maskormenace | text - absence makes the heart grow until it explodes

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text - absence makes the heart grow until it explodes

YO. I KNOW THERE'S ONE THING A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T REALLY WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE BECAUSE WE ALL GET IT: HOMESICKNESS. I KNOW EVERYONE IS MISSING THEIR HOME AND THEIR FRIENDS. I'D BE SURPRISED IF THERE'S PEOPLE HERE WHO AREN'T. NOT TO SAY IF YOU AREN'T THAT YOU'RE A WEIRDO, OF COURSE, I SUPPOSE YOU'RE JUST A BIT LUCKIER. NOW, I'M NOT GONNA ASK YOU TO TELL ME ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU MISS OR THE PLACES YOU MISS. THAT WON'T HELP, IT'LL PROBABLY JUST MAKE YOU FEEL EVEN WORSE. I AIN'T EVEN GONNA GIVE A BIG SPEECH ABOUT HOW WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER AND WE GOTTA TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT CRAP AIN'T GONNA HOLD UP. BACK HOME I HAD A LARGE TEAM OF PEOPLE WHO VARIED IN AGES. A LOT OF THEM GOT HOMESICK AND WHEN IT OVERWHELMED THEM THEY WENT ON A DOWNWARD SPIRAL. THING IS, IT'S REAL EASY TO LET IT OVERWHELM YOU. MAKE A LIST OF EVERYTHING YOU MISS. EVEN IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU THINK IS SILLY, LIKE THE TREE THAT WAS NEAR WHERE YOU LIVED, OR A CAFE THAT DID THE BEST VERSION OF A FLAT WHITE COFFEE YOU'VE EVER TASTED. ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF. EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT FROM EARTH. I GUARANTEE YOU THERE WILL BE SOMETHING HERE THAT IS SIMILAR ENOUGH IT'LL BE LIKE BEING AT HOME. EVEN IF IT'S JUST A GIANT ROCK THAT'S THE SAME SHAPE. NOT TO MENTION GETTING OUT AND GETTING FRESH AIR ALWAYS HELPS. DO STUFF YOU DID AT HOME. DON'T GET WRAPPED UP IN THE FACT THAT IT'S NOT THE SAME. YOU HAVE TO ADAPT TO HELP YOURSELF, THAT'S LIFE. BUT THAT THE SAME TIME... DON'T SINK INTO IT. DON'T THINK OF NOTHING BUT WHAT YOU MISS. IGNORING IT WON'T WORK, BUT NEITHER WILL DIVING INTO IT. FIND A BALANCE. DON'T LET IT OVERWHELM YOU.

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i don't know where you are or how to get around here just yet but that might actually work. i like dogs; never had one, but still

I'M AT A HEROPA DOG PARK. HOLD UP.

[beep boop here's a Not Google Maps link.]

IT'S RIGHT OUTSIDE A BUS STOP.

gimme a sec. be there asap.

[This is how hollow his life has gotten. He is on a bus going to the park to play with a dog because he doesn't have any hard liquor or ways to get it. Thank God he doesn't care about his self-image or this would be pretty thoroughly demoralizing.]

[see, to archie, dropping everything to pet a dog is 100% okay.

he's waiting near the entrance of the park, sitting on the ground with his big ass dog laying across his lap panting.

archie doesn't know what brendan looks like. that's a bit of a pin in the plan, but whatever. he has all day.]

[Brendan's not particularly noteworthy, appearance-wise. Dark rings under his eyes, a mop of dark curls, glasses that are a bit scratched, some bruises left over on his knuckles from home; any other bruises are covered by his jacket. Mostly, what makes him stand apart from the crowd is the cold mask of indifference he wears as a default expression.

Though he does pause and furrow his brow.] 'M not a dog expert, but we don't have that breed back home.

[He'd remember if they did. Those eyes don't exactly look friendly, so he keeps a bit of distance.]

[yaaay dark ring club

archie ruffles mightyena's fur and it boofs happily.]

I'm sure you don't. He's called Mightyena and he's friendly; I've trained him since he was a puppy.

[At least those rings are from sleep deprivation and not bruises for once. But give it a while.

Brendan kneels down, hoping being more on eye level will keep the dog's peace.] I always wanted a dog. My parents wouldn't let me get one, though; didn't want to spend the money on it.

[He holds out his hand for the dog to sniff before gently stroking at the fluffy fur. How do you dog.]

That might've been for the best, lad. They can get expensive and they need a lot of effort to take care of.

[mightyena sniffs that hand then presses its head into brendan's hand, boofing happily.]

Ya should see this fella in battle. It's like a switch has been flipped! But that's just how they do, ya know?

We had the money. They just didn't want to spend it on... most things, t' be honest. Might've been the effort bit, too. Used to leave a note on the table with some money for me to use on lunch and tell me not to get in trouble for a week or two.

[Clearly, his life was going great even before the love of his life died. He uses both hands to stroke the smooth, silky fur, just needing to have something in the present to focus on.] Good puppo.

...you do dogfights? That shit's illegal where I'm from. Dead dogs get more sympathy than dead people, I guess.

Ah, that ain't good. Sorry.

[his brow wrinkles and he rocks back on his heels.]

The fuck's a dogfight? Nah, that sounds bad. I do... somethin' else. It's hard to explain without soundin' like a lunatic. Just-- Mightyena, use Embargo on me.

[mightyena hesitates but... that was the order. it looks at brendan then backs up slightly. it barks a few times and glowing, purple and phantasmal chains shoot out of its side, wrapping around archie. he seems unaffected, shrugging at brendan.]

It was okay. Sometimes they'd each leave some and I'd have money to blow on whatever caught my eye. Which was usually books and booze - hey, is there a library here, do you know?

[Brendan thought he'd seen it all, but he just blanks on a reaction to the use of Embargo. In an attempt not to stare in awkward silence, he explains in monotone, eyes not leaving Archie's face,] Dogfights are where people put two dogs they've trained to fight for them into a concrete ring and have them rip each other to shreds. For money. Usually there's some lowlifes there bettin' on the outcome.

This is... not part of that. I think this is a 'your world only' thing.

That's fucked up.

[he shrugs off the ghostly chains and mightyena goes back to tail wagging and pressing its face into brendan's hand for pets.]

Guess so; we do use them in battle but it's... hard to explain. You see what Mightyena can do and they're happy to do it. You never force a bein' that doesn't want to fight to fight.

Life's fucked up. [He shrugs, though he visibly gets less tense when the chains are gone and resumes smoothing the dog's fluffy, silky fur back, watching it catch the light. Clearly, this dog was a lot better fed and groomed than a fight dog was.]

Dogfights are big money back home. So it's not anybody's priority whether or not the dog wants to fight. I ain't always been on the straight-and-narrow and I've done some shit I'm not proud of, but I've never even known anybody into that scene so I can't really explain it. [Even the worst people Brendan knew weren't about to watch dogs kill each other for entertainment. Apparently, there really was some honor among criminals, however small.]

Sure is. I wonder if they exist here...

[archie closes his eyes and shakes his head.]

Me an' you both, kid. Think we're on the same page with wantin' to beat the ever lovin' shit outta people like that though, huh?

If they do, then they're probably illegal here just like back home. Which means you could take 'em down if you could find 'em.

[Brendan scratches under Mightyena's chin, wondering if it like belly rubs.] Yeah. I can't do as much here I could back home, since I don't have connections here, but damn if it wouldn't be satisfying to throw people like that under the bus.

[Figuratively or maybe literally, since he has enough strength to do that, here. In the meantime, though, the doggo in front of him is getting all the belly rubs.]

[archie snorts.]

Well, ya got super powers now, right? What did you get?

Healing factor and a smattering of superstrength. Zero desire to test that first bit out, though.

Oh, yeah. Mine's water breathin' and I wasn't too keen on testing that one out.

[then sharpedo headbutted him too hard underwater, and archie was pretty sure he was about to drown. then he didn't! it was terrifying.]

Superstrength must be fun, though. Rest of us gotta go to the gym for that.

Not to be dramatic, but apparently the fact I'm not dead means the healing factor's already kicked in at least once. The file I got tentatively linked it to sleep - if I'm out cold, it gets put in high gear for awhile. Which is great, although again, I'm not big on passing out, generally speaking.

It is and it isn't. I keep worrying I'm gonna break something and I haven't met the other guys in my housing unit - guess we keep different hours - but I'm pretty sure breaking shit isn't a great way to make a first impression.

[this guy's dead? and his mystery girl friend is dead??? HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE DEAD?????]

Ey, at least that means you can literally sleep off any hurt! No waking up feelin' worse for ya. Physically, at least.

[he shrugs.]

Well, the houses here are pretty nice. I wouldn't be able to afford one on the job they gave me, for sure. You livin' in Heropa?

[Well, more like he came close to dying. Repeatedly. A coma was involved. As was a lot of internal bleeding. Somehow, though, Brendan's pretty sure an explanation might just make it all sound worse given that, like, at least a dozen people died the last night he was in San Clemente alone.]

I wonder if that'd be a good excuse to sleep through school. Since I got here in May I'll have to repeat my sophmore year; showing up is just a formality right now.

Heropa 001. Bland name, bland place, but there's air conditioning and that's all I was hoping for, honestly.

[for a moment, archie considers not telling him. he decides not to, given the circumstances.]

Well, I hope ya like me then, 'cause we're gonna be roomies.

Fine with me. So long as I get regular access to the dog. [Who he has been petting nonstop and is in the process of giving belly rubs to. Such a good puppo.]

Well, I let him wonder around the house. Might wanna close the door when you're in the kitchen, though.

[he snorts, leaning forward to ruffle mightyena's fur.]

And he won't do that chain thing or anything like it, don't worry. Only if I tell him to. He won't follow commands from anyone else but he's well trained. It's, uh. Crobat and Muk ya might wanna look out for.

Ah. Gotcha. [No feeding the doggo random things from the fridge. Right.]

...okay, I admit I'm not on my A-game today, but I'm still pretty sure those aren't things where I'm from.

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