[ well. she hadn't meant to leave, much less to be gone that long. once she's on the iris government center and has her device back, she makes the call.
[Aigis both knows and doesn't know how long it's been. Her internal clock ticks away, of course, as reliable as ever. Her records show the exact amount of seconds since she could no longer sense Minako's wild card nearby.
But it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel real. She's right back to where she was when she first arrived on this planet, lost and simply going through the motions of function. It could be a week or it could be a year and she would feel the same, hollowed out of purpose and too bereft to even begin to ask why. Like an anesthetized wound, she watches as it bleeds but barely feels it.
She's a machine, after all. She shouldn't feel pain.
Yukari does, though. Aigis watches over her while Minako is gone. For a lot of reasons she hasn't examined and doesn't understand, but also simply because Aigis knows that Minako would want Yukari to be safe. It's the only direction Aigis has, so she follows it dutifully, devotedly.
She dreams of Minako too. Of chasing her into a dark void and never being able to catch up. She has this dream every night, until she doesn't. Until she stops dreaming altogether.
So it doesn't make sense that it feels like a dream when her communicator lights up to spell out Minako Arisato. Despite her quick reaction time, Aigis doesn't answer immediately, because— if this is another dream, it'll be over as soon as it feels like Minako is within reach.
When she answers, it's with uncertainty and a twinge of fear.] ...Minako?
[ she lets out a sigh of relief when aigis answers, instantly flipping her communicator to video. minako wants to give her the visual confirmation, make sure that aigis knows this is real. ]
It's me, Aigis, I... [ she lets out a nervous chuckle, nearly manic, twirling a bit of hair around one finger. ] I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean to just—I'm back. I'm okay.
[It's me. It's her, it is; it's her voice, her face, as Aigis has known and relearned them here in Lunatia. She touches the screen of her device and feels a bit foolish for it, but she expects it to just...turn off and leave her with nothing again.
When it doesn't, she— well, she doesn't breathe. But it sounds like she's letting out a breath she's been holding as she speaks.] You're...back.
[Again.
She should turn on her video, shouldn't she? Minako is distressed. She's smiling but her body language is tense. Yes, Aigis should turn her video on.
So she does; there's cautious hope in her expression, but overall it's strangely distant, like this hasn't really sunken in yet.] It's okay. You're back. You're— unharmed?
[ good. it's... good, seeing aigis there. why does she still feel so tense? she can barely breathe with the knot of tension in her chest, all of her limbs feeling tightly wound and leaden all at once. ]
I'm not hurt. I didn't... I don't think I was sent back, I just... the next thing I knew, I was back on Iris? And when I saw how much time I'd lost, I— [ help. ]
[Unharmed, yes. But the signs are all there: Minako, for some reason, feels like she's in danger. Likely psychological causes, Aigis realizes, though she can't intuit anything more than that in this moment.
There's movement as Aigis stands up and begins to make her way out. To Iris, because that's where Minako is. She's more alert now, because right now she's got a purpose: to find Minako and make sure she feels safe.] It's okay. Please take deep breaths. It will help to calm your heart rate if it's elevated.
[Which Aigis can't read from here, but she feels like it probably is?] I'm coming to meet you.
[Before, the possibility of being missed never occurred to Aigis. After all, unless her Papillon Heart was destroyed, she could always be rebuilt. She could always come back to her friends.
But she didn't account for a world like this. A world where the dead get second chances and where her friends remember things from further in the future than Aigis ever imagined. A world where she couldn't be here for them.
So it's a confusing mix of feelings. Of treasuring Minako's love for her while also wishing desperately that Minako didn't have to feel the same fear that Aigis does. Some of that shows on her face, in the slight furrow of her brow as she continues to monitor Minako's body language and the waveform of her voice.] ...I understand. But you don't have to worry. Yukari-san and I are both still here. She will be happy to hear that you've returned.
[ it had been an almost cruel reversal, really. minako had been left to miss aigis for months after she first arrived. and while they've had time here—so much time to use as they like, days in the city or in the wilds or slow lazy days they never had the chance for—she's never been able to forget the precariousness of their position. and maybe this isn't really any different from normal life, and how someone can be there the next day and gone the next. minako's a walking, shining example of that, after all.
but still... ]
Good. That's... good. I'm glad you two had each other. [ she hates the idea of hurting them by leaving again, accidental as it was. now, forgiveness and relief are being offered so easily. ] Anything interesting happen while I was gone?
[Anything interesting? What they consider "interesting" varies, Aigis knows. Particularly in such a harrowing time, when her usual curiosity was eclipsed by the reopening of the grief that she'd haphazardly stitched closed. Nothing seemed interesting when Minako was gone.
She goes for a more objective approach to the idea of "interesting."] The Lunar Scientia is attempting to study the city of Calanthe. They're requesting large amounts of Chroma generation to allow them to do so.
[Yeah, that's what she'd heard. That's interesting, right? More interesting than how distraught Aigis and Yukari were.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
basically...tdm adjacent
ring ring, aigis. ]
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But it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel real. She's right back to where she was when she first arrived on this planet, lost and simply going through the motions of function. It could be a week or it could be a year and she would feel the same, hollowed out of purpose and too bereft to even begin to ask why. Like an anesthetized wound, she watches as it bleeds but barely feels it.
She's a machine, after all. She shouldn't feel pain.
Yukari does, though. Aigis watches over her while Minako is gone. For a lot of reasons she hasn't examined and doesn't understand, but also simply because Aigis knows that Minako would want Yukari to be safe. It's the only direction Aigis has, so she follows it dutifully, devotedly.
She dreams of Minako too. Of chasing her into a dark void and never being able to catch up. She has this dream every night, until she doesn't. Until she stops dreaming altogether.
So it doesn't make sense that it feels like a dream when her communicator lights up to spell out Minako Arisato. Despite her quick reaction time, Aigis doesn't answer immediately, because— if this is another dream, it'll be over as soon as it feels like Minako is within reach.
When she answers, it's with uncertainty and a twinge of fear.] ...Minako?
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It's me, Aigis, I... [ she lets out a nervous chuckle, nearly manic, twirling a bit of hair around one finger. ] I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean to just—I'm back. I'm okay.
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When it doesn't, she— well, she doesn't breathe. But it sounds like she's letting out a breath she's been holding as she speaks.] You're...back.
[Again.
She should turn on her video, shouldn't she? Minako is distressed. She's smiling but her body language is tense. Yes, Aigis should turn her video on.
So she does; there's cautious hope in her expression, but overall it's strangely distant, like this hasn't really sunken in yet.] It's okay. You're back. You're— unharmed?
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I'm not hurt. I didn't... I don't think I was sent back, I just... the next thing I knew, I was back on Iris? And when I saw how much time I'd lost, I— [ help. ]
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There's movement as Aigis stands up and begins to make her way out. To Iris, because that's where Minako is. She's more alert now, because right now she's got a purpose: to find Minako and make sure she feels safe.] It's okay. Please take deep breaths. It will help to calm your heart rate if it's elevated.
[Which Aigis can't read from here, but she feels like it probably is?] I'm coming to meet you.
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Okay. I just... I was scared, you know? That you two might be gone too, or...
[ deep breath. ]
I don't want to lose you, either.
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But she didn't account for a world like this. A world where the dead get second chances and where her friends remember things from further in the future than Aigis ever imagined. A world where she couldn't be here for them.
So it's a confusing mix of feelings. Of treasuring Minako's love for her while also wishing desperately that Minako didn't have to feel the same fear that Aigis does. Some of that shows on her face, in the slight furrow of her brow as she continues to monitor Minako's body language and the waveform of her voice.] ...I understand. But you don't have to worry. Yukari-san and I are both still here. She will be happy to hear that you've returned.
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but still... ]
Good. That's... good. I'm glad you two had each other. [ she hates the idea of hurting them by leaving again, accidental as it was. now, forgiveness and relief are being offered so easily. ] Anything interesting happen while I was gone?
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She goes for a more objective approach to the idea of "interesting."] The Lunar Scientia is attempting to study the city of Calanthe. They're requesting large amounts of Chroma generation to allow them to do so.
[Yeah, that's what she'd heard. That's interesting, right? More interesting than how distraught Aigis and Yukari were.]
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That is interesting. Do you wanna go? [ checking out a place like that could be fun, right? ]