overflow (september intro).

[polkabrows]

1. travel light

[ so this was it. off to go find a place in their new home, or whatever. while izumo definitely wouldn't miss the cold and barren walls of the space station (looking too much like the lab of gedouin's for her liking), she cannot say she's looking all that forward to being displaced again. with little more than the empty promises of their so-called saviors, and the reassuring smiles of people she's never even met before.

needless to say, she doesn't look all too happy as she steps into the common room (but then again, when does she ever?). as is her nature, she decides to take control of the situation as best she can, and rather than wait for someone to flag her down, she approaches someone who looks like they seem to know what they're doing, and holds her hand out between them, palm up. ]

Just don't get the wrong idea, okay?

2. home sweet home

[ in the market district, izumo weaves through the throng of people like a woman on a mission. though she isn't particularly short, she isn't all that tall either, so it's a bit of a sight to see someone so petite cut through the crowds like she's 6'7" and can benchpress 250 pounds. on her chest, right above her left breast flashes an immovable patch reading: ]

Secretly, I have demon blood, made a deal with a devil, and collect scrunchies.
[ but anyway, who cares about that, she has a mission, didn't you know. and if you didn't, you soon will, because all of her searching is currently getting her nowhere and so she decides she's finally had enough running around and stops you, yes you, in the middle of the market district to ask, ]

Where do they sell the locks?

3. flona cove

[ izumo isn't much of a party person. if given the choice, she'd much rather stay at home, listen to her music, maybe read a book or study. but she doesn't have her music here, or any good books, and anything she'd have to study for got literally swallowed up by a storm, so she's kind of left with nothing else to do. and while the prospect of holing herself up in her room all day sounded nice... she could technically do that any other day. and maybe she's a little curious to see what other kind of... people... her fellow refugees are.

though you won't catch her actively participating in any of the festivities. sure, she's dressed up for it, wearing a fairly standard striped bikini and a long-sleeve white button-up that she's left unbuttoned as a sort of cover, but she's primarily sticking to her little spot beneath a large beach umbrella, staying out of the sun with her knees drawn up and staring out into the beach with a most impassive expression.

in fact, it isn't really until someone wanders by, accidentally (or perhaps purposefully?) kicking some sand her way that she actually reacts, flinching back with a sharp scowl. ]

Watch it, you oaf.

[ welp. every party needs a pooper, right? ]

4. wildcard

[ feel free to catch izumo doing any number of other things! perusing the food at the beach party, fawning over the cute cakes and desserts that are on display, actively (and possibly viciously) turning down whatever poor soul got roped into that Shady Man's Pervy Request, etc... this brave new world is our oyster! ]

etc

this happened once, let's let it happen again y/y?
this too

Comments

[meinwaifu]

[He won't look away when she meets his gaze, his own almost a bit cold as he sees that fear reflected there. So she really hadn't tested it, then.]

[Nor will he say anything when Mike appears, alone and bewildered -- no doubt anything he could say might only aggravate what must be a very strange situation for the demon and he already got his jollies scaring off Yamantaka earlier anyway tbh.]

[As the circle is dispelled, he considers what he knows of Izumo, trying to assess where her mind is right now... she might run off after a shock like that. And he can't have that happen without at least assuaging her fears -- whatever they may be.]

[Maybe it's a bit strange for someone like him to think in such a way, to feel a desire to reassure another person like this. But after that somewhat thoughtless remark from Rin earlier, he feels more inclined towards something akin to kindness with Izumo. They have something in common here, after all.]

...Kamiki-san. There's an area of Thesa station devoted to all manners of creatures that have awoken from stasis, both normal and mythological. Amaimon's own familiar is being kept there alive and well -- despite him being unable to summon it.

Humans weren't the only ones saved from the storm. If your other familiar is not simply still sleeping, it's possible he may be there.

[polkabrows]

[ it had been a hasty exit, the banishment of her summon, made all the more desperate given her own inability to escape right at this very second; she's fairly certain if she tried to stand, her knees would give out on her. she will likely not hear the end of it the next time she's to ever call upon mike, but better his irritation than his rage.

or worse, his disappointment.

dimly, she is aware of mephisto speaking. she has yet to look up from the sand, but his words eventually trickle in, like light through a fog, slowly making sense. she works to steady her breath, her voice. ]

Y..You said the damage was permanent.

[ her hand clenches at her feet, fisting around warm sand. it is difficult for her not to automatically blame herself, to think it is some sort of failing on her part. mike never does anything without uke, and vice versa; if one has gotten well enough to awaken, and so should the other. and why would the orbiters release only one of her summons?

and so she turns it inward, wondering if, perhaps, the flaw in her redesign isn't just lost memories, or a different timeline altogether; could it be that she also lost the strength and will to sustain her own summons? ]

[meinwaifu]

...my apologies. I misspoke.

[He hadn't realized at the time, nor even considered, that Izumo would have also been affected. It doesn't count as a lie if he doesn't know, right?]

The damage itself is permanent. But whether the side effects of that damage remain indefinitely or can be corrected in time is another matter. Or at least, that is what the Natha relayed to me when I asked.

In my case, the sheer amount of strength I lost means it is likely permanent, hence my choice of wording. But for you to still be able to summon one familiar certainly implies that you could eventually summon the other in time.

[Though he can't help but wonder if that's truly the case or not. Perhaps if she had allowed Mike to stick around, she could have asked where he was before he was summoned -- if it was on Thesa station, awake, then it would make sense. But if he were asleep, or trapped in another plane of existence--]

[Ah, he'd rather not think that far right now.]

[polkabrows]

[ her silence lasts for a handful of minutes, during which she neither moves nor makes any true indication she actually heard him.

it is a deep, pervasive thing, the instinct to turn the blame inward. but every now and then a voice rings out past her own, and today, for some reason, is it the voice of a demon who had, up until just a few weeks ago, meant little to nothing to her. and vice versa.

they still didn't mean much to each other now... but still more than they had before. and perhaps that's all that it takes.

she stands, eventually. finally. dusting off the sand from her legs, turning already to head back, away. ]

I'm going to the station. There's still another half hour left on the umbrella. Use it if you want.

[ thanks. ]

[meinwaifu]

[The silence that falls between them is almost too comfortable. Like the silence between two people who don't need to speak to understand. And even when she does, he can easily read the meaning behind her words.]

[The change was ultimately something very small and subtle. And it's not as though they had much of a relationship before to compare it to. But for Mephisto, it was glaringly obvious a change had taken place... but why? What it really just the nature of their contract that caused this?]

All right. Until we meet again, then.

[Good luck.]