To do for love.

"Y'know... at first I was all weirded out by how that [REDACTED] guy managed to bamboozle us with his shenanigans," said Xehnyier taking a sip from his bombilla, before sighing and shaking the gourd a little. 

Svanthrunsa was slumped on the table, arms making a napping motion with only her head happening to stick out and rest on them like pseudo-pillows.

"But, that isn't to say his paranoia is that to a normal guy's level. His was just... too much..." Naikhee shrugged, shaking his head. 

Over to the countertop at their left were some sushi rolls laid out in a domino-esque pattern, with Svan taking two pieces and eating both, either just for the convenience of not wanting to speak or acting aloof so that she appears to know about it.

Maybe she does? 

"Aye dohnt knfow..." gulp "Hfe could be..." clears throat "...could be right, y'know?"

"By right, you meant "to-not-trust-a-single-damn-person" right..." commented Xehnyier in an almost aggressive way, but not enough to determine whether that was sarcasm or plain hate towards [REDACTED].

"True, true..." said Naikhee, who stood up and immediately sat back down, moving his chair lazily to grab the soda cans placed to the side instead of getting it normally. 

"But it'd be best not to dwell on that past... Especially in front of our old-new member..." he continued, cracking one open and shotgunning it despite the fizzing. "We..." sips some more "...don't wanna info-dump too much. Just let it flow through and she'll figure out the rest...", hands the drink behind him, with Erimythees popping it right after, "...can't exactly have her look stupid..."

"You two are right, but..." Blue walks around in a circle, and drags her bean bag like a trolley, "It won't necessarily hurt to - ermm, give her some heads up about what we need to do, which... is already given prior to us warping here..."

"I already get it, Miss Mythees..." Svan holds her hand out and is given the bottle of water not taken by Blondie, "And I'd rather not know what happened with [REDACTED] alongside his creations to figure out what I require of doing. Sure, I'd get the full context on the whys and hows. But, having doubt never really... occurred... to me." nodded the rest as they stopped eating and drinking to listen out of courtesy.

"There is a lot of compromising done to reach this conclusion. And I am confident I have the faculty of not needing to fully comprehend this conglomerate, which in of itself is a whole can of worms.." said Sun-bright, her gaze stuck betwixt looking at Mythees and back at her hands, with glances here and there towards the other two.

Not much could be said, as the three knew it was true. Truer than blue glass with 99.1% purity of true. A retelling of one's past is those trope-ey, edge city, im14andthisisdeep-esque type of thing to do- to them at least. Soldiering on are the normal things are what a person does in day-to-day life, just going on even if it's stressful. 

Each, their eyes drifted off into nowhere, to the nothingness that is the backdrop of their dimension- a reflection of the place their heart used to reside in. Underneath were flickering fragments aflutter the blowing wind, wafted away, and collected to the bonfire, never to be seen again.

Drained of what there was, of the happenings, and of things that are meant to be left alone.

Only desperation.

"Moving on..." Naikhee broke the silence, not much of a fan of those. Just closing his eyes, fixed his hair, finger-combing it upwards, and swayed to the side. "...what's the plan?"

"Simple really.." Xehniyer stood up to stretch his legs, breathing in as if to dramatize the pause. Breathe out.

"I'd go after Nicole myself..."

...

Atop the rooftop...

Step by step, there'd be droplets of strange liquid. Given there's a crowd, wearing a cloak and slumping against the walls of the city should do the trick.

"Ahk-" cough "ihk..." Nicole covered her mouth, trying to stop making scenes more than what it needed to be, as she could very well be at the top of the news if someone ever did. 

"I need to get away for now..." she thought, with some people who were bumping into her, found themselves passing through to their POV, "Only a low-level of time manipulation like this should be enough to get by..." walking past the vendors and pizza stands, she'd be using whatever she could hold on to- metal pipes, railings, etc. - just to get by and act like she's just an impaired individual.

There wasn't too much in her thoughts on her way to the hotel. But the what-ifs had gone past her head long ago. As much as she could think, her body slowly caved in and...

thud

...

Lights, very bright lights. The silent hum of the bladeless fans rang like bells to her ears, the rough transitioning to a smooth texture running on her back, with the gashes from her body seemingly covered and patched up.

Patched up.

Jolting her body awake, Nicole would elbow the hospital bed to push herself and sit up, her eyes finding no means of looking at just a single spot- erratic and mindful- paranoid of what happened.

"How long was I..." looking down to see her original clothes covered by a patient gown, with bandages on her torso and arms, as she immediately went out with the cable still attached to her neck and nose.

"Shit..." looking at all the concerned nurses who tried uttering a word- either something to do with finding her collapsed on the ground or not leaving- it doesn't matter. Most who caught her gaze saw themselves incurring misinformation, misremembering to be exact.

All was well until an individual kept looking at her, seemingly unable to be affected by her ability. 

It was part of the possibilities she could've considered knowing that an enemy might appear during her vulnerable times. Though it couldn't have been this person who took her to this medical place, one thing's for sure...

"Don't expect to be breathing after this..." he said, removing the black cap covering their grey hair, and wearing navy and white overalls, who- on sight- went for a straight punch that Nicole narrowly avoided.

"Not again....!" muttered to herself, wiping the sweat off her face- if it even was sweat.

...this is becoming a running gag.