kaisou inbox.

[greatlydares]

"random play! you're speaking to belle. i'm not available for the moment, so leave a message after the beep."

"this is phaethon. leave a message. i'll get to it as soon as i can."

[ voice | video | text | action ]

[ooc: assume all Phaethon voicemails are under a voice changer.]

gif from belobogindustries.

Comments

Text from phone; not long after HIS conversation with Luke

[life_ethereal]

[He's glad to have called out today, but after this... he's exhausted emotionally. And physically. Harumasa didn't have much hope for that to have ended positively, but at least it didn't end worse than he thought. So, he sends a text to Belle with the understanding that she's probably going to still be busy with customers.]

Hey, Manager~ I got caught up in some family issues and drama, and can't make it in tomorrow! I'm far too frail to handle all this stress. It's bad for my heart.

[It's true he's needs the time off to recover and decompress, but.]

[wilder]

[Even if it's technically the work line, it becomes pretty clear it's Not Belle texting]

Uh we're the ones with the family issues and drama, Bandana boy?? Are you using OUR family's drama for your sick leave???

I thought it'd be hard to top your claim last week to contracting dengue fever, but this sure is up there

[life_ethereal]

[... Hang on a goddamn second. There's no way, right? There's no fucking way. The "affair child," Luke looking similar to Zelos and Belle, and now they're also having a family blowup today?]

I have a little brother who joined the app recently, but he doesn't remember me or the place we'd been. I tried to talk to him today and it seemed like something was wrong. Like he was in pain.

Long story short, I now have to ask you a weird question. Would your newly discovered sibling's name be Luke?

[wilder]

[....]

Yeah, I think it's time for you to check your temperature, because it sounds like the Dengue Fever is coming back and cooking your brain.

WE'RE NOT RELATED.

[life_ethereal]

[.....................]

Adopted is the very short answer.

This is a can of particular worms I didn't think we'd be opening right now, but this is suddenly not a conversation we should have over text. Because I know partially of what happened to Luke.

[greatlydares]

sorry, hey, it's Belle. Yes you can take the day off because I might also be closing the shop for the day.

And uh. Yes we have a little brother named Luke. Who also has a brother named Asch who was hanging around outside the store for a while.

If you have free time this week I will buy you dinner so we can at least have full stomachs while hearing bad news.

[life_ethereal]

[Thank God it's Belle. But also... fuck, he really didn't want to have to tell her about his past in this life.]

Oh, good, we could use more complexity in our lives!

[The sarcasm is coming out. Harumasa takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.]

It might kill your appetite, yeah, so I'm down. I can be free all week. Aides work is flexible.

I'm sorry, Belle. I wish I could say otherwise, but it's not going to be pleasant.

[greatlydares]

yeah, it’s been so much fun starring in my very own soap opera.

Don’t underestimate my appetite.

…it’s okay. I don’t know all the details, but I can guess at the shape of the unpleasantness. Even if it hurts, even if it’s upsetting—he’s my brother. I wanna know, so don’t be sorry. I’m walking into this with open eyes.

[wilder]

[ Oh, so we're being serious. This isn't Haru being weird. He'll sigh and take back the phone, starting with an emoji to indicate whose talking]

🌹

That's the Wilder family specialty, complexity on top of mess.
Sorry you wound up tied to it.

We were trying to get to know Asch, and Luke just happened to come by.
Things went down like a lead balloon after that, but no one died so it wasn't the worst family gathering I've attended.
Belle's been slumped on the couch ever since, and I'm pretty drained myself.

Sounds like you need a rest too, so seriously- don't push yourself on our account.
Luke and Asch are kids who just found out they got family, they're gonna need time to process.
They need people who'll just accept them for who they are, not look at them with pity.

[life_ethereal]

[He's not going to blame Zelos for not taking him seriously, at least for now. He doesn't know Harumasa, and what he's seen most likely paints an unflattering picture of himself.]

I can't complain too much, I suppose. It brought Belle and Luke into my life, and I wouldn't change that for anything.

That doesn't surprise me, though it sounds about as exhausting as how it went over with just Luke.

Believe me, I'm going to take some time to decompress.
I didn't know about Asch, but I'm gonna think about that later.
And I agree that they don't need pity.
Text me when you guys are ready later.

[greatlydares]

🔔

I wouldn't change it for anything either but I'm definitely going to complain about it. I didn't expect secret twins!

Yeah can confirm, I...haven't really moved from the couch much except to steal the phone back. It's been a long day.

I think neither of them are the type to take pity anyway. Take all the time you need, all right? We'll text you in a few days.

[wilder]

🌹

Psh, you're just upset that you're not the baby anymore~

[That's right snitching right in front of Haru]

[life_ethereal]

[The cat ears are perking up. A new way to tease Belle?]

Oh~? Not happy about being elevated to middle child in the pecking order, Belle?

[greatlydares]

🔔

I don't have any clue what either of you mean, I've been adjusting pretty okay to not being the baby of the family anymore.

[She definitely isn't giving her brother the stink-eye from the couch and raising a pillow in as threatening a manner as she can muster.]

[wilder]

[Zelos, who fears no man and no god.... gives her a shit-eating grin right back as he grabs the phone and types up his message]

🌹

She's been sulking about it since they left
And now she's threatening me with a pillow for speaking the truth

[life_ethereal]

[Pfft. This is familiar.]

Always with the pillows! Make sure it's not your favorite pillow, Belle, 'cause it's legally his if he catches it.

[It's the law of siblings.]

[greatlydares]

[Belle chucks the throw pillow, a tiny threadbare little thing that must've been picked up ages ago at a garage sale. And then she scrabbles to get her phone back.]

🔔

I'm not sulking, why would I be sulking. I'm just surprised by the secret twins who are younger than me and worried about them on the app. I'm very okay about being the middle child.

[wilder]

[Thanks to Belle's weak throw, Zelos is able to deflect it with his hand. It's not a clean catch though, with it bouncing back onto the couch (11). He'll snicker and reach over to give her a hair ruffle, before grabbing his own phone from his pocket. ]

🌹

She threw it but didn't catch it 😮‍💨 my reflexes must be getting slow

But uh huh thats sure what it is.
Don't worry you might not be the youngest but you're still the smallest, so you still get first dibs with hugs and piggy back rides, my adorable little sis~

[life_ethereal]

[They're cute. He won't say that because he values his life, but they're cute siblings. Plus, it's doing wonders to lighten the mood and Harumasa's more than willing to go along with it.]

With the way Belle throws, it was probably the angle that did it.

I'll let you two go and talk to you later! I appreciated the laughs~