Scene Archives

: “Salme?” he calls out, into the void. “Where aaaaaaaaaaare you?” There’s not much around. It’s just the train station. And the train. “What are you weariiiiiiiiiiiiiing?”

: “Aury waxed his abs and wants to shoooooooooow youuuuuuuuuuu…”

: “Yeah, but those are mostly off in the distance.” He looks about- is there a lamppost right at the station itself? It feels like there should be one.

The Lamppost and Mirror are on the entire opposite side of the Ziggurat, though. Aurelius fiddles with his tomestone, then presses a button to ping the location of Salme’s while Awoken shouts like a dork.

: “I still don’t know what’s going on with that lamppost,” she says as she approaches the Awoken. She didn’t, perhaps, manage her time terribly well, and she’s been spending a lot of time with a brush and some burning gnosis trying to get her hair to fall in the loose, full curls it looks best in. She’s wearing it down—only the sides are pinned back in thick twists dotted with irrica hairpins. “Huh,” she frowns at her phone when it makes a ping. “I didn’t know it could do that.”

: “You did ask for the feature. And so.”

: “Also huh, you don’t usually wear your hair down. Looks nice.”

: “Oh, it has a function like that? How useful! And annoying!” He’s dressed back into his irrica-tailored mantle and half-frilled cuffs outfit, two carved charms hanging from the mantle clasps. There’s a simple leather wristband on his right wrist- thin, of a deeply dark blue- with a single pearl embedded within.

: “Thank you. Also thank you for the … pinging feature. How does it work?” She did dress up. Her dress is of a coppery-green, gnosis-worked, diaphanous material—transparent, with delicate shimmering, beaded embroidery on the wide sleeves that are gathered into long, heavily-embroidered cuffs. A bodice, made of a thick, darker green velvet, lends the garment shape, some modesty, and a plunging heart-shaped neckline. The skirt is heavy velvet paneling stitched into the transparent drape underneath. The dress’ skirt is hitched up over one thigh, revealing her well-worn leather boots and comfortable leggings beneath. She wears the irrica bracelet they bought her as well, but the dress does display a lot of bare clavicle, her long, elegant neck, and what cleavage she has to offer. Just saying.

: “Oh my! Salme, stunning beauty that you are- such you are also fashionably genius!”

: “It works via some very complicated math piggybacking off the BBS signals.” Aurelius is back to his normal outfit, though he wonders if he’s perhaps under-dressed now. Not that he remembers anyone on Almachadta being particularly overly dress before. Hm.

smiles at the Awoken. “Caion’s the fashion genius. I just have a lot of time and spare fabric on my hands.” She pulls out her Tomestone, checks her BBS messages, frowns slightly, and then tucks it away. “Well. Shall we?” She shifts her weight from her right foot to her left, then back again.

: “Right away, right away!” He opens the side door to the train, holding it open while offering a hand out to help.

takes his hand with a brief curtsy and boards the train.

climbs abroad last, shutting the door behind him.

takes a seat with the both of them, idly humming as the scenery goes by. (There’s not a lot of it. The station, the ziggurat, the lamppost, they all get smaller in the distance.)

Wings unfurl from the egg-like structure atop what would be the Liminal Express’ engine, and begin beating at the air in all colours, tossing a cascade of rainbowy light in every direction.

pulls out two tomestones and pearls, and sets about putting them together as they go.

: “Maybe a third? In case Wolf remembers someone he’d like to contact?” She says, nodding at the Tomestones.

: “They’re not that hard to set up, I can do it if he figured anyone out.”

crosses one leg over the other. “How’s he doin’, by the how?”

: “I mean, him and Archie both, really, but gotta get through the shallows to get to the depths.”

checks her Tomestone again and shakes her head. “Not yet.” She tucks the object away again and looks at the cascade of light. “I think he’s better? They’re both better. Archie talked with Wolf and I and he seems … himself again. Wolf … worked it out on his own.”

: “Ah. Well, not on his own, then. I’m glad he had you, silminnäkijä.”

frowns at Awoken. “Are you doing okay? I’ve never seen you get upset like you did at Wolf in the Septentrione.”

: “I’m glad this group is pretty resilient, all things told!” He dismissively waves a hand. “Ahh, that whole bit about suffering… I think that’s a place where we’re just not gonna mesh.”

: “That, and the thing about the Dream Whales potentially being about a trial of sorts…”

: “Going in thinking that you will suffer, with the will and skill and expectation we have- we’re all but guaranteed to suffer. So why make life hard before it happens?”

: “I figure it’s about equal that things work out, and then I’ll hip check ‘em into that path anyway.”

looks at him thoughtfully. (Rotating), you might say, then looks to Aurelius to see if he has any particular input.

shrugs a bit. “Think it was more so the phrasing, but, imagine me harping on that point.”

nods along. “I’m imagining, and it’s funny.”

: “It is funny,” she says. “I just … hm. It might be worth speaking with Wolf? I think. Well, it’s your business, not mine.” She’s off the train as soon as it draws to a halt, hand on the gate, pushing it open, hopeful, maybe a little scared that she’ll crack the door open to a world of fire. She pushes the door open anyway.

flips the conductor a lucre as he departs with a nod.

heads off the train, with a quick “Thanks for the ride!” to the conductor, and moves to Salme’s side, giving her a comforting pat on the lower back.

snaps his fingers into a point towards the devices.

: “We’re back!” he calls out to nobody in particular, it seems.

: “We have a date!”

: “Or, well, we’re on one!”

leans into the Awoken’s touch. “Well, nobody knows we have a date. I was sort of hoping it’ll work out?”

: “Oh, yeah, that was a warning call that we’re on business. Like, if they get in our way- we’ll smash ‘em.”

laughs, and leans more into the Awoken’s touch. “What’d you do to Tsem’s instruments, Aury?”

: “Nothing, just acknowledged that they were there.”

: “Hope they found something interesting!”

: “Oh. I thought it was … more magic.” She laughs, this time at herself, and strides to the edge of the quarry. It’s not too bad a walk to the Courtyard from here.

laughs at well. “Ah, naw.”

: “Mostly in a Rite.”

gasps in surprise. “Hey Swifties! Did your preternatural mount senses catch the narrative on the currents?”

laughs at that even as she approaches her own swift, or the one she’s come to think of as her … partner? Friend? Humble with her decided lack of apples.

hustles up to one, giving it ear and neck scritches and lil’ cute coos for a minute, before attempting to hop up.

: “Hmm… and these things aren’t fiends?”

climbs aboard one, then starts putting together a third tomestone.

Sits sidesaddle on the last one, figuring if Aurelius managed to ride one standing up, this should be just fine. Badri will hopefully have apples? And be home? This will be super embarrassing if he isn’t.

: “They’d be really soft, for fiends!”

is quiet on the ride, enjoying the wind through her hair and the sounds and smells of

… home. Because Almachadta is her home, as much as she sometimes felt like it wasn’t.

encourages his Swift to take as many leaps and twists as it’d like!

should probably tell them about that, shouldn’t she?

nuzzles in response and then bounds to Salme’s side, clasping one hand. Leaving the other open for Aury, of course.

: “I’d almost forgotten the color green, for a bit.”

hops down in order to move into position.

squeezes his hand. “I’d mostly forgotten what solid land for more than a mile felt like.” She offers her free hand to Aurelius, if he wants it.

takes Salme’s other hand into his own with a nod.

tosses the newly assembled tomestone to Izaak as he come barrelling in. “Wolf sends his regards.”

: “Hey there, Izzak!” He waves with his open hand. “Missed you too, big guy!”

idly wonders if the Tomestone is going to be enough to save them from the three-person bear-hug she sees incoming. She … doubts that.

: “Time flows like a very short river, sometimes.”

is very bendable and contorts to the squishing hug, though he needs to take a much deeper breath once he’s let go.

is remembering why her clothes for Almachadta were relentlessly practical. She’s starting to feel a little goofily rumpled. “Wolf is well,” she says with a smile.

: “Er. Yeah he’s fine. That’s a device that’ll let you communicate with him. And a couple other weirdos.”

: “It’s a weird world out there! Try to take it in stride.” He winks.

nods.

: “More or less. Is Badri about? I was hoping to …” she looks at Awoken and Aurelius on either side of her, and blushes. “Uh. I was also hoping to have dinner with him. But if he’s not around that’s fine.”

: “Had a thing for Tsem, too.”

mumbles, “I didn’t think Tsem was that cute, but I can kind of see it…” and tilts his head this way and that, studying the dirt.

blinks at Awa for one moment, two, and then bursts out into peals of laughter.

reaches across Salme’s back and places his fist against the Awoken’s mouth. And then pushes it forward a bit.

laughs harder. “Competition from an unexpected source!”

rolls with the fistpush, lightly chuckling.

: “Yeah, that’ll work.” He says, while handing over a second device after pulling his hand back.

: “Are you sure you’ll be able to stand not seeing your better half in the bark?”

rubs at his chin. “There’s still time for me to turn around without seeing anyone at all.”

: “Fair.”

does squeeze Aurelius’ hand then. “Are you okay?” she asks before they approach, voice low enough that Izaak (probably?) can’t hear her, though Awa can. “You’ve been quiet.”

: “You ask that every time I’m quiet, and still, somehow, always seem surprised that the answer is yes.”

: “See ya.”

: “See ya’ around, Izaak!”

: “Where’s home for Badri, anyway?”

: “Thank you, Izaak.” She gives him a little wave, and then shrugs unhelpfully at Aurelius. “You could be louder, if you wanted?” before going up to knock on Badri’s door.

: “If I wanted, yes.”

takes a biiiiiiiiiiiiig nasal inhale. “It smells… like a home.”

: “It does.” Though it’s never really been—whatever. She shakes her head, and knocks on the door again.

: “BADRI, SALME’S BACK.”

gives Aurelius a look of mixed … chagrin and … gratitude over her shoulder, before sticking her tongue out at him.

shrugs with a look that says ‘you asked for it’.

grins at Aury and his bellowing call. (‘Aury And The Bellowing Call’ could be a book title.)

wouldn’t ever sidestep it. Okay. Well she would and she has, but not here. Not now. “Everything’s fine. We’re just running errands and I was hoping I could drop in on you and trouble you for dinner with my … boyfriends.”

mumbles the last word, flushing.

: “Hey dad, we’re back!” He gives Badri a side hug of his own, with the customary masculine backpats.

hands Badri a tomestone as he makes his way inside and towards the kitchen.

looks at Awoken in a kind of shell-shocked wonder, mouthing ‘Dad’. It took her nine years and multiple apocalypses to work up the courage to call him ‘dad’ and he just … “You really are something,” she says in awe.

grins and quickly leans in to give Salme a peck on the cheek before swiftly entering the domicile. “We’re hoooooome!” he calls out to nobody in particular.

follows everyone, wondering what she’s unleashed on Badri’s home. Maybe Aurelius was just hungry?

nods slightly to the child, while making sure to give him a wide berth and not get in the way of his Important Task.

: “It’s a communication device. Like that thing Tsem has, except smaller, easier to use, and a bit more practical.*

: “You can contact us at any time through it. By typing. It lacks the elegance of letters, but this way we can keep in touch.”

: “…It runs entirely off of letters?”

giggles.

stares at Aurelius for a moment. “As in. As in letters you send? Written on paper?”

: “What? Oh. … sounds horribly impractical.”

: “Yeah, that’s how I feel when I have to see Aury’s handwriting too,” she says easily, going over to peer at whatever Josef is doing on the stove. “Sorry for barging in like this,” she says, though she knows she’s probably already been forgiven her indiscretions.

: “It’s a pretty busy place, inside that tablet. Don’t get drawn in too much!”

: “It’s not THAT bad.”

: “It’s not that bad, no, but I had to make some kind of joke while Badri has his big emotions.” She steals a bite of stew and notes that it could be spicier. “And there is a lot of stuff going on inside the tomestone. If you just want to use it to talk to me for now you can. There’s … well, I’ve made some fascinating discoveries.”

nudges Salme, slyly asiding- but still loud enough for everyone to hear, “Tell ‘im about the whales.”

: “Of course, we did show up unannounced and all.”

grabs one of the jars of crushed red pepper—nowhere near as spicy as the Samudran peppers, but still a nice, warm heat—and taps some into her stew. “Oh Light, I don’t even know where I’d start with the whales,” she murmurs to Awa, before smiling at Badri. “Yeah. I was hoping to send word ahead, but … we didn’t have a way to do so.”

pulls out a loaf of the aptly named FLUFF BREAD from somewhere, and sets it down on the table top, between everyone, before taking a bowl of stew and digging in, occasionally dipping some bread into it. (It’s already pre-sliced and everything.)

subtly cuts off some slivers of cheese and mixes them into the stew, and takes a big spoonful of a bite- the broth working its way down his throat first, warming his body, and then savoring the chunks of root veggie and dangerously tender meat as they work around the palate. He perks up at the production of Fluffy Bread, also taking a piece.

: “Sure did.”

: “Mmmm… we’re thankful all the same for what we have. Plus, we brought more!” He gestures to the bread, and then produces a folded piece of wax paper- inside is a much smaller amount of provolone that was present at the cookout, but y’know what, if there’s ever a time to use the rest of it, it’s now.

grins at Josef, and takes her own piece of FLUFF BREAD—Emelienne really did not rest until she had perfected it—and dips it in her soup. She looks at the provolone, and then smiles apologetically at Josef before saying, “Behold, bread invented by a very devoted Scholar-Baker from a pellucid world, and cheese from … somewhere. We’re not sure from whence. It was just given to him by, er, is ‘spirits’ the term?”

: “Fuck if I know.”

: “Sure. Spirits, benefactors, secret admirers.”

: “Sometimes, the gods love you.”

rolls her eyes at the line about the gods loving you, but there’s really less and less she can do to dispute that, and grabs a bit of provolone. “Thank you, Sininen.”

: “Give it a tryyyyyyyy, you know you want spirit cheese…” He openly cuts Badri a piece and puts it on his side-plate.

: “So I … basically … er. Well there’s a lot I can catch you up on, if you’d like, but mostly I wanted. I mean, you met Awa, sort of, but you never met Aurelius as my … er. Yeah. Anyway. Cheese. It’s good.”

takes a very large bite of stew that requires a lot of careful chewing.

nods slightly to Badri between bites.

: “Oh yeah. Can’t let go of each other, sometimes.”

: “All we can do to keep up with her, too.”

looks between Aurelius, who seems determined to talk as little as possible, and Awoken, who seems to determined to say … well, whatever he wants to say, and then laughs helplessly.

: “She was a real handful when she was younger, yeah?” He nods encouragingly to Badri, digging for dirt.

: “You can tell them. Awa already knows I stole the Sword-Saint’s Mask from you, and Aurelius and I spent … a lot of time fighting early on. Like. A lot.”

: “By her own admission, yes.”

: “Fortunately, we’re all troublemakers in our own regard, and now we have great accomplices!”

: “(It’s good trouble, really!)”

: “‘Good’ trouble, uh-huh.”

: “Me? Yes. You? Absolutely. Aurelius? He’s the responsible adult now who tells us not to do things and has a sober cup of tea in the evening with Yeresh Wolf.”

nods seriously with a grunt.

: “Ahehehe, you don’t know Yeresh Wolf very well.”

: “That’s—ah, Unua’s real name is Luĉja, they remembered it—and it’s them most of the time. I think we generally take turns looking out for one another? And also being incredibly reckless at other times?” She blinks at Aurelius’ … malicious giggle for a moment, and then says, “Awa, I don’t suppose you have your lantern? That’s a bit of good trouble Badri and Josef might enjoy.”

: “Oh, ho ho ho, I sure do.”

downs the broth from his bowl and sucks in the last bits of vegetables into his mouth, packing them into his cheeks. This is done so he could clear a space for the dark, steel lantern on the table.

: “It’s… the Truth-that-Loves.” He slides the mechanism that allows all the walls around the light to fall, omnidirectionally sharing the light.

: “It’s… really something. Almost, but not entirely like the Centrelight.”

: “Awa made it. To bring love to those who sorely need it, right?” She says softly

nods. “Yeah, more or less! Not really sure where the light came from, but we’re getting a glimpse of it all the same.”

gives him a strange look at that, but shrugs anyway. “And Aurelius helped me make the library that you can access through the tomestone. It’s a … receptacle of memory, stored in there.”

pauses, for a beat, and then says, “Did you know the Mask is alive?”

: “You’ve seen him argue with it before…”

: “Yes but.” She shakes her head. “It has part of the Duelist’s Mask constellation bound to it. Animating it.” She pops another bit of bread in her mouth, and then glances at Josef, before looking back to Badri. “It learns and grows. It didn’t always … believe what it believes.”

: “Yes, well, I suppose it probably is on a scale of human lives.” She shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “Anyway, that’s probably … there are some memories I’ll flag for you to look at, via the tomestone, when you have the chance.”

: “Hmm…” He taps the side of his cheek with the stew spoon. (It was wiped down, but he’s gonna have a little bit left on his cheek.)

reaches out and daubs the bit of stew off Awa’s cheek with a napkin.

: “Just (rotating) the concept of constellations being minds themselves.”

: “Oh! I can. There’s a … I spoke with it. The Duelist’s Mask. It’s different than the Sword-Saint’s Mask. They have different wills. There’s … a folio, in the library. One of the earliest ones.” She blushes a little. “I forgot who I mentioned that to. It happened between so many other important things.”

: “Insomuch as you trust his judgment, yes,” she replies promptly. “Tsem and … Izaak should be able to see themselves, provided Izaak is able to use the tomestone considering his massive hands.”

glances at Aurelius, expectantly.

: “Eh, Ember will figure out out at some point. I’m sure Izaak will too.”

: “Hmm?” She takes her own tomestone out of a very cleverly hidden pocket, looks at it, and bursts out laughing. “Oh no.”

: “‘Like a ladybug on a dinnerplate,’” she recalls, then looks up at Aurelius. “Ember doesn’t have fingers. What are they supposed to do?”

shrugs. “Remember they have some? Gnosis? I believe in them.”

: “They just have to… y’know.” He folds his arms and then bounces them up and down in a wave pattern.

: “Weird cat we found in the void.”

mouths ‘cat’ before saying, “hey Aurelius, would you say foxes are more like cats or wolves?”

: “(It’s a long-running debate.)”

: “They have very cat shaped faces…?”

: “Just testing a hypothesis,” she waves her hand dismissively. “Anyway, I think … we’ve wrapped up most everything here? I was … considering spending the night, and going back in the morning. There are some things I’d like to buy at market, but neither of you have to stay with me.”

: “I’d be happy to stay here. And if … either—or both—of you want to stay, the guest room bed is quite large.”

: “I mean, sure, it’s not like we had anything pressing to do in the void…?”

: “Of course we’ll stay!”

: “I already did what I wanted to do in the void which … er. I should. Relate. Soonish.” She looks guiltily at Badri. “Sorry for imposing further.”

: “(Thank you, silmät, for highlighting that),” she says dryly.

pulls a couple of things out of nowhere as Salme says this: a large metal bin labeled “SWEET BISCUITS”, followed by two large juggs of Decidedly Not Sweet Tear, then two large bottles of liquor (which he places closer tp Badri).

: “Hm?”

looks sympathetically at Awoken. “(You can show off the loving light of the True Sun but nothing will wow a child like producing a giant tin of SWEET BISCUITS).”

: “No, that was not me.”

: “Wait. Oh. Oh no. The sardine-infused gin?”

: “Sardine-infused gin?! Where?”

: “Did you drink it? You weren’t supposed to drink it? Do you … who drank it? You shouldn’t just be drinking strange spirits that are transdimensionally exchanged for very good Almachadtan beef.”

: “‘Good’ trouble, huh…”

: “Oh!”

: “Badri what the fuck.”

: “Right, yup, that was us.”

nods proudly.

: “Anyway, yeah, it was Awa and I. I was trying to do something nice for Aury. He barely noticed.” She … closes her eyes and presses a hand to her forehead. “Anyway, that’s Awa’s trick. And my idea. I probably owe a couple people some remuneration.”

: “Eh? But you got away with it cleanly!”

slides her hand down her face and looks at Awoken. “We are literally being accused as we sit here, rakas.”

: “Sorry, was I supposed to comment on your crimes too?”

: “See? I knew pops wouldn’t turn us in.” He nods confidently, beaming at Salme.

mouths ‘his row to hoe’ like she’s never heard it before (and if she had she doesn’t remember) and has to concede a point about weird slang. She shakes her head. “Anyway, if any … strange foodstuffs or random items disappear in exchange for other foodstuffs or random items, er, go ahead and pay people back out of my accounts.”

: “Completely unrepentant.” The Sweet Biscuit bin is opened up and he begins to chew on it.

: “The liminal food-theft recidivism rate is really awful, yes.”

: “Oh, yeah, I’m leaving this for ya’ll.*

: “Where’d you get that anyway?” She says, reaching out to nab a Sweet Biscuit for herself.

: “Same place you got the sauce from, probably.”

: “No prob.”

takes a bite of her own biscuit, which is … too sweet, then hands it over to Awa to try. “Is the liquor normal, or is it infused with strange fish essences?”

happily takes the bitten biscuit, taking a bite of it himself… he finds it pleasant, but nervously eyes the Decidedly Not Sweet Tea…

: “Why in the name of the Goddess would I be handing out fish wine as a gift?”

: “So someone can drink it…?”

: “I don’t know! I didn’t realize you were bringing gifts in the first place?”

: “That would be for a prank, Awa, not a gift.”

: “(He kind of is. If you ask him for something he’ll do it. Often without fanfare, sometimes without mentioning he did it. It’s both charming and infuriating).”

pours herself a glass of definitely not fish wine.

figures that makes sense. Aurelius is usually pretty serious about food. And if he planned this far ahead to bring gifts from Samudra when she mentioned going home to Almachadta. She blushes a big, and takes another sip of her drink.

thinks, then, for maybe the first time, that maybe Badri’s home is also hers after all.