Inbox for sticksandbones

[sesa]

I will make this pretty later

(Spoilers I won't, I always say I will but I won't-)

===

INVENTORY:

-Grenade Launcher with 3 ammo stacks (refreshes monthly)

-Nondescript gaming console (it's an offbrand Nintendo Switch)

-Some glowing star rocks from an investigation with Elsword in the Deep Woods

-A little knitted dragon from Elsword that I forgot to link and am too lazy to find now

-1 Kotatsu that he keeps in his room at the lab. It's red with light beige birds on it

-His toolbox from Rhodes

-A workshop that connects to Gnosis' lab via a breezeway. He lives there with Passenger now

-3 erythrites, used to make Passenger a pair of earrings

Comments

[sesa]

Mm...not in depth. Though I did see a bit of it for myself first hand when visiting the space in his heart.

[He touches his chest with his claws as he says that.]

So it did put things in a different perspective, for me. Though...do you think I should try to talk to him about it more? Do you think it would be helpful?

[mooninthewater]

I think that if it's something that bothers you, then it absolutely is worth talking about. If you keep everything to yourself, then that's a sure fire way of making sure your relationship with Passenger tanks fast. I can't say for sure if it'll help him or not, but from the sounds of it, it'll help you.

[ He's worried about his friend!! And just wants him to be happy. :( ]

[sesa]

Mmm. I certainly wouldn't want it to tank before it's hardly started.

[Sesa sighs, letting his arms fall back to his sides again.]

I thank you for your advice, Mizuki. I will try to be more open with him about these things in the future. Though to tell you the truth, I feel that he may already know...and it is possible I am worrying about things that may never actually come to pass.

It is hard, I suppose. He is not exactly...someone from a visual novel that I can get a good grade with, you know?

[mooninthewater]

…While it's true that your options aren't going to show up in a convenient manner and not a finite amount, I think that saying it's "a good grade" is a bit insulting to the writers who made those characters. The ones without any love put into them are definitely one-dimensional, but there's so many that hold complex characters, and learning how your own actions affect them all differently helps you in real social interactions.

For example, Haruka and Kanade from silentXnightmare both have mirroring options, but their characters are so different from one another that the "correct" options are never the same. Like the one scene where they leave the room and Player Character has a chance to snoop after they're told not to. Haruka values loyalty and will get mad if you do, but Kanade values free will and finds it charming. And this is just a very mild example, considering the routes get way more complex as you go. Like how free will has the price of Kanade's route having waaay more chances to get bad endings, and Haruka's loyalty quests being absolutely heart wrenching if you get the bad endings, and…

…Ehem, anyway, I'm not saying treat him totally like someone that has options occasionally, but Passenger is complex, but he'll also have things he values and differing ways of how he reacts to things. There's not really ever going to be a single "right" way to handle it. To handle people. So it's important to do the things that are important to you, and if things don't go right, maybe the match just isn't right.

[sesa]

[...damn Mizuki you really know your otomes don't you.]

No, I...I think I understand what you are saying, Mizuki.

[Even moreso when put into the context of a videogame.]

I cannot expect perfection. I cannot expect anything specific, for that would only be setting myself up for failure. And trying to figure out the "right" way to do it is just going to make things needlessly complicated.

[He sighs, his tail curling around his side.]

...perhaps at the root of it all, I am merely overthinking things.

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki just hyper analyzes every character from any otome or anime or video game or- ]

Understandable. One usually does so when thinking about how to handle a relationship. Don't be too hard on yourself, though. I believe in you, 100%! And, at the end of the day, I just want my friend to be happy.

And I'll, like, pick a fight with Mister Passenger if he makes you cry, too! [ He's only half-joking ]

[sesa]

[Sesa laughs, a deep chuckle in his chest that echoes through the forest around them.]

Haha...thank you, my friend. Though I hope there won't be any need for fighting.

[A fight between Mizuki and Passenger sounds. Scary. Knowing what they both can do...]

Coming on this trip with you is a good distraction from my troubles, if nothing else. I recall the trip feeling like it only took Elsword and I a few hours by foot, even though we were really gone for several days.

april before the doors break lmao // stupid move-in thread

[forwander]

[Cool: Having a workshop with an attached studio apartment type of room for them to live in.
Cool: Moving out of the lab to let Gnosis have his own space with Enciodes and not having to hear those two arguing every morning and fucking every evening.
Not Cool: Having to move out their existing furniture into the new space, because Heimr didn't provide them with another bed or wardrobe because like, duh, you guys already own this.
Double Not Cool: The fact that the mattress is stuck on the doorframe somehow now that they're trying to get it across the damn breezeway and into the workshop and therefore into their home.

Married life must be like this. "you're not married Elliot" he's married Sesa gave him a ring.]

Hold on. It's snagged again.

[Mattresses are large, rectangular, and have to be angled to get through doorways. Elliot realises a split second too late that they should've just gone around the breezeway and to the larger workshop doors where actual large items that don't fit through doorways can exit and enter without this issue. Unfortunately...

The top corner is wedged against the doorway, and Elliot is desperately trying not to let the mattress drag on the ground. Even if this workshop was just built, the floors are likely dirty in some capacity.]

Can you reach the corner and pull it?

[sesa]

[Having someone magically build you a home is easy. Actually moving in is the hard part.

Granted, Sesa isn't used to having this many Things he calls his own that would warrant all of this moving to begin with. When he came to Rhodes, they already had a room set up for him. No need to worry about the bed when you're sleeping on something provided for you. Now, here he and Passenger are, getting their claws dirty for the sake of having somewhere to rest their heads.

Just wait until he realizes too late they're going to have to take the futon apart to get it inside.]

Again? Give me a moment...

[He grumbles from where he's hidden on the other side of the mattress, bending over so he can carefully grab for the corner edge and pull on it to try and shimmy it through where it's stuck against the doorframe.]

How is that? Is it going through?

[forwander]

[There's a grunt as Elliot pushes the corner of the mattress on his side, and then it slides through easily! Easily enough, and he goes to say yes it's going through wonderful job or something to that effect when, after they start to pull it, the last two corners decide it's their turn to get stuck. You know those plastic bits on the corners of mattresses to protect them? That's what gets snagged, on the bottom this time.

Elliot sighs and starts pushing that, too, having to ram his full weight in it to get it to go anywhere...

...which, when it moves, results in him falling forward and catching himself on the edge of the mattress as it slides into the workshop proper.

So moving in is going great.]

[sesa]

[BABE-]

Ah-! Are you alright...?

[As the mattress falls forward, Sesa tries to catch it a bit so Elliot isn't fully falling flat on his face. It's only so successful, but hey, at least he tried.

It's gonna feel real silly when they circle back around and realize they could have just pushed it through the garage side.]

[mooninthewater]

I’m sure it won’t come to that, of course. I just also don’t take too kindly to people who hurt my friends is all.

And I do recall that. I was very worried about you two. Fortunately, people know where we’re going this time. It’s just a shame we can’t get to the lighthouse in the distance without traversing the fog. I really want to know what’s out there.

[forwander]

I'm alright. Just a minor stumble.

[He'll pick himself up easily, and to the bedroom they can shuffle, to put this against the wall until they can re-build the frame later. They've deconstructed most things by this point for obvious reasons.

Luckily! The mattress doesn't get wedged on the bedroom door by some miracle, and it's a smooth glide onto the floor there, where they can leave it against the wall.

Now... for everything the fuck else... and as Elliot walks back into the main workshop, he looks at the garage doors and just—]

Sesa, we have garage doors.

[ooooooooooooooooooooooh he feels so stupid suddenly.]

[sesa]

As do I. There is much left for us to discover, though perhaps if we can make it as far as the sea, we might be able to find a route that leads us closer to the lighthouse's cliffside? It's worth checking out, if nothing else.

[You know, before they potentially get eaten by a sea serpent.]

[sesa]

[.................]

So it would seem.

[Sesa deflates visibly, looking more than a little shocked by the revelation. They didn't...they didn't have to...

Ah...]

Look at it this way. Perhaps we can just take this as a fateful bonding exercise...?

[mooninthewater]

Mmh, you think? I’m not too worried about it right now, I think. I mean, it’s not entirely safe at the moment, and if we’re lucky, maybe the next time the fog expands, it’ll be fine? I guess that won’t be fore some time…

[ Mizuki adjusts the box a bit. ] And if we’re going to traverse the fog wall anyway, that’s just convince me to go out to get close to the serpent for its gift anyway.

[sesa]

You make a good point. The fog seems to pull out and in relatively frequently, so perhaps the name of the game will be patience. We'll see once we get there what we have to work with.

[Sesa hums, thoughtfully.]

I hope the serpent likes it. I was not able to gauge much of its personality before, since it was asleep at the time.

[mooninthewater]

Mmh, I've noticed that the fog seems to pull back whenever we go into one of the Forest's games. I had the theory that maybe it expends a lot of energy putting them together for us, and it's probably why we have more stuff to explore after. It's just a theory... but I can't imagine why else it'd be like that.

And, maybe. If it doesn't, I'm sure it still doesn't hurt to try. But if it's anything like the 'gods' on Terra, I'm sure it'll at least appreciate the sentiment...

[forwander]

I'm choosing to take it more as what would have happened if we owned an actual home together, or decided to move in at the Landship.

[Flirts with you flirts with you

At least when they go back to the rest of it, they can bring it through the garage. The studio itself is still, you know, a moderate problem — as studio apartments/rooms off to the side tend to be — but still! One less doorway.]

Come. Let us grab the kotatsu. I believe that's the next largest, other than the dressers.

[sesa]

That's a reasonable theory. We should focus our exploration efforts during these times then, if possible. Who knows what we might find, mm?

[Hopefully nothing that wants to eat them.]

Surely! Who doesn't like gifts, after all? And it may perceive it as an offering, if nothing else.

[They shouldn't be far now, so they won't have long to wonder.]

[sesa]

Haha, I mean...if the Doctor allowed it...

[At this point, he doubts he'd say no. He would have...a LOT of questions to field from his comrades, he is sure, but that's a problem for future Sesa. Elliot, meanwhile, likely does not give a fuck.

But anyway, kotatsu time. This is going to be where it lives from now on, so getting it now will save them a lot of trouble later. He'll let Elliot lead the way...which gives him a moment to think. He did, after all, go through the space before inviting Elliot to help him move furniture. And there is a letter that he uncovered that's currently folded and kept safely in his toolbox. It sits there, though it's constantly on his mind. Even now.]

Mm...Elliot? Do you mind if I ask you something while we make our way?

[forwander]

[They're gonna have to take apart the kotatsu — the table parts of it — to get it out the lab door, and into the studio. Hm. Elliot will sit down and begin taking it apart as soon as they're in the room, careful and meticulous.]

Ask away.

[He can answer while he does his silly little bird tasks.]

[sesa]

[Sesa will help! He'll just be...considerably more distracted while he does so, sitting cross legged on the floor not far away.]

Would...would you happen to recall sending me any sort of letters during our time here in the Grove?

[forwander]

In our past lives? Unfortunately, I lack memories of that time, though it would be nice to have them. I'd like to see how we interacted, after all.

[Good lord man.]

Why do you ask?

[sesa]

[HAHA, HA, WHY INDEED...]

Well. When I received this workshop, I went through the rooms and included furniture before we began moving in our things. And I found...a letter. It was addressed to me, from you.

[He's looking down at his claws now, toying with some part of the kotatsu instead of actually taking more of it apart.]

And I wasn't sure how much you might have remembered from something like that...if anything. Given its contents.