lifeaftr | live mas

Entry tags:

live mas

Who: Taako, otawg (open to all w goods)
What: 'i can't believe Taako invented wal-mart'--Zero
When: 8/16 and on? if you want the full inventory
Where: The ruins
Warnings: Spicy

The meeting with the shitty god-rabbit had clarified not a whole lot, if Taako is being honest. But one thing is clear, they (this entire island of randos) are in it for awhile, so they (Taako and Lup) need to be in it to win it. And on this island, winning it means selling anything you can get your hands on for anything that might be useful. Their ice cream social had been moderately successful, and the horrible hustle elves are doubling down on their established niche, now that they realize the full stakes.

To that end, you can peruse an up-to-date inventory here. During daylight hours, there is a very good chance you can find a makeshift setup of warez, with the tired but socially effervescent elf responsible close by. There's existing stock, in very limited quantities, of small things. There's a list with everything else. The wood sign just says 'Got Stuff?' as kind of a preliminary; the argument re: naming convention is ongoing and bloodshed may be imminent. Bring your A-game hagglewise, and remember that a neutral feedback is the same as a negative.

[I should clarify, you can thread with both twins but the default setting is Taako unless otherwise specified! Up 2 you! Not fussy!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Congrats kid, you've got Lup speechless for a hot second, that's not an easy feat. Holy shit, what even is this, this is adorable? And not even just the girl's whole deal, preciously earnest, doesn't know what stores or pet names are, but it's Taako too. She hasn't seen him this giddy in ages, certainly not since they got here, and his delight is infectious. He's still getting an elbow to the ribs for calling her troll, though.

Lup easily accepts the role of a foil for these two gremlins and tilts her chin up proudly as she presents the kinda unevenly wrapped shiv. "I could blow it up," she declares haughtily, the relaxed uneven cant of her ears the only thing betraying her deep amusement. "But that wouldn't be a good time for anyone. Shrapnel's a bitch." She wraps her hand around the 'hilt' and stabs it into the air away from both of them. "This is for dusting, see?" It's going to turn into a self-defense lecture if somebody doesn't stop her.

It's a new experience to watch a family interact like this. The jab, the comments-all of it. The books she would find scattered across Tokyo didn't prepare her for this, but there's a comfortable air about the two of them that puts her at ease. That makes her feel like this is natural. Granted, her experiences with people are 99% limited to this island anyway.

It's hard to take her eyes off the two of them. Even when she gets the okay to look at the merchandise from Taako, Ren continues to eye them. Her hands glide over all these neat treasures and thankfully, it's not until Lup's demonstration ends that she decides to grab something with her grubby hands. A piece of writing charcoal. With it firmly in her grasp, she takes a step back and mimics the stab into the sky. She's not a fighter, more of a hider, and doesn't understand the connection Lup's trying to make. It leaves a literal impression on her-the items here are for dusting. Meaning to hold them into the sky.

"Oh, it's easy to dust things." Her eyes light up and she stands on her toes, holding the charcoal up as high as she can. "I can dust this high too."

Taako watches this demonstration with utter delight. Stop, you're killing him, this is too good. What a shame they are now obligated to steal this child like shitty fairytale elves instead of the much cooler sci-fi elves they are. They haven't even given her any desserts yet, which is suddenly a real oversight. "Welp," Taako says, with a little pop, "Looks like you've got competition, Lup. Better step up your game." Lup's got her work cut out for her, here, if she wants to train this gremlin in the finer stabbing arts.

"You can also write with that. Like, words?" He tilts his head, consideringly. Can she write? The reading hadn't seemed like her strong suit. "Or draw. Whatever you're down for. Wanna make a trade for it?" Give him a handful of pocket sand, anything.

That's a pretty good stab to start with and for a second Lup is super charmed by the mimicry. But then it's clear the girl kinda missed the point by a mile and she suddenly realizes this kid acts a lot younger than she looks, which is adorable for sure but maybe not... great, for an urchin? If she's been able to coast by on the leniency people tend to show children, she's not gonna have that benefit for much longer. Lup keeps smiling at Ren but shoots Taako an unsure glance, like, is he getting this too?

He seems to be pretty happy to just go along with her naivety though, and it's definitely tempting to indulge the kid, see what other precious shit she's got up her scrubby sleeves. Lup's not really here for explaining to this little sunshine the necessity of being able to inflict bodily harm on someone. Dang, why's she gotta be the concern twin here? "You can have the knife too, if you want," she tries with a kind smile. "Pretty good for defense, if somebody tries to like, scare you, you know?" Hey, maybe she already has strategies for that sort of situation and Lup doesn't need to worry at all.

"Yes, I want this." Draw being the magic word that makes her decision clear. In one fluid motion, she goes from reaching up to the sky to kneeling down, letting her knapsack fall off her shoulders. An iron grip on the charcoal, she uses her free hand to sort through the garbage in her bag. At least she's making an effort to find good garbage. For you, Taako and Lup. She will find a decent treasure to trade with.

Lup's offer catches her attention the moment she pulls her hand out of the bag, fingers wrapping around whatever she's about to offer as payment. It might be handy, for things other than self-defense, but she had watched Lup work with it earlier. It's hers. "It's your special treasure. That's something you should keep." She starts, holding her hand out to Taako for him to take her charcoal payment-a handful of shiny seashells. It's better than rocks? Better than dead leaves too? Accept them please. "I can hide if there's something scary. I'm good at that."

Taako accepts the seashells carefully, busy taking in the concept of this maladapted gremlin child being worried about Lup keeping her 'special treasure.' It's fine, this is fine. Ren wants Lup to have nice things, why is that messing him up? He's not gonna dig, but it's probably to do with that sentiment coming from someone who understands not having much that could be called special or a treasure. And besides, it's pretty relatable, Lup deserves all the coolest knives in the world.

Look, Lup, what can they do? What if she values her freedom, like all good woodland creatures, and doesn't want to be smothered by concerned elves? Sure, he'd prefer if she took the knife, but that's probably never going to be anything but the worst kind of last resort, that's a close quarters weapon that relies on judgment and reflexes, and can easily be turned against the wielder. Her expressly preferred strategy of hiding is waaaaaaay further up the good idea list, honestly. Though uh. He thinks he's seen her hiding skills and...perhaps he ought to offer further instruction. Just to make sure the time he's already invested isn't a total waste. And maybe Lup can make her a less special knife. "How good? You ever play hide n seek, kid? You wanna get schooled some time?"

Lup is similarly and indefinably struck by Ren's simple kindness, it's almost a physical feeling of something either breaking or growing in her. At her age, they absolutely grabbed and ran with anything anyone even indirectly offered them for free, probably without so much as a thanks for fear of them changing their mind, cackling about the sucker once they were out of sight. There's something good in Ren she's pretty sure neither of them had as kids, or maybe ever. And Lup is gonna be damned if she lets anything happen to that.

The knife wasn't special or a treasure, she's got a real knife already and this shiv is actually kind of shitty, but it sure is now. She holds onto it as she tugs a bit of hair behind her ear almost sheepishly and watches the seashells change hands. Hiding's not a bad strategy, it's just not always an option. What do you do when you're found? You shout, you threaten, you make yourself as big and confident and as difficult to hurt as possible. But Taako is right, maybe they should start with hiding lessons for this girl.

"Hell yeah, that's a fun game we could all play," she adds warmly. It really isn't when you're cowering in a stable from an angry tavern keeper, or in a ditch during a storm because you got kicked out of the last caravan and haven't found a new one to attach to yet. But there doesn't seem to be an abundance of those on this island at least, far as she's seen. "You found any good hiding spots around here yet?"

There have been a few moments in her life Ren will treasure and remember. Seto saving her, Drifter and Taako commenting she doesn't need to be alone and now this. Not because of the offer to play hide and seek, which makes her happy in its own right, but from the way it makes it her heart swell. The elation from getting something to draw with and the kindness displayed from these two adults, who have no reason to be, brings a smile to her face. An expression that's been difficult for her to make without her friend around and with fear constantly in the back of her mind during every conversation with someone new and every attempt to wander the island. For the first time, she can't feel that creeping in. It's just joy. At being able to talk to people and for once, not having the inkling that something bad will happen soon. She secures the charcoal in one of her knapsack pockets, snapping it shut and shaking her bag upside down to make sure it can't fall out. It's special. She doesn't want to lose it.

"That game is easy. I know it." From where, she can't remember. It might be from a dream or maybe they played it when she was too young to understand the details, but she knows it. The memory of hiding without being worried things would kill her is something she can recall. When Lup says they can play it together, the smile on her face spreads and she edges her way closer to them. "Yes, there are lots of good places. Safe places. You can sleep and eat there-I can show some of them to you and we can play."

Haha oh no, is the urchin trying to take care of them now? Find them some grubby spots to nest and eat garbage, no doubt. That's so endearing it should probably be illegal. At least she's familiar with hide n seek, he isn't sure he could handle hearing that her childhood was so deprived if she weren't. She even looks pretty into it, like legitimately, like as a fun thing instead of a survival thing, maybe, which is very heartening. Less heartening is how enthused she is by adults doing just like, the very bare minimum of being decent people, but oh well.

The good thing about owning your own business is that you can do whatever you want, including packing up and taking off to play hide and seek with an orphan. It's late in the day, they wouldn't have been here much longer anyway, he justifies internally, with a little shrug at Lup. Well, this is happening, it says. "We already have a pretty good hideout going, we can take our uhhh, treasures there first and you can see."

Based on what she's describing, it will probably seem like an appropriately-elven luxurious lifestyle to her. Hilarious and sad, that's their life now. What else were they gonna do with their evening? Never-have-I-ever is played out long ago, and 'I'm going on a trip' is just depressing in their current state. "But you better bring your A-game, we're pretty much the best at both hiding AND seeking."

~~Yeah one time he didn't find her for ten years.~~ Lup sees his shrug and she was already there, they're not twins for nothing. If the offer of hide n seek brings that kinda smile to Ren's face, she can't wait to see what actually playing is gonna do. And these elves are both pretty into instant gratification, so what the hell. She's glad to hear the concept of a safe place for camping out seems to be firmly on her mind, but they're about to show her something much cooler, probably. Which, again, the standards on this island are fucking depressing if you think about it for two seconds, so let's just not. See, there's plenty they can do, Taako.

Lup shares a pleased warm smile equally between her brother and the urchin and then fishes their knapsacks out from under the counter, tossing one up to him. "Don't be a butt, I bet Ren's got hidden talents we don't even know about yet. What if cha girl can make herself invisible?" That'd be a real hoot, because there's a way too high chance both the master wizards can't. Lup grins at the girl, super into the whole idea of just, straight up going into the jungle and playing games with these two now, because damn do they all deserve a break. Then she carefully puts away the newly special knife in a pocket and snaps it closed like Ren did, before starting to pile their assorted warez into it.

"You won't find me. Not even the ghosts could catch me." Despite the bravado behind her statement, the seeking aspect is an area she knows will be difficult for her and the confidence displayed by both twins doesn't help. Cat hunting is her forte-people searching is something she never bothered with. There was no point and she can't claim in any sense she will excel at it. But golly, she will give it 100% to find them. No matter how long it takes. When it becomes clear they're beginning to pack up right now, her eyes light up and she hurries behind the counter to 'help', dragging her own garbage filled bag with her.

"Do families play hide and seek a lot? Is that something you do?” Look, Ren has 99 problems and honestly, kleptomania isn't one of them. No matter how bad it looks when she starts to ask them questions and shove their items into her own bag at the same time. The dead leaves and rocks will cushion this merchandise the whole way back to their hiding spot. It's fine. There's no indication that she's going to run away and she just stands between them, studying each bit of treasure as she 'helps' this process along.

Oh, did she say ghosts? The look he shoots Lup this time is deceptively mild, but still expresses plenty of 'what the shit?', to which he adds a questioning sotto voce ghosts?? as if maybe Lup didn't already know what part of that statement was the problem. Are they...should they ask about that, maybe some day? It uhh, doesn't sound great, which is to say, Ren is making it sound fine, which in turn means it probably isn't. Ren's unexpected help with the packing up is just one of many things that Taako has kind of accepted, at this point.

Do families play hide and seek a lot? Is it too soon to look at Lup for backup again? She doesn't know how to answer that either, probably, so he settles for just shoving merchandise into the knapsack in befuddlement. Whatever, being honest with children is probably technically correct, and even if it isn't, it's usually at least funny. "Our family was pretty much just our coworkers, for a hundred years, and we didn't have one before that. But we did kind of play for like, most of that century, if you squint? The other team cheated a lot." His answer is unnecessarily chirpy, like maybe he overshot flippant and landed in paradoxically legit waters. "So, yeah!"

Ghosts, right. Lup hasn't had as much time to get used to Ren's particular delivery of objectively horrifying situations, so she returns Taako's look with quite a bit more alarmed confusion there for a second. What are the chances the ghosts just wanted to like, hug her? Has his previous interaction with her revealed any helpfully reassuring facts about wherever the fuck it is she came from? Doesn't look like it. Guess there's nothing for it but to make her stay on this island way better than whatever creepy homeless sitch she had going on before. The enthusiastic helping is a little easier to accept, like comparatively, and actually pretty endearing. Lup kind of watches in surprise for a moment before rolling with it, just making sure to get the heavier stuff like bowls and rope tucked away before Ren can get to them.

Her question is another curveball and Lup is a little glad Taako is fielding that one. And shit, they did kind of play a stupid long game of hide n seek with a reality-consuming eldritch horror? The thought is so dumb and out of left field that she can't help letting out a shocked giggle. And every time they lost, a planet paid for it. That's not actually funny at all. And there's something about the way Ren worded her question, like she doesn't know what families do, like as a general concept. Which, that can't be right. They didn't have a family besides each other for a long time, but even they sometimes hung out with other kids who got to go home for dinner at night, and they conned plenty of families out shopping or whatever. And there was the time with their aunt.

"You don't get up to a lot of people watching, huh? Or were there just not a lot of families around to watch?" She has the uncanny feeling she doesn't wanna know the answer, like maybe that's a door that doesn't need opening - ghosts, weirdly sheltered orphans and all - but that's not how Lup lives her life.

There's a bunch of things she hears from Taako in that moment that makes her turn her head and look up at him, momentarily distracted from the packing. The hundreds of years comment doesn't throw her off as much, as she already met another beachside with a similar age. It's weird and she doesn't quite understand how they can live so long, but it's easy enough to accept. The biggest surprise of all is they didn't have a family, like her, and they did play hide and seek a lot. Which sounds fun, honestly. Despite the cheater. Even with her limited game knowledge, she knows it's a bad to do that. There's a pause on her end as she looks up at him, because she still wants to go along with them, even if she can't keep up for the centuries they can go for. "I can't play that long, but I won't cheat like they did. Can I still play?"

Hopefully they still let her. Either way, she goes back to her packing, securing the last items that will fit in between some leaves. People watching is difficult to do when corpses don't move and most ghosts aren't interested in talking. It takes a moment and tries to think as far back as she can. No real families come to mind though. "I remember one from a story, but they didn't play games."

The pages were torn up and battered, but she can see the images in her mind. It had been a cute book, as far as she could tell. Too bad she never got to the end to see how the family acted the whole way. Still, she recites what she recalls from from memory. "There were three bears and they were a family. They ate something called porridge and they had nice beds." It's not a straight answer, but it's probably telling enough. It's not like she's trying to hide it, so much as answer truthfully. She did watch that family. In the book.

If Ren is perturbed to hear anything Taako said, he's not much better off. These are definitely some of the saddest words that ever got said, that's just objectively true even if Taako is a little ungrounded from the realities of it. So that's pretty much definitely a no then, on the just...general existence of other people, families? Fuck. That's, that's a lot to take apart on short notice. He winces, just a little, but throws his pack over his shoulders gracelessly to disguise it.

"Yeah, those are pretty good uh, family things. It's not all looting and games, for sure." And that's all he's got to say on it for now, because unlike Lup that is how he lives his life. Too bad they're fresh out of porridge and beds, so looting and games will have to be it for now. What else do families do? Maybe something terrifying will chase them and cement this nascent, placeholder bond. Welcome aboard, Ren. He and Lup probably need to have a talk about this, but it probably won't be a long one.

"I don't think either of us has a hundred year game in the tank right now, homie. How about just til it gets dark?" Their new urchin doesn't have darkvision, probably. What a shame. He orients himself toward the exit of the ruins, but waits for his companions to collect themselves. Waits for Lup to take the lead, while he has eyes and ears for any followers. Casa de Trust No One, here they come. "Then you can have some dinner, if you want."

Yep, alright, that long pause as Ren is trying to remember seeing literally any sort of family is, wow, that's not great, and Lup really wouldn't have hated being wrong about her suspicion. They came across a couple of unpopulated planes, those were always pretty depressing places, and some with just a couple of survivors. But even those still had some kinda society going, people going about their day, kids playing in the streets and all? And somebody must have taught Ren a language, and reading and games. But whatever, that's enough backstory for now, neither her nor Taako, she's real damn sure, need any more reason to take this kid under their wing. There isn't anything they can do about all of that anyway, they can't Temporal Chalice their way into a less shitty childhood for this urchin. She briefly makes a horrified face into her knapsack before strapping it shut and shouldering it, grabbing her umbrella.

As she walks past Taako to take the lead out of the ruins, she glances at him with kind of a baffled but relieved smile, like she's aware this is getting super out of hand somehow but glad that he seems to be just as willing to roll with it. His offer of dinner seals it, this is their urchin now. "Oh yeah, cooking's another great family thing," she agrees enthusiastically, looking over her shoulder to make sure Ren is keeping up. "We're the best at that, like objectively? So you stick with us and you'll pick up all kinds of tricks. There's probably more family things we're just not thinking of right now, too."

"If the moon is full, we can play longer." If they aren't tired by then, that is. Nightfall is a compromise she can get on board with and it's clear by her attempt to extend this playdate that she's looking forward to it continuing on. Not for hundreds of years, but maybe like 9PM. They may not have another opportunity to play for awhile, if not ever. They haven't even begun and she doesn't want it to end. They don't have to worry about this stray needing a cue to follow them, as she trails a few feet behind Taako. Though the unexpected offer of a meal afterwards throws her minimally planned day through a loop and it kind of sounds like, just now, they maybe-

offered her a place to stay.

She plays the words around in her head again. And again. And a third time for good measure. It's easy for her to misunderstand people and it feels like this is one of those times. She quietly repeats the words aloud to herself-stick with us to see if hearing them again helps clarify anything. Nope. Sure doesn't. Because it would be too good to be true, that someone other than Seto would offer their company or would accept having her around. Drifter felt like an exception on her arrival and to hear it again, from these two, is surprising. And makes her feel like there's something she's missing all the more.

She doesn't know how to ask her next question, so she relies on the age old method of fumbling until it works. "You'll let me," A pause. "Be with you? To learn family things?"

Taako is running out of wince-ful interjections to think vehemently in response to shit Ren says. Which, considering, is impressive. That's, she's already really attached to this hide n seek idea and they haven't even started, he can hear the not wanting it to end and it's out of proportion, that's kind of a lot of pressure, here. It would be an alarming specter of attachment and responsibility, if she hadn't said so many truly sad things, and if Lup weren't here. Whatever, Lup has it entirely right, he's bemused but committed, nevermind that he didn't really think it through. Like, he didn't set out to steal a child, but he's not a quitter. Actually, he is, but, well.

Yeah, he doesn't miss her repeating Lup's words either, thanks elven hearing, and her fumbled question is louder but not at all, like, better. Wow. That's on into like, a new plane beyond tragic. Still, smart of her to clarify, he tells himself, so he can think at least on some level that it's not all incredulity in there. He bites his lip so he doesn't just start saying a bunch of shit, a rare success on that front. "I mean...yeah! Why, uh. Why wouldn't we?" Nope, nope, not as successful as he thought. Lup, help.

Lup hears his call for help just fine in his high-pitched tone of voice like he's just as startled as Ren by all this, but for once she doesn't know how to bail him out either. Because she didn't miss the kid's incredulity either, repeating her words as she's doing the unfamiliar mental math of someone offering her safety and companionship, and... family things, shit. That feeling from earlier is back, like her heart's breaking but it's just making her more determined to look out for Ren. This sure went from 'wanna play a game some time' to 'welcome to the fam' in 0.6 seconds, but what the hell, right? Why not, actually, for real.

"Sure!," she chirps before Ren gets a chance to tell them why they wouldn't take her in, which is probably the help Taako was looking for, so Lup continues to be the best at this actually. "The camp's big enough and we're pretty good on food, and like, looting lessons and games are gonna be easier if you're close by, right? Just don't mind this lazybones over here snoring and sleeping in all the time," she adds with a wink at Taako, as she pushes into the underbrush and leads them on one of several trails towards their hideout.

Taako's question is taken literally. Thankfully, before she can wrack her brain to come up with the multitude of reasons they wouldn't-shouldn't, Lup chimes in and brings her attention back to the topic at hand. Food, treasure hunting, games-it sounds too good to be true. They have no reason to continue offering this much. Hide and seek she got on board with in a heartbeat-it's easier to believe they would play a temporary game with her than offer a place in their camp. They aren't the lab techs charged with keeping her healthy for the project. They aren't Seto who promised to protect her. She's nobody to them. But here they are, saying it's okay for her to just be there, eat a meal and stay the night with no strings attached.

"It's okay if he snores," She hesitantly starts, focusing on what's clearly important here. "If he wakes up, then it's okay. I don't mind that kind of thing."

As long as Taako stays alive, he's allowed to snore. That's a fair trade, isn't it? It's not an outright acceptance, the sudden offer makes her wary, but her desperation for some form of safety and the memory of Seto lingers in her mind. She took a chance on him and he made her lonely life brighter. Taako showed her kindness, even as she tried to steal his bag. Drifter protected her on their journey to the ruins. All of them made her day easier. It's okay to take a chance now, isn't it? She waits until Taako moves before starting to trail behind them.

CONGRATULATIONS? You have now have +1 urchin. Good job.

Yeah, clearly that IS what's important here, though Taako feels like he maybe doesn't understand, entirely, what Ren is getting at? And maybe that's for the best? He's really developing a feel for when he's walking over a potential sinkhole of a revelation. So he snipes at Lup instead, but it's just the sound he makes, it's background noise, delivered around an easy grin. "Hey, we're twins, remember? If I snore then so do you, that's just science. Why would you even lie like that, and to a child, no less."

He does pick up on the fact that Ren hasn't just blindly agreed to the offer that they didn't even fully intentionally make, so maybe the real adult here was the urchin they found along the way. At the very least, props for being a little wary, and they didn't even have to teach it to her. He falls back in their little marching order to Ren's side, and for once it's not just because he's trying to slither his way to the back of a party so he doesn't feel that itch of having someone behind his back. Lup's doing a good job with her urchin handling checks, but he's got his own proficiency to add.

"Listen, you're welcome to hang out as much or as little as you want. Both of those, you know? We're not gonna like, set you a curfew," are they, Lup? Nah. "You don't have to be nearby, or, or learn stealth and stuff, if you don't want to." She can get away, and she can prioritise that over their worrying about her (Lup, for the record, cannot do this). This is reassuring, right? Nah, of course it is, having options is always reassuring, that's what they're for, nesting in. Her life has sounded pretty not great so far, but that doesn't mean there aren't aspects of it she might like to hang onto. "It's just there if you want it. We're not here to harsh anyone's gig."

It's clever of Taako to fall behind in line next to Ren, because now Lup can't employ the ol' snapping branches in his face trick to get back at him for his back talk. Well played, bro. Though it might also have had something to do with Ren's uncertain response to their offer, which is fair enough. It is a whole lot to dump on someone sort of accidentally, who obviously hasn't encountered a lot of kindness before, or just, people in general, even. That one's on Lup, defs, and her terminal lack of a filter between her emotions and her mouth. She's never thought of it as a problem so much as, maybe a challenge, mostly for her brother to handle.

And he's doing so admirably now. She's following the conversation with pricked ears as she picks their way through the jungle, grinning affectionately to herself. Look at this big softie of an elf, reassuring a scrappy kid like a pro. Her first impression was right, Ren has him wrapped around her finger real good. Shame she can't drag him for it, because she's right there with him. So she keeps quiet for once, with the unspoken understanding that he said everything better than she could've. The rest is up to Ren. Though she can't help throwing a doofy grin over her shoulder back at Taako anyway.

Choices and options are a new luxury for Ren and in the presence of adults, she was uncertain how it would continue. There was a certain worth to knowing what families were like and listening to how they banter, watching their every move and gesture to each other and understanding there's an unspoken level of comfort between them that she knows she's never felt long enough to fully grasp. It's why she just wants to watch. Seto and her may have come close to that point, she thinks. But they weren't family. It's not the same.

And as Taako speaks, she realize they aren't like the doctors that planned out every hour of her day. They aren't like the lab techs that told her where to sit, where to stand and how long she could play with blocks before they would shove her into a machines for the good of the project and-

They aren't like that at all and maybe it's Lup's smile that settles the few worries that remain in the wake of Taako's explanation.

"It can be like that?" The smile returns to her face quicker than before and her fingers loosen against the straps of her bag. And it's not a real answer yet again, in the sense of saying 'I'll stay' or 'I don't want to be alone anymore' which are the words itching to come out, but-

"Can we draw together tomorrow?"

Shit dude it sure can be like that. He nods and grins back, indulgent, magnanimous, absolutely not a sign anywhere on him that she's said anything remotely red flag-esque, again. Whatever the opposite of 'like that' is, Ren's been in it, and he is just, man, it's like he's a clairvoyant as well as a wizard. But only about bad shit, and only a little bit, and that's maybe the worst.

"We're on island time now. Why not?" He shrugs, artfully casual. Is that meant to be a test, see how unwilling to impose order on their new charge these elves really are? Kind of a shitty test; he can only imagine what gremlin artistic endeavour entails, but it's probably buckwild and he's preemptively here for it. This island is still objectively shit, but at least it seems like a good deal for Ren. Honestly, a civilised kid would probably be worse off, here.

Taako picks up the pace a little, an unobtrusive shift in case Ren is gonna get spooked by the attention. He's still playing all of this by ear, but this, at least, he should have a better grasp on than some. "Be nice to do something that isn't work. What's even the point of being a wizard if you still have to do things?" See, games and drawing will obviously be a welcome distraction.

It's become increasingly clear that there's always a wealth of complex meanings and feelings behind the things Ren says, stuff she has no words for or doesn't know how to put out there where other people can see them. Good thing she's rolling with two very quick learners now. She still hasn't said she wants to stay, but she's smiling again, and thinking about tomorrow, and having hope for better circumstances, and that's just as good. They've begun to earn this lonely girl's trust and it's gonna be a cold day in hell before they let her down.

Even if drawing isn't exactly either of their strong suit. Takes too long to get any good at it, better leave it to real artists, people like... well, people who paint entire portraits and effortlessly catch their subjects' whole personalities, capture moments in time like some kinda magic. But for Ren, Lup will sit her ass down long enough to manage some scribbles. "Hell yes, arts and crafts. Sounds like a sweet day off for sure," she grins and shoots them a thumbs up.

As they trek further into the forest, Lup makes sure to point out some inconspicuous lengths of string here and there, tied to wind chimes hidden in branches, and it's not long before they reach a spot where the suffocating density of the jungle lets up a little, bright reflections of a nearby pool glittering between the trees in the distance. A decently sized tent made of rough tarp is tucked into the underbrush, fire pit in front, a hammock strung up close by. Defs not as glamorous as the twins would like, but they've had worse. "That's home," Lup declares with a little flourish like her presentation is gonna make it less shitty than it really is. "Kind of a fixer upper? We're working on it, maybe add like a tennis court or something." Maybe start with indoor plumbing. "Go on, have a look around while we get our inventory stashed away, then it's hiding and seeking time."

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catpiper - 2017-12-16 04:53 (UTC) - Expand

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