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

[mooninthewater]

Oh!! Yes! I guess you and Elsword must’ve talked quite a bit about it, huh? And don’t worry about it — just listen to when Miss Ydalir tells you things next time, alright?

Add and Elsword are really too nice for letting me stay with them, but if you decide you don’t want to live at the inn or something, you’re welcome to my room or the therapy building’s lobby. I’m there most of the time anyway ‘cause that’s where all my games are. Also because I have to be there in case anyone wants a talk session done.

[sesa]

Thank you, Mizuki! Don't think I've arrived and have simply forgotten about our regularly scheduled battles of wit.

[Another headpat. He means playing videogames-]

Is that entire building yours? I must say I am quite impressed.

[mooninthewater]

[ Sigh. Sesa, you're so weird- ]

Um, no? I mean, it belongs to everyone. Heimr just helped me make it on my request.

[sesa]

[Sesa is about to comment on that when Mizuki happens to shift, maybe he brushes his hair behind an ear or something, and in all of his enthusiasm to be talking to Mizuki, he didn't...notice the bandages on that arm in particular. It cuts the conversation pretty much immediately, and without thinking he reaches to gingerly take Mizuki's hand in his own.]

Wh- Mizuki, what happened to you?!

[mooninthewater]

[ Ah. Mizuki doesn't try to pull away, not unless Sesa's gonna try to take the bandages off, anyway, and simply puts his other hand under Sesa's to give it a little squeeze. ]

I'm alright. Mistakes had happened, but they're healing up. But... that said, just be careful if you're ever out in the forest. I don't normally get caught off guard, and yet...

...

Just be safe yourself, Sesa.

[sesa]

[Ironic that this conversation is happening not long before he and Elsword just get fucking lost in the woods for days, don't worry about it.

He won't try to take them off, no, instead just keeping Mizuki's hand in his while he looks at it silently. Mistakes had happened, he says, and Sesa has to wonder what exactly he could mean by that.]

I shall. You have my word.

[...]

As long as I am here, I will do my utmost to look after you. I'm sorry you were hurt, regardless.

[mooninthewater]

Oh, I appreciate the thought, Sesa, but I can take care of myself just fine. I just...

[ He supposes it's not fair to be vague, right? He has to let Sesa know the things that the forest is capable of, otherwise he'll just be surprised if it ever happens to him. ]

There's a moose-centaur-thing in the woods that can control the plants, seemingly. It tried to wall us - Irene and Add were with me - wall us off from one another, and I just panicked a little to try and get back to Add. It ended up nicking me...

[ "Nicking me," he says, as if it didn't puncture an entire ass hole into his palm. He trails his hand up to point at the other set of bandages on his forearm. ]

This one was because it gave us marks that made us feel each other's pain. Mister Elsword he- um... he can't feel emotions very well. The good or the bad. So having to subject him to just the bad feelings suddenly, and they weren't even his own... I wanted to see if I could fix that, so I tried taking one of the marks off.

It didn't work.

[sesa]

[Uhhhhhhhhh

That's, um. A little alarming? Not just Mizuki and the others being aggressed by yet another moose creature, but that Mizuki had ended up hurting himself in the process, quite literally. He exhales on a stressed sound, his tail shifting to loop around Mizuki a little where he's still sat in his lap.]

I should say so. It seems like there is simply no end to the dangers this place is rife with...

[Even if he himself has only experienced them in a more tangential, personal way, he's going to take Mizuki's warning to heart. It sounds like more of a "when" than an "if" he'll be next.]

Are the marks still present now?

[mooninthewater]

No, they disappeared a little while ago. I think the thing in the forest gets bored of redundancy…? It seems to inflict something new on us every handful of weeks? I'm not sure if that pattern means anything, or if that's just how short its attention span is…

[ Sesa's getting a head plopped against his shoulder. He'll pat his tail with one of his tentacles, too. ]

We'll be okay. We'll figure out how to get home, no problem.

[sesa]

Hah, well...if you're confident in our ability, then who am I to allow doubt to seep into my heart.

[Because for all of the faults their home world has, he's proud to be part of an organization fighting to make it a better place to live. That...and he has work that still needs to be done. Secrets that need to be uncovered, and truths that must come to light.]

I am thankful that you are here with me Mizuki. Even though that means we're both forced to face the Horrors together.

[mooninthewater]

Of course! I would hate to know that you were going through this all on your own. There's a sort of sanctuary being with friends, right? Kinda... umm, why the phrase "misery loves company" exists, right?

[sesa]

Exactly. Though I could hardly call myself miserable. I like to think I'm rather lucky, in fact.

[He feels this way Now. Just you wait, Sesa.]

I could very well have shown up here all alone. Can you imagine?

1/3

[mooninthewater]

That's true… I can't really imagine what that'd be like. [ If Mizuki had shown up first, he would've been with We Many regardless. Mizuki's never really on his own — the thought of being alone scares him. ] I imagine it probably feels… suffocating to be somewhere horrible with no one you know, and…

2/3

[mooninthewater]

[ Pause. Mizuki looks startled for a moment, a mix of shock and realization… ]

3/3

[mooninthewater]

[ …and then his eyes almost look like they turned to glass as tears gather along the lids, staring at a nearby wall. ]

…That's probably how Mister Gnosis felt…

[ Oh no… ]

[sesa]

[A




AAA

OH NO-]

W- a-a-a- Mizuki!

[Sesa lifts both of his hands, holding them aloft in front of Mizuki. He shakes his head quickly, his tail once more looping around his waist.]

Now now...everything is alright! Please don't worry, I'm...I'm sure Gnosis is okay. He has us now, that's what matters!

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki sort of just bonks his head against Sesa's chest, sniffing a bit. ]

Is it? Mister Gnosis has been so sad. I-is it because I never said nothin' to him? [ Emotional jellyfish is emotional. ] H-he must hate me.

[sesa]

Mizuki...

[Sesa hesitates, but only for a moment. Then, he reaches up a hand to stroke the back of Mizuki's hair in a way he hopes is soothing.]

He does not hate you. In fact, I am sure he is very thankful to have had you here to keep him company, even if it wasn't right away. That isn't something you could have possibly helped, it isn't your fault.

[mooninthewater]

But... what if I'm not doing enough? How do I know I'm doing the right thing if I don't have someone telling me what to do...??

[sesa]

[That gives Sesa pause. It's...actually a bit hard to answer that, at least off the cuff. He strokes his hair a few more times.]

...when I find myself feeling lost, I ask myself what my older brother would do in the same situation. Then...it's easier. Following in the footsteps of someone more knowledgeable and capable than I am.

[mooninthewater]

…I can't do that. S'why I just prefer the Doctor tell me what to do… 'cause I can't think like they do.

[sesa]

[Sesa pauses once more, as if to more seriously consider Mizuki's words. It isn't...entirely healthy to just rely on someone else to tell you what and how to do things 100% of the time, and while Sesa feels like he shouldn't encourage that...he also doesn't want to confuse or upset Mizuki either.

So instead he sighs, tilting his head a bit.]

Then why don't you listen to what I'm telling you. I'm not as smart as the Doctor, but I like to think I have a bit of otherworldy knowledge. And right now, it's telling me that you shouldn't worry.

Everything is going to be alright. And Gnosis, if he were truly upset with you, would have told you. Right?

[mooninthewater]

…

[ A pause. A sniff. A nod. ]

Okay. And... don't put yourself down like that, Sesa. You're one of the kindest and smartest people I know. [ No one was faster than Sesa on his first, blind playthrough of Portal 2, after all! ]

[sesa]

Heh. Well if you say it, then it must be true, right?

[Pat pat headpat.]

Come now, why don't we find something more fun to do? I still haven't had a chance to play all of the games you have here, yet.