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[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]

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[fogbornphantom]

[Sometime around this thread.]

Magpie, I don't mean to alarm you, but something came up in the Palace.

Ren and I will be home soon. We just need a little time to decompress.

But we will need to talk to you. There are matters you deserve to know of.

[pancakeboy]

[Why does this always happen?]

If you ran into a cognition of me, you should have killed it on sight.

Are you both all right?

[... Actually, he doesn't like the sound of that at all. "Matters you deserve to know of"?]

[fogbornphantom]

Honestly, I could be better. Hence the need to decompress.

Ren pulled me aside and took me out for dinner. We've been talking, and it's helped. We weren't going to get anywhere today for a multitude of reasons.

I lost my composure. A certain revelation in the Palace prompted me to speak before certain other parties could, and in doing so, I believe I only caused distress.

But I refused to let the others pass unnecessary judgments when you weren't there.

[...]

It wasn't a cognition. It was... something else, but I suspect the details may be better saved until we're all in the same room.

Ren wanted to save it until morning, but I think you deserve to know the circumstances soon rather than later, and Frog gave the go-ahead.

[pancakeboy]

[Dammit. Damn it. A revelation about him, specifically. One that led the others to condemn him—that drove Crow to defend him—something that isn't widely known—]

How bad is it?

[fogbornphantom]

[Damn it. No sense in beating around the bush, though.]

What you said to Drake, before he abruptly contacted me for an apology.

For the record, I'm not going to kick you out or anything of the sort. I'm unhappy, but that's not enough to make me abandon the people I care about.

1/2

[pancakeboy]

[Oh. Well, that's that, then.]

2/2

[pancakeboy]

If something exists that will make you "kick me out", I clearly need to up my game.

[His heart is pounding in his throat.]

And I'm not going to beg for your forgiveness.

[fogbornphantom]

I'm not expecting you to. I would like to know why you went to such extremes on my behalf, but I'm also smart enough to realize it likely escalated.

So I'm upset, yes, but I'd be a hypocrite to hold that against you, and I value you enough to listen rather than pass unnecessary judgments.

[pancakeboy]

What I said should speak for itself. I stand by it. If he was too fragile to do what he does, then it's no surprise he ended up with a Palace.

[fogbornphantom]

Telling someone they should die on my behalf when that was the exact opposite of what I wanted for him...

I appreciate what you do for me and for everyone in this house. You went for the offense because he hurt me, but you also reached out when you saw him languishing in that alley.

Glitch believed you would use his Palace to cause him harm. Back then, I rose to your defense, it didn't end well, and that is why you found me lying in the grass.

I haven't trusted her since. I was outraged that she would assume such malice from you when she hasn't seen how far you've come. That same distrust led to me trying to shut down the discussion in the Palace before it even happened by asserting that I would speak to you on how to proceed.

I think I hurt Drake. I made things worse by acting with such outrage rather than letting cooler heads prevail, but I don't regret what I said so much as how I said it.

[pancakeboy]

[What the— why should he give a shit if that guy was hurt? Death is just what they deserve. It's what should, by rights, be waiting for them both.]

I warned you about Glitch. You didn't listen, as I recall.

What did you say? I can't imagine it would have done that much damage. Everyone loves you, after all.

[fogbornphantom]

I'm going to be entirely honest with you. We've hit a wall. We cannot proceed through the Palace without you.

I knew that Glitch would be the most outspoken against this, but even before we got our confirmation, I knew it was a possibility. That is why I wanted to be honest from the start, but had to settle for a vague compromise so as not to act without Drake's consent.

So when it became clear that you were needed, I stepped in. I said that regardless of personal feelings, we needed you and that I would speak to you because I'm the with closest bond with you, and I'm the member of the team who knows you best. I wanted to shut down any hostilities.

Glitch didn't take it well. She declared the mission dead on arrival, which spurred me into further rage because I felt it was a disservice to you and Drake to simply give up because she happens to dislike you.

I see why now. Unlike me, she didn't have a close connection as a foundation. She is close to Drake, knows how your message impacted him far more than I ever could, and so she only sees the side of you that confirms her beliefs. Meanwhile, I care about you and Drake, warts and all.

But I could have waited until everyone gathered. Instead, I went immediately on the defensive, and it reached a tipping point where Drake was clearly distressed, Glitch was outraged, and everyone else had to try and mediate.

Hence Ren pulling me aside and the infiltration coming to an abrupt halt.

[pancakeboy]

And Frog stood there and let it all happen, by the sound of things. His team must be chaotic to say the least.

[What is there he can do? What is there he can say? There's nobody to kill, and if there was they'd just come back. This is exactly why he said that bonds were bullshit, isn't it? Isn't it why he hated Ren for having them? Isn't it why he pictured them as chains, and yearned for them even as he mocked the very idea?

Luckily, a salient answer presents itself.]

Drake will never agree to let me into the Palace, even if I cared to go.

[fogbornphantom]

Frog believes you're needed, too. He asked me to speak to you, though I intended to regardless and made that clear.

I wouldn't say he just stood there, however. He tried his best to mediate. The others, such as Falcon and Trickster also were open-minded, and even Phoenix acknowledged the missing context.

So it's not impossible. I'm sure even Drake will recognize the urgency of the situation.

But just as it's his choice to let you in, it's your choice to go.

[That's important. He's not going to force anything, no matter the urgency.]

When I spoke up, one of my most pressing points was that if you did join us, it would not be solely to use you as a tool and then cast you aside. I stand by that. You are not a weapon or a tool, and I refuse to let anyone think otherwise.

[pancakeboy]

[Shit, he wants to break something. Several things. He leans back against the inside of his bedroom door, conveniently keeping anyone from walking in.]

And you leapt to my defence.

[Am I supposed to be grateful? he thinks. But in the end, he doesn't send it.]

[fogbornphantom]

While I didn't defend the message, I did defend your integrity while stressing the fact that, like it or not, they would have to accept your presence if we are to save Drake.

Assuming you and Drake consented, of course.

I can't make you agree to this. I also understand if you need time to think. We can discuss it together once Ren and I get home.

(I can also pick up anything you might need, since we are at Junes.)

[pancakeboy]

All the places we have access to, and you went to Junes food court to "decompress"? Are you mad?

[fogbornphantom]

It was Ren's idea. He wanted to take the "long way back" and stop for some food.

But the food court is also nostalgic to me, so I've no doubt that was a factor in the decision.

[pancakeboy]

It's by far one of your least endearing qualities.

[/aff]

Eat your atrocious food.

[fogbornphantom]

Well, yes. We ate ramen. It wasn't awful.

Do you need a bit more time before we return? There's no rush on our end. You know the broad strokes, so we can work from there when the time is right.

[pancakeboy]

No, we can't. Time's wasting. Either Frog will want to return to the Palace tomorrow, or I need to tell him to go and fuck himself.

[In other words, he is definitely not okay, and probably does need a moment. Drake deserves to die in that alley Magpie found him in. That's just a fact.]

[fogbornphantom]

We'll be there soon, but not too soon. It's obvious you need to process all of this.

[So he'll give Magpie the space.

Raven, on the other hand, has noticed that Magpie has been holed up in his room for a bit, so there's a little knock at the door.]

[pancakeboy]

And just before the little knock, Magpie mutters down at his phone, still leaning against the door. "I don't need to process shit."

Then there's a knock. Fuck. He clears his throat, sounding very normal. "Yes?"

[fogboundcrow]

"...Do you need company? You've been in there for quite a while." And usually when Magpie does that, there's a reason for it.

Raven knows better than to ignore it.

[pancakeboy]

The door remains closed. Is Raven his babysitter now? "Did Crow text you?"