So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

Time to leave!

There is not much of the city left, but the park is holding together as those anchoring help those who are not voidtreckers through back to where they belong. Monsters continue to attack and a little further out there is a battle of hearts and minds being fought with the mass of colours and chaos.

Eventually, after the bulk of citizens had been evacuated everyone with SCA's on would hear Jin-Roh's voice after a few frantic beeps, as Chiff aligned everyone's SCA's. "We are almost done here, if you are with anyone not tethered to a voidcraft get them to the evacuation point, as quickly as possible."

Anan pulls out of the anchoring point to call out to any defenders in the park. "Come on! Anyone who isn't a voidtrecker! It's time to go."

Luckily those off fighting the entity headed the message and made their way to the park as Jin Roh spoke again.

"Everyone else get ready. When we call it you need to leave. If you don't have your SCA on then get to someone who does."

As the last people rushed to the park Anan calls out again, through her SCA and outloud to the park. "You need to unanchor, before you can evacuate. Everyone be ready."

She goes in again though, because there are some last people, those from the large battle, getting through as another message was called.

"Almost there. Be ready. On my command..."

Anan unanchored again. "Quick everyone unanchor."

"NOW" Jin Roh's voice came through strong on their SCA's. Hopefully those with SCA's would grab those without.

There is some outside help as well, the train pulls anyone who is unconscious or still under the entity's control, forcibly evacuating them. This includes Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Zagreus.

Luggage Carriage

There has been a mass evacuation before and that was crazy enough but since then the population of the train has almost doubled and now it is an extremely tight squeeze as everyone crashes into the luggage carriage at the same time.

The train jerks and rolls as they enter into the void at breakneck speed and again as they seem to slow, rather than speeding off though the void.

There's a crackling from their SCA's. "Voidtreckers? Voidtreckers come in!" Anan's voice. "Please tell me you made it..."

There's only a few moments of signal and soon they are flying though the void again, away from the strange non-world, the entity sealed for now. To new adventures, but first hopefully some time to recover from all that has happened.

Comments

[miseris_socios]

[Run Away]

When they can all finally move, Ken runs.

It's instinct more than anything else, trying to get away from his feelings. He runs to his room to grab his bag before running to hide in the game room, making sure he sinks low in the beanbags and makes sure there's no clear visibility of him from the doors. He turns Koromaru's card over in his hand, considering.

If only Koromaru were here...


[Hidden]

He doesn't mean to slink around, but the mission left him shaky. He slides into the kitchen when it looks like not a lot of people are there and starts prepping some vegetable soup - both for himself and to leave out for people who are too shaky from the mission to make their own food.

It's easy to catch him, since it takes a while.

Once he's done with that he hides away upstairs in the music car, trying to not be seen. He's got headphones in, so it's easier to sneak up on him than usual.


[Wildcard]

[???]

[happyends]

Madoka easily finds herself in the kitchen as well. Having seen the state of most people returning from the mission, she figures that being there and doing some work is the best thing she can do right now. Especially when - after a shower and all - she doesn't look as tired as most people.

So she's actually already in the progress of chopping some things when she hears the door to the carriage open. She glances over to find Ken there, slowly blinking before showing him a small smile. Madoka figures people can use smiles right now.

".. Hi. Did you come to cook too, or did you want to eat something..?"

[miseris_socios]

He freezes for a moment before getting over it and pushing into the car. They both have an equal amount of right to be here, so asking 'why are you here' is stupid.

"Oh. Um. I was just going to start making some vegetable soup... since it's easy to make and I don't - I think there are people who don't eat meat around here..." He heads over to the sink to wash his hands first - if he's going to cook he needs to make sure his hands are clean.

[happyends]

"Oh, um.."

Madoka stares back at her cutting board for a moment, but then smiles when she turns back to look at Ken.

"I actually already chopped up some. Do you want to use those?" Especially since she figures - with Ken being the way he is - that he might want to get out of the kitchen before other people start moving in here one by one to grab food. So that might cut down on a bit of preparation time for him, at least.

[miseris_socios]

"No, I - you made those for something, right? You should keep it. I don't want to take food away from you..."

[happyends]

She shakes her head. There's that same smile on her face, and absolutely no hesitation in the way she answers.

"It's fine!" Please, as if Madoka can't just chop some more vegetables. If anything, cooking is kind of a fun mindless thing to do after a mission. "Honestly, I feel pretty glad already if I can just help you this way!"

[miseris_socios]

"I... um. Okay." He goes to grab a big pot to fill with water so he can start up the broth. "You didn't get hurt on the mission, did you? If you did, you should be resting."

[happyends]

"No, I.. did get a little hurt." Granted, she's not underselling it by much. Thankfully Madoka managed to avoid getting really injured, even during the mess at the end. "But some friends helped me out already, so it's okay."

So she's.. well, maybe not as right as rain, but a lot closer to that than a lot of other people on the train. She's fine enough to cook without feeling awful, so she wants to do this.

"Um.. I don't think I saw you much during the mission.. Were you alright..?"

[miseris_socios]

He immediately looks over towards her and puts a hand in his pocket but - but she's okay. He relaxes a little.

"I... had a family. But not the one that's adopted me here. I don't... know if that means..." That they don't want him. But he's afraid to say the words, afraid of making them true.

[happyends]

Thankfully the idea of people adopting kids here is far from weird to Madoka, considering her own experiences. So that fact doesn't make her hesitate in the slightest. Instead she thinks about what he's saying, while moving over to the vegetables she chopped up and moving them to be closer to where he could put a pot on the fire.

".. What do you think it could mean?" Madoka asks. "After all.. It doesn't seem like there's much meaning behind it, right? None of us got to pick."

[miseris_socios]

"I..." He sets the pot down perhaps a little too roughly, water spilling out. He sighs and grabs a towel to wipe it up. "... That Vexen doesn't actually want to be my dad. I don't really know Siebren."

[happyends]

There's definitely a startled - but slight - yelp when the pot is put down like that. Don't mind it, Ken, it's just instinctive. Madoka is like a bunny, easily spooked.

It's nothing that lingers though, since she's quick to seemingly calm down enough to speak up again.

"Why wouldn't he though?"

Not that Madoka knows Vexen. At all. She's never spoken to him, and she's pretty sure she couldn't pick him out in a crowd, but..

"If he said he wanted to be, then why would he lie about that..?"

Kitchen

[namethattune]

Siebren is no cook, certainly, but there are enough simple ingredients that surely he can put together something for those who are exhausted and cannot get food for themselves. The kitchen is his first stop - if all else fails, there is likely prepared food still in the communal arms bands, and he can use that to feed those who need it.

Or there could be someone else in the kitchen, cooking already, with a bit more proficiency than he himself has.

"Would you like help?" He's prepared to accept no as an answer - his relationship with Ken was a bit fraught under the illusion, and he doubts that anyone has had time to process anything that had happened during the mission. The last thing he wants is to make it worse, especially for someone trying to help.

[miseris_socios]

He opens his mouth to say no, but there's something... "... Sure. Um. I'm just making soup, so I need to make broth... I don't think we have any left in the freezer."

He's quiet a moment, bustling with a pot and the sink, before he speaks up again. "... I don't know why you were put as my dad and not Vexen."

He might as well just lead with it.

[namethattune]

"Let me know what you need - you know more about this than I." It's an easy admission - he is perfectly fine with being sous chef, and he trusts Ken to know what needs to be done.

He takes a moment to think - to choose his words and hopefully choose the correct ones - before responding. "Neither do I. My theory is that all placements were random, and some were simply more in line with our everyday lives than others."

[miseris_socios]

"Can you cut up some carrots and celery? I think that might be a good combination to start with." And simple enough for anyone to do. "They don't have to be perfect."

Hmn. He sighs and shakes his head. "I guess it makes sense with it being... Chaos. I still don't know - I mean." He looks at Siebren seriously. "Do you even have kids?"

[namethattune]

"Of course." It does not take him long to gather the ingredients and tools needed, and carrots, celery, and cutting board all float to a nearby counter and set themselves down. The only thing he retrieves himself is the knife - best not to let that one float in midair at all.

"I do not. I had intended to get married at one point, but...things do not always work out the way we plan them." Annelise had died, and he could not see him spending his life with anyone else. "That said, for the time that it lasted, I rather enjoyed being a father." It's the truth, and he says it with a smile. In the illusion, he had adopted all three of his children - that much, at least, is in line with his thinking.

But this is not entirely about him, is it. This is about Ken, questioning things. "Did you think this mission had changed the nature of your relationship with Vexen?"

[miseris_socios]

Hm. It's an answer that makes sense... still.

"I don't know. He... he adopted me, but I... there's a lot of kids who don't... work out with families for one reason or another, I hear. And I didn't know i somehow he just... didn't want me anymore, and it picked up on that..."

His voice softens and he takes a moment to breathe. "... I'm used to not being wanted."

[namethattune]

Ah. This is absolutely not about him and entirely about Ken. His tone is gentle when he responds. "Have you spoken with Vexen about this at all?" He doubts it - when would there have been time? - but it is worth asking nonetheless.

[miseris_socios]

"No. I... didn't really look, I just kind of ran when everyone could move again. It's... the easiest thing to do."

Not the best, and he knows it, but easiest. "I wanted to go summon Dike and fight something but I figured people wouldn't react well to a gunshot right after a mission like that..."

[namethattune]

"Fair points, both of them." He returns to chopping vegetables; he can multitask, and he can always stop should the conversation become more serious than it already is. "For whatever it is worth, I highly doubt Vexen would abandon you at all, let alone so easily. He does not seem the type." He pauses and floats a bowl over for the chopped vegetables. "There is no benefit to borrowing trouble - I would not worry too deeply about it until you are able to speak with Vexen. If you cannot do that, then you should find him as soon as possible, and I will mind the stove in the meantime."

[miseris_socios]

"... I will when people have filtered out a little more. The teleporting gates help, but I know I can find him in the lab or library. That's kind of where he always seems to be."

It makes it easier to track him down, at least.

"... You were a good dad, from what I can remember. Just... so you know."

Kitchen

[hotheadwarmheart]

When Lea came to the kitchen he didn't really expect anyone to be there, at least no one who was doing any cooking. Getting tea or coffee, maybe, but cooking required energy, which was in very short supply after the mission. He was in better shape than some though, and thought he might make some soup for people, as he'd done in the past.

But it looked like someone had beaten him to the punch. "Well, looks like you had the same idea I did," he said. "Mind some help? We can get done a bit quicker with two people."

[miseris_socios]

Does he need help? No. But he doesn't say that, only nods to Lea, gesturing towards the veggies he'd taken out. "Those need to be cut up so they can go into the pot... I'm surprised you're not falling asleep in a chair somewhere, though."

After all, it's not like Lea seems like the type to sit still when people need help.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea nodded and moved to prepare the indicated vegetables. "I was fighting, not anchoring," he said. "Plus I already had a nap right after I got back. Still kinda tired, but with so many people down for the count, those of us who are still on our feet need to step up a bit and make sure stuff gets done."