IC Contact

[charcoalfeather]

"... Oh, Hi! You're talking to Rakka, but, uh, if you're hearing this then it means I can't answer the pokegear right now. Don't worry. Just make sure you leave a message and I'll reply to it!"

Beep!

Comments

[text] 3/18/16 morningish?

[quadrangle]

HEY RAKKA
UH. SORRY I DIDN'T MESSAGE YOU SOONER, I'VE BEEN ADJUSTING AND
OK I DON'T REALLY HAVE AN EXCUSE, I JUST DROPPED THE BALL FOR NO FUCKING REASON, AS USUAL
ANYWAY UH
HOW ARE YOU.

[This is starting well. Fuck.]

[charcoalfeather]

[AAH WHAT IS THAT BEEPING HER POKEGEAR HAS NEVER DONE THAT




....one new message?]

Karkat! Hello!
oh no that's okay! I can understand that, it's been taking a long time for me to adjust to this world too.
so don't feel bad!

[quadrangle]

YES HELLO

[f UCK he already said that maybe she won't notice.]

YOU HAVE BEEN ADJUSTING, THOUGH? NO PROBLEMS OR ANYTHING?

[text] 3/1 Monday

[yanginthere]

[ Going through the list of people she knew and had offended during her stint as Neon Katt has made for an exhausting few days since her network follow-up, but one of the worst affected people had been given the most space. Now it was time for Yang to break that silence ... with text. ]


hey rakka
its yang
like actually me and not the jerk from the other day

i know you probably wont want to talk to me yet
and i dont blame you for that
and i dont think excuses will make up for the things i said
but i did want to let you know that im sorry i said those hurtful things to you
i never meant for things to go that way

if you want to talk about it
like for an explanation or anything
please call me back

thanks for listening

[text>call]

[charcoalfeather]

[The reply came... later. It wasn't a full day's later, but Yang will have to wait. On top of other things happening in life at the moment, Rakka saw the message and... didn't think about it for a while. But she will pay it some mind in the end.

And Yang did ask for her to call her.]

...Hello? Yang?

[She sounds hesitant to even begin.]

[yanginthere]

[ Honestly, she expected the silence, but it was still a relief to hear Rakka calling her back at all so soon. When Yang picked up she tried not to let too much of that to shine through in case disappointment were to follow. ]

Hey, Rakka. It's me. Actually me, this time. Thanks for calling.

[Audio] 5/9 afternoon

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Rakka? Is this going through? [The 'Gear's been so finicky lately and she absolutely hates it.]

[charcoalfeather]

[It's been such a finicky mess, Rakka was more surprised to actually hear someone's voice coming through then not. It's a scramble for her pokegear then!]

Ashley? Hello, Ashley? Are you there?

[hashtagafreakingghost]

[Static, static, static...]

R--akka! Ugh, can you hear this? I can hear you- this is so damn stupid, what the-- [...static.] --jeez. Hello?

[It seems to be stabilizing...]

[Video] 6/12, evening

[callbacks]

Yo, Rakka? It's Dave. I'm ready for storytime whenever you are.

[Video]

[charcoalfeather]

[Barring that somewhat awkward conversation with Dave, today had been alright for Rakka, barring the suddenness of all these revelations. Something about that had taken its toll on her energy. Was it truly bad of her to point out that she really didn't know much of... anything about her friends? On Karkat's wriggling day, no less!

That could have just been a mess from the start, honestly.

It's thoughts like that which keep her up thinking about it right up until the call. First thing Dave's going to see as the video comes into focus is... Rakka's mouth, hanging open mid-yawn.]

Ah... hi, Dave. I'm here. [Ready though?] Are you sure you really want to do this?

[action] uhh lets say like 11/3 or something??

[harlequinhater]

[John does not back down on promises - at least not when those promises involve movies. He's gone out and spent some of his hard-earned Pokédollars on a couple of DVDs, which he is holding in his hands as he stands outside Rakka's door. He knocks with his free hand.]

Hey, Rakka! Remember how I said you have a bunch of awesome movies to catch up on? Well guess what I brought!

sure!! that works probably

[charcoalfeather]

[She wasn't doing much at the time, just sitting around with her Pokemon plotting planning her next move in Badgequest2016, and also trying out flappy pidgey on her pokegear. So when she hears a knock, she's up and hops right over.]

Oh John, hello! [She quickly spots the small stack of dvds in his hands.]

Oh yeah, the movies!

[...Not really a guess, just an exclamation.]

A Dream; October 19th

[meteorman]

Rakka is falling. That in and of itself is not unusual; she has falling dreams often enough. The unusual thing is where she is falling. This time there isn't any ground rushing up to meet her.

Instead she is plummeting through a void of stars, impossibly huge and bright and open. Nebulas twist by beneath her, suns blink in and out of existence. There is nothing she can do to slow her descent and even if she opens her mouth to cry out she'll find she can't make any noise.

One by one the stars begin to blink out. Suns extinguish. Galaxies fold in on themselves and disappear. The sky goes dark piece by piece, slowly at first and then with a terrifying swiftness until she is left in the pure darkness of a universe with no light at all.

Somewhere beneath her in the void she'll see things moving, things that are impossibly huge and almost difficult for her mind to comprehend. Her speed keeps picking up, though it's difficult to tell except that the things below her seem to be getting even larger than they already are as she draws closer. Sometimes she'll get just a glimpse of something concrete: a spidery arm with skeletal-thin fingers, the darkness of an open mouth. It's just that the closer she gets the harder it is to make out anything due to its impossibly huge size, and maybe that's a blessing.

She'll awaken just before impact.

Action; idk sometime early-mid November?

[in4apounding]

[Halloween has come and gone, and autumn is beginning the slow turnover to winter. Nightly frosts, Pumpkaboo Spice slowly turning to Pokémint everything. Clearly the best time to go out for overpriced coffees and dessert pastries.]

This is nice.

[Penny, for her part, has a slice of cake and a caffeinated something containing chocolate and a slightly obscene amount of whipped topping and syrups.]

Too bad Jane couldn't make it, she'd like this.

idk roll with it

[charcoalfeather]

[Sooner or later, everything must pass, be it the rather chilling October adventure they had, or the halloween candy that's rapidly disappearing in their house. Such is life.

At least the Pokemint wasn't so bad. As always, it's an acquired taste.]

Mm, it really is.

[Rakka's got her normal cup of hot cocoa, and a few cookies. As appetizing as cake sounded, Rakka spends enough time around sweets as it is.]

W-well, I'm sure Jane probably had something important she had to do. It's fine with just the two of us, isn't it?

REAL FUCKIN BACKDATED TO OCTOBER EVENT

[rediscover]

At first, the rolling motion might be soothing. It might feel like being rocked by a cradle, or even just the normal motion of someone moving around in their sleep. But soon enough, it will grow tumultuous enough that Rakka notices something is seriously off. But it's the crack of lightning, the deep and foreboding rolling of thunder, that jerks her out of sleep completely. The place she finds herself in is completely unfamiliar—the upper deck of a great ship, wood creaking beneath her as the vessel tosses and turns among the turbulent waves. The lurching of the deck is more than just a normal storm—the way the deck is rolling, that much is plain to see. To either side of the ship, gigantic waves roll and crash, the wind howling through the sails, and—

She'll notice now that the ship is taking on water. Most notably, because one of those huge waves crashes directly on deck, spewing cold seawater everywhere, including all over Rakka. It soaks through her nightclothes, chilling her to the bone almost immediately, but there are bigger problems at hand. The deck is tilting dangerously as the ship takes on more and more water, tossing violently, and Rakka has to scrabble for purchase. The only sounds are the shouts of crew members and the crashing of thunder, lightning streaking across the sky, and the ominous creaking of wood and rope.

She's sliding; Rakka is sliding, and no amount of grabbing will find her a handhold. The ship is going down, and fast—and below her, waiting to swallow her up, is a black and angry sea. It comes closer, and closer, and suddenly—

It's cold. Impossibly cold, and dark, the light from the storm fading as Rakka sinks to the depths below.

And then she wakes up.

11/28 - Late Afternoon/Evening

[in4apounding]

[After the events of the weekend, Rakka receives one text from Penny some time after contacting Jane.]

Rakka, I'm so sorry.

I promise this isn't your fault, please don't think you did anything wrong. I'm the one that messed up.

I need some time to think about what you said.

I'm so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you.

[Whether or not Rakka responds, Penny will remain silent and absent until Tuesday evening.]

Rakka? It's Penny.

I'm sorry. I'm back.

Can we talk?

[charcoalfeather]

[Rakka didn't respond to the first text. She... didn't think she should have. At that point, she felt so bad about what she did to Penny that she wasn't sure what to even say.

But the next text, received while Rakka was laying on her bed, gets a response.]

I'm sorry too. so sorry.

[It burns her, feeling like this, but now she had some time to think.]

If it's alright with you, we can talk. I'm... in my room if you're looking for me.

[text] [backdated to fourth of February]

[styxiedust]

So Rakka-chan, how did things end up working out with Penny?

[DON'T MIND HER, JUST MOM CHECKING IN.]

!!!

[charcoalfeather]

[She sits up IMMEDIATELY when she sees it.]

Oh! Botan! I didn't tell you about how I confessed, did I?

[Text] 4/23, early morning

[cyan_maid]

Hey, Rakka? I have a question for you.
What badges are you looking to get next? I know I'd like Olivine City's at least, maybe Cianwood's too, but if you and Penny have plans to go somewhere to get other badges, I wouldn't want to step on your toes or anything.
I just think, since the weather's nice again, the three of us could get together and plan something out.
I also texted Penny so don't worry about that.

So, uh...what do you think?

[charcoalfeather]

[rubs eyes. mmmeeeggh she's so tired. why is it The Morning.]

huh? ohhey Jane.
um, I'm pretty sure I need to get the Olivine badge and the Cianwood one too. I've never been out that way yet, and I've been meaning to go...

you want to go together? well, that does sound like fun.
if Penny wants to come too, I'd love to go.

when even is this idk, they're in Olivine, deal with it

[in4apounding]

[Penny has no rational reason to fear the ocean anymore, she knows. Not outside of those weird, biennial weekends anyway. It's just a lot of water. A LOT of water, which is very deep, and effectively bottomless, and stretches out past the visible horizon.]

[It's fine, this is fine.]

Rakka? I'm ready.

[She's- got just about every possible item of water safety gear on over her swimsuit, short of an actual oxygen tank. Precious, her Vaporeon, is at her side.]

[It's fine, really.]

who cares, it's beach time

[charcoalfeather]

[Some of the mystery and wonder of the ocean has faded from the last few times she'd visited the seaside, but Rakka still loved to head to the beach. Especially now, in the summertime, it made for a cool and relaxing day.

Well, a cool day.

She knew Penny wanted to learn how to swim - a fantastic idea, one that she even promised to support her girlfriend with! And having come all the way to the beach, it was the best possible time to give it a try.

...Hopefully, they will get to that part.]

Penny...? [um] Are... you sure you need all of that?