npc contact.1

[adsum]

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As the game progresses, different npc faculty and students will become available for threading. To request a thread, please comment below with the name of the npc and the ic date in the subject header. Threads may be cut short due to mod availability, so please have a reason in mind for the interaction.

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Comments

[adsum]

[ Hiro's going to immediately turn around and tell Maya

Maybe not so immediately. Hearing a name— a name he recognizes, even if it's one he doesn't associate with anything good— makes it all so real. Personal. But then unreal at the same time, because for hope? He doesn't get it, shifting the bento box away from him on the floor so he can rest his arms on his knees and bury his face in them. ]

[closewithnewintown]

Yeah. Welcome to my life since yesterday.

... I made up this whole... romantic backstory in my head, or something. Where you and Maya had killed her to avenge Nao... None of it even seemed real, honestly. I didn't know her. It was like characters in a storybook.

... I really did think he was harmless. [sigh] Everyone's right. I'm just a dumb kid. I have no idea what I'm doing.

[adsum]

[ Was that supposed to be romantic... In either case, Hiro just sits there like that, silent and unmoving, for a good while, before lifting his head again finally. He unwraps one arm from around his knees and points at himself and nods.

Big same. ]

[closewithnewintown]

[vengeance is super romantic. look she had a pirate phase okay.]

You're not dumb. You're just sleepy. And you're older than I am.

[...]

... Do you remember? Your life before you got here.

[adsum]

[ He can be dumb and sleepy and old all at the same time.

He pulls his hand back to himself, and does that little wavey motion again. ]

[closewithnewintown]

I hope whatever you can remember is nice.

... Do any of them belong to the counselor now?

[adsum]

[ ...haha

He looks over at Stephanie, a little confused, taking the moment to think a little... but ultimately shakes his head. It's not like he would know. ]

[closewithnewintown]

I'm never gonna trade any to him, if I can help it. I'm pretty sure he just eats them. Maybe he turns them into pistachios... But, I kinda got one from him. He took it from Hyde, and I guess I just got dragged in...

... Do you know anything about people being buried alive?

[adsum]

[ She'll just trade Hyde's memories, I see.

Hiro looks almost amused at the idea of anybody turning memories into pistachios, but then she mentions people being buried alive and he pales immediately, ducking his head to hide the distress that takes over his expression. In the darkness of his arms, he squeezes his eyes shut. ]

[closewithnewintown]

[she frowns hard at his reaction. sure, it's definitely a spooky thing to think about, but it's all that...

... and she's a bigger idiot than she thought. nobody would scream out that name if they were in trouble. except.]

... Oh. Oh, Hiro. [and to force her hands to do anything but hug him, she places them over her mouth.]

[adsum]

[ It's okay. She would never have thought it since he doesn't speak. Since there's no point in speaking when you squeeze the very last bit of air out of your lungs screaming yourself hoarse and nobody answers your call. ]

[closewithnewintown]

[okay. how does she. comfort someone who has gone through such an awful thing without being able to give them a hug.]

... Do you wanna beat up Hyde? I can use my second wish to make him stand still and not do anything while you do it.

[yes nailed it]

[adsum]

[ He shakes his head, because, like... what did Hyde ever do to him? Hiro's not some bully who would beat up some random person just to feel better. ]

[closewithnewintown]

... Are... [sigh] Look, I really don't wanna make you talk about this. To remind you of this. But, I just... I need to know this one thing: The people that did it. Were they not Hyde and Moriarty?

[adsum]

[ ...

There's a pause before he lifts his head from his arms, just enough to peek up at Stephanie and give her an unsure look. Were they? There was too much dirt. It was dark. There were bugs. He couldn't see, couldn't tell. ]

[closewithnewintown]

The... memory, I guess. It's supposed to be Hyde's, but it doesn't make any sense. It couldn't have happened the way it happened under the rules we live by now, so it had to be...

[before. the time she can't remember. the time she will continue to insist isn't real.]

... How long ago did you come back?

[adsum]

[ He shakes his head, chin rubbing against his arm. Letting go of his knees a little, he sort of gestures with his hands, opening them from one knee to the next. Something between "two knee lengths" and "a long time" ]

[closewithnewintown]

... Longer than a kid should even be in high school?

[sigh] We don't remember farther back than a few months. None of us do. Nothing... solid. And that's... Something had to happen, right? Just to our group. If we were here, something made us all forget.

... Did you ever know me? Before that day in the cooking club room?

[adsum]

[ He hates high school. Kids should be in high school zero years.

He listens and doesn't comment, naturally, but at knowing her... he nods, slow, because sort of. He knew her name— he knows people's names. But did he know her? anything substantial about her? no. ]

[closewithnewintown]

I'm not gonna like when I learn how long away from home I've really been, am I.

[because there's only so long she deny what seems inevitable. not that she'd tell anyone else that.]

... Are you gonna be okay?

[adsum]

[ The correct answer is supposed to be yes, he knows it, but it's still hard to believe it, or want it, or know what okay even feels like.

But it's the right answer, so he nods, pulling the paper a little away from his legs so he can stare at the drawing. Is this being okay? ]

[closewithnewintown]

... It's okay to not be. [pause] I'm not sure when I'll be okay again, and I haven't even been through half the stuff you have... Admitting it is the first step there, though. That's what I've always been told.

[adsum]

[ Oh, that's what— he thinks for a moment how to mime this, but then realizes he doesn't have to, because he still has that scrap of paper and the pen: ]

thats what counselor said

[closewithnewintown]

[...

socks him in the arm. gently, but, still. socks him one.]

Don't say that! He's creepy; I don't wanna sound like him...

[adsum]

[ Ouch...

He frowns a little, like Stephanie had just said that about his sister or something. ]