duplicity ic inbox - FIRST STAY

[perfectible]

[ text | video | voice ]

Comments

audio; handle: jughead

[novelizes]

Betty, what the fuck was that?

audio;

[perfectible]

[ betty's just been in her apartment, going over a map of the city, deciding which places she wants to see when she gets this message.]

Jughead? What are you talking about? Is something wrong? [ she switches it to video; and he'll see that she's wearing something completely different: a sweater with jeans, her hair is pulled back in a neat ponytail, her makeup is soft and sweet unlike the dark hues she'd been rocking in the feed and there's no way she could have gotten changed that quickly.]

( 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞: 𝐨.𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 )

[caputium]

[ maybe it's because she reminds him of himself or because he misses thea but either way, he's checking in. ]

How's your short story coming along?

[perfectible]

[ his drama senses must have been tingling because betty is in major turmoil at the moment.]

I put it on hold, indefinitely.

misfire;

[occultatum]

I can't think of an alternative for goat's blood in a basic conjuring, and the butcher here is really not having any of it.

delightfulllll (also nick needs to collect the set if ya know what i mean)

[perfectible]

What?

mistext; un: godric

[olderthanyourjesus]

[Godric does not use the device all that often, so what gets sent out is a message to someone here who he is close to.]

Do not be sad for me. I have lived a very long and very tiring life. I met my death by my own hand, standing atop a roof to greet a beautiful sunrise. Some are not so lucky, and when one of my kind dies, it is usually grim.

I am not sorry for meeting the sun, so please do not be sorry for me.

[perfectible]

I don't understand.

( video ) — hacked, forward-dated to later in the week

[caputium]

[ the view's tilted up from the floor, propped against a random dumbbell. it isn't an accidental stream, more like he'd answered a video call in the middle of something and just kept going. the lens catches a rack of weights, some standard exercise equipment ( not nearly as nice as the spread in the up ) and at first, oliver's only visible from the thighs down. if betty has been to the arena, she might recognize it.

he drops two rungs down on the ( four-rung ) pull-up ladder and rolls his eyes from a distance. exasperated, a little flushed from the repetitive motion of lifting and lowering his body weight, he snaps: ] Does it look like I'm getting into trouble?

[ he's wearing sweatpants but his torso is bare, revealing a few tattoos and a splattering of scars. ]

[perfectible]

[ she watches in surprise and heck, some appreciation because he's got a good body and he's apparently strong as hell. even though she'd seen him in person, it still surprises her to see that display of athleticism. ]


...No. It looks like you've got super strength or something. [ her mouth twists teasingly.] Or you're showing off.

audio;

[sensitivejock]

Hey. Are you free?

audio;

[perfectible]

Yeah, what's up, Arch?

ACTION...??

[bragnificent]

[ Reggie may not have much "reason" these days to need to leave to house -- no school, no job, living in an overall rather hostile environment -- but he's not the type of person to lean on that as an excuse to just lounge around inside all day, every day. He gets restless, and especially on days when Nick is in and out for most of the day (no pun intended), he gets bored. There's still not much to do if he goes out, barely anywhere he can actually go, but he finds ways to keep busy. With company or without.

He shrugs his brown leather jacket on as he walks up the hallway back to Nick's place, but then stops when he notices a very familiar face walking away from the apartment in Reggie's direction. Is that... ]

Betty? [ Wait. Crap. Should he have said anything? He hasn't told her he lives here yet. ] Uh... what's going on?

ACTION!!

[perfectible]

[ This was exactly what Betty wanted to avoid as soon as she found out he was contracted to Nick, living with him too. It wasn't that she was... ashamed of being seen with Nick. No, he was a good guy who'd done a lot to help her out. But she didn't really want to run into Reggie, specifically, post-hookup.

It was about filling her quota, sure. But that didn't make her feel less sad that Jughead was gone. And Reggie was that flavor of awkward that he might make a bigger deal of it than it is, whether he teases her or uses it as ammo to jab at Jughead later.

So when she's just short of running into him on her way to the elevator, she blinks, color rising in her cheeks. It's not completely obvious she just had sex but she's nowhere as polished as she'd been when she first arrived. Her hair is more tousled, her clothes rumpled and her lips are still a bit kiss-swollen. ]

Reggie! [ she says his name in the most guilty way possible and she mentally berates herself.] I was just... [ she points back towards the apartment] Nick invited me over to hang out.

[duplicitymods]

❝

DUPLICITY CITATION Violation: Sexual acts with another Dominant. Slander of city leaders. Fine: Three days in People Zoo or three hours of live sexual content broadcasting. Payments must be received within 24 hours, or debts will be handed over to the Remittance Facility.

❞

TEXT.

[bragnificent]

betty
hey
congrats on getting ur boo back 🎉

[ He's not actually that invested, because they're not that close and Reggie's also just not that kind of guy, but given what all Betty's agreed to help him out with, he figures he can at least make an effort.

And anyway, that's not why he's texting. ]

ok so like
ur business is ur business & I'm obviously staying out of it
but I just wanted to check w/ u first in case theres anything Im not supposed to say to him
yknow
besides the obvious

[perfectible]

Thank you for checking in. I'm going to tell Jug everything... I just need to ease him into things. He doesn't remember being here at all.

▶ 13th, evening.

[bragnificent]

[ So, this could be super uncomfortable considering how their last conversation went, but right now, Reggie is too on edge to care-- or even be thinking about that, honestly. ]

hey betty uh
so random question but have u seen nick around?
or herd from him? [ ... ] anything?

[perfectible]

No. I haven't spoken to him in a while.
Is he missing?

backdated to 7/22

[undefinable]

There’s someone I want you to meet. She doesn’t know anyone here and who better to showcase Riverdale’s charms than my very best girl?

[perfectible]

You're a much better hostess, V. But I'm happy to meet anyone you want to introduce me to. Everyone deserves to have friends, especially here.

TEXT.

[bragnificent]

[ They may not be close, but it's becoming pretty clear that Reggie is not going to be able to keep avoiding dealing with the whole "Veronica" situation forever (not her being here, he is happy to see her, but rather what her being here stands to lead to), and in fact he's put it off so long there may be no way to still get ahead of it at this point. But--

He has to figure something out, because of Nick, and breaking it to Archie, and even navigating things with Ronnie herself, but he has no one else he can talk to about this except... well, Betty. Maybe. Assuming she won't be too mad about the whole "hitting Jughead" to want to listen, but he'll apologize (to her, anyway) if he has to.

(Reggie doesn't know she already knows something, of course.) ]

hey betty can i talk to u about sumthing

Re: TEXT.

[perfectible]

[ Funny enough, Nick is the one who broke Vonnie news to Betty. And yes, she's more than a little annoyed with Reggie for punching her boyfriend but... her boyfriend punched his first. ]

Yes, what is it?

[occultatum]

Have you met Sabrina yet?

[perfectible]

Sabrina? As in your Sabrina from home?

un: gwenzelle

[gwenzelle]

hello! if you're receiving this text, it means you've been cordially invited to peter parker's surprise birthday party. as always, this city has the shittiest timing on the planet, so things were still a little rough around his actual birthday. he thinks i'm going to let his "lowkey 18th birthday" plan slide. hah! oh, no no.

i'd like to get a group together to meet at scott's new arcade - time heisters - around 7:30pm on 8/29. i'll bring peter around 8, and we can all game and sing some karaoke and be generally awesome to our favorite nerd. bring a present or just bring yourself, either way, if you're getting this i'm sure he'll be happy just to see you there.

and remember, it's a SURPRISE. which is usually asking for trouble, but whatever. i want to try it.

any questions? ask away. thank you!!

text • un: parkerp

[awesomeee]

Hey!
I just wanted to say thanks again for coming to my party
It was awesome to see you and the journal was really thoughtful

I know it's been a while, so
If you ever wanna catch up any time, that'd be cool?

[perfectible]

I hope you had a great time.
And I'm glad you liked the journal, I always like having a place to write down my ideas and thoughts.

I'd like that, actually.

( text | un: cherylbombshell )

[atbombshell]

Cousin, can we talk?

text »

[perfectible]

Cheryl?

un: parkerp • text • 29/09

[awesomeee]

Hey!
This is Peter
Parker
It's also a group text, so sorry if it sounds kind of impersonal
I just wanna reach out to as many people as I can

Anyway

Things are getting pretty bad and I have Gwen's place to myself
It's really big and there's loads of beds, so if anyone wants to come stay here for a while (or even just rest up here for a while) then you're welcome here
I've got supplies here, food, first aid stuff
I just want people to be safe

( He links the address here. )

I'm usually around in the day
I'll be out doing supply runs and stuff at night, so just hang around if I'm not home and there's no one to let you in

And if you don't wanna come stay but you end up feeling like you might be in trouble, just text me if you can
This is probably gonna sound weird, but just trust me
I know someone who can help

( Alexa play "Theme" (from Spider-Man) ... )

text »

[perfectible]

Please be careful.

text;

[burger_king]

[ This is something he should've done days ago, just like he should've told Betty about Lucy straight away, just like he should've been more on top of things than he has been. It's his fault. He knows that, is perhaps the only thing he knows after the last couple of days. He's no less tired than he was in the Gray Room but that's okay.

Waiting comes with the disadvantage of not knowing how to breach this growing radio silence. He makes a few false starts, typing and deleting, feeling like he has so much to say but lacks the words to say it. That doesn't usually happen.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

I miss you. ]

hey

text;

[perfectible]

[ The radio silence is maddening, especially in light of what's happening in the city and not knowing if he's safe or not. But it's like before, the last time he was here and needed space to think, she has to give him the time. And each day drags on despite her attempts at distracting herself.

And when he reaches out, she feels like she might crumble with relief, the weight of worrying about him, about them has been crushing her. ]


Are you safe?

text; un: b.blake (checking on the kids)

[skaikrudad]

Hey, keeping warm in this weather?

oh hai dad

[perfectible]

[ not really ] Trying to. Are you guys okay?