efface | ic inbox.

What do you think?

[ and, astoria's welcome video pops up for riza to see. ]

Hey. This is Keith. I don't know if you remember me. We really only talked once. But.

If you've got time. I've got a couple questions.

...Riza? [He sounds tired. As tired as he sounded in Shehui when it got bad.]

Sorry to bother you if this is a bad time. I just need to talk for a little bit.

Where are you?

[ it's been some time, since hughes arrived, and it's felt . . . okay. there's a constant consideration of the reality of the situation, in the back of roy's mind. hughes is dead, and there's no pretending otherwise. but still, roy has gotten into the groove of feeling comfortable, which is never a good place to be.

he's also been considering what maes forced him to consider, which was riza.

it's something that has sort of lingered on the outskirts of thought, mostly because (1) riza is riza and (2) they've both been running from death for as long as they can remember to consider anything else. but maes forcing it into roy's hands in explicit terms has given him something to think about, and it's difficult to ignore what's there now that it's been spelled out to him. struxta had provided a reprieve, but now that everything is calm again, he's faced with the same . . . uncomfortable feelings that maes forced him to think about, because this is all, obviously, his fault.

what makes it uncomfortable is how it's not uncomfortable. admitting he cares about her is as easy as breathing; there is her, and no one else, because they made that pact with one another a long time ago. he would die for her, in a heartbeat, no questions asked. he nearly traded all of amestris for her, until she told him not to. everyone knows how much he cares about her, which is why people continually use her against him, in every step he makes. king bradley did it. father did it. shehui did it. and now, arguably, this damn circle did it, because she is still trapped here, and he is tasked with watching over her, just like he has been since he was a stupid kid.

but life is short. fleeting. and being happy, and also succeeding in his mission, doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. but he is happy, isn't he? is she? or maybe he's just overthinking the entire thing, and he should just maintain the status quo, as it always has been, because she isn't going anywhere, and neither is he.

this is stupid.

. . . which is the last thought that pops into his head before he leans into their room, mostly to see if she's there, and when she is, roy is suddenly struck with the thought that now he has to say something, when he's been lingering outside the door to his own fucking room for a solid five minutes silently arguing with himself: ]

Do you have a minute?

[ smooth. ]

I need to ask you something. Can we find a place to talk?

Edited (one last try jeeze) 2018-08-22 02:27 (UTC)

[ he hates being sick. but this illness has been unlike anything he's experienced before. spending the last week trapped in hallucinatory hell, relieving memories he would rather forget, trapped in something he can't control or choose... whatever this was, it couldn't end soon enough.

but one day, when he woke up, his fever felt gone. he felt like he was in a calm state of mind for the first time in weeks, and he exhales, slowly but surely. relieved, to feel coherent and conscious. it was the middle of the night, pitch black in their room, but lighting a torch should be sufficient to light the room . . .

he shifts, sitting up, blinking repeatedly to try and get his eyes adjusted to the light. but it's still darkness, and he frowns to himself, unease beginning to edge into the corners of his mind. a certain familiar fear, in his stomach, but roy quells it. it's just dark outside. but soon, he hears the chirping of birds outside of the window. birds, he's since learned, come out in the early hours of the morning.

five minutes later, riza gets a voice message. roy meant it to be video, but this works all the same. and there's no voice, no sound of roy, but a series of tapping. urgent, but practiced. morse code, but not. a code that only she knows. each statement punctuated by two taps to signify the beginning of a new sentence. ]

W-H-E-R-E-A-R-E-Y-O-U

[ tap. tap. ]

H-E-L-P

[ tap. tap. and, a hesitation, before the last part. ]

B-L-I-N-D

Colonel Hawkeye.

( yes, that is his preface. hello. lance... sort of cured him of actually introducing himself, although it still feels incredibly weird to reach out to someone without doing it, whoops. )

I asked General Hughes ( he's not going to make that mistake again, given that hughes didn't tell him initially he was in the military. roy didn't correct him, per se, but he did gently drop that tidbit into conversation, so mako sticks with it. ) about who best to speak to about organizing as a group in the crises we'll be facing here, and he recommended I come to you. I've been a detective with my city's police force for nearly four years. I'd like to help.

( this is sort of the most awkward curriculum vitae, but. he has korra, if he needs a reference, he guesses? )

[ he hasn't been able to send anything for two weeks, but on this day, the watch begins to flicker. and when it does, he immediately attempts to call riza. but it doesn't connect, and then he tries video, and that doesn't work, so he then proceeds to type. frantically. ]

Riza?
The network is failing. I don't know if this [ . . . ] to be sent through.
Are you safe?
I'm [ . . . ] with other [ . . . ] the Circle.
Talk to me.

Messages ---- so I want ---- it works better ---- could be an indic----as well as what----it up? ---- are closer to me than ---- Roy is to me. Where ----u? At least y----still on ----.

Do you want to go for a walk?

[ read: the lack of day/night is driving him insane.
also: he keeps hearing voices whenever he wanders around by himself.
also: he hates being cooped up in a room.
also: deal with him, please. ]

[ She debates sending this, rewriting and deleting several times before finally sending something. ]

Thank you, by the way. For treating Percival's wounds.

[ they share a room and generally spend every hour of the day together but somehow, roy finds the time in the day of wandering around and testing his new powers to send her a message, which says!! ]

I am fairly certain I owe you dinner.

[ :) ]

( text )

text

Backdated to July 17 voice

( text ) approx. 20 minutes after the announcement to stay in their rooms.

after temple arrival.

(text) post-arriving back at temple

( voice ) backdated to about idk four days ago.

voice;