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File 152176789057.png - (578.87KB, 600x800, nobody.png)
nobody
You open your eyes again, but you don’t see the dark streets of the city, disgruntled passersby, or fellow drunkards. Instead, it’s the warm glow of a quiet kitchen — her kitchen. It was cozy, as was the rest of the house — distinctly upper-class, but not big enough for servants. That was her dowry, absurd as it was. When you discovered it had been the house she stayed in since she was a child, things made a lot more sense: it had never really been your home. It was the princess’s playhouse, where she could pretend.

Just like now. Washing dishes. She was good at that — cleaning. It’s no wonder why. She turns away from the running water with the most delicate smile you’ve ever seen. “Another late night?”

You lean on the wall, keeping the length of the room between the two of you. “Whatever keeps me away from you.”

Her hand on the wet plate stops for a moment, then resumes. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were an abusive husband.”

You weren’t abusive, but you weren’t the best. Long hours, late calls, and a lot of pent-up stress and anxiety dominated most of your relationship.

“Let’s pretend I was the perfect husband,” you say. “Would it have mattered at all?”

She looks back at the sink and grabs another plate. “What do you think?”

You’ve considered it, again and again and again. Where would you both be if you hadn’t become a detective? If you were at home with her more often? If you appreciated her more instead of using her as a reprieve from a hard day at work? Would you be speaking with her in reality, instead of this twisted dream? Would you still have your old life?

“Of course not,” is your answer. “You were always rotten to the core.”

Kotohime puts the plate back down, but doesn’t pick up another. “Even when we were kids?”

“I met you when I turned eighteen,” you answer. “Our parents arranged for us to be wed.”

Suddenly, she breaks out into a fit of laughter that you have to tune out. After collecting herself, she says, “You can be such an idiot sometimes,
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[X] Tell Sakuya that they should be wary of Keine's involvement, and leave it at that.

Outright stating Keine to be a danger when her stance is unknown to PI sounds like it would needlessly antagonise the SDM and Keine towards each other. She still is a factor to keep in mind though.
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[x] Tell Sakuya that they should be wary of Keine's involvement, and leave it at that.

She's was a friend so outright throwing her to the wolves (no, not kagerou) sounds too much, but Koa's commentary on her has made me very very scared so doing nothing is not acceptable either.
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[X] Tell Sakuya that they should be wary of Keine's involvement, and leave it at that.

Gotta keep it at a careful balance, even if Keine is rather terrifying.

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cad82475-6570-41af-95e6-7f7daac725ed
It’s funny to be realizing this now, but this is one of the most important decisions you’ve ever made in your life, if not the most important.

“Well, everything looks in order.” Kamishirasawa says, leafing through your paperwork while wearing a pair of spectacles. “I’ve gotten things sorted out on my end. Reimu’s been informed, as have the relevant village officials.”

“There’s only one more step.” Keine says, taking her glasses off and looking you in the eyes. “It’s also your last chance to reconsider. Are you certain that this commitment is what you want?”

You nod. There’s nothing more to say at this point.

She offers you a grateful smile, as warm as the first time you saw it decades ago. “Very well. We have one last form to fill out, then.”

Your former teacher slides the final sheet across her desk to you, the text on it printed with a precision you know most presses in the village can’t match.

A few lines that have already been filled in by Keine’s neat handwriting catch your eye.

---

NAME OF ADOPTEE: Melancholy, Medicine
DATE OF BIRTH: N/A
PLACE OF BIRTH: Hill of the Nameless
BIRTH PARENTS: N/A

---

Now it’s time for you to enter yours.

---

AGE OF ADOPTING PARENT:
[ ] 20-24
[ ] 25-29
[ ] 30-34
[ ] 35-39

GENDER OF ADOPTING PARENT:
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
[ ] Other/Unspecified

OCCUPATION OF ADOPTING PARENT (Up to 2):
[ ] Apothecary
[ ] Artisan
[ ] Clerk
[ ] Cook
[ ] Farmer
[ ] Guard
[ ] Hunter
[ ] Laborer
[ ] Merchant
[ ] Scholar
[ ] Scribe
[ ] Shaman
[ ] Other

I, THE ADOPTING PARENT, HEREBY AFFIRM THAT I AM OF SOUND JUDGEMENT AND HAVE CHOSEN IN THE ABSENCE OF DURESS TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELFARE OF THE ADOPTEE.
SIGNED: [_____________]
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[X] Spoopy
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[X] Urgent
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All our options could be negative, but also could be simple.

[X] Spoopy
Except this, because I think it means a silly kind of scary.

[ ] Angry
This could be anyone or anything upset for any petty grievance so it could be as simple as someone frustrated asking for medicine at whatever time of night or a serious situation of a lynch mob.

[ ] Urgent

This could include any of the above and could just be Medicine needs something or comfort from a nightmare.

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File 154761937043.png - (2.37MB, 1754x1240, the witch in the devil's mansion.png)
the witch in the devil's mansion
♫: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG4a4ittWVg
[紅の魂 ~ 赤より紅い夢 - 幻想少女大戦紅 オリジナルサウンドトラック (さんぼん堂)]

・-・・ --- ・・・- ・

Music Collection: https://mega.nz/#F!1BdBzIKZ!bhLzijfM3iyphpueDOKf0g

Histories of Yatsugatake, a Suika backstory short: >>>/shorts/2180
THREAD 1 >>65260
THREAD 2 >>65548
THREAD 3 >>65922
THREAD 4 >>66462
THREAD 5 >>66845
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(X) Nightwish’s Wish I Had An Angel. (Flandre loved it)

Because she wanted him for a moment of love, I assume.
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File 157837600241.png - (3.86MB, 3100x3008, ojou-sama.png)
ojou-sama
THREAD 7 >>67966

Bump limit, I'll have the next update out soon(tm)
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>>67465
Chapter 16, Gensokyo, Past and Present, now ends here:
>“Of course I do,” he answered with a half grin and a reddened face. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, turned, and began to walk the dirt road alongside the Forest. Suika trotted just behind him, watching him with a blush on her face as well—until the smile on her lips pushed up her cheeks and she sprang ahead to tug down and hug onto his arm, squeezing rather intensely. He allowed it, but worried the oni might shatter the bones within.
Turning into Chapter 17 from then on. The title is also getting a change. I always thought it wasn't a great one--for one it's stealing one of Yuuka's themes.
Chapter 16 is "Fire and Water"
Chapter 17 is "The Night Sky"

Because of the additional chapter created, every chapter number after this is +1, making 22 chapters.

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File 151874855381.png - (405.27KB, 1922x1571, remilia's grimoire.png)
remilia's grimoire
1st thread: >>60957

You are a demon.

Your purpose is to answer the call of mortals who are in need of favours from beyond their realm. The craft of summoning interplanar beings such as yourself and binding them to contracts is known as diabolism and those who practice the craft are known as diabolists. As a demon, you are beholden to a particular set of rules, but like mortals, each demon will have their own sense of moral code. Some vehemently work against their masters outside of their contract; others go above and beyond the terms they were given. All demons must at the very least follow the word of their contracts, if not the spirit, and once you has been summoned into the human world, you are unable to leave until your master’s terms are complete or you perish in the process.

Your latest venture to the mortal realm has lead to a tangled web of interesting circumstances.

Your first contractor is Caesar, a young man who seems to have just stepped out of boyhood and leader of a group of supposedly skilled vampire hunters. His companions are Villy, a young girl with the ability to sense lifeforms; Deke, a strong and boisterous fighter; and Luna, a Japanese woman with strange knife-manipulation abilities. Caesar’s contract, detailed at the bottom of this post, has you bound to assist the group in “destroying a powerful adversary.”

The adversary in question is a vampire known as the Scarlet Devil, or Remilia Scarlet, though these names were never explicitly given in the contract. She is notable for her ability to manipulate the future to some degree. Caesar summoned you for this very reason; as you are a being from beyond this realm, Remilia’s hold over fate does not apply to you. After infiltrating her castle, a battle ensued and Caesar’s plans fell apart, so you elected to s
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>>67897
Ah, the crossboard link didn't work? Well, it's my post in the Nanowrimo 2019 thread.
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I think cross-board might be >>>/general/15943 (i.e. three of them), but I'm not sure.
Sage for if it isn't.
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File 154109548071.jpg - (1.41MB, 1600x1200, __yakumo_yukari_touhou_drawn_by_kaibu222__a1647039.jpg)
__yakumo_yukari_touhou_drawn_by_kaibu222__a1647039
The trepidation of a speeding train coming through with no destination in sight. Anyone riding the abandoned line between reality and fantasy could feel the pervasive foreboding: something awaited at the end of the track, wherever and whenever the train would eventually stop. The eerie violet glow seeping through the windows, obscured by thick, embroidered curtains of velvety touch. Creak after creak of uncertainty. Flickering neon lights, a small rocking, the interior going dark for a fraction of a moment, alone with the things outside. Shadows flashed over the rusting handlebars and adverts for discontinued products. Old scratches and damp spots and shrivelled filling littered out of seats unkempt for decades. And the drone and hiccup of the wagons’ wheels rolling on unending rails, the smell of the incense which Yukari Yakumo had lit to get rid of the stench of mold.

The youkai of boundaries had always had a soft spot for what could only be conceivably called a rust bucket on rails. As long as it suited its purpose, there was no need to spend effort in restoring the train to its former glory, and she had other more convenient methods to travel to the Outside. The velvet curtains were the only concession Yukari had made to making the interior more hospitable, and it was only because, for the first time in years, the Purple Express was carrying a passenger other than her.

The clack of her heels echoed through the train as the youkai slowly made her way across the endless cars. In normal circumstances, there would have been no-one riding this train at all. After all, it had been out of commission for years when she took possession of it, left to rust at an abandoned station. The way Yukari saw it, nobody would miss it, and she was doing everyone a favour by giving the old machine a second life—and for years it had run without stops, across the endless expanse of the boundaries between worlds, until she commanded otherwise. But these were not normal circumstances, and even the Yakumo Express had to reach a station some time.

Eventually, Yukari reached the car where the first passenger of the Express sat by their lonesome:

[]A stout, aloof woman, exil
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Heca is best sidekick (and hey, if we keep hanging out with Heca we'll eventually meet the Junky)
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Bumping to summon the writer, hope this story isn't forgotten. If you're busy, that's cool.
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Don't tell me the train's derailed, OP.

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File 156151610232.jpg - (129.58KB, 850x1166, CirnoWave.jpg)
CirnoWave
“Daiyousei! Where are you?!” I didn’t like this place. It had this visceral feeling of hopelessness and despair so thick you can lick it off the air. The kind that not even animals could stand to be in. Racoon and crows and such would run (or fly?) away in horror while bugs crawl away as fast as their tiny legs could carry them before they’re crushed by a deep sense of existential terror invoked by a cruel uncaring world. Darkness so deep and entrenching that even Rumia would stay the hell away from it.

But I didn’t care.

Even if I had to stop a meteor.

Even if I had to jump into a pool of lava.

Even if I to jump into a jaws of a mad raging beast!

I’ll still find you Daiyousei! Just wait right there and I’ll find you!

“Cirno?”

“Uh… What do you want Reimu?”

“Get the fuck out of my donation box.” So that’s why it smelled of dead dreams and poverty.

= = = =

“Hey! Come out you guys! I need your help!” I kept kicking on the tree where the fairy trio lived in. “Get your lazy butts out and help me for crying out loud!”

“...”

“Come on guys are you still mad about the last time I kicked your butt? I don’t really remember it all quite well, something about doors and seasons or whatever but come on! Let bygones be bygones right?”

“...”

“Okay fine! If you’re all going to be a buncha sore losers then whatever! I’ll find Daiyousei all by myself! Some friends you are!”

“...”

= = = =

I flew over to the front gate of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The gate guard spends most of her time outside so she must’ve saw where Daiyousei went! It has to be so!

“Hey! Meiling! Meiling!”

“Huh? Oh hi neighbor! What’s up?” When I flew over to her I saw that she was exercising… Huh?

“Uh… Meiling?”

“Yeah Cirno?”

“Are you… Are you doing one handed push ups… On top of a knife?”

“Oh? Oh! Yeah this?” She proceeded to do a hand stand on the knife that was embedded into the ground. “Just practicing with my Qi is all. If I focus all of it in a single
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[x] I want one.
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[x] I want one.

OI, A FAIRY BOSS NEEDS SUM GOOD GUBBINS
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[X] I want one

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File 152297788153.jpg - (9.39KB, 259x194, Orange-forest-creativity-16401082-259-194.jpg)
Orange-forest-creativity-16401082-259-194
Sipping her tea, Yukari watches the beauty of nature in fall.
Using a gap as a chair, she looks over the ocean of orange trees "Ah this is the life."
She relaxes until she finishes her green tea "Such a shame that this will end earlier than usual."
She says frowning remembering the little incident with Yukako and remembering the pain delivered from Reimu from her fight with her.
'Did those needles have to be so big?'
She sighs "Oh well." As she leans into the gap but stops when she felt something... off.
Then she understands, an outsider is going through the Great Hakurei Barrier. What is strange though is that the outsider didn't leave a hole, which while thankful, confuses Yukari on how they didn't leave a mess.
She opens a gap to view this outsider "Well would you look at that." she says to herself.
This outsider is dressed like a hiker, brown coat, bright-blue jeans and a pack back probably filled with a variety of goodies.
The outsider looks rather frail as if a simple breeze can knock them over! They are wearing small round glasses showing blue eyes. Black hair tied back to a pony-tail to keep it from blocking their view.
They look around the area before walking as if already knowing where to go.
"Well this is strange, how did they enter Gensokyo?" The way the outsider enter was like Gensokyo was just a part of the outside world. Perhaps a hole in the barrier? She gaps in the area after the outsider left looking for any holes, but found none.
Yukari scans the area looking for her shikigami, but did not find her "Ran wasn't able to detect it... stupid fox." shaking her head sighing.

What will you do?
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4e6ddb6d6b9d0272bf3ce408192d5a4a45c7152a_hq
While the conversation to Jesse is interesting, their worry for Keine outgrew it “Anyway Yukari, I should see how Keine is doing.” They say, “I’m a little worry about those injuries she had on her.”



To Jesse surprise, Yukari pouts “Leaving me for another woman? You’re the worst Jesse.” She says with a faux tone of sadness



Jesse couldn’t help but laugh at her small play “Sorry, sorry, but I just want to see how she is holding.” They explain looking over to the shrine


She shrugs “If you believe that’s the best course of action than I won’t stop you.” She says “I’ll be here until then.” She sits back down on the porch refilling her cup with tea


Jesse walks up to the stairs and enters the shrine, the table is cover in papers of all the student’s paper. The teacher herself is sitting down, with the small girl still sleeping in the futon. Keine wore a grateful smile when she notices Jesse enter



Jesse smiles back “It’s good to see you again Keine.” They say happy to see a familiar face making a bow to her



Keine stands up and bows back “Thank you for saving Yuki, Jesse.” She says



Now seeing Keine standing up, Jesse sees her battle damage clothing “Your welcome, by the way, Keine, what happened to your clothing?” Jesse asks



Keine looks up “Huh? O-oh this?” She then looks down on her damage clothing “I fought the first suspect in a duel and won, but unfortunately, she wasn’t the one.” She explains



She looks to Jesse “What about your hand Jesse?” She points at their bandage hand



Jesse frowns recalling the incident “…I really don’t want to talk about that.” They say, anger and sadness lingering in their mind with the tremendous pain burning into their flesh, they couldn’t help but shudder.



Keine eyes widen “Jesse… was it when you were coming to the shrine?” she bit her lip fearing that she failed her duty again. Jesse didn’t respond making Keine assumes the worst.



Her heart feels heavy, a burning sensation travels ov
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No choices for today, I will try to post the next chapter next week!
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Sorry guys, I wasn't able to finish the chapter today. I'll need more time.

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File 153687834442.png - (1.95MB, 1514x941, Setsubun.png)
Setsubun
A theme fitting for the tale ♫: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tXMk-vk7ns
[Tada Rin Toshite - Starry Sky Logic (Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets)]

Lyrics: http://www.faceorama.com/bluelight/kishidakyoudan/tadarintoshite.html

A story of magic.

Music Collection: https://mega.nz/#F!1BdBzIKZ!bhLzijfM3iyphpueDOKf0g

THREAD 1 >>65260
THREAD 2 >>65548
THREAD 3 >>65922
THREAD 4 >>66462
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Sir Gen!
THREAD 6 >>67429

Though it may be a little while until the next update. Current focus is >>/shrine/41060
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>>67102 UNLABELED! This is:
Wednesday morning.
Eleven days remain.


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Best I found
Previous Thread: >>64882

[32] "So, apparently I'm water-powered."
[32] "Ohh, by the way? Some redhead tried to murderize me and/or seduce me."

— - — - —

Picking it up, I found it to be both as soft as a newborn cake's butt and as goddamned cold as ice. Was a weird combo, to be honest. Was like it was somehow just pulled fresh from an oven that cooks by cooling somehow. Was left scratching my head more than a little over it, to be honest. Still, I got to relieving it of its papery threads, went about laying it bare before me. Au monchere. ...Or however you say it. Still, I'm being a bit silly now, so I figured I'd take a bite of the thing, finding an even greater shock to the system within.

The hell! The inside was piping hot!

Cold on the outside, hot on the inside and with fluffy, pink icing in a decoratively set pile on top. In the middle of all that, it was topped with further icing saying, 'BOO!' nestled into a neat little alcove among that pink. Although, that was more conjecture, 'cause I kiiiinda turned it into '300!' when I gave it a nibble. Proooobably should read cakey messages before I dig in, but y'know, hindsight still ain't something I have up front. Be kinda weird if I did, 'cause that'd be crotch sight or somethin' weird like that. Then again, she could just really freaking like Spartans, but I had a feeling it was nothing of the sort.

Lunch lady must have some sorta weird magical oven, though. For all its strangeness, and for all of its chilliness, the little cupcake was packed with enough sugar to make it considerable as some sorta confectionary A-bomb. S-bomb? I'd go with F-bomb if I could think up a good word for it. ...Fructose? Think that's somethin' sugary, but I'm not great with crap like that. I just know it's used a heck of a lot on commercials, to be honest.

Needless to say, it was delicious, though
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[x] As if I can just let her stay all lonely over there! Better sneak on over!

Let's show her just how stealthy a mansion-infiltrating witch can be
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[x] Who needs stealth when you got pizazz? I'll show that empty half of the table who's boss by parking my ass right next to her! I'mma sit the crap outta that side of the table!

Who needs stealth when you have PIZAZZ
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[x] Who needs stealth when you got pizazz? I'll show that empty half of the table who's boss by parking my ass right next to her! I'mma sit the crap outta that side of the table!

>>67391
Damn straight, son.

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an x-com is you
Reworked.

… … …

—you rouse: another dreamless night.

You lie in bed a while. Eyes taken of nothing; mind perched on nothing. Absent sense; absent bearing.



You sneeze, and notice yourself.

With a token sniffle you rise from your pillow, leveraging neatly into a pair of bunny slippers at the bedside. Pink and white and fuzzy all, they were the first thing you’d bought yourself when you had finally moved out of that glorified basement of an interception base, resolving never again to suffer the indignity of cold floors in the morning. You throw on a bathrobe, too, garishly floral, and stuff your nightstand pistol into the left pocket, suppressor slotting neatly through the hole in the bottom stitching.

Yawning, you trod over to the washroom and, with a single look in the mirror, cede battle against the bird’s-nest tangle claiming to be your hair. You’ve no plans of meeting anybody today, anyway. Still, you go through the rest of your morning motions, letting the cool water wash away the last remnants of drowsiness.

Sunlight peers through sheer curtains, suffusing the cream-walled apartment with a pleasant morning glow. You detour through the kitchen to emerge back into the living room with cheese sandwich in hand—and, already, mouth—and a bottle of tea in the other, pouring some into a mug before settling thoroughly into the flaxen sofa amid laptop and television.

Cold barley tea. Whistler scrolling its start-up. OEF-A; OEF Iraq. Article 5. Article 9.

Same damn morning as ever.



Arbitrarily, you hold up your mug and regard it. You regard its emblazon: a black-and-gold flash, unassuming but for its referent. You remember when you wore that insignia on your shoulders for the first time. You remember the pride—as if all mankind’s will and spirit and hopes and dreams were embroidered into those patches and painstakingly ironed onto the sleeves of your beige rookie coveralls. You remember your first deployment.

You shift your gaze. Underneath the insignia, a date: 7-7-01. July 7th, 2001. The Avenger program’s first—and final—launch. You don’t
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I apologize for bumping this but is there supposed to be a vote or anything?
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>>66992
Not yet, but it's coming. I post snippets early to try and keep at least a little bit of forward momentum.
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File 15413066239.png - (1.89MB, 1137x1660, bad at apologies.png)
bad at apologies
… … …

You find Eri commandeering the chairs outside the examination room, laptop balanced on her knees. A sheet of paper marked with arcane surgeon’s scrawl rests over the right half of the screen, bearing a crease mark down the middle to keep it from curling over. She collates it with a stack of others as you approach, closing her laptop and sandwiching the papers inside.

“Yo.” You wave as you make your way over. “Not in your office?” you remark. It’s not a question; you’re long familiar with her habit of turning up here and there around the base, using physical shifts in perspective to break out of mental holding patterns—so she explained it.

Eri gathers her hands together, resting them atop the machine, and looks up at you with a quiet resignation.

You muster up a friendly smile, holding it out as an olive branch. “Did it work out? I mean— worked out for my end, but for you?” you chatter. “Get any useful data, or? What’d the surgeon say?—”

“Iris,” she says, finally.

You give her the time she needs to put her words in order.

She continues. “I . . . more than anything else, I’m relieved there were no complications. And I should thank you for having endured under— such extemporised preparations.” She pauses, voice dwindling near to a whisper. “If . . . you feel that I—if I have—crossed any boundaries, I’m prepared—”

“No; uh, hey.” You hold up a hand. “Slow down a sec’?”

Eri stares at you, dark eyes laid bare.

“I— look— I don’t mind,” you say.

“Iris,” she murmurs. “You—”

“I really don’t. Not when the alternative is, what, half a dozen screws—”

“Iris.” It’s a more familiar tone, now: the one she takes when she thinks you might end up getting hurt. “That is not the issue at hand, here.”

“I know, but— look, there’s . . . something bigger on the radar right now, so— just take it,” you blurt, closing your eyes as the immediate wave of regret washes over you.

She’s
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