[At a late hour, Liem receives a photo featuring one Constantin d'Orsay striking a pose with...a bag of ice balanced on his head? The background reveals a scene of drunken revelry, with blurred others crowding around one of the many bars set up along the beach.]
[There is definitely a moment where Liem just looks at this message, trying to puzzle out why it has landed in his inbox. It doesn't surprise him at all that Nikolai and Constantin would end up getting drunk together, but he is not certain why he has been chosen to receive updates on their revelries!
In the end he decides it was probably a misfire, but he also suspects that the destination of the message was never especially important to begin with. More importantly...]
Make sure to acquire water in liquid form as well. You'll thank yourselves for it later.
[At a definitely middle-of-the-night hour, a message pops up from one Constantin d'Orsay. It is a link... to an internet quiz result. The link boasts the title 'Which type of Gembonded is your ideal match??' and it's definitely very legitimate. This is, indeed, happening right now.
Good evemorning, Liem.]
The cheek! Do you think I should be offended? I am bordering on it!
[There is a distinct pause as Liem squints at this web page, just really taking it all in. W-what is this... gemQuiz? Where did Constantin even find this?]
Are you debating the accuracy of the claim, or objecting to the fact that whoever wrote this was clearly either drunk or borderline-illiterate?
I'm sorry if my absence worried you. I'm told I was gone for the better part of a week. I promise no disaster befell me—I was simply sent home for a spell.
Hello, Konoha. Not at all. I was just doing some light reading.
[On many nights he likes to read books by local poets, historians, philosophers, and the like, but tonight he's cozied up with a novel called The Sister's Sin, which is about as cerebral as one might expect from the name—and from the cover art.]
[ It's Tuesday afternoon, somewhere around 2 PM. Out of nowhere, Liem will receive the following picture of an extremely mediocre-looking couch, along with the following message: ]
[On one hand, Liem does not know this person and certainly wasn't the intended recipient of this message. On the other hand... this couch.]
I don't know what the colour scheme for your sitting room is like, but personally? I wouldn't ever get a khaki couch. Almost any other colour would be preferable.
[Well, Liem only knows one person with little blue hands, and after a moment he identifies the receipt in the image as being for a single bed sheet, which makes the identity of the sender pretty clear. But there is one thing he still isn't sure about.]
[Wow, that is way too many h's and e's in a row, and also what looks like an entire choir of emojis after that last message. Liem hasn't received a text like this since that week in Marilla when half the gembonded population got plastered all at once.
This is a very different experience when Liem is actually sober.]
Hello, Ryan.
No, you've never told me that before. Is this a longstanding opinion?
What do I do for the first day of the year? Hm, well... I have that day off work, and most businesses are closed that day as well, so I usually spend the day cleaning my house and reviewing plans and goals for the year.
[Entice is an apropos choice of phrasing, considering the immediate horny energies Liem is getting from this no-context text message. But let's see where this is going!]
Why do you need to be kept in line, Matt? Have you been making poor decisions?
Hello, Konoha. I am well, yes, thank you. I hope you are also?
I don't believe I'm familiar with any customs ascribing animals to certain years. Although, I know astrologists ascribe meaning to what constellation certain events occur under. The day I was born would fall under the sign of the Lantern Bearer, if I remember correctly.
[Without fail, she will immediately waste two words on identifying herself every time she uses this spell. She just has to make sure they know who it is!]
Hope you're doing well...just wanted to say I had fun with you the other night! Hope...it...wasn't...too...weird!
[The last five words carefully measures as she counts them down on her fingers. Liem will also get the sense that he can send a reply!]
[Does Liem look around to see if Jester is lurking somewhere nearby when he receives her message? Maybe, but no one can prove it. No one's ever used sending to contact him before, all right? It takes him a moment to grasp what's going on.]
Hello, Jester.
No, it wasn't weird. I appreciate your willingness to come see me on such short notice.
can i ask for favor again? there will be lanterns in sky again, i hear i's writing is much more good now but LIEM's hand is still finer good for offering to gods and heavens
[Whenever Liem returns to his home, he'll find a square, pink envelope shoved beneath the front door, addressed to him in purple sparkly gel pen with a little, tiny dick dotting the i. There's a note inside on watercolor paper, with little ink-and-paint drawings of unicorns, flowers, cupcakes, and sparkles all around the border.
Liem,
I heard from Konoha that you haven't been around for a little while. I'm super bummed if you're really gone. We didn't even get to try any of the recipes from your new cookbook!! Honestly super rude of you to go back home without saying goodbye to any of us, you jerk!
(I'm being rude on purpose 'cause it's easier to hope you'll come back and chide me for it. I really really hope you do.)
Anyway, I'm running out of room to draw so this is goodbye for now I guess.
[It takes a while after Liem gets home for him to notice the envelope stuffed beneath his door. He’d come in through another entrance, and even after his arrival back home, it had been some time before he’d thought to check for mail. Even when he does see the note, Liem comes to realize that his phone is nowhere to be found in his home, and it takes a while for him to track it down and recharge it.
It’s well into the afternoon, a couple days after most of the other gembonded arrived from the Burnished Crater, before Jester’s phone inbox receives a picture message from Liem’s account. The photo shows a pale hand with long, ring-adorned fingers spread over the opened note.]
I hope you’re not planning on using this kind of language in the commentary for any of those recipes. [Jerk? Heaven forbid.] That would be a shameful thing to inflict on a perfectly good cook book.
[Liem hadn't arrived one evening when it was his turn to play Nikolai's keeper — punctual, fastidious Liem. Then he hadn't answered his phone, and every text bounced back an error message. And that was that. It was a fact of life here, parting without having the chance to say good bye. Carrying on with the weight of one more ghost.
And then...that wasn't quite that after all.]
It has come to my attention that the rumors of your disappearance were greatly exaggerated.
[Depending on the source of Nikolai’s information, Liem may not be as punctual as usual when it comes to replying to his message. The text goes through without a problem, but there is the issue of Liem actually locating his phone to contend with. After returning home and realizing that the contents of his pockets from his time at Nyx’s party are conspicuously absent, he’s obliged to go on a bit of a hunt to reclaim his belongings, after which he also needs to charge the depleted device. It’s a couple days after the rest of the gembonded have returned from the Burnished Crater by the time Liem replies.]
Is that so? Having been absent the past week and a half, I’m afraid I’m not caught up on all the latest gossip.
I would have filled you in directly, but I unfortunately discovered after returning to my residence that I misplaced my phone in the process of being summarily vanished.
[Well… this is a rather atypical message to receive from Konoha. He has to admit, it is nice to receive a more cheerful message from her, even if it does sound like she's more than a little drunk at the moment.]
Hello, Konoha. 😎 What kind of music are you referring to? Are you at a party?
[When Liem answers the phone early in the evening on the first day of the month’s usual transformations, he might be expecting Konoha’s usual energetic greeting, or maybe even a shy invitation or request, like when she had called as her spring heat set in.
But it’s not that.
There’s a low, unidentifiable sound, a wet hiccup and a crunch, and then finally, muffled yet raw,]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@volkvolny
He is so crazzzyyyyy! I love this man!!!
no subject
In the end he decides it was probably a misfire, but he also suspects that the destination of the message was never especially important to begin with. More importantly...]
Make sure to acquire water in liquid form as well. You'll thank yourselves for it later.
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text; un: dorsay
Good evemorning, Liem.]
The cheek! Do you think I should be offended? I am bordering on it!
no subject
Are you debating the accuracy of the claim, or objecting to the fact that whoever wrote this was clearly either drunk or borderline-illiterate?
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text | un: konoha
is this LIEM
FATHER TALBOTT???
is you alive????
no subject
I'm sorry if my absence worried you. I'm told I was gone for the better part of a week. I promise no disaster befell me—I was simply sent home for a spell.
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text | un: konoha
apology for TEXT so late in evening
is you busy?
[Konoha... It's 9pm.]
no subject
Not at all. I was just doing some light reading.
[On many nights he likes to read books by local poets, historians, philosophers, and the like, but tonight he's cozied up with a novel called The Sister's Sin, which is about as cerebral as one might expect from the name—and from the cover art.]
What can I do for you?
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@flamek; finally oozes in here 3 weeks late w/o sbux, i'm so sorry 😔
What do you think?
don't worry about it 👌
I don't know what the colour scheme for your sitting room is like, but personally? I wouldn't ever get a khaki couch. Almost any other colour would be preferable.
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un: sapphire
text
How did you get my contact information?
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text | un:awarewolf
hey
hi
did i even tell u
ur pretty 😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰😘😘😘
no subject
This is a very different experience when Liem is actually sober.]
Hello, Ryan.
No, you've never told me that before. Is this a longstanding opinion?
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@volkvolny
I have a favor to ask of you. But in return, I offer my own myriad services.
Are you enticed yet? 👀
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Is this something I'm going to dislike?
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text | un: konoha
what do you do for first day?
is important!
text
What do I do for the first day of the year? Hm, well...
I have that day off work, and most businesses are closed that day as well, so I usually spend the day cleaning my house and reviewing plans and goals for the year.
Is this the kind of answer you wanted?
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text | un:awarewolf
[ attachment: interview.MOV ]
text
Where did you find that? Did Spider lend it to you?
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text | un: unsaphir | slutty sapphire january
no subject
Why do you need to be kept in line, Matt? Have you been making poor decisions?
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text | un: konoha
is healthy? well?
i was thinking
was LIEM born in year of rooster?
year of dog?
or perhaps in TALDOR you do not have this?
no subject
I don't believe I'm familiar with any customs ascribing animals to certain years. Although, I know astrologists ascribe meaning to what constellation certain events occur under. The day I was born would fall under the sign of the Lantern Bearer, if I remember correctly.
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sending; first week of february
[Without fail, she will immediately waste two words on identifying herself every time she uses this spell. She just has to make sure they know who it is!]
Hope you're doing well...just wanted to say I had fun with you the other night! Hope...it...wasn't...too...weird!
[The last five words carefully measures as she counts them down on her fingers. Liem will also get the sense that he can send a reply!]
no subject
Hello, Jester.
No, it wasn't weird. I appreciate your willingness to come see me on such short notice.
Can I ask why you're not using—
[And there it goes.]
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text | un: konoha 1/?
can you believe
RAG'N'BOGI festival has come again?
one year of knowing LIEM!
no subject
one year since LIEM writes prayer for i
can i ask for favor again?
there will be lanterns in sky again, i hear
i's writing is much more good now but
LIEM's hand is still finer
good for offering to gods and heavens
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the end
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Liem,
I heard from Konoha that you haven't been around for a little while. I'm super bummed if you're really gone. We didn't even get to try any of the recipes from your new cookbook!! Honestly super rude of you to go back home without saying goodbye to any of us, you jerk!
(I'm being rude on purpose 'cause it's easier to hope you'll come back and chide me for it. I really really hope you do.)
Anyway, I'm running out of room to draw so this is goodbye for now I guess.
Your friend,
♡ Jester ♡]
text | un: FatherTalbott
It’s well into the afternoon, a couple days after most of the other gembonded arrived from the Burnished Crater, before Jester’s phone inbox receives a picture message from Liem’s account. The photo shows a pale hand with long, ring-adorned fingers spread over the opened note.]
I hope you’re not planning on using this kind of language in the commentary for any of those recipes. [Jerk? Heaven forbid.] That would be a shameful thing to inflict on a perfectly good cook book.
un: sapphire
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@volkvolny
And then...that wasn't quite that after all.]
It has come to my attention that the rumors of your disappearance were greatly exaggerated.
no subject
Is that so? Having been absent the past week and a half, I’m afraid I’m not caught up on all the latest gossip.
I would have filled you in directly, but I unfortunately discovered after returning to my residence that I misplaced my phone in the process of being summarily vanished.
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text | un: konoha
LIEM hello
did LIEM know city music here is so so bad?
it is!
i miss you!
last message on phone is too much sad
have happy message from i
here!
😊❤️
no subject
Hello, Konoha. 😎
What kind of music are you referring to? Are you at a party?
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voice call | un: konoha (forward dated to monster week)
But it’s not that.
There’s a low, unidentifiable sound, a wet hiccup and a crunch, and then finally, muffled yet raw,]
Liem… ? I think I need help…
no subject
[This is far from the usual kind of call he expects to receive from her, and Liem is immediately concerned.]
Are you hurt? Where are you?
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