Video-backdated a few hours to early afternoon

[inthejunk]

[The kid on the video doesn't look so hot. Not in an ate too much candy sort of way, either. He's pale and clammy and his lips aren't a healthy color. His eyes are dilated. He should probably be in bed. In fact, he probably is. But he's got something important to say first, judging by the serious expression on his face.]

Ah. I hope it doesn't ruin the holiday atmosphere, but I guess I should warn everyone. If someone gives you chocolates and you don't know them very well-

[He stops, curls up a bit. Ow, his freakin' insides...but before he can properly complain about those, he bumps something behind him. It turns out to be a plastic IV line, and when the cart falls over it tugs him hard enough to make him knock his head against a vacuum chamber, hanging around conveniently in case any patients in the area need their stomach pumped. Yosuke makes a frustrated, whiny sound.]

Ow! Ugh...anyway, please don't take candy from strangers. It might make you sick.

Comments

[retraced]

Huh? What do you mean?

[He eats one of the apple slices himself. Talking to Yosuke is exhausting and works up an appetite as it turns out.]

[inthejunk]

When I was...um. A man exploded. And you gave me your coat. You know? That day? But I gave it to someone else, because he was cold...

[Total devastation, here.]

He promised to give it back, but I never even checked. I'm such a crap friend!

[retraced]

[Are we being self deprecating now? Don't challenge Gilbert at this - he's a master of it!]

Oh...a-ah, no! It's okay! I have another one, so it's fine if he didn't bring it back yet! Plus he probably needed it more than either one of us, so...

[inthejunk]

You do?

[Damn. Where is the badass coat store at around here, anyway? But hey, panic over.]

...Okay.

[retraced]

[Well, the one he has now is his less badass one! So he expects that badass one to get back to him eventually, though it doesn't feel like right now is the best time to say that. But as a show of good faith to try and make Yosuke feel better, he picks the chocolate up and takes a small bite of it. Huh. Surprisingly not terrible.]

Do you remember who you gave the coat to?

I haven't missed his guilty icon at all until just now lol

[inthejunk]

Um. Yeah. But he made me promise not to tell you.

[Guilty face is back. Yosuke bites a fingernail unhappily, and ducks his head. Usually he enjoys winding Gil up a bit, but today he seems to feel bad about it.]

He said he'd give it back to you...

I can picture it in my mind...!

[retraced]

It's not a big deal. Even if he loses it, I can always find another.

[And even if he can't find one in a store, he can just make one. Hell yeah Victorian handicraft skills!]

Ah...so don't worry about it, all right?

Good idea!

[inthejunk]

[Encouraged by that, Yosuke dropped a few more chocolates on he bench for Gilbert, giving a sort of hopeful look.]

Maybe he's just having it cleaned? It was kind of...gooey.

[retraced]

[The chocolate wasn't too bad so, sure, he'll have another.]

You gave it to him when it still had pieces of...goo on it?

[He's trying to eat here, man.]

[inthejunk]

There wasn't time!

[And it didn't seem like a big deal...shit up...]

[retraced]

You didn't...tell him what it was, did you?

[It could have been ketchup! And potatoes. But definitely not brains and things.]

...autocorrect no

[inthejunk]

I don't think he noticed,

[Like Vincent has never had a bit of human brain goo on him before.]

[retraced]

How could you not notice something like that?

[He leans against the counter and eats another chocolate, but really, nothing feels weird about this conversation yet for some strange reason.]

[inthejunk]

He was busy squirming around and being dramatic I guess.

[As usual, his sympathies really only extend to his own problems.]

[retraced]

Are you sure we're not talking about you?

[It was meant to be teasing, but it comes out too deadpan.]

[inthejunk]

[Glare.]

No way, that guy is way worse than me!

[Shit. Wait...]

I mean-!

[retraced]

Now I know you're making things up.

[Because no one is more dramatic than you, bro.]

[inthejunk]

Aw, shut up.

[Have a friendly shove, and a face hug between your shoulder blades. Ooh, your shirt is soft...]

You're gonna be late, aren't you?

[retraced]

I am, so let go...

[He stops himself short and blinks, eyes trying to focus on the ground. The ground...whoa, why does the ground feel so far away all of a sudden? Actually, everything feels sort of fuzzy. His brain, his skin. That's probably wrong...]

Hey, Yosuke. Where were we going?

[inthejunk]

Hmm. The park! Or...or maybe just the garden. The garden is closer.

[Or possibly to school and work, but who cares about those things?]

[retraced]

[Oh, right. That makes sense. He's got a lunch out in front of him, and you can definitely eat in the garden. He blinks down at the meal, curious as to why it feels like the colors all just ran together across the counter for a second before turning back to normal. Well, if they're normal now...]

All right, let's go. [He picks up the bag, checks to make sure that he has keys in his pocket (but not his jacket or weapon or...anything important) and starts for the back door.]

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke is up early anyway. Gilbert leaves for the bakery way earlier than he leaves for school. So what's the harm in a little stroll through the gardens? He can't see one.

So he grabs the back of Gilbert's shirt, the way he used to as a child trying not to get lost during shopping trips, and he follows. Some fresh air sounds nice.]

Hey, why don't rats live in the garden? Aren't they supposed to? Rats and snails?

[retraced]

[The ground feels weird as they walk, and as soon as Yosuke asks, Gil is certain that's the reason for it. Rats and snails did live in the garden when they weren't being chased out, and the garden is dirt, dirt is on the ground, so therefore if the ground feels strange, it must be because of rats and snails. The snails would feel more like rocks, which also exist on the ground, so those might be harder to spot if he tries.

Out they go into the fresh air, Gilbert's eyes trailing across the ground to keep a look out while Yosuke clings to him. Good. Better to keep close just in case the ground starts acting any weirder.]

Traps. They get trapped so they don't eat the plants. Sometimes - sometimes they sneak in.

[inthejunk]

Oh...ew.

[Whether it's the trapping or the sneaking he objects to isnt clear, but as soon as Gilbert mentions the plants he can't help noticing them. Wow. They're so green.

Yosuke lets go of Gilbert and kneels to inspect a sprig of winter berries and the plant they're attached too. They smell sort of like pine, or something oily. Like spice wood. And they're a pleasant frosty blue color, on a wintergreen limb. He reaches out and snaps a few off, to get a closer look.

They smell so green. ]

Do snails live in the snow? Aren't they too...boogery?

omg this tag was hidden in my inbox grrrr

[retraced]

[Boogery? Gilbert isn't sure that's a word, but somehow he can still picture what it means. And for the life of him, he can't recall at the moment if snails could even move through snow, or if they slept all winter or only came out in the daytime. He should know this, but the information is slowing becoming buried under a pile of heavy fluff in his head.

He'd be concerned about this, but at the same time it doesn't feel like it should be important.]

They...they dig holes, probably. Or live in their shell or - what's that?

[He's leaning over Yosuke's shoulder now to inspect whatever he's picked up there.]