[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.]
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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? ]