personavelvetroomdr | [open | intro] I wonder, was that the wrong pill to take?

[When she wakes up, it's like peeling herself off of a puddle of glue. Or what she imagines cracking out of an egg must be like for a baby bird. Slow, frustrating, and kind of crunchy.]

[She actually didn't expect to wake up again, at all. And especially not here, opening her eyes to the deep blue and constant aria of the Velvet Room. With a yawn, she sits upright and rubs her eyes. There's a cot underneath her, not unlike what someone might find in the nurse's office at a school, but her school bag is nowhere to be found. All she has is the uniform she is wearing. Thankfully, she does appear to still have her shoes, which she tenderly rests on the floor, as if she doesn't quite expect it to be solid.]

[A glance around tells her that someone has redecorated. The Velvet Room is much bigger than she remembers, for one thing, and it's got several doors that did not used to be there, for another. Once she lays eyes on Igor, it seems to give him permission to speak. She listens with a slight frown, as if she's thinking very hard.]

Yes, I know who you are and what this place is. But... why? And... are you sure that it's okay for me to be here?

[Whatever his answer is, she is deeply uncomfortable with the idea of stepping outside this liminal space back into Iwatodai, which she knows is behind the familiar door. Or any of the other doors. Something about it makes her feel as thought it will make it real that she is no longer acting as the seal keeping Erebus back and Nyx away. It just isn't worth the risk. So, she sets about exploring what exists within the Velvet Room.]

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Ha ha. [And there's the smile, which has always been one of his most effective masks. What a nice boy, eh? But, believe it or not, offering to let him run and hide under his bed thaws him a little; just the tiniest bit.]

I was heading somewhere, yes. But you're definitely new. I'm not sure I could sleep at night if I left you to puzzle this out alone. Well, mostly alone. [Raven's conspiracy board, of course. If Akechi had had the opportunity to build something like that at thirteen, he might have taken over the country himself.]

I'm Goro Akechi. [Introducing himself.]

[It is a very handsome smile! It doesn't put her at ease as much as it does for most, but she at least seems to warm up under it's light.]

I'm sure he would only give me more puzzles.

[She puffs her cheeks at Igor.]

I'm Kotone Shiomi.

[At least, that was her most recent name.]

Edited 2023-12-28 10:36 (UTC)

A pleasure to meet you, Shiomi-san. [It's almost relaxing, to find someone the smile still works on. Maybe it helps that she doesn't recognise him at all. But he follows her gaze to Igor, laughing at her joke in that yes, we are both fucked, aren't we? sort of way.

Oh, Akechi, how little you know. But he becomes a little more confiding.]

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who didn't recognise this place when I arrived, you know— [Igor grunts out a chuckle, and Akechi's out-of-practice pleasantry becomes a little more fixed.] I take it you are a Persona-user? You'll be in good company during your stay, at least. Practically everyone here is one. Would you like to, uh–?

[He gestures at a door, the Tokyo door he just emerged from. At least when Igor's not there, Akechi doesn't have to hear him giggle.]

[Sometimes it can be very freeing, to be around someone who doesn't know you in the slightest. Kotone can respect that. She sighs in return, that long-suffering sigh of someone who is about to go do an arduous task. Which she absolutely isn't. At least not now.]

Yes, that's correct.

[Pay no especial attention to the white leather gun holster on her hip.]

Ah... Well. [Her perfectly cute and friendly face falters just a bit, and she fidgets with the hem of her skirt.] I was under the impression that the cities that exist outside those doors are not... the real thing. Is this true?

[Oh, he's noticed it. He has something similar secured against the small of his back, quite out of sight beneath the green jacket he's wearing; one of his alternates is too generous for his own good. But he turns back, giving her a look; she could have learned that from the board, but...]

That's correct. In many ways the cities are convincing, but in others—such as the passage of time, and I'm afraid the people—they're clearly simulations. They can be disconcerting at first, but I've never known one of us to come to harm.

I can't say the same for the cognitions who inhabit the place, of course. What with the various experiments, and the time someone blew up Shinjuku. [His eyes harden, despite himself; he covers it with a smile, like he does. He is not on good terms with the Ren who blew up Shinjuku.]

But you don't strike me as the sort to be afraid of a few fractures in reality. [It's true. Based on his limited knowledge, he doesn't think someone who jumped at Shadows would survive their awakening.]

Hmm.

[She has the look of someone doing complex calculations in her head for a moment before she seems to come to a decision. Then she catches up with the rest of what Akechi said.]

Wait, what? Someone blew up fake-Shinjuku? [She covers a wry smile with her fingertips.] Oh, no. That sort of thing doesn't worry me. I just got a bit lost in thought, remembering everything... My return to Iwatodai was kind of the beginning of a lot of chaos, is all. Don't want to tempt fate all over again.

[But Tokyo should be fine, right? Especially since it isn't actually Tokyo.]

Ah, you're from Iwatodai? [Interesting; so there's something she's afraid of, if she leaves the Velvet Room? His eyes sharpen and glean, before he turns away to nod at the third of the doors, the centre door.]

That would be that door there. So what year is it for you, if I can ask? There are a few distortions of time, as you'd expect.

[Tell him more about that chaos, too, Kotone; it's just his thing. Or it used to be.]

[Hmmm, he's a little more astute than the average, isn't he? At least, the sharp look in his eyes seems to suggest so. Kotone folds her hands behind her back and puts on her most innocent expression.]

Most recently, yes.

[She manges to avoid flinching at the question, but it's a near thing.] 2010, for me. What year is it for you?

2016. Goodness, this is a little unusual, isn't it? I've run into people from far in the past, but usually they're small children. Variants of myself or others I know. [And again, he laughs; the gleam in his eye is more innocent, the joy of a connection made or a theory confirmed.

Again, he indicates the Iwatodai door.] That one leads to, I suppose, "your" Iwatodai, in 2009. And that one—[he indicates the Tokyo door, the one he nearly took them through before she balked]—leads to Tokyo as I remember it, in the year 2016. Well, more or less.

[He gives her another, closer look. Those carefully wide eyes are a little telling; Kotone Shiomi-san would be far from the first here not to be all she seems.] So you'd be familiar with the green moon, the Dark Hour, things of that nature? Sorry, I don't mean to pry, it's just something of a professional hazard.

[The thought of running into herself as a child is deeply unsettling, but it seems to delight this young man. His expression takes on a new lightness that she’s very glad to see. She immediately wants more of it. She keeps her guileless expression, rocking on her feet and tilting her head to the side, making her hair sway behind her.]

2016 huh… oh, yes. Very much so… [She suddenly frowns] Is…. There still a dark hour, in 2016?

[open | intro] I wonder, was that the wrong pill to take?

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