head above water

[gimu]

WHO: Choso & YOU
WHAT: CATCH-ALL log for the next indeterminate while!
WHERE: Main Base; Neo-Tokyo & Surrounding Areas; 12am shower thoughts psyche plane
WHEN: Time is irrelevant & shall be labelled as needed
WARNINGS: Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers up to AT LEAST current canon (just in case). Further warnings will be labelled in relevant threads as needed

Comments

[gimu]

So prepared. As expected. [ sasuga yuji. he sort of clenches a fist in a sort of celebration, and somewhere in there decides to utilize the motion to its fullest by flicking his thumb up for marcille as she takes off. go, little elf, go.




naturally, he doesn't wait until she's out of earshot before he turns to yuji again. ]

... She is good.

[eyescar]

[ Bro… You’ll embarrass her…

Either way, Yuji is nodding. His delight is obvious, his darling brother making a friend, and he hums softly. ]

She’s nice! I think she seems like a good friend to have.

[gimu]

We must cure the soap properly, as perfectly-timed as it would be to use it at the onsen. [ elf soap will be a Reward. ]

Is this what makes a friend? [ he uses that word like it's something new, some funky loanword newly slotted into the vocabulary. ]

[eyescar]

Yeah, that's fine, there's other soap at the onsen, so...

[ Glancing up at his brother, he smiles softly. ]

Yeah, I think so! Hanging out, exchanging gifts... That seems like friendship to me.

[gimu]

Hn. I should have made chocolates, too.

[ even if it made more of mess that day. ]

Can elves eat chocolate? [ is it like cats? will it fuck them up??? this is the first time he's gotten to consider cross-species logistics that isn't his own, how exciting. ]

[eyescar]

Next time, okay?

[ Pat pat. Keep it together, big bro, don't let her see you cry... ]

Ask her when she's back.

[gimu]

Next time. [ siiiiighed. chocolate-making did seem very labour-intensive, but so did soap-making. it would have to be an undertaking to meet the quality of gift received. time to start another list. ]

1/2

[picky]

[ Marcille catches those little words before they're out of earshot. She is good. And it's said so plainly, like it wouldn't matter if she heard it because Choso believes it to be true. But he doesn't really know her that well, does he?

Her eyes sting as her feet pull to a stop. She presses her lips together in a crooked line, chin rumpling, and manages not to cry as her nails bite into her palms.

Then she breaks into a run down the halls, hair whipping behind her. ]

2/2

[picky]

I'm here!

[ Marcille rushes back into the kitchen, her bag considerably lumpy as it bounces against her side. Despite her breathlessness, she seems cheerful. No sign of any of that sadness here. ]

Thanks for waiting. Let's go! ...By the way, these are normal cats, right? Not metal ones?

[gimu]

[ while reason suggests that there's probably LILITH-provided things in marcille's bag, one cannot help but wonder about what elf mysteries lie within... perhaps more soap.

... but her question is a good one, and has choso turning to blink at yuji expectantly. they were real... right? ]

Metal cats in the bath...

[picky]

[ INTERRUPTS ]

The cats go in the bath?!

[gimu]

Do they!?

[picky]

Isn't that what you said?!

[ yuji help them ]

[eyescar]

Ah... Guys, they're real cats?

[ Good lord... ]

And, um, they're outside the onsen, not in it?

[gimu]

[ much of choso's tension promptly drains right out. good, they were real. good, there would not be cat fur to compete against for water space, but also, do cats not just look Weird when wet? that feels like a breach of privacy or something.

sorry for looking at you at your scrunkliest, buttons-san. ]

That settles that. Thank you Yuji.

[picky]

Thank goodness.

[ Relieved sigh... ]

Although metal cats in bathtubs wouldn't be the first strange thing I've found out about this place.

[gimu]

What was the strangest?

[picky]

It's hard to pick just one. For one thing, there are metal hummingbirds flying all over this place. I see them carrying things sometimes! Someone could get hurt!

[eyescar]

Oh, you mean like Wasabi?

[ Yuji pouts, just a little bit. ]

He doesn't drop things, but he pecks me a lot...

[gimu]

Their carrying weight is considerable for something so tiny.

[ a pause, like he’s trying to hold out back but can’t quite help it]

Does Wasabi need… fixing?

[picky]

When you say "fixing"... What exactly do you mean?

[eyescar]

Brother... It's okay...

[ Pats Choso's arm gently... Please don't kill his drone... ]

1/2

[gimu]

What do you think I mean?

[gimu]

[ yuji’s pat is like a strange diffuser, a chemical dampening of Whatever That Was oozing up there.

choso sighs, a little dolefully. ]

Yes, yes.

[picky]

[



she's not answering that ]

L-Let's get going, huh?

[ TURNING AND WALKING! even if she doesn't know where she's going once they reach the exit! ]

Maybe you can take the bird to someone who can f-... Um, repair it for you? "Wasabi," right?