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[bloodandblunder]

"H... hello? Um, this is me-- ah, Noire! I'm Noire, and I'm very sorry for missing you somehow... I promise I'm not avoiding you, unless you're scary or you're Mo-- trying to curse me. U-um, so when I can figure out how to-- ( beeps ensue, followed by a shriek of fright ) O-oh, no! What did I push, how do I-- make it-- oh gods, did I break it?! W-why can't we just talk in person?!"

[ BEEP. ]

voicemail; action ; video

Comments

voice; 4/10

[memlost]

[ Four missed calls... Well, he did hang up on her out of the blue. Would it have been better or worse if he'd kept the phone on...? In any case, he calls Noire without really wanting to. Explanations and worry and sympathy are some things he could go without right now. But she deserves to know what happened after he ended his call to her. ]

Noire? [ His voice is rather lacking. ]

voice;

[bloodandblunder]

M-- [ wow, she sure sounds startled in just a single letter, but where his voice is lacking, her voice is far too emotional-- relief, concern, the whole thing. ] Morgan!! Are you all right?!

voice;

[memlost]

[ Ahh... Such intense overreaction makes him smile a little, if not for very long. Maybe hers is a warranted reaction in the end. ]

Sorry I missed all your calls. I, um... got held up. [ Yeah... ]

voice;

[bloodandblunder]

I... thought so-- I called Masaomi, and he wasn't very helpful, but I figured out enough.

[ but that's not answering the question, Morgan. ]

voice;

[memlost]

[ A short silence. ]

Masaomi?

[ There's only one person he figures that can be, but he'll ask anyway. This is one person worth clarifying. ]

voice;

[bloodandblunder]

Ah... I heard his voice, right before I couldn't reach you anymore. He helped me out once before, and I-- I thought we were friends, but--

[ yeah, friends don't kidnap other friends' friends. ]

[memlost]

[ He's still not sure what to make of Masaomi. He did make a relatively fair offer and was only obligated to protect one person in exchange. Even so, he'd better not show his face in front of Morgan again. ]

He... tried to be peaceful. It didn't turn out that way, but I guess he tried.

[ A most grudging defense, if it could be called that, for the sake of Noire's possibly former friendship. ]

[bloodandblunder]

...

If he tried to take you away, that's not good enough.

[ and there's the tiniest bit of steel underneath her usual soft tone. ]

[memlost]

Me and... my mother.

[ Let's not forget her. It pains him to think that one youth could have defeated them both, and then a bit more to remember that his mother was only there for him. Guns. ]

[bloodandblunder]

[ ... she'd noticed the absences-- of course she had. Noire liked to make sure those around her were still present, after the first incident with Morgan and Zohra. But Masaomi had taken Robin, too? ]

I'm... I'm so sorry... [ How could she have just let that happen? ] I should have made him tell me where he took you, or tried to find you right after you hung up, or--

[ Why was she so bad at protecting people these days? ]

[memlost]

Noire... None of that.

[ On another day he would try to reassure her more energetically, but today this is all he's got. ]

Nothing was your fault. Trust me. [ Because it was all his. ]

[bloodandblunder]

Morgan... [ she wants to protest, because obviously if she had been a bit quicker, smarter, she could have done something to help.

But the tone of his voice has been weighing on her mind ever since he called her, and again, she asks the question. Subdued, but-- ]

... Are you all right?

[memlost]

[ Immediately, he regrets being short with her. He takes a breath and runs a hand through his hair before answering more gently. ]

Not really... to be honest. I'm sorry, I know you're just worried.

[bloodandblunder]

[ She's not about to accuse him of an attitude. ]

You don't have to apologize for anything... I know what kinds of things can happen to people when they disappear. And you even called me, instead of tending to yourself.

[memlost]

There's... not much to tend to. And keeping myself occupied is a little better, I think.

[ It makes him feel guilty, because these are his mother's feelings in this heart. But dwelling on them now hurts in a way he can't handle alone. ]

[bloodandblunder]

... Would it help if I came to see you?

[memlost]

... Are you sure? I'm probably not the best company right now.

[ But that's not a no. ]

[bloodandblunder]

I'm hardly ever good company on most days. [ matter-of-factly. ] But that never stopped you, so I don't mind at all.

[memlost]

Noire... [ DON'T MAKE HIM HAVE WORDS WITH YOU. ]

Thank you. [ Because he really would appreciate the company, even if he's probably going to be infecting her with his depression. Though she can't see it, his eyes wander to their training dummy shoved in a corner of his room. ] Could we practice some archery, maybe?

[bloodandblunder]

[ THIS IS ABOUT YOU, MORGAN. ]

Mm, I don't mind that at all. [ they'd missed a few days, anyway. ] I'll bring some of the extra arrows with me.

wow they are almost neighbors did you know this

[memlost]

All right. I'll set up at the usual spot.

[ He hangs up and hauls the dummy underarm, the poor thing resewn and patched up so many times that it only ever manages to get impossibly uglier. But it's been a faithful pincushion, so how could he replace it? It's worth the effort fixing it back up because... he loves ya, Sir Wallop. Every arrow is a love letter from his heart.

It only takes him a moment to set the good sir on the familiar busted and pockmarked wooden door at the promised spot. He sits on the floor and waits for Noire there, forehead to his knees. Fatigue gnaws at him, but sleep is impossible. ]

-- lmao not until you said that

[bloodandblunder]

[ it won't take Noire very long to get there; she keeps her arrows close, and she's still anxious about Morgan being left alone, so it's just a matter of minutes before she arrives.

It may or may not be apparent that she hasn't been sleeping well since he last saw her, or at all; there's a weary set to her features, and shadows beneath her eyes. But she's alert enough, and that's all that matters. ]

Sorry to keep you waiting...

THE MORE WE KNOW

[memlost]

[ -- Wow, what happened to her? He looks up and stands, a bad case of dried blood becoming evident across the front of his clothes. ]

Noire, you look terrible! What happened?

[ Never mind that he looks just as bad... ]

AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE

[bloodandblunder]

[ Almost immediately, Noire holds up her hands, doing her best to placate him. ]

Nothing, really! That is, I'm not injured at all! I just... with Hinata getting hurt, and you disappearing, and a lot of other people vanishing and bad things happening, I thought I should do my best to... do something. I didn't feel like resting until I knew for sure that everyone was safe.

[ So she hadn't rested, simply enough. ]

... You don't look so great yourself, either. [ a mumble. ]

[memlost]

[ Hinata got hurt, huh...? How many more of their friends were affected by this? And while he wishes Noire would take care of herself, this is just... Noire being Noire. A sigh. He'll try to get her to rest after this, maybe. ]

A lot of things happened.

[ He's already talked it out with Morgan, so at least it's a little easier to deal with now. And if it's Noire, he doesn't mind telling so much. He holds a hand out for her bow. ]

Kite... took my mother's heart out and replaced mine with it. [ Flatly. ]