Memory Cave

[voidtreckermods]

After the passengers see a glimpse of a life that is not their own they appear in a cave. It is light, a strange moss glowing on the walls and ceiling illuminates the cave nicely and it is large enough for them to pace around in without trouble.

They are not alone. In the cave with them is another voidtrecker. Maybe someone they know well, maybe someone they have only seen in the aisles of the train. But they are together in this cave together.

The cave has no exit, at least not yet. They know that it will, eventually. When the time is right.

But for that time to come, they first must talk...

(OOC: For reference: memories!)

Comments

[sunbloom]

...she's getting a lot of trust on this and she's not sure she's earned that, but then, Madoka's been pretty adamant that it's fine. It's fine- well, it isn't, and she has a lot of questions. Itsuki's quiet a moment, before she runs her hands through her hair and puffs out a breath again. "Overwhelmed is... probably the right word for it. But if there's anyone that should feel guilty, it isn't you, Madoka-san. I mean... you didn't cause this, right? You have nothing to be guilty for. Neither of us do." Let's pretend either of them believes that whatsoever.

"But... mm," she starts again after a moment. "It doesn't sound like you've seen anything I would be worried about you sharing. And if it were just me, I don't mind regardless! But Tsubomi-san and Yuri-san have secrets that aren't mine to reveal, so those are what I'm concerned about, since they're here with me." She feels that's probably pretty reasonable, though, so she doesn't push any harder on the issue. "And as for yours... I'm very worried about that first thing I saw. But you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, okay? If you do want to, I'm all ears. But don't feel like you have to push yourself for my sake." She smiles again; it's a little strained, but she's trying. "And yeah. If there's more, we'll talk again. Even if there isn't more, we'll talk again."

[happyends]

Let's pretend that indeed, since there's no way Madoka isn't going to feel guilty to some degree over this.. Even if it's true that she didn't cause this, it still feels like she's the one who violated Itsuki's privacy - her memories.

She does file the part about Tsubomi and Yuri away in the back of her mind though. Just as a reminder of the fact that she has to be careful with what she mentions, despite seeing nothing too terribly secretive-looking..

.. but then there's the Main Issue here, huh.

"I.. I'll tell you next time, Itsuki-san. If you see more." Because Madoka is pretty sure that if Itsuki is exposed to more of her memories, surely they aren't going to be more cute family scenes.. And maybe the first memory will start to make a bit more sense with some more context. But telling Itsuki about everything right now feels like it will only upset the girl even more, and that's the last thing Madoka wants to do here.

"And even if you don't.. I promise I'll tell you at some point. I mean it."

Suddenly it's like something shifts in the cave. It's subtle - there's nothing bombastic about its appearance, at the very least - but there's suddenly a door present that wasn't there before.

[sunbloom]

It probably will upset her, admittedly; she had enough problems with her own system, and that was with no severe risk to themselves in the process, leaving aside Yuri's, um, everything. Whatever... that... was, is probably going to have an unpleasant explanation attached, she's certain. But she'll wait for Madoka to be ready to say something.

"Okay. I'll... try not to think about it until then." Try being the operative word, because that's going to haunt her for a while. Would anything short of the Infinity Silhouette even put a dent in it? Would that work?

But she's distracted from battle planning by a small sound, and when she whirls, there are... doors? After she waits for her heart to stop hammering so much, she laughs softly, unsteadily. "What, was it waiting for us to come to an agreement?" Itsuki shakes herself, hugging her arms to herself for a moment, before she relaxes a little, turning quieter. "Um, I know this is going to sound a little strange, but- thank you for putting up with me. I know I'm being a little... much, right now."

[happyends]

Ah.. yes. Try not to think about it. Madoka can feel the importance of that single word being added to that sentence too, and it makes her awkwardly stare at her feet for a moment. Even though she didn't mean to, she burdened Itsuki with that memory.. There's no way she can just enjoy her island vacation here without letting that bother her for the rest of the day for sure.

It's only that last part that makes the girl's head snap back up to look at the other.

"Ah.. N-No, Itsuki-san. Even if you think you're a little much, you're not too much for me at all.." (Don't worry, Madoka has totally dealt with worse when one of her friends was falling into despair and becoming a monster--) "I just feel bad that I can't do more to reassure you right now."

She glances over at the doors.

"M-- Maybe we'll feel better once we're back outside again? It is kind of dark here.."

[sunbloom]

Sheesh, now she feels bad. Here Madoka's doing her best and Itsuki's just... well, doing her best, but. "Hey," she says, voice stronger than it's been since they've been in here. "You've done a lot already, and I feel a lot better than I did when we started. So please, don't blame yourself, okay? I'll be okay." She reaches a hand forward... and falters. She's being enough of a burden right now, probably better not push her luck.

"The sunlight on my skin will help a lot, yeah," she goes on, covering over her own uncertainty. "And exploring the island too, I think. So... vacation as usual, I guess?"

As if there's anything usual about any of this anymore, but she can dream.

[happyends]

".. Yes."

There will be nothing as usual about this. Madoka knows it.

But right now it's easier like this. Maybe she can find a better time to talk about all of this with Itsuki - sometime when Itsuki isn't on edge, when Madoka isn't way too busy blaming herself for everything.

"I.. I'll see you, Itsuki-san." Madoka walks over to the exit, hesitating only a moment to look back at the other girl with a small, nervous smile. "Please take care."

And with that, she's gone.