[OPEN] Library Shenanigans + May Catch-All

[petitejournalism]

CHARACTERS: Meryl and YOU!!!
DATE: Mid to Late-May
WARNINGS: Sleep issues & Tristamp spoilers! Will update more if needed.
SUMMARY: Some studying, some rough times, and a bakery run! Feel free to PM if you'd like to thread with her outside of these and I can set something up as well! AU plotting post over here!

Comments

[petitejournalism]

[ oh— wow, that gets her to pause and maybe even blush a little. what a thing to tell someone.

she ends up stammering a little, caught completely off guard by the comment. ]

I-I mean — you said you wouldn't do it again anyway, right? S-So it's fine, no need to tell me something like that! [ aaaaaahh...

averting her eyes to calm her little heart down, looking down at the ground below the swing. ] It's just... good that you won't do it again.

[ for the sake of everyone, including himself. ]

[duskspear]

[Meryl is looking a little red there. Perhaps he was a little too forward, but there was no falsehood in what he said.]

Knowing what it does to those left behind, I would seek another path if presented with the choice again.

[It may even be a similar decision. But he won't make it again without letting the others weigh in on what they think. He won't go at it alone and let the rest suffer. Someone as pure as Meryl doesn't deserve that.

His fingers wrap a little tighter around the flowers. The wrapping crinkles softly against their stems.]

So I say this as a promise to you, too. So long as it is within my power, I shall stay.

[petitejournalism]

[ he's so... serious. and clearly some kind of broken up about what happened. maybe it seemed like the right decision at the time, but seeing how the decision affected people may have changed his mind on that, she thinks. it's a rough situation, for sure.

she doesn't know if she could do what he did. and she doesn't think she'd be happy if someone close to her did it, either. she'd be pretty broken up about it.

after a moment, she reaches over to place a hand on his shoulder, the redness of her face fading as she takes on a gentler expression. ]

Hey, it's okay. You've remembered everyone, right? So, as far as I'm concerned, it all turned out all right in the end. Maybe you should try to focus on that part, now.

[ instead of dwelling on everything bad about it. ]

[duskspear]

[He angles his head toward her at the touch. Her hand on his shoulder is warm, and the tension in his face eases as he leans back. Hearing her words, he can say with confidence that Meryl is a truly good person.]

You're right.

[When she says it like that, the true end feels close, yet it's so far. He wants to believe that everything will turn out all right then, too—to lean on the hope she gave him when they first met.]

Now that I've remembered this place and the people in it, there's no better time than now to walk hand in hand together. [He watches the children in the distance chase one another with an abundance of laughter.] Then, one day, perhaps the rumors will prove true and we'll be rewarded with a way back to our respective worlds.

[petitejournalism]

[ hearing that bit about going back to their worlds puts something of a knot in her stomach. she knows she's decided that she'd take whatever chance she has to go back — it wouldn't be right of her to escape here and remain here, while everyone back in no man's land suffers. she'd miss everyone she knew there, too, and it just... well, it just wouldn't feel right to ditch the planet.

but she can't argue against how much easier it is to live in the place. there's the odd curiosity here and there, but there are so many luxuries. consistently running water, plentiful delicious food, weather other than "hot" or "sandstorm". not to mention how much safer it feels here.

so, she hesitates a moment, before agreeing with him. ]

Y-Yeah. If we came here, then there's a way to go back, too. At least, that's what'd make sense.

[ she has half a mind to ask if he misses his own world, but she doesn't want to dredge up those bad memories she knows he recovered. ]

[duskspear]

[The hesitation doesn't escape him. In fact, he's about to ask when she gives her answer. There's hope in it, but it makes him wonder what was running through her mind before she settled.

He does remember, though, the inherent hardship suffered by the people of her world. It takes him back to their first encounter in the ON world.]

Have you given thought to what you'll bring back?