memearium | after vivarium

[Not long after escaping the warehouse, Clive dives right back into work, but now he has even more to do than ever. On top of continuing where he left off investigating into the matter of his parents' death, he also has to hunt down any leads regarding Zero's whereabouts, the true meaning behind the Nonary Game and why they were chosen as test subjects in the first place, whether or not the quarantined subjects are still alive, and oh right, he also has to write and publish that article detailing his experiences in the warehouse and exposing all the terrible shit that Zero did to them, along with all the other articles he has to pump out on a regular basis in order to keep his job.

Basically he is working pretty much all the time, to the point that the only people he spends time with on a regular basis are coworkers or other people who are helping him with his work. Sometimes he'll even ignore texts, not return missed calls or intentionally ignore his phone altogether simply because he doesn't have the energy or time to dedicate to miscellaneous conversations. Even Hershel and Alfendi will have a hard time trying to see Clive in person - well, maybe Alfendi will have better luck since he's probably doing about the same thing Clive is and they can meet up semi-frequently to compare findings/help each other out, but otherwise yeah. Even if you just go directly to his mansion, he won't even be there most of the time.

TL;DR CLIVE IS PRETTY HARD TO GET A HOLD OF, HAVE FUN TRYING]

[This was the third time Hershel tried finding Clive this week- trips to his mansion proved fruitless, visiting his work didn't pan out. He finally tried Clive's workplace again, and only after pleading with a more sympathetic coworker to help him find the other man was he allowed into Clive's office.

His exasperation was palpable.] There you are, you've been ignoring your phone again. [He came in, a bag of some sort in hand. He placed it on Clive's desk where there was room, pulling out a wrapped up sandwich.] Here, you need to eat.

[He's pretty sure Clive hasn't been properly, so there you go.]

[As Hershel enters the office, he'll see Clive typing away furiously on his computer, his desk almost completely covered with various notes and documents and a mug of coffee sitting near his elbow. He doesn't even notice Hershel's presence at all until he speaks up, which startles him back to reality.]

Oh! Hershel! [Judging by the bags under his eyes, he isn't getting enough sleep either. Whoops. But he laughs sheepishly and picks up the sandwich.] I'm really sorry about that, I've just been so busy... Thank you for the food.

[He didn't even realize how hungry he was until now, so he'll start unwrapping that sandwich. Before he takes a bite out of it, he'll ask:] How's school? Are you keeping your grades up?

Yes, busy is a word for it. Possessed is another. [Have an unimpressed look trying to mask a more worried one, regarding Clive a long moment before sighing softly. He pulls up a chair, sitting opposite of him.] I'm not the only one worried you know, you drive yourself far too hard.

[Clive digging in appeased him somewhat, at least.] It's going well. I was thinking of signing up for a dig this summer, it might be nice to get out of London for a bit.

[Have a totally innocent smile and some dismissive hand waving with his free hand.] There's no need for concern. I'm used to having such a heavy workload - I can handle it just fine.

[And then he munches some more on that sandwich. This is a damn good sandwich, you did good Hershel.] That sounds exciting! It's certainly a good opportunity for you to start getting some field experience, too. Have you decided where you want to go yet?

[He's known you too long for that shit, Clive...] That's what you say- why not take the rest of the day off? You really look like you could use a good rest, I'm sure your house is missing you at this point. [Worth a try, right?]

[Only the best for Mister Dove. There's probably an apple and a cookie (~biscuit~ excuse my american) or something in there too, and Hershel pushes the bag just a little closer to Clive so he'll partake.] No, not yet, I think Professor Schrader's taking a group somewhere in the Mediterranean though, I'd love to see the area. Have you been out of the country much, Clive? You know you should come with me next time I go to Japan to visit the others, it's always a lovely time. [He pauses.] Well, lovely when Heiji's not attracting trouble that is.

One Christmas soon after they all get out, a package arrives at Clive's house. It's a nicely tailored suit, complete with shoes that aren't Mary Janes congratulations Clive. It comes with a note:

Figured you were too busy to get yourself something nice. Take a breather once in a while, it's a good way to get a fresh look at a case.

-Heiji

Clive was unfortunately spending Christmas pretty much alone this year because he had overworked himself into sickness and therefore was unable to go over to Hershel's place for festivities like he usually did every year. He was kind of bummed about that, but his day was brightened up quite a bit when he got a surprise package from Heiji. Touched by the present and the note, Clive grabbed his phone and typed out a text to him right away.

happy christmas, heiji!!! i just got your package! thank you so much! ♥

i didn't even realize christmas was coming up until just a few days ago but i bought you a little something too, you should get it next week hopefully. sorry that it'll be late

That's right, he was so wrapped up in work that he couldn't even keep his fucking holidays straight. But at least he remembered to get a present at all???

Clive's response came right away because Heiji carried his phone with him practically everywhere. It was pretty much required for detectives unless maybe you were one of those old-school Philip Marlowe types but look even Inspector Zenigata knew how to email people so.

hey glad ya got it! hershel told me you were running yourself ragged. i'll keep sending you police updates, but remember to take care of yourself ok?

try not to make spring and cogg worry too much

i made snake come with me to osaka so he'd have to admit how great it is

Here, Clive, have a picture of Heiji and Snake, both in winter coats near a shrine of some sort. Heiji looked as cheerful as always, and Snake... well, he was probably having fun? It was a bit hard to tell.

lol, spring and cogg are taking care of me right now, i'm afraid i got myself sick :( i'm taking the rest of the holiday season off to recover

you two look adorable as always! tell snake i said hi

i really want to go to osaka too, it looks so lovely and i miss you a lot. i'll make time to come down during your summer break ok? don't let me forget

it's lucky they're around to take care of you, get lets of rest!

i'll tell snake. you can tell him yourself when you visit too! i'll make sure you keep your promise! hershel keeps saying he's worried about you how's that fussing

i will, i promise

haha yeah, i was supposed to spend christmas with him like i usually do but i told him i won't be there this year since i'm sick. naturally his fussing has been off the charts since then but i told him i'm in good hands and to relax and enjoy his holiday

apparently jake's there too

it's a shame, i actually kind of wanted to see him again

Kind of.

i'm surprised his mom didn't burst through your door with some soup

wait

did she???

i invited jake over to japan but he said the tickets were expensive

of course they're expensive they're plane tickets

no not yet

i'm sure she has her hands full enough already trying to entertain jake

ikr, i'm amazed that he was even willing to buy a ticket to london

or maybe he never even bought a ticket, maybe he stole the plane and flew it over here himself

or he walked all the way here, sleeping outside and eating grass the whole way

just to see his precious boyfriend without having to part with the other love of his life

God, Clive, you were so terrible. In a way that Heiji liked but still terrible.

i bet there was an article in the paper about how an animal escaped from the zoo

you should make him wear one of those christmas hats

hershel sent me a picture of him sleeping but he wouldn't put a hat on him

i feel cheated!!!

i never heard anything about this picture before

how dare he not send it to me too

i'll make it happen next year, though, don't you worry

Guess who was instantly getting a photo of Jake sleeping. He looked like angry unconscious beef jerky. You're welcome for that image.

sleeping really takes the years off his face

he only looks 65 in this one

[DIFFICULTY HAS NEVER DETERRED AOI BEFORE AND YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT SHE'S GONNA HAVE A HELL OF A TIME TRYING

Because eventually, she gets better—she spends far too long going from hospital to hospital, and no one is sure what to do with her. One day she's up and at 'em, striding across the hospital room to get a donut from the box on the other side; the next she can barely breathe and her family keeps vigil by her bedside and waits for her to die.

But her good days get better and better. Her best days get more frequent. And she starts to stabilize. Her heart can't quite handle the strain of her old athletic routine—the doctors end it there, but she adds yet; she takes things slow, pushes herself a little further each day, and tells everybody who asks and most people who don't that she'll be back in top form in time for the next Olympics. Aoi Asahina has never given up on anything that mattered to her.

And that's why she's spent so long trying to find Clive.

It shouldn't be this difficult to find someone so swarmed upon by the media, and yet. She spends entirely too much time trying to track him down—the gaps in her memory make it difficult; most of the memories Zero took of life before have been brought back by the miracle of modern medicine and therapy, but no matter how hard she tries to bring them back, huge pieces of the nonary game are missing. Gone.

There are too many false starts and wrong numbers, but she keeps trying. She'd be the last to call herself smart or clever or resourceful, but if nothing else in the world, Aoi is tenacious. Two, three, five, ten failures, and she tries again. And she finds a number.

And that, Clive, is why your cell phone has been ringing nonstop with calls from the same number for the past ten minutes.

The first time she left a voicemail—Clive? Clive, I know it's you this time, I, like, triple-checked twice so please call me ba—ugh, no, I'm not waiting!—and she called again, and again, and again, left another message (Clive! Pick up! If you're asleep then you better wake up, I sw—). Again, and again, and I'm at the airport, like, right now, that's how hard I made sure to check, please, please pick up! I'm— voice strained, and she hangs up, and goes right back to calling, again and again and again.]

[Clive is pulling the usual ignore his phone while he gets shit done routine, but his phone is going off so much more frequently than usual that he can't help but finally pry his eyes away from his computer screen to see who the bloody hell keeps calling him. They're all from some number he doesn't recognize, and there's about as many voicemails from that same number as missed calls, too. He doesn't even have time to listen to the first voicemail before his phone starts ringing yet again. And it's the same number calling him, surprise surprise.

He isn't sure how to feel about this. He's never had an unknown number call him so persistently before - not even telemarketers or scammers call him this much. This person likely isn't good news, but he should probably answer anyway, if only so they'll stop blowing up his bloody phone. If it goes in a direction he doesn't like he can always just hang up and block their number.

So Clive finally resolves to push that green call button on his phone's screen, holding it up to his ear and giving the standard phone call greeting, sounding just a little annoyed.]

Hello?

[She doesn't answer right away—there's a moment where she doesn't quite connect the sound of his voice to reality; she's been met with automatons and dull beeping for what's felt like forever—

If she doesn't answer, she's going to lose him. There's a block in her throat she has to force her voice past—] Clive! [And that's all it takes.] I've been trying to call you for so long, that—that had to have been twenty tries, at least, and, and I was almost worried I had the wrong number because you wouldn't pick up and I'm already all the way over here because I was so careful this time, and I—I— [She cuts off short, breathless, chokes again on what might be a sob before she can speak again.]

It's me. [She's afraid that she'll say it, and it won't be right. He won't know. Everything has felt so fleeting, with her memories so broken.] A-Aoi Asahina.

[As soon as he hears that all too familiar voice on the other end of the line, Clive just completely freezes up in shock. It's been so long since he's heard that voice, but he hasn't forgotten it at all, and he never expected that he would hear it again like this. The irritation and wariness he was feeling earlier disappears in an instant - is this even real? Did he pass out at his desk and is dreaming this right now?

No, god no, please don't let this be a dream. He's already had all too many dreams of seeing Aoi again - and Kotetsu, too - he actually pinches himself as hard as he fucking can just to make sure that this is the real world. His nails dig deeply enough into his skin that blood starts seeping out from around them, and all Clive does is just sit there and watch it gradually run down his arm. Nothing's changing. He isn't suddenly jolting awake to a keyboard imprint on his face and the overwhelming disappointment that he was never actually called by a number matching Aoi's at all. Does that mean... this is actually real?

He suddenly realizes that he's been silent for quite a while himself, forcibly snapping himself out of the shock long enough to finally say something.]

A... Aoi... Aoi! Oh my god, it's really you! I can't believe it! I was afraid - so, so afraid that this was just a dream - I've dreamt about this moment for so long, but I-- [He just keeps talking faster and sounding more and more hysterical. He has to stop himself as tears begin streaming down his cheeks and onto some of the papers on his desk. This is just unbelievable. But he has to calm down for at least long enough to ask the important questions.]

Wh-what do you mean you're all the way over here? Where exactly are you?

[And that's all it takes—he says her name and it's him, and he remembers her, and her heart stops swelling up in her throat where it had leaped in those moments of awful silence, and she starts to sob. Finally—finally.

She doubles over where she stands. What a mess she must look like to everyone else, crouched on the ground in the middle of the airport, clutching at her phone because it brings her closer than she can ever remember being to something stable and whole and real, sobbing and laughing and utterly incomprehensible. Her whole body shakes so hard she has to clutch her phone with both hands; if it falls, it's gone, it's lost, it isn't real.]

It's me. It's me. [Even she has to be reminded sometimes. She sniffs, wipes her nose on her sweatshirt sleeve (blue; red sweatshirts like her old one will always feel grungy and filthy no matter how new they are, how many times she washes them).] Ai—airport, I'm at the airport—I found a phone number but not an address except fo-for your newspaper's offices, so I'm at the one right by there... Are you there? Whe-wherever, gimme an address, I brought cab fare—a-and I should probably get outta here, anyway, before someone calls security o-on the hysterical foreign girl. [She tries to laugh and it's a little raspy, a little broken, but it's something.]

*Snake's voice-to-texts are immediate as Snake must have programmed his phone for proper grammar and punctuation.*

I sent you a Christmas present and I hope it reaches you soon. Heiji has absconded with me to Osaka to finally put to rest which city is better, that or Seattle.

after vivarium

Clive Dove

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clive......

don't judge him.....

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fucking hell this got long

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