Post-game CMO for camppetoskey

[finalguard]

I won’t become a tool.
UNREAD E-MAILS (04)	VOICEMAILS (01)	Alcacer. Boa: [ 1B-BBG36 ] TEXT [PitSnake]

Please do not hesitate to hit up this CMO even years after Camp has ended.

CODE BY WHAMBAM

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[finalguard]

[ Boa kind of finds himself thinking about the conversation he had with Talcott in the afterlife, about how lucky Tal is to have Nine... and that is about as close as he gets to feeling sorry for the boy. ]

I can't blame you... That was hideous. Had Sol not consciously protected us, it might well have been the end.

[linearcrash]

[ He hasn't actually talked about this with anyone. What the dead did to him or even what that whole experience... Crossing his arms as he looks at the floor. ]

Almost lost Ren to it, too. [ He remembers the bites and scratches he got from Ren fighting against him hard to try to join. How it was tempting for them all to give up, but even worst for Ren. ]

That's when I realized just how much Ren meant to me. That I'd fight for him, even if it meant fighting him.

[ So some good...came from it? ]

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[linearcrash]

[ There's a message from Nine. ]

Hey, are you at the apartment without Lance?

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[finalguard]

I am. And I'm dreading to ask, but... why?

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[linearcrash]

I'll head back then.
I got something to show you.

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[finalguard]

I'm still confused, but also not going anywhere.

[ In fact, he'll come out of his room to wait in the living room instead because .... huh. ]

[linearcrash]

[ There's no response.

And then after a few, Nine is coming in through the front door with one of the cats sitting on his shoulder. ]

Yo. This one didn't want to stay put.

[ It's a stowaway.

Which isn't what Nine wanted to really talk about but it's there ]

[finalguard]

... oh.

[ Boa has become really fond of cats, but it's getting kind of crowded in this containment-site, animal-wise. This concern doesn't stop him from holding out his hand for the cat to sniff though. ]

Well, hello there. Are we keeping cats secret from Mr. "I-stole-a-parrot" Lance now?

[linearcrash]

Huh?

[ At least he's stopping at just the four and Lizard. For now. ]

No, they aren't the reason for it, yo.

[ Just going to dig into his pocket and pull out a small ring box. ]

It's about this.

[finalguard]

[ In a short ridiculous moment Boa sees this and his brain flashes back to the question on Lance's whereabouts and somehow this connects to You'll propose to LANCE? - then he realizes that this is ridiculous and relaxes considerably.

Boa breathes out slowly. ]

... first you introduce a sister to the family and now we're getting in-laws?

[ Despite the phrasing, there is absolutely no judgment in his tone. ]

[linearcrash]

[ Ew. There will be no broposals here.

Nine doesn't even need to open it it seems, but does anyways. ]

Hey, yeah... You know, if he says yes first.

[ Reaches to rub the back of his head, buuut there's a cat trying to intercept his hand. Okay let's rub the cat instead. ]

Didn't feel right to do it without telling you first.

[finalguard]

[ Boa looks at Nine silently for a moment here. The last weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster, with Cinque in the hotel, Nine losing his mind with worry... and then the whole aftermath of that. It'd felt hectic and more often than not Boa'd felt the need to seek refuge with Mitsuru and try to not think too hard about all the difficulties they are facing. Caring about more than one person is exhausting when things are spiraling out of control once more. And Cinque... she'd accepted him as a brother right away, but her presence still left the same shallow taste in Boa's mouth that he gets any time Lance talks about his family at home. This fear that there is something more real to both of his brothers elsewhere, while Boa has no such thing. So now... hearing confirmed that even despite all the strange and hasty directions that relationships between the older kids take, his place in this family matters... it means a lot. It soothes worries that Boa's not quite allowed himself to have. Which means Nine is now getting a short hug - without any real explanation attached to it. ] You two are linked at the hip, 'no' seems like an unlikely answer.

[linearcrash]

[ Would it make him feel better to know he hasn't even told Cinque yet? The ring itself is black and red. The colors of their respective uniforms from different worlds that held meaning to them. It signified home, and that was something Nine found in Ren as well as the others here. Not that he'll ever actually say all of that to Ren when the time comes. Leaning his head against the cat. ] I'm pretty new to this whole... romance thing, yo. He might be expecting something different. [ He has no idea. ] You think he'll like it?

[finalguard]

[ The question gets Boa to take a closer look at the ring, considering seriously. He is also very new to romance and also 12 years old, but he's asked something that is important to someone he loves so he'll put thought into answering. ] I can definitely picture him wearing this, so I think so? You know his taste a little better than I do, so you probably picked well.