synflux | head above water

[ what better place to meet new faces than the very place choso had his first public power outage? with his head still swimming at the idea of cats and onsens in one relaxing package, choso ambles into the cafeteria, his peculiarly prickly pigtailed head periscoping to and fro in search of, well. an elf, he guesses.

can't be too hard, right? ]

[ It won't be! Anyone periscoping will find it hard to miss someone with long elf ears holding a brown staff. She would look like the dictionary definition of an elf if she wasn't wearing a blue pullover sweatshirt, flip-flops, and the grey sweatpants LILITH gave her when she first woke up. A few lumpy items sit in the simple cloth bag over her shoulder.

Just like Marcille, Choso is easy enough to find. It's hard to miss the tall guy with spiky pigtails as he stalks and searches through the tables. Marcille's not sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. They probably lock eyes before she makes her way over to him. ]

Are you Choso? [ It's pretty obvious that he is, but just in case. ]

[ their eyes meet across a set of tables, and the time that he could have probably used to offer greetings or any other sign that he acknowledged her, he spends it staring instead.

wow. that really is an elf. even with his limited entries on the topic, everything about her yells “hell yeah elf”. even the stick.

pay attention, choso; she’s coming at you. ]

I am. [ the act of turning to Regard someone shouldn’t be so unnervingly stiff and wooden, but choso seems to have made it so to a fine art. egh. ]

Hello, Marcille. [ if this is not in fact marcille and is in fact another elf entirely, he will have no choice but to walk into the ocean. ]

[ They're both so awkward. Marcille doesn't expect it, blinking as she's stiffly addressed. Choso's appearance doesn't suggest apprehension; to her, he's a tallman with a scar across his face and a "unique" sense of fashion. Wouldn't he be more self-assured? Fearless?

There's an odd comfort in knowing she's not the only nervous one. If she was familiar with the term, she would wonder if this is what they call "gap moe."

All of this to say: she stands a little taller and smiles. ]

Hello, Choso. [ She extends her hand. ] Nice to meet you in person.

[ she is so small he must look Down to regard her proper, his gaze drifting from her bright hair and ears to her outstretched hand where he frowns, as if she had just presented him a puzzle, a test he hadn’t been expecting or prepared for; all his notes were for a different class in a different school in another country entirely.

when he takes her hand, it’s with the delicate touch of someone who does not shake hands on a regular basis, knowing only of the ritual through which mediums as textbooks (manga) and projections (TV).

something in the back of his head wonders if this is how those am****ans did it. ]

Likewise. [ that seemed right. ]

Is the stick something special?

[ Yuji had been excited from the moment his brother had told him that there was someone - a friend? - he wanted him to meet. The idea of his brother making friends makes him happy, and there's a buzzing excitement as he makes his way to the cafeteria without hesitation. If Choso likes this person, then...

He's probably an okay judge of character these days, now that he's recovered from the Kenjaku incident.

Poking his head into the room, he spots his brother, almost senses him, and walks over with a bright smile, grinning. Does he hug him? Maybe in a minute, it looks like he's greeting the new friend right now.

He doesn't want to embarrass his brother in front of the new buddy. ]

Hey, big bro!

[ Part of Marcille is tempted to lower her hand with how strangely Choso's examining it. Maybe he's not used to handshakes? Or he's a germaphobe? Her fingers curl in a little bit, but he takes her hand before she can draw it back.

He's being so gentle—another thing she doesn't expect. It shows on her face, her brows raising and the ends of her long ears lifting slightly.

Marcille's not physically strong, but she squeezes his hand in what she hopes is reassurance before giving it a firm shake. There's no need for him to be nervous or delicate with her.

After that, she withdraws and glances at her staff. ]

It's actually my—

[ Then her attention's on Yuji, who's like a fireball compared to Choso's reticence. She can't help shrugging up her shoulders a little and turning her hands around her staff, drawing it close against her side.

But this is Choso's brother, so she tries to ease up a bit. ]

Oh, so this is your younger brother.

[ It's not so weird for siblings to seem like polar opposites, right?? Her favorite books have dynamics like these all the time. ]

[ the firmness of her little handshake is, frankly, a little relieving; he wasn’t certain if elf bones were more like human bones or bird bones. so many bones. did she also have two-hundred-and-six in her? the thought lets him ponder without staring overlong at her ears and their little motions; what if she noticed and stopped? tragic.

yuji’s voice cuts through the murmur of base life, lifts choso’s head again as his big hand rises in kind to hail the pink comet over.

the way choso’s face doesn’t outwardly change but to Brighten could be, perhaps, just like marcille’s stories. ]

Yes. This is Yuji. He is Good.

[ if one spoken word could shake with the intensity of its meaning, it would be “good”; a booming, theatrical THX shake. ]

Yuji! Come, this is Marcille.

[ look, come see this tiny new acquaintance. ]

[ Anyone else would probably find the strangeness of Choso a little disarming or strange, especially with a greeting like that - 'Yuji is good', as if he's some kind of puppy or creature - but Yuji doesn't seem bothered by it.

Instead, he lets himself greet his brother with a quick hug before turning to Marcille. ]

It's nice to meet you, Marcille-san! Thank you for being a friend for my big brother.

[ And he bows, properly, like the good, polite boy that he is. ]

[Hello, Choso is getting a text a day after Yuji has come back from his visit back home.]

Choso, if you have a moment today, can I speak to you? If so, can you stop by my room this evening?
Everlight 012. Thank you.

[ that it’s raidou’s handle is the only reason choso bothers to read it in a timely manner. ]

i will be there.

[ and he is.

evening finds choso shuffling… well, out of yuji’s room and into everlight proper. he’d never gotten around to it, see, going to revelation’s wing, so it works out just fine when kuzunoha’s door is just a few meters away at most.

at least this time, he heralds himself with a knock at the door before he takes up residence Right In Front Of It. ]

[ Choso did call Yuji a Warrior of Great Power and Humble Heart earlier, so Choso's declaration is only a little odd. One thing is for sure: in Choso's eyes, it seems like his little brother can do no wrong.

The impression Yuji gives seems to speak to that. She doesn't expect the bow, flustering a little before bowing herself at equal height. ]

Oh! Yeah, I mean, of course!

[ In her mind, there's no question that they're friends now. When she stands back up tall, she tucks her staff under her arm and reaches into her bag. ]

Before I forget...

[ She pulls out two boxes of LILITH's chocolates and, balancing them in one hand, fishes out something else: two small rectangles about the length of her fingers, wrapped in burlap and tied with twine. A sprig of dried leaves is tucked under each knot. ]

These are for you, and... so are these! It's soap. I made a big batch for myself when I first came here. It might be better if you give it another week to cure, though.

[ If they sniff them, they'll find that the soap smells like oranges. ]

[Raidou answers promptly, giving Choso a solemn nod in greeting when he opens the door.]

Thank you for coming, I appreciate it. Please, come in. Have a seat if you like.

[Despite being here for a few months now, Raidou's room is still pretty sparse. The most noticeable thing about it is his sword, sitting on a display stand on its own table, along with its care items. On the desk there is a notebook and pencil, along with some worn-looking books on shinto traditions he's studying for the shrine. Turns out that's one place that still has physical ones.

Hanging above the desk on a wall, along a string, is something Raidou forgot about before inviting Yuji's brother to his room. It's several Polaroid photos, mostly of nature - budding trees, a few birds, a cat on a tree stump - but one of them is a selfie of the boys together. Yuji is beaming brightly in it, with Raidou smiling warmly.

There are a couple of comfortable chairs nearer to the door, which Raidou gestures to when Choso enters, but he doesn't sit yet himself. Raidou himself is looking concerned, and unsure of what to say for a moment.]

I won't keep you, I just, um. Yuji - ah, Itadori, he... yesterday, I'm sure you know about how he said he went home?

[ every room's layout may sit roughly the same across the wards, but something of that very sameness brought to the fore all the different shining pieces of the lives of their occupants. raidou's shine silver-bright like shards; a sword on display, books arrayed in an orderly row, pictures like flags fluttering in the air currents. how can choso not look? wandering into raidou's little room with hands in his pockets and sweater collar all unrolled to its highest, frumpiest setting, choso takes everything in, stares enraptured and fascinated despite the bags under his eyes, admires the photos unabashedly before the good summoner brings up the evening's purpose. ]

I am aware. [ it's a process, turning back to raidou; his body turns first, torso, shoulders, head, eyes tearing away from the pictures last. at least choso does them both the favour of taking a seat as indicated; he's a good guest, see? just like a real boy. from his chair, choso can peer up]

How was he? He is not one to rest in times like these.

[ for someone as foreboding-looking as choso, he takes the hug fairly easily, and even seems to brighten by a percentage point or two for it while he lets the two acquaint themselves.

'friends' is such a big word, hefty, oversized; he doesn't know how to hold it, where to put it, what does he do with it? but yuji has handed it to him, and marcille is not disabusing them of the notion, so it's his word now, and he clutches it tightly to his little inner self while his bigger, outer self hunkers forth to accept marcille's gifts in careful hands.

... try as he may, choso cannot resist the urge to lift the little burlap bricks up immediately for a sniff, small and cautious at first but then with some more gusto and a fair good few blinks. expecting a dry green smell, the bright zing of citrus is a pleasant surprise. ]

You... made it? [ LILITH-free organic elf soap... they have been gifted elf soap...! ]

This is generous. I only have the chocolates to offer you in turn. [ no proper gifts, only chocolate capitalism. ]

Edited 2024-03-26 03:58 (UTC)

Soap? You can make soap? That’s so cool!

[Yuji feels a little bad that he didn’t bring his own gift - he shouldn’t thought of that, but it didn’t register in his mind with all the other things in there. When he reaches out to take the soap he tries not to flinch, but it might not be successful.

There are claws on the end of his hands now, and he’s still not completely used to it.

When the gift is in his hands he mirrors Choso almost exactly, bringing it up to smell it, eyes widening in delight. It smells good… And someone made it here? That’s pretty awesome.

Tucking it into his bag - and offering it to Choso to do the same if he wants - Yuji beams. ]

Thank you so much! I didn’t bring anything because I thought you’d be sick of chocolate, but let me buy you a drink later!

[Raidou stands behind the other chair, hands gripping the backrest. He's a little embarrassed that Choso has caught sight of that selfie, but it's too late now.]

I was going to ask you the same. He's... [Bad. Completely wrecked. Falling to pieces.] He's gone through something quite terrible. I don't know if this was something LILITH did to him intentionally. Asking them is probably pointless as they are never very forthcoming with answers.

[While his words and expression are even as ever, Raidou's hands holding the chair tighten their grip, eyes cast down. Thinking back to holding on to a crying, shaking Yuji makes him furious inside; that Yuji had to go through something that's left him in such a state, while Raidou can do nothing to help, makes anger boil deep down inside him.]

I... I'm not asking for you to tell me what happened to him. I'd not want to break his trust, and he knows he can tell me as much or as little as he wants when he's ready.

[His hands finally relax their grip, but he's still looking away.]

I just... want to know if there's anything else I can do to help him. And I was hoping you would know.

[ in person, kuzunoha raidou is a quiet young man, all measured tones and discipline and eyes downcast as if to shutter from the world the toothed thing that lay coiled under the veneer of his skin. in person, his heart lays more on his sleeve than mere text could ever convey; even choso can feel the weight of the boy’s concern from here, can pick out the familiar ache of worry in his even voice, can taste the anger seething in his pulse because it’s an echo of choso’s own, born from the same source:

yuji is in pain. ]

Whatever it is LILITH did, it brought him more loss.

[ more, more, ever more lost to the battlefield; a whole line of names burned into the back of choso’s mind, so many he doesn’t know, doesn’t think he’ll ever know now. the guilt flares like an old wound (you helped make this happen), a burn in his chest that bows choso’s back as he slumps in his seat, elbows on his knees, eyes boring unseeingly into raidou’s empty seat before he manages to lift his head enough to return his panda-eyed stare onto the summoner proper.

do curses sleep? does choso? no matter what he may think of himself, the last 24 hours has been spent awake, vigilant and restless in his own worry. ]

Be with him.

[ in the quiet of the room, choso doesn’t have to speak up to be heard, but the way his voice dips there, the slope down, the grate of his voice as his heart settles somewhere in his throat, it speaks of the significance he is trying to lay in each heavy syllable. ]

He fears losing more. More friends, more loved ones, more allies. I— I do not know how to salve his hurts, Kuzunoha. [ a confession, quiet with a shame he cannot dispel. ]

[Raidou's jaw sets tight as he says that, fearing that's what Choso would say. He nods lightly. There is also a chance that here, people will be lost to kaiju attacks. No security of a normal life here, though from what Raidou can glean from what Yuji has told him, Neo Tokyo was still the better option. What a terrible position to be in.

While Raidou feels helpless in this situation, Choso's only suggestion is the one thing he really can do for Yuji.]

If that's all I can do, then that's what I will do.

[A light sigh, Raidou's eyes move to Choso now, even if the rest of his head doesn't. Really, deep down Raidou already knew the answer to his question, because what can anyone really do in this situation? What he really needed was someone to talk to about this, because he doesn't know how to do that, doesn't know who to go to. Summoners are to stand on their own.]

Whatever happened, he blames himself. I can't begin to fathom what the situation he was facing was like, but I can believe that... that he did everything he could to help everyone the best he could.

[ master has given dobby an elf soap...!

Marcille beams as she watches Choso's surprise bloom over his face. She looks back at Yuji reflexively when his hand raises, and the hesitation over his clawed fingers immediately catches her eye.

She noticed Yuji's claws when he and Choso shared their quick hug. The facial markings (scars?) on Yuji's face were indicative enough that something may be different about him, but clawed hands on tall-men is something she's never seen before. There may be half-bloods somewhere that share those kinds of traits, but she's yet to encounter them in person until now.

Why did he look surprised, like he'd forgotten his own hand? Marcille's smile falters, though she's unflinching as he takes the soap from her palm and gives it a whiff. She smiles again as the little bricks are pocketed. ]

That's actually why I brought the soap myself. It felt strange just giving the chocolate away because we were told to do it. Anyway, don't worry about paying me back. It's a gift! I don't really drink alcohol anyway.

[ She gives Yuji a worried look as she takes her staff back into your hands. ]

But... you sure you don't want to give me your chocolate? They said they'll punish you if you don't get rid of all of it, you know.

[ surprisingly, choso turns down the convenience of yuji's bag in favour of storing both his chocolate gift and soap in his own pockets; safe and secure storage where he can also curl his hands around them later, like little charms, these first gifts received. but later. for now, he produces from a different pocket (sweater, this time) an only slightly battered box of chocolates.

with the formality of a man handing out a business card, choso offers it to marcille. dozo. ]

If he does not get rid of it on his own, there is a strange man about who will take it all off him anyway. [ like talking about the weather, or the mayoral electoral candidates for the next term, or the cleaning bots' schedules. there is a janitor bot that cleans up spills. there is a gojo satoru that scams you for chocolate. don't worry about it. ]

And if that does not work, I can take them all.

Therein lies the root of his agony: he did his best, but the disaster still claimed those lives despite his efforts. His faith has been shaken.

[ an agony that echoes through his's blood like a sonar ping, each throb of yuji's strained heart like a phantom ache in choso's own. ]

I have thought of how to lessen the burden on his heart. [ a beat. ] But it remains a work in progress. Until then, your efforts will be instrumental in helping him, I do not doubt.

For that, I thank you, Raidou.

[A relatable feeling. What can you say, what can you do when your best wasn't good enough? There's very little that can comfort you.

After a moment, Raidou decides to sit down. Stock straight, looking away again, one hand lightly wringing the fingers of the other.]

No need for thanks. I... [He frowns, thinking, unable to place nor articulate how he felt seeing Yuji that way. Frankly, he was scared as well as angry, the latter being something he's not felt in a very, very long time.

He hesitates, because Raidou knows that people can come from all different times, and he doesn't want to say anything out of line, something maybe Choso doesn't and shouldn't know. But as Yuji's brother, he hopes Choso knows enough.]

I don't know many details at all about your world, but Yuji did mention to me about Sukuna, about Shibuya... I couldn't imagine how it could have gotten so much worse. I'm sorry to hear it. I asked him that when he's ready, maybe he can give me the whole story, from the beginning.

head above water

3/22/77 - CAFETERIA - MARCILLE & YUJI

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@kuzunoha14

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