"Fellow insomniacs, who up?"

*Lightly* bonking him on the head with a newspaper roll. "No."

Big oof. Cloud is just gonna cover him with a blanket. The mun sends sympathy and good vibes.

"No idea how he does it for so long. I get bored after lap 3."

Even late into the night, Jet's been practicing on his Type-J, his repeated lap after lap after lap starting to burn the grass away and leave ruts in the fields where he's been running the same path again and again with pinpoint precision.

"Truer words were never spoken." "Um... Are you good, though?"

"... Suddenly, I'm very glad I'm not Sega's property."

"Oh, c'mon guys, I'm not thrilled with Shadow either, but now you're just being dicks."

…I came to feel that everything was my fault. Far from becoming enraged 、I could not utter a word of complaint.

"I wonder what Speedy is up to..."

Humming Billionaire Buffet to herself as she lugs a huge bag of cash and valuables over her shoulder. Behind her is... Well, a billionaire's mansion. All inhabitants incapacitated, but no evidence of a fight left behind. Someone decided to do a bit of crime.

"You do remember how I got horribly carsick last time, right?" "That's why."

There's no need to repeat past tragedies .ᐟ Nobody else ever needs to go through the things that I have .ᐟ

"One thing they never tell you is how trauma *completely* fucks over your sense of time."

It can't have been a year already... It can't have been 5 years already... It can't have been 10 years already...

// I gotchu fam.

"Awesome! I can't wait to listen!"

"I'm always looking for new music to listen to. Where can I find it?"

// I love that Bsky is adding these features (assuming they work properly), but I do wish they'd communicate them on their account. 🫤

(( HEADS UP Bsky is fiddling with our timelines again. They added a feature to try and filter out "rude" posts from our timelines. )) (( To turn it off you gotta go to Settings > Moderation > Advanced )) (( Might be worth turning off a few other filters while you're in here, too ))

"... Someone's feeling better."

Cloud's in full karaoke mode as she works, seemingly oblivious to her brother's condition. She moves to the beat in her head, striking poses that emphasize specific words like she was performing at a concert. Once the tea finishes, she pours out two cups and adds lemon and honey to one. Her /c

🎶"Bleeding isn't in my blood You'll be crying when I'm done Beating you is what I do, do, do, yeah"🎶 Cloud can be found bopping around in the kitchen, singing to herself as she fills her plate with whatever Storm cooked this morning. When Jet walks in, she doesn't appear to notice, but she does /c

Pickled Pepsi? That's a new one. Can she try some?

"Post-Halloween delirium? Too much candy in one night?"

"... I'm not even gonna ask."

"What bit is he doing?" "I'd ask him, but he's speaking in tongues over there, and I'm probably not gonna understand whatever answer I get."

"Why use a card when you can just... take what you want and go? Shoplifting is a cake walk if you don't mind a little exercise."

Just because I carry it so well doesn't mean it's not heavy.

"Well... it looks comfy." She's going to refrain from teasing him. He's had enough of that already.

"Oh. Uh. Ok." She's a little caught off guard by that. Still, she takes a second or two to psyche herself up before reeling her fist back, aiming right for the eye. The incoming punch probably isn't going to be as forceful as Jet is used to, but she's still putting her all in the swing.

Fuck, she hates when this happens. Still, she doesn't freak out with him, lest the pair of them get stuck in some twisted feedback loop. No, she just counters the spiraling thoughts with a simple question. "What if I don't, though?"

"But... Talking is sooo much easier than fighting. Sure, it's sometimes uncomfortable, but so is getting punched in the face."

Oh boy. Here we go again... "I can handle it Jet. I'm not gonna have a mental breakdown if I give you a black eye."

"... Where is this going?"

"Sorry to hear that." "My boss says certain people just have a really punchable face. Maybe you're one of them?"

"Sheesh. Does... does that happen a lot?"

"My... boss would fall into the latter category. He says it's fun. I genuinely can't see why. Like what if it was you getting brutalized? Would it be fun then?"

"Pain is never purely physical. There's always an emotional response to it." "So in a sense, yeah. I do."

"And immediately feel the pain I'm inflicting on him? No thank you."

The stranger's gaze is intense, but Cloud isn't intimidated. She just waits with baited breath as he contemplates how to respond. Surely, he'd snap at her, or lash out... Right? But no. There's a slight softening in his energy, and then he does the unexpected; he corrects his command, and... Was /c

"Eh... I really don't see the appeal."

"Why does everyone insist on violence?"

She stumbles slightly at the force, but doesn't resist. She grumbles a little to herself. "A simple 'excuse me' would've sufficed..."

She arches an eyebrow at him. "There's room for you to step around me. I don't bite."

"Never!" she hisses, but releases him anyway. A wide grin is on her face. "How have you been? I feel like it's been ages!"

"Alright! Just hang tight!" Instead of jumping in though she does an intricate gesture with her hands. The water opposite from the shore rises, not super high, but enough to notice. The water at her feet surges, the tide suddenly rising to her knees. At the same time, the water around Sonic /c

Cupping her hands around her beak from shore. "Do ya need some help!?"