( OPEN ) blink twice if you need help

[tot]

WHO: uta and whoever
WHAT: bingo effects & catch-all for dec
WHEN: 12/10 - 12/12 (for catte), 12/13 - 12/16 for the rest
WHERE: wherever most (in)convenient
WARNINGS: there shouldn't be any??


ᴍᴇᴏᴡᴍɪx ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀʟ sᴏɴɢ ɪɴᴛᴇɴsɪғɪᴇs.

[ where are you right now? are you simply wandering around the island in no particular place? well, for those near the beach you can find a small calico cat who seems rather skittish and may be running away from a dog. fortunately, the dog doesn't seem to be chasing after the cat with any bloodlust but more like following her around? what is happening here?

or maybe you are having a meal when this small calico walks up to you and meows exactly once before sitting politely at your feet. or maybe you're just somewhere on the island in general when you stumble upon her. ]

ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʜᴀɴɢs ᴏɴ ʜᴇᴀᴠʏ ʜᴀɴᴅs.

[ because i refuse to believe that there is not a single bench on this entire island, uta will be outside sitting on one of them while flipping through a book with a title that seems... questionable or exciting depending on your taste in reading material. for uta, however, she'll questioning the novel she received with the proud title of My Boyfriend Is The One Except He’s A Lizard And Father Doesn’t Approve on its cover and spine. can't forget what you're reading, after all.

why is she reading this book outside where god and everyone can see her questionable taste? simple. if she must suffer, she will not go down alone—would be the answer if she was petty. the truth is that she's hoping to pawn it off to someone (anyone) else who finds the faintest interest in it. ]

ɪ'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴀ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ.

[ since it has been a bit since they've all arrived, uta will be checking out the boutique's offerings to see if she can't find something to change up her wardrobe. farmcore has never been her thing, but wearing an all-white dress with a short skirt is definitely not practical. that said, she will be posing in front of a mirror in some new clothes which still aren't great for farming before going to change into something else that is a lot more reasonable.

perhaps it's interesting that regardless whatever she is trying on, she'll have a particular straw hat on her head in exchange for the headphones. ]

ʙ-ɪ-ɴ-ɢ-ᴏ!

[ if you'd like pick a square from her card here and we can go. ]

Comments

wildcard

[sluice]

[ Someways on the beach, closer to Uta's beach farm than should be feasibly allowed, Childe's off testing something incredibly ill-advised. So, business as usual. Only way to tell something's gone awry is the heaviness choking up the air, building up the same way condensation does. Seconds before it happens, that's the only actual warning that meets Uta: what feels a whole lot like the premonition of rain. If she glances up, though, it isn't storm clouds gathering above, but this huge, whale-shaped form rising to obscure her entire view.

Sure is a gigantic narwhal, watery and huge, come to crash down on her if she doesn't move to escape the splash zone. ]

Watch out!

[ Clearly, he's the perpetrator. But the shock is evident on his face; until today, his control over water was flimsy and slipshod, less than receptive to his demands. Now, just like back then, it takes nothing at all: willing his Hydro Vision to answer his call, it responds in kind. ]

[tot]

[ you know, when uta woke up today and if someone would have told her to be careful of gigantic bodies of water in the shape of some sort of whale falling from the sky and onto her, then she would have thought that'd be a bit too crazy for a place like this. ...apparently being turned into a cat for two days and having her hand stuck to a person are acceptable but this? definitely not.

but, yes, (un)fortunately for her she does notice the shadow on the ground and the way the air changes before looking up and spotting the culprit. and according to the dice i rolled, uta will not be able to dodge out of the way and escape the splash zone. she will, at least, be far enough away to where it doesn't fall on her wholesale and her dog, luffy, seemed to be presently elsewhere. ...small blessings at least. ]

W, what was that?

[ she'll look around frantically trying to see what could have been the source of it only not minding how she's drenched. the drowned rat is a look, i guess. only once it becomes obvious, to her, that there was not a clear indicator of what triggered that will she look to childe. ]

Did something happen? [ why is he not drenched? ] Are you okay?

[sluice]

[ No worries. Cat solidarity is forthcoming.

Today, however, he isn't a furry, but the main culprit in this egregious crime? Luckily, it was water park levels of intensity, and not, like, mayhem on par with attempting to drown a city. ]

Ah, you could say I'm the one to blame for that? [ May as well be upfront. If nothing else, Childe does appear severely penitent. ] I should explain. It was due to my Vision.

[ Unclipping it from his belt, he presents it for examination, some water-cold gem inset with the Hydro symbol. ]

Until recently, it wasn't what you'd call functional. Didn't think that'd change today... [ Fooling around on the beach trying to summon the Celestial Voyager has clearly cost him. ] Are you alright? If you're fine waiting, I can go fetch some towels now.

[ Pretty sure he saw a few kiosks advertising such on the way over. ]

[tot]

[ except uta got another cat bonus effecting comin' at her, but it won't be here so at least there's that. ]

Your Vision?

[ taking a few steps forward, she'll take a look at the item held out to her and give it a long stare. to her, it looks very pretty and under different circumstances she would have asked if there was a way she could get her hands on something like that. ]

So, it's like those other two... [ uta's voice will trail off for a moment as she mulls over the word in this particular context. it's something that held a different name than what she would think normally. she'll be muttering to herself without being fully aware of it. then when it finally comes to her— ]

Ah! I see! [ did she though? ] It must be nice that you got your power back, then! It's certainly something that would get the attention of a lot of people, and you don't have to worry about any towels.

It's just a bit of water; I'll dry out soon enough.

[ "a bit of water" she's soaked, but she's still smiling and raises both her arms up to do a bit of a fist pump to prove it. ]

[sluice]

[ Ruefulness stops giving way to contemplation at some point, expecting some stronger rebuttal but treated to... kindness instead? Something incredibly telling: he may have an idealist on his hands, if she can overlook this much.

At any rate, Childe's gaze is affixed to her, overly keen with his regard. A force of habit. He's quick to smile. ]

That's really nice of you to say! Still, I can't leave you like this. Let me at least make up for it somehow. I was intruding, wasn't I?

[ Someone finally caught on... to trespassing on private property... ]

Most farms I encountered were further inland. I didn't think anyone was living over here, actually... guess I was wrong about that, too. [ Finally, very conversational but divorced from any greater context: ] You know, it's pretty strange that so many Vision wielders ended up here. Any chance you met up with someone you know from elsewhere?

[ Wow, hot gossip. Also, the implication that he knows all of them, when only Zhongli elicits vague familiarity, is one he doesn't bother amending. Very sneaky of him. ]

[tot]

[ childe certainly has his hands on an idealist for certain; the lengths that uta can forgive is kind of surreal but nevertheless, uta doesn't show any signs that her words are anything else but well-meaning or sincere. glad to know that there is someone who has realized that they are just wandering into people's homes—not that uta is putting much stock into it. ]

Ah, well, I was still trying to get a handle on this farming business. I was able to restore a lot of the farm back to livable conditions using the bingo squares that I managed to complete. [ this is how you cheat the system. work smarter and not harder, clearly. ] Except I'm not that great at this sort of thing, especially because we're so close to the shores.

[ the hard labor of tilting the soil and all of that is what she means. never in her entire life has uta been made to any kind of heavy labor like this. before she addresses childe's question about whether she has met up with someone else, she'll shake her head (carefully). ]

No, I haven't met anyone else that I would have known before coming here. [ subconsciously, she'll start to wring out some of the water from her hair. it could be seen as a nervous tick or simply because she's wet. ] But isn't it nice that there are so many people that you know? ...unless they're people you don't get along with?

[ because uta is no stranger of different factions with conflicting interests and all of that. everyone that she has ran into seemed to be civil enough with one another, if nothing else? ]

[sluice]

That's too bad. It is easier to deal with friends over strangers. Not that I'm any better. Some of them aren't too fond of me. [ A nice and courteous way to say that homicide is on the mind, always. An attempt to end his life has already been made. But Childe's behaving himself otherwise, outside of flinging a whale on an innocent bystander. ] We just don't see eye-to-eye on things, that's all.

[ That impasse is impossible to traverse, given his sick and radical devotion to the Tsaritsa and how most of his actions ultimately align with her interests. No helping it. ]

You can call me Tartaglia, by the way! Or Childe. If you need a helping hand with your farm today, I'd like to pitch in. You could say I have the upper hand here.

[ Wiggling his fingers, he summons a little palm-sized water fish to float around the air, perfect for watering crops. He's real sorry about overturning the ocean on her head with the true-to-life version. ]

I can assist you with your card, too.

[tot]

Oh, is that so? [ uta will not know better of childe's homicidal ways and she'll frown at his situation. at the same time, isn't it rough for someone to be surrounded by people who don't like them? you know, regardless of what kind of things that you've done? ] Well, maybe this can be your chance to make up and learn about one another better. We're all starting from the same place, right? No one here is really any better than anyone else.

[ because despite it all, she is an optimist at heart. sure the people she has met have held fancy titles and have a certain level of prestige to them, but they were still all effectively in the same situation, weren't they? if there was any room or desire for redemption, this wouldn't be a bad place to start. ]

But between Tartagila or Childe... [ she'll parrot them both back at him with a bit of clumsiness for "tartagila" over "childe" for obvious reasons. nevertheless, she'll speak it in a way that she doesn't butcher his name as she gives him a look. ] Do you have a preference between the two of them?

[ as she waits for him to let her know which he'd like to be referred to, she'll walk over and fetch a shovel and a garden rake. she'll hold each one up with a different hand. ...though it will be very clear that she's managing it out of enthusiasm by in large. ]

And if you have some time to spare then perhaps you can help me till the soil? [ let's ignore how quick she is to put him to work... ] I was able to get Aria's blessing to improve the soil here but it still needs some work before I should plant anything. We can also exchange squares, too.

[sluice]

[ Redemption arcs just aren't for him. Crashing and burning are just words for the way that Childe chooses to live his terrible life, usually to his own detriment. ]

Between you and me, 'Childe' is a whole lot easier to say.

[ So it edges out barely over Tartaglia, though he doesn't take much offense to either alias. Neither of them are his real name, after all. ]

I can drop by later to lend a hand with your card. Any squares you're having trouble with?

[ Spoken without an ounce of resistance, he obligingly takes the rake and shovel in both hands. Why is he so willing to be a workhorse? Principles, mostly. More than anything, he loathes being indebted to anything or anyone. If allowed, he will wander over to what he presumes is Uta's field. Imagine that it isn't, though, and Childe embarrasses himself even more egregiously. It's honestly what he deserves. ]

Also, where should I start?

[tot]

[ coming here to respond to this comment after seeing the shipping chart and just be like "you genshins are messy". ...except uta knows nothing about how messy you all are and instead will flash childe a smile when he weighs in between the two of the names. ]

Then Childe it is! [ she says with a clap of her hands once he has taken the shovel and rake from her. thank you for your willingness to get right to work, childe. ] And you can start over there.

[ uta will point to a plot of land on the opposite side of where he had walked to. though, it might have been a bit more obvious in retrospect given how there were small mounds of what looked like dead leaves nearby. ]

There are still a few stubborn rocks in the soil that were giving me trouble. I already gathered some dead leaves that can be mixed in once they're out. [ as for the matter of the squares. well. uta will look a bit bashful before responding to that. ] I wouldn't say that I'm having trouble with any of the squares themselves but—I have a few squares that are about cooking and I have extremely limited experience with that.

[ hopefully childe isn't thinking less of her with her lacking in the realms of physical strength as well as cooking. these were not skills that were required of a musician like her. ...she probably has great breath control, though? ]

[sluice]

[ Sometimes you just cause problems on purpose, and decide making things infinitely worse is your new passion in life. Luckily, this is occurring in the past, before Childe's fucked things up a fair deal. ]

How about I drop by at some point and cook with you? I'm not too shabby in the kitchen. I'll need some time to gather what we need, though. Anything you have in mind?

[ Wandering over to the plot of land utterly congested with dead leaves, he gets to work stabbing the business end of the shovel into the silt and gouging the rocks out of the earth. A bit unfortunate that she ended up stuck here, where the soil's poorer, but he's pretty envious of the notion of waking up everyday to sandy turf and the roar of the ocean. ]

Must be hard doing this all by yourself!

[ Maybe she has a roommate, though? Given his situation with Pyra, it doesn't appear to be a completely uncommon occurrence. ]

[tot]

That sounds great to me! As for what...

[ her voice will trail as she thinks about what would be a good dish to ask for. obviously, it can't be too complicated or otherwise there's a high chance that she might not be able to replicate it without making a bunch of failures to start with. however, as she is still thinking childe mentions how he is assuming that she's alone in doing this and her reply is quick. ]

There's no way that I'd be able to do this on my own. I'd still be pulling weeds out of the soil if I was. Achilles does most of the heavily lifting around here. It's why I worked really hard to make things nicer around here by completing the squares.

[ oh. that'd be a good thing to ask childe to teach her. ]

What about a meal suited for a hero? [ sorry for the swift shift in conversation topics but it did come to her just then and he did ask her previously. ] That's probably too vague, so maybe something with a lot of meat and hardy. Does anything come to mind?

[sluice]

[ Simplicity, then? Something easy for Uta to make to impress Achilles, that illustrious hero... ]

Avgolemono should do!

[ Pausing where he's tilling the land, he retrieves his stationary set from his back pocket and scribbles the ingredient list down: carrots, celery, green onions, garlic, eggs, lemon, rice, chicken and its stock for broth. Childe also adds his address. After handing the sheet of paper over to her, he straightens once more. ]

Come by in a week or two. I'll make it together with you.

[ His kitchen's tricked-out, it's no fuss. The ingredients are really for her own benefit, in case she decides to make it on her own from that point forward. After that, he'll continue to dig up the soil until the field is no longer a mess of hard-packed soil and rocks. ]

... What do you think? Do I get full marks?

[ Nothing Achilles couldn't do better, but he's still proud of accomplishing this feat in record time. ]

[tot]

[ uh. ]

Av...go...le...mono?

[ hopefully she doesn't trip over how it's supposed to say but if she does it's because it's not something she knows. never in uta's entire life has she heard of something like that so she's extremely thankful for childe when he writes down the list of ingredients for her. she will be needing this at a later date. ]

But right! I'll do just that. [ that thought tucked away, she'll look over the field and "scrutinize" childe's work. she takes her sweet time looking over everything purposefully taking her time before giving childe a nod of approval. ] I'll give you full marks and some bonus for the list of ingredients. I'll also promise not to tell Achilles that you beat him in this.

[ because the last thing she needs to encourage a competition between the two of them..? if that is a thing that should be on the table...?? she has no real idea, honestly. she just imagines that achilles wouldn't want to lose to something like this. ]

[sluice]

[ Nodding, Childe hands her back the farm tools, albeit a touch dustier than they were several minutes prior. ]

Did I? Hard to believe I could pull that one off, but I'll take you at your word.

[ Flattery won't win him over so easily, but he's reveling in that thought, very smiley about it. Were he to encounter Achilles at full strength, he'd definitely be annihilated in a heartbeat by that absolute legend. So exciting! ]

I'll be on my way then. Call me once you've gathered what you need. [ Walking backwards, Childe waves. ] See you soon.

[ He didn't even catch her name?! Oh, well. With that parting note, he'll be off. ]