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WHO: Val and quest takers!
WHERE: Bluo, the woods, around town
WHEN: December
WHAT: Open quests
WARNINGS: None for now!

A. Quest 36, blue for quest, anyone for chatting

[He reads it several times and honestly he has no idea what caroling is. A human thing, surely. Does he know much about human things? Not the joyful spirited kind.]

You there. [Stranger or not, blue or not.] What is caroling?

B. Quest 38, wide open

[He has no idea what Christmas spiders are, but decorating a tree is at least something that makes sense. There are no little bat charms around, but he could pretty easily make them with enough effort.]

I'm a yellow. [It's as abrupt as he ever is.] Come get and decorate a tree with me. [It's more like a demand than a request.]

C. Wildcard
[Wildcard, just tag him here for any other ideas. He sure loves fishing.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[While he's generally open about his wishes and desires, there are only a few people who actually know how lonely he really is. He's kept it mostly to himself, after all.

He's sent the message and received an affirmative reply. They're going in to make their wishes. At the edge of the forest, he's standing there with his sword in his hand. Who knows what might await them this time around.

Once he spots him, he perks up a bit.]

Are you ready?

[He gives Val a half-smile because Val at least deserves some effort from him. Despite everything that's happened in the last few days and despite Percy not quite being open with Val about what's going on, he likes the vampire enough that he'd drop everything he was doing to go off with him.

Thus. Here they are. He has his hood up and his hands are in his pockets, Riptide gripped in his fist and he nods at the question. He's also doing his best to avoid eye contact to delay having to explain why his usually sea green eyes are now a dismal gray.]

About as ready as I can be. Think we can avoid flesh-eating worms this time?

[Val lets people be as honest with him as they're willing to be. Unless he thinks they're hiding something that needs to be addressed, he's perfectly fine with hidden agendas. Especially when his comrade will still come explore and do ridiculous quests with him.

Though maybe a wish isn't that ridiculous.

He thinks it's odd that Percy isn't looking directly at him, but... It may come up later. Besides, they have something else to deal with.]

Come now, they weren't that bad. It's good to keep your skills sharp.

[Straight ahead. He marches straight in and he doesn't look back, head down a little as he keeps his shoulders hunched.]

Well since that's about the only thing I can really do here, I can't disagree with that. I'm way more out of practice than I thought.

[...not with his combat skills. He definitely means something else, but he's not exactly elaborating either.] Might have some monsters in the woods to take out while we're looking for this bell. That should help.

[He hates feeling worries about people, but Percy's making it difficult to not worry with the way he's acting. His expression twists into a worried frown.]

What are you talking about, lad? You did fine when we fought those flesh worms.

Yeah. [The worms were easy.] But it didn't change a thing, Val. Doing the exploration, finding that crypt, all of that? It didn't make a difference and I don't know why.

[...] I wasn't sure how to tell you this, but Nico's gone. I got a bounce-back this morning.

Did you get the necklace to somebody who could learn about it?

[Val goes quiet for an extended moment (rare). It's hard, loosing people he cares about. He hated it the first time he lost Artina and he never had to deal with it after. Fenrich has always been by his side since the moment he decided to serve him.

It's not Val's fault that Nico is gone, but he still feels like, maybe, a little bit, it is. What could he have done? He doesn't know. Nico might not be dead at home, he doesn't know, but he's not here and they're from two different worlds.

He has no idea if he'll see that boy again.]

I see...[His tone is very much I don't like it for just a moment before it transitions back into loud and something attempting to be reassuring. He clearly doesn't do this often.] At least you don't have to decide to tell him about the future now.

What? [...ah.] Oh man. Sorry, I totally forgot. [He actually feels bad about that and he knows the necklace is somewhere at home. It had become one of the last things on his mind but now that Val mentioned it he kind of feels like an asshole.] I'll ask, sorry.

[But yeah. Nico's gone and even if they weren't really the best of friends they were getting better. Things were getting better and they were working together and it was almost kind of nice. In a way, he hears the things his mirror taunted him with about hesitating to act and not using himself to his full potential. Maybe if he had, this wouldn't have happened.

...Val has a point, and there's a little huff that's maybe a noise of agreement or a slightly bitter laugh.]

You're right about that though. The only downside is I lost every piece of progress I made instead. [With everything. Nico's powers could have really helped out, too, especially with the fact they've been finding dead bodies and skeletons everywhere.]

As long as you ask about it eventually.

[Especially because a lot happened this last month. Between the mirrors, the color draining and the ice castle... there wasn't much time for questions. Or if there was, they were preoccupied with bigger things.

He feels like he knows Percy fairly well at this point, but he can't tell the difference between his huffs. It'll take more time before he can properly decipher things like that.]

There's no use dwelling on it. What's done is done. We have each other. We need to focus on what is here and now. So! [With a very dramatic cape sweep.] What do you feel right now?

[Val feels some misplaced regret and blame onto himself, but he's also aware he can't make the magic here do anything. There's no one here he's as close to as Artina or Fenrich, but Nico reminded him so much of one of his younger party members.

The mirror was right, even when he was colorless. He is lonely.]

[That's a very dangerous question. They're making a trek through the woods and Percy's subconsciously manipulating ice and liquid around them to get out of their way. He's not even sure which way they're walking anymore or if they're going the right away. His hood shields his face and his hands tighten into balled up fists in his pockets as he thinks of how to answer.

He hates that question. He never knows how to really answer that.]

I don't know if that matters. Focusing on what's here and now makes more sense, you're right, but at the same time how do we know how long that's going to be and if there's enough time to focus on what's here and now?

[Weirdly philosophical, Percy. And way to avoid the question.]

[He dodged the question in it's entirety. With that answer Percy seems preoccupied. Of course Val is right, he's never been the type to dwell in past mistakes. Sure he remembers them, but it's what drives him forward.]

Of course it matters! You matter. Your feelings matter, especially to the way this town's magic seems to work. [It's strange to have to remind Percy of this, but... hm. After everything they've been through together, after Percy heard Val's "deep dark secrets" he just decides to go for it. He's earned the right to have Valvatorez actually use his name while speaking to him.]

Besides, you're thinking too far forward, Percy. The moment is now, and now we're looking for a bell to tell our wishes.

[It's the usage of his name that actually jars him a little. Usually it's "lad" or some other variation and it's then that he actually looks at Val, too. Gray eyes blink at him, openly surprised and he shakes his head to try and clear his thoughts.]

... you think the town's shaped by how we're thinking and feeling about stuff? [It's almost rhetorical because they've both seen how the town shapes people and their actions based on their own emotions. It's just something else Percy dislikes from time to town. There's a pause, Percy biting the inside of his cheek to bite back some words before he tilts his head down again.]

Maybe I've forgotten how to focus on what's happening now when everything's always been shaped by what's coming for my future. Sorry, Val. [A tentative grin follows.] You're right.

[His eyes are not the right color. He doesn't know why they're not the right color, but it's definitely worrying that they're grayed out. He files it away for later. Something else to ask after, right now his focus is getting Percy to the moment instead of in the past or out far in the future.

He offers a grin back, wide and open. They both know that the town seems to be shaped by the people who've arrived in it. There's no reason to remark on it.]

I am. This gives you an opportunity to practice. There's nothing here forcing you forward except yourself! So live in the moment!

[He's loud. He's so loud and some of the local wildlife does not appreciate it. Then there's a roar as something that looks like a bear with tiny little bat wings comes charging at them.]

[He's right. It's unfortunate, but he's right.]

I guess practice won't kill me. [He's about to agree, but then Val summons a goddamn bear and Percy hears the roar before he sees the creature.] Annnnd I guess in this moment we need to stop that thing!

[His hood falls off of his head the moment he reaches for Riptide, uncapping the pen and wielding the sword to block the bear.] Escape route? Or are we fighting?

Exactly! We're going to fight it, of course. Take a step back.

[Practice will not kill Percy and they even get to fight a bear. There are so few opportunities to fight. Val takes a step backwards so he's about four spaces away from the bear and then initiates Cross Demon Rush.

Which means Val is just jumping directly into the air and rushing forward at the bear, slashing it twice in a cross formation. The bear looks beaten up and like it might just decide to leave them alone.

It seems to be debating it.]

It's a shame they don't have their color back. There's plenty of meat on a bear.

[He was lowkey sort of assuming Val would say that and he doesn't seem to care. On the other hand, he blanches at the thought even as he jumps back enough. Val initiates Cross Demon Rush and Percy's immediately following with "Greeks Fight Stuff" which is literally just slashing at the bear.

At least there's ice around them. He can use that if he has to.]

I am not in the mood to eat bear meat, dude. [He has friends who can turn into bears...it just feels sort of Weird now.]

[He loves fighting, okay. Let him have this. Between the two of them, the bear ends up very dead. Obstacle one: overcome.]

There are plenty of people in the town who likely would eat bear meat.

Okay, do you want to try and carry a bear back? [...huh. Wait. Could they carry a bear back? They could maybe skin it for its fur at least since it's already dead.

Gods why is he actually considering this...]

You think I couldn't?

[Yes, it's large and awkward to carry, but it's not as though Val is weak. His ATK is the highest in the game.]

It has nothing to do with that, but I'm not sure how carrying a dead bear through the woods until we find a bell is gonna help. Think if we leave it here it'll still be good?

[It's cold out here, at least according to the snow on the ground and the way the humans' breath hangs in the air. If they leave it here for a few hours the worst that could happen is that it'll freeze.]

It will. The environment is cold enough to preserve it for when we come back. Unless something tries to eat it while we're gone.

[It's cold but not enough to bother him at least.] Okay. So we'll come back for it and figure out what to do with it. We can probably use its fur for something at the very least even if the meat's gross. [But he'll start forward again.]

We'll have to come back this way anyway. We'll check it out on the way back.

It's just gamey. The meat isn't as bad as you might think.

[But now that they've resolved what to do with the bear they can move forward.]

How deep do you think the bell is?

Edited 2018-12-05 03:12 (UTC)

[There's a thoughtful sort of noise both about bear meat and about retrieving this bell.] If it's a quest and we're supposed to find it, I'm gonna guess it's pretty far. We might run into a few more bears before we find it, but we should maybe be looking up.

We could stand to fight a few more bears. You think it'll be high up in a tree?

[He could maybe get it without much trouble, but it's probably supposed to stay where it is.]

Percy - Quest 39

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