CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

[insinning]

It's a holy night. Silent night.

All is calm.

Everything is b r i g h t.

Comments

[insinning]

[Sinclair imagines Oria standing still and listening without snarking and tries not to smile]

Mmm. What they wanted us to do was wrong to begin with.

[Of course, Oria going into rescue Sinclair against orders probably made it worse for Oria too]

[dissimulative]

[ He would blatantly yawn mid-lecture though. Fuck adults. Oria has been incredibly lucky that his "sentence" has been extremely light for what he did. ]

I knooooow. ABN really picked the worst timing for that too. People got to see AOU being dogs with tails curled to their bellies to prepare you on a silver platter, ABN being suspicious, and now forcing the spotlight on you for whatever reason.

[ Anyway, since Sinclair is on him, Oria rests his head on... whatever closest body part is available. Head? Sure. Back of head. ]

[insinning]

Haaah...at least the Limbus offfials are annoyed.

[ Sinclair huffs and tucks his head against Oria's shoulder. Better. Sinclair hadn't been present for the yelling matches but he knows it was intense]

[dissimulative]

Yup.

[ Oria lightly pats Sinclair's back. There, there. ]

Politics are gonna be an absolute more pain in the ass now. I'm so glad I'll never do this sort of thing.

[ He says that, but he's already mapping out a politics relationship chart in his head regarding advantages and disadvantages. ]

[insinning]

[ Sinclair pulls a face and nods, burrowing a little more]

Mm. It's annoying they can't be straightforward and just communicate properly without playing games.

[ Sinclair's patience, endless except it's permanently at zero for that.]

[dissimulative]

Yeah, because politics is all about power play--higher-ups thinking they're doing some grand 5D chess move, until they realize they've been playing the wrong game from the start and lose terribly. The forums have been full of complaints and some adults are actually protesting outside... probably like two blocks away? But I can hear them from how loud they are. Something about how AOU won't bow down to ABN. There are people not wanting you to go there just for that sentiment alone, so at least you kinda have support from the people.

[ It's not the sentimental kind of support that Sinclair probably wants, but it's... something. People are on his side, even if it's for the sake of their nationalistic pride. ]

[insinning]

Really? [It's definitely not the kind of support Sinclair wants, but it does move him a little. People out there care, even if it's not quite for the reasons Sinclair would like. He drums his fingers against Oria's arm] It's a little surprising. No one's gotten hurt yet, have they?

[dissimulative]

[ Oria shrugs. ]

Dunno. I'm sure the news will show up at our Selcoms eventually if someone does.

[ He sighs and leans back against the beanbag chair. ]

So what is Limbus doing to keep you here? Hopefully not assigning you a bodyguard.

[insinning]

They're threatening to get sponsors pulling out... and negotiating with prisoners.

[y e a h. Sinclair rolls over so he's not on top of Oria anymore]

[dissimulative]

[ Oria thinks that Sinclair is falling off, so he grabs and pulls him back on him. ]

I bet Shion will tell them to eat ass.

[ lmfao ]

[insinning]

[ Sinclair yelps and falls back on top of Oria and blushes again. It's just a selcom room but it feels real because of their respective p3 levels]

Probably but... they're still trying to get information on the virus out of him.

[dissimulative]

[ It's like being in VR Chat, so Oria has no qualms about doing much in this sort of virtual realm. Sinclair's reactions are cute though, so he will savor them. Thank you. ]

I should go visit him, even if he'll just give me the cold shoulder all the time. Besides, he can tell them that even for the virus interrogation. It's a very flexible insult.

[ He snickers. ]

[insinning]

[ help!! it's hard to focus when he's this close]

Mmm...well you're the most likely to get anything out of him I think.

[ Sinclair will respect Shion's hatred of him and Avoid]

[dissimulative]

[ Just don't focus. Ez. ]

Yeah? I guess I can go and piss him off right now... but I should prepare myself for that, then. His insults really bite. I bet he's gonna insult Aria to my face.

[ He doesn't seem very concerned about that. ]

[insinning]

I see. [Sinclair is, but there's nothing he can do about that. Words are just words but...hm.] It might be easier if you know how to rile him...though, I heard there's a way to hook yourself up to someone to steal information right from them too.

[dissimulative]

Emil, I can drop your name into the conversation and he'd probably be super angry like a raging bull.

[ He laughs, clearly not worried. ]

That method is still hacking though. I guess I should ask if Shion can do that too, but that method sounds so basic that I might as well not ask.

[insinning]

Hah... that's probably not the helpful angry.

[ Guilt still gnaws at Sinclair but he's learning to live with it.]

[dissimulative]

Is anger ever helpful?

[ He laughs a little as he plays with Sinclair's hair. ]

[insinning]

Mm...if you can use it to motivate yourself into doing the right thing, I think it can be.

[He's come to terms with his own anger too, bubbling away in the back of his mind. Oh that hair touching is nice...]

[dissimulative]

[ Hope Sinclair enjoyed the hair touching because now Oria is bongo-ing his head. ]

I dunno, Emil. That might be a you thing.

[ He says, despite Sinclair being right. He wants to tease him. ]

[insinning]

Maybe, but, hey quit that--

[ Sinclair tries to wiggle out and away from Oria. Nevermind why did he think Oria was going to keep being soft]

[dissimulative]

[ That's so rude even if it's true. Oria holds him there though. By the head. Good luck getting away like that. ]

No.

[ ❤️ ]

[insinning]

[ aaaah.]

If you don't, I'll bite--

[ though where will he bite is in question]

[dissimulative]

You're gonna bite with your avatar?

[ Oria continues the bongo. ]

People can't even take off clothes when they're avatars. You're so silly, Emil.

[insinning]

I know that--[Stop bongoing him?? He tries to turn a little. Can he headbutt? But Oria was right, it probably wouldn't hurt much to let him make an escape. Let the feral instincts take over, he knows he has them] But the way you keep patting my head is really weird--

[Can he grab that hand?? quit that. The easiest thing would be to log out and log back in, but he doesn't want to do that. He doesn't mind if Oria thinks he's silly]