(no subject)

[rattlingthestars]

Ten Years Ago: A Timeskip Meme

Ten years ago our characters banded together and defeated whatever lives beneath town hall, escaping and leaving behind them an ordinary abandoned town. They were sent back to to their own lives and worlds, the instant they left, with only their memories and mental scarring as proof of the time they spent in Norfinbury.

Today, they receive a strange communication: an invitation, delivered in whatever format is most familiar to them. It's an invitation to return to Norfinbury for as little as a day or as long as a week. Will your character accept it for a chance to see friends long-dead or departed to other worlds? To get some proof that what they experienced ten years ago was real? To murder someone one last time?

TL;DR We won, you were separated from your CR for ten years, come roleplay gross reunion time or whatever. Put up a toplevel with info on what your character's been up to or looks like now, tag around, etc. If your character's dead they can have magically lived through canon thanks to admin intervention or you could choose for them to have been dead this whole time if you're a butt.

Comments

Zell Dincht

[swatsflies]

[ Zell is now twenty-seven years old with a similar hairstyle, but his hair is much shorter. He’s wearing a uniform with the sleeves rolled up. He’s still wearing his gold piece of eight bracelet with a small star charm hanging off of it and has a gold hoop in his right ear. Zell holds himself a lot more calmly, not fidgeting or moving his arms as much as he’s used to. He’s also seems a little bit taller. ]

Yo! [ Giving a warm smile to anyone that approaches. ]

Re: Zell Dincht

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim spots a head of blond hair, before anything else, but he's not quite letting himself hope before he can make out exactly who he's looking at. There's still a gil at his wrist and a feather - now carefully encased in a tiny bottle - around his neck, but for all his searching he'd never thought he would be here again. It's half a memory and half a dream when he gets close enough and Zell's looking back at him, older, different, but still Zell.

Jim stops just outside of arms reach, unsure, and tries to form words but finds that he's lost them. ]

[swatsflies]

[ His gaze meets with Jim's own and for a moment he forgets to breathe. Zell feels rooted to the spot as his heart starts pounding. He's older, but he knows those eyes. Knows every angle of that face. He's taller, and rocking a jacket and boots that sends his mind in an untoward direction. Swallowing the lump forming in his throat a couple of times as he wills himself to move. Move.

Finally his body listens and he eliminates the space between as he reaches to place his hand against Jim's chest. Trying to feel for that familiar beat and warmth. Warmth floods over him, making it easy to ignore that they were once again surrounded by snow for miles. There's a hot sting of tears threatening to fall as he lets out a giddy laugh. ]

Stars. My Stars. [ He chokes between words as he slides his hands from his chest up to the back of Jim's neck to yank him down. Helping himself to pressing a needy kiss against his mouth. He's not even going to worry about if Jim found himself someone new just yet. He just needs this. Needs his touch and to hear his voice. ]

lmao was wondering if you were going to comment on the boots

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim's eyes search Zell's face for - anything, really: recognition, emotion, the person that he loves being in there after all this time. For all that he's staring, Zell's moving forward takes him by surprise.

Through two layers Jim thinks he can still feel the warmth of Zell's hand. It's a ghost memory of all those stolen moments, strong enough to pull Jim down without even Zell's help. This is strange, Jim thinks distantly, about the way it seems Zell's shrunk as he leans down into the kiss. There's a moment of awkwardness as he tries again, not helped by Jim's tears, but it's good. ]

Hey, Sunshine.

Zack Fair

[heroproceeding]

[swatsflies]

[ HERE LIES THEIR BELOVED PORCUPINE. RIP ]

Re: Zack Fair

[rattlingthestars]

fuck you

Zack Fair

[heroproceeding]

[ Zack's actually... the same twenty-three... no, twenty-four year old since they'd last seen him, wearing the same worn uniform under the same worn black coat they'd been issued. He's clean though. Clean and with what appears to be a fresh trim. No five o'clock shadow to be seen either.

The biggest difference is how... incredibly lost he appears as he slowly looks this way and that, taking in his surroundings. He knows this place... He can't remember the last time he'd been there, but he's very aware of where here is and very much remembers when he'd last been there, it had been when they'd all said their...

...but he's pretty sure he sees someone not far off from him now. That voice had invited him back and he'd followed it out of whim, and there he was and that was hard to believe in the first place. But did it truly mean...? ]

DEAL WITH IT

[swatsflies]

[ The person not far off is going to be a blur of yellow and black as he spots Zack. Rushing over to practically throw himself at the older- no the same Soldier First Class. He's laughing as he reaches around to lay his hand on the back of Zack's neck and bump his forehead against his shoulder. It's Zack and he's still the same. Exactly the same, which makes his heart feel heavy even with his giddiness. ]

Zack. [ He talks quietly, almost not believing that it's real. Leaning back to get a good look at the other. Not exactly the same. He looked refreshed and cleaned. Giving a bright grin and knowing he doesn't need to say who he is with that tattoo curling around on the left side of his face. ] Look at you, man. You look like you actually got some sleep.

OH GOD HE'S UNDER ATTACK

[heroproceeding]

[ One moment, he's still getting his bearings. The next, he's nearly being bowled over from the impact. Someone's clinging to him in that familiar way, invading that familiar space without shame. Hand on his neck and forehead on his shoulder- just further up and than before. Everything's slightly out of line, but that voice is unmistakable. ] Zell...

[ And it's that voice that breaks a smile across his face, one that only grows when the man actually leans back and he can finally take in his face: blue eyes, that wild blond hair, and that familiar tattoo scrawled around his left eye... There's still some differences- that uniform especially, but...

The way he talks so casually like they'd never been separated. Like it hasn't been however long it's been since they all... Zack huffs slightly in amusement despite himself. ]

Recently, yeah. Believe it or not, the last few years... kept me pretty busy. [ It's only half a joke. The struggle is real when you're playing dead guy guardian to your friend who's quasi-assumed your identity. Doesn't erase the fact that the longer he takes in the sight of his friend, the... older he realizes he is. Hell, he almost looks older than...

Zack shakes his head out of the thought, eyes back on his friend and he has to reach just a little higher to put his hands on his shoulders. Still the same confidence in the way he grips him there though, the same familiar squeeze. ] Looks like you've been pretty busy, yourself.

ROARS

[swatsflies]

[ His space is compromised and Zell isn't going to let go. He'll nod while making an affirmative hum after his name. The comment about being kept busy earns a head tilt as he again looks Zack over slowly. ]

With that girlfriend of yours? [ It's out before he can really think about his words. Sliding his hand from the back of Zack's neck to his shoulder to give him a squeeze. ]

You could say that. [ There is a sense of pride in his words as he beams a smile. ] I'll share after you tell me.

la la la assuming jim never found out to make this hurt more

[rattlingthestars]

[ There's someone approaching behind Zack. The stride's long, perhaps unfamiliar, but it starts as a walk and turns into a run.

It's Jim, aged where Zack hasn't, a year older and nearly tall enough to stand eye-to-eye. He'd hoped to see his friends here, it's the entire reason he accepted the strange invitation, and this is Zack wandering through Norfinbury - couldn't be anyone else with hair like that.

He stops just short of Zack, breathing hard with the effort to run through all the snow. ]

Guess it wasn't goodbye after all.

you are horrible ffff

[heroproceeding]

[ He hears the approach through those crunching footsteps far before he actually turns around to see who it is. Unlike a time before, he doesn't snap back like he used to- or perhaps it's simply muscle memory noting that nothing around here actually made sound when they came crawling or sprinting or slithering after them. At least not until he hears that pace pick up, but even then it's more out of a hopeful feeling in his gut at this point that he turns so sharply.

Where Zell had been easily recognizable, holding to a similar height and similar hair with his tattoo and the way he almost took him down in his very familiar infectious excitement, the man before him... His height throws him off the most followed by his clothing as does the way he carries himself both in expression and in body language. Far more confident. Even his voice catches him off guard.

But the more he watches him, the more things start to click: that brown hair, the undercut- the goatee's new - but those eyes aren't. Those eyes on him, bright with recognition and Zack feels himself between hopeful, elated and a twist of something else. ]

...Jim?

YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING

[rattlingthestars]

[ Something about Zack seems off once Jim's looking him in the face, but Jim's too happy to let it sink in. It is Zack, surrounded by miles and miles of snow and broken down houses, just the way Jim remembers him. He tries to think of some way to tease Zack and lighten this moment, but it's impossible when there are tears springing to his eyes. He wipes them with the edge of his coat sleeve, a gesture Zack probably saw dozens of times.

It's hitting him that this is Zack, the person he looked up to so much. The person he's been trying to do proud for ten years, through the hell that was the academy and through his first real naval engagement. Zack, his brother.

Forget teasing, or playing it cool, or trying to ease the moment. Jim's big enough now that he can wrap his arms tight around Zack, so tight that his boots might even leave the ground. ]

Zack!

Stein

[circumsutus]

[He should have just stayed in Death City with his wife and kids, but when has Dr. Stitches ever made good decisions? Ten years haven't changed that one bit. In fact, ten years haven't changed much at all, other than the general wear and tear that comes from ageing from ones late twenties to late thirties.]

Hey! [There's a friendly wave, a neatly folded letter held in his hand.] Do you know who called this reunion?

[Seriously, could things get more suspicious? They're probably going to all get stuck in snowhell again.]

Jim Hawkins

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim is nearly unrecognizable as the teenager he was in snowhell. Same bright eyes and dark hair, of course, but he's grown into most of his features as well as just plain grown, nearly a foot in height. It's emphasized by the sweeping coat of a captain in Her Majesty's navy. He wears it easily, posture military where once there was a defensive slouch, and his expression as he heads out into the snow is one of determination rather than fear.

He's somewhere near the school, if his memory's right, and he sees someone moving in the distance. Who is anyone's guess, but @admin saw fit to leave him with his pistol this time so he calls out without thinking much of it: ]

Hello? Hey, who's over there?

Sora

[seekthelight]

[Sora was twenty-six now but it felt like he was much older than that sometimes. Returning home had thrust him right back into the oncoming war with the thirteen darknesses and everything he'd known had been turned upside down. He'd lost friends and found new ones and even though they had won he'd come out of it a very different person.

The young man that finds himself back in an oddly familiar snowy landscape is no longer full of smiles and obnoxious speeches about hope and friendship. Sure he still believes in the power of the heart and trusts his friends but he knows better now. He's a little more reserved now; he'd seen more than he could have ever imagined back at sixteen.

The armor he's wearing is battered and scuffed, having seen many a fights since Sora had gotten it. His helmet is missing--it would have been nice to have in the cold--as is his keyblade. Figures. His hair's shorter than he ever use to keep it and he's taller now; still not as tall as Riku or Kairi but hey something is better than nothing. A shiver goes through him as he looks around, pausing then turning when he hears someone approaching and his hand flexes instinctively to summon a keyblade that won't appear.]

Who's there?

[heroproceeding]

That's a new look. Bit flashy though, don't you think?

[ The words come easy, a light tease in the face of that tension even as he stops a few feet off from him.

In contrast, Zack looks like he hasn't aged a day. Same as he looked when he last left the place. Worn uniform, worn coat... Even his boots have seen better days. But he's got a decent trim at least and looks generally cleaned up. It's more his eyes that have changed more than anything. Still bright and alert... but much less strained. At least outside of the way they're still taking in the man before him. He does look familiar, but the armor's throwing him off by a mile.

It's not something he remembers anyone wearing, but then he hadn't remembered the tailored suit or the uniform Zell had been wearing either... and this man looks around their age... His brows furrow as he studies him. ] ...Pretty sure I remember you smiling a lot more, too... Sora?

[seekthelight]

[For a moment, the man before him is just a stranger. Sora's head is still foggy and he can't quite place things so his first instinct is to demand answers--

But then the memories start to slip into place and the young man's face screws up in a slight frown. A moment later, recognition flickers through his gaze and that seriousness slips away and for a moment his eyes are just as bright as they use to be. There's something akin to relief on his face as his body relaxes, the tension seeping away as his hands relax from the fists they had tightened into.]

..Zack?

[He remembers this place now. He remembers...he was stuck here. They all were. They were trying to find a way home and--

A quick breath escapes him and there's the faintest of relieved smiles on his lips as Sora shrugs.]

Smiles only do so much to get you through a war.

Alfie would definitely get an invitation like that and go "FUCK NO", so I'm fudging things a bit

[devoutish]

[Those ten years are very clearly showing on Alfie. He still carries a cane, and he leans even more heavily on it, his shoulders and back a bit hunched. His beard is graying, as is what's visible of his hair under his hat. His clothes aren't quite the same - they're a little more modern (think early 1930s instead of early 1920s) and a little more expensive, but he still has a big coat and a black top hat.

But his eyes are still the same - sharp, alert, and calculating as as he looks around, trying to spot anyone he knows. He doesn't really want to be here, but as long as he is, he might as well make the most of it.]

[jumpthegun]

[John hadn't been particularly keen on coming, either. But the prospect of seeing old friends - Fiona, Luna, Haurchefant - had drawn him here. As had the knowledge that it would only be a day. He's wearing his age well enough, blond hair turned entirely to silver now. Between his daughter, what happened to Mary, and running with Sherlock again, he blames it on the stress, really.

His own clothes are about the same, just clean this time. He has a flat cap, as well. He's standing near a table with food when he spots Alfie nearby. Not exactly anyone he's looking forward to speaking with, but there you are. John clears his throat.]

Mr. Solomons? How's business, then? Poorly, I hope.

[devoutish]

It's excellent; yeah. It's going well.

[It goes back and forth, and it's actually been dealt some major blows over the years, but he can conveniently leave those out.]

And yourself?

Ecks

[ecks]

[It is less that Ecks is older now than she is less new. Perhaps she is a little aged, the very beginnings of wrinkles showing, the scars where her patchwork skin joins shallower. There are new scars, too, that speak of a life of violence, of injuries sustained and healed again and again, and at least one of her teeth is missing.

She chooses to look this way, to show her true face when it is as easy as thought to appear however she pleases. She has little to fear from mortals anymore and she wishes to be recognized. There is a new confidence to her stance, a readiness that does not denote trepidation. There is something else to her, too, something that comes with the nagging feeling that one is in the presence of something bigger than she appears, a feeling of power that runs deep.

And when she sees someone she recognizes? Her blank expression shifts to a smile, natural as can be.]

[devoutish]

[Alfie, admittedly, might not be one of the people that Ecks would smile at. But even if she doesn't, he lifts a hand in greeting when he sees her, and starts ambling over. He's very easily recognizable as the same person - just older and more grayed.]

Enjoying your visit, Ecks?

[ecks]

Alfie.

[She does smile, actually. Old grudges are too old to be grudges, and there are worse things in this world and her own than Alfie. Her speech is not as robotic as it was; inflection has never become entirely automatic but she has more mental power and more experience to devote to it now.]

I am not not enjoying it. It is still very cold here, though. Are you enjoying yourself?