isawallflower | RYSLIG; ic inbox

I can be. Just give me a few minutes, and I can be.

[ She waits, to send a response back. In actuality, she's alone right now, but she wants to make him sweat as long as possible. Minutes go by, more than just a few. Five, ten... It's at fifteen that she decides that's enough, she's seasoned this just right, and she opens an audio line, breathing heavily as she does. ]

Sorry- I'm sorry, I had to- nothing, never mind, what's going on?

[ A perfectly panicked, worried voice. Just what you would expect from Riley. ]

[Logically, fifteen minutes isn't a long time. But the wait is excruciating. He just ... doesn't know what to do with himself. He can't start anything else until he's finished speaking to Riley. It's reasonable that she might need to find a quiet place to talk; or maybe she was in the middle of a task of her own that needed her immediate attention. There are plenty of reasons why she wouldn't be able to switch to a real time channel right away.

It doesn't occur to him that this might not really be Riley who he's communicating with.]

We found Giorno.

[Fugo's voice doesn't sound particularly different. His grief is more difficult to place. But if she pays attention, Riley's double will notice this: there is an almost brittle quality to the way he speaks. Fugo always speaks precisely, but his enunciation, particularly around his consonants, is particularly sharp today.

Control, control, control.]

He was drained completely. I'm sorry, Riley. He's dead.

[ That's what she loves to hear. That wound-too-tight quality, barely hanging on. She knows it from memories, from what Riley sounds like. The only problem to killing her so quick is she couldn't savor causing it.

But, now, she gets to drink it in. ]

What?! [ A quick breath. Wet, emotional, in disbelief. ] What do you mean...drained— Oh my god. Oh my god, no.

[ She's never fake cried before. But gosh, it sounds so real, even she would be convinced. ]

[Ah. She's crying. This is not surprising and Fugo in fact expected this to happen, because it's normal to cry when someone you care about dies. No, not dies. "Is killed". Giorno didn't pass away-- he was murdered, by the double that crawled out of his skin. Fugo sits, stares at the bright screen of his laptop, and listens to Riley weep hysterically. He doesn't join her. His eyes don't even water. He waits until the worst of it passes, doesn't even try to interrupt her or calm her down, before speaking again in that same tight, too-controlled tone of voice.]

We've brought him back to the Hill House. [This odd turn of phrase, given that Fugo also lives there, is normal for Fugo. He has never once called Hill House his home.] There will be a watch, to make sure he isn't alone when he comes back.

[He does not immediately offer details about how Giorno was killed, where the found him, or the state of his body. It's pointlessly cruel. More than that, it makes him sick to think about when he otherwise needs to focus on what needs to be done to protect what's close to Giorno's heart until he comes back to them.]

We have reason to believe that his double is the one who attacked him. And that he's going after things-- probably people too, if he has the chance-- that are important to Giorno. That's why you need to be careful.

[ How...not detached. Not clinical. The way he's explaining, it's like if he goes into too much he'll break.

She wonders how far she can push him. ]

H- how? How— you're sure, it was him? Killed by- his own- no, no it's too— [ She breaks off in a fake sob. ]

Yes. [His voice doesn't waver. But, in a way, it seems a shade quieter.] Very sure.

[There is a long pause. Longer than Fugo thinks. Longer than he truly means. He doesn't ... really want to make her wait. It's just that ... it's difficult. To sort through all of the horrid details. Giorno's body, shriveled and still and smaller than it should be; papery skin pulled taut over his bones, each joint sharp and pronounced, the cruel and broken pose he was left in. At least his eyes were closed. A small and insignificant mercy; a forgotten detail, or maybe it was too much of a bother to stage.

He doesn't want to draw it out. But, at the same time, he doesn't want to hurt her more than she already has been. Will be. He is very aware of how bad he is at this.]

There were injuries on his body consistent with an attack from another vampire. Some of his personal effects were missing, including his housekey and distinct pieces of clothing.

[ He's struggling. He's suffering. It's so funny she could almost laugh. She has memories, of Souda, and Mukuro, explaining despair where they were from, and Riley, she never got it. But this Riley, she thinks she does. It feels so good, to drink this in. It's beautiful. It's powerful.

But she can't laugh. No, she keeps "crying," pulls away from the laptop for a moment, as if she's trying to collect herself—then gets right up, right close. ]

He robbed him?! He's- out there, with Giorno's things?! [ Smart. She did the same, taking the keys to Riley's places of employment, her apartment, the ribbon she left home with that day. ] How- how long...has he been- has that thing been- walking around as him?!

[ How long did it take them to find Giorno? Did his double leave him on their doorstep? How long did Fugo not know? How long, how long, how long? Innocent questions from a distressed friend, the best kind to twist the knife. ]

[How long. How long. How long.]

[The answer is simple: two days. There were approximately 48 hours between when they last saw each other, when Giorno smiled at him and said see you at home, and when Abbacchio found the body, propped up in the roots of his tree. There are still many unanswered questions. They don't know if he was dead the whole time. They don't know how long the body has been at the tree. They think that the double might have attacked him in the house and taken him somewhere else. They probably will never know.

But Fugo doesn't reply. He leans back in his chair, listens to the wet sobs on the other end of the line, and he thinks. Because he has already talked to Riley about this. She should know how long it has been. They talked about it yesterday, at the orphanage. Her double wasn't there: she was busy playing in the yard with some of the children, while Fugo and Riley talked quietly closer to the building and Fugo shared with her his worries about Giorno.

He hasn't come back to the house. He won't reply to my messages.

How long has it ben? That is not an innocent question. It twists like a knife, in his heart and in his gut. But at least he knows, now, that it was aimed intentionally.]

[Eventually, though, he reaches out to his laptop. Rather than replying to her verbally, he simply closes the audio line. Before he begins, his hand curls into a fist and slams into the face of the desk. Fuck. Fuck.

He's so sick of these goddamn doubles.]

Riley knew how long it has been.

Show your face at the orphanage, double, and I'll kill you.

[This message is short and to the point. He addresses the mistake. He lays out a consequence.

He does not threaten to hunt her-- obviously he can't. Nor does he interrogate her about where Riley is. The answer to him is equally obvious. She's dead. And there is nothing he can really do about it. Just as he can't hunt down the thing that killed her, he can't search for Riley's body to bring her somewhere kinder until she comes back to herself.

All he can do is protect this place. These children, who Giorno and Riley care so fiercely about. No harm will come to them. Not as long as he lives.]

[ Oh.

Oh, he's not too upset to think, is he?

Riley probably mentioned something. But she had so many memories and they're all more helpful. Things she can look through easily, without all her fucking whining. Riley also never let her go to the orphanage, which was smart. She doesn't care about those fucking brats. That objective fact, that the real Riley does and she would light the whole building aflame if it benefitted her was what made her realize.

That's probably where Fugo asked her. It's where Riley runs into Fugo most. Those little urchins ruin everything again. If she didn't know she was the fake, all of this could've been avoided. It's their fault, truly. ]

Aw, you're done playing already?

Why weren't you there, Fugo?
Why didn't you protect him?

[There is a reason that Fugo has fallen back to text. And it's this: he knew she would taunt him and he knew he would not have been able to hide that it hurts. Because it does sting. He was fooled, if only for a little while. And the fact that he wasn't with Giorno when he died, that he allowed the patterns of day-to-day business supersede looking for him--

He can't think about it. He won't think about it. Until the doubles are dead and gone, he has no room or energy to spare on self-pity.]

Wow. You really had to think hard to come up with those, didn't you?

You're sloppy. I give it 12 hours, max, before you run into one of Riley's other friends whose positions aren't as inflexible as mine. Once I get in touch with Harrington, you're screwed.

[ She rolls her eyes. He's sulking. She wishes she could see him. ]

Where IS Steve Harrington nowadays, huh? I've been all over and I haven't seen him once.
Interesting.

Edited 2022-02-07 03:33 (UTC)

Wouldn't you like to know?

[Harrington is on the way. He's coming. He said he would come, that he would be here as soon as possible--

But he isn't here yet. He'll ... be here soon. He'll be here soon.]

Mature.

You can hope all you want. It won't make any of them wake up faster.

Goodbye, Fugo. Maybe I'll come pay my respects sometime to the dearly departed.

[ She doesn't. But she'd love it if she could give him just one last bit of stress. ]

Your threats are about as creative as your taunts. You really don't know what to do once someone catches you.

But, sure. If you do make the phenomenally stupid decision to show up at the Hill House (which, for the record, I sincerely doubt you will) the others will be ready for you.

[Hill House has plenty of defenses, including a very protective blood golem and a thirteen year old who can stop time. This is Fugo, so of course he will worry about it, but comparatively less than he is about the orphanage. And much, much less about where Riley might be.

Because that's what he really hates. That's the area where he feels truly powerless. If her behavior during this conversation is anything to go by, her double is sure to have left Riley someplace cruel and uncomfortable. But he can't look for her and protect the orphanage at the same time.]

[ The double doesn't send anything back.

When Riley revives on the 21st, she doesn't have immediate access to her laptop. Her double left it in her apartment after threatening Cairo and deciding not to return to there. Riley had to fight her way out of a mountain of trash, had to clean herself, had to take time to breathe. Took enough time to make sure Cairo was okay, to stumble upon her laptop, to see what messages might have been sent or received, saw— ]

fugo im sorry
its me
you dont have to know its me
just im ok

im gonna find her
i hope giornos back too

[ ...She barely has time to check her laptop again. Not until the doubles explode, and she's sure hers is gone. She's too busy searching...and then too exhausted. ]

[There is no real way to know if this is just the double fucking with him again. Even so: eventually, the real Riley will read this. It's important that she get this message, eventually, so for the time being he'll reply with her in mind.]

I'm relieved to know that you are back with us, Riley. But don't need to apologize for things you didn't say. That wasn't you.

Giorno hasn't come back yet, but Steve is with him at the Hill House. He won't wake up alone.

I have things in hand with the orphanage. Jodariel is with me. We'll keep them safe. Do what you need to.

[ After screaming at Ash via text, it's Riley's goal to go to sleep and stay that way for the next day or so. She sees Fugo's reply, even reads it. It's a day old at that point, and her eyes drift over the words Giorno hasn't come back yet and her heart seizes but Steve is with him at Hill House mitigates it.

It's okay. He's...not going to wake up alone and afraid. It's okay. She can rest.

Then the whole thing with Rachel happens, as she's starting to fall asleep and, well. No. She can't rest, exactly.

All this to say, she ends up taking until after she talks to Giorno to communicate with Fugo again. It's while she's leaving, actually, and she doesn't intend on this, at first. It's just... She gets a little turned around. Hill House is big, after all, and she's not very good at navigating it. And that sound...

She hears something she hasn't really before, when visiting. Piano, beautiful and calming. Instead of trying to orient herself, she follows it. And to that end, she finds Fugo.

Her talons clack lightly against the floor, and that's the first clue that he isn't alone anymore. It's her first opportunity to really see him. She looks tired, beyond belief, and she moves slow, to avoid being winded. ...But also because...

What's bubbling inside Riley isn't fear. Isn't guilt. But it's something related to those, something just adjacent enough to tie her in knots and tickle every inch of exposed skin. Like a small shock, tens of thousands of times lesser than the one she felt from Sonic, but still leaving her numb.

He says it's fine. She believes him.

But Rachel tried to kill her, for what her double had done.

It's hard to shake. No matter how much she likes—or loves—a person.

After a few long tentative moments, she clears her throat. ]

[Fugo can't help but resent the arachnid legs on his back. He dislikes them so much that it's difficult for him to even think of them as his own. They're so long and inconvenient. It hurt so much for them to grow. Putting clothes on is a chore. The amount of sensory information that they bring in can be overwhelming. They're ugly. They remind him of Purple Haze. He's well aware that this is an exercise in futility; that they are something he has to, if not accept about himself, grit his teeth and bear with.

Even so. Despite all of that, he can't help but become attuned to the footsteps of his housemates and-- associates. (Friends? Is that accurate? Is it okay?) Riley in particular is very distinctive, thanks to the click of her talons. He knows it's her, long before she announces her presence.]

Hello, Riley.

[Although he isn't quite finished with this particular piece, rather than finishing it, he lifts his hands from the keys, laces them together, and pushes forward to stretch his hands and wrists. His knuckles crack a little. And, although he doesn't really mean to, the legs on his back stretch out too. He then twists to face her. He's quiet, for a moment, before he offers--]

It's good to see you.

[Fugo, too, looks worn and tired. Because he is. He probably should get some more rest, but-- it's difficult. To let go of what got him through the past week. The best he can do is this: let go of his thoughts by sinking into the music.]

Edited 2022-02-20 04:29 (UTC)

[ Oh— he stops, and she offers a small, awkward wave. She isn't sure, entirely, what to say. So, she starts— ]

Hey. Uh... You could've kept playing. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

[Fugo doesn't play piano for others. That's what he promised himself, when he made the decision to keep playing in Ryslig: I'm not going to play to perform. I'm only going to play for myself. He's gotten a little less secretive about it, a little more open to sharing the music he plays with more people than Giorno and Trish-- but it's still a fraught enough subject that, for most people, Fugo wouldn't ask them to join him.]

I've been at it for a while, so I need to stretch. But I'll start again soon. [He tips his head towards a nearby chair, that's a bit out of place with the rest of the floor's furniture. Giorno is the one who originally dragged it over, but Trish is the one who draped a pink throw blanket over the back.] You can sit down, if you like. I'm not going anywhere.

[ Sitting would be nice. She's tired, and she's not looking forward to the flight back. But instead, she goes through somewhat of a mental dance.

Her mouth opens, to respond, but she second-guesses herself. Closes it. Worries at her bottom lip. Opens it again, closes it. Swallows down a nervous lump in her throat. Her eyes flit from Fugo to the floor and back again.

What she settles on is: ]

I'm— sorry. I know- you said I didn't have to, but- I still am.

Sorry?

[For a moment, he's genuinely confused. What does Riley need to apologize, to him of all people, about? And then it clicks: her double. She's apologizing for her double, again, for the nasty stunt she pulled with him over the network.]

Riley-- that wasn't you. Literally, physically wasn't you. You don't need to apologize to me for what she did.

[If anything... between the two of them, he's the one who ought to apologize. For not realizing sooner. And, for after that, refusing to engage with the double to try and get information about where she had hidden Riley's body.]

[ But Riley shakes her head. ]

No, I'm not— I'm...sorry about what she did, but I'm not... I know that wasn't me. I'm sorry because...

[ She breathes out. ]

She fooled me. If she hadn't...she wouldn't have gotten my laptop. I- ...you wouldn't've been left alone.

[ Working at the orphanage, while the rest of them died or disappeared. Worried. Working. ]

Oh.

[Oh, he says, eyes wide and startled. His eyebrows furrow and he reaches up to nervously brush his bangs out of his eyes.]

That's-- ... it's okay, Riley. I handled it. Don't apologize for--

[Riley isn't ... the only one who apologized to him. About this. Giorno, too: I'm sorry. I left you alone.]

You died. Please, don't apologize to me when you were the one who got hurt.

[ You died. She looks away, a little. Almost guilty. ]

I know, but— ...I wasn't the only one, to get hurt.

[ Mukuro, distraught, still carrying her to the gym and meticulously washing her feathers, despite it all. ]

I'm angry at her, for- me, too, but— I'm angry 'cause I coulda done something, too. I...coulda helped. And she wouldn't've been able to hurt my friends.

[ There's an exhaustion in Riley's voice that...Fugo probably hasn't heard before. Not even at the party. ]

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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!