CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[dissimulative]

Yeah!

[ He talks in a pseudo whisper, mimicking gossiping housewives that are usually on older films, the era of B3W. ]

That's how people know.

[insinning]

[ Oria gets a poke to the cheek for that. Quit it, sir]

I guess I haven't been paying attention to those sorts of rumours at all.

[dissimulative]

[ Nyo.

Despite the cheek poke, he doesn't stop. ]

Yeah? The AOU GK chat room was exploding about it before Gunhild told us to knock it off.

[insinning]

That sounds like her.

[ Gossiping about make outs, dating and such...Sinclair would be lying if he said he wasn't a tiny bit curious but]

She's really nice like that, huh? The people who got caught were probably already embarrassed to begin with.

[dissimulative]

But the thing is... we don't know who they are.

[ Oria has the expression as if he's telling a scary story. ]

[insinning]

Do you really think anyone would fess up to that now?

[ Oria please]

[dissimulative]

Hell no.

[ Oria laughs. ]

I just find it weird that someone was in the military building guarded by security at the only two exits that exists here, making out in a not so inconspicuous area, and no one knows who they were.

[insinning]

[Well, when Oria puts it like that]

That is pretty weird, yeah. Maybe someone does know but wants to protect their friend.

[dissimulative]

It's so sus.

[ We're not going to talk about among us slang. ]

But okaaaay, I'll let it go. I wanna get out of here as soon as possible. It's so boring here.

[insinning]

I think everyone had more fun pointing fingers at whoever they think is dating.

[Sinclair laughs, and pats Oria's hand]

I know. Hospitals suck.

[dissimulative]

[ He quietly huffs. ]

They really do. I never wanna get sick again!

[ Says the person who rarely gets sick. ]

[insinning]

[Is this the first time Oria has been bedridden for this long?]

I know. I'm glad I got permission to visit this time...does your selcom have to stay offline?

[dissimulative]

It would be better if it does for less mental stress or whatever. It's more of a personal choice, though.

[ Peaceful. Quiet. ]

Though I'll probably have to turn it back on when I tell them about a possible hacker fucking things up.

[insinning]

I think I understand. [Sinclair had to block a lot of things to keep his head together. But that does remind him...he digs through his bag and pulls out a blocky device]

Umm, one of the researchers gave this to me when I was...[locked up??] with them. It's apparently an old school version of tetrio that's handheld. He said it was good to disconnect sometimes.

[dissimulative]

A handheld device?!

[ He takes it when offered and looks at it with wonder. ]

Oh my god, this is like... an ancient artifact, except not as fragile... I think?

[ He looks at Sinclair as if to confirm those claims. ]

[insinning]

Right? I was so scared when he gave it to me, but apparently he just picks up scraps and fixes them for fun...

[Anyway, since Oria is bedridden, he can have it!]

A lot of people aren't interested because they like their selcoms and wanyadora more.

[dissimulative]

That's true... beating wanyadora's popularity is a tough feat.

[ Sorry, he cannot make tetris/io trendy again. He looks back at the handheld with a newfound appreciation. ]

Thanks, Emil. I think my stay will be a lot more bearable now.

[ Hehe... ]

1/2

[insinning]

I'm glad. [ Sinclair beams. Ehehe]

I'll see if there are other handhelds he's happy to share if you want more.

2/2

[insinning]

[ He's about to settle in a little more when a nurse abruptly comes over, wheeling over a cart of questionable food

"Visiting time is over. Please leave so our patients can rest." ]

H-huh? Already?

[ Yes so get out, the nurse seems to say with her eyes as she stares him down. ]

1/2

[dissimulative]

[ When Sinclair looks over at the nurses, Oria' head does too. The blue eyes seem colder and almost glowing for a moment as he narrows them at the nurse. Spooky.

It's what the military staff are scared of seeing again. ]

2/2

[dissimulative]

[ Oria squeezes Sinclair's hand one last time while smiling a little. ]

Looks like it's time to go.

[ He pulls Sinclair closer to himself by the hand, quietly muttering: ]

I'll message you later.

[ Then he smiles his normal smile, letting go of the hand and waves. Bye byeeee ]

[insinning]

[ How odd. He swears the orderly and the nurse flinched away but why would they? It's just him and Oria, and it wasn't like Oria was doing anything weird. He squeezes Oria's hand in turn, trying not to notice how closely he's been pulled in. This is normal.]

Yeah. See you later.

[ Waving as he leaves and he goes straight to Dr. Faust about permission to leave with Oria to visit his family. Dante would back him up, he thinks.]

[dissimulative]

[ After Sinclair has been granted permission and Oria is finally out of the medbay, they take a subway to the Severine residence. It's about 30 minutes far by train, in which Oria talks to Sinclair about how the handheld device saved his sanity while recovering. He is so tetris-pilled right now.

But they eventually arrive to the destination, which was a quick bus ride and walk from the subway gate. Oria looks a little nervous, looking to the side where the cars should be and not finding any there. With the driest voice he can muster: ]

... Welcome to the abode, or whatever.

[ yeah hi welcome to the severine house, sinclair. The air feels fresher than around the military buildings and the greenery is vibrant. It's hard to tell if it's artificial or real by appearances alone, but you'd know the greenery is artificial when you know that growing plant on the barren, wasted soil is nigh impossible.

Anyway, Oria unlocks the door with the key that he always had (mom: you will use this one day) and the interior is pretty lavish with decor, but not overdone. Everything looks nice until one may remember that this is a house for three now, with one that doesn't even come by anymore. ]

Mom...? You home?

[ It's quiet. ]

[insinning]

[ Sinclair is a bit overwhelmed when he looks up at the Severine house? Mansion?

The air smells better somehow and that would be enough to get Sinclair admiring how nice it was if it weren't for Oria's expression. He holds Oria's hand instead]

... it's really quiet here.

[dissimulative]

[ Despite being government-regulated, sometimes you can straight up buy more 8MS, even if their usage is always recorded in data logs that the government will always peek into. Oria quietly breathes out the tension that he's been feeling when he holds Sinclair's hand. ]

... Yeah. It doesn't look like anyone's home right now.

[ He's already assuming that his father is out somewhere, because he's always out for some reason or another from what he remembers. ]

I think she left the rooms as they were. Come on.

[ Time to go up the stairs. ]