(Untitled)

[scientificlee]

[In a certain dusty, quiet hall, there stands a telephone on a small table. It looks like a normal phone - one which wouldn't be out of place in the Black Order, perhaps. Almost totally normal, except that stamped unobtrusively on the side is Line to the Dressing Room management. And that no matter who is called or how long a person waits, the

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[fallforthesky]

[There's something... so strangely nostalgic about this. The phone antics, the familiar tone of voice that means Brother is two steps from doing something regrettable, and that's what gets her, really. It's only been a few weeks since she last saw her own Komui, but the effect hearing his voice has on her is the same as when she found him after eight months of solitude.]

Brother...? Brother!

[Komui will shortly find his complaining interrupted as she promptly dashes over and curls her fingers in his sleeve to get his attention.]

[scientificlee]

..Lenalee!

[Hearing the voice of his sweet little sister instead of the unending nightmare of muzak is like escaping from hell. And more than that, now she's here he doesn't need to call anyone for help with directions...But she looks surprised, somehow. He puts the receiver back.]

Lenalee, what's wrong?

[fallforthesky]

Nothing- nothing's wrong. [It really is him, isn't it? She takes a breath, then gives him a very genuine sort of smile.] I just... I didn't think I would see you here. You know where here is, right?

[scientificlee]

Not...exactly. I might have got a teeny, tiny bit lost again. But I'll be fine now you're here.

[It's not his fault the Order moved to the new building and he still doesn't know his way around fully, really! He smiles back at her in return, not knowing why she's pleased - but there hardly needs to be a reason.]

Did you know, nobody's picking up the phones! They're all slacking off! I've been waiting forever.

[fallforthesky]

["And I'll be fine, too."

Though, just slightly, her smile falls. It's difficult to know how to feel- her brother, who has been here a long time, or her brother, who has only just been pulled to this place... they're both awful things. She fumbles with the pouch on her uniform belt for a moment.] N-No one is slacking, Brother. It's just... here...

[And she pulls out a Welcome to the DR pamphlet, which she had finally sought out after returning from home last month, and holds it out for him.] Those phone lines don't connect to anyone outside...

[scientificlee]

It's a fake phone...? That explains everything!

[To think that the Science Department had enough free time on their hands to set up joke phones to trick him! He resolves to make sure they never get the chance again. And he takes the pamphlet. As he flicks through it, his eyes get wider and wider. What. What?]

What is this?

[fallforthesky]

[Not... quite a fake phone... She opens her mouth to correct him, only halfheartedly, then closes it again as his expression changes. This... this is definitely worse than a Komui who has been trapped here for months (or so she chooses to believe, at this present moment). Still, Lenalee attempts to smile through it.] It's, ah... it's as though you've been pulled into the Ark. A different world, but still connected to our own. I.. hah. I suppose it means I'm not exactly your sister, right?

[A question directed towards the DR in general.]

[scientificlee]

You're not Lenalee? Don't...don't be ridiculous.

[He shakes his head, still not quite believing the pamphlet, although it's not as if he's got reason to doubt what Lenalee's saying. His gaze flickers quickly around the area - the halls here could be from the new headquarters, for all he knows, and there's nothing odd about how this Lenalee looks.]

This doesn't look too different from the Order. It's a joke, right? Just a joke.

[He'd like people to jump out at him from hiding places and explain that this is all a really bad practical joke now.]

[fallforthesky]

No! I am Lenalee, just... [She knows full well the sort of strain this puts on him; he wouldn't believe she's trying to lie to him, because they just don't do that sort of thing to one another, but believing her... well.

Automatically, her hand comes up to indicate her temple- only, no, the scar disappeared when she went home. All of them did.] ...Ha. It's ridiculous, right? But everything in there- it's all true. I didn't believe it at first, either, but there are other people with the same face, and you can't leave, and you can die, though you'll come back as- as good as new. Brother, I wouldn't lie to you about this.

[scientificlee]

[Then that's final: it must all be true. Because there's no way Lenalee would say all that to him and not mean it. He stares down at the pamphlet again for a second or two, a little blankly and maybe a little lost, before looking up at Lenalee again.]

There's really no way for us to get home? Lenalee? They can't manage without us there.

[The Order getting another supervisor at a time like this, let alone managing without Lenalee when they're already short handed...Even with Kanda there, it's not a good situation. And he's not really addressing the possibility that this might not be his world's Lenalee. That's firmly in the "too difficult to think about" pile.]

[fallforthesky]

[For his sake, she keeps smiling. It hurts to hear him say that, even if he doesn't mean it that way. Yes, she knows. They need them, back home. She needs to be there for everyone, and he does, too.

Softly, reassuringly:] It's okay. Nothing will change while you're here. Think of it as if we're in Miranda's Time Stop. When you finally do go back, you'll be in the exact moment as you left. I've been here for more a year now and no one outside of this place will ever realise.

[Not even her.]

[scientificlee]

[He summons up a smile of his own, and a more lively tone. Aha. Ahahaha.]

Then we can think of this as a holiday! Imagine, it's the first holiday we've had in so long. We can get away from the paperwork and fuss and...

...Did you say you'd been here over a year?

[That thought stops him in his tracks.]

[fallforthesky]

The paperwork will still be there when you get back, Brother. [She is all for thinking of this as a holiday, if any conscious choices to take time off or the ability to go home at will were available. Or if she didn't know that the promise of no war is no better than the alternative.]

Nearly thirteen months now, I think is what it's been... [She has the grace to look deeply uncomfortable. What she wouldn't give to go home for good.]

[scientificlee]

[The paperwork never goes away. He just wants to sneak away from it for a while. Forever, ideally, although he wouldn't mind a week of paper-free holiday at a pinch, but everyone yells at him whenever he tries it.]

Have you been...all on your own?

[Because if she has - if she has, then it's his fault. Somehow. Because leaving Lenalee on her own somewhere she doesn't want to be and can't escape from is everything he's worked so hard to prevent.]

[fallforthesky]

[Oh, no. Don't do that, Brother.]

No! No. I've made friends. [And lost them.] They're all here for me. I missed you, but I've been fine.

[scientificlee]

Good...

[He smiles, at least a bit reassured that she hasn't been too lonely, even if she doesn't look pleased to be here. But really, the thought of her being somewhere without him for that long makes him feel uncomfortable anyway. So he claps his hands together briefly, making his smile turn much brighter and peppier.]

Then, I'll be joining you here and having a fine holiday, too. Maybe I can find out the secrets of this place? Or I could just sleep in every day. Ah, I'd like that!