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Who: Ludger Will Kresnik
Broadcast: Open Network
Action: SS Wonderduck
When: December 27th

[Honestly, this guy looks a little dazed. His head and shoulders are still covered in confetti. He is holding the chocolate-flavoured confection dessert cream. But he has found the kitchen, and it's so . . . lacklustre?

A small grunt, and Ludger tucks a letter away into his jacket pocket. He opens various kitchen cabinets. He closes them. He frowns, and his mouth twists a little. He searches through the cooking implements. He gets the food-dispenser to put out some teriyaki soft-solid, samples it, and almost immediately startles back in horror and surprise. The way he moves looks like someone ready to attack the offending object in front of him, except that he realizes he has no swords on his person, so he can't set it on fire.

Well, so much for that. Ludger lets out a long, worn sigh, then picks up his communication device. His eyes widen when he realizes it was on the whole time, but the sight was probably boring anyway. Still, it's time to initiate that dialogue option. There is a serious problem here, and he isn't going to stop feeling lost and dazed until he can fix it.

So he looks into the communication device head-on, expression serious.]

I need to know where to find the ingredients to make tomato soup.

[End transmission.]

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[Speaking of public displays. Ludger's eyes widen. His lips part. He feels a stinging disbelief in his eyes. There is no way, no way, he could ever mistake who she is.]

[Ludger reaches a hand towards the device, as if he would catch what had already fallen. Milla. When he realizes he can't touch her, his hand falls.]

Ah . . .

[The sound is on the edge between shock, pain, and happiness. The weight of everything comes back crashing down, and he wants to catch her hand again.]

[She was hoping for a more normal reaction; the flinching, the sighing, the slight slump of his shoulders as he caved to whatever her demands were now. This, though, this was not what she wanted. It meant he definitely knew everything and there was nothing she could do short of turning off the communicator.

But she can't do that. Even though it hasn't been that long since she saw him, the last time she saw his face wasn't the face she wanted to remember. She didn't want to remember this one, either. She had to make him smile. But...]

So... How did it go?

[There's a sharp inhale, and then Ludger stops breathing because if he exhales it will be a heaving sob. Ludger presses his lips together and shakes his head quickly. He grabs the counter to ground himself and his head turns down.]

How can I come see you?

[She swallows. Maybe seeing each other would be bad. Or maybe they should. She can't let stupid fears take hold of her now. There isn't anything to be afraid of, right?]

There, uhm. We can still go planetside. I could meet you down outside the city in an hour, by the market with all the jewelry. [A beat.] It's cold there, so wear something warm.

[Says miss 'wearing this outfit even in the snow'.]

I'm coming. [And it's gone. He isn't going to wait a second before he dashes off to find her. WHO CARES IF HE GETS RANDOM ENCOUNTERED WITH SURPRISE ATTACKS, HE IS USING THOSE RUNNING SHOES]

[BE CAREFUL OUT THERE IDIOT, GOD.

Well Milla isn't much better. She heads planetside immediately, pacing the snowy area outside the markets she chose. It was just for convenience, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but she starts to worry that maybe he won't be able to find it and she'll miss him. Wouldn't that figure? And it's cold.

She rubs her arms as she walks, going between looking for him and staring down at the ground.]

[He nearly gets lost on the way there. He has to keep asking, and asking, and asking. And he doesn't know if it's the right place, but he looks over heads, trying to find that bright hair, that stance, the flash of black and red and white—]

[Ludger stutters to a stop. His mouth falls open, and he takes one step forward. Every day now, he has walked beside someone who looks like Milla. Every day, he has heard a voice like hears, and seen a stance like hers. So what he recognizes, he knows, isn't her stance, or her voice, or her appearance. Lord Milla Maxwell, his friend, has walked by him ever since he lost the Milla he knew, a living reminder of the loss in all of those ways.

This is the first time since that fall that he has seen his Milla's presence.]

Uhn—

[Ludger takes one slow step, and another. And then he races over, and throws an arm around her, and reaches for her right hand and clasps it in his and doesn't let her go.]

[When she turns and sees him, her heart stops. That's him for sure. That silly, neat shirt and funny hair. She would make fun of him but she can't find her voice. As he comes towards her, she tries to say something, anything.]

Ludg--

[And then he's holding her and she doesn't know what to do. No one's ever held her like this. She's seen it before but to be touched like this? He's so warm. And he missed her. She knew in her last moments he cared but she still thought - here, when she was able to think about it - that maybe the real Milla had taken her rightful place.

Milla puts her free hand on his side and lets her head rest on his shoulder, face flush.]

...Ludger...

[When she let go of his hand, she wasn't supposed to see him or anyone else again. Now she doesn't want to let go at all.]

Milla.

[He presses his face into her shoulder and breathes in. He can't let go yet. He is trying to make her real again. He is not reconciled with the losses he has suffered, but he had come to cope with Milla's death, and here, with everything he still stands to lose . . .

He just needs to hold her a little longer, until he can believe he has her back.]

Ludger, I, uhm...

[She tries to think of something to say back but she still can't find any good words. Should she apologise? She owes him that much. If Elle was here, she'd deserve at least a kick in the shin.]

I didn't mean to hurt you. Or Elle, either. I... There wasn't a choice.

[There was a choice. And he failed it. He didn't make her keep hold.

He squeezes her hand and keeps her close.]

Don't let go.

[She shuts her eyes. At this rate she's going to cry. The last thing she wants is for him to see that.]

...I didn't want to. But I thought it would save everyone. I thought... you and Elle would be safe finally.

I know.

[There is no safety for Elle. Not now. Not unless—but he won't tell her that yet.

He pulls back, just enough so he can look at her. So he can smile. And he lifts her hand up, locked in his.]

We won't let go again.

[Holding his hand like this, she remembers the words she spoke to him before the fall. How embarrassing. But she doesn't think much about it, just smiling a little.]

Nice words, but you're on a different ship, idiot.

[Otherwise she really is tempted to just hold his hand like this for a long while.]

[Oh. His face falls. He is, isn't he? He doesn't know if there is a way to fix that.]

[She sighs.] Why don't you just come to my ship? How am I supposed to show off my cooking if you aren't there?

[He smiles at that. He definitely wants to eat her cooking. But his chin lifts and his head tilts. How is he going to go to her ship?]

Well... Why not just send a message to the people in charge? Oooh I know! Tell them it's for maximum ratings drama! We're much better together than apart!

[he takes this the wrong way and]

T-together!?

[YOU KNOW.

IN WAYS]

[he's blushing a bit also he hasn't let go of her. yes hetero.]

[Oh.

...oh.

OH.

Shit.

No.

Yes?!

NO.

Oh god.]

I uhm--! Th-That isn't....

[But she did sort of confess with her dying breath. She just didn't want any regrets. But not she has so many. All the regrets.]

W-Well you... you never responded!

[Milla you were falling into an abyss.]

[Ludger doesn't say anything for a little bit. The flush dies down, but it's still there. When he does speak, his voice is very quiet.]

I didn't let go.

[And he still hasn't.]

[Her heart is pounding so loudly in her ears that she barely hears him. But she doesn't need to hear it loudly to feel the warmth from his hand still.]

...I know. I was the one who did, because I knew you wouldn't. [Her eyes start to feel warm, too, and she knows that little sting means the beginning of tears. Great. Just how she wanted this to go, with her the weeping one.] I knew... you would hold on every time.

I will. [A shift in tense: a shift from a lost pass to a present moment. (And isn't easier to hold on to this hand, this moment, than think about the future with all those hands that might fall away?) He leans forward, and presses a kiss to her forehead.]

[She blushes, feeling the heat spread over her face. It's weird to have Ludger taking charge of things like this. And she still has tears edging her eyes and isn't the best way to get over her fears to just go for it? To be her usual self?

Milla shifts, tipping her head up and catching his lips in a quick kiss.]

C-Can't let you win that easily.

[Oh. Oh no.

Oh no.]

[He is just going to press his forehead to hers as he goes bright red.]

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