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[It is a Ryslig rite of passage to meet a Nymph and find them cool… at least as far as Rindo is concerned. Shoyo's intense scrutiny makes him a little uncomfortable, but, well, he did kind of invite staring by doing that in front of him…

Even though Swallow had been on his mind already, hearing her mentioned out loud makes him do a double take. Could they have met by chance while Shoyo was dealing with his changes?]

O-Oh. Did it catch you off guard? The… changes? Lucky she found you, then.

[…No one should go through changes alone.

Rindo peers at Shoyo's fingernails, lifting his own hands for Shoyo to compare them to. His black claws glint in the sunlight. They look like they've been clipped very recently; their edge is blunt. For now, they're harmless.]

…Are yours thick nails, or clipped claws?

[Looks like the former to him, but might as well confirm.]

[ he nods— just. it was scary all around. he wasn’t home for it, and suddenly everything was loud and terrifying and nails started sliding off his fingertips like goop . . . shoka knew her way with him. a kelpie to kelpie, perhaps. ]

I clipped them! [ he bends his fingers to his palms and checks the edges, which were still okay for now. ] It’s dangerous to have them big in volleyball. Like, when you try to spike or block or even dig, the ball can go zing and kablam it off—

[ then sheepishly: ]

One time’s enough. Do they, um . . . Look like any you know?

[Not only that—Swallow had known the notoriously anxious Rindo for over three years now, even if most of that time, it had been strictly over texts. Needless to say, she has a lot of experience helping with such things.]

…Yeah, I bet it must hurt like hell.

[No matter how he looks at them, these fingernails are just… not claws, though. Or if they are, they're way different from his own. So Werewolf can't be right. Unless…]

Uh… disclaimer. I read the monster guides a ton, but sometimes stuff is… weird. [Rindo glances down for a second. Having roots is normal for a Nymph… but them being shaped like talons is unusual.] And it's not like I've actually seen tons of monsters, so this isn't, like, practical knowledge. I could easily be wrong.

[Hopefully there's no harm in just sharing the facts.]

Most monster types get claws. There's only two that get thicker fingernails, and that's Kelpies and Minotaurs, so you might be turning into either of those.

[…and neither can escape having to kill.]

…Any other changes?

[ kelpies and minotaurs . . . that’s the horse and the bull ones specifically, right? huh . . . thinking about the remaining changes at this point— shoyo thinks his sight has already been good, so it’s not worth mentioning. he’s also always been skittish (or so he thinks). his ears, on the other hand, ]

My hearing’s really good? But that’s it right now.

[ they were just some days too early for more to pop up!! ]

[Rindo can't tell whether it's a good or bad thing that Shoyo's first changes were pretty tame. His own were… dramatic, to say the least, but at least once they were over, they were over. There was still that whole week of growing leaves and flowers and his vines, of course, but he didn't have to worry for months on end about what he was going to turn into.

Better hearing doesn't really narrow things down, unless…? No, wait, there's subtle differences…]

Okay, so both options get improved hearing, but Kelpies' works better underwater, and Minotaurs' is like… more about being able to tell exactly where noises are coming from. Does that help?

[Nymphs don't get any changed senses, just an extra one, so he's not really sure how it feels…]

Um . . .

[ yeah. no 😩 no eureka moment. just . . . blank confusion!! that sounds like the same thing as “good hearing” to him. but there is one thing— ]

I haven’t tried in water yet. M’not a really great swimmer.

[ he doggy paddles. not afraid to swim, but it’s not the first thing he thinks about doing. ]

But I can try it?

Up to you. Um… maybe you could fill your bathtub when you head back to your apartment and dive in it?

[…This is silly.

Speaking of apartments though…]

By the way… How are things going with your roommate?

[Rindo's not really thinking about the pizza anymore. Photosynthesis gives him energy… which means he doesn't get hungry if he's out in the sun for too long. If Shoyo wants to eat, he's going to have to move things along!]

[ while shoyo nods and makes mental notes (not me forgetting about pizza—) he starts (or should have started) leading the way in for a seat and their beloved medium pizza pie set for prepping. now, the question . . . the actual question. ]

Sunny? [ that’s right, he mentioned him in a text. considering shoyo’s big birthday bash at the amusement park . . . well. now he knows. ] He’s going outside with me more.

[ there’s some unspoken happiness there, in the small quirk of his lips going up. ] Have you met him before?

[Rindo's ears twitch slightly as he suppresses an uneasy lash of his tail. How to navigate this…

Basil had called Sunny his friend. That does significantly reduce the odds of anything going horribly wrong if they were to meet, but… Rindo himself had lashed out at Swallow, before he realized who she was. The last thing he wants is to be responsible for something like this happening again, or worse, something like the Coco incident.

Little does he know, though, his worries are unwarranted: Basil and Sunny have already met again, and in Shoyo's presence at that—so him sharing what he knows wouldn't have any ill effects.]

I… haven't, no.

[…]

I've… actually heard about him before, though. Before you mentioned him to me, I mean.

[Is this vague enough…? He's trying to come across as neutral and level, but the result is somewhat artificial-sounding.]

[ not that shoyo could see it too easily— he’s more emotional than anything, so rindo’s navigating is only being perceived as “worried” fly the redhead. whilst kicking his feet just a touch off where they find a bunk table to sit in, he pieces the most obvious of the information and presents them. ]

From Basil—?

[ that was the only choice. he and sunny were friends, going through something complicated. ]

[Hopefully not so complicated as to incur murder attempts.

The mention of Basil's name makes Rindo relax visibly. No need for dancing around the topic anymore. If Shoyo already knows of their relation, then there's no risk that Rindo revealing it would make things worse.]

Oh, you know Basil? Yeah, I heard from him… Are they, like… okay?

[Rindo doesn't even have the slightest clue what's going on between Basil and Sunny—he's just being overly cautious, scared of the worst possible outcomes.]

Oh, um, [ shoyo stumbles a little, because— not even he really understands what's up with them. basil preferred to keep it vague, which he's completely in his right to, and sunny— well, sunny doesn't say much about it either, even when prompted, but shoyo is sure to try again some other time. ] they're dealing with something "complicated".

[ that's the best he could do, especially for privacy's sake. ]

I dunno. But I do wanna help somehow?

[…Yeah, "complicated" sounds right.]

You… don't think they're gonna try to hurt each other, right?

[Kind of an alarming question! But please soothe Rindo's worries!]

[ shoyo’s swinging legs come to a slow halt, and his features pause into an startled blank. hurt . . .

he and kageyama have gotten into fights, some on the more physical side, but . . . . they never wanted to hurt each other or tried to. ]

N . . . No. Basil cares for Sunny. And Sunny, [ doesn’t remember. shoyo’s hesitation comes from surprise, not from doubt. a flash of memory comes to the forefront of shoyo’s mind: sunny laying on the couch. sunny huddled up in the corner of a dark room. always shy. sheltered. afraid. ] wouldn’t.

[ but why would he be asking? ]

Did something happen?

Edited 2023-07-22 13:32 (UTC)

[Shoyo sounds sure enough of his words, even in spite of the pause.

So… Sunny wouldn't. And Rindo can't picture Basil wanting to hurt anyone either. He wishes he could say that's enough to completely assuage his fears, but he's pretty sure worry has never left him ever since the day he woke up in that sewer, so this'll have to do.

Rindo sighs.]

…No. It's just…

[The temptation is strong to change the topic, here. What stops him is the sense that Shoyo deserves better than evasiveness when Rindo's the one who brought up the topic in the first place.]

A while back, I found someone from my world here, and brought her to the house to meet her friend. But it… it went badly, because I had no idea that another one of my housemates hated her guts.

[The admission is heavy with regret, and reading self-loathing into it would not be a stretch.]

I didn't want to make the same mistake again.

[ “oh”, is shoyo’s inicial reaction, but his shoulders squeeze up tight around his neck when he sees similarities . . . not that one hated the other, he’s pretty sure that’s not the case, but. damn if it were. shoyo would be in trouble. ]

They don’t hate each other . . . I think.

[ he thinks. it’s something else. he just doesn’t know. what comes now is a reluctant silence, even as their medium sized pizza is served right in front of them. the waitress adds some extra sets of monster fries on the side for good measure, luck and peace. shoyo can’t keep quiet for long, anyway, and even in sight of his belated birthday pizza, he doesn’t feel like digging in. at least not immediately. ]

I invited them both to the amusement park for my birthday, and . . . I didn’t know they knew each other.

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