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[leavening]

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[leavening]

["the usual Saltburnt stuff"]

so, sex, violence and shitty food?

[That is perhaps a little unfair. Not all the food is shitty. Sanji's food is pretty good, actually.

But in spite of the snarky text, there's no real heat in his attitude. It's more like resigned exasperation than anger at this point.]

i guess i don't have anything better to do.

[kobes]

[With his little window into Hyunsu’s emotions, Koby can feel the lack of any real malice or annoyance -- not that either would've stopped him, to be clear. When he has a goal, he pursues it, come hell or high water.]

No violence yet, that I can see. Just a lot of flower crowns and public nudity.

The food is all right. Not Sanji's, but all right.

[leavening]

i don't believe you.

[sorry he has zero faith in the saltburnt hosts or staff to make food that isn't painfully boring.]

sanji is the one who did the food for your party, right? i think he's the only one here who knows how seasoning works.

[kobes]

He is, yes. I'll have to take your word for it, since I can't really eat his spicier food. But what I can eat is the best around.

You don't have to eat, if you don't want to. I'll make you a crown instead. :)

[leavening]

fine.

where do you want to meet?

[kobes]

On the dock? It's a little quieter and farther away from the other people and the fires. It's really nice out.

I'll feel you coming, don't worry.

[leavening]

[He sighs. Not that Koby can hear it, but he can probably feel the discontented maelstrom of emotions. Wanting to to be left alone but also not wanting to be left alone because he's lonely and that sucks.

He's a monster he shouldn't have to feel emotions like sadness or grief or anything like that. What the fuck is he supposed to do those? He's annoyed and confused by the entire experience.

But the only response Koby gets via text is:]

i'll be there in 10 minutes.

[kobes]

[He does, at the edge of his mind like a rolling wave. Koby breathes in, out, lets the emotion pass. It's harder seeing his own grief echoed in Hyunsu, reflected and magnified between the two of them.]

I'll see you soon. :)

[The dock is quiet, darkened, the setting sun dipping low, the perpetual bonfires coaxed back into bright, warming flares. Koby's alone, sitting with his back to the shore, bare feet dipped into the lake. It's cold, but -- he's missed the water too much to stay away any longer.

His lap is full of flowers, a comically large basket of them beside him -- mostly shades of blue and white, though he's also grabbed quite a few orange and pink and red. Hyunsu's presence flares back into his mind when he's close enough, and Koby cranes around to wave with a smile, as if there's any chance of him being missed.]

Hi! Over here!

[leavening]

[Hyunsu doesn't wave back, his only acknowledgement is the way he subtly shifts course to approach Koby once he's spotted him. His posture more openly confident and cocky than it normally is when the human part of his dominating, even though his general demeanor remains sullen at the moment.

He doesn't wait to be invited to sit. He just takes a seat next to Koby, regarding the basket dubiously with his strange, vividly blue eyes.]

Flowers?

[kobes]

Mmm-hm. [koby scoots over, moving to tug the basket to be in between them – both so not!hyunsu can see them better, and so he can take a moment to fully scan over the change in demeanor, in posture. definitely different, both in tone and the way he carries himself. interesting.]

They’re for making things – some game or tradition or other, I didn’t listen too intently. The important part is it means spring’s here. [he sorts through the blossoms for a moment, then plucks one free to work into the crown he’s working on.] It’s warm, too.

[leavening]

That's good.

[That it's warm. At his words, Hyunsu's gaze shifts from the flowers out to the lake. It's thawed. The water may still be cold but the ice is gone.]

Warm weather is better for swimming.

[Because, yes, even like this he is thinking about having to retrieve Hao's name stone when the time comes. He's assuming the time will come, because he doesn't want to imagine a scenario where it doesn't.]

[kobes]

[it is cold – koby’s feet have been skimming the surface occasionally, balancing out the warmth from sitting so close to the fire, from the sun that had risen sweet and mild, had shone all day, like some sort of divine promise. the contrast is nice, is enough to make him forget about the losses of the previous month – sanji and hao at the forefront, but the ambient grief of so many deaths like a tangible weight in the air.

hyunsu’s intent, uncanny gaze reminds him again. the lake – a pleasant diversion the summer before, now tainted with death and sacred ritual and strange magic – is inevitable, if they want hao back as he was. koby can feel the determination, the resolve, and he reaches out, covers hyunsu’s hand with his own and squeezes once.]

If you need any help…in searching or – I don’t know, making sure you come back up? [he manages a smile, a hesitant, cautious thing.] I’m a really good swimmer.

[leavening]

[Hyunsu blinks and glances down at Koby's hand squeezing his and is...perplexed. Not angry. Just confused. Uncertain. The monster isn't used to someone just being kind for the sake of being kind or offering help rather than giving orders or making demands.

He doesn't really know what to do with it, because this is the part of Hyunsu that normally wants to tell everyone to fuck off and leave him alone. But he doesn't actually want to be alone right now. Which is extremely weird, and he doesn't want to think too deeply about it.

So instead he thinks about Koby, taking a moment to think back and sift through some of his human memories.]

Right. You like water.

[he remembers that's why Hyunsu chose the Christmas (or Kobymas) presents he did.]

[kobes]

I do, yes. [pleased, patting hyunsu’s hand, then returning to his flower-weaving task. he’s not especially skilled at it, more twisting the stems together than anything else, a sort of quasi-braiding motion.] It’s all water at home, with islands scattered everywhere. Everyone there can swim, unless they’ve eaten a devil fruit.

[of course. obviously.

koby tilts his head thoughtfully, feeling the ripples of confusion and bewilderment from hyunsu spreading out, out, like the ripples in the lake from the skim of his bare feet against the surface. it’s not an alarming, sharp sort of unease, so he feels bold enough to reach up and rest the flower crown on hyunsu’s head, humming softly.] I think that’s good. No – more blue, one moment. [he plucks it back, sorting busily through his flower basket.]