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[rebells]

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day 84

[splinten]

[Dirk reaches out telepathically]

Where are you?

[rebells]

North of base camp. There's what looks like a playground down here.

What is it? Is something wrong?

[talim]

So, regarding what I found going through the library... I have good news and bad news?

[rebells]

Oh? . . . Well, that's better than nothing, I suppose. I'd like the bad news first, please.

Day 100 (in person)

[rootandbranch]

[Geir is honestly not sure yet about his reception at Jay's hut, but he lands half on it anyway. i mean, everyone knows there's no better way to confront your fears that someone might not like you than to crash enthusiastically into their place of residence. it's all in your attitude, probably.

the hut is undamaged -- Geir isn't looking to break anything and isn't using his full weight -- but as a way to knock, it's definitely an attention getter.]

Um!!

[if Jay peers outside or opens his door to figure out what the heck that was, he'll see a familiar huge red eye peering in at him.]

--Jay! Are you busy?

[rebells]

[Yes, that is a bit noticeable. Jay startles inside the hut before grabbing the door and yanking it open--only to find, well. Large dragon. He blinks.]

. . . Geir. I'm not busy at the moment--did you need something?

telepathy, backdated 10/18

[talim]

[ jude sounds... kind of frantic. he woke up a good ten minutes ago and he's not getting back to sleep anytime soon. not without making sure. ]

Jay. Are you doing okay?

[ he makes a sincere effort at sounding cool and composed, but his voice is a little Off. ]

[rebells]

[There's a sense of rapidly fading panic and adrenaline coming from the other end of the telepathic link, almost as though someone has just woken up from a nightmare.

The panic spikes when Jude reaches out to him. Jude, that's Jude, was he actually in that dream or is that just coincidence--?]

I'm fine. [It comes out rushed and a little snappish, and the lingering sense of panic doesn't fade.] . . . I'm fine. What exactly brought this on?

Day 117

[soulcomet]

[suddenly — it's Madoka!]

Hello, Jay-san! Did you get a dagger, too?

[rebells]

Yes, Brie was [There's a pause here, as though he isn't sure kind is the right word.] kind enough to give me one. I'm glad she's recognizing the hard work you've done for the coven, Madoka.

day 123ish

[rootbound]

I saw your thing about the tannery. If you've got some supply of hide ready and literally no one else on this island knows how to do it I can deal with it once this damn rain lets up.

I'm not teaching a big group all at once, though. I can put together a setup and instructions for you, maybe teach a few people who are better at that sort of thing, but if you ask me to educate half the coven on it at once I'm saying no.

[rebells]

Ah, Vern.

I haven't heard from anyone else, at least. Would you be willing to walk me and maybe one or two other people through the process? That would be more than enough for me.

SECRET SANTA DELIVERY

[mapsio]

[Good morning/afternoon/evening Jay, whenever he receives this package.

He will find a neatly wrapped package waiting on him. Inside the package he will find a handwritten Christmas card that says, "Merry Christmas, please enjoy the cookies!". Plus instructions that follow on how to brew a small pot of raspberry vanilla tea to go with the cutely packaged raspberry holiday cookies.

The package/card is only signed with "-Secret Santa", but goodness knows Jay should be able to figure out who sent this to him. Right?]

day 174

[talim]

[ jude's gift comes just shortly after jay's does. fortunately, jay isn't home, so jude can just leave it with the note he hastily wrote upon receiving jay's own gift.

it's a thick book on the history and culture of shehui. jay had expressed interest in digging into as much of it as he could, after all, and this might not be what he's looking for — maybe he already checked into something like this, for all jude knows — but it's a place to start.

and the note says:

jay,

i was incredibly surprised and flattered by just how thoughtful your gift was. here's hoping i can match up to yours.

- jude ]

sunsuuuuu

[oneandmikleonly]

[Jay is getting ice cream; a pint of classic vanilla and a pint of what is possibly lavender honey, complicated and delicately sweet.

he also gets two more things: a dreamy seascape painting about six inches square, the canvas frame pegged so it can either be hung up or stood on its own on a table; and a small sturdy handheld digital voice recorder plus several spare batteries.

sunsu festival!

[rootandbranch]

[see gift! if Jay is curious how a journal got chucked into his very-not-first-floor room, there are clawmarks on the wall outside. subtle your dragon accomplice is not.]

sunsu

[deem]

[Outside his door, Jay will find a small parcel addressed to him. Inside is a hand-written book with a record of their time in Aimintas, and on the hub, with all relevant information 9S has gathered. Following this are detailed blueprints and plans for a mill, along with many blank pages for future use. Alongside this is a small device that easily fits in one's palm or pocket.

A small note included with it reads: Dress Module: prevents damage to clothing. Effective under all known conditions.]

sunsu

[splinten]

[Knock knock, it's Dirk, in person! He shoves a box into Jay's hands.]

Merry Sunsumas.

[Inside the box are a bunch of radio communicators that can all be set to one network, so that people can communicate outside of Qri's signet network.

But there's also a new pair of earrings that look just like Jay's? Hm, strange. Jay will find there is more to those than meets the eye if he picks them up: by squeezing them, he will automatically hook himself into direct communication with Dirk's shades so they can chat at any time.

Also there's a Santa hat with a bell on it in the box. Because Dirk is like this.]

sunsu festival

[imsorey]

[Sorey doesn't know what Jay's opinion is on gift-giving, so rather than getting it in person Jay will find it settled on his bed in his apartment. It contains an otter backpack with a water canteen and some basic cartographer's supplies. The backpack is also full of candy, because he's like this.]

sunsu!

[lohengrins]

[ fortunately, percival and jay's friend groups overlap quite a bit — still, it's not difficult to gather that he's painfully practical.

outside of his doorstep, there is a small rectangular box, neatly bound with a vibrant red bow. inside, there appears to be...

an expensive, high grade pen — it's bordered with gold and the ink is velvety, flowing oh-so smoothly.

...it's not an ordinary pen: there appears to be a camera installed near the end, for jay's personal usage. aside from that, there is a sore lack of a note. hm. ]

Day 197; action

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley hoped she wouldn't have to call on Jay during her time in the coven, to avoid the weird feelings that came with associating with someone who's supposed to be an enemy. But nobody else is making sense and Shirley doesn't have what it takes to wait indefinitely and hope everything rights itself, so it's not long before she's knocking at Jay's apartment door.

She doesn't bother with greetings once she's verified it's him answering, just gets straight to the point.]

Can you understand what I'm saying?

[rebells]

[Jay has figured out the translation snafu by now, so he's not precisely surprised to see her here, especially after her question. He is a little amused by her abruptness, though.]

I can. Which I suppose makes sense; we could understand each other before--whatever Qri did, after all. How have you been?

day 202, action

[allbroea]

[ as inconvenient as the signet outage was, it makes it all the more pressing for jusis to get in touch with jay. once he's sure he'll actually be able to hold a conversation with him, he finds his room on the eighth floor and knocks firmly, but politely. ]

[rebells]

[We'll say he answers the door for convenience's sake. Jay is not super used to getting unknown visitors, but there are other people in the apartment, and he doesn't know everyone in the coven, much less the city. He's polite enough as he greets Jusis.]

Ah, hello. Were you looking for someone in particular?

Day 209

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley's message is, as usual, muffled and distorted thanks to whatever interference is messing with the prisoners' telepathy. Despite that, Jay may note that Shirley's trying to keep her tone cold and distant as she's trying extra hard to channel Nerifes in spirit, if not reality.]

We were taken out of our cells today. People were separated and taken to interrogation rooms. I was asked questions about the Ferines, and more about the coven. The monitors were interested in magic and the coven's use of it.

They did things to people in order to provoke use of magic, or to otherwise find out information about the prisoners. I do not know whether it worked on anyone. They will not find out mine.

[rebells]

[He doesn't mean to broadcast this, but she can hear him curse over the link.]

So it's started. [ . . . ] Did they hurt you?

text

[soulcomet]

[she hates that it's come to this, that this is how it is ending, but Madoka promised that she would tell Jay if anything changed. so, late at night, before any rescue plans go into motion, she sends a faded text, as businesslike as she can manage. the telepathic connection is strained, tenuous at best. that's partly on the normal issues of being trapped underground, partly on her.]

I've been moved. I'm by myself in one of the interrogation rooms, and they're leaving me alone for now. But

But

They took a ring from me, and I'm not leaving without it.

[rebells]

What?

[That's the immediate, instinctive response. Across town, he sits up. A ring can't be worth her life and freedom. But it occurs to him he doesn't actually know what it does.]

What ring?

Day 216 ish

[splinten]

Sorry.

[rebells]

You don't have to apologize.

[He's still kind of pissed at Karkat, tbh, even if he's slowly realizing that's just how Karkat talks.]

Where are you? We adjourned for a little bit.