bellelurette | Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Your stopped time has restarted. Whether you were in the grassy field or fighting for your life on the castle grounds, you'll suddenly find yourself in an untouched area of the gardens. Ish is back, and so are the items, and the dead.

You return to Chateau Ambregris with the certain knowledge that come Monday, you will greet a new week, in a home of your own choosing. No longer will the chime of the clocks hunt you down, no longer will the oppressive scent of roses haunt your senses, no longer will you be forced to watch the death of those you've come to love and hate.

Parting is such a bittersweet sorrow, isn't it?

Make merry one last time, in this castle of illusions. Ironically, your memories of this stolen time that never existed are the one thing that will truly remain to you.

END NOTES

🔮 All dead are revived as tsukumogami! Congrats on your immortality(?)
🔮 Any other contracts made with Ish will be honored
🔮 Characters may choose to leave for any world they desire.
🔮 Time has not passed while you were stuck in this loop!
🔮 There will be no cross-dimensional world travel, except for on Samhain (Witches New Year October 31st/November 1st). On these dates, Ish will enable everyone to visit each other's world freely.
🔮 Universal Communication will be possible, courtesy of Manba and Ish. Everyone who wants one will be given a small fox that can communicate with other foxes through voice and video; the foxes can talk and are fairly simple creatures, enjoy them and give them fried tofu once in a while.
🔮 Powers are on for the finale, but Ish will step in and yeet anyone who gets too out of hand back to their homeworld, so play nice! (or relatively nice. )

[OOC: Welcome to your epilogue! The timeloop is ended, the evil has been defeated, and you have some time to catch your breath in the castle before the rest of your life begins! ]

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[ If only. The warmth can be felt to him anyway, a solid bit of proof that G'raha lingers.

(... Matters here, anyway. You know someone else's matters far more elsewhere.

But you don't want to say so. Just be happy, Siffrin. For once.) ]

So you won't be modest if I call you all kinds of things?

[ oh my god i am going to wring him like a towel ]

Ah, well... I likely will be, but you can call me whatever you like.

[ A dangerous permission to give them, but he will anyway.

Because he secretly likes it. ]

[ Straight-faced: ]

My cutie patootie kitty cat.

[ Oh.

He regrets this, actually, and his hands fly to his ears out of habit. ]

Um... perhaps... not that.

[ What happened to whatever, G'raha... Hands free now. Plan success. Siffrin can wrap their arms around his waist and swaaaaay just a bit. ]

Charming... kind, thoughtful... Handsome. Cute when you're excited. Smart, clever, soft. My favorite person I've kissed.

[ Ah. This is even more embarrassing, but who is he to deny them when their hands are on his waist?

Each compliment is like an arrow into his heart, one after the other, and a flush rises up on his cheeks. Good thing Siffrin can actually see it this time. ]

I... would hope that I am...

[ He can... He likes it a lot, staring a moment before continuing. ]

... Mmhmm. Even when... you're heated, [ wanting, ] it's soft. I like the way you kiss me.

[ (You like the way he looks right now, too.) ]

[ Heated.

The word makes his ears pin back against his head. ]

I cannot help it. You deserve the softness, and to know of my feelings.

[ As difficult as it is to express them in full with everything that exists between the both of them, he feels that the easiest way to do so is through the press of their lips together, and he wonders if it will be like that always. ]

[ Talking's hard, after all. Being vulnerable... is embarrassing, and it feels awful. The chasm that lies between them isn't so large, but poor footing makes it dangerous indeed. For now, at least, Siffrin'll invade the rest of G'raha's space to rest his chin on the other's shoulder. Favorite position. Easier sat down, but it's fine. Little slouch.

(You wonder what feelings he can decipher from yours, and then stop. You don't know if you want to know.) ]

Such a sweet talker, too... [ Back to complimenting, unsure what else to say. ] Um. Courtly. That's a good way to describe it. Like a prince.

[ He laughs, soft in Siffrin's ear. ]

I am hardly princely.

[ Not when it comes to this mess between them, all prickly like thorns he needs to carefully maneuver around lest he draw blood.

But it's easy enough to wrap his arms around Siffrin's middle to hold him tight. It's not unlike the Promenade, the knowledge that they'll part ways sitting heavy in his chest and obvious in the way G'raha practically squeezes him. ]

[ No, definitely princely. So good and kind, with a heart for the people and the courage to match... Just like the princes in stories, in plays, shortly before they swear to protect all that they love and die by the sword for it. Beloved over ages, aspiring children to be the same, and giving others someone to hope for in their lives.

The squeeze is nice. A hefty reminder, but nice, and Siffrin returns it, pressing his face hard against G'raha's neck too. As close as close can get, struggling to find even more ways to sink against his embrace. ]

... Already going back on your word, Raha. You said you'd let me say whatever I wanted about you.

[ He breathes in deep, a tinge of desperation underneath. This... is what he'll miss the most, he thinks, and he wants to be closer just to let this closeness linger on his skin for longer.

But he won't, as easy as it would be to walk Siffrin back against the tree and settle there, because he worries about what might happen after. So he'll settle for this, and look forward to the future instead. ]

Up until the moment you use it as an excuse to fill the silence.

[ Soft, gently chiding. ]

[ If Ish banished them back to their worlds for getting handsy in the gardens, they'd deserve it. As it stands... this is good enough. Goodbyes are so hard.

(This is why you don't want it to end.

... Even now, even this, if you could have just one more week...) ]

You should accept it then too. I still mean what I say, Raha, even if it's "an excuse".

[ Clearly that's how they should be forced to say goodbye now.

He lets out a soft sigh, one brought by proximity rather than exhaustion. ]

I know. I take every word you say to heart, my Siffrin.

[ Mostly the good ones. Any of the bad ones can roll off of him easily and without trouble. ]

[ (... Every word...

...

You've said some pretty awful things to him, though. Not... as bad as some others, maybe, but...

...)

A tighter squeeze. Sorry, sorry. If G'raha doesn't want words just to fill the silence, then Siffrin won't say any. They do, after all, enjoy when there's none just as much as when he's prattling on about his interests. ]

[ Ah.

He must have slipped up, huh? But he'll just let it be for now because he's determined not to have another argument, so...

G'raha tugs on their hand. ]

Shall we make the kitchen our first stop?

... Only if you keep the croissants out of this time.

[ ... Yes, yes, they'll let themselves be led. ]

I cannot guarantee that you will not come upon them yourself, but believe you me, I have learned my lesson.

[ He'll never forget tossing them out. Lesson duly learned. ]

Epilogue

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