RETURN OF THE ANGRY GUITARS...?! where my vdr alumni at

[indulgedtheother]

[ it's been quiet, hasn't it?

the city isn't abandoned, or anything like that— there's still the ever-present and bustling population of Monars up to their usual zany nonsense, the occasional long-term resident going about their lives. however, the assorted castles (how many even are there, now?!) have been gathering dust. the active war zone has been decidedly in active. the Dressing Room... has become normal.

which means the loud rumble of an incoming engine might actually turn some heads as a bus roars into town, heading straight for the much-abused (and yet still somehow miraculously intact— just like its owner!) tour bus— and screeches to a halt just in time to give it the gentlest of taps. it idles there for a few moments before the doors slide open to discharge a group of disgruntled, complaining passengers— one of whom might look very familiar to old faces.

...or, well. two of whom, actually; the pair that speedwalks the hell out of the bus's potential warpath might as well be twins. the girl trailing behind is shorter by a few inches, but aside from that they're nearly identical: same dark blue hair and eyes (albeit a little duller on the girl), same broad-shouldered build, same straight-backed posture. the same healed-over surgical scars.

they both look over the town with just as similar variations on the particular dead-eyed weariness that comes from traveling in cramped quarters for way too long before the man lets out a huge sigh, shoulders slumping with visible relief. ]

This is it...?

This is it. It's been a while... I'm surprised. It doesn't seem to have changed much.

[ —which is when the backpack Kaito is wearing turns out not to be a backpack at all, a head popping up to look over his shoulders as the much shorter girl piggybacking on him shifts her grip for a better view. ]

Huh. Well, I've certainly seen worse as far as these kinds of places go... lucky us, though, that means we've already got our tour guide. Right, "big brother"~?





((who wants to party like it's 2012. 2013? don't make me think about how long it's been please. feel free to have your characters returning off the same bus or other transportation or whatever if they weren't mysteriously here the whole time. and yes, I did just dump three AUs of the same character in here. behold, my true form...! ...i'm so sorry haha

also heads up for any of y'all with psychic/magic/whatever senses: IT'S A MESS OVER HERE))

Comments

obligatory playercest thread MY SHAMELESSNESS HAS ONLY LEVELED UP, AGING LIKE FINE WINE

[indulgedtheother]

[ MAKES AN EXTREMELY UNDIGNIFIED NOISE ]

I mean— of course, but—

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ bullying idiot boys should not be nearly as funny when the boy is also technically you, sort of

on the other hand she stopped caring about "shoulds" a while back, so it's fine. besides, it's absolutely giving her a feeling of deep and abiding kinship when she thinks about the way Miku had treated her, so, ]

Oh, wow, you should see your face. Come on, is it really that weird?

[indulgedtheother]

S...sssomewhat? Besides which, I'm not that much older—

[anappleaday]

[ DRY ]

You've still lived longer than either of us.

[revalue]

[she doesn't quite look the way she used to, but it's not that her face has changed. her hair is the same as it always was, but there are almost too many ornaments in it, her dress too ornate. she is wearing dangling earrings, and perhaps a hint of makeup. her high heels imply that she has not been on an adventure in many and many a year. her sword is nowhere to be seen.

those who recognize this "miku" will have to do so perhaps by her regal bearing, or perhaps by her uncommonly somber expression. and yet, when she spies you, she nods, and her lips curl in the faintest smile.]

Welcome back.

[she, too, has been gone for a long time.]

/?

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ sometimes you're told that you are almost certainly going to run into a bunch of people who look like your dead crush so you can attempt to prepare yourself

and then not only are your preparations utterly unhelpful, but the first one you run into is dressed to the nines and carries herself like royalty

and you have also deliberately worked on being more impulsive, and spend a lot of time on the internet, and— ]

...Well, I'm gay.

[ —and then you blurt out something stupid just a little bit louder than you mean to and have to go, immediately. slapping both hands over her mouth (nearly falling off of Kaito's back as a result) and then promptly ducking down to vanish behind his back again gOODBYE! YOU SAW NOTHING! THAT WAS AN ILLUSION ]

[anappleaday]

[ ... thank you for taking that bullet

making a really undignified squeaky noise (definitely familiar, even if it's an octave or so up) and covering her mouth as she tries not to laugh ]

3/3

[indulgedtheother]

[ and Kaito finishes that particular reaction train by slowly bringing one hand up to facepalm, every inch as longsuffering as he'd ever been. ]

...Disregard that, please. ... It's good to see you again.

[ because it may have been a long time, and a lot may have happened— but he never had lost the knack he'd picked up here for telling people apart by how they spoke and how they held themselves. of course he recognizes her. ]

[revalue]

[she doesn't laugh, not exactly, miku responds with a quirk of her brow and a smile just a tad broader than she has grown accustomed to giving. the rings on her fingers gleam as she tosses one long pigtail over her shoulder.]

You're free to admire whatever you wish — as fervently as you please.

[briefly, she considers cracking a joke about her royal chambers and the fact that she doesn't have a consort as such, but in the end, it seems best not to tease. kaito's recognition earns him another graceful nod of the head. ages ago, perhaps she would have bowed to him, but the days when she offered others such courtesies are long gone.]

And it is good to see you, Kaito. I was ever fond of you. You and yours — are they well?

[indulgedtheother]

[ there is a muffled noise that can only really be described as "dying whale" from the vicinity of Kaito's back, which he to all appearances politely ignores in favor of raising both eyebrows at Miku. his twin apparently gives up on not laughing as a lost cause at that and snorts, giving Miku a brief, wry grin before shaking her head, nodding to Kaito, and starting to step away to give them some privacy.

(in motion, it's blatantly obvious that unlike Kaito, she's had some kind of combat training. ...also a number of weapons hidden to varying degrees on her person.) ]

... Well enough, last I saw them. I ended up leaving home for a while, so I haven't seen them for some time either.

[thisfoolishfather]

[ It's the weirdest feeling, like waking up from a dream only to still be in a dream, or falling asleep in a dream...any which way you slice it, it's surreal.

His own distinctive scars don't look like they've had nearly as long to heal as the other two, but he isn't as downright sickly as he'd been when he left, at least as far as he remembers. He remembers being here, and at the same time he remembers not remembering, and honestly it's infuriating. If he knew at home what he knew here, then maybe--

That train of thought skids to a crashing halt upon seeing a familiar face. Familiar faces? Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, it is too early in his return here to have to deal with this, relevant to his current problem as it may be. So he'll do what any reasonable, overwhelmed adult would do:

An abrupt 180-turn to power walk in the opposite direction. ]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ unfortunately for him, the sudden change in movement results in all three of them looking over his way— Kaito only briefly before he pointedly looks away, but his twin starts and looks at him with something like recognition before she notices Kaito's reaction.

as for the third— ]

Forget something?

[ —he's hardly turned around before she comes cheerfully bouncing up next to him as though he'd called her over. ]

[thisfoolishfather]

[ OH, HELLO???

He stops just as awkwardly as he started, unable to keep himself from giving this mysterious girl a lightning fast once-over. Not immediately familiar, not in the way the other two are, but there's enough of something there to spread goosebumps up the back of his neck. ]

Well, not any longer, no. One of the many strange effects of this place, I'm sure.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ her face is the same as the other two (albeit missing any sign of seams and with way more baby fat), but the hair and eyes are definitely much brighter. it isn't as though identical faces are weird here, anyway. ]

Not any— oh. One of those places you forget when you leave?

[futureforbirds]

[A blue-blink of Kaito(?)'s eyes is the most surprise he shows at a bus showing up. This situation is so familiar.]

......

[He's just staring as three people come off. Keeps watching just in case. And then. He shrugs. Huge teal wings come out of his back at the same time, to enhance the Shrug.]

They're all Kaito! Of course.

[deteriorated]

[ Approaching the winged Kaito — with much sturdier steps! — is yet another KAITO. Clean and mended, he doesn't seem much different from any other blue-themed Vocaloid. Save for his very calm demeanor. ]

What is it, Li— [ He quickly corrects himself. ] Kaito?

[ It can't be that something is happening. It's been peaceful here for years. KAITO prefers that, honestly. He's getting too old to deal with too much activity. ]

[futureforbirds]

[He's about to make a sour face at him before he corrects himself, but instead he continues looking excited in his way. Which is just smiling a little up at him - you can't call him Little Kaito because he's "too old for that" now, but he is still shorter than the other two. Subtle expressions suit him the most, regardless.]

Visitors. ....It's been a while, but things are still the same when it comes to this.

[deteriorated]

Visitors?

[ He looks over to focus his gaze at the newcomers. New-Kaito. ]

Oh... you're right. It's just like before. I wonder what brought them here...?

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ the taller woman gives him a flat, unimpressed look, apparently unruffled by the wings; but the shorter one goes "ooh" and leans over Kaito's shoulders for a better look. cheerfully ]

Kaiko, thank you. And she's something else altogether. Hello!

[subjecting]

[ He doesn't do outside.

Not anymore.

Well. Now is an exception. But, any other time, it would be rare to find KaITO outside of his facility. Ever since he got it back, he's had less and less reason to leave. Why would he need to? He can keep himself plugged into the main controls for as long as he wants, do all the experiments he wants, and no one can ever bother him about it. If anyone does bother him about it? He kicks them out of the facility. Just like that. It's been fun. Don't come back.

It's been a while since he's done anything else. And that's fine. Just fine.

The only reason he's outside now is to get something. A screwdriver, funnily enough. You'd think they'd have one inside the entire facility, but no. It's gone. And now he has to come outside to steal obtain one, and now he's face-to-face with these faces. These... familiar faces. ]

Hmm. [ He hums aloud to no one in particular. ] Another slow day.

/? IT'S MY TIME FOR MULTIPLE COMMENT TAGS

[indulgedtheother]

[ probably somewhat predictably, Kaito's double take is swift and extreme— a glance over followed by his head jerking up and around so violently that the girl dangling off of him squawks in protest. ...what might be less expected is the way his eyes sheen briefly but unexpectedly gold, a wash of luminescent color like the light reflecting off of a cats' eyes. ]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ —but he's not the only one reacting like that. his "twin" gives KaITO a more mildly wary look, quietly assessing, but the shorter girl takes one startled look at him in the wake of Kaito's surprise and doesn't straighten up so much as she does a push-up off of Kaito's shoulders to get a better view, fluffing up like something out of a Ghibli movie. ]

3/3

[ghostfromthemachine]

Oh, hello—

[ before Kaito can stop her she's already hopped down to come trotting over, completely ignoring his abortive attempt to get her attention. ]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[subjecting]

It's an observation.

[ The screwdriver in his hand — not an icepick, promise — gets a single twirl before he stores it in the back of his pants, beneath his long coat. ]

You look familiar. I don't have any records on you.

[ Another observation, as contrasting as it is. Familiar, yet unfamiliar. ]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ that flourish gets a grin— and even with how much more baby fat she's got and the lack of scars, the resemblance between her and Kaito only intensifies. there's far more cheer to that expression on her than there'd ever been when he'd bared his teeth, but for all that it's friendly it's still got an echo of the same edge to it.

at least for a moment, anyway. ]

It's my aura of mystery— no, I'm kidding, I'm just fresh meat. Familiar isn't that uncommon here, though, right?