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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 * CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY>** Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly!

main: CheeryCherry
anonymous: panthera, aed
retired: gflynn (anon)

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[ Like she doesn't deserve to live... Because she killed her father? Because of what she did after? It breaks her heart. She needed help. She needed something to work, something to...

Riley keeps looking at that. She would've spent her life in a facility taking medicine that wouldn't cure her and thinking about killing herself. Not living, just existing. Is...that what Riley has waiting for her? Life locked up somewhere until she can't take it anymore?

She can't help Rachel. She can't even help herself. ]

I'm glad.
I don't want you to die or lose memories.
You aren't like other people, sure.
But you're still you.

There's a lot of hypocrites in the world.

[ lbr she's one of them— ]

This just isn't the kind of thing people talked about back home.

Thank you, Miss Riley. I'm sorry that we can understand each other in a lot of ways, but I'm glad for it! Getting to talk to someone about these things sometimes is pretty fun.

[ ...Oh. ]

You know
You can just call me Riley.
I think after all this, we're friends. Right?

[ Maybe...there is something she can do for Rachel, after all. ]

[Hm?

Hm??? Friends? With her?

...]

I think I'd like that, Riley.

[Friends...!]

[ She's a sweet girl. Strange, but so's Riley herself. And... She really never thought she'd find someone who understood her in this way.

Rachel's right. It is nice. ]

You wanna hear about some more weird cold cases?

Yes!

Great! Let's start with another Australian case, the Mystery of the Somerton Man...

[ It's weird. It's morbid. But they're having a good time. And that's all that matters. ]

Don't worry about that.
It's not exactly "normal" over where I was from either.

[I was so happy.]

[Despite himself, he finds a tiny smile growing on his lips. Despite the fact that the whole experience hurt so incredibly badly. Despite the fact that it didn’t teach him anything except that his ideal world is not achievable. Despite how easy it is to feel empty right now and how hard it is to care enough to change that—]

[He likes to hear that. That she was happy. It’s not something Riley talks about, really. Happiness.]

I see. So there's no way you can't think about it, because it comes as such a surprise.

[For a few moments he’s quiet, thoughtful. Just sitting in her presence, warm at her side. And then he moves one hand slightly and rests it on the inside of her wrist, a gentle tap. Like a reminder.]

You know . . . you can be happy like that, Riley. It doesn’t have to just be in the dream.

You must know by now that I don’t care what anyone else thinks.

[He says it with a hint of teasing, but he understands her point.]

What matters most is how you feel about yourself. No matter what anyone else says, those words are only tools given to you or weapons sent to damage you. They can help to shape or to break your own vision of yourself.

I know you don’t see yourself the way I do. But I want to believe that you — really you, on your best day, not your worst thoughts in your worst moments, not the things you’ve heard people like Aunamee say to hurt you — don’t see yourself as a monster, either. And in the event that you do, I hope you know I’m staying with you until long after you’ve changed your mind.

[ Riley doesn't really know what to say to that. Or to any of this. She's been running on fumes for some time now.

So. ]

Okay.
I'll try.

Goodbye Mr. Evangelisti.

[ What he says sounds foreign. She's tried so hard to be happy. Forced herself. Forced herself so hard that something inside her broke.

She looks at Giorno with a fragile little smile. ]

I sure hope so.

[ For a moment, Riley sits there quietly, until she finally feels like she can lift her head to meet his eyes. ]

If I say I don't deserve you, you'll be cross, won't you? [ She sighs. But she still feels so warm. ]

I know...I'm not the same as them. But I can't stop seeing all the ways that could change. Seeing them as fact. [ ... ] And you're...still gonna be here...even if I think that?

Talk to you some other time, Riley.

[Or so he hopes.]

[She breaks his heart, sometimes. When he smiles back at her, his smile is just as fragile.]

Can I give you a hug? I'm not very good at them, but I would like to try.

[ Oh, um. After a small moment, she nods and doesn't even wait for him to initiate. Riley just squirms into his arms and holds on for dear life. ]

[Huffing out a quiet laugh, he shakes his head.]

I generally feel I don't deserve you either, so no, I won't.

And yes, I'll be here no matter what you think. No matter how ugly or presentable it is. You can't get rid of me, Riley Williams. Easy to catch, impossible to cure.

[ It squeezes at her heart. Riley gives him a teary smile, big and wide and bright. ]

There was nothing easy about you to catch, Giorno. [ Thank you. ]

Like a tabloid, but for ordinary people.

[ Like when something involving another student cropped up on the morning news, and everyone whispered about it in homeroom. Like when someone decided to spread a rumor throughout the whole school.

Like when Will Byers went missing and the guys on the team all started taking bets on whether it was because Jonathan Byers had finally done something depraved enough to live up to everyone thinking he was a freak. ]

The teachers, too, seriously? They didn't get into hot water for being in on it?

[ Visualizing exactly how the internet works might still be a little beyond him. ]

[Ah. Yeah, she hits him like an anxious freight train, but — that's okay. That's good. With an exaggerated oof, he wraps his arms around her, squeezing tight around her shoulders and, on instinct, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.]

Let's keep trying, okay? I will if you will. And the things that don't feel safe to tell anyone else — about this, you know — I won't judge you. It's okay if it's messy. It's okay to . . .

[Oh. What's the best way to put this. He rests his cheek on top of her head, thoughtful.]

To still be hatching.

[There. That's good enough.]

[ Their badger friend starts devouring the raccoon and Riley wrinkles her nose and awkwardly pats it on the head before backing out. ]

Everyone knew about it, Steve. Besides, someone doing something about it would mean the school-board having to do something for once. [ She plops down next to him with a frustrated sigh. ] No one knows who first uploaded it…and no one really cares. The Tigers have always been the worst team in the state, anyway. Everyone’s used to treating us like a joke.

[ The worst team ever. It feels stupid, to try and keep that a secret. ]

[ Buried in Giorno's hold, she lets out a single little sniffle. Just one. ]

...Did you just...make a bird joke at me? [ It sounds like she might be smiling a little. Just a bit. ]

[It's true, a kingfisher would be her last guess. Would it be anyone's guess? Who here knows their birds that well, honestly.

Anyways, Trish could laugh about the fact she was right about Riley being a cheerleader, obliquely, if it didn't seem like Riley was ratcheting up the positively positive positivity in a way that is almost too much. Like a cake that's too rich, enough that Trish can almost feel her own tongue burning from it.

But Riley's not saying anything that's untrue, right? Some people genuinely love school, and extracurricular activities, and college prep.

So Trish pats at her knees.]

I see. I can't really relate, but I'm glad you found something worthwhile in it.

[Even if it...doesn't matter here. Except, it can!]

Yours is an attitude that will serve you well not matter where you go.

[ She tries.

She tries, and tries, and tries, until it breaks her—or everyone else around her. ]

Mmm, thank you~ [ Perfect smile. Perfect girl. ] That's really sweet to say.

[ Almost abruptly, she stands. ]

Hey, so... I forgot, I think I should get going? My friend, we were gonna...do a thing, together. If you could just...tell Giorno I dropped by.

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