deadlandia | Restart.

Restart.

The last thing you remember is the flash.

It's bright and blinding, a burst of white shining hard into your eyes before you seem to come back into yourself; it's not so much a gentle light at the end of the tunnel as it is a photon-based sledgehammer to the skull, as far as you can tell, and it might take a while for you to really register what's going on.

Granted, given the last thing that happened to you, you probably shouldn't be waking up at all. But so it goes, it seems – the room you wake up in is likely to be a familiar one, though probably not particularly welcome; you'll recall it readily as the room you died in.

The rest of the Academy doesn't seem to have changed any, either; you'll find that your room is unlocked, however, so it's not like you don't have anywhere to go if you want privacy. Or maybe you should explore a little bit? It's up to you. It's your afterlife; do what you want with it.

After all, you're going to be here for a very long time.

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You're apparently not one of the four.

[Since that's what she was getting at, right? Right. Archer doesn't join her on the floor, but he's here and looking sort of awkward, like he's genuinely not sure what to do with Aligula here.]

[ ...LOOK, SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HIM EITHER, but he's better company and she... will pat the floor beside her, come on??? ]

Does that surprise you?

[...You know what, sure, he'll join her on the floor. It's not exactly dignified, but Aligula's managed to get him to do it before, so here we are.]

A bit. It seems like something you might find enjoyable.

[If today was any indication..... thanks, aligula???]

[ ...thanks for loosening up bud, she's glad she didn't have to get you to sign a contract or something for this. ]

It does seem like a pretty fun idea, but like, that's way more of Femt's thing than mine. [ A little shrug. ] I'd be way more into spectating it or something, just like I'm way more into attending parties than throwing them!

[ But if she didn't throw the fun parties nobody would SO YOU KNOW, GOTTA TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM. ]

[Poor Aligula suffers so much.]

Shame no one else here is any fun.

[He's sort of smirking when he says it, though it's a subdued expression. He's fully aware that he's no fun, but it's a little difficult to fall back into the usual pattern when he's having half a feeling about her showing up here.]

There's a couple of people who aren't so bad, but they just, like, totally suck at parties, that's all!

[ ...She's having half a feeling about seeing him again, too, except Aligula does literally nothing by halves, so it's more like a whole feeling? ...But she isn't going to acknowledge it, because feelings suck, Archer. ]

I bet Sayaka could throw a really great one if she tried though, even if she... wouldn't get mad at me like Elda did and that was like, really boring. [ ...Her heart's not in this insult though, she's watching her hands. ]

[If this was anyone else having this conversation with Aligula maybe they'd think to press her about her feelings toward Sayaka and Elda, but unfortunately you're dealing with Frank Archer, who has the emotional competence of a rock. So instead he nods a bit like he understands (he doesn't).]

I'm sure you'll have plenty of people get mad at you for what you did, but I'm not one of them. I didn't have any particular attachment to Milla or Angel and Susan... well, it's not like I care that much.

[This is his really backwards way of saying he's still fine with her, okay. Cut him some slack.]

[ Aligula tried having emotional competency once and sucked at it so, look, Archer's doing a lot better than her by not even trying. ]

Soooo basically, I'm your favorite dead person this week, right?

[Normally that would just make him contrary, but after everything Aligula's been through today (quite a bit of it her own doing, admittedly), he's willing to just sort of sigh and nod.]

Yes, that's correct.

[ ...Oh, uh, she was sort of expecting him to be more like, "I never said that" or something, so this... catches her off-guard, a little.

Enjoy that or... whatever, I guess. ]

I'm glad you've learned to be more honest about your feelings. [ ...This is what she's decided to go with, yes, it's even got some semi-awkward arm patting. ] Doesn't being true to yourself like, totally feel great?

[Look at that, he managed to catch her off-guard. He'd probably be way more smug about it if this had happened before he died, but now it's kind of hard to be smug about anything. Oh well, he'll cherish this victory for a bit.]

Is that what you're calling it? Well, I suppose it's not that bad.

[ It's definitely the only time he's getting it so, like, yeah. ]

Ooh, now we're back to proper Ambitious-speak! I totally missed that. No one else does it like you, you know. They actually mean mean things when they say junk like that.

[ ...Yuri did it about her cake, but it just sort of made her miss Archer, which was terrible. ]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you actually missed me.

[Okay, that one's actually getting a smirk out of him. Wow, he actually really missed Aligula?? This is Weird.]

[ ...He's getting a light shove, god, you. ]

Maybe I did! So what?

[Oh, look at that, he didn't expect her to acknowledge it...]

Well, I'm a bit surprised to hear it. I thought I was a bit too boring for you.

[It's light, but it's not exactly joking. He's not really sure what to make of this.]

You are. [ ...so? ] But you're not boring all the time, and that's what matters. Like, I totally have a lot of fun talking to you, and I... was really totally super extra mad that you went off and got yourself killed!

[ Going out to kill someone!! And then you died!!! JUST LIKE KIMBLEE SAID WOULD HAPPEN, GEE. And—she's back to being actually mad about this, so she's going to scoot away from him. ]

You stupid, stupid dumb-dumb idiot! Like, really! Did everything go to crap for you after Observant died? Was he like, the only person you halfway trusted? Your friend or whatever? Because I thought—

[ mmrrrgh— ]

I sort of thought we were friends!

[ the f word is out there. ]

[Oh, that... Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that. Archer hesitates for a moment before speaking up.]

...It wasn't because he died, it was because the version from my world died. I'm dead as well back home. I didn't care anymore, I just didn't want to be stuck here. It wasn't anything personal.

[ ...So she just made fool out of herself for nothing.

Somehow, that's even worse? ]

Sucks to be you, huh? Since now you're even more stuck here than before.

[...]

Arguably, I got what I deserved.

[Except the being set on fire part. Probably.]

...Would you like an apology?

[It's not sarcastic at all, it's actually sort of stunted like he's not sure that's the question he should really be asking.]

[ ...He probably did not deserve being set on fire, no.

And... an apology... ]

No, because like, I so wouldn't forgive you anyway. [ She says that, but she's scooting back over to him, so. You know. ] Just forget it, okay? It doesn't matter.

[ except it does, you wouldn't have gotten so mad if it didn't?? ]

[But clearly it does matter because you got super mad about it???]

...I consider us friends as well, you know.

[That's still incredibly stunted but he's... trying? Kinda??]

[ ...she doesn't know if she appreciates the trying here or if she hates it, thanks, and she's not gonna really think about it too hard. ]

Really?

Yes, really. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.

[Because it's sort of embarrassing to admit? God. He never even told Kimbley he considered him a friend. Be honored, or something.]

[ isn't that because he was into kimbley, like ]

That's really... [ ... ] Totally sappy of you! I can't believe you said that with a straight face, too! You're like, totally impressive, Am-bi-tious~!

[okay listen things were Complicated with kimbley!!]

And you're a pain, as always.

[But it's not quite as harsh as it could be.]

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