entrancelogs | + FOURTH WALL EVENT: GENERAL NON-PARTY MINGLE POST +

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+ FOURTH WALL EVENT: GENERAL NON-PARTY MINGLE POST +

Who: E V E R Y O N E
Where: Everywhere that isn't one of the parties! Both Sides!
When: Sept 1st to Sept 10th
Rating: G to PG-13 (please label higher ratings, thank you!)
Summary: Wonderful parties are springing up all across Wonderland, but there are still plenty of other places to explore. This is a log for any new arrivals who want to experience different parts of Wonderland life, and any current guests not in the mood for a log or transmission of their own.

Please also see THE FOURTH WALL MASTER POST for rules, information, and all the fun parties you can visit!
The Story:

On the morning of September 1st, everyone in Wonderland, on both Real and Mirror Side, will awake to find one of four possible invitations has been shoved under their doors. The glass has been carefully removed from all mirrors, and everyone will be able to cross to and from Mirror Side with ease, without forcing any sort of swap. The Queen of Hearts' chambers, discovered in the previous event, will be mysteriously inaccessible, leading only to a tearoom.

Additionally, there will be many more Wonderland guests than usual, each of them with their own random invitation and network device (wired to make replies only). As the week goes on, as per the invitations, more and more parties will appear (and everyone is invited to all of them, whether they received an invitation or not). But who brought them here? Why are there so many parties? Who is responsible for all of this exactly?

It's anyone's guess, though if parties or riddles are not your style, then there is always plenty more to see...

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[Everything. Everything was familiar, like a very vivid, recurring dream that Minato could never forget. It felt so very real. He took a breath in and thought that this was as real as anything else in the waking world. He had been here before, a couple of times before, as he had been told, though now that he was here, it was almost as if he hadn't ever left.

But then, where to go from here? He doubted that his room was still his room. So many people wandered the halls from so many worlds and dimensions that anything could have changed. Of course he couldn't exactly go there. All of the major landmarks were still there and people, there were so many people, more so than he had thought there would be. Was it always like this?

Minato thought that he should go somewhere safer, although safer wasn't quite the correct word. Maybe somewhere where he could gather his thoughts, retrieve pieces of his memories, all while with some kernel of hope that someone familiar was still here. Not that he would exactly wish that on someone, a life here that was perpetually changing and yet perpetually stagnant simultaneously. But he would rather endure this with a friend than go it alone. Hadn't he always been taught that?

Letting out that breath that he had been holding, Minato slowly pushed open the door to one place that was an addition to this world and was still here, and that small light of hope inside of him had sparked up that maybe he really would find someone familiar here.]

[Souji was making more coffee behind the counter in the diner when he heard the door open. He turned to check to see who was coming in and froze. His expression remained neutral with a hint of surprise and an even smaller hint of happiness. He couldn't let that latter grow until he knew if this was the Minato who had left him the last time.

Setting aside the carafe of coffee--he'd nearly dropped it--he wiped his hands on his jeans and started to come around the counter. Now, as he got closer, there was something guarded about him. He didn't want to be disappointed, though he thought, even if this weren't his Minato, it would still be nice to talk to another version.]

Minato.

[Even his voice didn't give away just how excited he felt in that moment.]

[Minato's eyes had widened ever so slightly. He could feel a rush of memories and emotions flood him through to the tips of his fingers, finally settling and gathering around his chest where it was suddenly yet comfortingly warm.]

Souji.

[He smiled, soft and filled with unfathomable joy. There was something there unspoken but present, its existence making itself known again through a subtle yet unbreakable connection, a Link and then so much more.]

[Souji relaxed and allowed himself to smile, stepping closer now.]

I'm glad you came.

[Minato hadn't had a choice, but that didn't matter. He was here.]

[Minato was so happy to see that smile. It was the same as before, as Minato had remembered it and would always remember it.

It didn't take too much longer then to process that happiness that was still blossoming inside of him, that same happiness which caused him to step forward without a second's hesitation and wrap his arms around Souji in a tight hug.

He didn't speak much, as was normal. But in this case, he didn't know what to say, not quite yet, letting that happiness do all the speaking for and through him.]

[Souji automatically returned the embrace, one hand on the back of Minato's head. It was good to see him again, but he didn't have to say so. Minato was the person in the world whose soul was the closes mirror image of his own. There was very little he had to say to Minato, because Minato would always understand without him having to.]

[Minato took this opportunity then to lean more into Souji, not that he needed the help with standing but it was nice to just be that much closer to Souji.]

You're warm.

[Souji always was warm. That hadn't changed at all.]

[After a moment of silence, Souji spoke again.]

Are you hungry?

[When wasn't Minato hungry?]

[Minato nodded into Souji's chest before slowly relinquishing him from his embrace. He would go take a seat at the counter then, unless:]

Did you need help?

[After all, he couldn't just take advantage of Souji's offer or kindness.]

[Souji gestures Minato over to the counter.]

You don't have to.

[He liked the opportunity to do something for Minato. It had been...well, much too long, and he needed a moment to gather himself.

In the meantime, he poured coffee for Minato, then set the carafe down near him on the counter.]

I'll make curry. The rice is already ready.

[He kept warm rice on hand most of the time.]

[Minato could relent and not help this time. He could let Souji indulge him, he thought, since Souji was always so prone to helping him in any way he could.

So many ways. He didn't know if he could ever thank Souji for all of it. A lifetime, ten lifetimes after that, and it still wouldn't be enough.

He nodded once, thanking him for the coffee and wrapping his hands around the mug. And then his smile became a little softer, wistful, almost something like nostalgic, but really, what this moment here mirrored was another moment that was a more recent memory for Minato.]

... It'll be the same.

[Minato knew that came out sounding a bit out of context. Strange, perhaps, though Minato had the advantage of time in a world outside of this place, even if Souji had years over him here. For both of them, he could elaborate.]

I had it a couple of days ago. But I'd like it again.

[Those words didn't seem to reach Souji for a few seconds as he found what he needed to make the curry. Then he froze, then whipped around to face Minato, dropping a couple of carrots on the floor as his hands went numb.

He stared at Minato, hoping that meant what he thought it did, but trying not to.]

[Minato blinked, but his expression softened again as he hopped out of his seat to help Souji pick up anything he had dropped on the floor and put it in the sink. It'd be better now, he thought, to be closer to Souji when he explained instead of having a counter in between them.

He gently touched his hand to Souji's if just to bring him back down or out of the shock.]

It was the first meal you made for me after you saved me.

[And Minato had had a lot of Souji's cooking plenty of times after that.]

[Souji's smile was a reflex at that, but he had to raise a hand to wipe away his tears before they had the chance to fall.]

...I'm so glad.

[There was so much else he could have said, but he knew Minato already knew it all.]

[Minato smiled too, bringing his hand up to catch and brush away any stray tears. He was so glad too that he could tell Souji just what he had accomplished. It meant so much, as selfish as thought it was to be saved, but Souji had given him something that he couldn't ever repay him for, and that was the chance to live in the world he had saved.]

Did you... want me to tell you?

[He had lived the story, he played a part in it but was only supporting. Souji was the one who carried out that story. It was almost like a dream, almost not real, not until Minato had opened his eyes and woken up in that very world he thought he had left behind. But he had some reservations as he didn't know if he could tell Souji, if he should, if Souji wanted to hear it, if it would affect anything at all. But how could it, if this place were removed from time?

Still, he left the decision up to Souji. That would be fair.]

[Souji raised a hand to touch Minato's and hold it against his face for a moment. He closed his eyes and thought. Did he want that?

Should he want that?

He didn't know. It would be a relief--it was already a relief. Knowing he remembers, knowing he can keep his promise and do something like that for Minato... He'd wanted this for so much and for so long.]

How much is there to tell?

[It felt like he shouldn't know too much. Like knowing too much would jinx it.]

[Minato didn't think of it that way, jinxing it or anything. As he thought before, he lived it. He lived out the future that Souji hadn't seen yet and if, when, Minato went back, he would still be living out that future.]

I just... want to tell you how happy you are.

[There was so much to tell, so many details. Minato did want to tell Souji, like he were holding a secret and was quietly excited to reveal it, as excited and as quiet as someone like Minato could be.]

[Souji squeezed Minato's hand and then let it go for now, his own hand falling to his side. Somehow it was hard to speak, like his breath didn't want to go deep enough into his lungs to give his voice any strength on the way back out.]

Are you happy? Not...not now, but when you're there.

[Minato seemed like it, but he had to ask that. It meant nothing if he was the only one.]

[Souji had to ask. But Minato could understand why because that's the way Souji was. He was so selfless and kind, and that part of him would never change. It made Minato smile again. He had the thought that when he was back home, he always had to rely on Souji for reassurance about living or simply existing after being in a place devoid of time for so long. Now he had to return the favor.]

I am because of you. And I just am too.

[Having all of his happiness just rest on Souji alone was going to be too much pressure. Besides, Minato was happy for so many reasons of which Souji could extrapolate too. Minato was alive again. That should have counted for so much.

Though Souji let go of his hand, Minato didn't let contact break for too long and had to hold onto Souji's again.]

Thank you.

[Souji gripped Minato's hand.]

...Just knowing it happens is enough.

[He was almost afraid of knowing any details. He was still here, he still had to live in Wonderland. Knowing too much would make that much too hard.

But there was something he wanted to know...]

Are we together?

[Minato didn't let go of Souji's hand either as if that would just solidify all that he said, make them that much more real. He could be Souji's anchor for once, just as Souji had always been for him at home.

But that last question, as simple and short as it was, made warmth blossom inside Minato's chest. He smiled again, stepping closer to Souji, never relinquishing Souji's hand.

Then he nodded before leaning a little closer to Souji, getting up on his tiptoes and whispering in Souji's ear how much he loved him.]

[Souji closed his eyes, unable to stop the smile that spread across his face.]

I'm glad.

[He raised a hand and twined his fingers in Minato's hair, stroking it. He knew Minato liked that.]

[And Minato did like that, his own eyes closing for that moment of contact. Souji was doing that thing where he was looking after him again.]

You didn't have to.

[They had this conversation before here and at home. But it wasn't to dismiss what Souji did, it was to emphasize the fact that Souji had at all, that he had given up and sacrificed so much and for who? For someone whom he had never met and might not ever have had it not been for a subtle hint or two or this place? Who was Minato to deserve something like this?

It really was too much. The part that he cherished the most was that he didn't have to be alone anymore. Souji would always be by his side, even until the end and thereafter.]

I did.

[He might not have gotten to it yet, but Souji knew, without a doubt, that it wasn't a choice. It was nothing like a choice. It was just what would happen. If he were the actor who got to make it happen, it was nothing but his destiny to do so. There was no escaping that.]

I wouldn't do otherwise.

[Minato could say a few things about fate and destiny, but then a lot of things too about choosing that fate too. His concern was the same as ever and that was that he was only being a burden on other people, he was taking up too much space in a world he had left behind, he was taking advantage of people's kindness.

But Souji hadn't thought of it along those lines at all. It was as if Souji had given him value again in such a different way than he had experienced it before that it was as though it were new and starting all over.]

I'll be by your side. Always.

[Souji had told him as much. Minato thought that Souji should do the same. It went for Souji achieving his dreams and doing whatever he wished.]

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