#triggercenter

--The Cafe Riku worked full time in had always been a safe haven for him. Even though the NPCs had been plagued with the heated prejudice against the non-human denizens of Hive, Riku’s manager and the other attendees were usually docile and kind towards him. It was a home away from home, and when Riku couldn’t turn to Iori or Ten for help, certainly he could always rely on his fellow co-workers and staff...

When Riku came to work again that day, following nothing but the usual schedule, he was dutifully setting up for the busy afternoon ahead of them: sweeping off the small stage that had been installed just for him, getting the baked goods out on display... he could do so with such a bright smile on his face, all the while humming a pleasant tune--

“Riku.”

“Y-yes?!”

At the sound of the manager’s voice calling for him, Riku immediately turned on his heel, obedient to head over as he put down the rag he had had in hand on a nearby table he had yet to finish cleaning.

“Did you need me? Ah--”

But Riku was met with a heard of stern gazes in that moment, hinting something far more malicious and unprecedented in a place that was once such a breath of fresh air..

“Sorry, Riku. But we’re through with dealing with outsiders... that includes you.”

Huh...? “What are you...--?”

And an instant, Riku was then leapt at, barely able to process the means to escape as a hand reached out and grabbed a fist-full of his hair. Yanking him back, Riku sharply cried out, flailing whatever limb he could in attempt to free himself, but found no success in doing so. Against several others in his lonesome, his arms were seized and tied behind his back easily with some tough twine, forced down onto his knees as a hard kick met his tender stomach. Already such a blow was enough to knock the wind out of him, heart racing as his lungs panicked and contracted painfully. 

“N-nn! St-stop..! Haah... aah... p-plea... se...! D-don’t do this..!”

It was obvious that whatever had been affecting the rest of the city had finally caught up to the workers in the cafe, and as Riku doubled over in pain, asthma threatening to burn up his chest, he could only look up pleadingly with tear laden eyes as a metal glint entered his vantage point...

Send me “talk about us” and my muse will tell your muse…

What they define their relationship with your muse as:

“Casual acquaintances…though you aren’t unpleasant company on the occasion that we run into one another at a cafe.”

The earthquake had left a lot to be desired, and with the city now in shambles, business was unthinkable at the moment. Most of the surrounding buildings had served as extra collateral damage, too, with half of the shop caved in from the outside. What used to be a stage and seating area was covered in broken brick and mortar and whatever was left of the insides was flayed with broken glass and dust. The relief effort was putting forth a lot of elbow grease and persistence on their part, and of course Riku had been more than eager to lend a hand. He had been travelling back to his apartment when the tremors had hit, suffering minimal damage, luckily. However, a sprained ankle and his agitated asthma weren’t the most convenient baggage to take along on a cleaning job. Coughing here and there to make space in his lungs, Riku had to take plenty of breaks here and there, too, to relax the agitating inflammation in his tendon. 

“Riku! Move some of these broken chairs outside, will ya?”

“I-I’ve got it!”

For the third time, Alcor found himself in Hive City again.

Very little had progressed in the human world since his arrival and subsequent departure, yet some things seemed to have changed in Hive City. How much time had passed? It was curious. Curious that these scientists could toy with a Sword of the absolute so, subject him to their whims as much as any other denizen here. 

Humans were certainly interesting. (Were they human? For once, there were a great many things that Alcor didn’t know.)

His first order of business was to familiarize himself with his surroundings (again). Second, was to see if there were any familiar faces. Ideally, there would be none, and they would all be safe in their world of origin...or as safe as anyone could be in a world half-eaten by the Void and under attack by aliens.

Unfortunately, and fortunately, he quickly found that he wasn’t alone. He saw Miyako a ways away, accompanied by another young man. How strange. Had she made an acquaintance?

At any rate, it was probably best for Miyako to know of Alcor’s presence immediately. He floated out onto the sidewalk in front of the two, an amiable smile on his face.

“Ah, is this on? Hello! You’re probably wondering what’s going on, so allow me to fill you in!” 

---- It was like some sort of mystery/action film, where the protagonist gets kidnapped and dropped off in a scary, yet fantastical, place. It was a city filled with doom and gloom, the palette a dull and dreary grey, concrete and steel filling Riku’s sight and stretching off into the horizon for as far as one’s eyes could see. It would have been more tolerable, too, if he could even focus on his surroundings, but the accumulating pain between his temples was making his trip down the crowded streets miserable. His line of sight was blurring dangerously, threatening to send him reeling to the dusted pavement. I’ve.... really been kidnapped to another world...? This has to be a dream... but why haven’t I woken up yet? I can’t even think, this migraine is killing me... --And what of his idol mates? What about the rest of IDOLiSH 7 and his manager? Were they safe, or had they gotten captured as well? Too many questions were filling his mind, not to mention the fear that was starting to settle in and bury deep into his gut... ”Uu... ughhh..” Leaning against the nearest wall for balance, Riku couldn’t continue walking comfortably as he was. He didn’t want to risk suffering another attack by wearing his frail body thin, but.... what other choice did he have? At this point, it seemed like no one was going to be coming for him soon..

Biting his bottom lip and bearing with the nauseating ailments,  Riku wasn’t sure how long he had been walking or to what point he would have begun hallucinating... --because right before him, standing at the traffic light a few steps past, was, unmistakably, his dearest twin brother...

“Ten-nii...?”