as the youths say, a catchall

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WHO: Emil and whoever
WHERE: various
WHEN: January
WHAT: quests and misc
WARNINGS: local idiot barely tries to reach bare minimum

hello pm/jojoveller/just fuckin hit me with something if you want a thread

Comments

emil burns lalli's ugly hoodie while he's mysteriously missing, if only

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[So, it's Morning, and Emil is waking up at Lalli's weird boat house becaaause who really wants to go clear out puppets from somewhere else? Who really, truly wants to do work when they can sleep in?? It's probably been at least an extra day because if they haven't figured out how to open a laptop and read quests at this point, Lalli will die a frog, so.

Emil is still here, and that's normal, because less privacy only offends him when it's other people. This is fine. He'll just go about his morning business, which is mostly fixing his hair, and he only notices Lalli is not slinking around in his periphery doing Lalli things after a good, say, fifteen minutes.

Hmm!! Where's that boy... Emil ducks down to check under the bed before checking the rest of the house, because there's no way Lalli woke up before him and went somewhere. Laughable. And yet, there's no Lalli under here...]

Um, what?

[where IS this boy!!]

dang... don't be jealous of lalli's fresh new fit

[ilves]

[Lalli is exactly where he should be: under his bed, hiding beneath a warm blanket as he snoozes the morning away. It's been a difficult few days? He deserves to enjoy his nice, deep sleep for once, but... well. Waking to the sounds of Emil bumbling about is the price he pays for allowing Emil to stay in his space; he's well aware of this, and yet he's still incredibly grumpy as he slowly cracks open one eye and streeeetches—

Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Both froggy eyes fly open, because these aren't his normal arms? This isn't his normal anything?? Lalli's been through some shit, yes, but nothing can quite match waking up to find that he's been turned into some... weird little frog. How is he even supposed to deal with this???

Answer: NOT WELL. Enjoy this quiet, anxious ribbit, Emil, before Lallifrog begins hopping around underneath his stupid blanket, trying—and failing—to find a way out of this trap. It's like a very tiny, yet very excited ghost is trapped under there? Please... free him...]

hmmm not the word i would use

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[Where is Lalli?? Emil wonders yet again, very nearly straightening back up and going to look somewhere else before he hears... frog sounds? There's a frog in Lalli's bed space??

Well, that doesn't make sense-- maybe they should start, uh, taping the windows shut at night. How would a frog even get in here?]

Hello? [He ducks down a little more, lifting the corner of Lalli's blanket to see this weird interloper. Hi??? Frogs are gross, but it's kind of cute... hmm.] How did you get in here?

[Come out here, tiny thing.]

[ilves]

[It's those cheekbones, isn't it? Look at how sharp they are... blessed by the froggy gods.

Anyway, Lalli wanted out—until, of course, the blanket was peeled away. Emil is Emil, and that's fine—a relief, even—but he's so much larger than he has any right to be? And the same goes for everything around him. Lalli blinks left? Lalli blinks right? Lalli blinks back up at Emil and decides to hunker down right where he is, because maybe he's better off... right where he is until he can think of a plan? Or until Emil recognizes him. Surely Emil recognizes him. Emil is his friend.]

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[If his froggy cheekbones were that good, Emil wouldn't take so long to figure it out. He sees... a frog... and the first thing he honestly thinks after "hmm what" is that it's lucky Lalli is mysteriously already out of bed because he'd probably be bothered by a frog crawling into his space.

So with that in mind, for Lalli-who-isn't-a-frog's benefit, Emil figures he should... take this little guy out, holding his hand out for this clearly anxious frog to come. Let's go.]

[ilves]

[...Well, Emil isn't saying anything, but maybe that's a good thing? Lalli eyes that hand, weighing his very limited options, before oh-so slowly... hopping over to it. But not on it! Not yet. Frog or no frog, there's a difference between letting Emil pat him on the shoulder and letting Emil possibly pick him up. It's... weird! Uncomfortable! Worrying!

And even though he doesn't want to seriously consider this, what if—what IF—Emil really doesn't know that he's... him? Like, Lalli knows that he's somehow as far away from his normal self as he can possibly be; he gets that, strange as it is, and yet the thought of his one friend failing to recognize him just. Stings his tiny, froggy heart.

...So what he clearly needs to do is sit beside Emil's hand and stare right up at him. Look at these wide eyes! What other creature watches you with wide eyes, Emil...]

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[Emil waits and waits, and the frog just... stares at him. Alright.]

...Oookay.

[Well, he's not going to grab a slimy frog for fun, so maybe he'll just leave it there and hope it hops away by itself? He actually just sits down on the floor at this point, to be sure, and he's sitting there cross-legged and leaning on his elbows for a few actual minutes, staring right back at this frog, before he Realizes. There could be a montage of "clues" flashing here in front of him, as he figures it out - no Lalli, the weird quest things on the computer, a frog under the bed, big staring eyes...

Emil nearly smacks his face into the bed frame in his hurry to scramble back down to eye level with this weirdo frog. Can he tell from the intensity of the stare... will this frog tell all the other frogs and make fun of him if he's wrong...??]

Lalli...?

[ilves]

[A normal, well-adjusted person would probably understand why it's taking Emil so long to connect these particular dots? A normal, well-adjusted person might even realize that simply staring up at him isn't exactly helping things along, but as Lalli is neither normal nor well-adjusted... well. By the time Emil comes crashing down to take a second look, Lalli's (limited) patience has officially disappeared; he is frustrated, thank you, and he narrows his eyes before answering Emil's dumb question with a decidedly cranky croak. Of course it's him! Who else would be under here, you stupid, stupid Swede...]

why are you awake i say as i too am awake

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[Don't be rude, boy, you are a frog. Emil doesn't know what he expected - like, maybe Lalli-as-frog should be able to talk to him in normal human words? So now he's both confused and disappointed and, alright, pretty freaked out. Why is Lalli a frog?? Why is this happening to them???

But okay... uhhhh... he holds his hand out again? Get over here, angry frog.]

Well, will you come here already? Don't just hide under there all day!

this is my post now

[ilves]

[Lalli could spend another day avoiding Emil. He's tempted to, honestly, but not because he's irritated by the whole froggy misadventure - that feeling simmered right down after a day spent picking his way through the outskirts of this town's unfamiliar forest. It's more like he's... well, ashamed isn't really the right word, but maybe it's close? ...Kind of. Emil deserved to be snapped at; Lalli (mostly) believes this, and yet it doesn't change the fact that he didn't like seeing his friend look so upset. Emil should be smiling and/or whining about non-Lalli-related things at all times! It's law.

Still, it's not like he knew what to do about it? How to fix what he may or may not have messed up, epecially not after he came back to his room to find Emil sitting there, just... waiting for him to return. That was an awkward encounter, even for him, which is why he said incredibly little and dove underneath his bed as quickly as possible.

But hey, it's a new day! A new start, if you will, and Lalli isn't about to sleep in and waste it all. Sure, he loiters around his room longer than he probably should, but it's still sometime in the early-ish morning when he finally convinces himself to head over to Emil's house. He's just going to, you know, let himself in the front door—seriously, who cares about roommates?—and head on over to scratch at Emil's door. Good morning... if you're up, then let him in...]

art imitates life

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[Was it, in fact, kind of awkward to sit on Lalli's bed and just wait for him to come back? Yeah, for sure. Very awkward actually, when Lalli did finally return, but it seemed like a good idea at the time and Emil doesn't like staying angry with Lalli. Or not knowing if he's alright, after stomping off by himself in a terrifying new place, or whatever. It was stressful!

But wasting his time stressing and then awkwardly getting the hell out of there did not, sadly, make it up to Lalli at all. He needs... a new plan. Unfortunately he has only one friend, and his one friend is still kind of mad at him, he's sure, so he's on his own. He thinks, vaguely, that perhaps Lalli would like a new blanket, a nice one that isn't from this awful place, and then he goes to sleep.

He wakes up with a beautiful brand new blanket piled on his face which is deeply uncomfortable, and only when he tosses it aside does he notice it has a big hole cut out in the middle. Maybe Lalli would like a new blanket that isn't totally useless, he thinks, and another blanket materializes out of thin air to land on his head again.

Truly, this is the worst town on earth. Not earth? Whatever. When Lalli comes scratching at his door he's two more blankets in and definitely not expecting company and there are blankets everywhere in this tiny room, so it's a very tousled and flustered Emil who opens the door with an armful of one blanket and another one seemingly stuck to his leg like velcro, whatever velcro is. Not his finest hour.]

Oh, hi. You're talking to me now? [Sure, he didn't actually say anything... but a guy can hope...]

[ilves]

[Maybe! Maybe not, because that is not the enthusiastic greeting he was expecting here, Emil. Lalli is prepared to silently stare back at him for a minute or so, just BECAUSE, before he takes in the blanket that Emil is holding? And the one attached to his leg? And, after leaning to peer around Emil's side, the many other ones strewn about as far as the eye can see.

Huh. Okay, new plan: talk, but ignore Emil's stupid, stupid question.]

...What are you doing?

[Like, he knows that you've been bitching about the lack of comfortable options in this place, Emil, but this is ridiculous.]

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[The blanket diversion is a success... except that he didn't want this at all, his hair is standing up in several undesirable directions, and now he has to explain himself? Cruel world.]

Ummmmm...

[Hmmmmm... no one is here to save him... alright. He sheepishly lifts the blanket in his arms to not quite show it off. It looks like a normal blanket so far, but just look at the mess he's made. Who can say.]

Well, funny story...? I'm not sure how, but I was trying to get you something new. You know, because everything else here is terrible.

[ilves]

[Emil's hair will be fixed soon enough, but first—um, what? Like, he remembers Emil saying something stupid about ~making everything up to him~, but he also remembers saying that he didn't want that to happen... boy...

Oh, and there's also the fact that none of what Emil just said made any sense at all! So Lalli is processing a lot of things at this point in time, which is why he gives Emil a rather flat look when he finally straightens back up.]

Aha.

[That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? Let him reach out to touch that blanket Emil is holding up for him to see, and... wow, but that is the itchiest fabric known to man? He's clearly unimpressed, because what are you trying to say here, Emil. Did you hit your head...]

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Don't give me that look. I know they're all just as terrible! They just keep showing up!

[Please, don't judge his impeccable taste in soft blankets. He doesn't know what he's doing, but he does know these blankets are sub par and it's not his fault. He huffs and piles up the blanket he's holding just because he hates it that much, stepping back as he does so to let Lalli pass. Come here, it was a whole 12 hours but he was lonely.]

Are you coming in?

[ilves]

[No, he's going to chill out here in the hallway - except not really, because guess who kind-of-sort-of-maybe missed their loudmouth friend? Hmm. Plus it's nice for things to feel... almost normal again. Lalli still hasn't forgotten being a frog, of course, but Emil doing stupid Emil things is much, much better than Emil looking sad.

So yes, into the room he steps! But just, like, far enough in to stand right in front of Emil, because he has to take a second to fix this boy's hair. Emil likes looking neat, and it's... well... consider this part two of Lalli's non-existent apology. Part one was waking up and coming all the way over here on his own.]

So stop doing what you're doing. It's messy.

[Whatever it is, anyway? Duh. As soon as Emil's hair is back to its normal, sparkly state, though, Lalli walks over to begin kicking around some of the other blankets. He's not sure if he buys that these are just showing up out of thin air, but hey... he was a frog...]

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[Oh— hello, yes, thank you. Emil likes looking his very best(tm) and he likes when Lalli puts in the effort to do this little thing for him, so that small gesture of hair-fixing makes him feel... better. Not perfect, and there are still stupid blankets everywhere, but better.

Good job? Kind of. He'll just put the itchy blanket down on the end of the bed...]

I wanted to help... The one you're kicking is alright, but it ruined my hair, like you saw. It's the only one that's even a little acceptable.

it's another lalli thread which is not my fault

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[Or: The One Where Emil Is Sick

The way Emil gets pricked by thorns is actually quite stupid, because... of course it is. This is Emil we're talking about, who can't get through a single day without some kind of huge crisis. This time, at least, getting attacked by magic vines is a huge crisis, but he doesn't realize it in the moment. It's very simple: he's on his way out of his house to go back, as usual, to Lalli's, when he's suddenly confronted with a ton of vines that weren't there before.

Naturally, when nudging them with his foot does nothing, he stomps down hard on the biggest one blocking his path most completely, which does jerk it out of the way, buuut it whaps into his hand on the way down. Now with a cut hand he is super upset about this day already!! but keeps on trucking, stomping the rest of way to Bluo in a Mood. There's even more vine-kicking, but without getting scraped over and over again.

This is not a sickness mood, however. Just a regular Emil mood.

When he finally gets to Lalli's place, however, he's already feeling... more exhausted than usual? That doesn't make sense! He didn't run here! But here he is, tired, like he's Lalli or something— thankfully he still has the energy to let himself in and sulk all the way to Lalli's room, cradling his terribly wounded hand and looking grumpy. Hello best boy, give him positive attention, he's grumpy.]

Lalli! Plants tried to cut my hand off!

hey, lying is a sin

[ilves]

[Did Lalli wake up twenty or so minutes ago? Maybe. Did Lalli step outside, spot those vines, and head right back up to his room to grab his rifle? Definitely. He's quick to pick up on things that don't involve, like, actual people; it only took a quick moment of study for him to spot that the vines—the largest ones, anyway—could be traced back to... the forest. Or its general direction, anyway. Hmm!

So the plan is to head over to Emil's house, let him know what's going on, and then do what he does best: SCOUT. Emil, however, clearly couldn't stay put for long at all, and that's fine! Lalli isn't opposed to Emil just bursting into his room while he's throwing his rifle over his shoulder, but doing so while whining about being attacked by plants—]

The weird, long ones? [Hello, good morning, etc, as Lalli turns to actually face him.] ...How?

[They didn't attack him when he was out there? And plus there's not even a lot of blood to be seen here? Jeez. His eyes narrow as he peers down at the hand that's partially hidden from view, because come on, you baby, just let him see this grievous wound of yours. Don't make him reach for it.]

i never sin

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[He's here and he's whiny!!! Hi, Lalli, please handle your boy because he is already doing terrible at handling himself.]

What do you mean, how? I walked outside and they swung at me!

[Now he's not going back outside ever again! Thankfully the actual mattress part of Lalli's bed is pretty much already Emil's, he's decided, so he heads over to flop down on it immediately before he holds up his awful wound. It's... well, it's a cut? There is an actual cut here, but obviously it's not cut-my-hand-off level.]

Look! I'm going to lose the whole hand.

damn, another lie... where's the lightning

[ilves]

[Oh, okay, Emil... go ahead and camp out here? It's not like Lalli minds; he doesn't even look the slightest bit surprised as he walks closer to inspect that hand, because now that they've more or less settled in, he's accepted that this is just How It Goes.

Plus there are other things to worry about, like this... incredibly minor cut. Huh. Lalli, the boy who pulled glass from his arm without a second thought, studies it for a second—and then gives Emil the mildest of Looks.]

No, you're not.

[This boy!! It's amazing that he's made it this far in life, honestly, but Lalli refrains from calling him STUPID as he reaches out to, like, gently press that arm back down to Emil's side. Maybe he'll go find something to wrap it up in soon-ish, but until then, stop whining.]

And they didn't swing at me. They're just plants. [A beat, and then, because this seems incredibly likely:] Did you trip over them?

i've never lied in my LIFE

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[Yes he is dying LALLI... It's obvious that he is totally dying. He frowns - it's honestly more like pouting, he's pouting, this is a full-blown sulk - when Lalli nudges his arm back down. Where is his deserved pity!!]

No! I was trying to get them out of the way and now I'm bleeding [not really] and I'm dizzy. Why am I dizzy?

[He's currently irritated about this particular thing, but just wait, he'll backslide into panic mode soon enough.]

hmm... doubt.png

[ilves]

[So... he definitely tripped, then? This is the vibe that Lalli is picking up here, but he's not about to press the issue as he watches Emil's dumb face.]

I don't know? [He's not Mikkel!!] Don't think about your hand.

[Because surely these ~dramatics~ can be traced back to how worried he seems about that tiny, tiny cut, even though—hmm. Lalli isn't an expert; he doesn't pay enough attention to 99.9% people to know when they're a little off, but Emil... falls solidly in that 0.01% of people he does pay attention to. And is Emil looking a little paler? Than normal? Enjoy this intense scrutiny, Emil, as Lalli wonders how to put this...]

...You look different.

[Perfect.]

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My hand hurts, [he says, petulantly, like the child he is. That's the last he'll talk about it for now, though, as he just frowns at Lalli watching him... He's tired, and woozy like he just sprinted all the way here instead of just walking, and so he doesn't have the energy to say anything until Lalli just offers a sort-of-explanation for him.

Hmm. Okay.]

What? How?

[ilves]

[He doesn't have the healthy sort of... glow that he usually does? He looks a little peaked, truth be told, but! Hmm! Lalli leans in the tiniest bit, brow furrowing as he tries to pin it down and brush aside Emil's incredible attitude. Boy, it's just a scrape...]

Mmm... [He straightens back up, frowning ever so lightly.] Your face is white? And your hair is messy.

[Did he throw that last bit in just because? Maybe. Don't come stomping into his room just to be RUDE.]