tabularasa_rp | Let me Crawl Inside Your Veins (Wide Open)

Being compared to Seto would have caused Bowser great offense, but since the comparison is not spoken aloud, Bowser merely takes mental note of the fact that fire has learned how to burn. "We should try teaching wind too. I'm getting sick of losing stuff because everybody just got used to hurricane winds coming out of nowhere."

With that said, Bowser returns to the matter at hand. "I don't get it, though. Make clocks and they'll eventually tick. Make fire and it'll eventually burn. Maybe we could set up a weathervane, make wind work right. But how are we going to get the world to figure out borders?"

"Yeah, honestly, maybe the wind might be a bit more of an immediate priority. Getting whipped up into a tornado without warning's annoying as hell." She'd had that happen at least once, and she really didn't enjoy the Dorothy treatment. "But shouting about it during a cyclone doesn't seem the right solution. Maybe shout when it blows in a building to start?"

"That's sort of the problem. I'm not entirely sure. I could start performing rituals at the torii arches, but I don't know if it's going to actually understand what I'm doing. Physical things are obviously more clear cut. I chastised that water clock for weeks to get it to work right. This is ... esoteric."

"Acknowledged. Thank you."

They'll find a spot to sit at the bar and watch her. What has she missed? Not much, honestly. They consider the changes they have seen.

"A new species of flora has appeared. The Market now includes arcade games--the bathouse showers now require playing games to operate. Earthquakes are increasingly frequent. Michelangelo's David has regrown additional mushrooms. We have made considerable progress with the creatures that resemble Geth."

"Oh? Did you proposition the Void anywhere?"

He knew that the Void learned by observing, but they've always lacked a channel to directly ask it for anything. What he conceptualized was that it had a very slow recognition process, like sedimentation or accretion. Zhongli has a lot of time to wait, but most people here do not.

"Spent about a month convincing my water clock to tell time properly. It started floating more naturally not long after, so yeah... Guess you could say I did." There'd also been the whole thing about convincing fire to actually burn paper up.

"If you can show it what it's supposed to be doing, it seems to figure it out faster, but it still takes repetition. Kind of annoying, but I'm getting used to it."

Hm, so there wasn't a specific place. He takes note of that - a month is a very short time to him, so he could keep up with suggesting something basic and see if it takes effect.

Zhongli nods.

"I see. Thank you for the information." Filing it away for future plans... "It seems we are resigned to teaching the Void like how one would a child."

That's all his important questions, so Parsee can ask him more in return if she wants to.

"Yeah it's basically like working with a baby. They're figuring out the basics, but they're getting faster. We'll see how fast they get." The allusion was accurate enough if you asked her. It really was like a colossal child creating its own world.

"Anyone else missing?" Because honestly? That was the mot important thing for her right this instant.

"You mean the berries? I might have had a run in with one since I came back." Ugh, too spicy. Way too spicy. She hadn't yet tried the other ones.

...wait...

"You... have to pay video games to take a shower in the bathhouse? The heck?!?" No, all of the other things were gone because that was just too weird to not mention. "Why is that happening now?"

"Shout at the world when it gets it wrong, huh? I like it." Vocal criticism of that nature for time, after all. But as Parsee had said, physical things were more clear-cut.

"If it is physical things the world needs, maybe all we need is a big welcome sign. If we use that, and your rituals, and start the records of people who disappeared..." Bowser ponders the idea for a moment. "If the world works the way we think it does, this could actually bring us a step closer to being able to go home." Remembering what Aerith said, he adds, "the people that actually want to, at least."

"Acknowledged. However, we request that you do not allow yourself to become a 'zombie'."

The bones in the Drifter's neck snapping in their-they take the opportunity provided by Parsee being close to reach out and hug her.

"We will continue to try. However, if you are correct, those we would need to speak to are not in this location."

Physical things definitely didn't hurt if they were clear cut one way or another. She nodded over at him and considered for a moment. The idea of a welcome sign... hmmm...

"You know, that's a thought. And if we talk about it, we could use that sort of thing as a way to start getting the idea. It is one of the only ways into the island that doesn't end up getting you soaked after all."

"... No, I won't let it go that far," she said, coughing raggedly into her hand. "I won't let myself become a monster of that sort just to avoid talking to her. She'd never forgive that." Not to mention a few others would be really pissed at her. She could do this. Eventually. Probably. Hopefully.

"If it's like that... then it's not that you have to deal with," she grunted, sour in her voice, trying to stay calm. "We ... We just have to figure out what's going on before you end up a zombie. Figure out what you have to do."

"Two of the teenagers from Earth, I believe. Other than them, I am not aware."

Zhongli often spends his time alone and outside, so it's hard for him to keep tabs on the other residents. Except for Venti. They've known each other for too long to not gravitate together.

"Which two." She was suddenly in his face. Starring right into his eyes and quivering a little. She almost didn't need to ask. Part of her just kind of ... knew. And the expression she had said she wasn't going to be happy about the answer. She had a lot of pent up confusion about those two...

"Uncertain, however, there is also a scoreboard on display in the baths."

If she looks she will, perhaps somewhat predictably, find that Legion is one of the people consistently at or near the top. Others might find this development annoying, even cruel, but for Legion it's an incentive to actually bathe for once.

Zhongli looks thoughtful for a moment, before: "Their names were Shouyou Hinata and Hajime Iwaizumi." Rather ordinary kids they were, so they didn't quite attract Zhongli's attention. It seems like Parsee knew them a lot more.

"Oh... uh... sorry," she breathed a visible sigh of relief and took a step back, shaking a little. Her hand was going through her hair and she closed her eyes. "I know it's always possible someone I know well will disappear. I don't react well... I'm trying to work on it, but it's not easy. Sorry. I don't think I knew those two."

No, not Ren. Not Akechi... though that would come up soon enough.

"You know, I probably shouldn't get into gaming quite as much as you. All those high scores, I might just get my jealous streak back." She said it with a laugh, mostly because she could feel a pang over something so miniscule and unimportant. But it wasn't so bad. She could handle this. It almost felt like a healthy kind of jealousy.

"Do people ever put in stupid names on those?" she knew the answer. It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess.

The hurt, the anger, they were both expected expressions. The guilt, too. What wasn't expected was the relief on Parsee's face and in the whole of her body when she coughed up withered, dried flower petals. Then again, given what the other had told her - if the disease came from people not speaking the truth, then it made sense that the cure might have been the very opposite. Either way, it was clear that Parsee knew more about the thing than she did, so if she was relieved, then the problem was probably pretty much settled.

Well, kind of. Rinoa wasn't sure how Parsee's body would heal from the damage already done to it, especially without the Void having long ago stolen the healing magics of those here... and her breathing was still ragged, and she still seemed so weak...

"I'm really proud of you, you know." She smiled, trying to put the worrying thoughts aside for now, and shifted so that the other could rest her head more easily. "When we first arrived, my answer would've made you angry. I've said it before, I think, but this place has been really good for you."

And then, Parsee made a comment about flirting, and a peal of laughter escaped Rinoa's lips - not mocking, not cruel, but delighted and amused. "And I guess I never even imagined you flirting with someone!" It was something that came so easily to her, and to some others here too - but Parsee wasn't that type of personality. Kind of like—

Rinoa frowned, pushing that thought aside for now. There was a lot, a lot for her to think about. But this wasn't the time nor the place for it. Parsee had put herself through a hell of a lot for this moment. The least she could do was honor it for what it was.

"Good. No hiding. I was really worried about you, you know. But..." Her head tilted, curiosity in her gaze as she looked down at Parsee. "You did leave for a while, right? You weren't hiding the whole time."

When she said that, about being proud of her, Parsee's face went beet red. She grunted something non-committal, because Rinoa wasn't wrong. She would have gone positively nuts if she'd been into her like this, and it had been just after she arrived. But, when she felt the thoughts starting to turn towards Squall, she didn't react with absolute fury or causing trouble. There was a pang of jealousy, but she waited. And then ... she felt Rinoa shelve him. She felt the warring emotions a little bit, and ...

She giggled. It might have seemed like an odd reaction, but she did giggle a little. Her head rested right under Rinoa's chin and she reached up to tap the part of her collarbone above her heart. "I... should warn you. I think you're right. This place's... good for me. All of you are... good for me. Still jealous, but... I have control over it for now. But..." Another little giggle. "Something changed."

"I can... I can kind of hear what you're thinking right at the surface. Feel your emotions. A little. That's new. That's not what I'm supposed to be able to do. This place's changing me. All of you're changing me. I can probably shut it off, but I know you were thinking about him. And then... you just put him to the side for a moment, because I'm here. Is it bad that I felt good that you pushed him to the side, just for a moment, for me?" Her eyes shifted and she tilted her head up to look right in Rinoa's gaze. "You know... when you decide? You're gonna have to tell the truth. I'll know what's in here." The finger on he collarbone became a hand pressing lightly there.

"And no hiding. I'm... I'm thinking about moving into the apartments finally." A swallow. Kimihiro's place had been vacant. Eerily so. She knew what that meant. "And yeah. Bout a week here. Years for me. It was weird. But made me realize I want to be here."

Edited 2021-03-06 14:08 (UTC)

Zhongli understands. It's always difficult when one loses a friend, especially since the nature of the Void meant that one would not know if they will ever return.

"I see. They seemed to be from a non-magical world. Perhaps it was better for them."

People who aren't accustomed to having magic tend to be vulnerable to its dangers. The Void is rather harmless, but it still caused potentially lethal phenomena.

It didn't help with how jealous or possessive she could be at times. That tended to exacerbate things more than a little when she was involved. But, for now, she was settling down.

"It'll be more normal, if that's their worry. I suppose people like me and I assume you know how to handle a little bit of weirdness now and again." That was putting it mildly in her case.

"I do."

Perhaps that's also putting it mildly in his case, but Zhongli is someone who chooses to conceal his identity. If people think him as an ordinary man, then that's good.

"Though I admit to being a little curious. How do you spend your daily life here?"

Did Parsee have any hobbies to occupy her time? Things are very slow here, of which most of the children are probably not satisfied with.

"I run the shrine," she gestured in the direction of the bridge itself and the shrine complex. "So, any of the awakened tool spirits I run into I spend time with to make sure they don't whine too much. Keep it clean, answer questions when people cross the bridge, answer prayers at my shrine."

...

"Then I end up wandering when I'm not around or she gets too annoying. Check up on people. Visit the usual haunts. I'm sort of a bum, really."

"Acknowledged. We have already experienced having a friend succumb to this: we do not wish to repeat the experience." Legion would forgive her, but also they'd probably sink further into depression and does she really want to contribute to that?

"Perhaps. Regardless, we will not allow ourselves to become a zombie."

Let me Crawl Inside Your Veins (Wide Open)

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