crescentview | January/Summer catch-all

January/Summer catch-all

WHO: M-21 and anyone
WHAT: Open + catchall
WHEN: All summer
WHERE: All over the island
WARNINGS: none, TBA if needed. Plotting here!

i. message in a bottle (beginning of month)

[ M-21 can be found at the memo board leaving his incredibly compelling self-advertisement-slash-transparent attempt at cheating. He's also lingering a little over the response to another one before he takes it with him. Catch him in the act, or take him up on his proposition!

Threads using the "compelled to speak the truth" event happen before Jan 7. ]

ii. rain on the beach (Jan 10)

[ Possibly M-21 did not understand the assignment to exercise with a partner. Possibly he's just getting in his laps industriously, proving why he counts for the "works out five times a week" scavenger hunt option. Either way, a little rain isn't going to slow him down any. He's jogging contentedly along the beach with absolutely no regard to how annoying running in sand is, or the rain that should be soaking him.

Probably because there's a localized sunbeam around just him. The smugger he gets about this, the brighter it seems to shine. Does this mean the goddess made up with him? He has no idea, but he's going to bask in it while it lasts. Anyone approaching will get a relatively good-natured nod. ]

You coming?

iii. wildcard

[ Catch me on my planning/PM/discord if you want a starter! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It's a lovely morning in the village. The sun is shining. The plants are thriving. M-21's roommate is now small and purple.

Also, she has horns.

He takes a moment to contemplate this, weighing it against the known range of the 'pranks the goddess pulls because her sense of humor is terrible.' Then he tries to slide out of bed so he can slink down to the kitchen on quiet werewolf feet. If this process doesn't wake Oriphi, he will very presently be returning with oversweetened coffee with which to soften the whole awkward kidnapping news thing. ]

[ With a 16 for Stealth against her passive perception and also the fact that she is fast asleep, the soft padding of werewolf feet across the floors doesn't cause her to stir.

The distant sounds of things happening in the kitchen (their kitchen, now?) slowly but surely pull her from her slumber, though it's not until she can smell the coffee he's brought that her golden eyes flutter open to find... ]

—!?

[ All of this. ]

[ she's in— a bed!? They had just camped down for the night, how could she be in a bed? And— someone is there with her, waiting with a cup of coffee—

She gasps and sits up in her bed immediately, unwittingly pulling her blanket up to cover the lower half of her face in the process. ]

H—Hello?

[ M-21 leans back as far as he can when she startles, extending the cup of coffee between them like a peace offering. He's doing his level best not to loom. His face is, unfortunately, just like this. ]

Hey.

[ Good... good start. This is going smoothly. He blinks a few times, regrouping for attempt #2. ]

...You're new. Harvest goddess probably brought you here. [ A beat. ] Here's coffee.

[ He's doing his best... But she can appreciate that, nonetheless. One of her best friends is an almost 7' tall half-orc man so... This is fine.

There are other things about this that are more worrisome than how his face looks, besides.

She spares just another moment to look him over, though, before dropping the blanket from her face to reach out and take the coffee. ]

Uh... Harvest goddess? And where is here, exactly? A... house?

[ Thank the harvest goddess (maybe) for half-orcs that make him look like a teacup poodle in comparison. This is actually going better than he expected.

He twitches a little, suddenly reminded of the fact that he'd just rolled out of bed, too. Once he hands her the coffee he tugs his long-sleeved shirt lower on his wrist and makes a futile attempt to shake his hair out of his eyes. Nothing is achieved! But it seems to placate him. ]

Yeah. My--your house now, too? Fairies probably already dropped off a new pamphlet... [ He catches himself before he gets too far afield on this unhelpful tangent. ] I don't know much more than that. People are from different planets, so who knows where we are.

[ The fact that he looks similarly disheveled as she feels and probably looks doesn't seem to bother her, at least! Hearing that she suddenly has a house with this man and is dealing with something involving different planets however, does. ]

Different... planets. So not even a different plane of existence, but...

[ He mentions fairies, but something tells her this isn't a Feywild thing. Oh, boy. Oriphi, what have you gotten yourself into this time...? ]

Wait, did you say... my— this is mine? [ "ours"?? ] I... I've never really had my own house before.

...Something like that.

[ Is "different plane of existence" really the easier explanation here? He eyes her sidelong in mild alarm.

But at least the house question is easy, and he answers that with a brisk nod. ]

Goddess had to put us somewhere, and these were empty. [ The painful pause before this as he finds a way to put it that won't invite the goddess' retribution in the form of more rampaging livestock-- ] It's not a favor. She wants us to farm and get married.

[ Honestly, everything about this so far has seemed not too bad, all things considered? Whisked away to some other planet-slash-plane-of-existence, with a house to live in (huge bonus!), and a... roommate? All to farm and get married. ]

Ah.

[ To farm and get married. It takes another moment for that to really sink in, and it's clear when she does because she nearly drops the mug of coffee into her lap. Blessedly, her sudden jolt of recognition only causes the drink to spill a little bit. ]

W-Wait. G-Get married...

[ On top of all that, his wording is... ]

You and I!?

[ M-21 is pretty proud about how smoothly this is going. He might not have been prepared for a sudden new arrival, but he's getting the important points across nice and clear--

Wait. ]

No! [ Wait, no, he doesn't need to bark at her. ] Ugh, I mean. Not that I wouldn't-- [ No, that's not helping either. ] ...You only have to get married if you want to leave. To anyone.

[ That's probably clear enough, right. He turns his head very slowly to direct a thousand yard stare towards the nearest window. His powers might be reduced here, but he can probably still outrun his embarrassment if he really tries. ]

[ He was doing so well, and yet...

She looks on with no small amount of horror as he stumbles over his words, first refusing the notion then walking it back and clarifying, and by the end of it all he's looking off into the middle distance, and the lilac of Ori's face has taken on a rather rosy hue.

The awkward silence that ensues is deafening as she stares into her coffee... But before too, too long, she does manage to speak back up. ]

I think I understand. [ does she ] I... I can definitely help with farming. I'm very good with plants and animals!

...I just don't know if I can help with the getting married part.

[ Please... please don't look at him like that, it only makes it worse. At least her speaking seems to break the intense window escape trig calculations going on in his head. He muffles a sheepish little cough into his fist and glances back at her. ]

Forget about the married part.

[ He's begging. Please forget it. He'll just move right along with the rest of what she said. ]

...Good. I don't know anything about that part. The plants grow on their own, but I think I scare the animals.

[ Is it because he smells like wolf? Is it because he spent an hour staring in alarmed incomprehension at the cow he suddenly found himself in possession of? Who can say really. ]

[ It is entirely likely that Ori will unknowingly make things worse on accident many times over the course of. This. Good luck!

She simply nods at his request. Consider it forgotten! Besides, there are more important things to talk about, like their cute little animals. ]

—Oh? I wonder why...

[ There's an undeniably appraising nature to the way she looks him over again, even as she lifts her mug to her lips for a sip of coffee. He definitely has an intimidating aura to him, though he also did his best with waking her up with coffee, which she can't not appreciate. And speaking of which, it's— really sweet? Huh. ]

I can talk to them for you, if you'd like!

[ Ori most definitely deserves better. Unfortunately, M-21 deserves this. But when she agrees he lets out a near-silent sigh of relief.

Which doesn't last long. That measuring look gets him to cross his arms over his chest and reflexively scowl a little. This... might be at least part of the problem. ]

Yeah. Then maybe they can tell you what the problem is. The cat doesn't care. [ Which is axiomatic: he's a cat. But M-21 straightens suddenly as a realization hits him like lightning. ] Gotta go feed them—

[ Should a guy who reflexively puts seven spoons of sugar in a cup of coffee be left with this weighty responsibility? Too late, he's booking it for the door. ]

Wait, what's your name—

[ Oh. He really said exit stage left. She tries to put her coffee on the nearest flat surface she can find so that she can leap out of bed before he can just run off...

Except that she gets all tangled up in the sheets and basically falls out of it and onto her face, instead. ]

Oof—!

[ Wait, was that a thump? It doesn't take preternatural werewolf hearing to pick up on that. M-21 will just backpedal at reduced speed and poke his head back into the bedroom. ]

...You okay?

[ He's not quite sure if that one was his fault. But he's leaning over to offer her a hand up in any case. ]

[ With her face still pressed to the floor, she groans, and her voice is muffled when she responds: ]

I'm fine!

[ But she does angle her head up to look at him when she senses that he's come back, casting him an apologetic and. Well, embarrassed look. But she manages to steel herself enough to take his hand and ask her question again. ]

What's your name?

[ They might be more or less even on the embarrassment scales now, so M-21 won't tip the balance by commenting on her ignoble loss to blankets. He gives her a careful tug upwards — even human strength would be plenty for a little thing like her, probably. ]

M-21. [ Easy enough to remember, given that it's tattooed on the inside of his left wrist right above where her hand is gripped in his. ] Yours?

[ Up she goes, easy and steady, and she kicks the blankets away lest she lose to them again... ]

M-21.

[ What a unique name! She's not heard of someone with numbers in their name that wasn't, like "someone" the "third," or whatever.

Conveniently, their hands are already joined from having to help her up, so she goes ahead and gives it a firm shake. It's then that she notices the marking on his wrist with his name on it, and she can't help but brush her thumb over it as if to see if really is like a tattoo.

But— Right. Introductions! ]

Oriphi. But you can just call me Ori!

[ It's a plain enough tattoo, albeit lacking the M because my memory is apparently terrible when away from reference pictures. He startles a tiny bit when she touches it — no displeasure, but simple surprise at the contact.

The moment of bemusement means he returns the handshake a second late, and then he's left still holding her hand as the thought processes work their way on through. ]

Ori. I can remember that.

[ And it'll be in the brochures anyway, most likely. He finally remembers himself enough to let go of her hand, stepping back to give her space, albeit half-braced to lunge and catch her again. ]

...Maybe you should wake up first.

[ Maybe he should make more coffee? He could make more coffee. ]

[ Ori doesn't think too much of the way their little handshake lingers, overly friendly as she is, and she's all smiles even when he steps away. ]

Oh, I'm a morning person, so I'm definitely awake! But you know, maybe you and I ought to have breakfast so we can do our best around the farm!

[ Now M-21 has more concerns rather than less about the hazards everyday farm life might present to her. But her suggestion is logical, so he gives it a little nod and turns to lead the way to the kitchen. ]

Probably a good idea. We have... fruit. And ramen.

[ Also raw turnips but he's really not recommending that one anymore. ]

[ It takes her a moment to even remember what ramen is. But she's had it before, while traveling the world, she's pretty sure...

She is also pretty sure that doesn't quite do it as far as breakfast items go. ]

... Have you only been eating fruits and ramen the whole time you've been here, M-21...?

Of course not. First harvest didn't come in for two weeks.

[ Is that making the situation better? Don't worry about it. In point of fact, their kitchen now also contains a handful of other staples! ...It's mostly rice. And some eggs.

He continues, in tones of unassailable self-defense: ]

There's a lot of different ramen flavors.

[ She just looks... concerned. Very concerned. She understands that proper meals aren't always possible, especially having lived the life of an adventurer, but... ]

... Show me to the kitchen?

Roomie!

1/2

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sorry for vanishing!! I had visitors

no worries! hope you had a good time! ♥︎

♥︎!!!

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