✧ — peach iced tea.

[boba]

this post is so clean

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[oversea]

[ it was the choice all along except that it is such an insane choice and it took many failed attempts for them to finally settle on it instead of daydreaming. is this good? unsure.

but he just kisses the side of his face to make him feel better. ]

Did you manage to sleep well?

[transmit]

[ he only had the best sleep of his life. no big deal. he knows thorns might not share the sentiment after elysium's already caught him drifting off into thought more than once, but from his perspective, there's only up from here. he has the rest of their lives to prove this was the best choice they could've ever made, not knowing there was a life out there where they sailed iberia's seas together.

he answers with a half-nip, half-kiss to thorns' cheek. it carries the same energy as those videos of birds pecking their partners over and over out of sheer affection. ]

Mm. [ DOESN'T ANSWER. ] I'll work hard to get you a bed.

[ just. laughs. because clearly that is the source of thorns' discomfort not the fact that they went to pound town. ]

[oversea]

I think you're the one who needs a bed more than me.

[ is sleeping on the ground good for beauty habits? thorns has no idea but it sounds stupid enough to be an issue.

he sits up, but it's only so that he can stretch and not to get up. ]

[transmit]

[ he also gets up


if only to drape himself over thorns' shoulders. if thorns cannot keep stretching like this it is a skill issue. ]

We have to think about your back…

[oversea]

It'll have to wait until we get a house...

[ well, they could also stay at an inn but it seems like they have chosen to not renter society until they absolutely have to restock. this is their honeymoon in solitude. ]

[transmit]

I'll just have to make sure you stretch lots.

[ those ridiculous couple exercises ]

… Want me to handle cleanup?

[ at least he does not outright ask thorns about his ass this time ]

[oversea]

No, I can help...

[ he does not want to be completely useless. because he definitely will be once they actually start moving... ]

[transmit]

[ wakes up starting another day thinking thorns is the cutest in existence while completely forgetting about the terrors of last night

he will help thorns up, then, supporting him to his feet. ]

I won't say anything if you want to relax for the rest of the day. You're cute.

[ by being cute one can get away with everything a theory confirmed and validated by the two most objective people in the world: them. ]

[oversea]

We should at least travel a little bit...

[ he does not want to stay in the same place two nights since in the small chance they are getting followed it would be bad to let others catch up...

he does lean on elysium though. ]

[transmit]

[ he leans back, ready to settle into basking under the sun… then jolts upright, remembering that he literally just said he'd be productive. ahem, ahem. after tidying up the campsite with some effort, he crouches down and offers his back to thorns. he'll have to hold onto his bag and the flag, but that presumably beats walking. ]

Get on?

[ realistically, they aren't getting that far this way but any bit counts. ]

[oversea]

[ it's fine. as long as they are at a different spot thorns will consider it a win.

granted he might go insane and claim he feels fine now and start walking later, but it's too early for him to feel that useless yet. for now, he climbs into his back. koala time. ]

[transmit]

[ and so continues their travel montage along yan's countryside…

eventually, elysium steers them closer to the roads again now that it's forked off from the main road, wanting a better sense of the people travelling the same direction they're headed. he might carry a map in his head and a catalogue of quick, rough facts, but it still feels better to see it with his own eyes. the foliage keeps them mostly hidden while elysium steals the occasional glance through the gaps. ]

What do you think about hitching another ride? ——Consensually, this time. From what I've seen, all the cars that have passed us by are agricultural.

[oversea]

[ he considers it... then nods. at least in yan people aren't as uptight about aegir and the obvious signs of elysium's oripathy are covered, and those would be the main reasons people might tell them no aside from not wanting to help out a stranger. ]

I think that works. We can see who'll stop for us.

[transmit]

[ tears up in his oripathy and how that makes their honeymoon tour so much harder

but woooo… time to reemerge into civilisation after their quick dip into hermitism. elysium leads them onto a narrow walkway running alongside the road. as he pads along, another thought surfaces. ]

I probably shouldn't call you Thorns or Isidro. [ … ] Should we come up with something new for each other?

[ piece by piece, they really are shedding their old lives. ]

[oversea]

[ they are eventually going to reach a point where elysium will need treatment and unfortunately all of their best connections for that will always be rhodes. but they will cross that bridge when they get to it.

... but he supposes they will need fake names, especially consider operators travel so much. it is not impossible for them to end up at the same place as one or someone who has encountered them. ]

Pick a name for me.

[transmit]

[ i had to think about this for so long. i have absolutely no naming sense so let's just never use them in writing. ]

How about… Helio? As a tribute to my sun.

[oversea]

[ the way i was just thinking of how i just made you suffer with that tag

thorns thinks about it... although he really isn't thinking too hard because he would have accepted any name elysium would have given him unless it was something incredibly stupid. ]

I like it.

[transmit]

[ yeah i should've just taken a page out of ak's book and gone with wheat stalk but unfortunately elysium would put a little more thought into it than that ]

You have to give me one too.

[ makes you suffer right back ]

[oversea]

Rio.

[ funny, that the thing elysium likes to look at the most is the sky and for thorns it's the water. it feels a little symbolic to pass these things off to each other.

but we will never refer to these names in text again unless there is a third person in this thread. ]

[transmit]

[ people who survive in amnesia games with their self-chosen names are the strongest soldiers

and when you're in a competition to match things and your opponent is elythorns it's truly just a lesson in futility. disgusting. he can't help the way his smile widens, letting out a quiet, amused laugh for it. ]

I gotta say. Now it feels like we've put an end to one chapter for real.

[oversea]

It does.

[ ...

he reaches out to cup elysium's cheek with his hand. ]

And you are okay with it?

[ he knows the answer is yes, but he still feels like he needs to ask to be sure. elysium would have never done any of that if it wasn't for thorns. ]

[transmit]

You're not supposed to know where life takes you. And yet, I don't believe anything better could've happened to me—or will. Mi sol. You're everything, my guiding star.

[ he pauses in his steps, leaning his face into thorns' palm. ]

Wherever you go, I'll follow. Of course I am.

[ this level of devotion should truly be alarming but thorns can hear these words whenever he wants, as many times as he wants. his feelings will never fade. ]

[oversea]

[ well.

instead of seeing this as a red flag, he just thinks it is incredibly romantic because his brain is becoming more and more warped every day. while there is a part of thorns that still wants elysium to have his own interests and do his own things, he wants him to be doing those things next to thorns.

parallel play... ]

I keep wondering how I could love you more than I do, and I get surprised every day.

[transmit]

[ it's true. what would've been the point of them doing this if they aren't always together? everything kept getting in their way: work, timing, other people's expectations. they're here now because they want to make each other their lives.

the way if thorns ever decides he wants space he'll spiral wondering if he's tired of him. this is so ill. ]

Instead of wondering, you could just keep loving me more. More, and more, and more. Until there's nothing left to question. I'd be fine with that.

[ says this like he's talking about the weather. genuinely, what's wrong with this if they're both perfectly happy? nothing. ]

[oversea]

[ he opens his mouth to reply, but the sound of another vehicle approaching makes him pause. a potential ride? thorns is going to let elysium handle this because he might piss them off some how, why is he so bad at dealing with people to get them to do stuff.

if he had replied, it would have only been to agree, because as long as elysium remains okay then thorns will find no issues with their current way of living. and everything has been going okay so far. but that's ignoring the fact that all the other times, things were going okay until they very much weren't. ]