3.0 - week three

[afflictionmods]

WEEK THREE

Last night might have been exhausting for any number of reasons - maybe it was the emotional

toll of dealing with those ghosts, or maybe you stayed up too late after watching Jim Shrok. Who knows, but Saturday is over, even if some of you haven’t quite left it behind and half spirits that are still hanging on, tethered to you and weighing you down…

But that’s not going to stop a new week from starting. There’s no breaks in an eight week course.

There’s very little fanfare to the start of your third week of the course, though it does seem like the fog has lifted even more. It’s a bit more of a trek down the abandoned streets of Estelline, but surely a mile is walkable? Or you could grab a bike or try to hotwire one of those cars in the mall parking lot… Whatever you plan to do this week is up to you. All you know is you've got some new locations to explore.

As always, Florence and Lorelei are available.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

TASK LIST


( OOC Note: Luci, Mutsu, and Mae will each receive a small roomba! Congrats on the successful egg drop. It's a tiny little friend that cleans extra well, though this also means its trash compartment is a little smaller so it'll need to be cleaned more often. )

FULL NAV

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Comments

wildcard

[selfconcept]

[ It's a good time to be able to walk outside. Hien has been recovering by wearing the cozy sweater, taking it off and putting it back on every 30 minutes or so. No pain, no gain? No pain, all gain. Fai didn't have to deal with Hien's physical pain for so long and he is finally free of bandages all over his body. Thank god. He looks relatively normal now.

So that's why it isn't a big deal to walk alongside Fai as they head to the museum. Hien is pretty sure that it's different from the way they were in, but he still a little unsure despite that.

But it's nothing to be concerned about. ]

Let's steal a bike next time.

[partymagician]

[ Fai is incredibly grateful for the sweater since it seems like Hien can't seem to be bothered to stay careful. He's also decided to drop the fake happy act around Hien. So, there's no smile on his face as they walk, despite the walk being relatively pleasant. ]

Are you willing to teach me how to ride one?

[ There's no use for bikes in a snowy, mountainous area so of course Fai never learned. ]

[selfconcept]

You can, or... you can just ride on the back wheel... thing.

[ He doesn't know what it's called. ]

The little thing that sticks out from the center of the back wheel.

[ It'll be romantic or something. ]

[partymagician]

Won't that be uncomfortable?

[ He's not buying it. ]

I don't know that you can handle riding with both of our weights on the bike anyway.

[ Actually, he thinks Hien could manage it, so he's just saying that to get a rise out of him. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Instead of a rise out of Hien, he looks over at Fai with a slightly confused look on his face. ]

The point of it is that you stand while holding on my shoulders. I used to do it all the time, even before I became an Overseer.

[partymagician]

[ ... ]

I don't know what a bike looks like.

[selfconcept]

It's those things with two wheels in the parking lot in front of the mall.

[ He thinks Fai should have seen those at least... ]

[partymagician]

So that's a bike... I've seen ones with engines on them back in Piffle.

[ He badly needs help with the technology here. ]

The walk isn't bad, though. It's only a mile. [ He glances over at Hien. ] Unless you're sore even with that sweater on?

[selfconcept]

It's hot.

[ The weather with his sweater on. Yeah. ]

You're talking about motorcycles. The engine part is what usually requires people to get a license for.

[partymagician]

Ah, I see!

[ He will not be asking about the license process for that! He got enough of it in Piffle. ]

You know, you wouldn't be so hot if you didn't get injured.

[selfconcept]

Yeah, I look pretty hot when I'm injured, huh?

[ He's... playing around.

But also, strike him down. ]

sorry

[partymagician]

[ Fai glances at Hien, smiling. ]

Hmmm... I can think of other times you look hotter.

but are you

[selfconcept]

[ He walks faster ahead.

GOODBYE. END OF THREAD.

/s ]

nope :)

[partymagician]

[ Thankfully, his long legs make it easy for Fai to catch up. ]

Aw, come on! Don't you want to hear about it?

[selfconcept]

[ YOUR LEGS ARE ONLY TWO INCHES LONGER REEEEEEEEEE

Hien turns to frown at Fai. He's still walking though. ]

If you don't have any shame, then say it.

[partymagician]

[ Fai leans in to whisper into Hien's ear...

Then he pulls away and keeps walking. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien makes some sort of frustrated noise and rushes to catch up to Fai to smack his back. EMBARRASSING. SHAMEFUL. ]

[partymagician]

You told me to say it!

[ He laughs. ]

But really, I do wish you would be a little more careful, Hien. Is there a reason why you're so prone to injury?

[selfconcept]

... I dunno. It just happens.

[ There are many factors, but at the bottom of it all, Hien just doesn't want to know despite being the concept of Self. ]

It's not like I enjoy getting hurt too, you know.

[partymagician]

[ Fai frowns at Hien. ]

With how often you get hurt, I'm not really inclined to believe you. I've made an effort to stay safe because your profile says you dislike physical pain, so I wonder why you're sabotaging both of us.

[ Unfortunately(?) for Hien, no longer being fake means he's going to do this from now on too. ]

cw depression, selfharm through others

[selfconcept]

[ He sure is being called out right now, but he can't really blame Fai. It's true that he doesn't like physical pain, but the efforts to dodge them hasn't really lined up with his skill level. He stood there and got hit with a pebble to his forehead and got smacked with the egg because he didn't bother to dodge. There was something even Marcus said about underestimating him because he didn't seem like the type to fight based on how lethargic he was. Hien's just depressed. He had half a mind to sleep through literally everything so far ever since he came here. It was hard to feel anything genuine other than sadness, but he chose distractions over sadness, which is why Fai hasn't had a constant stream of sadness flowing into his existence for the past two weeks. ]

... Sorry.

[ That's all he can say right now, but he continues to walk alongside Fai. ]

[partymagician]

[ Fai reaches out to take his hand. ]

It's alright.

[ ... ]

I wanted you to know that I saw it as a problem. It isn't fair for you to get mad at me for self destructive thoughts only to turn around and do the same thing.

[selfconcept]

[ His hand is loose in Fai's hold and he might be able to start feeling a small bit of resentment. Hien usually feels sad or turns hollow, but not with pure resentment, no matter the size. ]

Unfortunately, it's what I'm made of.

[ Self-destructive things. What better concept to create than Self by Destruction? He surely makes Hien suffer for shits and giggles. The resentment passes, only for a similarly sized emptiness to replace it. ]

So what should I do about it?

[partymagician]

Work on it.

[ Exactly what Hien told him to do.

He hates that emptiness even more than the resentment, so Fai squeezes his hand. ]

I'm not asking you to be perfect, just to put in some effort.

[selfconcept]

... Yeah. Okay.

[ His hand finally holds Fai's and the emptiness recedes. ]

I did try against Marcus, by the way. But sometimes things don't go according to plan and I get myself thrown onto the ground really hard.