IC Voicemail:

[wrecked_egg]

Shiro's busy right now!

Leave her a message, maybe?

Or just come find Shiro! Bye!

Comments

[spam]

[tucky]

[Tiffany makes an effort to seek Shiro out at least a few times a week. Sometimes she just checks in, but if she has the time, she tries to engage her in some way. Today is one of those days. Arms full of drawing pads, markers, and crayons, she uses her foot to knock on Shiro's door.]

Hey Shiro, you in there? You wanna come draw in my cabin?

[spam]

[wrecked_egg]

[Shiro likes visits from Tiffany. Her cabin doesn't have much--dingy marble, dark corners, a beanbag couch and a broken piano--but what she has, she shares. There's drawings, too, now: pictures of everyone she's met that she can make sit still for a picture, her map of the barge sprawling across a good chunk of one wall. It's visible when she throws open the door, leaning out into the hallway.]

Tiffany! Shiro always wants to come draw. Want help? I can carry!

[spam]

[tucky]

Nah, it's okay. I got it.

[Tiffany has noticed the map before, and has always been curious about it. It doesn't strike her as something a child would draw (and in her mind, Shiro is very much a child).]

Do you have trouble finding your way around sometimes?

[cantcatchme]

[It's a while after the chaos has died down. Enough for Pietro to have calmed down and gone looking for the people he cares about.

He found Mickey in the infirmary. Tolling. No sign of waking up. When he can't find Shiro in her usual haunts, he tries her communicator.]

...Shiro? Where are you?

[He's still sporting week-old bruises around his eyes and nose from freaking Nux. But he's wide-eyed, soot-streaked, and more mussed than usual. And his voice is tight enough to crack a little.]

[wrecked_egg]

[Her reply is nearly immediate, voice completely innocent and unconcerned. She's got no idea what's been happening, oblivious locked away with her new friend.]

Shiro's in Lua's room. Something wrong?

[There's something off about his voice. She knows what Pietro usually sounds like.]

[tucky]

Shiro. How're you doing? Can I talk to you?

It ain't anything bad, I just-- wanna know you're okay.

[wrecked_egg]

I'm always okay!

Things are kinda weird now, but I'm staying with people, like everyone said. You okay?

[guiltocent]

Stan likes to grumpy about newfangled technology and how much harder it makes things - when trying to use it or when trying to get away with something. But he can't deny it has its uses, especially advanced alien technology that's basically like magic, as far as he's concerned. And there's some stuff he's good at, no matter what he has to use, so it doesn't take him long to complete his mission (not that he'd ever call it that).

He leaves the bag where he's sure Shiro will find it. Inside, there's a whole range of fake IDs, from all over and which make various claims. The note, written in his usual scrawling hand, just reads; Another part of living is having to deal with people always wanting to get an identification on you. Another one of those image things. If the ones that say 'Shiro Pines' have had a little more care put into them; if they're the ones that have her real birthday... Well. Stan's a cheat and a conman and a liar, he knows all about different ways to send messages.

[wrecked_egg]

The bag left hanging under her apron in the kitchen is a bit of a mystery, all of these cards that make her a dozen different people entirely perplexing--until she spots one with a familiar last name on it, and a note in a familiar hand. There's a warmth that blooms in her chest, but her response takes the rest of the day, and if, when he finally makes his way back to his cabin, there's a package of chocolate chip cookies with a note of their own outside his door, she won't ever claim responsibility, even if the carefully printed handwriting is unmistakable.

I'm not even sure where Toronto is. Tell me about it next time.

Not-exactly-spam

[credere]

On Christmas Day, there's a wooden box left outside Shiro's cabin door, packed with some carefully handmade treats: daifuku, melonpan, amanatto. There's also peanut brittle and caramels, and a pair of warm fur-lined gloves in a delicate creamy leather.

'For Shyro' is written on a small note tied to the box, but the giver is not identified.

[wrecked_egg]

The giver isn't identified, but there aren't a lot of people who both know where she's from, and know the right kinds of things to make. It takes her a couple days, but eventually she finds Credence in the kitchen, just finishing his shift and getting ready to go.

"I just wanted to, um. Say--thank you. For the--gifts," she says, words a halting tumble. "I really liked them. The daifuku--you did a really good job."

She'd left a package of things for him outside his door, as well, Christmas afternoon--no note was attached, but inside the box were several warm sweaters in dark shades, royal blue and green and crimson, and a very carefully drawn portrait of him, laid at the very bottom. In it, he isn't smiling, exactly, but the look in his eyes is less terrified and more determined. It's a Credence who's chosen something different. The Credence that she maybe sees when she looks at him, instead of what he sees in himself.

text

[mothmansplaining]

Shiro, it's Ford. My family's in trouble. Please respond, I dont know how much time I have.

Re: text

[wrecked_egg]

Ford? whats happening

Past Due port

[credere]

Credence wears jeans, with a buttoned shirt, for the first time - after a little reconnaissance. His normal clothes look out of place everywhere, and he suspects that it would be even stranger in a...bar.

He goes to the lobby to meet her, all nerves, fidgeting and rocking lightly on his heels while he waits.

Past Due port

[wrecked_egg]

When Shiro makes her way down to the lobby, it takes a moment to spot Credence, if only because she's looking for clothing that's not in evidence today. Once her eyes find him, she's surprised, but it's definitely not a bad look. He looks--younger, maybe. She isn't sure. But it does make her think about her own clothes, a long skirt and a slightly cropped shirt, arms bared and exposing scars that aren't normally seen. It seemed like the right sort of thing to wear to this sort of place, given what she'd seen and heard.

There's a small, uncertain smile on her face as she heads across the floor to meet Credence, one hand lifted to catch his attention.

"Credence--um. Hi."

Spam; After Yara's death and the Hope Fading Nightly breach

[punched_hitler]

Not long after the breach ends, there's a knock on Shiro's door. When she opens it, she'll find a grim-faced Steve and Bucky on the other side, though Steve sounds perfectly respectful and calm when he asks, quietly, "Hi. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

He feels bad - like it looks like Bucky is here as his backup, when the truth is he'd rather not have involved anyone else, but Yara had made him promise to bring Bucky. Not as backup, but to pull Steve back if he needs it. He doesn't plan on needing it, but here he is, keeping his word anyway.

[wrecked_egg]

Of all the people Shiro's expecting to see knocking at her cabin door, it's not Steve. Not Bucky, either, but especially not Steve. They were fine in the breach, but they haven't really spoken at all in...well. It's been at least a year, hasn't it? Still, despite her surprise, he looks serious about something, and Shiro nods, nudging Kuro back with a foot as she steps back to let them in.

"Yeah. Um, come in." There's a short foyer that leads to an open-plan space; off to the right is a living room full of couches and a bright yellow piano, a metal circular staircase curving up and down; to the left where she leads the way is a wall of bookshelves and a breakfast nook, and a small kitchen. The far wall is all large glass windows, showing stars and the space beyond. Shiro moves towards the counter, gesturing at the table. "You can sit. Want some tea?"

[of_no_consequence]

What's happened?

[ Because of course he'd never accept her assurances. And he doesn't like not being in the know.]

[wrecked_egg]

[The reply takes a little while to come. When it does, it's brief.]

Credence is gone.

forward dated to Credence's return

[granularity]

As promised: Credence is back. He killed a bunch of people, so I brought him down to the cells until he calms down. He doesn't seem to remember anyone or being here, so you might want to hold off. He's taking the whole 'I know you' thing really poorly.

[wrecked_egg]

[The response comes later. Much later, but still.]

thank you. i saw him

text

[mothmansplaining]

There's something you should know about your Hanukkah gift. Something better discussed in person.

text

[wrecked_egg]

its really cute, i like it a lot

i didnt know it was special. i mean more special

want to come to my cabin?

Voice

[credere]

...Excuse me.

I was talking to my warden, and he said you might have some cats that used to be Credence's.

Re: Voice

[wrecked_egg]

--Yes. I've been...taking care of them. Since he's been--gone.

[Every pronoun is careful. She's not going to assume. She's not going to make him someone he's not.]