Twitter (@cosmicqueen)

[gunslingerqueen]

riko @cosmicqueen richard is gone. this is not okay and I will not pretend to be okay with it. you can't just take my family from me. #igiveup #happynewyear #not

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[gunslingerqueen]

[Sora doesn't get a reply for a while, which is incredibly unusual. They've both got crazy schedules but when it comes to texts, Nariko always makes sure to respond at quick as humanly possible. A new two hour gap is justifiably unsettling.]

i hate them.

let me know if I should change this any!

[consocius]

[Sora doesn't text her back yet. He goes straight to the Cosmic Indulgence penthouse to knock on the door. It's Page that lets him in. He gets told a joke regarding his hair. Normally Sora would laugh even though it was terrible. He's a little too focused on the fact that his friend is hurting, though. Instead he immediately asks if Nariko is in and if so can they point him to where she is?]

No it's perfect!

[gunslingerqueen]

[Her door is open by now because, at some point or another, she had to go take a shower. Sora will find her laid out on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Her room is a complete disaster, and it looks an awful lot like she just ... Flew into a rage, and broke and ripped as much as she possibly could. Because Sora hasn't texted her back she doesn't know to expect anyone!

Which is fine, Nariko's almost entirely prepared to spend the rest of her life on the floor.]

[consocius]

[He probably should have texted her back, but he'd been a little too concerned. And he was afraid he'd have to wait a long time for a text back again. Which would only increase the concern. Not that her current state doesn't also increase it a whole lot.

He sort of wants to just come in and lay next to her, and he wonders for a second if that would be okay. He decides on knocking first, lightly on her open door, before just coming in and heading over to her.]

[gunslingerqueen]

[When he knocks - well, she can't pretend that no one is there. As far as Nariko is aware most of her bandmates are still here and she expected them or Page to kind of look in on her, make sure she wasn't dead or something. She looks over, expecting Terry or Koumei or - someone that's not Sora. There's a moment where she clearly doesn't understand how to comprehend his presence.]

Sora.

[She's illogically, dumbly angry at him for a second. Nariko doesn't want to look weak, she doesn't want to give their dumbass fucking label what they want and yet-] Sora!

[And yet now that her rage tantrum is done with there's only room for all that sadness, so is it really any big surprise that she immediately wells up with tears and begins to sob? Because it shouldn't be.]

[consocius]

[It's really not much of a surprise at all. Which almost makes it that much more painful to see her cry like that. He pretty much dashes the rest of the way over to her and drops onto the floor so he can wrap his arms around her tightly, pulling her face into his shoulder if she'll let him.]

I'm still here, [he whispers.] You've still got people that care about you. You're not alone. You never have to be alone, okay?

[gunslingerqueen]

[Sora could probably get away with dragging her out of the building right about now, if he so pleased. The only thing she seems to know how to do is wrap her arms around him and cry some more. She does hear him, and all of her wants to be comforted, she wants to believe Sora because he would never lie to her. But everyone had been losing bandmates left and right and, somehow, she'd never imagined it would happen to them. To her.

So if she could lose Richard, of all people, then it really felt like anyone could slip right through her fingers.] You don't know that! How could he - How?

[To her it's incomprehensible to have spent so much time together, to play so many shows, be stuck in that horrid tour bus, work themselves to the bone, to become closer through all of that, and love one another, and have it all end like this. Out of nowhere, without a word.]

[consocius]

[Dragging her out of the building eventually might actually be a good idea. Or, at the very least, out of this room. For right now though, he just keeps holding her, and speaks from his heart, as he always does.]

I don't know why people leave, but sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't have a choice. But you still have your memories of him, you'll always have those. So he's still in your heart, Nariko. We all are. And that's how you never have to be alone. 'Cause even when we're apart, we're always connected... [He pulls back just a little, to look at her face, to offer a smile. And to point to the middle of her chest.] ...Right here.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Sora is incredibly sweet. It also means he's idealistic, that he doesn't quite fit into the world around them and how utterly cruel it can be. So maybe she should doubt him, point out that Richard being in her heart couldn't compare to him being here with her.

But she believes him. It's sappy and ridiculous and so well meaning and she can't help believing him.]

Okay. [That's a start. She takes a deep breathe.] I -- you're right. [Her eyes well up with a fresh round of tears, but it's far more helpful this time, and she ends up taking his hand and squeezing it tightly.] How are you even real, Sora.

[consocius]

[They may not be words to fix everything forever, but honestly Sora wasn't expecting them to. Things like this had no simple solution, there was only helping in the moment. To get her thinking positively instead of wallowing in the negative. And if he's managed that, then he's happy.

He gives a smile of relief, and affection at her words. They're just as sweet as his own had been really, and he wipes some of her tears with a thumb.] Same way you're real, of course. You can't go backwards, so you just gotta keep going forward. Things will be alright.