✧ — peach iced tea.

[boba]

this post is so clean

Comments

[oversea]

[ 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. ]

[transmit]

[ 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… ]

[oversea]

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.

[transmit]

[


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.

[oversea]

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

he sighs. ]

You'd be asleep.

[transmit]

[ 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.

[oversea]

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.

[transmit]

[ they literally could've stayed in bed all day if thorns didn't taunt him. they are stupid all the time. ]

Do you even know how to play?

[oversea]

I'm a fast learner.

[ so the answer to that question is no, he does not. ]

If we had a chess board we could finish our match.

[transmit]

I don't, either. The first few matches don't count.

[ they can probably get a quick rundown from the couple… ]

But how many ongoing competitions did you want to have, anyway? Don't forget the one we made before coming here. I don't want to win against an opponent just because they've been slacking.

[oversea]

It doesn't matter how many, I'll still win.

[ there is no reason for him to be even half as confident about this as he is. but he figures that if he's losing he can simply suck elysium'a d*ck as a distraction to win. ]

[transmit]

[ okay gojo. someone should app him to the fall game so thorns can have the time of his life. ]

Uh huh…

[ they reach the guard! an old man who, by all appearances, isn't doing any guarding at all. he's fast asleep on the job…? but maybe they shouldn't judge considering elysium's currently on thorns' back. he looks just as useless. ]

[oversea]

[ WELL.

thorns is wondering if he really should just skip the rest of this and bring elysium back to their room, but this is a good opportunity to get a better picture of what security is like here. while the chances of them getting attacked is small, it is not zero, and that's enough to make thorns be concerned. ]

Excuse us. Hey.

[ wake up! ]

[transmit]

[ help

the guard just snores… elysium climbs down, crouching to peer at him more closely. he's a breath away from poking the man with his finger when—

a blade flashes up, cool metal kissing the side of his neck. okay. ]

[oversea]

[ wow!

thorns just pulls elysium back instinctively, which probably does not feel great for his butt yet some sacrifices have to be made. ]

You treat guests poorly.

[ he just immediately jumps to criticism because that's his precious pookie. ]

[transmit]

[ the irony of thorns saying this. anyone would be grumpy if their naptime got interrupted…

elysium just sniffles and rubs his ass gingerly. ]

We were sent here to ask if you needed help…?

[ attempts helpfully despite almost dying. except, the guard is already back asleep? okay. they were bound to run into someone difficult eventually. ]

[oversea]

[ OKAY.

thorns stares at the guard, before grabbing elysium and moving him a few feet away. ]

I'm going to try something. Stay here.

[ he would normally take elysium with him, but his reflexes are not where they should be due to his damaged h*le.

but by try something, he means he is just going to try to walk past the guard into his station. ]

[transmit]

[ wow, thorns is about to be so cool. elysium watches! ready to clap with bated breath.



the guard does nothing. he is too tired to deal with rowdy kids, damn. ]

[oversea]

Let's go home. He doesn't need any help.

[ thorns' heartstrings were not tugged by this villager so he is ready to move on to the next side quest. he goes back to where he deposited elysium to pick him up. ]

[transmit]

[ help. thorns has no patience to unlock the hidden and tragic backstories of stoics…

elysium peers over for a moment longer, as though running through a mental list of reasons to stay or go. well, there's no real rush to max out their camaraderie with the locals just yet. so! it's fine. ]

Okay. We got enough done today, anyway. [ did they. ] We can try the farm tomorrow for real?

[oversea]

[ he does not think it's his problem and will make no effort to learn about it on his own. you either spill your tragic backstory to him immediately or else he moves on.

he nods his head. ]

If they say yes we'd probably be doing a lot of walking there, so it is best to rest up.

[transmit]

[ but if you're an extrovert, your tragic backstory doesn't matter i see……

elysium fits himself against thorns' back, arms crossing securely over his front. ]

What do you think about getting a bike? Something that could handle both our weights. It'd make getting around easier, especially if we're planning more of what we're doing today. We could even attach a cart so we don't have to carry things around all the time.

Am I a genius or am I a genius? It could be the first investment we make for our future. Orrrrrr we could start with a rental. Heh.

[ they could be so cute. those anime montages where people are biking along the countryside with reeds and the sunset as their backdrop… ]

[oversea]

[ it would be useful for travel, at least... as long as they're sticking to roads, anyway, it would get tricky once they start traveling through unexplored forests or anything without a path. but thorns supposes there's not as much reason to do that if they aren't actively in hiding. ]

.... That would be nice.

[ it's a domestic enough image that it makes him animal crossing flowers. ]

[transmit]

[ will their mentals be able to take it if they have to abandon their first inanimate child

but they can be an entire field of animal crossing flowers with how this is going. ]

We can start asking around tomorrow, then. There's bound to be something.

[ their hopes and dreams are about to be crushed when they find out generic and mass-produced bicycles are not built to carry two grown men. this is a hard crime against them specifically, but for now, they are naïve and innocent to the cruelties of the world. ]

[oversea]

[ they have abandoned so many children that if they ever get their hands on an actual child they are going to have the ultimate test of how insane they are.

but for now, everything is pure and good. they make it back without much hassle and they can get ready for bed without incident. while the inn rooms aren't gigantic, they are spacious enough to give a cute homey feel... ]

How early do you want to head out tomorrow?