[RYSLIG] IC Inbox

[beatemall]

< BadMachine2004 > — normal handle
< KidArachnid > — used for hero work
< Sunflower > — anonymous posting

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[jumpie]

[ shoyo was no hero, but . . . he'd count himself as a good friend. and as a friend, he'd do just about anything to back them up. it's when miles asks that shoyo can't help but to snort (more half a chortle) with a bearing smile. ]

You don't even have to ask, dude. [ he can still hear it in his dreams, some days. when he's awake. if something cracks and it reminds him of the sound: hooves into bones, breaking open a rotting cavity and— he swallows before his mind could bring home the splatter. it's a moment thing. he knows he wouldn't think twice anymore if it was miles who needed him, and he'd have to race or kick again. the way ochako had planted an act of selflessness into the forefront of his thoughts and inspired it to bloom when things got bad, when he stood up to the hugeass rat from within a hidden pit to keep a mom and kid safe, one he was walking around with as things had gone from bad to worse— maybe he was capable. he'd do anything. he doesn't fade into the backrooms again because of it. breathe in, breathe out (take it easy). now it's his hand that finds the other's shoulder to give a clap to, settling with his fingers squeezing the curvature. ] 'Course I will.

[ once his hand retreats, it's to haul his bag over, to eventually unzip and rummage through. ]

I'm not, like . . . A superhero [ like ochako ], or a ninja-pirate, or a pirate [ like fucking monkey d luffy, who he met ], but I'm your friend. And a Kelpie.

[ he's "from the concrete", like ushijima had once implied, but that didn't mean he couldn't grow. that didn't mean he couldn't be self sufficient, and through the worst of it— he is growing. ]

[beatemall]

[Miles softens a bit more, his shoulders slumping, his own hands finding a way into the sand in front of him and between his outstretched legs. He should've taken his jordans off before this but, he can stand to wait a few moments.]

Anyone can be a hero, [he insists, as he draws shapes in the surface of the sand that blow away nearly instantly.] Someone once told me that- being a hero, it's a state of mind, a decision.

[He didn't choose the hero life, but he surely would've fallen into it some way or another with his parents' influence. But more than than a nurse, or a cop, or an actual super-powered being, Miles knows that the hero he needs right now—the one that messaged him to check in, to make sure he was okay, who hugged him so hard they fell into the sand in a mess of limbs—that's what Shoyo is.]

...A good friend is the best kind of hero a guy can be... Even if that guy is also a horse. [He adds with a smile coloring his words warmly, before turning and facing Shoyo fully.] Hey...

Can I tell you something, man?

[jumpie]

[ a state of mind— you were my hero. is that what that means? even shoyo felt just a little too humble to accept something so big like that as if pouncing on a wagon, but, it did make his chest tickle and warm up. he's only ever grown up with heroes being super. just as shoyo's glow colors the sand and miles speaks up again, the kelpie halts what he's doing to meet him in an equal half-turn of his torso to him. ]

Sure. [ he wonders what it is—? but he stops his hands from moving around, keeping them stretched in front of the bag he's put between his legs. it's a quiet, almost rare moment of calm for him, reassured even, but he's learned that with the crash and lick of waves for background noise. his attention, the direction his ears are pointing, it's all undividedly on miles. ] What's up?

[beatemall]

[The moment Shoyo turns to him, Miles immediately feels as if his tongue is too big for his mouth. He'd resolved to tell the kelpie, just as he'd confided in Robin, about who—or what—he is... But now that he's here, that he's a few words away from it, he feels a crushing nervousness overcome him.

In reality, Miles knows he's not the Spider-Man of Ryslig, he doubts there even is one; but old habits die hard, and the desperation to keep his hero identity and personal identity secret still pervades him. He feels every deadened nerve within his body screaming as the thought of exposing himself but, no... Even Peter's revealed to a trusted few—and Miles needs a couple of people he can talk to about his past, so that he can finally unload the emotional weight that's been suffocating him for months, now.

Miles swallows, not even realizing that his drawing silence has likely taken up minutes now, before he scoots a little closer to Shoyo on the towel and lowers his voice. Maybe if he's quiet enough, only those satellite horse-ears will be able to hear him, and not any unsuspecting beach goer that could be potentially sneaking up on them.]

Actually... [his voice cracks as he starts, which he clears, and then pitches his tone down, the nerves making his detached hands scoop and pile sand off to the side without him really thinking about it.] I— I'm a hero.

Like, back in my own dimension, I was the protector of my city and... I dunno why it matters, I don't have my powers anymore but, I just wanted to tell you that...?

[jumpie]

[ if he's moving in this close? oh, it must be confidential, something important, or as shoyo would say: super ultra mega important. the kelpie follows suit with a sideways tilt to facilitate words whispered into the direction of a cone-shaped, furry burgundy ear held right toward him, and what is heard causes an immediate change to shoyo's expression. if he hadn't been turned as is, he would've done a double take. with his mouth agape and with an inhale to prepare his voice—

he remembers, briefly clamps his gaping lips together, and hushes with ecstatic urgency: ]

Bwu—?! No way, you too—?! [ he says, clearly thrilled, and not only that . . . ! ] What's your hero name? You gotta have one, right?

[beatemall]

[Watching Shoyo desperately try to contain his excitement is, frankly, enough to bring a full smile back to Miles' face. It spreads wide across his features, wrinkling his eyes and pulling an airy little laugh from his throat. Seems that the kelpie has already met other heroes but, it's not like they're exceedingly rare in Ryslig, by the looks of it.]

Well, my powers were like... mutated abilities a spider would have, so...

[He pauses, and then he grabs at the hem of his hoodie and lifts it—exposing the hole in his chest, with eerie mist belching out around the ribs of his rib cage. The shape of the hole is uncannily spider-like, and what he exposes isn't skin either... It's his suit, albeit fused with his torso.]

I was— am— Spider-man.

[jumpie]

[ maybe miles wasn't expecting silence. maybe that silence was . . . worrying, but not when a good look on shoyo's face is given. he's attempting to process it, glimpsing into the open chest cavity only to realize— the placement. the shape. his features may stay that way, for a bit: his mouth was extending, and his brows furrowed now with each passing second he's left speechless. ]

You're . . . !! You're—?!

[ look, it's just between them, like literally between them. no one is watching when shoyo turns halfway toward miles only to signal with both hands— and make a weird noise. poor guy. he's trying to word. can he not say it anymore?? he can't say it. this is a secret! not even mj knows and now just lil' ol' him, rando volleyball player from japan up and befirends spider-man—?! ]

[beatemall]

Yeah, I'm...

[Miles mimics the motion with his hands, although nothing happens with it because he doesn't actually have his web-shooters. It's actually kind of upsetting, considering how much he misses them but...]

It's actually kinda against secret-identity code to tell anyone but, I trust you... Also, my spider suit has been like, fused with my body for months now, and I need to tell someone about it because now it's basically like my skin and that's weird.

[jumpie]

[ it takes a grandiose amount of effort on shoyo’s part to contain his voice and the jittering under his skin like rolling drums. but, he manages, channeling it through a spreading grin that flashes his teeth and even some of his blue, glowing gums, along with pumping fists at his sides. ]

My friend, [ spider-man he hushes just short of a squeal, and now? now miles deserves his shoulders being shook. ] and you’re trusting me, I—

[ he’s speechless, and what he’s feeling is some ways beyond words. ]

Thank you?! Just— Man, this is— beyond awesome and I’m trying really hard not to jump all over the place—!

[ he really is! his fidgeting is off the charts. ]

You were amazing before that, and now you’re just— woosh!