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[sandinmyhair]

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< ausername > - After Alfred's Bad Week

[heyhohey]

[It's a few days after the encounter on the street that a message pops up, typed out by shaking hands in the dark.]

Bruno, hallo.

I want to apologizze for everything the o
ther day. I feel terr ible. I was not myself, I did not mean any of it! I was not well!

I care very much for you, Bruno, I hope that you know
that. I would nevvver want to be crue
l to you like I was.

You are not the only one

who I hurt.

I am so sorry.

< AGhostOfTheManIWas >

[sandinmyhair]

[And it's a day or so after that before Bruno has the energy to even look at the network, let alone do anything else. He reads this curled up in a nest of blankets, listlessly pushing spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth. He stares at the words for several beats before sleepily typing:]

i wasnt really myself, either. i let things grind me down until i didnt have any patience left. i wasnt thinking and i kind of lashed out.

was it because you hadnt fed/ thisll sound weird but i hope you managed to feed okay. but i think i know the answer to that. was it someone you knew/

i forgive you, though. that hunger can really mess with a person's head.

< ausername >

[heyhohey]

I think we are both guilty of thaat.

Yes. I knew that I nee
ded to, but I...I couldn't do it. After seei ng that terrible broadcast I couldnt do it. So I tried not to, and...it was foolish. It was stupid.

...I did. Three people, Bruno . Three. And one was my friend Harry. Reverie had to snap me out of it. I couldn''t stop.

Thank you for forgiving me. I

I can't stand this. Not souls. I need to find a better way.

[Action | Bruno's Place | Night of 5-20]

[darlingdraculina]

Thanks to the Fog, it only took two days and nights for Seras to recover from the Night of The Goblin to a comfortable enough extent that she felt alright to explore the world again. Well, comfortable enough that her housemate and interim caretaker, Alfred, could be convinced to let her go back out again. Bless him, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to have put all that worry and work into putting her back together just for her to overexert herself and end up bedridden again.

But her pooka instincts had her getting restless, by the third day she couldn't stay confined to the bed, she couldn't stay cooped up in the castle for any longer. She'd snuck off to see her friend Nanami earlier in the afternoon-- but thanks to a similarly terrifying ordeal, Nanami had also ended up injured, and that sent Seras spiraling even further. It's one thing for her to get hurt doing something stupid, but... someone as sweet as Nanami shouldn't have to deal with that! After her visit, she decided it wouldn't be a good idea to go back home, she couldn't unload this on her already frazzled housemate, and really the last thing she wanted was to spend another night in that bed so soon. Not alone, anyway.

The pursuit of quelling her loneliness and anxiety eventually led her Bruno's doorstep. He'd told her a number of times that she was always welcome to drop by, but she felt rude for stopping by without notice... Still. She was here already, and she had to hope he was, too. Of the people she'd befriended in this godforsaken town, she realized he was one of very few who actually registered as a comforting presence to her. Bruno was always warm and kind, a welcome distraction from her own mind, and right now she finds herself needing that more than anything.

Seras swallows her uncertainty and knocks on his door, bouncing idly on her toes as she awaits a response.

[sandinmyhair]

It's a moment before there's the sound of movement on the other side of the door. After a beat he pulls the door open, and a myriad of scents waft out on warm, slightly smoky air. He blinks, puzzled that anyone would be on his doorstep, before shaking off that confusion.

"Seras," he says, a slight smile twitching at the corners of his mouth at her presence, fighting with the worry that crosses the rest of his face. "Are... Are you okay? Ah, come in."

He steps back so that she can step inside.

The room is rather dimly lit with lamps and dominated by a giant conglomeration of pillows and cushions and blankets, decorative cloths and faerie lights. Pungent smoke rises lazily from something on a low table almost within that construction.

Bruno, himself, looks a bit different, more human than Pooka in appearance, though his ears and teeth give it away.

[darlingdraculina]

A few things catch her off guard when he opens the door. For one, it's Bruno. He's not the adorable little rat man she snuggled drunkenly on their grand pooka outing, he's not the living shadow she'd first met. He's... a whole man? Sure, still adorable, especially with his little rodent teeth and those precious round rat ears, but this is not how she remembered seeing him last!

The other thing was that... smoke smell. It's unfamiliar, not quite like the usual incense musk she's used to from him, but it's not terribly unpleasant. She doesn't note the source immediately and can't really be bothered to care right this second, since she can't seem to take her eyes off him. Since when was he semi-human?

"Ah-- Bruno? You-- wh. How. ...How did you--" Oh wait, he's inviting her in, she should maybe at least come inside. Nervously, Seras hops over the threshold, keeping her attention on him for now. "Ah, S-sorry for poppin' up like this. I was just... in the neighborhood! And thought maybe I'd just see if you'd... mind a little company?"

6/11

[mingzhu]

Bruno!!!

Have you ever been flying?

xoxo,
Lanzhu

[sandinmyhair]

I

huh. I have not.
Why do you ask?

[mingzhu]

I've been practicing with my wings and I'm really tall now!

I can take you with me!

October 17th

[nonmagical]

[Bruno will find a sewn, new ruana outside his door. It’s green like his previous one, but there’s rats doing various cute things (like dancing or wearing hats) embroidered into it. He’ll find a happy birthday card with a “love, Mirabel” signed inside it.]

<t_sunset>

[tequila_sunset]

Bruno?

This is Harry

are you there

< AGhostOfTheManIWas >

[sandinmyhair]

[He hasn't exactly been out and about since coming back, so being hailed on the network isn't as much of a surprise as it would otherwise be.]

I'm here

everything okay?
well
no
bad question, things usually aren't in this place

But did you get home all right? I'm sorry I sort of
literally
passed out

[Well, at least Bruno's his usual blithery self....]

<t_sunset>

[tequila_sunset]

i mean I kind of just left you there

Sorry I was freaked out and worried about patrols

but I don’t think anyone cared we passed out

<KrisKringle>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Your Secret Santa giftee is EMPORIO ALNINO (there's a squiggle on the N right where you'd imagine it, but Santa only has an English keyboard), who goes by "SPEAKING.IN.TONGUES" on the network.

Buy or make the kid a gift by December 26, or Santa will come down your chimney and box your ears.

If you need more information, contact me C/O Hawkeye Pierce at Crowe Clinic, and I'll delegate him to tell you to do your own research.

<JOJO>

[standless]

Mr. Madrigal?

I've a query for you if you've any time, though if you could respond before the holiday season becomes particularly hectic I'd be quite grateful!

I suspect however that you may be the only person who can offer the advice I need here.

< AGhostOfTheManIWas >

[sandinmyhair]

Okay

What is it you want to know?

[cratecrasher]

Merrrry Nattensfest~ from your Secret Santa

Nattensfest

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Bruno will receive a cozy lava lamp, to decorate his den. The light it gives off is very faint, so it won't hurt his shade form! ]

<WhiteWizard>, post-1/29

[softspokenlandlord]

Mister Bruno...i sincerely apologize for our last network conversation. i wasn't really myself, but that isn't an excuse. i said terrible things to you when the truth is, your choices are your own and should never have been ridiculed

and...i didn't mean to make you think of such unpleasant memories. it wasn't fair.

if you don't want to speak to me again, i would understand, truly.

Dropped off at the 8/12!

[i_am_emmet]

[In a black envelope, with scratchy handwriting in white out pen is a note: FOR BRUNO'S EYES ONLY.

When it is opened, there will be an invitation to a surprise birthday party for Ingo on May 22nd, with the location to the train house in it at 9PM. There is also a note about being able to bring friends if you want, contact Emmet if it will be more than 2 people!]

[Also, 'SURPRISE PARTY' is underlined a few times, and a drawing of a Litwick is in the corner.]

<CleverMoniker> after his netpost about self defense

[crazyequalsgenius]

Whatever you're concerned with defending yourself against, I can offer you options. I consulted on this sort of thing all the time at home. I had quite a reputation for it.

< DirectorRat >

[sandinmyhair]

[He's not as suspicious of the username being 'CleverMoniker' as he should be. After all, Alfred still uses 'ausername', so who's Bruno to judge?]

Mainly other Monsters, but I keep hearing that humans used to go around in Monster-poaching gangs, which isn't something I'd want to run into in a dark alley, either, if they start that up again.

I don't recognise this username, though.

<KrisKringle>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Your Secret Santa recipient is Aunamee! I'm so sorry!

Get Aunamee a present by December 26, and if you can't figure out how to deliver it, you can drop it off (clearly labelled, please!) at Crowe Clinic up until the 24th.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT AUNAMEE:
- He's an asshole;
- He's "saturnschild" on the network;
- He hates dirt and mess and fun;
- He likes clocks and murder;
- He's a lich.

If you want to give him a lump of coal, feel free, he's on the Naughty List. But I think you're probably nicer than me.

Feliz navidad!

Nattensfest

[sciencesquid]

[This year, Bruno receives several presents from Otto! It's a huge mug with a winter landscape painted on it (for tea or cocoa or whatever Bruno wants to drink from it), a thick, fleecy, green blanket and a polaroid camera, for snapping pictures of precious moments.]

Secret Santa!

[missleadingquestions]

[As tactical as this match-up might seem, Maya doesn't leave anything strange in Bruno's gift. Like most of the gifts she gives this year, there's bread and fish-filled pies wrapped in brightly-colored fabric dyed in Merain. The length of the fabric is about enough to be used as a decorative scarf or to wrap important things in. Underneath rests a fish-skin-bound journal and a pen to go along with it.

It's delivered by a human, and despite everything, there really isn't anything suspicious about it! Just a normal, very bready gift. Hopefully Bruno likes fish...]