isleofavalon | open to anyone at the theater

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open to anyone at the theater

🧙 WHO: Taichi Nanao + anyone around Kaika, though it'll be really awkward if you aren't close but I'm cool with it
⚔️️ WHAT: Taichi has become a lord, but Hikaru has disappeared. The solution is him crying on his office floor because he doesn't want to be home.
🕒 WHEN: April 22nd, any time
🗺️ WHERE: Kaika Theater
⚠️ WARNINGS: Loss and sadness. If you're looking for his usual happy self, you're not gonna get it this time. Sorry!

[ Futility was a good word for what Taichi felt. It's one he only knew because he was into theater, and theater often went for dramatics, but his first true heartbreak and loss suddenly made dramatics feel that much more palpable. He'd tried calling, texting, looking, yelling, running, calling, looking, DMs, crying, looking, running, looking, looking-

Hikaru was gone. His fiance was gone. Gone from this world, away from him. It had been almost a full day since he'd seen him. He hadn't slept, he hadn't really eaten anything. People don't tell you that the five stages of grief don't actually happen in order. Even knowing what they were for acting couldn't have prepared him for this.

He couldn't go home anymore. He couldn't see that empty bed again, Hikaru's things, he couldn't sleep in a cold bed. He had thought it was cute when Hikaru couldn't sleep alone, but now he understands that having someone to be with like torn apart from you is a kind of loneliness not easy to explain or understand until you've felt it.

So now he lays on the floor in the office at Kaika-- "his" office, one he never really understood nor could manage on his own. A place that Hikaru visited, but a place that felt like it could be home even without him there. There was nowhere he wasn't going to feel lonely, but at least here, he felt safe.

He keeps the door closed for a long time, just staring at the ceiling, alternating between breaking down crying and laying silently, numbly. Taichi never does well on his own though, and at a certain point of processing, he decides to call attention to himself. He needs attention. He needs someone. ]

Guess... guess what! I've become a lord! Lord Taichi Nanao..! [ He laughs, but it's hollow. He's still got his back to the floor. His face is puffy and wet from tears. He shuts them tightly, covering his eyes with the heels of his palms, his voice cracking just a little. ] Lord of the Floor! I'm never getting up again!

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( the flowers have been getting worse, and Izumi really is hanging all her hopes on Tsumugi's idea to get this to stop. but even with her lungs aching, the pain and longing she feels every time she walks into the theatre (so, so acutely that she wonders how she never noticed it before), she can't keep herself away from her work. she has to do it.

and part of that work, occasionally, requires Izumi to knock on Taichi's office door. to talk to him about things, or borrow the space for a while. which is why she's heading that way when Taichi's voice echoes through the door. a wail, a howl, a cry for help. )

Taichi-kun?

( she foregoes the knock for a change, closing the door behind her and crouching down next to the Taichi shaped lump on the floor. )

[ Izumi not knocking catches him off guard. He heard her voice, but he didn't expect to open his eyes and see her crouching right next to him since he didn't hear the knock. ]

D-Director-sensei!

[ His eyes are puffy and pink from crying even as he gives her a surprised (albeit distraught) look through them. ]

( oh.

she talked to Sakyo about this. how they had to accept that Taichi could end up hurt, because that's simply part of growing up, but it doesn't mean her heart doesn't shatter seeing him like this.

first things first, she scrambles in her bag for a pack of tissues and offers one to him before she rocks back and sits down next to him. )

... Do you want to talk about it?

( she's just gonna... reach out and brush his hair back into something a little more neat with her fingers while she asks that. )

[ The tissue is a nice gesture but he's been crying too much for one to do much other than fall apart from wetness, which it does after a moment of him trying too roughly to clean himself up. ]

I wasn't fast enough.. Hikaru's gone...!

( ... oh dear. she'd been afraid that would be Taichi's response. there's very little else that she could imagine breaking him this way. her expression pulls down, heart aching, the urge to say something positive and warming futile in the face of sheer despair.

there's nothing to say right now. nothing that could possibly make this better. so, instead, Izumi reaches in and pulls Taichi into a hug, quite literally giving him a shoulder to cry on.

her top can go in the wash. right now, she'd much rather concentrate on letting Taichi cry this out, no matter how long that takes. Rehearsals and plays be damned for the moment. )

[ Taichi will buy her a new top for all the snot and tears he's probably wiping on her shoulder and sleeve right now. Thankfully, they're the same height (if you don't count his spikes, which he couldn't bother to do his hair this morning so you shouldn't) so it's not a particularly uncomfortable position for either of them to hold for long, because it will go on for long. Taichi can't seem to stop crying. ]

( Even if it was uncomfortable, Izumi wouldn't mind. She's more than willing to stay here until Taichi feels better, a prick of guilt aching in her chest. She argued with Sakyo that they would have to let Taichi do this, that heartbreak is part of life everyone has to experience.

But seeing him experience it is something else entirely. )

You can cry as much as you need, okay?

( She keeps her volume level, quiet, conscious of how she speaks. The hanahaki disease is still winding in her lungs, and the last thing she wants is to start coughing flowers up on Taichi. )

If you want to talk, you can.

( She's not going to tell him it's okay, because of course it isn't. He loved Hikaru. Heck, she loved Hikaru. She loved how happy he made Taichi. Hoped to see this all work out for them. Knowing that it didn't...

Life is cruel. But she knows Taichi will pull through it, eventually. )

[Obviously Anna has no idea what's going on behind that closed door other than that at first it's silent there and then suddenly Taichi is -- yelling all of that just when Anna happens to be passing by there??? Is he acting? Practicing for some kind of a scene?]

Okay but that's not how you play the Floor is Lava!

[... She says that before she even thinks about it too but she stops and takes a step and another step back to the door. There's something-- In his voice, that has Anna all sorts of worried and she can't just walk away.

Why would he never get up again?? So, Anna knocks on the door in the same way as she always knocks on every door these days. It's apparently her signature way of knocking on closed doors ever since Elsa decided to shut her out all those years ago. Not that she's about to start singing behind his door!!]

Taichi? It's Anna. [More or less obviously.] May I come in?

Anna-san... if the floor is lava I'm toast...

[ That's his response... he doesn't say she can't come in, and his sobs at least quiet a little since he waits for her to come in, trying to calm himself down a little for her. It's not really working very well. ]

[ Tsumugi has always been good at reading people - and the longer he's known a person, the easier it gets. But he doesn't need any of that skill or past history to hear the sorrow in Taichi's voice. If it were a performance, he'd be applauding, but he has a strong feeling this isn't an act.

It's hard to leave him, but just for a moment - long enough to grab a bottle of water and a box of tissues. Maybe he'll need more, but this is a start.

When he returns, he knocks first, but it's more of a signal than asking permission. ] Taichi-kun? Can I come in? [ He's already turning the doorknob. ]

[ Taichi manages to quiet down a little while Tsumugi is off grabbing him things, unaware of the kindness about to befall him. He manages to sit up at least, trying to wipe his eyes again with the heels of his palms to be presentable for Tsumugi when he asks if he can come in. ]

Y-Yeah...

[ Except then when Tsumugi opens the door, he sees the water and the tissues... how can one person be so thoughtful? Taichi is here crying alone, when in reality he should've just come to find his friends. Tsumugi is such a good person... he doesn't even deserve this. Taichi sniffs once, twice, then gasps in air before bellowing as tears start streaming again. ]

Tsumugi-saaaaan!

[ Oh, Taichi... it hurts, seeing him like this. How long has he been here, facing whatever it is he's facing by himself? A while, at least, judging from his puffy, red eyes and flush, wet cheeks.

Tsumugi settles on the floor in front of him, tissues and water set to the side so he can immediately pull him into an embrace. It's a loose one to start, leaving Taichi plenty of room to back away if he'd like, but he'll hold him closer at the first sign that it's okay to.

Either way, ] I'm right here. [ His voice is as gentle, caring, and (hopefully) soothing as always. ] ... I'm sorry.

[ He doesn't know what's going on necessarily - only that it has to be really, really bad to make their ray of sunshine so upset. ]

[ Taichi's not one to shy away from physical affection, especially when he needs it most. ]

You're right here but...

[ Tsumugi is here, but Hikaru isn't. Trying to say 'Hikaru's gone' out loud makes his voice crack and break, he can't get the words out. ]

[ ... oh. Tsumugi might know how that sentence is supposed to end. And his heart sinks in sympathy, as he shifts to let Taichi bury - and cry - into his shoulder. ]

I'm really sorry. [ Sure, there's a chance he's drawing the wrong conclusion, but it'd be cruel to ask Taichi to confirm his theory. Not when he'd just choked on those very words. He won't- can't do that to him. ] You don't have to say anything.

[ It's- well, it's not okay. Far from it. But the sheer depth of his emotions, whatever they might be beyond the obvious sadness, are okay. ]

[ Taichi cries into his shirt for some time, clinging onto his shirt like it's his last lifeline. Tsumugi says he doesn't have to say anything, but Taichi does try a couple of times. Hikaru's name is probably the only thing that comes out as a proper word at any point though. If Tsumugi lets him, he'll cry it out until he eventually sniffles quietly and finally quiets down, still holding onto him after he's run out of tears. ]

[ Of course Tsumugi will let him. However long it takes, he'll hold Taichi close until his tears dry up. It's all he can really do at this point - he has the answers to a lot of things, but this isn't one of them. The whims of fate, the magics that took Hikaru from Taichi are beyond his understanding.

When he does eventually let go, it's only to grab the water bottle and tissues he had grabbed for him. ] ... Here. [ He can only imagine how dehydrated he must be. ] You must be feeling terrible right now.

[Much like the others, Kazunari is running around the theater minding his own business. There's a lot to be done before Izumi's play: he's taking inventory of all the props and set pieces they already have and things like that to prepare.

He eventually has to stop though, tired, and take a break. Except it's not even a break because as soon as he stops, Kazunari whips out his phone to start jotting down promo ideas. But regardless, that's when he hears Taichi's cry.

Unlike the others, Kazunari doesn't knock or announce himself before swinging open the door. The despair is clear in Taichi's voice; Kazunari can't hesitate. He jumps in, light-hearted -] If you're Lord of the Floor, how far does your domain reach, my liege! Is it just this floor or --

[- But the sight of Taichi on the floor is more heartbreaking than he could have ever imagined.]

Oh. Taicchan...

Right now it's just this floor...

[ He mutters it, as if it was a serious question. He may wiggle-worm over to another floor later to cry on, then he will be lord of that floor. expanding territory of tragedy. ]

Well, one floor is enough for now! You gotta take things slow, yaknow.

[As he says that, Kazunari begins his slow descent to the floor to take a seat a comfortable proximity away from Taichi. He's close enough that Taichi can come to him if wants, but far enough away to not crowd him while he's sniffly.]

I'll help you hold down the fort here. What's... [What's the status my liege? Anything to report? No. This bit can only go on for so long.]

What's wrong, Taichi?

I have a floor in Castle too... I'm really Lord Taichi. I tried so hard, and got really far, but it doesn't matter...

[ He reaches up towards the ceiling, holding up the ring that he had given to Hikaru to the light for a few seconds until he breaks down crying again and rolls toward Kazunari, stopping face down on the floor.]

[Seeing the ring tells Kazunari everything he needs to know. It doesn't matter why or how, but if Taichi has that ring it explains everything.

When his heartbroken friend rolls over to him, Kazunari lays down next to him. And as his crying continues, Kazunari runs his hand through Taichi's bright red hair. He hopes it's soothing. He hopes it's something.]

Mmm mm. Let it all out, buddy.

[ It's as soothing as anything can be right now. Taichi rolls onto his side, his hair threading through Kazunari's fingers as he does, just to be closer to him. Taichi found himself unable to move from the floor when he finally gave up, but now he wants nothing more than to be close to people he cares about. He's dying inside, he needs to feel close to anyone to feel like he isn't. Kazunari is there, and helpful, and he needs this. He needs him right now. ]

Kazu-kun...! [ He inhales sharply. He's probably saying something, but it comes out more as crying and babbling than anything else. ]

[ Some would probably find it cruel to ignore the clear distress coming from the closed office in Kaika, but Sakyo wouldn't perchance say he's ignoring it. Hard to honestly with how long its been going on. He visits the office on occasion to check through what needs to be done and to keep the place clean seeing as he doubts anyone else will do the task. Its not even his office, but with all the effort he puts into keeping Kaika on its feet money-wise, he thinks he deserves some privileges in there. But seems like today its off-limits.

The moment he hears the sobbing he stands near the door for a while, but decides to do nothing. Taichi's clearly in there. Something's happened. Something pretty serious. But its telling that he'd go and shut himself away instead of go to anyone else, which... well, that seems to suit Taichi. But he's also terrible at keeping secrets. Sakyo eventually leaves onto to return later, and he waits, and waits, until finally he hears the sound of a broken voice on the other side. He twists the knob and opens the door, stepping in, eyes immediately on the figure miserably on the floor. ]

Excuse this peasant for stepping all over your floor.

I can't even get peasants to respect my floor...

[ He's speaking actual nonsense at this point, but he's spiraling into feeling really down on himself, rather than just feeling down in general. ]

What are you doing here, Sakyo-nii?

[Tsuzuru narrowed down five plays that he felt would suit Izumi that he wanted Taichi's opinion about it since he would be playing one of the leads. He walked into the theater to let Taichi know when he stopped at the sobbing he heard behind the door. He placed the scripts down on the nearby table before he walked over to knock on the door. He normally would leave the scripts then come back to hear his thoughts, but he can't ignore the sobs from one of his friends.]

Taichi-kun? Can I come in?

Tsuzuru-san...?

[ His voice cracks as he says his name, the name coming out in the middle of a sob. He was going to try to stop crying for Tsuzuru to come in but while the emotions come and go, he can't really control them as much as he wishes he could. What kind of actor can't even hold their tears in? ]

[Tsuzuru swallowed at the crack in Taichi's voice and the sob that followed. He wanted to go in to help him any way he could, though he knew that Taichi didn't want anyone to see him like this. Still, it didn't stop the tug on his heart from every sob he heard.]

Hey, Taichi-kun, I'm here whenever you're ready for me to come inside. I'm sorry about what happened, but I'm here for you.

You can come. [ he doesn't hide what's wrong, though he doesn't open the door either. ] Hikaru's not here. Anywhere.

[Tsuzuru slowly opened the door, his heart breaking at seeing Taichi so sad on the floor. He walked in, closed the door behind him, and moved over to sit next to Taichi.]

I'm sorry that he's not here anymore. Is there anything I can get for you? Water? Food? A pillow? [What else could he say? He knew Taichi missed him it felt like it wasn't that long ago that Taichi text about their engagement in the mankai group chat. Now that he was gone Tsuzuru couldn't imagine how sad Taichi was feeling. Tsuzuru reached out and gently patted his hair.] Are you going to be staying here tonight?

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open to anyone at the theater

baby boy

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awkward is anna's middle name / title or whatever else all the time anyway

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pupien.........

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