animus_network | 1st Message

I-Is this thing on?

[The screen shows Tara, looking more than a little confused and lost as she fiddles around with the settings on the terminal. Those of who you know her might be able to tell that she's different in appearance. Gone is most of the softness to her body. Now, muscles can be seen on her arms, as her shaking hands move over the terminal's settings. Her face is leaner, more angled, less round. Even so, she still looks healthy. She's lost weight, since being voted out and dropped back into the tower. But she hasn't starved. She's taken care of herself.

She also looks like she's been crying. Even now, Tara takes a swipe at her eyes as though chasing away the last few tears.]

It's...is it usual for people to be just...gone? To just...go away and, a-and not be here anymore?

...does anyone know what happens to them? I mean...our worlds, th-they're gone, right? So...if they're not here...w-where are they?

[But she knows. She knows in her heart what's happened. And so Tara plunges on, onto new concerns, onto new friends, onto new life and new problems that she might just be able to do something about. Tara wipes at her eyes, sniffles a bit more, and then forces herself to look back up at the camera.]

Well...it looks like the food's back, a-and the power, and...I've seen some people that, th-that I thought were in the pods with us. Guess that means it's over, right? That's...th-that's good. That's s-something.

Are you all okay? Everyone? Being back here, and all. I mean...I-I can't do a lot, with healing. But I can do some. I know a potion. Trust me. I-It helps. So, i-if you're still not feeling great...give me a call.

...I'm okay. [Some of you will know that this is directed very deliberately at you.] I mean, I'm tired, but...I-I'm okay.

[Tara turns to go, but stares down at her feet when she apparently bumps against something. Her eyes go wide in recollection.]

Oh! [Here Tara reaches down to her feet, and comes up holding a much battered library book. The title reveals it to be a book on edible plants. All in a rush, Tara forces out this last, sounding as though she's practiced it in front of the mirror] ...for later once, um, everyone's rested a-and gotten back on their feet a bit...I, I kind of think maybe we should prepare? In case something like this happens again.

I mean...it seems like they fight a lot. I, I wouldn't be surprised, if they all started fighting and left us here some time again. So, um, if anyone's interested...maybe we could all meet up? Swap tips? I only know about, um, plants from my world. Didn't know if, if there was anything else f-from somewhere else that I could have eaten.

...th-thank you.

((ooc: Holy frack, sorry for the TL;DR. But these were all the points weighing heavily on Tara's mind, and I thought it made sense for her to get them all out of the way at once. I'll be making a proper log post in a couple of days, in case anyone would prefer to catch her there.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Welcome back, Tara.

_{[Nothing is wrong at all here, nothing at all--]}

Somehow, I managed to take care of myself fairly well, so there's no need to worry on my part. I might be able to help you a little when it comes to the plants, though.

[Tara somehow figures out how to switch over to text, but not before Kohaku will see a look of absolute panic on her face.

She's actually been back for two weeks, you see, but had been making use of an invisibility spell whenever she'd returned to her room. Purely due to the risk of seeing Kohaku.

...but, well, this had to happen sometime. Tara laboriously types out a reply.]

I'm glad you're okay, Kohaku.

[...]

And I'd really appreciate the help.

_{[Kohaku, for her part, hadn't appeared in their room at all until the day before - she'd been hiding out herself, though it's just as likely they'd just kept missing each other.

Oh, she saw that look. But she won't mention it. Better for everyone to let Tara think she'd switched in time, right?]}

Heehee. Well, I'm sturdier than I look. No need to worry.

How about I come see you and we'll look over what all is in that book, and I'll see if I know anything from there, hm?

Yeah. I'd love to see you. [At which point she can fall on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Tara might have a new lease on life, but that only makes her actions before all the more awful to her.

...still.]

But can it be tomorrow? There are some people I'm looking for. From the pods. I just want to make sure they're all right, too.

That's fine! You know where to find me, so I'll wait.

[Tara's about to reply in the affirmative...when she realizes that, no, she doesn't.]

I haven't seen you in the room lately. Did you move somewhere else?

[Her nameplate is still there but, hell, Tara's found out today that all that means is that the person is still present in the tower.]

Hmm. Maybe you just missed me yesterday. Everyone who was in these 'pods' just got back then, right? You don't have to worry after me for being gone just a day. I appreciate it, though!

_{[Lay on the guilt, Kohaku.]}

Either way, I'll be there this time.

[Yeah, Kohaku. You just do that. Tara feels like she's just been punched in the gut. Especially since she's actually been here in the tower for two weeks.] Great. So I'll see you in the room tomorrow? Or maybe tonight. I'll be there this time, too.

[...]

I'mreallysorry.

((ooc: Want to time skip ahead to the meeting?))

_{[[OOC: Sure!]]}

It had become a matter of waiting, and that was easy enough. Kohaku made sure to nick a book from one of the libraries to read while she waited in their room, rather than get too bored.

She wasn't progressing far in the text, though. Mind abuzz at the coming confron.. meeting, more like.

It had become a matter of forcing her legs to move. Counting the steps as they fell away beneath her feet and then losing count as the numbers climbed and climbed, just like she was. Tara knows she should use the elevators, shouldn't keep Kohaku waiting that long. She tells herself it's that she doesn't trust the elevators with the power only just restored but, really, she can't bring herself to hasten the meeting anymore.

Eventually, however, Tara finds herself at the doorway to room 2-07. She knocks on the frame with a shaking hand.

"Kohaku...?"

Kohaku closes her book with a light clunk before answering, setting it to the side to fold her hands in her lap - proper, relaxed posture.

"Come in!"

The complete opposite of Tara, who looks as though she's either being pushed or dragged each step she takes into the room. She's trying to hide it, but the girl is obviously a wreck.

"H-Hi, Kohaku. Um...s-sorry I, I couldn't meet earlier."

Tara really is a mess, isn't she? But Kohaku supposed that is how a person reacts, when something goes wrong - they do anything but smile and lounge in the face of the party that wronged them.

It seems a little silly that Tara's not even the one that got hurt, and she's still shying away. "It's alright, I had a book," she pats the volume beside her, to point it out, "and I didn't have anywhere else to be. Ah..."

She slips into a concerned frown, now. "You look very worn out, Tara-san."

"I-I do?" But, no, it's been a long day, a long day of talking to a lot of people. Tara supposes that she does, and moves to take a seat on her own bed. She folds her hands in her lap but, unlike Kohaku, she's fidgeting and twisting her fingers in a nervous habit.

"I-I'm okay. I mean, um, the powers back, and, and the people are back, so...it's good, right?"

She keeps the concerned expression until Tara assures that she's okay, letting it melt back into her usual _{(does it ever change?)} smile.

"That's right. It's back to a much more comfortable status quo. I would say it was trying while it lasted, but! It's over now."

Or it's just beginning.

"..ah, but we were going to discuss something, right? About plants?"

"W-We...oh!"

Right. Yes. Plants. Gardening. She'd completely forgotten on the trek up here. Tara looks utterly embarrassed to have done so, a blush coloring her face.

"Well...I mean, while I was here, with the food gone, I-I kind of had to rely on the plants. I got a book out of the library, about them, but really, it's, um, kind of a miracle I didn't poison myself, a-and I still kept to the ones from my world. I thought it would be better, if we had a way to know what else was safe.

...w-what do you think?"

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