hugtopia_logs | ♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

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♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

April (Lasai) Event Log
Lasai is a beautiful month. The weather is warmer, the sky is a breathtaking blue again, and with the flowers from Ainir growing nicely, the entire city of Havenwell just feels more alive with every breath. It's a time of renewal, of rebirth, of Ainea's greatest strength as her adherents open the temple gates to invite people and robots from all walks of life to enter and share together. What should be a joyous time, however, is suddenly interrupted as the earthquakes mount day by day through the start of Lasai. Those messages that people have been receiving since Nalom? It seems it's time for the gods to deliver on their promises.

❥ PROMPT I: The Wild Wild West (East, South and North)

side view of a large wall surrounding a city

As Ainir gives way to Lasai, one morning the earthquakes, which had been growing more frequent again, suddenly mount in their intensity. The entire city is shaking and the native residents cower despite their faith in their gods' protection. The guards along the wall shout alarm and abandon their posts as the walls start to shift under the strain. When the last of them are safely away from the walls, the barrier and the wall itself quivers. The citizens cry out in alarm and fear until they realize that the walls aren't falling - they're moving. And they're moving further out. As everyone in Havenwell looks on, the walls and its surrounding barrier fluctuates and expands, sliding through the city streets as if on hidden tracks, avoiding buildings and ruins, pushing the toxic air and the storm further away. They finally come to rest and snap back into place, new walls rising from who knows where to fill in the gaps. The barrier strengthens and the earthquakes stop, and as the dust settles, a cheer rises from the citizens.

"Praise the gods! Praise the off-worlders!"

Among the din of their celebration, however, other cries start up among the newly incorporated ruins. Cries that sound like howls and screeches, and certainly do not sound human. Grab your weapons and steel yourselves, off-worlders, with the addition of this new space comes the need to clear it of anything potentially dangerous that got caught up in the expansion. Not all creatures you'll find are hostile, but some certainly are. Docile ones might just fetch a nice price from the Research Towers and the Conservatory if you can capture a mating pair.

OOC: These are the creatures you can encounter in the city as you go through to clear it. It's not an invasion level of infestation, as the majority of creatures will prefer to remain inside their known territory beyond the original barrier, but you will on occasion need to take up arms and fight. Next to their names are the frequency with which you can find them, ranging from common to extremely rare.

Inky Black Spiders (common - hostile): These relatively small, black spider-like creatures have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. Those who were around in October when the wall broke will recognize them as the most common enemy back then. Their exoskeletons are hard and when they die, they smash into a black goo. They tend to travel in packs, using sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey.
One-Eyed Lizard (uncommon - docile): An iridescent scaly purple and green lizard approximately 8 to 10cm in length from tip to tail. It has a single eye at the top of its head that can rotate to see 360 degrees around it. This creature's main defenses are its tough hide and a spine on the tip of its tail which it whips at predators to dissuade them from eating it. It's more likely to run than fight, however, and can usually be found sunbathing on exposed rock with its eye closed.
"Bone Giraffe" (extremely rare - hostile): A nearly 20-foot tall, long-necked skeleton of a four-legged creature long dead with a single curved horn protruding from its skull and a sharp snout. It's usually found lying in a heap, as if it laid down and died that way. A black seven-petaled flower sometimes (but not always) grows from the skull and beneath the skeleton is an oily black film. Touching the oil slick activates the creature, which draws the oil up into the skeletal cage. Its main attacks are brute force, using its bony legs and neck to kick and slam against its prey, and its acid breath. It breathes a black fume that sizzles and burns anything it touches.
Rive Talon (rare - hostile - medium): In the past these creatures may have been canines of some form, now they seem to have melded with the detritus of the fallen buildings and creatures of the landscape. Extra spikes, ridges, and protrusions extend from its body at odd angles. Many of them are metal or stone, rather than bone. And some of the bones clearly were not originally its own. (Suggested by Sierra!)
Outskirts Hare (uncommon - docile): A shy creature, roughly the size and shape of an earth hare, covered in fuzzy-looking, curly pink hair and cat-like whiskers. Normally quite timid, this creature's poor eyesight causes it to flee when it feels threatened, and relies largely on a sense of touch to navigate its surroundings. Contact with this creature's fur is markedly pleasant, but its skin discharges an oil that causes mild skin irritation on contact when it's nervous. Active mostly at night time. (Suggested by Mel!)
Ansaurini (rare - annoying): a bipedal feathered bird with sharp claws and teeth good for chomping; some possess flight capabilities, but the majority are prone to a lazy waddle. Mostly harmless and deceptively unassuming until you turn your back- and suddenly it's run off with something it stole off your person! They are excellent at escaping, though they can be traced back to their hoard, and if their collection is raided they will make a lot of noise in protest. Just watch your back- they will try again until you leave their territory. Truly, a horrible thing.

❥ PROMPT II: Welcome to the (Urban) Jungle

Once the creatures are mostly taken care of and the newly revealed area is deemed safe enough to venture into, the city council will put out a call for those willing and able to assist the natives with a clean-up effort. The city outside the walls is badly damaged, left to the ravages of the time and the ever-present storm, which means clearing dust, debris, and flotsam is a high priority before people can begin to repair the new districts and salvage material or live there. Thick brown vines cover large parts of the city, grime from the storm is caked onto windows, rocks and scattered rotted bones and twisted metal can be found in roads and crashed through buildings. The atmosphere in this part of the city seems to mirror the decrepit state of the land, too, feeling heavier and grayer and more depressing than it has any right to be. Going out with people and helping together, taking breaks to lean against one another tends to help clear away any negativity that this land seems to bring to your thoughts, however. Since it's dangerous to go alone, be sure to take a friend.

The biggest concern is the vines, so natives offer to lend machetes to the offworlders to help the hack them away. The vines look brown and dead, the leaves withered and curled up. When characters hack into them, the vines release a puff of yellowish dust. Inhale the dust or get it anywhere near your face and over time, you'll begin to get sleepy - very sleepy. It's hard to keep your eyes open, no matter your resistance to poisons or magic, and eventually you'll find yourself falling asleep wherever you are. And once you're asleep? The vines start moving, crawling toward you at a snail's pace. Hopefully you did bring a friend because you'll need their touch to wake up and stay awake long enough to get away from the vines before they pull you deep within their grasp.

❥ PROMPT III: Take a Load Off

Not everyone can fight or clean or even wants to do it, so while those who are more suited to being on the front lines are off doing their thing, those who remain behind must begin the effort of preparing everything that people will need to live in these new areas. At the temples and in the main square, the priests have set up large rest areas with blankets and pillows, and are busily putting together repair kits for mechanics and explorers to use as they go through the ruins. Those who want a place to rest that doesn't require going all the way back to their homes might find these waystations more convenient.

At each, characters can find hot soups with chunks of hearty replicated breads and both hot and cold drinks available for any who wish it. They're trying to replicate pain medications and bandages for people who have been injured while exploring or fighting off the monsters who were unlucky enough to be left inside, and will ask you to try it if you're injured. Taking this medication might have some unintended side effects, however, like a feeling of euphoria or delusions of grandeur or even something as banal as turning your hair a shocking shade of chartreuse - the effect, if you want one, is up to you! The rest areas also have robots "skilled" in giving massages that are looking to test their newly acquired skills and with four pairs of arms, they can work on two people at once! In fact, they're rather insistent about giving you a free massage if they hear even the slightest hint of fatigue in your voice and will usher people into their curtained off booths regardless of whether they know the other occupant or not. These robots are still learning though, so anyone curious enough to try may need to work with their partner to give these robots pointers. They're trying, but not having fragile little flesh bodies is a major obstacle in learning how to have a gentle touch.

❥ PROMPT IV: That Which Remains

the remains of an abandoned factory with decrepit materials and equipment strewn about

With the opening of the city, there seem to be a lot of buildings that need cleaning. Some are so dilapidated that they're better off demolished than repossessed, and most are residential and commercial buildings reminiscent of the ones the offworlders are used to seeing everyday in the Havenwell they've all known up until now. However, among the ruins of these older sections, those intrepid enough to venture and explore may find a few unique gems awaiting them. Just remember: the first rule of urban exploration is to never go alone. You never know what might be lurking in those abandoned buildings or what obstacles might be in your way. Doorways blocked by rubble will need more than one person to remove them. Frightened (and frightening) animals might be lingering in the dark. And, most importantly, you don't want to fall through the floor and vanish into a basement. There seem to be quite a few weakened floors out there. In the following parts of the expanded city, characters can find these interesting ruins:

Northwest: The Arena - In the northwest of the newly opened area, characters can find what looks to be a ruin of a large open air oval building. The building itself is almost 3 stories tall with walls overgrown with brown vines and dead foliage. There are doorways that have no doors, instead being high archways through which people can access in the interior. Stairs lead up into what looks like worn stone benches and down below is a rubble-strewn open area. Part of the walls have collapsed over time but it's very clear this place was used once as some sort of viewing area. It'll take a bit of work to clear this place until it's usable!

There are archways with stairs that lead downward, but you'll need some help clearing away the rubble to get to what's below! If you're successful in getting beneath the arena, you'll find hallways with empty rooms that vary between large enough to possibly be some sort of training room to small enough to be just enough space for someone to put a slim single cot or bed and maybe a wardrobe to have a small private room. Some rooms have rusted metal that may or may not have been weapons at some point, while others have faded wall paintings, chipped and worn with age. It's hard to make out, but with enough reconstruction work, you may just learn who used to haunt these halls.
Southeast: The Baths - In the southeast of the newly opened area, characters will find a domed building unlike the rest of the architecture around it. It's extremely large, for one, and squat, while the rest of Havenwell's buildings seem to be lean and tall. The walls are made of the same stone, but the dome above is broken glass. There are several metal sliding doors set in the walls, but many are fused shut with grime and years of disuse. One main door, larger than the others is sightly ajar, however, and with some help characters may be able to force it open.

Inside, they find an expansive lobby with white floors that must have sparkled before all the grime, dirt, and broken glass took over. The dome overhead reflects the light, making the interior of the building as bright as outside. At the center of the lobby is a dry fountain with two broken statues - four armed humanoids holding urns. Their heads are missing and many of the arms are broken and lying in the dry basin. From the lobby there are alcoves in every direction and two hallways that lead further into the buiding in opposite directions. In each alcove are low stone seats and round basins sunk into the ground that are either dry with a black film around the inside, or full of a dark oily substance that's nearly coagulated.

Go down the hallways and you'll find identical looking chambers. First, you enter an open area with broken sinks and mirrors, with stone cubbies on the walls. Then when you pry open and push past the metal sliding doors, you'll find yourself in a wide open semicircular area filled with baths of different sizes, shapes and depths. Some are free-standing stone tubs, others are large basins sunk into the ground, and still others are rectangular and just big enough for one or two people to lie down in. Each of these basins are like the ones in the lobby, either filled with that same coagulated black ooze or dry with a black film inside. Looks like it's time to get cleaning because each basin also seems like they might be able to be retrofitted to produce water perhaps.
Southwest: The Factory - In the southwest, closest to the wall, the characters can find an imposing square building. It has small thin windows and boasts a plethora of chimneys and smokestacks on the roof, some of which are crumbling or broken with age and exposure. There are two square doors, both of which are large enough to drive a truck through and made of metal which needs to be pried open before accessing the inside. Once inside, the characters find a massive operation geared toward ore and mineral processing and metallurgical refinement. The machinery is old, but extremely well laid out, as it seems this plant was used to process huge volumes of minerals and ores before being lost to time. There are stations for every imaginable part of the refining process separated neatly so they can work efficiently, but all of the machines are broken or currently inoperable and will need significant work before they can start functioning again.

Explore the refinery and you may still find one or two of the ores lying about. They contain an unknown metal that gleams a slick oily silver. At the back of the refinery is an industrial elevator which is currently inoperational. Peering down through the cracks, however, reveals that the shaft goes a long way down. The view of just how far is obstructed by a shimmering rainbow-colored barrier, not unlike the one that is just outside the walls.

This event will run from April 15th to 30th, although due to the areas and effects not technically vanishing, feel free to continue playing with it for some time beyond. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Mm, got it."

It's his turn to gather up as many of those rocks as he can reasonably carry, probably not with quite the same enthusiasm as Kyoko's managing, but that's a level of pep he's sure would be a steep climb for plenty of people. Fight on, Kyoko! He will be here, pulling as much of his own weight as he can!

So there they are! Picking up rocks and carrying rocks and setting rocks down in other places! Fascinating stuff.

Kyoko does her best to keep to her resolution, and glances over at Shinji every so often, but if anything is wrong it doesn't stand out enough to catch her attention. That said, by the time she stops long enough to notice how high the sun is in the sky, she's not sure how long it's been since she last checked. Regardless, a break is probably in order though, right?

Stretching her arms up high after she deposits her rock outside, she calls out again as she heads back into the ruin. "Shiiinji-saaan, are you hungry yeeeet?"

Time sure does fly when you're having... f...fun? He wouldn't call this 'fun', really, but keeping his hands busy with clearing up the area while he lets his mind wander does leave time feeling particularly slippery. He has found that while doing his best to stay diligent, he's been slowly feeling more and more drained, his thoughts a little more and more cloudy, so when Kyoko finally sounds the lunch bell, it sounds... Good? More accurately, like he feels faintly guilty about stopping, but also maybe like the break will help him shake whatever dreariness has decided to settle on his shoulders.

So, yeah... yeah. Lets take a break to eat.

"Lunch sounds good," he calls back, carefully pulling himself back up to his feet from where he'd been working and dusting himself off.

"I brought some onigiri," she calls, heading over to where she'd stashed her bag and machete in a relatively undamaged corner. "Ah--there are only more rocks to sit on, but do you mind eating outside?"

The scenery out there isn't much prettier, and is definitely less interesting, than inside the wreckage, but now that she's not absorbed in work, even Kyoko can't escape the oppressive aura about this place. Surely fresh air and sunshine are the cure?

The overall quality of the air outside is debatable, but it should be a lot less stale once they're out of these ruins. Maybe that and the rest will do the trick to shake off this weird melancholy that's managed to worm its way into his mind.

"I'm sure it's much nicer than staying in here," so, yes! Outside we will go! Following Kyoko's lead at a nice and easy pace, he moves to exit the building.

Kyoko pauses for a moment just outside, giving the sky a wry, disappointed sort of smile. The sun might be out, but somehow it's still strangely dreary? What's with that?

All the same, she makes her way over to a small cluster of comfortably sized and--after making a quick circle to peek into nooks and crannies, making sure there aren't any spider or lizard buddies hanging around--she hops onto one, beaming encouragingly at Shinji until he does the same.

"It's scary.... It feels like it'd be easy to just keep going forever without even noticing, out in the middle of nowhere like this." She doesn't sound particularly worried though, as she busies herself with unwrapping bento boxes and holds one out to Shinji. It could be idle chatter. "It's hard to believe we only had to walk to get here!"

Hey, sun, isn't your job supposed to be brightening up the atmosphere? What gives??

It is, at least, less claustrophobic feeling outside! Not that these buildings are particularly tiny, but something about being enclosed with that heavy atmosphere feels extra oppressive. With the sky nice and open like this, that's one stifling element out of the way.

Once the area's been checked and cleared for a suitable lunch spot, free of skittish lizards as well as treacherous spiders, Shinji carefully makes his way to the designated lunch-spot. A soft, 'Thank you' is offered up as he takes the bento, and... oh, wow, it's really hitting him very suddenly that, hey! It's kind of been a long time since he's had a meal that he himself hasn't had at least a hand in preparing! The thought washes over him in a really, really weird wave of melancholy, that he promptly does his best to ignore.

"It's a totally different feeling than the rest of the city," a little spooky in its ruined glory! What a contrast between this and the rest of Havenwell, just a stone's throw away. "If something like this happens again, I wonder if anything farther out there would be salvageable...?"

Oblivious to any meal-related angst, Kyoko goes right ahead and chomps into one of her own onigiri. They're all she'd packed, aside from water, but at least there are plenty of them! The miso-braised chicken filling turned out nice enough, she decides, though maybe adding a little more onion and carrot would be even better, next time, hm....

In any case, having someone to eat with is a treat in its own right, enough to lift her spirits a bit.

Kyoko hums thoughtfully around a mouthful, idly scanning the horizon. "You don't think the--the storm, or whatever it is, isn't the same everywhere out there?" She's never really thought about that kind of thing before, but Shinji's been here longer, so his insight on the matter is surely more valuable. "If it's all even worse than this, I don't know what they'd expect us to do about it, though. The gods would have to kidnap at least a few more truckloads of us first." That's punctuated with another healthy bite, her tone almost light.

Situated and ready for the snack break, he takes a bite of one of those onigiri, and -- Oh! "This is good," like, really good for what he can only assume is typical replicator ingredients. Wow!

As for what could be out there, beyond the new borders the walls have established, he offers a thoughtful hum. "I mean, the storms's probably all the same," he thinks, anyway. It could probably be worse farther out, but he's got no way of knowing for sure. "But if it kind of... closed in on the city the same way it's backed off of it, then stuff farther out has probably been dealing with it for a lot longer, don't you think?"

That's how he's imagining it, anyway. It could be completely wrong, but it feels like a solid enough guess to him.

"I wonder... how long they're going to be doing all of this. Bringing people in."

'Kidnapping' them, as it were. Huh. Time to take another bite.

The compliment is met with a "thank goodness~" and a quick, bashful grin before Kyoko chops down on another bite and tries to wrap her head around the idea of being in the eye of a planet-wide storm. Actually, how are storms even supposed to form? She only has memories of looking at the weather forecast's graphics on the daily news, a few satellite images--but then that was Earth, so maybe it doesn't even apply to Aellyn?

"Is that what happened? Ah... I should have studied the sciences more after all...." She's willing to go along with Shinji's ideas about it, though. Joining him in another bite, she chews pensively for a good moment before addressing that next point. "You think they're going to stop?" She's kind of been assuming this is the gods' new plan A for the rest of forever. "It seems like it's working for them, though, even with slackers holding out on them."

Oh, he kind of definitely feels like perhaps she's getting the wrong impression here, and the first reply is met with a small frown and wave of his hand. "I'm really just guessing, I could be wrong." He's definitely not an expert, here! It's just a hypothesis! Based on observation! Don't feel inadequate over what could amount to a potentially wrong assumption!

That next point... honestly, her view on it sounds like it's probably on the money.

"I imagine they wouldn't stop until everything's fixed." Like, they could stop, but how long would it take? "It's not like we know how big this planet is, so healing the whole thing could take ages." With that thought in mind, he pensively casts a glance out toward where the walls have migrated. "Assuming we've done this much in a few months short of a year, who really knows..."

Hm.

"Even with slackers in the ranks."

"Hm?" Don't worry, Shinji, Kyoko wasn't beating herself up over that. High school level science courses probably wouldn't have been enough to prepare her for an alien planet's crisis anyway. It is perhaps something she should look into during her grand quest to conquer the library system, though. "I guess that's the kind of speculation we should leave to real scientists, for now, anyway."

Speculating about the gods always feels well within her wheelhouse for some reason, though. "Maybe a generation, or... ten?" Her eyes turn up to the gray sky. "Depending how big it is," she agrees. "But that wouldn't be all that long, compared to the gods, or probably even the natives.... If that's how it is, I guess they don't really have much incentive to try harder." A beat. "With the selection, I mean."

The noble pursuit of library domination could definitely give you a better idea of how this weird storm might work. Do your best, Kyoko!

Shinji takes another bite of his onigiri as Kyoko voices her thoughts, chewing it over pensively. "I guess as long as things aren't getting worse, then any progress is good enough." Slow or fast, she's probably right in the fact that the gods and natives likely have a very skewed sense of time, considering. "There are a few people who are more... enthusiastic about it, they probably make up for anyone not pulling their weight."

At least with this particular crew, they can leave the hand-holding to the hand-holders, while the stragglers take care of the more physical aspect of cleanup.

"If they can't be picky, getting a mix that balances itself out might be good enough."

"Mm...." She nods, gaze still trained absently on the sky. "It really doesn't matter, what someone like me does or doesn't do, on that kind of scale." It comes out like another idle remark, though the speculative tone from all that theorizing a moment ago seems to be fading out. "And it's not like we can expect to see this world rehabilitated within our lifespans, so... that probably means there's nothing but more of this to look forward to for us, either. Unless we vanish."

Another bite of onigiri.

Ah, yeah, hm. Like she thought before, it tastes pretty okay, but not nearly as good as the kind of thing she could have pulled off at home. But that's just how it's always going to be here. Better get used to it.

Edited 2020-05-02 19:08 (UTC)

It'd be hard not to notice that uptick in the gloominess going on here, especially after Kyoko had seemed so chipper earlier. It's kind of hard for Shinji not to get mired in it as well, though, and he absently turns his attention down to the remainder of the onigiri in his hands. Just more of this kind of work to look forward to, huh?

"It always kind of sounded like when people 'vanish', they probably go back to their own worlds." Based on what very little information there was floating around. 'Vanishing sickness' and people falling asleep for long stretches of time, it feels like a sound enough conclusion, especially with no other easily suggestible alternative. "You'd probably rather go back than do stuff like this for however long, huh...?"

"Does it? I thought that at first, too, from the way people would talk about it, but...." It was like Magolor had told her: "Nobody really knows, right?" She can't remember when exactly her gaze fell, but she finds herself staring down at the half-eaten food in her hands. "It's just a guess. There's no reason to assume anything, one way or another."

Kyoko lifts her onigiri as if she's thinking about eating more, but stops halfway up and frowns. "... Mm. ... It's not that I... particularly hate stuff like this, though."

"That is true..."

For as safe of a guess 'going home' is, nobody knows for sure. He really doesn't have any way to argue that it could be right, so with that, he lets it go, depressing as it may be to open up the idea of speculating on what other possibilities there could be. No assumptions, though, just thoughts.

"Hmm." Doesn't mean she likes it, either, but at least ? it means it's not as bad as it could be? Still kind of bleak to think about, considering she's unenthusiastic about the touch aspect of being here. "It still sounds pretty rough, when you put it like that."

It is not as bad as it could be, in fact. Those stabs of guilt she gets whenever someone frets because they didn't know she had trouble with touch! could be something worse; she could be going through the sort of anguish that someone who really did hate all kinds of physical contact would endure here. Or she could be someone really important back home, with big responsibilities to regret being torn away from.

But she's none of that, is she? She's just a stubborn nobody. Jeez. What right does she have to be so angry?

They're all thoughts she's had plenty of times before, but the gloom that always settles over her with them has never been so heavy. She doesn't even feel like crying this time.

But she doesn't particularly want to talk about how rough it might be, either. "You wouldn't rather go back home?"

There's nothing wrong with being mad at the situation in general, Shinji would think, but if she doesn't voice those worries, he has no idea that they're going through her mind at all.

Instead, she turns his earlier question back on him. Very perceptive, Kyoko.

He doesn't answer right away, but it's pretty immediately evident to him how telling a pause like that might be. He turns the word over in his head for a moment before breathing out a soft, "No." It's a thought that's occurred to him before, but up until now, he hasn't had to confront it this directly. It's easy to pretend like it might not be the case when he's the only one who knows it, but he's not going to just... lie about it.

"That probably sounds pretty awful of me."

Shinji has always been a bit of an enigma to Kyoko; she's sort of used to being surrounded by people with loud, clear opinions and wishes, at least on some level. She's never totally sure if she's reading him right, this understated boy who never seems to say anything about himself without prompting, and even then flounders sometimes. But as many things as she's wondered about him, it hadn't really occurred to her that he might not be in her camp, until he asked that question.

As soon as she asks, though, she realizes she probably shouldn't have. Shinji wouldn't have framed it that way if he wasn't at least ambivalent about going home himself.

"It doesn't." Undoubtedly he has a reason, and it's probably the kind of thing she shouldn't pry about. "It's better that way, isn't it?"

See, that's the frustrating part, "I don't even know if it is." Would she still think that, even if she knew more about the state of his world...? He's not exactly keen on dropping all of the details on her, or even some of the details, but even speculating on that much makes everything feel a little muddier than before.

"It just... makes me feel like I'm running away from my problems there."

Which, at least to him, feels pretty awful! Just really unfair and irresponsible, and while none of these feelings are exactly new, articulating them to Kyoko is hitting him heavier than stewing in them on his own typically does.

There's a muted "oh" as Kyoko wonders what to even say to that. It's difficult when she doesn't know what the problems are, what kind of trouble Shinji was in, but she hardly expects him to tell her that much; it's not like it's her business. Surely it's a bad situation though, if he prefers a life on Aellyn.

It's quiet for a moment or two, and then Kyoko's voice comes out low again, a bit abruptly. "Would something happen if you did want to go home?"

Ah? Ah.

He passes the remainder of his onigiri off into one hand, freeing up the other to lightly pinch at the bridge of his nose. Come on, Shinji, what are you doing dropping your problems on to someone else like this? You can see how gloomy she is, she's clearly got enough on her mind as it is.

"I guess it really wouldn't change anything." Again, another very good point. "Sorry, I'm... not even sure why I brought it up."

The apology jolts her enough to look up at him properly, and the sight of him wrenches something in her chest a bit--both of which are the liveliest emotions she's had since this conversation started. Quickly, she shakes her head.

"I'm the one who should apologize, though. But, you know... not wanting your problems, whatever they are... that doesn't make you awful. I don't believe it."

As nice as it is for her to say, he kind of really, really wants to refute that, but the risk of dragging the conversation down further is enough to stop him. Instead, he glances over toward Kyoko for a moment, pulling his hand away again before dropping his focus back down.

"It's okay, you really don't have to apologize."

Pointedly, let's perhaps not address that vote of confidence. And maybe if he backtracks enough, he can find a less bleak route for this conversation to take.

"Still, even if this is all really rough to deal with, seeing you work as hard as you do is admirable."

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