chatime | ✧ — peach iced tea.

[ he nods his head. everyone in the town at the moment is still thankful to them for the hunt they brought in, so it's probably the best time to try to get some favors in.

they're going to be so cute in their honeymoon era... ]

Mm. We just need to be smart and try to get as much made as possible that we think we'll need. You're so dependable.

[ not the praise

he is such a good husband. he nods while mentally patting his own shoulder. ignore the part where they are literally ready to shank people at any given time, they are the cutest honeymooning couple ever. and the most helpful. ]

Right? I'd never work at a host club. I'd never let us get into a position where we'd starve, either.

[ he's still hung up on this ]

Of course not. No one would be able to afford you anyway.

[ OKAY? how much is thorns imagining that elysium is worth?

well, he's biased, so the number is absurdly high in his mind. ]

You're saying that, but not that I'm priceless?

[ when the price is right, huh. ]

I'm not on the market. Period. Not when you exist. At most, they're getting a cardboard cut-out for whatever number you've got in mind.

[ the things people do to cardboard cutouts though ]

[ this is such a dramatic declaration for a situation that would only happen in another au scenario. they're so stupid. ]

I don't trust them with pictures of you.

[ oh. this story has such a happy ending. elysium pulls thorns aside to hug him to his chest. they are stupid but he is happy… he sways them side to side. ]

I don't think anyone else should have pictures of you, either. Let's keep to ourselves and work hard. That's all we need to do.

[ they are so silly...

but they can buy some lumber and nails, and then get recommended a person they can borrow tools from. there is an older gentleman who does a lot of repairs but he hurt his back recently, so he'd easily let them borrow items if they help him out a bit.

it gives them another in.... ]

[ all that's left is for them to be given dilapidated property and asked to restore it. grow some crops while they're at it? this is already going so well for their first stop.

they never make it to the farm because the gentleman asks if they have anything else planned for the day. they dont. he has unfinished projects in his workshop for them to take a look at—if they're feasible, great! if not, it's fine and he's happy to provide instruction.

it's been a while since he's had apprentices… he starts going off into storytime…

he seems happier the less they know. he's lonely and wants the companionship, it seems. elysium just defers the judgement to thorns? does he still have a squishy heart. ]

[ thorns just nods his head along.

he does still have a squishy heart, but the difference is that he is willing to cut its tendrils and leave if anything inconveniences his relationship with elysium. after giving up his ship, he can now really give up anything. ]

We can help out.

[ they need to save up so much money..... ]

[ i wrote a long ass tag but then i forgot to press send before i lost it TEARS UP

once upon a time, elysium would've dragged thorns into helping without even asking for permission. regardless, it turns out to be a greatly beneficial—not only do they make the guy's day as he proceeds to teach them how to repair chairs with bad legs, they score a free lunch and access to his workshop if they really need it. they seem like good kids? they're such quick learners! wow!

he'll have work sorted out for them the next day if they're amenable. until then, there's an older women who works as an apothecary closer to the outskirts of the village he knows has been having trouble sourcing her herbs recently.

with some pork buns to share as an indicator of his trust, elysium just looks visibly happy about this? it's thorns' strikezone!! ]

[ they are really just going door to door to charm everyone in this village, when they plan on banding them eventually. this is the kind of people they are now...

but thorns just nods his head and comments that they will go check that out. once the man is no longer within earshot, thorns turns to elysium. ]

That'll be simple.

[ he sounds so neutral about this but he is thinking of all the ways he can get herbs ]

[ they are innocently side-questing and doing the work no one wants to. at least for them, the quest rewards are worth it.

he elbows thorns teasingly. ]

Don't skim too much off the top.

[ they may have questionable morals and ethics but these are cute senior citizens ]

Hm? I would never do that.

[ ...

he looks over in the direction of where the clothing show was. ]

I should get a new jacket with larger pockets...

[ don't think too hard on how he made that leap in topics. ]

[ thorns could not be more blatant even if he tried. okay. ]

Say you make off like a bandit. What are you going to do with a bunch of grass? The most we'll need is for hunting and emergency.

[ they are no longer fighting people or monsters every other day of their lives? whack. ]

[ he just shakes his head, clearly disappointed that elysium doesn't just immediately understand the significance. sometimes you bond so extremely hard that you forget the love of your life does not share all of your questionable hobbies since he's normally in the room for them now. ]

You'll see.

[ a threat. ]

What if I want to see it now? [ he huffs, crowding into thorns' space with a loop around his shoulders. ] Explain it to me.

[ he is not so much interested in the science itself (even if he very will commit it to memory), but the asmr aspect of it: cute boyfriend lectures on the logic behind his questionable science experiments and need to blow things up a regular basis.

it's his version of storytime? thorns is such a fascinating specimen. ]

[ elysium this is ill behavior

i don't know anything about plants despite playing more than one ak who would know things about them. but thorns will explain how even the most innocent looking one can actually be quite useful, whether in medicine or toxicology, and while locals may know some uses they might also not have the equipment necessary to discover all of them, so they might be sitting on a goldmine without knowing it.

a goldmine to who, exactly? thorns. to thorns... ]

[ by the end of it he is so sparkly-eyed thorns is so sexy when he is passionate about his experiments and explosions and roaming the high se—

…

there is a brief blip in his enthusiasm, almost impossible to miss. but it's glossed over nonetheless when elysium presses a smooch to thorns' cheek. ]

As long as you don't bully the elderly. It's enough that you already have me, isn't it? —That should be her cottage up ahead.

[ except

the apothecary is all too happy to discuss beyond the medicinal properties of various herbs with thorns. this really is just hospitality: the village. ]

[ he notices, but he won't comment on it. this is definitely not the time to be probing, in any case.

thorns listens very attentively, and he even gets some free samples for it. maybe not the exact samples he personally would have picked, but it's better than nothing. the apothecary would love to have the occasional help from them; there are certain ingredients that grow fairly deep in the woods and it's gotten more difficult to collect them with old age.

it's also mentioned that they should also talk to the village guard at some point. ]

[ this would be so annoying if all they cared about was the main story (money), but there's something oddly fun about being sent all over with thorns.

still, they've done a lot of walking, a lot of work, and at the end of the day elysium is only human—a human who's dealt with both a sore everything for the past half day. he catches the edge of thorns' sleeve before positioning himself against thorns' back. ]

Piggyback me.

[ making it this far should be impressive enough… ]

It took you a while.

[ thorns expected him to give up like four stops ago, but here we are. before elysium can decide to be stubborn again because of the comment, thorns will grab hold of him. ]

You're going to bed early.

[

thorns knows him too well because he does try to pull away before thorns catches him. he glowers. ]

No we're not.

[ he has decided that like many other things that would've been better for him to not decide, he does not like the usage of 'you' as it implicitly leaves out thorns.

he bites at his neck. ]

Stop making it sound as if I'm doing things alone.

[ thorns was going to just creepily watch him actually, which he thinks is still an involved activity.

he sighs. ]

You'd be asleep.

[ my icons expired overnight and i am simply too comfortable to get out of bed for my card… reuses the same icon forever

but first his ability to walk, then to provide, and now to stay up? thorns is attacking him everywhere today, what the hell. ]

Why are you making it sound like I had to do anything today? All I am is sore.

[ to the average person they've already done so much though ]

We can play xiangqi. There was a board for it back at the inn.

You're exhausted...

[ elysium should have been comfortable in bed all day, and instead he was forced to use his muscles and work... his poor abused bbbb. who will look after him if not thorns? ]

But fine. I'll win.

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