[The touch of Aether's hand feels, strangely, much more intimate than the kiss. Is it because it's unexpected? Because he's unused to the feel of another hand around his own? Yu...doesn't want to question it, right now, except that the color in his face makes him feel strangely more vulnerable.
Oh, it is such a weird feeling. Weirder still that it's a feeling he's starting to get used to.
The kiss is short and sweet, but when it ends, he wiggles his foot a bit to check that it's unstuck. Sure enough, that did the trick. It's another moment before he offers a little bit of a smile -- lopsided, a little flustered, but genuine nonetheless.]
Looks like that did the trick.
[... He says that, but he doesn't move to pull his hand away at all.]
[ ...unfortunately, Minato sees that this man has a point especially now that Gilgamesh has paused to pour syrup over the shaved ice. It seems the frost spreading across Minato's arm has stopped as soon as the first droplet of syrup lands within Gilgamesh's bowl. ]
If you die here, you come back a week later.
[ Or... something like that, anyways. ]
If you make a mistake, you... could always kill me. My arm will come back with the rest of my body.
[ Listen. It's a valid solution to someone who'd grown accustomed to staring death in the face. ]
[ Minato glances down at Koromaru. Koromaru glances up at Minato. ]
It has other animals like Koromaru, but they're a little smaller. Some are bigger.
[ You heard it here: cats are just small dogs. Horses are just big dogs.
It's the android's follow-up question, however, which gives Minato pause. They are trapped here, and they do seem to have landed here following accusations of a crime. He'd never thought of it as a "prison" though. ]
[ That would be rather troublesome, wouldn't it? Seems like something's going wrong in Aldrip every other week. The rowdy snowmen wreaking havoc outside is just par for the course, really. ]
Right.
[ ...their numbers have fluctuated over time. Members come and members go, disappearing into the ether. In spite of all those changes, Ethlyn remains a constant. ]
...
[ Someday, either one of them might fade away too.
Those thoughts are fortunately interrupted as Ethlyn raises a mug of hot chocolate up to his lips. Minato leans forward to take an experimental sip: warm, but not hot enough to scald his tongue. He takes another before leaning away for now, though there's a troubled expression settling on his face.
Hm. Ethlyn would probably want the Arztenritter to continue business as usual even without her, but... it truly wouldn't be the same. ]
[Vi smiles, a bit sadly. she wonders what exactly had to happen in order for them to reconcile their differences, but she's not sure she wants to know. it scares her, honestly, to know that he knows so much more than her. it's different from when she was released from jail to a whole different world -- he knew about her future.]
I know, little man.
[she moves to get herself another drink, and swirls it around in her glass.]
You always acted tough, but you're a big softy at the end of the day.
Y'know, that would be a big help. One of these presents was pretty expensive... if it got smashed, my wallet would really be crying.
[Luckily it's only a couple of bags, so they don't mind handing them over.]
Now if one of those things gets too close, go ahead and drop 'em before you take to the air. In fact... flying to the inn is gonna be a lot safer. I don't know what the range of these things are, but how good are coal eyes gonna be, anyway?
[We'll see, Aloy says, and A2's eyes narrow. She says nothing, but almost before the cue to go is spoken aloud, she sprints off at a pace that makes her flicker out of sight and leaves a small patch of singed grass in its wake.
She skids into the toad, sending it flying off with an offended croak to places unknown, and kneels to pick up the fallen launcher. Her return is unhurried, and she gently drops the launcher into Aloy's hand.
[They can tell she's got a real pair of wings - it's not just the feathers, but the way they sit on her back. Despite Archangel having metal wings now, he used to have real ones, and Morph's seen the footage.]
[ Koharu's posture immediately deflates, said wings folding closer to her back in a poor attempt to obscure them. It's embarrassing how often she has to admit this, but: ]
... It probably would, but, um—I don't actually know how to fly.
[The warmth of the kiss is gone, but Aether continues to hold onto Yu's hand as he looks up at the other. There's embarrassment on both their faces and a tiny smile quickly appears on Aether's. This... is something he could get used to, too.
Is it a start of something new, something he didn't consider before? He was always so afraid of leaving someone with a broken heart, but...
His attention is brought back to reality when his companion notes that they can move again. Aether tries it as well.]
You're right. That's good.
[It's good, but... he doesn't want them to part ways just yet. The fact he's still holding Yu's hand may be a testament to that. But the other isn't pulling away either.
[This is so embarrassing. Being defeated in combat and near shutdown because of a magical fucking snowman is a new low in an existence that was primarily comprised of lows. But she can't continue on like this either. For some reason, someone had decided she deserved to be here, and so...
Glumly, she nods.] Yeah. It's fine, just — don't make a big deal out of it.
Narration is willing to bet that it's never, but that's neither here nor there.
Anyway. Don't make a habit of sniffing him out or anything, all right? It's weird, and while it isn't all that likely it'll happen anyway … it's still weird. Keep your nose to yourself.
Knives has never been … particularly cooperative, to put it mildly; he generally preferred things to go his way or no way, especially these days, but even in the very beginning he hadn't made it very easy for anyone to be around him. Even Rem, bless her, had felt the need to remind him that it didn't matter that he didn't have to eat like his brother when she'd given them their first ( and only ) birthday feast, but that everyone had been given a fair share.
Which had, essentially, been Rem-speak for sit down and be quiet, and let your brother enjoy this, mister. If only the same could be applied here, it might be just a tad easier — but he doesn't feel the need to go out of his way to point out there there is nothing to be enjoyed here, and they're ( probably ) going to be caught between a rock and a hard place for a whole lot longer than either of them care for.
"So it seems," is his gruff answer, and for the love of everything, he seems to have only gotten more ornery with the passing of the years; perhaps it was the culmination of everything that had been done to him and his sisters, perhaps it had been the fact that he'd spent more of those lonely, beginning years with Conrad, but it doesn't really matter all that much, does it? The song remains the same, either way.
The silence stretches for a long, uncomfortable while, and since Kurama hasn't bothered to put his whip away … "Do you simply manipulate plant-life, or is there more to it?"
[Ah, he could tell - despite his best attempts, it's still not something that Yukina wanted. At least it's all over now, based on how easily he could lift up his shows.]
Oh, no! This isn't such a big deal for me, personally. If anything, I'm sorry I had to treat you this way.
[They sound a little confused, but... it wasn't like they had been born knowing how to fly, either. Any form they took required a certain amount of training to get down just right.]
Is it the 'falling' part? 'Cause I might've hit the ground a few odd times while I was learning how to use wings. I know it's not as easy as it looks.
[Morph takes a quick look around, just to make sure they haven't attracted any extra attention. There's no sign of more snowmen yet, so they turn their attention back to her,]
If you want my advice... there's two things you can do. First, build up those back muscles. Even if you just flapping your wings for exercise, you need 'em strong enough to be able to hold you up.
And have you tried jumping somewhere safe? Like off a diving board? Falling into water oughta make it a little less scary.
[ Koharu's eyes grow a little wider at the advice given; evidently, that was one thing she hadn't considered before. ]
Wait, so that's why...?!
[ Come to think of it, it only makes sense. She definitely hasn't built up the body strength to do, well... a lot of what's required out of a cupid, really, let alone fly. ]
I haven't done that yet, but it's still too cold for a pool... I can definitely do exercises in the meantime, though!
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expiationlogs2024-12-09 08:17 am
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