[The greenhouse is a cage, and thus she's found, for now, that she prefers the rose garden--though beyond the enclosure, they're both very much the same.
Though the vantage point offers a view of many locations, Cantarella is also observing the runoff from the sprinklers, watching the water flow off the side and plunge below, an uninterrupted current.]
What a view, [she says mildly, twirling her open parasol behind her.] It seems we're never far from someone watching us.
[Whether that's over the forums or from some high, platformed garden...not much escape the magnifying glass here.]
[ man, why did he have to be thrown into such a situation to be able to be where he is now? a beautiful greenhouse (cage) with a beautiful woman... oh if only he could enjoy it. well, truly enjoy it.
he'll keep his displeasure to himself and only mention what is important. ]
It's kind of unsettling, isn't it? I'm no stranger to being watched but this feels kind of different.
[ father this. father that. ]
And as pretty as it all looks, it's equally unsettling. The rose motif is so heavy-handed.
And all red, too. It's almost as if they're stinging creatures, presenting us with their alluring but threatening colors. They do have their thorns, at any rate.
[The unfurling petals of the roses on the rose garden platform remind her of the stretching tendrils of a juvenile jellyrose, so named because it blends the pitch danger of the deep with the beauty of a terrestrial rose.
A plain rose is much less dangerous, but a bed of them is still sharp and unforgiving.]
You certainly scampered off quickly the other evening. [Her chuckle and her gaze are low.] Are you shy?
I don't think it would take much effort to analyze it—to find the meaning behind it all, especially if you factor the roses on our person. [ ...well. ] For some of us anyway; there are a good number of us who have some variation of red.
[ man, he really can't enjoy a nice conversation with a beautiful woman, can he? at least he doesn't feel like he has to have one foot already out of the door as it's just the two of them here. (just gotta make sure the path is clear.) ]
Shy? No one's ever called me shy before but—I suppose I'm not used to having so many eyes on me. I'm the kind of guy who stays in the back, you know?
I was like that as a girl. The littlest, and I preferred to keep to my work.
[So, if she were to describe herself back then, it'd probably be: shy.
Poor(?) Lavi, though, because with another twist of her parasol, she crosses the part of the garden between them, unperturbed by the wet ground, to lean and look a little closer. How is he healing? ]
Red's a striking color. I like it, too. [As ridiculous as that might sound coming from someone who's all blues and purples like a lightly luminescent creature floating in the darkest pits of the sea.]
[ okay, so, while there's no real gauge on what is "normal" as how to react whenever you find yourself something between a sentient car and a shadow on the wall, here is this guy who is doing some sort of...limit testing as you could describe it within the dark room.
not that it's obvious until a car suddenly pops out from the wall and appears right in the middle of the room. if a car could shudder (or shiver) then that's exactly what's happening right here. ]
[The darkroom is incredibly small—there's no reasonable way it should be able to fit a car, let alone one that just springs off of the wall and into the room.
Because the place is packed with troughs, basins, and tables, a few of them surely get shoved this way and that by his arrival, causing a splash of various development fluids. Cantarella only adds to the crowding, her ever-present parasol snapping open in front of her, an oddly sturdy barrier between herself and the vehicle.
...Which is in the middle of the darkroom.]
...This room is stuffy, but these fumes are far too tame to give me any effect.
[ oops. sometimes you just forget the size of a wholeass car within a small space that typically would have been fine with two people inside of it... except, well, he isn't people anymore now is he?
not that it stops him from acting like one as he'll "back up" and knock into a few more water baths and developing areas accidentally. ]
I didn't knock anything over, did I?
[ and before she gets a chance to respond, he'll pop back into the wall as a shadow, however, given that this is a dark room jumping into a shadow to have light cast on him it's only temporary as he quickly becomes a car again. ]
Ughh... Okay. [ if a car could sound nauseated then here is a car sounding extremely nauseated. ] Never mind, I'm not doing that again.
[Lavi the car, for however much he can perceive this response, is getting an extremely rare glimpse of surprise on Cantarella's face. It's mellow enough that it's still very much her in its expression, but it's clear from her features that she had no way to expect this. And how could she, really. There's a car in the darkroom, and she's been rattled back against the far wall by all the jostling.]
Please do refrain. You'll drown us both if you keep that up. [Please, please...cease. Stop rattling the chemical bins and basins and drainage pipes.
Parasol still at the ready but tucked beneath her arm, Cantarella checks her pulse.] Being disconnected from the frequencies has either envenomed my mind or my dreams have decided to conjure new nightmares. I feel perfectly fine. I don't suppose you could...honk loudly, dream Echo...and wake me up, could you?
[ poor cantarella gracefully losing her mind as lavi (car) tries to understand everything that has happened to him. it's been a very strange day for him, okay? at least he'll listen to her and stop moving around and simply just stay where he's at. perfectly still.
while a part of him is offended that she thinks that this is all a dream, he also can't blame her for thinking that it is. all of this is very close to what someone could expect from a fever dream... though since she asked, he will deliver.
enough an extremely loud HONK that's less of a car honk but more of a person (lavi) yelling honk as loud as they humanly can be and in extremely close proximity. ]
D...did that work?
[ you know. assuming that this is a dream. (it isn't a dream.) ]
I'm still trying to get a handle on all of this. It's very weird.
[ since she had told him to talk to her later after her little get together and he had told her that he would, then here is a lavi (shadow silhouette) for her pleasure to communicate with. or, well, perhaps and more truthfully displeasure to speak with given everything but what can you do?
it won't matter exactly where they meet up just as long as it's somewhere that isn't dark. he'll "approach" (or more like appear) beside her with a bit of hesitation. calm as she may be, it's never easy to come in contact with a dead body of someone you know. ]
[Let's say the cafe terrace, then, where Cantarella sits in an egg with a cup of tea that hasn't been touched. That place is rather brightly lit. He should be glad he caught her before she went to develop her photos.
With a bit of difficulty, though with clear effort, because she is being sure not to lose it:] Lavi. I'm glad to see you're still here.
[She gives him a smile, but he might by now recognize it as the deflective, arms-length kind.] Of course. There's a lot to deal with today, so I'm only trying to handle my thoughts.
[ HOW OFTEN WILL HE APPROACH WOMEN WHO ARE EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED?? it's fine, it's not like he didn't expect this. in response to how fragile she has become compared to the other times he has seen her, he tries to start off things lightly. ]
Sure am; it looks like I'm here to haunt everyone until the end.
[ whatever that is. ...that might actually be a poor thing to say all things considered. ]
I'm sure you have many thoughts going through your mind with everything that has happened and things that are going to happen.
[It's fine; it might have been a poor thing to say, but Cantarella will actually be the one to ask it.
From that alone, it might be obvious that when and perhaps even how it will end have been on her mind— some of those "many things" to which he alludes.]
A warning is not the same as witnessing firsthand...I hope we've prepared better for the things we were unable to give you. [Some regret there...she would have liked to know him better.]
Perhaps not... [ it's fine; cantarella can get away with it and honestly? looks like they're both on a similar boat for different reasons. there's nothing great about the current situation but as for him— ]
Maybe this is a poor thing for me to say, but I wonder if it was a good thing that I picked.
[ not that he thinks that annette is any shape or form a good "choice" in this regard. they all knew it was going to happen but it would be hardly on anyone's mind to targe any particular person for any particularly reason. ]
It taught me one thing that people seemed to have varying opinions on, and I wonder how many of us here would have done the same as me.
[ once again, our local lavicar is making use of his car feature of himself instead of his more shadowman version of himself as he experiments with the one of the new locations that have opened up. namely, the go-kart tracks. sure, there were other cars that could be used but in theory there was nothing that was going to be stopping him, right?
anyway, it's probably a bit of an odd place to meet her but given everything that has happened, maybe a little light-hearted fun wouldn't be so bad. especially considering the things that may come up as they have a little talk before her next meeting. ]
I don't see why not. Roads are meant to be traveled, aren't they?
[She is sitting so pretty for this drive around the intricate go-kart track, the most prim and proper passenger you could possibly have, Lavi.
She won't even fiddle with any of his dashboard settings unless he gives her permission. Still, where to begin... She'd like to ease into it, with a cup of tea or something softer, to acknowledge the long hour ahead of them.]
Can't argue with that. [ cantarella will absolutely be the most prim and proper passenger that he will ever have, and it's a good thing that she has no apparent interest in sitting in the driver's seat. and, sure the general feel of a go-kart track is to go as fast as you can, but lavi's going to be taking things a bit more chill. all of those others cars that are driven by the extras? feel free to pass the two of them up.
as for how to ease into things—well, sometimes there's no real good way than just going for it. so, once they hit a calm part of the track and all of the extras have sped past them, lavi will speak up with a bit of an apologetic tone. ]
I hope you don't think of me like some sort of prophet given how things have been this week.
[She is fully understanding and therefore fully accepting of her position as passenger princess. Don't worry, Lavi.]
Wouldn't a prophet be more exacting in their interpretation of their visions? [She teases...
Then her voice becomes more serious, though it remains, as always, in its even, mellow tone. If he was playing music on his car radio, he might not even hear her. Her hands stay in her lap.]
I've heard a little more about the three spells, the heat death of the universe, and the abstract designation of who's deemed worthy of rebirth. And, as I'm sure you've seen, another "contract" has stepped forward.
[ there was a hot chance that he would have been playing some chill tunes for the two of them while they enjoyed their "tour" of the tracks while having this conversation but it's also very possible that he turned the volume down when they started to talk. nothing wrong with background music until it interrupts the conversation. ]
I sure did see another person step forward with another "contract"! And from someone else who wouldn't scrutinize the terms of which that contract would have been made! Don't people think before they agree to anything?
[ why bother telling anyone anything anymore if they're just going to let themselves get scammed!! complaining and whining done, he'll sigh and go back to focus on the other things that she found out between then and now. ]
The three spells? I'm familiar with the other two, but only in passing and I didn't quite understand both of them the first time.
[ worthy of rebirth? easy. totally understandable. heat death?? look, technology and the scope of science in d.grayman is really confusing. too far in the relative theoretical sciences for him...for now. ]
[Cantarella goes down to the dorms, through the heavily risen "water," to change before the trial. To pick up a couple of things. She brings the swimsuit back, too, just in case. Thinking ahead, each time.
Rose Quartz is empty, and so are the catacombs. There's not a living soul in sight and no sound approaching, and when this is clear, she sinks down and holds herself low to the ground, breathing tight and errating. She will fast notice even a shadow approaching her and standing again, but for just this second, Cantarella crouches on the floor, the stone cold but not soothing.
[ as things were going to be played out, lavi figured that a death was to be expected, he had noticed some sort of discussion among some of the members of his fellow amethyst but had other things preoccupying his mind at that time. oh, how he has come to regret that.
while he would much prefer to spend time close to his fellow dormmates, there's another person who deserves a visit—a check up—to know about the machinations of amethyst. he didn't know where to start, honestly, so he's quite glad that it didn't take him very long to run into her.
and, well, all it takes is a quick glimpse of something for it to be burned into lavi's memory so no matter how quickly she'll respond to him approaching her, it'll be a sight that he won't forget. either way, here is the local shadowman rabbit who will be crouching close to her, but not too close even as a shadow. ]
[Lot of good it'll do her, but she does in fact move to stand immediately the moment the little rabbit's shadow creeps up on her. Most of their conversations relate to the fate of the Troupe, a conviction she will continue to take seriously.]
Lavi. Dear. My apologies. Were you looking for me, or just returning to your dorms? I didn't see the others on my way.
[She understands he may also want to be with them, the recognition of and regret for their loss evident in her tone even if she doesn't say it with words.]
[ if there was anything good to come out of this "environment" it would be that lavi has been forced to be better at reading into people's feelings and empathizing with them more. perhaps to his detriment in some ways. ]
I was looking for you; I'll have time to spend with the others but— [ how does he say this? what's the best way to approach it? he could just say it out from the gate but that would be unkind and they both deserve better than that.
he thinks back to just earlier in the week between a comical and clumsy "lesson" between a few of the others in his dorm. how he had played music for them and... he really had been focused on himself instead of anything else. ] —Dehya was the one who held your secret, correct?
I wanted to know if she mentioned anything to you that might have played a factor in what happened.
She did. [Hold her secret, that is; that's her answer to that, soft-voiced and a little tender. The pull hasn't fully left, if only because she kept it buried down so very deep. The catch-22 of hiding things.
But at the question, Cantarella's mouth lines out into an uncharacteristic and solid frown.] ...Once hers was returned to her, did she speak with you about it at all?
[Dehya is gone, so perhaps Cantarella still feels the need to safeguard it, even knowing how much they all mean to one another.]
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week 1 monday
Though the vantage point offers a view of many locations, Cantarella is also observing the runoff from the sprinklers, watching the water flow off the side and plunge below, an uninterrupted current.]
What a view, [she says mildly, twirling her open parasol behind her.] It seems we're never far from someone watching us.
[Whether that's over the forums or from some high, platformed garden...not much escape the magnifying glass here.]
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he'll keep his displeasure to himself and only mention what is important. ]
It's kind of unsettling, isn't it? I'm no stranger to being watched but this feels kind of different.
[ father this. father that. ]
And as pretty as it all looks, it's equally unsettling. The rose motif is so heavy-handed.
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[The unfurling petals of the roses on the rose garden platform remind her of the stretching tendrils of a juvenile jellyrose, so named because it blends the pitch danger of the deep with the beauty of a terrestrial rose.
A plain rose is much less dangerous, but a bed of them is still sharp and unforgiving.]
You certainly scampered off quickly the other evening. [Her chuckle and her gaze are low.] Are you shy?
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I don't think it would take much effort to analyze it—to find the meaning behind it all, especially if you factor the roses on our person. [ ...well. ] For some of us anyway; there are a good number of us who have some variation of red.
[ man, he really can't enjoy a nice conversation with a beautiful woman, can he? at least he doesn't feel like he has to have one foot already out of the door as it's just the two of them here. (just gotta make sure the path is clear.) ]
Shy? No one's ever called me shy before but—I suppose I'm not used to having so many eyes on me. I'm the kind of guy who stays in the back, you know?
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[So, if she were to describe herself back then, it'd probably be: shy.
Poor(?) Lavi, though, because with another twist of her parasol, she crosses the part of the garden between them, unperturbed by the wet ground, to lean and look a little closer. How is he healing? ]
Red's a striking color. I like it, too. [As ridiculous as that might sound coming from someone who's all blues and purples like a lightly luminescent creature floating in the darkest pits of the sea.]
I didn't catch your name in your hurry.
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me checking profiles to see if he'll be getting the boobs overhead treatment: HE'S 6'1"????????
LDFKGKJ HOW SHORT DID YOU THINK HE WAS!?
I DON'T KNOW?? CLOSER TO HER HEIGHT?? NOT A LANKY BIG BOY
d'fl;kgl;kdf that'd be allen actually.
allen's not like 5'2??? why did i think everyone in dgm was so short.......
allen's current height is 174 cm (5'8½") :')
week 2, monday
not that it's obvious until a car suddenly pops out from the wall and appears right in the middle of the room. if a car could shudder (or shiver) then that's exactly what's happening right here. ]
Oh, that's so unpleasant.
oh my god shay, HIT POST COMMENT
Because the place is packed with troughs, basins, and tables, a few of them surely get shoved this way and that by his arrival, causing a splash of various development fluids. Cantarella only adds to the crowding, her ever-present parasol snapping open in front of her, an oddly sturdy barrier between herself and the vehicle.
...Which is in the middle of the darkroom.]
...This room is stuffy, but these fumes are far too tame to give me any effect.
:pet:
not that it stops him from acting like one as he'll "back up" and knock into a few more water baths and developing areas accidentally. ]
I didn't knock anything over, did I?
[ and before she gets a chance to respond, he'll pop back into the wall as a shadow, however, given that this is a dark room jumping into a shadow to have light cast on him it's only temporary as he quickly becomes a car again. ]
Ughh... Okay. [ if a car could sound nauseated then here is a car sounding extremely nauseated. ] Never mind, I'm not doing that again.
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Please do refrain. You'll drown us both if you keep that up. [Please, please...cease. Stop rattling the chemical bins and basins and drainage pipes.
Parasol still at the ready but tucked beneath her arm, Cantarella checks her pulse.] Being disconnected from the frequencies has either envenomed my mind or my dreams have decided to conjure new nightmares. I feel perfectly fine. I don't suppose you could...honk loudly, dream Echo...and wake me up, could you?
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while a part of him is offended that she thinks that this is all a dream, he also can't blame her for thinking that it is. all of this is very close to what someone could expect from a fever dream... though since she asked, he will deliver.
enough an extremely loud HONK that's less of a car honk but more of a person (lavi) yelling honk as loud as they humanly can be and in extremely close proximity. ]
D...did that work?
[ you know. assuming that this is a dream. (it isn't a dream.) ]
I'm still trying to get a handle on all of this. It's very weird.
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week 2, friday (post invest)
it won't matter exactly where they meet up just as long as it's somewhere that isn't dark. he'll "approach" (or more like appear) beside her with a bit of hesitation. calm as she may be, it's never easy to come in contact with a dead body of someone you know. ]
Are you okay to talk?
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With a bit of difficulty, though with clear effort, because she is being sure not to lose it:] Lavi. I'm glad to see you're still here.
[She gives him a smile, but he might by now recognize it as the deflective, arms-length kind.] Of course. There's a lot to deal with today, so I'm only trying to handle my thoughts.
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Sure am; it looks like I'm here to haunt everyone until the end.
[ whatever that is. ...that might actually be a poor thing to say all things considered. ]
I'm sure you have many thoughts going through your mind with everything that has happened and things that are going to happen.
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[It's fine; it might have been a poor thing to say, but Cantarella will actually be the one to ask it.
From that alone, it might be obvious that when and perhaps even how it will end have been on her mind— some of those "many things" to which he alludes.]
A warning is not the same as witnessing firsthand...I hope we've prepared better for the things we were unable to give you. [Some regret there...she would have liked to know him better.]
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Maybe this is a poor thing for me to say, but I wonder if it was a good thing that I picked.
[ not that he thinks that annette is any shape or form a good "choice" in this regard. they all knew it was going to happen but it would be hardly on anyone's mind to targe any particular person for any particularly reason. ]
It taught me one thing that people seemed to have varying opinions on, and I wonder how many of us here would have done the same as me.
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the way this week sort of feels the way lavi predicted because of everyone losing it
PLEASE NOT LIKE THIS
week 3, wednesday
anyway, it's probably a bit of an odd place to meet her but given everything that has happened, maybe a little light-hearted fun wouldn't be so bad. especially considering the things that may come up as they have a little talk before her next meeting. ]
This should be fine, right?
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[She is sitting so pretty for this drive around the intricate go-kart track, the most prim and proper passenger you could possibly have, Lavi.
She won't even fiddle with any of his dashboard settings unless he gives her permission. Still, where to begin... She'd like to ease into it, with a cup of tea or something softer, to acknowledge the long hour ahead of them.]
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as for how to ease into things—well, sometimes there's no real good way than just going for it. so, once they hit a calm part of the track and all of the extras have sped past them, lavi will speak up with a bit of an apologetic tone. ]
I hope you don't think of me like some sort of prophet given how things have been this week.
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Wouldn't a prophet be more exacting in their interpretation of their visions? [She teases...
Then her voice becomes more serious, though it remains, as always, in its even, mellow tone. If he was playing music on his car radio, he might not even hear her. Her hands stay in her lap.]
I've heard a little more about the three spells, the heat death of the universe, and the abstract designation of who's deemed worthy of rebirth. And, as I'm sure you've seen, another "contract" has stepped forward.
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I sure did see another person step forward with another "contract"! And from someone else who wouldn't scrutinize the terms of which that contract would have been made! Don't people think before they agree to anything?
[ why bother telling anyone anything anymore if they're just going to let themselves get scammed!! complaining and whining done, he'll sigh and go back to focus on the other things that she found out between then and now. ]
The three spells? I'm familiar with the other two, but only in passing and I didn't quite understand both of them the first time.
[ worthy of rebirth? easy. totally understandable. heat death?? look, technology and the scope of science in d.grayman is really confusing. too far in the relative theoretical sciences for him...for now. ]
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i don't have an icon for this
i can't take this thread seriously anymore and i'm the reason
i'm so sorry also have a really thin tag bc i'm crispy
eats crispy shay like a potato chip
soooo crunchy like chicken skin....
oooh :9
w3 post-invest
Rose Quartz is empty, and so are the catacombs. There's not a living soul in sight and no sound approaching, and when this is clear, she sinks down and holds herself low to the ground, breathing tight and errating. She will fast notice even a shadow approaching her and standing again, but for just this second, Cantarella crouches on the floor, the stone cold but not soothing.
False bubbles burst, Cantarella.]
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while he would much prefer to spend time close to his fellow dormmates, there's another person who deserves a visit—a check up—to know about the machinations of amethyst. he didn't know where to start, honestly, so he's quite glad that it didn't take him very long to run into her.
and, well, all it takes is a quick glimpse of something for it to be burned into lavi's memory so no matter how quickly she'll respond to him approaching her, it'll be a sight that he won't forget. either way, here is the local shadowman rabbit who will be crouching close to her, but not too close even as a shadow. ]
Cantarella?
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Lavi. Dear. My apologies. Were you looking for me, or just returning to your dorms? I didn't see the others on my way.
[She understands he may also want to be with them, the recognition of and regret for their loss evident in her tone even if she doesn't say it with words.]
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I was looking for you; I'll have time to spend with the others but— [ how does he say this? what's the best way to approach it? he could just say it out from the gate but that would be unkind and they both deserve better than that.
he thinks back to just earlier in the week between a comical and clumsy "lesson" between a few of the others in his dorm. how he had played music for them and... he really had been focused on himself instead of anything else. ] —Dehya was the one who held your secret, correct?
I wanted to know if she mentioned anything to you that might have played a factor in what happened.
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But at the question, Cantarella's mouth lines out into an uncharacteristic and solid frown.] ...Once hers was returned to her, did she speak with you about it at all?
[Dehya is gone, so perhaps Cantarella still feels the need to safeguard it, even knowing how much they all mean to one another.]
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trial kneecapped me so bad on this but i'm sneaking in during endgame anyway because i want
me crying of the timing of this