chatime | ✧ — peach iced tea.

[ fucking help.

they are out of the village. thorns slowly turns to look at elysium. ]

I'm surprised you didn't say something.

No one else was saying anything…

[ the argument is so weak he doesn't even sound convinced of it himself.

his eyes move from thorns to docybara and back again…… hi… ]

... It's back to just us now.

[ well. and their burdenbeast.

but it is odd to think they got used to living in a small community so easily, and now they're leaving. will they just repeat this again at the next place? ]

It's always just been us.

[ figuratively, yes. but elysium feels it in the literal sense too: at any moment, he could have run. the village was convenience, nothing more. ]

Does it bother you?

How could it?

[ he's already chosen to throw away any goal that took him away from elysium, and that includes other people. as attached as they get to their animals, they do choose to leave them as well if it might get in the way.

thorns wasn't very social to begin with, so how could he complain? ]

I only need you.

Right. What else would I need? Everything else gets our way.

[ they have made declarations like this countless times already, but there's something about repetition that makes it echo back with more weight each and every time. it's hardly an exaggeration anymore, but a truth that's felt bone deep. ]

We just need to work a little harder. [ … ] Then we can stop having to pick and choosr our battles. How far out did you want to travel today?

[ like, imagine if thorns could manifest things with his corazonix. they literally could build an entire world for themselves and live their hermitism to the fullest!!! he could actually be god…

thinks about how this is just priestess and fucking dies ]

[ as long as only normal things happen to them the chances of them also becoming more normal again increases. which means nothing bad can ever happen to them ever again, which is definitely doable. ]

Far enough that anyone from the town wouldn't be able to catch up.

[ not that he think they would, but it's always best to be safe. ]

[ hmmm.

he looks at thorns. essentially jiiiiiiis him. ]

Who'd want to catch up to us? Did you leave behind a secret admirer?

Wouldn't you be the one with the admirer? You're the handsome one.

[ he kisses his cheek. his bias is so strong. ]

Maybe. But I've made sure to establish how unattainable I am.

[ … ]

You didn't answer the question. I see.

You're overthinking it. I just don't want complications.

[ ...

he points ahead. ]

Let's find somewhere with nice coverage when we do stop.

[ he bites at thorns indicating he's both let it go and not at all. he's going to start staring people down wherever they end up next?

just kidding. maybe. ]

We'll be a lot more comfortable on the road this time around.

[ he motions to the camping supplies they've spent months collecting and making by hand, and then spreads his arms out wide. ]

And it's peaceful enough in this area. What do you think about a night under the stars for once?

Like how we used to?

[ it's really hasn't been that long in the grand scheme of things since they've been going on missions with rhodes, but it still feels like another lifetime ago. granted, in some cases it genuinely is another lifetime. ]

We can. Hopefully you haven't gotten soft on me.

It'll be better than how we used to. We're not on any mission, for one. And for two—we don't have to worry about any disruptions! Probably.

[ peace on terra is a rare thing—ne-er-do-wells and natural disasters aside, elysium is determined to make the most of whatever quiet they're given. ever since the loops began, it's hard to say whether there's been any real peace at all, however brief; every moment had felt borrowed, fragile, and ready to collapse the second he let his guard down.

maybe he really has gotten soft. ]

But what's that supposed to mean? If anyone's gotten soft, it's you. [ he tickles a finger into thorns' palm. ] I don't think it's a bad thing.

Huh? Have I?

[ he asks this just to be difficult, but he can't actually deny it being true. but he has started changing a bit ever becoming a pirate since he was forced into a position he used to purposely avoid being in.

but what is he like now, when he no longer has that? he only has elysium's eyes to see himself out of now, and those eyes are clouded by a devotion stronger than anything. ]

What do you like about it?

You've always been soft. Heheh. Saying you've gotten softer would've been more accurate, my bad.

[ a laugh, and then he flattens his palm against thorns' again to swing their arms wide. ]

Regardless! It's a secret.

[ read: he does not want to trigger thorns' instinctive desire to pvp while they are being cute. ]

You'll have to tell me later...

[ thorns is curious...

but he also thinks elysium is cute enough to let this go for now. they can travel in relative peace, occasionally having to stop as docybara decides it's time to eat grass. this really is like traveling with a child. ]

Only if you tell me a secret in exchange. I need you to keep being cute.

[ —while elysium is a brat.

but the upside to travelling with their child who is technically not a child is that elysium cottons on real quick to what these small breaks are actually good for. one would say—yes, for what breaks say they are on the tin, but no… what elysium likes them for is that it gives them designated times to flirt.

and make out…

it's probably deeply frustrating at the same time as more than once, docybara decides he wants attention as well by literally wedging himself in between them. it's fine. ]

[ finally a way to stop them from full on banging. thorns briefly wonders if getting docybara a friend would help solve this though, but if that goes poorly then they would have two burdenbeasts interrupting them instead of keeping each other occupied. hmmm.

it's at the point of darkness of the night where their only light is the stars if they don't pull out their own lights. very nice and quiet. ]

How are you feeling?

[ maybe the solution is to find docybara a girlfriend so that he will also want some alone time. now that they've come to a full stop, he's snoozing a small distance away curled into himself.

elysium, meanwhile, is trying to make it not so obvious that he wants to glower in his direction. ]

How do you think?

[ his vibes are so murderous. ]

[ this is so funny. unfortunately thorns is still too enamored with docybara to blame him for cucking them.

but for now he will pepper elysium's face with kisses. ]

Better?

[ hm.

despite the shower of attention, he looks away and mutters under his breath. ]

Burdenbeasts excel at adapting to their surroundings…

[ he's just saying anything and everything now. okay. docybara is too domesticated to survive in the wild. ]

It hasn't even been a full day.

[ stop giving up on their son so quickly.

he abandons the kissing and instead goes back to pinching. ]

[ thorns gave up on elysium so quickly… ]

Aren't you bothered?

[ it's almost like the kisses weren't doing anything, but now that they've stopped he full on whines. ]

[ elysium, you either want kisses or you don't. pick one.

he pinches him again. ]

Why should I be? He's sleeping now, and we're awake.

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