welcome home

[outofoffice]

Who: Venti, Yuri, Saya, Lumine, and Kantera
What: A moment of respite
When: March 4th
Where: A house at the far edge of Blossomcrown
Warnings: Probably mentions of previous game trauma/violence


[ Venti has always been the type who wanders to the beat of his own drum, dipping in and out of people's lives as easily as the blowing wind. But Tokyo-F . . . changed things, somewhat.

Though his initial instinct had been to sleep under a tree and call it "home," an invitation to live with old friends put a halt to those plans. For starters, it would be protection from the unpredictable weather in the segments. For another, maybe he did get used to having a bed and a room to call "home," in no small part because of the teammates and friends who inhabited it with him. Now that solitary tree feels . . . lonely, in a way it didn't before.

And so here he is, standing at the threshold of a house full of people he loves and trusts, who asked him to stay . . . it makes him feel his age, but not in a bad way, for once. Nor does he feel that nagging urge to disappear into the wind.

Should he catch anyone watching him, the pensive expression dissolves into a smile. ]

Hehe, is this the part where we fight over bedrooms?

Comments

[essenceborn]

My average core temperature is 34.9° Celcius.

[ Which is roughly two degrees cooler than your regular human and might not seem like a lot, but considering hypothermia is anything below 35° Celcius, it's medically significant.

It doesn't bother Nen any though, and hopefully them pressing the side of their face against her collarbone won't both her, either. ]

I have a slow metabolism. We're like opposites.

[sangreine]

Only about blood. I think we're more alike than different.

[ Being a Test Subject doesn't make you anything bad, Nenonen. Just in case they were thinking that in some darker moments. ]

We both like food and trying new things and flowers. What's yours, by the way?

[essenceborn]

[ Ohh Saya... Nen holds her just a little bit tighter for that. ]

My favourite flower...? Or favourite food?

[sangreine]

[ Saya will gladly snuggle them tighter, of course. (Being mindful of her ridiculous strength, no squishings tonight.) ]

I meant the flower charm on your phone, but I'll take all three answers.

[essenceborn]

Oh... [ Nen blinks for a moment, making a thoughtful sound ]

I don't actually know what it is. I should look that up! The library has lots of books on flowers. It has to be in one of them.

[ They've never considered what it might be called until now. Nenonen's just looked at it, thought it was nice, and that was that. It's not a real flower, so like the dandelion they'd gotten from Rikki's, it's secondary to the real thing. ]

But...as for food, peanut butter is definitely my favourite. I like ice cream too, but I always throw up when I eat it. It's sweet!

[ the ice cream. not the other...stuff... ]

[sangreine]

Oh, really? I guess it'll be sort of fun to try and find it. Like a scavenger hunt.

Mine's a red rose. Pretty basic, but Rosen and I have the same one which is nice. And sort of convenient. I don't really believe in fate, but the coincidences are fun. [ That she'd claim someone who also has a red rose flower is interesting, at least. ]

Maybe you should try frozen yogurt, it's a little less sweet. Or homemade ice cream can be as sweet or not sweet as you like.

[essenceborn]

What's a scavenger hunt? Is it for finding flowers?

[ Nen looks up at her from their (very comfy) position, happily soaking up all the warmth. But also? Nen just really likes to learn new things. ]

I have some yogurt at home. Do I just put it in the freezer?

[sangreine]

A scavenger hunt is for finding whatever the hunt is about. So if I gave you a list of flowers and told you to find them around the city, that's a scavenger hunt. If you gave me a list of foods and told me to find a restaurant that serves each one, that's a scavenger hunt.

For frozen yogurt, it's a little more complicated than that. I know they're usually in spinning machines... a store would probably be the place to try it.

[essenceborn]

That sounds like an excellent scavenger hunt.

[ Nen is not hard to please when it comes to flowers, there doesn't even need to be a reward here. The real treasure is the flowers we met along the way!! ]

We should try frozen yogurt then. I will treat you.

[sangreine]

I will take that deal every day of the week. [ Fro-yo with Nenonen! Sounds awesome to her. Especially with toppings. ]

[ Nen gets a little squeeze. ] Lots of fun things to do here, hm?

[essenceborn]

[ A squeeze! Nen makes a small sound at it, but is very obviously enjoying the attention if the way they near-well plaster themself to Saya's side is any indicator. ]

Lots and lots. There are so many things to do I don't know where to start sometimes, so I make schedules.

[sangreine]

[ Nen will also receive hairpets at this point! ]

Oh yeah? What are you doing tomorrow?

[essenceborn]

[ Ohh...those are new. And...nice. Nen leans into it just a little, closing their eyes. ]

I am going to go grocery shopping and look at stars with Yuuto.

[sangreine]

Yeah? That sounds really nice.

[ Hairpets will continue until morale improves or they are asleep! ]

[essenceborn]

[ Sleep never happens before midnight!! But. after that. It won't take long ]

I'm excited. I've never seen the stars before--and don't offer! I am saving my stars for Yuuto.

[sangreine]

[ Never seen the stars before ]

[ Saya's hand stops moving. The smell of roses is everywhere, and she's running, her hand gripping the cool iron of an ornate key. A stone corridor flashes as she runs past sunlit windows, then runs on in the darkness as she leaves the windows behind. And she knows what she's about to see. ]

[ Instead, she shakes her head hard. She's not ready. ]

N-no, I wasn't going to. It sounds like a very nice plan.

[essenceborn]

[ Nen feels the way Saya seems to freeze up. The way she seems to be looking at something far away. The impulse to reach up and touch her face is so powerful that Nen doesn't even try to fight it, fingertips primed to brush her cheek...right as Saya shakes her head. Nen's hand retreats. ]

...Are you okay?

[sangreine]

Yeah. [ Sort of. ] It goes along with not having all my memories. Sometimes I get flashes.

[ The trouble with having some of her memories intact is that it turns the ones that ordinarily wouldn't make sense sharp enough to cut. ]

Sorry if I shook you.

[essenceborn]

No, it's okay.

[ Nen rolls onto their stomach so they can push themself up a bit and look down at Saya, unable to shake the need to give her a quick once-over. Just in case. ]

What did you remember?

[sangreine]

A hallway. Roses.

[ Entirely the truth, and yet it isn't because she knows what's at the end of that corridor. Mainly she hopes the roses will be comforting enough for Nen to drop the subject. ]

[essenceborn]

[ ...Well, if there's one thing Aaya has, it's Nen's number. The roses absolutely distract them. ]

That sounds nice. I like roses.

[sangreine]

[ It was not nice at all, but that's not the roses' fault. In any case, subject change accomplished. ]

I guess so. It's inconvenient to get pieces of memories like this, but I guess it's how things work with me.

Sorry if I jostled you.

[essenceborn]

It's okay. [ Nen's quick to assure her of that. ] Do your memories happen at random like that a lot? Or does something make you think of them...?

[ If it's the latter, maybe they could find some way to help Saya trigger her memories after she loses them (if they can't fix that issue, that is). ]

[sangreine]

Usually something triggers it. It's not very much fun.

[ Her memories are consistently awful. Even the "good" ones, she knows they end badly thanks to the memories she bought in Tokyo-F. ]

[essenceborn]

Oh...

[ Nen lifts their head a little, just enough to be able to gauge where Saya's head is in relation to their hand, which they lift up to place atop Saya's head.

Pat, pat. ]

Feel better?