[OPEN] If this day was your last

[silentabyss]

Who: Noah & YOU!
What: July Catch-All
When: Throughout July
Where: Various; see prompts for specific locations
Warnings: Will be posted in specific prompt headers if they come up
Notes: Open prompts are in here, as well as specific closed things! If you want me for something either send a message to this journal, poke me on the game discord, or bonk me at wolfchan!



FURTHER NOTES: Throughout the month Noah has an extremely obvious cut on his arm that has also torn the sleeve of his jacket. He keeps it bandaged but for the first week of the month it's extremely obviously there. People are free to approach him at any time about the injury and ask him questions, but be warned he will get extremely defensive and aggressive if pushed too much. Could make for some fun CR, idk.

Comments

OPEN: July 3rd, Morning

[silentabyss]

[No one should be surprised anymore when Noah suddenly stops eating and starts refusing to engage with others, because this is a trend that happens about every other week. He shuts down entirely, wanders off by himself, and tries to find somewhere to hide against the better judgement of literally everyone. When he reappears, he pretends nothing happened, and usually he isn't willing to talk if asked.

That being said, today is day one of complete shutdown, and this one seems significantly worse than the last if you've spent any time around the kid at all. He looks like he might collapse at any time, the bags under his eyes are somehow five times worse than usual, and oh yeah he's sporting a very obvious cut on his arm that's torn through his clothing.

If you happen to wander into the bathroom right next to classroom 3-D, you'll find Noah trying to wash this cut off in the sink. Hey, the water looks clean to him, okay? He's just assuming it's fine and that this won't get horribly infected.

If you don't wander in when he's cleaning the wound, you might wander in while he's in the middle of trying to bandage it with a roll of gauze that he definitely stole from the nurse's office, because Noah absolutely refuses to go down that particular wing of the school when the staff members are actually present. That means he risks speaking to someone... and anyone who knows Noah knows he doesn't want to speak to literally anyone ever.

Regardless of when you find him treating this wound, he'll avoid eye contact with you and try to pretend that he's not here even though he, erm, definitely is.]

[begetblue]

[ Turing was in the latter group, and when they saw what Noah was doing, it gave them enough of a fright to drop the paintbrushes they'd been holding. Sure, that could very easily damage them, but Turing paid no mind as they clattered to the floor, clearly preferring to go over to Noah regardless of whether he wanted them to or not! ]

A-are you alright?! Do you need help wrapping the gauze?

[silentabyss]

[Noah blinks once, twice... eyes slowly slide to Turing's form, and he registers, however blearily, that he's being asked a question. As much as Noah would love to sink into the floor right now, this is Turing. He can trust Turing.]

...it's just a little wound. [He says, to a huge gash.] I've... had worse. I...

[Another pause, and he sighs, resigned.]

...could use the help, y-yeah.

[begetblue]

[ At the words "it's just a little wound," a frown that was a borderline pout formed on their face. At "I've had worse," their expression also got worse. Of course, since this was Turing, "worse" was also relative. Luckily they were quick to forgive, and once Noah admitted he needed help, all that disappeared as if it hadn't even happened in the first place. ]

It looks painful regardless of whether you've had worse or not. I'm afraid my medical knowledge is very limited, so I won't be able to give you stitches if you need them. Helping with the gauze is all I can do for you right now...

[ They hated feeling helpless. ]

[silentabyss]

...I think it'll be fine.

[His eyes don't quite meet Turing's, but he crouches down so that they can help him, handing over the bandages. He doesn't mean for anything he says to hurt their feelings, but to Noah, injuries like this are so commonplace that he wouldn't be bothered by this one if it didn't come from the circumstances it did.]

All... all I was doing was washing it and bandaging it anyway. It's okay. I, um... I appreciate the help.

[samuraiwomen]

There you are! [ Sara barges right into the boys bathroom without a trace of fear and a sharp click of her school shoes. Noah's back is turned to her, and shes looking down at her notes as she shoves the door open so she doesn't intially take in the gravity of the scene. Honestly, Sara seems a bit flustered. ]

I've been looking all over for you! Have you even been to class today, Noah? Finals are in a week! I haven't even been able to pay attention for the last few days, I swear, I must not be getting enough sleep. [ So many dizzy fits of deja-vu. ] Your classmates were pretty unhelpful too Noah - Noah?

[ She finally looks up to take in the actual scene. Her expression falls flat.]

You're hurt...

[silentabyss]

[Any other day, Noah would jump out of his damn skin at this, because hello yes this is the boy's bathroom and not that Noah really cares but also don't you have any trepidations about being here? No? Well, it's fine.

He'd also, normally, be more straightforward: No, he's not going to class today, he's tired, he doesn't care about finals... all of that gets lost. He's so, so out of it, that he almost doesn't register her words. This is Sara, though, and trying to hide himself in one of the stalls won't do him any good. She'd just kick the door in, from his understanding.]

I... just a little bit. I'm fine.

[His reply is quiet. Noah's already a quiet kid, but this is a different sort of quiet. Subdued. Scared.]

[samuraiwomen]

...

[ She is a girl without a care when she has a mission. Silly things like doors and bathrooms are simply petty obstacles. Still, c'mon Noah. She wouldn't break down your bathroom door when you look this scared. He is scared, she can tell that right away and it takes her a second to school her expression into something a bit less fierce. ]

I have some spare fabric. [ She doesn't mince words, pulling something wrapped up in cloth out of her jacket and then shaking it out. It's a knife, a small one, but unless Noah is looking hard she pockets it quickly and holds out the length of fabric. Morning glory patterned and somewhat thick. A festival kimono isn't much use in a school like this, so Sara has been helping herself to the hem line. ] All that gauze might catch attention, Noah. Once you're done, you should hide it with this. Like a armband...or something.

[silentabyss]

[He doesn't notice the knife, too spaced out to register anything. It takes him a moment of blankly staring at the offered fabric before he reaches out perhaps a bit timidly and takes it from her hand, staring down at it for a moment before he nods.]

Th...thanks.

[Does she know? She couldn't know; it's only been twelve hours since the incident, at most, but...

He appreciates it regardless, and goes about bandaging up the wound before he attempts to get that cloth strip around it. Attempts being the key word, and man doing this with one hand is kind of a pain in the ass.]

Can I ask you to help? S...sorry...

[sisters]

( it's when noah is washing the cut out in the sink that amami comes across him. and, honestly? he doesn't know quite enough about noah to expect this; enough to know that he seems mild-mannered enough, and that he acts like a good kid. enough to know that, when rika was going through her own shutdown, he tried his best to support her in his own way. not enough to be able to guess what the right response to this might be — but he's not inclined to do nothing and leave either.

there's a short pause, but amami will take a few steps into the bathroom. he closes the distance between the two of them, leaning up against the sink next to noah's and crossing his arms, concern colouring his features. )

If you're trying to clean it, you might want to use something other than the water in here.

( the nurse's office is what he wants to suggest, but like, at least use some of the boiled (and maybe still filtered depending on how things are going) water that's not quite so blood-contaminated. )

[silentabyss]

The... it looks fine. The blood is gone.

[It looks fine is the fatal flaw in his argument. Just because the water looks fine, doesn't mean it is. He should know better, honestly. This is the kid who has survived multiple illusionary worlds, so how could he trust his eyes so easily?

Sadly, that's what's happening right now. As Amami approaches and leans against the sink nearby, Noah side-steps, putting even more distance between the two of them. He doesn't look up, instead seemingly focused too hard on leaning forward to wash the gash. Second-guessing his earlier statement, he follows it up with,]

...is it still contaminated?

[sisters]

( the side-step is noted, and amami supposes he's an independent type. he gets it, he really does — it's a lot easier to lend a hand than to accept one — but it's the kind of thing that you don't really like to see in someone else even when you get it. he doesn't move to lessen any of the distance between them though, only watching for a moment before he offers a heavy exhale as an answer to the question. he hadn't actually looked too closely today, so it's not like he can answer with 100% certainty.

he'll get off his sink for a moment, turning and crouching down so that he's at about eye-level with the water when he turns the tap on. squints at it...

still pink. )

Looks like it to me.

( another glance to noah. )

OPEN: July 4th, Afternoon

[silentabyss]

[Noah discovers by happenstance that he can wander out into the courtyard. For a while now, he's been trying to get out, as any normal person would, in sort of a set pattern of testing the doors once a week and if they don't open for him that week, he gives up. It differs greatly from how he originally was when he came here, trying to beat the shit out of the windows in hopes that they'd break.

He's not expecting the doors to open today, not for him, but they do... and for a moment he stands there slightly dumbfounded, thinking he must have hallucinated that. Noah lets them swing shut, and then tries to open them again... where they do as doors are wont to do. Fucking incredible.

Well, he's not complaining. He hasn't seen outside in months, and once the doors are open, he runs out into the courtyard and simply decides to lay down in a spot where the sun is shining brightest. Does he look any happier than normal? Well, er, no, he doesn't — in fact he still looks like he's more dead inside than usual, but there's a certain level of joy he feels at getting to just lay outside and touch grass.

If you have a mind to, maybe come lay with him in the courtyard and enjoy the sun. Alternatively, you might be able to find him in the late evening, absolutely conked the fuck out... you should probably wake him up so he doesn't sleep outside.]

OPEN: July 4th, Evening ((Potential violence cw))

[silentabyss]

[After he wakes up from his nap in the courtyard, Noah sort of bumbles around aimlessly for a bit, back to dissociating his ass off. That's how he winds up in the elevator, and... admittedly he doesn't know how to use an elevator, because they don't have elevators where he comes from. That's neither here nor there, though, because Noah presses a button and goes rocketing the fuck downwards and he can only think: Finally, death is coming.

However you got into this situation with Noah is up to you, of course, but the point is you're stuck with him now. No one dies, of course, and when the elevator opens...

You're standing in a dilapidated version of Noah's homeworld of Elrios, and it's clear by Noah's expression — shock and abject horror that twists into rage — that he knows exactly what's going on here.

He doesn't turn to you nor acknowledge your presence, not like he really was in the first place, and instead he starts walking with what seems to be renewed purpose.]

...I'm going after Henir's Order. [is all he says on the topic, absolutely seething.]

"no one dies ofc" we'll see about that

[commences]

( komaeda has found that the elevator is pretty interesting, and sometimes he wants to play the role that elizabeth has inside — "welcome... to the elevator." of course, when noah hobbles in without a care in the world, ignoring him while he's in his own daze, it makes sense that he's been through a lot. even as the elevator whirs and shakes as they make their way down, he stands in place with his hands tucked away in his jacket — the vibrations reminding him of descending towards a trial to prepare their choice on who the blackened is.

as soon as the door opens to reveal the new area that they're at, this is why komaeda came along, everyone seems to open a different location. the oddities of this school offers a lot, and this is also one of them, so he watches noah's expression to see how he's holding up — he's not taking this too well, he doesn't take anything well considering his personality. whatever he's speaking about, that "order" is enough to make him move, as komaeda doesn't know what's actually out of place to make him think of whoever that is first.

he doesn't stop him, but instead follows behind him with every step. )

Ebalon-kun, what do you hope to achieve by finding them?

( uh oh. )

komaeda's luck damns us all

[silentabyss]

[Noah hasn't exactly registered that Komaeda has no idea what the fuck he's talking about in his blind rage, so of course his answer comes out as a very clipped,]

What are you talking about? I'm going to go kill them all for doing this.

[He gestures, vaguely, to the large, blackened sun hanging in the sky. Or is it the moon? Honestly, the details are lost to Noah at this point, but this Elrios is not the Elrios he left behind. He thinks he's back home, truth be told, and that means he has unfinished business to take care of. Instinctively he reaches for where sickle-Clamor normally would be... finds him absent, of course, and only for a moment does it look like he's coming back to reality before he sets off across the wrecked landscape.]

I never finished what I started. I still haven't found the person who killed Harque. I'm going to go take care of it.

I MEAN IT HAS TO. especially when hes just being a menace

[commences]

( that's what's interesting about these descents, no one understands a thing aside from one person, and seeing that noah has a grasp on what's going on — this must be his hell. this is not a hell to komaeda, as he looks at what's around him, he just finds himself taking part in noah's struggles. to see him this curt gives him enough information to see how bothered he is by this, and his eyes remain latched onto him to perceive his every move. )

...Is that your hope?

( he asks, curious about where clamor plays in the grand scheme of things, or is he something that doesn't exist to noah anymore. komaeda has no idea who harque is, never asked, doesn't know that when noah looked at him one time, the reason he cried more was because of his white tufts of hair. he doesn't know how much that person means to noah, so as a third party, he takes a step closer, bouncing on his foot — )

Aren't you tired of taking care of things alone? ( the same can be said of komaeda, but he's hypocritical, he contradicts himself, and that's why he works alone. not because he doesn't want anyone in his mess, but because he feels as if his life only has meaning to be used by those with growing hopes — so he gives, he offers, he'll kill, and be killed in return for them. that's his life, but could noah also live by the same code if it meant doing something for another person that he's going this far to block out everything else — ) ...

CLOSED TO ADD

[silentabyss]

[After Noah's first foray into the sucky version of Elrios, he goes and locates Add because frankly, Add is the only other person Noah knows other than Clamor who's qualified to deal with this shit. And, as a self-proclaimed master of the void and all that, who else is Noah going to approach about the weird timeline he walked into? Which of course he absolutely would've told Clamor about too I'm just putting that out there

So Noah goes and scouts out the Void Catboy Himself, and... admittedly he kind of forgets what the word for elevator is so he absolutely pronounces it wrong when he says,]

H...hey, uh... Add? Have you tried the evalator thing? It... [a pause as he waffles over how to explain this,] ...it took me to a version of Elrios where it looked like Henir's Order had won. The world was dilapidated and dark. Do you have any idea why that would happen...?

[subtract]

You mean the elevator? [smh. getting the name of one of the world's finest inventions completely wrong like that... for shame.

anyway, he's catching Add as he comes out of the home ec room, probably from working on cute catbands for the upcoming fundraiser but no one has to know about that. shut up. He scowls, but he's listening intently despite it.]

... Hmm. The dimensional walls of this world are thin. It's not that surprising that a gap would exist between this world and another, though I couldn't tell you why such a place would be accessible when the pattern thus far has been to ensure everyone's containment... you say you reached this dimension through the elevator?

[he probably would've pressed every button in there on day 1, but there was that gross dead body so i guess he waited until it could get cleaned... w/e, don't worry about it, we goin on an adventure]

[silentabyss]

That's what I said.

[No, Noah, that is not at all what you said.

Anyway, Add is saying more words that Noah doesn't quite grasp fully. The dimensional walls of the world are thin, huh? Well, like with most of Add's babbling, Noah gets the gist of it.]

But, yeah, that's where it was. I pressed a button and it went rocketing downwards, and then when the doors opened, that's where I was. ...That place. It definitely wasn't the Elrios that I came from.

[subtract]

Are you sure?

You've been here for awhile now, haven't you...? Perhaps that's the state it's fallen into without you there to stop them, kukukuku...

[... just kidding. probably. but instead of saying that, he just leaves Noah hanging on that thought and strides in the direction of the elevator. he's gotta see this shit himself, you know?]

We'll recreate the experiment... you, I need you to do exactly what you did before. [so Noah has to come, and he expects him to follow]

CLOSED: July 2nd, before midnight

[sunstead]

[sometimes you go down to get a midnight snack, bump into someone else along the way, and both of you have the most intense feeling of Danger Sense in the middle of making sandwiches. tonight is just one of those nights.

Clamor freezes in the middle of putting the bread away, that familiar sense of deja vu flooding him all at once... he hasn't quite figured out what it means, but it's hard not to feel like something awful is happening at this very moment. He looks over at Stephanie with a frown.]

Did you feel anything just now?

[closewithnewintown]

[leaning against the counter, head resting on her arms, trying to not be super rude and fall asleep while Clamor is talking. she pauses when he asks the question, though, frowning.]

No... I don't think so...

[she decides to stand back and still for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to do something. which is good, because when she suddenly goes entirely limp, like a marionette with its strings cut, she doesn't crack her head against the counter as she goes down.]

[sunstead]

[Oh... well, that makes sense. The last time it happened to him no one else noticed, either. He turns his back to her for a second as he finishes putting the bread away.]

Never mind... it's probably nothing. Did you want the— [and then he hears a thunk and turns around just in time to see a pink haired child limp on the floor] Stephanie?!

[on second thought maybe it is something but he doesn't have time to worry about that yet, when the much more pressing concern is to rush to Steph's side and make sure she isn't dead. Is she still breathing? How's her pulse? Forehead temperature check? She's not hurt from the fall, is she?] Are you alright? What happened?

[closewithnewintown]

[her eyes are still wide open; for a moment, it's like she froze, like her body is having difficulty catching up to wherever her brain has gone. then, she blinks, hard, sitting up with a sort of staggered movement, her head in her hands...

she frowns. what just... it takes her a second, to recognize what's different. to recognize the feeling.]

... Hyde is dead. [she'd say "gone," but. she knows Hyde well enough by now. she knows what he does.] Someone killed him.