"the second miracle was the time spent with you" | ASPECTS GAME

[miraculess]

Warnings for violence, self harm, and suicide attempts and ideation.

(Also for overblown symbolism and the fact I am almost entirely winging this ;D)

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[miraculess]

[ you step forward into the entryway of what looks to be a Japanese-style house. a breeze from some unseen window or open door carries the smell of flowers and straw to you, and you can hear soft crinkling and shushing noises from the room ahead along with tuneless humming.

there's an alcove for shoes near your feet with a pair already neatly tucked in there. HAVE FUN TAKING OFF YOUR RIDICULOUS PLATFORMS ]



((the goal of this room is interaction, and also maybe not dying?))

[decomposed]

[ jokes on you he's a Servant and can sparkle them off

which he does, and steps in barefoot, a bit of a hesitance to his posture and movements. he feels like he's intruding, which has been true of a lot of these aspect rooms but maybe even moreso here. ]

[miraculess]

[ I'm really tempted to make up my mind about powercapping in here just to make Uriel's life hard.

the entryway opens up into a living room— the entire thing has an old-fashioned and traditional air, with tatami mats on the floor and soft cushions scattered about. there are paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls, and... several swords?

however, more immediately noticeable is the girl sitting at a kotatsu— she's practicing calligraphy, humming as she scoots the brush over the paper with intense concentration and a little too much pressure for the lines to come out anywhere near gracefully. it's unmistakably Lilith— though a much more well-cared-for Lilith than Uriel's ever seen. her hair is neatly trimmed in a shorter cut, there are bandages and gauze painstakingly taped over her seams, and in general she just seems... softer. even her face looks more rounded, although that has more to do with relaxation and a less half-starved look than any apparent change in her age.

her focus on the calligraphy doesn't last long, though. she glances up as she hears footsteps, and freezes with an almost comic deer-in-headlights expression—

THEN SHE DIVES UNDER THE KOTATSU. there goes half the calligraphy supplies. ]

[decomposed]

[ oh ]

... Please excuse me.

[ starts. gathering up the scattered papers ]

[miraculess]

[ there's a thump and a rather offended squawk of confusion as she startles at SUDDEN VOICE IN HER HEAD and hits her head on the underside of the table.

the papers are mostly blank, but several of them have nearly unreadable kanji on them. her handwriting is atrocious. ]

[decomposed]

[ this idiot who forgot telepathy is weird

he would apologize but. you know. so he just finishes tidying up the papers, stacking the blank ones neatly and spreading out the painted ones over the table ]

[miraculess]

[ ... eventually awkwardly pops her head out the other side to squint at him just over the edge of the table ]

[decomposed]

[ glances over at her and dips his head in acknowledgement, stilling his hands ]

[miraculess]

[ flinches at the confirmation that he saw her, but which how round eyed she goes it doesn't look like a genuinely fearful reaction so much as she's really easily spooked ]

[decomposed]

[ ... slowly reaches up and touches his own temple, sort of questioning ]

[miraculess]

[ ...? ????? wrinkles her nose ]

[decomposed]

Is this all right?

[miraculess]

[ doesn't startle, this time, but does give him a very wide-eyed look for several moments before nodding tentatively. how are you doing that ]

[decomposed]

I apologize if I may have shocked you initially. I am unable to speak through the usual means, and resort to this method instead.

[ he gestures over the spread out calligraphy ]

Were these all done by your hand?

[miraculess]

[ looks briefly, openly jealous— then pinks, the flush even patchier than usual, and nods with her head ducked ]

[decomposed]

[ ah...

after a beat ]

I would be able to read your thoughts in turn, if you permit it.

[miraculess]

[ fidgets, lacing her fingers nervously— she's got ink all over them, and a smudge across her cheek



n. nodding? ]

[decomposed]

[ ok well

he's doing that now - dipping into her surface level thoughts/feelings ]

Would you like to read them to me?

[miraculess]

[ it's a bit of a jumbled mess in there; only half at most of her thoughts are in anything like words, and the rest are feelings and images and impressions.

if he's ever read a small child's mind before, the similarity is immediately obvious— as is the fact that it wasn't that she wouldn't or physically couldn't talk so much as she doesn't know how. ]

embarrassment, can't, bad

can you hear? ??

[decomposed]

[ ah... ]

I can hear you. You do not remember which is which?

[miraculess]

[ shakes her head "no" ]

could— [ a sense of focusing, digging back, effort ]

that's not reading.

[decomposed]

Recitation from memory is also a valuable skill.

[miraculess]

[ ...there's a strong sense of nervous, uncertain disagreement ]

[decomposed]

Hm. Then, if you are opposed, would you write another for me instead?

[miraculess]

?? why? not good