ic inbox [ota]

[pancakeboy]

[Text him! Or do whatever, I'm not the police, and neither is he, thank God. Just specify if you want the more-fun-but-less-stable pre-11/20 guy or the grumpy third semester/postcanon guy. Pancake only for VRDR guys please, he's not third semester yet]

Comments

[pancakeboy]

[Suddenly, he feels lonely for his futon at the Dojima house, whether it mysteriously ended up next to Raven's for everyone to climb into or not. So, of course, he turns on his heel with a bit of a smirk of his own, sharp and supercilious.]

Well. I admit to wondering what would have happened if I'd managed to awaken over again. If I'd taken the hand of your gas station attendant, for instance. Perhaps I'd just have woken up.

It might have been fun. [And it would have lost him an opportunity never to return. But there's Ginza Station, not a hundred metres down the street.]

[fogbornphantom]

Perhaps it would have, but it is what it is. Your younger self will surely find his own way, and now that you're back, we can have our own manner of fun.

[Fun that might not have been as appropriate for a younger kiddo, at that.

Crow tries his best to match Magpie's pace. It certainly has been a while.]

Oh, and by the way, there was a Santa Mara here. Horrifying sight, to say the least.

[pancakeboy]

[He pauses, on his way into the station.]

Is this about what you got up to on Christmas Eve?

[fogbornphantom]

I won't give all the details, but it approached me while I was... preparing and gave me some interesting product. I'm more concerned about why Igor allowed a phallus to masquerade as Santa Claus, however.

[Because, really. That's just... indecent. Very, very indecent.]

[pancakeboy]

[In the station foyer, he already has his phone out; his finger is poised over the blue of the Meta-Nav. He meets Crow's eye with repressed excitement, not seeming too interested in sex.]

Maybe he just thought you'd like it. Are you ready?

[fogbornphantom]

Naturally. It'll be good to get back into shape.

[He jests a little, but it has been a little hard to make time for training in the Metaverse.]

[pancakeboy]

[The veiled excitement in his fact blooms into a wicked grin.]

Then we should begin. Let's hope you haven't used yourself up.

[And, with a swipe of his finger, the two of them cross into Mementos. He arrives in the black crow suit, of course.]

[fogbornphantom]

[Crow assumes he'll be in his pristine, princely attire, as it's his most comfortable default.

But no.

Clawed gauntlets? Check. Ridiculous belts? Absolutely. Very pointy mask? Yyyyep.

Crow takes one look at himself and his fists clench up.]

Are you fucking kidding me?

[pancakeboy]

[Oh yeah. Turning to him, Magpie starts to laugh aloud, through that narrow hole in his beak.]

Something on your mind, Crow?

[fogbornphantom]

I have no idea why I'm in this outfit...

[Okay. Time to take slow, calming breaths. It's just an outfit. It's going to be fine. This isn't the end of the world.]

[pancakeboy]

[...and yeah, the laughter doesn't last long. Crow has too much going on in his head for that. Magpie considers him, head a bit tilted, birdlike as ever.]

It does seem a little odd. I wouldn't have thought you had more complaints than the last time we were in here.

[0dd thing to say.]

[fogbornphantom]

Perhaps it truly is a culmination of recent events.

[Sighing heavily, Crow shakes his head and readies his beam saber. At least that's unchanged.]

I suppose there's nothing to do but to press on.

[pancakeboy]

[He is eyeing that laser sword. His own sword, very different, is still tucked away.]

Where do you want to begin?

[That sharp edge of smile begins to creep back. Higher, deeper, faster, slower? Harder, even.]

[fogbornphantom]

I'll let you choose.

[Less brainpower that way. Perhaps Magpie would even prefer it that way with how stressed Crow's been.]

[pancakeboy]

[That smirk of his acquires about three new edges, all at once.]

Really, Crow. Next you'll be asking me to push you under the trains.

[... toward which he is heading, taking the first elevator down to the platform. Crow will remember the time he rode the trains with Raven.]

[fogbornphantom]

I'm not that masochistic.

[But a tired attempt at a smirk takes form as Crow follows along. Hoo boy. Time for some ridiculous stunts to navigate.]

It just occurred to me that we could have brought the motorcycles.

[pancakeboy]

[At the bottom of the escalator, he turns, staring up. Really?]

We can go back for them now if you want?

[Could be fun?]

[fogbornphantom]

We could, but that would require us to go back to Inaba in order to fetch mine. And since we're already here...

[Well, it'd be a shame to simply turn back, wouldn't it?]

[pancakeboy]

[True enough. He doesn't want to go back either.]

I am quite fond of my bike. It might tax my cognition to protect it from all of these rails.

[Second elevator get. He even moves like a crow, in a near-direct line to his target and fast as hell.]

[fogbornphantom]

[Crow follows along, keeping pace despite his frustration. He'd really prefer his more comfortable princely attire, but whatever. It's fine.]

Heh. I remember one time, my teammates and I had to ride our Personas through a dungeon.

[pancakeboy]

[Yeah, he comes to a halt, right in his tracks, picturing that.]

Which one?

[fogbornphantom]

Teddie's.

[Because, yes, even the bear had one.]

It spawned as a literal pit in the main area of the TV world, so we didn't want to take our chances and dive in carelessly, but further in the path also fractured, and so I summoned Phoenix and Yu summoned Gdon. We carried the others across the splintered path for as far as we could.

[It was quite the ordeal. An unstable, haunting place.]

[pancakeboy]

[It is haunting. And fascinating, the way the Metaverse still is, even with all the banality you'd expect from the human mind.]

Right. You and your unstoppable army of Personas. For a moment, you had me picture Robin Hood giving you a piggyback.

I'll add that to your tab.

[0f things owed and paid between them. But he's joking. He heads into the deserted uppermost tunnel at some speed.]

[fogbornphantom]

To be fair, he did carry a few of us down in the initial drop.

[Crow continues hustling alongside Magpie, determined not to fall behind.]

He also shot me on an arrow directly into Teddie's Shadow. That was fun.

[pancakeboy]

I ought to try that.

[Though in order to do so, he'd have to voluntarily use Robin Hood.]

I think I told you about the time I murdered your principal. I still think about his palace. It was like Wakaba Isshiki's, very different for you, as I recall.

[These tunnels really are dead as shit, aren't they? Not even a Pixie. Not even a cognitive mouse.]