W5, TUESDAY: BELPH AND...?

[gatonina]

[On Tuesday, Belph is accosted by a ghostly friend...

Rules:

1. 10 comments total to this thread.
2. Our ghostly friend will be intangible, see-through, and cannot communicate through verbal or written speech. Enjoy your charades!
3. Once their time is up, our ghostly friend will abruptly disappear. Better be quick.]

Comments

uwu

[psychedelica]

[ oh. it actually worked.

here's Hikage, looking exactly the way he always does - both eyes included - save for the see-through part and some bandages around one leg. Once he sees Belph, he realizes that he maybe should have thought this through more than he did. He was expecting a catch. Surprise, relief, concern, and finally determination cycle through his face, and he takes a step forward, opening his mouth to say...

Nothing, actually. Ah. There's the catch. Still, it's easy enough to guess what he was saying. Belph. After a brief moment of irritated confusion, he gestures at the other man's side where he got injured before, instead, giving him a conflicted look.

Some things don't change. ]

[axilium]

[of all things belph expected to happen today, this wasn't one of them.]

—Hikage?

[he doesn't know what to make of this. his first thought—cynic, after all—is that it's just an illusion. the less pessimistic part of his mind reminds him that weirder things have happened. given how these kinds of places go, ghosts are hardly unusual.

...

above all, he supposes that he wants to believe it's real.]

... I'm fine. Geez, you idiot, is now really the time to be worrying about that? What the hell are you even doing here?

[psychedelica]

[ he'll relish getting an actual reaction out of Belph later... the rebuke just gets an imperious glare from Hikage. Let him worry, damn it!! He's been worrying himself sick on the other side. As for what he's doing here -- well. He pauses for a second, shifting on his feet; then, a little hesitantly, Hikage simply points at him.

The answer's pretty simple, really.

That said (or not said), he glances around momentarily afterwards, apparently looking for something, before pointedly pinching the pink ruff at the end of his own sleeve. After that, he holds up 4 fingers, staring intently at Belph before shaking his head. ]

[axilium]

[without thinking, he runs an anxious hand through his hair because holy shit, it's hikage.]

... Don't do the fourth tasks? Is that what you're saying?

[he does not like charades! he's not good at this!]

Your guess was right, by the way. A hint I got recently was explicitly "Make 3 teams into 1."

[psychedelica]

[ his expression relaxes, and he nods quickly at Belph, relieved. Hikage also hates charades, so this is kind of a miracle!! Then again, if anyone was going to figure things out, it would be Belph. He's got a lot of faith in him. Honestly, Hikage wouldn't be surprised if Belph actually knows more than he does at the moment... Being told he was right gets a triumphant little smile out of him, at least. (Of course he was right!)

This would be a hell of a lot easier if he could talk. There's some nuance here that he has no idea how to get across -- and that's just regarding the information he came to share. He wants to ask about how Belph is feeling, even though he definitely wouldn't tell him - and if Steph is okay, and a hundred other things, but here he is, with a time limit and a clipped tongue. He'll just have to hope they get a real chance to talk later. And what a thing it is, to actually hope for something.

For the time being, he tilts his head, cocking a brow questioningly and looking expectant. ]

[axilium]

[belph knows this has to be temporary. there's no way they—whatever has allowed hikage to cross—would let him stay. each second is like a ticking time bomb, counting until hikage leaves.

again.

belph pauses. when it becomes clear hikage isn't continuing, he thinks for a moment. then, he raises a hand, counting off his questions through his fingers.]

I take it something bad'll happen if we do the pink tasks? Does it give them more power, or something?

[he lowers a finger. question two.]

Do the dead know what Pink is? [another finger; three.] Are they more than just residuals?

[psychedelica]

[ well, that wasn't exactly what he was asking after, but it's close enough. This might be easier, anyway. At the very least, it gives him a way to actually share some of the information he thought he wouldn't be able to earlier.

He holds up his index finger. A nod - this one more serious. Then another finger, and a shake of his head, followed by the third and another nod - although he wavers afterwards for a moment. This one's hard, too. He chews his bottom lip in thought for a moment. First, he brings his hands together like he's going to clap; then, instead, he slowly pulls them apart, as if he's holding an inflating balloon between them. ]

[axilium]

[he watches hikage, confusion written on his face, as the anxiety over hikage's inevitable return to the dead continues to sit in his stomach.

it would be so much better if he could just talk with hikage as if it were any other day—but that, at least, would certainly be an illusion.]

So you don't know what Pink is, but they're more than just residuals and they're... expanding? Growing? Taking over?

[psychedelica]

[ another swift nod as he holds up two fingers. There's more to be said on the matter that he can't say - he'll have to test his luck with the letters, but his luck's been pretty good there thus far. Hikage starts to move, to make a gesture for writing, but he feels the pull immediately as he does - one he recognizes after being tossed around between worlds as much as he has.

So that's all his time, then. Regret sticks in his gut as he realizes he spent it all trying to share information. Is this what he thought would help? He'd rushed in, desperate, and that was the best he could come up with? He'd always been terrible at comforting people, and terrible at comforting Belph, especially, but he'd still shown up here to try. That was why he was here. Not for the game, but for Belph.

"How would you cheer somebody up, then, Hikage-kun?"
"... Fine. Let's see..."

Another moment of hesitation; then, a step forward, a little stiff, and he lifts his hand not to gesture, but to place on Belph's shoulder - it passes through, but the intent is obvious, just like the apologetic, genuine smile on his face visible for a moment before he simply vanishes like he was never there at all. ]

[axilium]

[...

and so, it ends. belph couldn't even say anything that wasn't business. ha—no wonder he's been called cruel. why is it that even hikage is better than him, at least in this moment?

well then.

he knows he should get this info out as soon as possible. he has people to find now. but... for another few moments, he stays rooted to the spot, staring at where hikage had been.]