chatime | ✧ — passionfruit green tea.

[ HE'S DIVORCING THEM?

this is so mean… elysium is once again being gaslit without knowing he's being gaslit. but he does turn up the next afternoon, caravan in tow as he leans his entire body out of the window and waves as la conquista comes into view. ]

Yoohooooooooooo—!

[ at the very least, no amount of weirdness will stop him from missing his friend. ]

[ he doesn't want to freak elysium out. it's fine.

but the very first person to greet him will be

nene. ]

[ divorce era real this is so tragic. wherever elysium is he's probably still wearing thorns' ring. is that just the other thread… help me.

but he will just enthusiastically greet nene back once he hops off!!!!!! ]

Hola, Nene. Were we always this friendly?

[ holds nene up… the goodest saltfin. ]

[ nene cuddles against him happily!! this is definitely way more affectionate than it was before...

thorns approaches, although he pauses a bit away just to watch the interaction. ]

[ he doesn't know what he's done to deserve this level of affection but he will accept it, nuzzling his nose into its own… he is healed.

this is awfully loose behaviour though and he vaguely wonders if thorns is jealous? after what feels like an appropriate amount of love, he holds nene back out to thorns. ]

You should keep a better eye on it. What if someone kidnaps Nene? You're lucky we aren't in Iberia.

[ nene would be made into breakfast so fast. ]

[ thorns will take the baby back. nene settles comfortably in his arms... ]

It's good at taking care of itself, don't worry.

[ ... ]

We can head onto the ship if you have stuff you want to set down.

[ nene… when will you get bigger you are so tiny. he leans forward to wave it a lil goodbye. ]

Yeah. I'll be hanging around for a week before I need to head back. [ he has an entire suitcase with him… but perhaps unsurprisingly, every time he's travelled like this more than half of the pace is taken up by things for thorns that thorns hadn't asked for. ] You got your guys ready to load everything up?

[ he gestures with his thumb to the storage units. his supplies… ]

If you wanted to supervise, we can talk later.

[ nene... the runt of the litter...

he's about to answer when, at that moment, member of his crew show up. for some reason thorns told them to wait like ten minutes to walk after after thorns had left? weird. the ones who know elysium all greet him cheerfully. ]

... Mm. We can catch up then.

[ A RUNT BUT IT SHOULD STILL BE ABLE TO GROW UP BIG AND STRONG!!! rights for nene…

he doesn't think twice about thorns being the only one here, just that it's nice to see his friend again after so long. head empty. as for supervising rhodes' end of it, there are a couple of other rhodes operators around who promptly shoo him off to relax. he always does too much? go, go. ]

I'll make myself comfortable, then! [ turning to everyone else, he gives as an enthusiastic of a wave. ] Yooooo—! Have you guys been behaving since I last visited?

[ they start chatting excitedly, and the topics vary from talking about how they actually reached the sea to if elysium has a girlfriend. why are they talking about this.

thorns ignores this. or mostly ignores this. he is listening to see how elysium answers the last thing. ]

[ dating is scary… it is probably a coincidence that he glances over his shoulder toward thorns. do they make eye contact?

regardless, his answer doesn't change. he isn't seeing anyone as work keeps him busy. why the interest? is romance in the air around the ship? he starts prodding for details. give them to him. ]

[ they do but thorns does that thing where you try to pretend you weren't just staring at someone. but they complain it's the opposite–being away from land more often than not means there's less opportunities to find it. there are hookups, but since the crew is now much smaller than it once was, there are less chances for it to happen...

thorns goes back to directing where the cargo should go. he got the answer he wanted. ]

[ thorns that one crewmember we used as a plot device is going to come back to haunt you

gossip really is universal, though. back on rhodes it's romance gossip, and now it's romance gossip on la conquista. but, they do eventually move out of range as elysium heads toward the guest rooms where the rhodes operators are usually stowed. out of sheer curiosity, he starts asking about thorns. how about their captain? has he shown interest in anyone? ]

thorns is not aware that guy is a problem in this psl so it's an issue for later.

they explain that he started wearing a liberi feather seemingly out of nowhere one day, but he took it off when they arrived here. they look at elysium with some slight confusion, and one says that they actually assumed it came from elysium...

thorns is unaware of any of this is going on......... his job. ]

[ …

elysium goes through a full internal crisis but manages to clarify that he is not the one who gave thorns the feather. somehow, this only makes the rumours worse! he's the only liberi anyone ever sees thorns getting cozy with, so now they're determined to get to the bottom of it… mysterious. no one has a life on this goddamn ship. news of elysium being single also seems to be a topic, apparently.

he waddles back to his room. sits down. he stares at a single spot on the wall until thorns presumably comes to retrieve him. this is the most uncomfortable he's ever been in his life? so much for getting comfortable. he has so many questions. ]

[ thorns is completely unaware of any of this since he didn't hear any part of the conversation after confirming that elysium is single. life is bliss when you are ignorant.

but he does eventually pop in to check on elysium. he was good and greeted the other operators as well, who all commented that was the first time he said hi to them first... wow, what becoming a captain does to a person... ]

Elysium?

Thorns…

[ why was he left alone for so long with his thoughts. he snaps back to attention, looking almost sheepish. ]

I'm starting to think your crew has too much free time.

[ the irony of elysium of all people saying this ]

They need to entertain themselves somehow.

[ he wants to ask what happened, but he figures it's about something he doesn't care about. little does he know, he should care. ]

Come on. Let me show you all the upgrades Weedy made.

[ little do either of them know, those same crew members are already arranging a mixer between every known single operator and the rest of the crew. is the dating pool really that bleak? maybe.

makes you think when they're probably the people they see most often aside from each other. ]

Ah. Can we stop by your room first? I have things for you.

Mmhm.

[ he'll steer them in that direction once elysium gets up and is no longer planting mushrooms in his room.

his room is messy, with paperwork all over his desk, which thorns must obviously be bothered by because he immediately glances in that direction before looking at elysium. ]

[ he's cultivated enough that there should be plenty for everyone when it's checked the next day.

but watching elysium move around the room is probably amusing. wherever he goes, clutter gives way to neat stacks, as if tidiness follows him and is left in his wake. eventually he reaches the walls, now dressed with photo frames: the iberian crew on rhodes, a snapshot from their last anniversary, and three full-sized posters from each successful volume of saga of the captain valourchin. the captain's shown from behind every time, his crew growing larger with each release. it's obvious who it's meant to be, his clothing emblazoned with radial suns and stars.

has thorns been keeping up with them? the best friend is on none of these… ]

I thought, when we got back, that your room might feel better with a few personal touches. Not bad if I say so myself.

[ holdover from purrfect penance being so off-putting to be in alone? maybe… ]

[ the idea of having posters of himself up is so insane to him

but thorns will look each new addition over, amusement growing on his face with each one. ]

I was expecting more sunscreen.

[ he is holding one of the photos... he doesn't even remember when this was taken... ]

[ it's the captain valourchin, hello? there's enough suspension of disbelief to pretend it's not thorns. don't worry… ]

That's coming, that's coming!

[ he lets himself straighten out this last thing before bounding back over to thorns, plopping a ten-pack into his arms. ]

For you.

[ has he even used up the the last of his stock. probably not. but let a guy dream. ]

[ he definitely has not. it's fine.

he will take this... ]

I really should be paying you.

You can pay me back by taking care of yourself. There's nothing more I want than a return on my investment.

[ pats his shoulder. ]

You haven't told me what you think! Doesn't your room look more lived in now?

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