007 ♦ Voice

[diamondlight]

[The voice coming over the journal sounds strained, rough, tired, and a lot of other things that imply its owner should really be in bed and not talking to people. But... it's also a little cheerier than it's been, and maybe that's enough.]

I know everyone's already started to chime in about being okay, and everything that's happened since the attack on the fortress the other day. So... I guess I should start by saying that I'm fine. Really, really tired, and I took a bad blow to my back that will take some time to heal, but I'm mostly okay. It's nothing some bandages and rest won't heal. [Probably.]

After that, though, I think I need to apologize. I said some... kind of careless things earlier. I wasn't really thinking straight, after... some things happened, and I'm afraid I worried a few people. So... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone straight to the journal after everything, and I kind of regret it now. N-not the part about telling everyone that the people had disappeared. Something else. Um... I'm just going to stop rambling about that for now.

I guess I'm just really burned out, and that's a hard feeling to deal with right now. I'm worried, and I'm exhausted, and I hurt, and there's nothing I can really do about it. I shouldn't be restless right now, but... here I am. So if anyone has any advice on not feeling like you've messed up really badly after everything that's happened, I would love it - I kind of need it.

[A short time after this goes up, Rikka's crewmates can find her out on the deck, looking out at the water. That, or preparing to make social calls to make sure her friends are okay.]

Comments

[rosettawall]

Precisely. I think that any of us are willing to do anything for one another, and so long as any of us are in pain, be it physical or not... The others will feel it. I'll do whatever it is I must, just as you have, and just as she has. Any problem any of us face is all our responsibilities, now... I think so, at least...

[As Rikka hugs her tighter and rests her face where she does, Alice's cheeks grow ever redder. Still, she reaches around - carefully and hugs her with her good arm again, leaning her head against Rikka's. She had just stopped crying, but the tears start to come again. Their cause is much different now, though.]

All you did was be you. I would not be who I am if it was not for the two of you just being that. I- I could say much the same... I have wondered much the same. [As they had discussed here, in fact.] But I know I do not have to worry about the "why" of that, not with the both of you, and I won't... Not anymore.

[diamondlight]

[Rikka just smiles at this explanation, because it sounds terribly familiar, and it's the role she's taken upon herself unofficially for quite some time, and officially for the six months before they came here, and for several more months since. She definitely won't deny that this feels really good, though - Mana has a way of making her feel like she doesn't have to have all the answers, that there's someone to guide her through the things she's not sure of. But Alice just gives her this feeling of safety. That nothing will go wrong, and whatever has gone wrong will sort itself out. It's a difference she'd be more interested in analyzing if she weren't really satisfied with how it felt at this particular moment.]

I think you're right. That's probably the one thing that doesn't surprise me about this whole mess. This only happened because all of us were so worried about each other that we went overboard.

[She rocks her head slightly where it rests in what is probably a shake of her head.] But really... I think I ended up with another Happy Prince somehow. Someone else I really want to give everything to, because I believe in what she's doing. It's not quite the same, but... it's close enough, don't you think?

[rosettawall]

[Alice had been blushing before, but that comparison sets her face on fire to am extent comparable Rikka's a few moments before. She'd already gotten the message that she had nothing to worry about with Rikka, but that was far and away not what she expected to hear. It was certainly something she wanted to hear, though.

Her arm tightens just an extra bit around Rikka, careful of both their wounds, and shifts her head a bit, letting her face rest against her blue hair a bit.]

I think so. Being able to hear that is one of the most wonderful things I could ask for, coming from you. Just... unlike that swallow, I want you to receive everything from me, as well... You and her both.

There's still a lot of scary things out there... I'm still scared of that, of even what will happen when I close my eyes tonight, or tomorrow... But with all of that from both of you, they seem just a little less scary, now.