ic inbox.

[lucentia]

HELLO

"Greetings."

GOODBYE

TEXT | VIDEO | VOICE | ACTION

Comments

[lucentia]

[FEELS A LITTLE BAD ABOUT MAKING TOKINAGA WORRY but too late now.]

No, they're fine. Rather than looking for you, I should say they wanted someone to check on how you were doing...

[vacuous]

[ ...Feels bad for making his family worry... ]

Uh, yeah. So far I'm fine. Nothing's happened...

Sorry, who are you...?

[lucentia]

[man unrepentantly lying is easier when he's doing it with people whose situation he knows]

Ah—apologies, my name is Lucien. I'm an acquaintance of your niece, and your family knew I was in the area, so they reached out to me. I'll admit, they didn't fully explain the circumstances to me.

[vacuous]

My niece...?

[ HIS NIECE WHO'S LIKE, A TODDLER. ]

Uh, alright. Sorry if this comes off weird, but you don't look like a person from Saga. Did you move... here... young?

[ He says 'here' with a bit of uncertainty. ]

[lucentia]

[MOVING ON FROM THE NIECE THING]

No, I apologize if I'm the one coming off weirdly! [a beat, and then cautiously—] ... Where do you think we are, right now?

[vacuous]

Saga...?

[ In the awkward tone of 'the place I just said', but not rudely. Doesn't explain because surely he doesn't have to to a... local...? ]

[lucentia]

... Are you sure you're in Saga?

[vacuous]

Am I... not? I kind of... I feel like I lost track and then I was just wandering around here...

...It's kind of cold for November, but it's chillier in places outside of Tokyo, isn't it...

[lucentia]

... If you lost track, then you may be lost. Do you mind if I accompany you for a bit? And then you can decide if this is in fact the place you meant to reach.

[vacuous]

...Sure.

[ He supposes, why not. ]

If I'm not bothering you from anything.

[lucentia]

No, not at all! If anything, I'm aware I must be the bother here.

[vacuous]

It's fine. I wasn't doing much other than walking around anyway.

[lucentia]

[a nod, as he approaches tokinaga more closely so that he can walk alongside him... tries not to look at his funky eye and make it seem like he's staring.]

[vacuous]

[ Just silently keeps walking while looking vaguely like he's seen the horrors for some reason. The vibe of someone permanently sleep-deprived. ]

[lucentia]

[...]

Pardon my asking, but are you all right...? You seem tired.

[vacuous]

? ...Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty tired...

It's why... I decided to come to Saga. I just needed to get away...

[lucentia]

[lucien, internally screaming: WHAT IS SAGA.

a pause, because he is aware anything he can ask will potentially doxx himself as someone who doesn't know what's going on at all, but.]

Get away...?

[vacuous]

[ It's classic Square Enix hit Romancing SaGa 2 ]

Yeah. You know.

Just from everything...

[lucentia]

[help me]

... And you're hoping that Saga can give you some peace?

[vacuous]

Yeah... guess so. I picked it sort of at random... I just wanted some-place quiet that was open during this season.

[lucentia]

Well, if it's quiet you're looking for, you've certainly found it. Though I fear that you really may not be in the right place.

[vacuous]

How far off from Saga could I possibly be? Didn't I get off at the right station?... I can be airheaded but it's not usually that bad...

[lucentia]

[wonders if maybe he should've just pretended this was saga after all as he tries to come up with something.]

... I'm sorry. It's a little hard to explain. [...] How long did you intend for your trip to be, again?

[vacuous]

About a week.

Solo trip.

[lucentia]

—Once again, I apologize if I'm bothering you.

[IN CASE THAT WAS MEANT TO BE A HINT...]

What about work?