[OPEN] lays in the river while caramelldansen plays in the background

[simplicitas]

Who: Elsword & You!
What: Fishing! Camping! Depression—
When: End of September
Where: The river & surrounding forest
Warnings: None yet


I. Fishing

[Elsword has had kind of a bad day, but that's okay, because therapy can be done by fishing. If he looks upset at all no he doesn't, he doesn't want to talk about it. How could anyone look upset when they're in the MILF shirt anyway, am I right? Anyway he's fine (he's not fine) he's fishing his teen boy angst away. So it's all good. He's good. Like a true fisherman, Elsword is knee-deep in the river with the rod cast far out in the distance, the bobber almost reaching the black fog wall, and he's quite focused on the task at hand. He doesn't notice you as he's reeling in the line, pulling in what looks like an oversized carp... and overestimating how hard he needs to pull the line, apparently, because the fish goes flying out of the water and smacks right into you.

Hi! Good afternoon! He's so sorry—]

II. Camping

[Late at night, Elsword is on the southmost side of the river with a camping tent set up. The reason why he's sleeping out here is because going back home right now is too awkward for him to stomach, but he won't say that if asked. Actually, he really does like camping, it's just he hasn't done it here in light of the whole dangerous-forest-thing. That's the excuse he gives. More of a half-truth than anything.

There are only a few lights in the darkness out here, one of which is a small lantern set up nearby, another a little campfire, and the last being Elsword's halo.]

Were you going to stay out here with me all night, or are you heading back soon?

[He asks, while he's roasting marshmallows over the fire — s'mores are a classic treat, can't go wrong with comfort junk food.]

III. Foraging

[The morning after sleeping outside like the feral child he is at heart, Elsword takes to looking for mushrooms. He has one of those little survival books he got from the Shopkeeper, the ones that tell you not to eat or touch certain plants and outline local fauna. The issue is, there are no animals other than fish out here, and the guide isn't updated to include all the new fish species... but it does contain information on mushrooms. And that's what matters.

Elsword told you "hey let's go look for mushrooms to eat" and he's assuming you know which ones to not just shove in your mouth like an animal. But just in case—]

Don't eat those ones. [Whether you're about to pick them up or just happened to look to your right.] That's an amanita. A death-cap. It'll kill you.

[If it wasn't obvious by the name.]

Comments

I. Fishing

[alligatus]

[ He's been there the whole time, at first he was invested in the other heading towards the River. Then, when he sees them enter in he ends up coming closer. The Lancer is quiet, with no need to speak or start a conversation especially knowing how fishing works. So really you just have this knight in armor, without his helm watching quietly until the fish comes flying towards him - and he swiftly, casually, grips it with one hand. ]

Nice catch.

daddy? sorry. daddy? sorry. daddy? sor

[simplicitas]

[Oh damn, okay.]

You too. [He was really expecting to slap this man with a whole carp.] I'm sorry. I didn't mean to almost hit you with it.

...are you new? Do you want to join me?

[Anything to get his mind off the divorce, right, might as well make a new friend.]

!?!?!? LMAO

[alligatus]

?

[ Lancelot, with the fish in his hand regards it interestingly. ]

A carp in the river, this river must have a strong ecosystem.

[ Fish guy things, call him impressed. He is complimenting the river basically, and the carp wriggles around in his hand. He holds it at least from the mouth now.

Join him... Fishing though? ]

Yeah, I am new. You only have one rod though, not sure what I can do with that.


[ Another pause, awkwardly looking towards the other. With some hesitance, as he regards the other with some passing thoughts. ]

Do you want me to set it aside?

[simplicitas]

There's all kinds of stuff in the river. There are turtles, too.

[Elsword shuffles out of the river slowly, considering the current, and makes his way to Lancelot.]

You can set the fish in that cooler of ice. We can cook it later. And I don't mind if you borrow my rod, so here.

[Just holds the rod out to him like :) they can share... what if we were both boys touching our rods]

[alligatus]

[ He unhooks it and places it in the ice cooler like the other said.

BRO YOUR JUST GNUNA LET ME TOUCH YOUR ROD LIKE THAT????? NO PROTECTION? Ok word. ]

... Are you sure?

[ It's been.. A while since he's fished, he enjoyed doing so with the other Lancers, namely the Chulainn's. Lancelot seems to hesitate a bit before taking the rod from the other. But when its exchanged he will say, ]

Lancer.

[ Thats his name. ]

I but different

[mooninthewater]

[ The oversized carp is actually Mizuki's meal, thank you. He must not notice the line, or perhaps it's tunnel vision, but whatever the case, Mizuki's got his teeth latched onto the fish and isn't letting go. He is a little surprised when he's hoisted from the water. He kicks his legs a little when he's just fully in the air.

Ah—…

…

Hi Elsword? He waves!! ]

[simplicitas]

[Elsword when he fishes a whole fucking Mizuki out of the water like— hey what the fuck? What the fuck.

He's very sorry for how Mizuki is going to land (probably on the bank with the catfish)— hopefully he just kind of schlorps against the ground and reforms like a splat ball? How do jellyfish work??]

Uh— [HELP] I'm sorry—

[mooninthewater]

[ He's dead. The evil has been defeated. Huzzah!

Except, not really. Stingers break Mizuki's fall, so Elsword probably doesn't need to worry too much about it.

Besides, the second Mizuki gets his bearings, he also flops like a fish on the bank. For comedic effect. ]

[simplicitas]

[OH GOD mizuki is hAVING A SEIZURE

...

Wait no. That silly expression says... he's just fucking around.]

Wait, before you eat that, [fighting the river's current to get closer to the bank,] let me get the hook out of the fish...

[Mizuki is such a little guy... how was Elsword to know he would fish the little guy up...]

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki stops flopping when Elsword starts heading for him, making a small gesture like, hey, it's fine. ]

You're so nice, Mister Elsword. But you caught this one, so I can just find another. S'lot easier for me 'cause I'm in the water swimming around invisible and stuff. [ This is, of course, no smack talk on Elsword's fishing. It's wonderful, and he's very good at it, but there's only so much a fishing line can do to a predator with 30 tentacles. ]

You don't have to stop fishing on my behalf.

ii

[shineprism]

Of course I'm staying.

( he doesn't hesitate even a second- if anything, he's bringing over more firewood so as to better prepare. chung almost casts a concerned glance back up the way of the house, but...

...

elsword is upset. add and felicity will be fine tonight. he's not going to leave him again. )

Is there anything else we need tonight?

[simplicitas]

[Elsword had kind of wanted to keep everything on the down low, but even if he's refusing to talk — they're kind of private matters, and it's not fair to thrust Chung in the middle of it — it's kind of clear what happened if you share a house with them. The boys are fighting... Chung heard the prior night... puzzle pieces are easy to put into place.

Elsword isn't thinking about that, though. Just camping... just vibes. It's been a while since he roughed it.]

It's like old times. [He likes camping. It's fun to camp.] I don't think we need anything, though.

[......hands Chung a s'more, here you go!]

[shineprism]

Mm, alright. We can do some night fishing then. Maybe we'll find something that only comes out at night!

( wouldn't that be exciting? --oh, s'more? yay! )

It's nice to be out like this without it being part of... of some battle, too.

[simplicitas]

...yeah. It feels like it's been a while since we camped and nothing was happening.

[Having a house is kinda nice though. It's somewhere to settle in and do normal stuff, like try to cook and burn the eggs and painstakingly cut the burnt parts out of the eggs so that you don't look like an asshole for serving your housemates burnt eggs. And they can do laundry. And there's a cool chandelier.

This unfortunately comes with the caveat that when you break up with someone who wasn't even your boyfriend in the first place, you have to leave and mope like you're in a Hallmark movie.]

I got this book on mushrooms from the Shopkeeper a while back, too. Maybe we can find glowing mushrooms somewhere?

[shineprism]

( chung appreciates elsword's efforts so much, even if felicity eventually took over the kitchen entirely. (only heimr's kitchen goes unclaimed... and that's because only mizuki knows about it...)

he's happy to have this time though. the river... doesn't quite call to him, but it's presence rings through his heart and he loves it. with just the two of them out here, it's peaceful in a way things often aren't- even their roommates, even during calm moments, add a bit of extra energy somehow.

vaikal seems to pop up out of nowhere and nuzzles against elsword's cheek. they are both pleased. )

We can take a look around, of course! I'll have to take a better look at his wares soon.

iii

[neverleave]

[Natsuno comes along thinking it'd be a good learning experience. He grew too comfortable with the Serena Eterna's steady blood supply and infinite buffet, but it's time to adapt and pick up new skills.]

Thanks. I'm immune to poison, but it's still good to know.

[It's an attractive, classic looking mushroom. He can see why people would be tempted.]

Might still be useful as a weapon.

[A very normal thought - ]

[simplicitas]

I don't know much about making poisons, but I guess so. ...please don't poison anyone here.

[He has to say this to Add sometimes, too.]

Uh— but you being immune to poison is cool. Are you an assassin? Aren't they normally immune to poisons because they go through some really intense training? [he read a few books okay]

[neverleave]

Obviously I'm not gonna poison anyone here.

[Forest abominations are fair game, if it even works on them, and so are potentially dangerous future arrivals.]

Anyway, I'm not an assassin. I'm a vampire.

[simplicitas]

...

What's a vampire?

[Said as he's picking up a morel. He has no fucking idea, sorry.]

[neverleave]

[Huh. It's been a while since he actually had to explain it.]

A kind of monster. Someone who was turned into a creature that feeds on human blood. Other details change between realities, from what I've seen.

secret option IV (the IV stands for diIVce)

[harmacy]

[Nearly four days in and he's still short of a plan... but if nothing else, he's gained himself a bit more courage, a little more understanding. He realizes now where he made his mistake. Now, it's just a matter of fixing things.

Plan or no plan, Add makes his way to the river as the sun starts to rise... if he detects anyone else there, he'll bail and come back later, but there's only one life signal when he arrives. Taking a deep breath, steeling his nerves... you can do this, Add. Just remember what Mizuki told you.

He stops at the edge of the tent, Dynamos hanging back behind him.]

... Elsword? It's me.

[if he isn't awake at this hour this is gonna get awkward fast]

i know it's di-four-ce but my dyslexic ass keeps going "dil-vice"

[simplicitas]

[Luckily, Elsword is up this early. He tends to be an early riser anyway — that's when the weather is best for starting the day, for immediately throwing himself at the fish who think they're safe from the wrath of a boy who really likes fishing—

There's a clattering from inside the tent as Elsword gets up, and then the front of it unzips and he pokes his fluffy head out from it. His hair is a mess... he clearly only got up maybe ten minutes ago.

He does not look happy.]

...what?

[Not even a hello, no good morning, nope, just what.]

that's right, it's time for the dill-vice. take off your clothes

[harmacy]

[He's standing tall, well dressed and presentable compared to Elsword's roughing it out in the woods. For a moment, he's confident. He can do this. He'll make everything right again, he'll apologize, it'll all work out fine... and then that cold glare pierces straight through him.

... it hurts more than he thought it would. He has to fight the impulse to look away, shifting nervously.

Four words in, and that courage of his is already shriveling up. He should've spent more time planning instead of playing stupid video games...]

I... we don't have to talk, if you don't want to. But there are some things I want to say... [repeating what little script Mizuki gave him... he really should've agreed to some practice. what if this just makes Elsword upset again? he should've waited longer, he's probably irritated at being woken up like this, he still doesn't even know what to say—]

dislike.

[simplicitas]

[For what it's worth — possibly little, considering how skittish Add suddenly gets — Elsword manages to school his expression into something more along the lines of his usual neutrality. Maybe he owes Add an apology, too, for being so pushy and fucking everything up. The self-blame on this boy is honestly incredible.

...there are still things he's mad about, of course, but he'll shove them aside for now.]

Okay. [He says, and then shuffles about to actually exit the tent, sitting there in a t-shirt and sweatpants and mentally comparing their state of dress. Add probably doesn't want to sit on the ground in his nice clothes... Fuck.] Do you want to sit? I have a— oh, here.

[He leans back into the tent and procures his sleeping bag. This can go on the ground and Add can sit on it... here you go buddy he's trying.]

[harmacy]

[The "okay" is almost worse than an instant rejection. He lost his last chance to put this off... welp, this is happening today, so he better not fuck it up. Elria have mercy on him if he does.

For some reason in his head he would do this whole thing standing up, so he is... slightly, briefly thrown off by the sleeping bag. He definitely can't do this looking down on Elsword the whole time, but he could've just sat on Dynamo if he had to? Rejecting something offered might make things worse, though, so he kneels down on the sleeping bag as directed and tries to recollect himself. Remember to breathe... what else did Mizuki say? Vulnerability, apologize, cut threats out of the picture...]

First of all... I'm sorry. My choice of wording was in poor taste. I never wanted to hurt you, but I spoke without thinking of your feelings. That was careless of me.

I've never really... It didn't mean nothing to me. I've never done this before. When you leaned in like that so suddenly, I...

I-if it was Chung, I wouldn't have been interested. [what] You're a more interesting specimen, so I assumed that was the correlation. Upon closer examination of the research materials, [stop] too many inconsistencies arose so I had to consider alternative explanations. Results are still inconclusive but it would be callous to ask for another round of testing when there are emotions involved. Hypothetically, [oh my god] you're more like a... soup.

...

That... h-hang on, sorry, let me try to explain—