When you awaken in the morning's hush (open!)

[savedbyasong]

Who: Shion and open!
What: Shion works on the memorial garden, followed by some training and finally quiet reflection. I will match formats!
When: 27th May. All day.
Where: Story Tellers temple, Islet 4
Warnings: General self decrepting thoughts, threads might contain casual mentions of horror and existational nonesense because it's Shion. But I'll add if anything specific comes up.

Do not stand at my grave and weap; I am not there I do not sleep

Shion had been quiet since the attack on Bliss. He had a lot to think about and he knew everyone else did too. But broaching difficult subjects was not something he was particularly good at. Not when he was aware that it was sensitive. He had just made sure he was visable in case anyone wanted to talk. He had spent the days working on the garden, fixing the house, playing with the cats.

He was at the Story Tellers Temple today. He tried to go at least every few days to check the message rock. The list of the missing had more names on it, including Yuka. He had been expecting that, he had continued to go to the room of glyphs in case she turned up there, but it seemed she really was gone.

He memorised the names and went over to where he had began his memory garden. He had left some coconut bowls there in case anyone else had wished to add their own memorial. He took some now, writing the names on them in chalk. Many were people he did not know. It didn't matter. He would still remember.

He moved between the beach and the temple, collecting sea shells to decorate. He was soon deep in his work, but he would still look up and greet anyone who he passed.

I am a thousand winds that blow; I am the diamond glints on snow

He had looked at the calender, he knew the date. Three years. Sort of. Three years since Reno had given him the pin and challenged him to do better. It felt like a life time ago, even if some of those months were missing. He had still been so young. Broken and self pitying. Weak.

He still was. Was again rather. The months of living on this island had raised his general fitness, it was not as difficult as when he had first arrived here with his old body, weak and used to hardship. But he was still not as strong as he had been... four months? One year? Time was fake but he still could do with being stronger.

So for most of the afternoon Shion can be found training. Running laps around the iselts. Basic strength excersizes outside his house, pushups and such. He pushes himself hard, not letting himself rest even when he is exhausted and every muscle is screaming at him to stop. It had been hard three years ago as well. This time he has no teacher, no stern but patient Reno to tell him to keep going. But he has his own determination, he knows what his aim is.

He practices fighting drills as well, fighting thin air with a grim look on his face. He should have done this months ago, rather than getting swept away with everything. He continues training through the day.

I am the soft stars that shine at night; Do not stand at my grave and cry

Finally Shion stopped, washed up and took a coconut bowl of water to drink. He sat on the grass near his house, watching the ocean quietly.

He missed Reno. All the time but today was especially sharp. He often did things that he knew would disappoint his dad, he wasn't a good enough brother to Aster, he had made a million mistakes since arriving on these islands. Lost control. Got into petty fights.

But this time... He had saved Aster. It had hurt but she was alive. They had killed Bliss. Gladio had been right when they had spoken. Sometimes being nice was not an option. Shion had known that, known if for a long time. But it seemed everything lately... he had had to be cruel, hurt others all in the name of saving them. Would Reno be proud of him for that?

He had no idea and Reno was a somewhere out in the multiverse. The pain of missing him was sharper because he had been in his dream and in Aster's dream. A Reno happy and content, with Elena. He wondered where Reno really was, on his world? Or somewhere else? Stolen to another place...

He stared out at the ocean a thousand thoughts crowding into his mind at once. Worries for Aster, for Ceej, for Ren. Worries about how they were going to leave here and if they should. If Tim was right and in doing so they would cause damage beyond repair. Worry for the Story Teller. Wondering about Stories and sequals. He let his mind drift, lost in his thoughts.

Comments

[yourattention]

[He doesn't quite flinch when Shion touches his hair, but he does startle slightly. It's an echo of something that's not real. Not real, not real, not real -

Connor takes an egg from the basket and holds it like one might hold a skull, if one were about to do a certain monologue from Hamlet.]

Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well, Shion, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He had borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how often. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?

[If he just quotes Hamlet, then he doesn't have to think about anything that's led to him doing this. He knows it's running away, but he's still not ready to deal with the very real fact that he might have fucked up being friends with someone so badly that he now has a crush on them. He's barely dealing with his own queerness, he doesn't need any more issues to pile on top of it this second.]

[savedbyasong]

[He sees the startling, moves his hand feeling a twinge of... guilt might be too big but he regrets doing something that makes Ceej uncomfortable. Shion just... touch is part of how he communicates and he is struggling to remember that this might be awkward now because...

It wasn't real but this is. The two of them on this island, reciting Hamlet. It is so... Maybe he shouldn't have started this. Because Hamlet is so wrapped up in... It was the first book he ever read. The first book of all the books he picked up in Rat's room. It was Hamlet that Rat as Eve had performed in, the night he collapsed. It was Hamlet played out by singing lions that he and Rat had watched in the Tower. The connection brings pain. A small stinging of guilt but that... He was nothing to Rat. The Rat at the Tower hadn't even been from his world... The visions in the mirror. There was not a future where Rat did not walk away and he had never... Dealt with that, in his mind. Not really. Was it bad that Ceej made him smile?

His thoughts are all jumbled. He half understands that Ceej is being silly, being funny and monologuing with an egg because it's easier than continuing this conversation. But he's not sure he has the courage to stop him, to stear them back.]

Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.

[It should be noted that throughout this improptu Hamlet session Shion's reciting is not... good. He is word perfect but his timing is off, he pauses in the wrong places. He clearly doesn't quite get how the words are meant to flow, the rhythmn of the piece.

Also he's a coward. Letting Ceej run, letting himself run away from the clashing battle in his own mind.]

Prithee Ceej, tell me one thing.

[yourattention]

[By contrast, Connor isn't word perfect but he is performing. It's not great - he's a little overdramatic, but that's partially because he's trying to diffuse the situation. To distract from what he should be saying with what he is saying.

He turns to look at Shion, head tilted slightly in question.]

What's that, m'lord?

[savedbyasong]

[It makes him smile, the performing, the melodrama. But it's still too... Too close. And though he knows it's the next line, that Ceej is just following the script... M'lord is close enough to your majesty that it is enough for his brain to want to stop. Thoughts swirl up to claim him and he forces himself to breathe. Recites flowers. All the plants he planted today, their species, genus. It only takes a moment and he's alright... He's fine.]

Dost thou... want to stay for dinner? [Focussing, tilting his head in return.] We're having... eggs it looks like. Aster will be happy to see you.

[It's probably time they ate, Shion's bad at that. Bad at remembering to eat any where near regularly but he's a bit better at making sure Aster eats and cooking is one of the only things where he can admit to being more competent than his little sister.]

[yourattention]

Verily. [Connor doesn't actually cook well, because tbh he mostly eats weird survivalist food, but he does know how.] If you want, I can go steal a bunch of vegetables from my asshole neighbor and we can make omlettes. I also have fish.

[He always has seafood, because if the Jormun didn't give it to him in exchange for the weird trinkets he makes then he caught it himself. The Bludrocs also eat it.]

[savedbyasong]

Um... if you mean borrow rather than actually steal then yes. If you... I have some stuff. [They shouldn't rob each other, that's not a good way to try and live in a community, even if that community was made up of lost souls on some kind of island that probably wasn't real.]

Fish would be nice though, omlettes it is.

[yourattention]

Technically, it's a community garden. [Super technically, it's not even stealing. He just leaves a note saying he stole stuff every time because that's how he expresses affection: passive agressive nonsense.] Do you have a preference on what veggies? I think the dog comes by every couple of weeks and grows more so, like. If I take a few things nobody will even notice.

[savedbyasong]

Alright, thank you. [That's okay. As long as they are not actually robbing anything.

It's probably a sign that he's too long too far from home when the sentance I think the dog comes by every couple of weeks and grows more. Doesn't even make him bat an eye lid.]

Mushrooms would go... Onion I guess. [What are food choices? Whatever is availible has been the norm for many years.] We both like everything. [A pause before he adds.]

Except pumpkin. [Not that it's an obvious choice for omlettes. He stands up and picks up the basket of eggs, he should start preparing.]

[yourattention]

Mushroom, onion, hold the pumpkin spice everything, got it. [Connor is going to stand up, but then he finally remembers Shion poured him water and he doesn't know what to do with it? So he just chugs it and then sets the cup aside awkwardly before getting up.] I'll, um. I'll be right back.

[He is literally just gonna go and come right back - he even actually uses the mana pool for once, instead of the raft he actually came on.]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion gave him one last smile and picks up the bowl. He gets to his feet and goes over to the shack to get things ready.

By the time Connor returns he has a fire started and the things they will need set out. Or rather the things they have set out. He is used to improvising though, it's been very much trial and error learning how to cook with very little of anything. In the Tower they had at least had appliances, except when they had no power.

He can only be thankful that outdoor cooking and fire building was one of the things Reno had taught them.

When Connor returns he is just outside the shack, next to the fire. He has gathered garlic, one of the things he had found on Ziziphus. Thalassa the cat had come out to join him as had Cobweb, though the Tigerlilly was keeping a distance from the fire.]

[yourattention]

[Connor has maybe always liked animals better than people, so he gets mildly distracted by Thalassa. He bends down to hold out a hand, murmuring quietly to try and get her to let him pet her. He does it to his asshole neighbor's cat sometimes too, when his asshole neighbor isn't paying attention.]

Hey, kitty. Do you like fish? It's not fresh, but I can catch you one if you want - oh. Here.

[Like an afterthought, Connor unslings his messenger bag and holds it out to Shion. He'd thrown everything in there for ease of carrying and there is a lot of stuff in there, actually. There's two woven boxes with lids (one filled with dried fish and one with smoked), along with a couple of onions and a handful of laetiporus mushrooms. Shion, uh. Asked for mushrooms? And those are what he took from Monsun to grow, so that's what he brought.

. . . It's entirely possible that Connor has a lot more food on hand than most people and he should probably share more of it instead of mostly feeding it to his Bludrocs and the Cariborn.]

[savedbyasong]

[It's a sentiment Shion can understand. It is so much easier to understand animals than humans. Animals were safer, it was easier to befriend animals and they let their displeasure in you known in obvious ways.

Thalassa does indeed like fish and she also likes pets. Cobweb ambles over after a moment, he likes pets too if not fish. It's not long before the third cat creature of the house pokes his head out of the shack letting out a yip at the new voice. Excalibur is the oddest of the three creatures being a multicoloured cat dog dreameater.

Shion takes the bag with a grateful smile and begins unpacking it. There is a lot of food in there, which is not all that surprising as Ceej is... Actually good at all of this. Surviving. Aster and Shion aren't bad, they were taught under Reno after all. But they were also... Their standards were low, as long they weren't starving everything was fine.]

That's Thalassa, the tigerlilly is called Cobweb and Excalibur is the dreameater's name. Careful he has strong opinions about humans being his to lick.

[yourattention]

Thalassa like . . . the goddess?

[That actually draws Connor's attention away from the animals, partially. He's absently petting Excalibur, trying to keep him away from his face, but he's looking at Shion.]

That would make Cobweb the odd one out.

[savedbyasong]

I... I'm not sure. [He looks embarassed, he is. There's still a lot he doesn't know. Though in this case he knows it might just be a case of different worlds, rather than his lack of knowledge in anything that's actually important.] Aster named him, so Thalassa might be a goddess in her world...

[He'd never actually asked where she had gotten the name from.]

I named Cobweb so it makes sense he's the odd one out.

[yourattention]

It's Greek. She's - [God, he mostly remembers the name. She wasn't a character in Percy Jackson, so he's not that familiar with the myth.] Goddess of storms, maybe? I don't really remember. It's probably not important.

[savedbyasong]

I'll ask Aster, she might know though I'm not sure if Greek was a place in her world. [Greeks? Greek doesn't sound right as a place name but he's trying alright, all the places in his world are literally the numbers one to six.]

I think Thalassa would like being a goddness of storms, she is much more fierce in her own mind I think.