IC Inbox @Kaisou

[a_cute_batata]

Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Meow Meow!

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Action; 5/19ish;

[fiddlestick]

[It's been a day after his outburst at Luz on the network. Now that Elliot's had time to calm down (read: a good cry and breathing exercises) - he feels bad about how he acted. Luz hadn't meant to hurt him, she was just voicing her own frustrations. Elliot was the older of the two, so he shouldn't have lost control of his emotions.

Apologizing over the app doesn't feel right, so he decides to try to track her down. He could use the school records to find her address. But rather than be that invasive, he decides to head to the Owlery. He's got a Tupperware dish with him, and he looks around the store, trying to see if she's around. ]

I hope I got the right place....

Elliot is such a good boy

[a_cute_batata]

[Luz was busily taking care of some of the merchandise, as she'd promised Eda she would be useful. It was hard work mostly because Luz was doping her best to make things look more attractive by sight, when she suddenly looked up and saw Elliot].

Oh, hey! Um, about last time...I think we might have both gotten a little upset quickly and said some stuff. I know I did. I didn't mean to imply that I should just do whatever I want without anyone telling me what to do.

He tries!

[fiddlestick]

[Ah...so she immediately sprung into it huh. Elliot will give an empathetic smile]

Eheh, it's okay...I know I got over emotional there. So I came here to say I'm sorry. I know you were just expressing your own frustrations, and I took it the wrong way.

Voice

[schoolingfish]

So...um...I'm kind of sorry to do this after you did so much to make sure I had a place to stay, but...

Um...

So Alberto's here! And he's the best friend I've ever had and he's here and I want to move into his apartment because he's amazing and awesome and I thought I'd never see him again when I showed up here, but then I did and...

[He can't hide the excitement in his voice as he says all that, but then settles down.]

Well, anyway, I felt kind of bad to bail right after you rushed to get me a place, but...um...sorry. We can definitely still hang out and do stuff together!

Re: Voice

[a_cute_batata]

Huh? No way! So you have a place with that kid? Heh, well, he seems like a handful, but I'll say he's not boring!

Sure, sure, I'll let Eda know. I think I owe her, like, a million favors anyway, so no big deal.

You sound pretty happy! All right! Let's try to do that later this week, ok?

[Aw, she thought she would have liked having him around the house, but if he found a place with Alberto, who was she to judge]?

Re: Voice

[schoolingfish]

Yeah!

Back home we wanted to run away together, but I guess in the end we kind of did! Accidentally! By magical kidnapping to another place entirely, which wasn't what we had in mind...but still!

That sounds great! Maybe Eda can come, too. I want to thank her for offering a place to stay, even if I changed my mind.

text; un: signorvespa; a few days after returning from the pirate adventure

[prontissimo]

Ciao Luz
want to come over? Theirs cake here, its good.

[ There's a slight pause, and he thoughtfully tags on another separate text a moment later. ]

I didn't make it. 👀

[ He knows the mussels marinara fiasco may have slightly damaged her trust in his cooking... Ahem... ]

Re: text; un: signorvespa; a few days after returning from the pirate adventure

[a_cute_batata]

Ooh, sounds fun! And yeah, any reason to come over!

It's ok about the mussels, really. Cooking is hard!

text; 1/2

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto loves that he's forgiven so easily, but is also glad this is over text, because he's staring at his phone like ]

it's not that... cooking's easy...
our bodies are just different?
we'll talk when you get here.
a presto

[ Cryptic as ever, but he means to be fully transparent today once they're face-to-face. All the goings on in his life over the past month or two have left him with quite a bit about himself to reflect on, following several sea monster exposures in a row. He figures, Luz found out about Luca by emergency, but it'd be a testament to some kind of friendship to admit it to her straight up about himself. He and Luca had already decided they want more humans in the loop, humans who can give them honest critique on their human-ing skills, humans they trust will accept them. Alberto's always liked talking to Luz from their very first conversation, before Luca even arrived here — but he also likes that Luz is open-minded and clearly patient, because even he knows how he can come off sometimes... He's ready to soften himself some, open up, be more trusting, less guarded, less temperamental — you know, practicing some maturity for once. ]

action; 2/2

[prontissimo]

[ By the time Luz gets there, Alberto is quick to get the door when she knocks. He's wired with some nervous energy, which for him just translates as energetic energy, having had trouble sitting still while waiting impatiently; he's already set up the cake and dishes on their seashell-filled makeshift coffee table, even set out glasses with a pitcher of water. He's split his attention between tidying up and watching old black-and-white episodes of The Twilight Zone on VHS on his tiny obsolete TV (both major estate sale scores), while simultaneously playing opera music softly on the record player. Over-stimulating for most, but somehow just lends more to the distinctly "not human" vibe he so often radiates — something in how he can never get enough of everything. The fact that he's unwittingly wearing lady's swim trunks as pants while lounging at home, plus the nautical pun on his shirt, also doesn't exactly earn him any "normal human" points, either... Luz will notice some disparate tattoos (AKA drawings with Sharpie markers, as promised!) across Alberto's arms and legs, some faded, some fresh: stars, suns and moons, jellyfish, lightning bolts, rainbow stripes, polka dot patterns, you name it... Other than that, not much has changed; some things moved around, maybe, but the same crazy place, with the same crazy kid, same crazy alien vibes.

Just a little extra amped up because things are about to get real different. But at least they're already halfway there, since she already knows about Luca. It'll be easy to fess up and move on, right? Right. He's quick to welcome her in, offering her a quick hug hello if she'll accept it before leading her to the coffee table set-up, and plopping down in the heap of pillows gracelessly. ]

Ciaooo, Luz, c'min~ Make yourself comfortable. I already got the cake out. I got bored. It's great, it's "cheesy cake" — you ever had it?

[ ...He got bored, while doing like three different things at once?! It didn't take her that long to get here...! Just goes to show how antsy he is. It translates, too, in his overeagerness about this totally normal, classic New York-style cheesecake — like it's some rare delicacy that just happened to be on sale at the grocery store. It's really a good thing he's about to confess to not being human, because he's really, um, in good form otherwise today... ]

text; un: signorvespa; late August, about a week before school begins

[prontissimo]

hey, Luz.

You free today? Can I come over and hang otu?
wanna ask you about something very VERY human-y... 🤔💭

[ As promising a start to any conversation... ]

[a_cute_batata]

Yeah, sure, we can hang out! I was just finishing up school shopping anyway!

Want to meet up somewhere?

[prontissimo]

yeah.
Anywhere that’s not my house. Or the library. Or any other places Luca goes ha
😬😉

[ Tf… why he always seem like he’s up to something. Obviously up to even more “something” than usual this time, though. ]

Christmas Eve; sorry for the long backdate! better late than never lol.

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto got his wires a bit crossed about Christmas gift giving, and came to the conclusion that it's tradition to sneak presents into your friends' homes on Christmas Eve. So that afternoon, he made his rounds to deliver his gifts to all his closest friends surreptitiously, even if only pretending to make a social visit. He dropped off his gifts for Luz and Amity together on the Owlery counter by the register without comment, making sure they were tucked away a bit so not to be noticed right away before he left. He at least grasps the concept that presents are supposed to be surprises on Christmas morning. He's still... not totally clear where the fat bearded guy comes into all this... but he managed his first Christmas well, more or less.

Alberto put the most effort into the girls' gifts, second only to Luca's, naturally. But with the combined fondness he feels for Luz and, uh, low-key competitiveness, plus still trying to win Amity's favor, he made a point to try and impress them both. More than with any of the other cards he'd drawn, he means to prove himself as an artist to Luz, whom he knows is far better practiced. So his Christmas card is more detailed than the others, rendering the girls as sea monsters (and their palismans...) with extra care. And many, many markers. As for the gifts themselves, it's been a very Shrinky, Dinky Christmas with Alberto, who's just discovered shrink film art earlier in the month. Everyone got Shrinky Dinks. Everyone. The girls' happen to be the coolest, though, arguably: they each got a fair collection of earrings, simply Shrinky Dinks glued onto bases made of molded hot glue. Mostly he chose images that fit his perception of each girl's interests and aesthetics.

Amity's, Alberto tried to make extra "cool," as far as he can define it by human or witch standards... Lots of witchy motifs and a random smattering of flair, a mix of earrings and lapel pins trying to evoke some of the essence of Amity's attitude. Amity also was gifted a pack of purple fairy hair tinsel, which Alberto is extremely jealous he can't wear himself...

Luz's collection of earrings had a wider variety of interesting motifs to suit her eclectic tastes; he even tried his hand at a more "surreal" pair of earrings, under her and Dalí's artistic influence. The most elaborate gift, though, are a few strings of fairy lights, the bulbs all dappled with shrink film jellyfish, so that the light will shine through the colored tentacles. Whether this is electrically safe long-term or not is another matter, but it's probably fine for a while. And definitely looks pretty — despite the haphazard way Alberto's wrapped it in a lump of homemade wrapping paper. Once Luz gets it all untangled, it'll be great...! ]

[a_cute_batata]

[Ok, so while Alberto definitely had the idea of gift giving right, there was one thing he forgot when it came to these gifts, which were the actual tags. Nonetheless, Luz knows immediately that this is from Alberto the moment she opens the card: who else got this inventive with drawing? Further, the moment she laid her eyes on what the gifts were, she knew immediately who had created these.

Luz would find Alberto the next day, because of course she would, and give him the biggest hug she could muster].

Dude! The gifts were awesome, thanks so much! Amity loved the hair tinsel, and I'm going to make sure I wear those earrings every time I'm in school!

[And that was saying something, since Luz was more of an ear stud kind of girl]!

wipes the sweat from my brow from running so late

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's tickled when Luz comes over unannounced to thank him, a pleasant surprise in itself. But swinging the door open just to be met with the biggest hug he's had in months (not counting hugs from Luca, of course) is an even better surprise, and a gift in its own right. He hugs her back automatically, matching her tight squeeze with some force of his own. ]

Ahhh, Luz, favoloso! Good! I knew you girls would like them. Hah~! Merry Christmas, mia cara~

[ He gives her a playful, affectionate little wiggle before ending the hug, pulling back with a big grin on his face and placing his hands on his hips, chest puffed out — a typical Alberto pose, of course. Something a bit less typical of him, however, is the bejeweled pendant that hangs proudly around his neck now. Fascinated as he's been by Luz and Amity having pierced ears, he's never been known to wear any jewelry of his own — so clearly a Christmas gift, and one he's not-so-subtle in trying to subtly show it off. He's in a good mood after a great first Christmas, and the Christmas cheer apparently just doesn't end, even the next day! ]

text; backdated to 1 February

[prontissimo]

ciao Luz.

wanna come over and break stuff?

[ The fuck kind of invitation is this...

...one prompted by seeing the list of departed on Zodiac's monthly post, that's what. Alberto saw Amity had disappeared. And "break stuff" is what Alberto did when Bruno disappeared — really, his first inclination in any heartbreaking situation, frankly. So it's the best offer he can think of to comfort his best friend in this seemingly increasingly awful, unpredictable, unfair place. At least from the perspective of those left to grieve. ]

This icon is tearing me apart, but it's perfect for what she's saying right now:(:(:(

[a_cute_batata]

Break stuff? Why?

[Oh boy. Someone is in denial, Alberto, deep DEEP denial, and it will be ugly by the end of the month. Luz is, right now, hopeful].

Oh, because Amity is gone. People sometimes go missing, you know. It feels like its one of THOSE kinds of months, you know?

Because, come on. Amity going missing, in February, the month of Valentine's day? After she just gave me the best Christmas present ever?

That's...that would be the most melodramatic misery fic. Who'd believe that?

[Luz is trying real, real hard not to, because there is a pit in her stomach that's getting bigger and bigger, and this is so awful all she has IS hope. Worse still, this month is going to give her exactly that].

Luuuuuz my heart ; A ;

[prontissimo]

[ Oh, boy. Alberto's never been met with someone who pulls the same shit he does. On the one hand, he's spent so long conditioning himself to genuinely believe in his hopeless hopes; on the other hand, he's also spent so long unlearning that habit of delusional optimism and moving on into a healthier reality. It's a toss-up to read her text and feel such a familiar resonance in this conflict. What if Amity is really gone? But by the same token, what if Bruno is really gone? Alberto's the last person to try and dash her hopes about Amity's return.

However, the way Luz frames her optimism puts him on edge, like there's some grander poetic plan for the way these things happen (which is lost on Alberto, anyway, who's so out of tune with how emotionally significant holidays are to most humans), while simultaneously contradicting herself by dismissing her loss as "these things just happen, it's that kind of month." ...The same thing he'd said to her, just about, when she'd tried to comfort him about losing Bruno. That she's denying wanting to break stuff — or maybe genuinely just doesn't want to break stuff yet (unfathomable to Alberto) — worries him that she's, well— doing the same exact thing he does to himself, and he knows it. Bottling up their feelings and lying about it even to themselves, doing mental gymnastics just to keep a convincing smile on. Now seeing one of his friends do it, it's sobering and disconcerting. And not at all convincing.

It puts him on the spot as to how to appropriately respond. The "..." placeholder flashes a couple times as he types, erases, tries again, erases, toys with a couple ways to respond. But after a moment, he texts her back with unusually careful words of comfort. He's not had to comfort many people in his life before, he's new at that part of this whole 'friendship' thing. But whether he's always particularly good with words or not, it's from the heart. And at least he's more than willing to play into Luz's hopefulness and clear intent to keep the tone light and humorous, however wry. As usual — they're all too similar in these ways. ]

Well yeah

Obviously

But UNTIL she comes back... while we're waiting... we've got tons of stuff you can break just becuase 🙃 so if you ever feel like breaking stuff just becausse let me know and i'll break stuff withyou! 🤬🤜🏽💥🤛🏽🤬

(or whatever else you wanna do HA 🤣😬😅🤗)

backdated to Valentine's Day;

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto always seems to have some wires crossed. He's managed to cobble together his own interpretations of every human holiday Luz has celebrated with him, and Valentine's Day is no exception. He's gathered bits and pieces of understanding from seeing store displays and advertisements all month, hearsay in school, and a few blind-leading-the-blind consultations with Luca. And by the time the holiday rolls around, he's come to the conclusion that Valentine's Day is about celebrating love in general, showing the people you love that you love them, especially by giving them cards with nice messages – such as the little kitschy Valetine's Day cards children hand out at school, which Alberto found at the store and naturally eagerly bought, not realizing that tradition ends after elementary school... And as far as he can tell, for some reason Valentine's Day is also about celebrating chocolate. Which, hey — deserves its own holiday, in Alberto's opinion, so sure, why not. Frankly, so far Valentine's Day might be the human holiday that makes the most sense to Alberto! Love and chocolate. The most reasonable things worth celebrating. Nevermind the fact that he's still not really clear on what romantic love itself is, as his perception of romance as a concept is also extremely hodgepodge and hazy... So without fully grasping the distinction between romantic and platonic love, period, the scope of Valentine's Day seems to Alberto much broader than it actually is — but he thinks he gets the gist.

As such, he's gotten all his closest friends Valentines and makes sure they're delivered by the day of. Going off the misconception that at Christmastime, the gift-giving tradition is to sneak into your loved ones' homes and secretly leave gifts for them (cuz that's what Santa does, right? Sooo— everyone else does it, too, surely!), Alberto's Valentine's Day strategy is much the same. While stealth and surprise don't seem to be such an important part of the holiday tradition compared to Christmas, he treats the gift-giving custom with just as much care. He even made his own homemade chocolates to give out to all his friends! Which was— a characteristically bold experiment, that went pretty much as one would expect. It's... not great... Edible? But there's definitely an off under taste, like something got burnt somewhere along the way. Sooo, Alberto also shelled out for fancy-looking assorted boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Out of all his friends, Luz got the largest amount of both homemade and store-bought chocolates, though. He left them on the counter of the Owlery without comment, with a handwritten cheesy, childish Valentine attached and addressed to Luz. The card reads:

Happy Valentine Day, Luz!
One Word For You:
CHOCOLATE.
(I made it! And Bought Back-up Ǝmergency chocolatɘ too, just in case...)

But also more words for you (卄ᗩ)
What's Better Than Not Being Alone and Sad...?
Not Being Alone and Sad, AND Having CANDY...! 卄ᗩ卄ᗩ !
But seriously, I hope it Hɘlps a Little Bit. Having Good Food and Friends Always Hɘlps.
Life is crazy But Remember we're still Lucky, Luz!

ㄒi ꪜටᎶLiට ᗷƎꪀE ᑕᗩᖇᗩ ᗰiᗩ

Knowing how hard it's been losing Amity, and having been trying to keep a keen eye on how Luz has been holding up, Alberto's not gonna beat around the bush. These are anti-depression supplies. He's amazed at the little things, having the opportunity to have friends and indulgent foods when he's sad, for the first time in his life, and that luxury has been on the forefront of his mind the past couple months since losing Bruno. Alberto's eaten a lot of his feelings — and as such, Luca's eaten a lot of Alberto's feelings, too. Which has truly been a huge little joy for Alberto. Every other time he's been grieving in his life, he'd always been all alone, no loving friends to comfort or distract him, and with a notable lack of delicious food. These are both new comforts to him, ones that he wants to share with Luz, remind her of, knowing how much she's hurting. So wry jokes aside, that extra empathy just lands her with... extra chocolate. Nice to have a friend whose love language includes food, isn't it?

Which is why, knowing Alberto, it's also a bit strange when a second Valentine's card comes in the mail properly, this one sporting a cheap, generic candy – one singular piece of subpar candy...! Mediocre as he may be at many things, that's not Alberto's flavor of mediocrity. So a bit suspicious off the bat. But it is in his handwriting, distinctive as it is, and the voice certainly sounds like his... except a lot more... schmaltzy. Intimate. This kind of open sentimentality and vulnerable expressivity isn't typical of Alberto, emotive as he is. Luz, like everyone else, knows him to be repressive and avoidant of putting his obviously intense and deep feelings to words. But if this card is to be trusted, he, uh, apparently... got over that...? It reads:

ᑕᗩᖇᗩ ㄥᑌ乙,

i'm so Happy we're Friends. CRAZIEST way to make a Friend 卄ᗩ卄ᗩ but Fantastic!!
Even if it Took Time Traveling like 60 years in the Future and Being Burped up in America, 卄ᗩ ! ! (Così è La Vita...?)
But it's been Pretty much the Bɘst Thing that's ever Happened to me. And Being Friends with You is a Big part of that! You're my Best Friend Ǝver!* (* who's not Luca!)
I've Never met someone who Thinks so much Like Me. You and Me just GƎT ɘach other... Ǝvɘn if we Don't say iT out Loud. We kind of Don't Have To? I Know You Know what I mean.
AND i can Always count on You To Do all the crazy stuff with me! Ehehe...
PLUS you're Basically the BƎST Humaning Teacher ever! Me and Luca are so Lucky and gratɘful to have met you!
I hope we remember each other when we all go Home someday. I'd Rather miss you than Forgɘt you.

¡ㄒɘ ҨυiƐᖇට, ᑕᗩᖇi^ᦓᦓiᗰᗩ !

ᗩㄥᗷƎᖇｲට

Every word is true and from the heart, and surely Luz knows that from reading between the lines of their whole relationship — though it's probably nice to hear it said outright, after all. Problem is: accurate as all this is to how he truly feels about their friendship, Alberto has no recollection of writing this card. No idea it exists. Should Luz bring it up to him, it'll be an even bigger surprise to him than it was to her. He wouldn't deny anything said in it, not a word! Just would deny that he said it at all... I mean, plus that single piece of cheap candy? C'mon. Sus. ]

Action

[a_cute_batata]

It's felt like a long and frankly agonizing month. The first half was spent denying and investigating something she was wrong about, and the latter was staying in an emotional state she didn't know how to get out of. It's against this backdrop that she gets Alberto's valentine, and despite everything, it makes her smile. She knew she had made herself scarce since the catastrophe that was going into that newer realm, so if no one had come to see her, she would understand. That Alberto had gone above and beyond to try and make her feel better meant the world to her, and she was at least feeling a little more like herself after she'd read and looked at the chocolates.

It reminded her that there were so many people who were still here, who made Kaisou such a strange and fascinating place!

But when the other one came, it was enough to have Luz get out of her room and specifically go and seek out Alberto. It was one thing to be that candid, something she was absolutely certain that Alberto normally wouldn't do. With Alberto you used a lot of inference to understand him, and even when you did, you understood what he was going through was still under ropes of emotions he kept to himself that were tied in all sorts of crazy knots you had to do your best to undo yourself.

But the candy? The one, single candy? That was absolutely NOT Alberto, and if that wasn't him, she wanted to know who it was. She was at his home, then hopped onto Owlbert and knocked on his window].

Hey, Alberto! You there?

text; un: Lightwings — sent at some point after Sara's Tetris post

[sundered_wings]

hey it's me they said ok

[One look at the username should be enough to identify who "me" is; it's the girl whose overnight post about Tetris had caught Luz's attention.

The "hey it's me" part is followed by an address and then the following:]

anytime between 2 and 7 is ok

(ooc: text responses ok if you want, but for the action part the post is here)

Re: text; un: Lightwings — sent at some point after Sara's Tetris post

[a_cute_batata]

[Oh cool! She'd been waiting for a response]!

3 sounds fine!

Backdated to August, if you'd like

[keyofelde]

[Sometime after their Cygnus classes, Souta texts Luz]

Hello! It's Souta.

Is this a good time?

I'm good!

[a_cute_batata]

Sure, what's going on Souta?