chroma | WEEK FOUR: EXECUTION

EXECUTION: TRIAL BY COMBAT

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough, until around noon, when alarms start going off on your phones. The dreadful noise is accompanied by a reminder of the execution taking place in the Central Node. You can snooze the alarms at first, but they begin to get a little more insistent. If you're being stubborn, you can probably hold out until exactly 1 PM, when an archway opens right in front of you and pulls you in.

Today the Central Node is eerily quiet and empty. There are a few blankets laid out on the grass for those of you who wish to sit instead of standing the whole time. No refreshments have been provided, but the Residents are already there waiting for you.

As the last person enters the node, an enormous archway suddenly opens. This archway once again leads to an area which is pitch black inside, with white and grey dust falling softly like snow. The chilly air feels even colder than before, and you instinctively know you must not approach it. If you try to push through anyway, something is blocking your way. Smaller tears to the same space open in the air, at the very least. You can see what's happening, even if you can't follow.

Because - once the archway is open, Atsushi and Vin alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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[clarte glances to where ruby is, as a request echoes through their mind ("make sure ruby isn't alone?"), but seeing that she's with vax, they relax. just slightly.

they don't seem surprised to see vin there, but they watch, grim.]

[ uses clarte's shoulder like an arm rest, projecting a mild yikes but otherwise fairly calm. ]

[you're welcome, garou. clarte lets garou's calm wash over them, as they return it in kind.]

[ lifts a brow at the ferris wheel. ]

Hm.

[they glance at him.]

Hm?

This is weird settling.

[ Is this a last date or something? ]

... I think for Atsushi, it's associated with a happy, peaceful life.

[a life atsushi likely would've wanted for himself and vin, individually or not.]

[ nods, that's nice. can't relate.

sometimes i think about how garou is like those people who complain turning red sucks because it wasn't specifically catered to them, and then i wonder about my choices. ]

[THIS CALLOUT IS KILLING ME

clarte will just nudge garou anyway. interpret this how you will.]

[ HE'S NOT SAYING ANYTHING

just daydreaming about how if it were him he'd pick something SICK like a volcano or an avalanche just to make things extra exciting ]

[you don't know what the nudge was about it could've meant ANYTHING

but amidst the grim calm as clarte tries not to radiate worry and make everyone else feel it, there's a blip of dry amusement, since clarte can guess what garou is thinking about. smh.]

[ wow his eyes go a little wide.

that's pretty smooth, dude. ]

[... this is heartbreaking, but clarte keeps their emotions calm anyway. if nothing else, there's a hint of warmth, for atsushi finding his courage to say it even when he didn't think he had the right.]

Oh, Atsushi...

[ pats clarte's shoulder

there there ]

[thanks garou, they appreciate your awkward attempt.]

I'm okay.

[ that sounds like a lie but he won't bug you today, clarte.

just watches the fight with an o: expression. ]

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[ ruby glances around once she's settled, spotting clarte and nodding to them. ]

[they nod back. quietly, if ruby can hear,]

... She's thinking of you.

[ she blinks, her emotions growing warm. ]

Thank you.

[ there's a small smile there, grateful for clarte, once again. ]

[ i can't keep repeating that roxana is calm in every tag

but roxana will reach over and touch their elbow. ]

[they look back at her and smile. worry flickers through once in a while, before it's smothered and replaced with cautious faith.]

[ they are a watching a cute execution date. her feelings are still calm, but the grimness is coming out a bit more. ]

Is it better for them?

[ To have that sweetness first? ]

[...]

It'll be painful, but... no matter how things end, it's worth it to enjoy happiness as it comes.

[perhaps that sweetness will make the aftermath even more bitter; still, that doesn't necessarily negate the value in having it at all.

especially knowing what they do of atsushi and vin's lives.]

To have rather than to never have had at all.

[ It's a conflicting emotion, but she understands. If they think the pain is worth it, that speaks measures, too. ]

[they think of vin, sometimes afraid of just that.

... they hope, at least, that she'll be able to hold onto this moment of happiness, rather than only the grief that follows.]