giving me an earful.
[ ... He... probably shouldn't sound so pleased to announce that? ]
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[ up until this point, heine has mostly avoided getting a real angry earful from kaveh, so most of the lectures he's heard have had a layer of good humor built into them. is this mostly because heine has a habit of not telling people about the worst parts of the things that happen to him? probably!
he wonders if this is the kind of thing kaveh is likely to be angry about. contemplates... just not telling him about the falling part of the ferris wheel adventure. ]
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[ Said in a very fond way, in the manner of a man who loves fussy people and has absolutely no intention of changing his behavior for them... Although he also won't be mentioning falling off the ferris wheel. Injuries aren't as funny when they're still in the process of being ouchie. ]
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[ now it's heine making fun of someone, the someone in question being midnight. at least it's gentle teasing, assuming it's even perceptible as teasing under the flatness of heine's affect.
for someone who self-describes as a feral animal heine is actually not that badly behaved, all things considered. maybe he should change this and see whether it starts to earn him kaveh lectures too! (or maybe not.) he rubs idly at his knee, now healed, then his shoulder, barely sore still. ]
Make you a deal. [ they're codifying it now. ] I won't tell Kaveh if you don't tell Nails.
[ yes heine is aware there's a real chance midnight has never met badou but that's beside the point. ]
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[ Midnight laughs, looks over to Heine's now healed knee with some degree of interest and relief. Good. At least some things are temporary in life. Pain is most certainly one of them, under the ideal circumstances. One must count their blessings. ]
Done deal, although you might need to tell me a bit about this Nails individual first. Haven't met them.
[ Better to get that out of the way before misunderstandings pile up. Good communication 101! ]
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[ badou's only been on the network the one time, when he put up that awful drawing of heine (without eyebrows! mercy) and asked if anybody had seen his dog. if midnight missed that then heine is grateful for it, because the number of people in the weeks that followed who expressed mild surprise that he does actually have eyebrows was truly too many to count.
his eyebrows are just very pale, okay! he can't help being albino. ]
He's my partner. Definitely more likely to kill me than that fall was.
[ it's how they express care for each other: threatening to put each other's heads through the drywall in their apartment. ]
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How literal was that latter descriptor? You may be sturdy, but I don't see you as the sort to seek death for sport.
[ Which sounds like an absolute insane person thing to consider, but hey, Midnight's trying to keep an open mind here. Maybe they're just the argumentative sort of couple on a slightly more fatal scale? ]
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alas. ] Not very literal. He did throw me into the wall so hard it left a dent once, but that was back home and I deserved it.
[ it was after that thing with the don of the bourdone family, where badou had called heine and asked him to come save his ass and heine had said something like i don't know dude i'm washing my hair. there's a very, very faint quirk at the corner of heine's mouth as he remembers it. ]
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Well, in interest of preserving your current set of walls, I will resolve to keep this venture to myself. Or, no, that was a deserved punishment, wasn't it? My sympathies. Walls do tend to be rather unforgiving.
[ ... Speaking... from personal experience... ]
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This would probably also be a deserved punishment... [ heine is so good at getting himself into situations that make badou want to murder him. and badou is so good at somehow finding in himself the mercy to not just put heine six feet under and let him claw his way out when he finally wakes up.
they super really care about each other i prromise. ]
But also, I just don't want to go through the wall again.
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