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[worldisyours]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, RINDO KANADE. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 4.28.13.9 *** rindragon has joined 4.28.13.9

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<FLY>

[jumpie]

[ the last text he’d sent was . . . somewhat of a good bye. he thought rindo at the very least didn’t want to speak with him, and at its worst something terrible happened that no one wanted to tell him about. being a plant was none of the above or unbeaten he was expecting, and—

before shoyo knew it, his eyes leak and run and so does his nose as he snorts up choked, sobbing little hiccups in between typing. ]

cryi ng,,
its never late for bday pizza

<rindragon>

[worldisyours]

[Shoyo's… actually crying? Oh no…]

its okay
im okay [Physically, at least…]
id be down for bday pizza sometime [He owes Shoyo that much for making him worry so much, and it'll be a good excuse to go out instead of moping…]

[…]

sorry shoka didnt tell you what was up with me
she was going through a lot

<FLY>

[jumpie]

[ he needs a minute. he’s a bit of a crybaby— but in all genuine honesty he has reason to cry . . . ! tears of relief! ]

it’s ok
bet she was real upset
and she still helped me

[ . . . . ]

can sometime be soon?

<rindragon>

[worldisyours]

[Upset about more than just Rindo, to say the least. Painful fondness creeps into his heart at Shoyo's message. Of course Swallow would still help, even despite that.

…Help with what, though? Once again, the timestamp is evocative. Did the changes hit Shoyo while he was out and about…? If that's the case and Swallow found him, then Rindo can at least take solace in knowing Shoyo must have been in good hands. After all, she had been there for him during his own transformation, an unfailing stalwart presence.

Rindo's terribly curious what Shoyo is going to turn into, in a morbid sort of way, if only to know the exact flavor of horrors he will be subjected to and how to best advise him… But a deep sense of sympathy keeps him from outright asking, as he understands all too well the potential reluctance to talk about something so fraught.]

yea im not surprised. shes a rly good person
and sure
i dont rly have anything going on

[…Besides staring ineffectually at the pod Gladion is encased in. The twins have been doing a fine job looking after him; Rindo isn't needed.]

<FLY>

[jumpie]

ok
when exactly
im free whenever

[ anything to see rindo senpai...... ]

<rindragon>

[worldisyours]

um its kinda late rn so
tomorrow ig? lunchtime sound good?

[Lo, a minor miracle: Rindo making a decision in a timely manner!

…Because he feels guilty about making Shoyo cry, and if all it takes to make him feel better is to see him, then how can he not oblige?]

<FLY>

[jumpie]

sounds good

[ but now he’s fidgeting and away and squirming around, if he says goodbye now he surely wouldn’t sleep! which means . . .

after a pause, shoyo starts typing again. ]

wanna guess what changes i got?

<rindragon>

[worldisyours]

[Ah, well, here it is… If Shoyo's so nonchalant about this, he must not have been hit by changes too hard yet, right? Rindo knows he wasn't in the mood for guessing games after his own, rapid transformation… And to be frank, he isn't in the mood for it now either—not with something as heavy as monster types, not when that dictates the terms of the whole cannibalism thing…

So, sidestepping the question it is.]

do u know what youre turning into yet?

<FLY>

[jumpie]

[ it is all a manner of how one copes, and games does it for shoyo. any kind of game or competition can have something tense feel just a touch better, and when that attempt is rejected (without ill meaning or intent), shoyo feels it like a sinking anchor against his doggy paddling to keep swimming.

there’s still a lot to learn and plenty of new, startling information that has been given but has yet to really sink in. he retreats, types an answer, ]

no
joseph thinks werewolf

[ lays back-flat against his bed, and sets his volleyball over his head rhythmically. it’s the middle of the night, but it’s a game. the laptop screen feels like a nightlight. how many times could he bounce before the next message?

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, (he doesn’t think about it, and feels a touch better). ]

<rindragon>

[worldisyours]

[Alas, Rindo's way of dealing with Ryslig is much different, and he has no idea his response made Shoyo upset. Instead, he's already running through monster traits in his head, wondering what changes Shoyo could have possibly gone through for someone—Joseph isn't anyone he's familiar with—to only suspect Werewolf. It's not exactly the easiest type to narrow down… a lot of its features are shared with many others.

Most importantly, it has a hunting instinct. He winces. That's well outside his wheelhouse as a Nymph. Maybe he could ask Beat for help…]

ill give u my best guess tomorrow if u dont mind getting stared at
ive read thru the monster guide like a million times

[Here, a vague attempt at something like levity. Is this anything?]

<FLY>

[jumpie]

[ seventeen. that’s seventeen bumps before the next ping. that’s not a bad number per se, but he did have his sights on twenty. pressing the volleyball snug at his side, he drags the laptop over to his chest, reads (with an extra blink of curiosity—did he just want to do everything tomorrow? that was alright) and types out in turn (with horrible, horrible posture): ]

it’s cool i can stare back
OvO
haha
sooo
i’ll see u then?

[ he had a record to break before getting too sleepy, too. ]

<rindragon> cw: body horror

[worldisyours]

[Do everything tomorrow? Something like that… though Shoyo will soon find that even (especially?) in person, Rindo isn't in much of a playful mood. Guessing monster types is a lot less uncomfortable than changes, at least. Did your spine bloodily burst into a weird draconic-looking crest? Did your legs break to reshape themselves? Did your feet split apart to form talons? (Of course, there are changes far less traumatic than this, but… to guess too optimistically, or too pessimistically—both feel like severe missteps.)

Shoyo's comment about staring is clearly a joke, but Rindo hopes he won't actually do too much of that.]

yup
see u tomorrow
gn!


[…And so, on the next day at lunchtime, Rindo's waiting at their agreed-upon meeting spot.

Shoyo won't have any trouble recognizing him; there hasn't been major changes since the last time they met in person. The green of his skin is vibrant, and yet (perhaps confusingly), the flowers on his heads and arms are… not wilted, per se, but they've seen better days. There's no spark behind his brightly-colored eyes; they look dull and lifeless, casting uneasy glances around in search of a shock of orange hair… assuming, of course, that Shoyo hasn't lost it during his changes.]

ACTION (silly me)

[jumpie]

[ the next day took forever to turn. maybe it was because it took forever for shoyo to fall asleep, but he was up early (later than his usual 6AM early, but before 9AM) and going about his ryslig adopted morning routine before all clocks hit noon— finally, it was time! lunch!! sometimes, shoyo is seen before he’s heard, but this time . . .

his senses are a touch sharper, and he’s had and entire month to adjust. he could see the nymph far off (green, that’s what he sees first, then features—), and instead of yelling (which he would’ve, had his ears not fallen so sensitive to sound) he waves his arms and jumps up and down, which looks more like excited legs-in-the-air (we are talking full air borne splits) as the teen makes his way over in half-sprint, skips and hops. ]

Rindo Rindo Rindo—!

[ to wrap his arms around rindo’s head in a hug that smothers his face, probably. ]

Rindo!

[ of course he was still excited with the fact that rindo was still alive; the details would have to wait. ]

[worldisyours]

[Ah, there's Shoyo! …And he's looking every bit as human as he did when they first met. Subtle changes to start with, then? Or maybe invisible ones, like Gladion, who could sense plant signals before anything else?

Rindo's musings are interrupted as Shoyo practically bounces in his direction. Is he gonna—

—yes, yes he is. With Shoyo on a collision course with him, Rindo barely has time to make a single step backwards before he gets tackle-hugged, his back talons growing a few, ephemeral branching roots by reflex to stabilize him.

He stands in stunned silence for a moment, face smooshed, reeling from the energy mismatch and wondering how to react. Eventually he pulls his face away from the embrace, lifting an arm hesitantly to put it around Shoyo's side. The other teen is practically radiating with excitement.

In contrast, Rindo's sluggish. It's not even the month-long plant nap that's causing it; the reason is much more mundane than that—he's depressed. But, well, he's out here now, and he may as well try to put up some kind of personable front for Shoyo's sake.]

H-Hey… Guess you really were that worried?

[For Rindo, June had passed in the blink of an eye, and though he may have been gone for a while, he doesn't really feel like there's much reason for anyone to miss him. As a result, people's effusive reactions to his awakening have left him more than a little taken aback.]

[jumpie]

O-of course!

[ he's clinging— but he should come down from there, shouldn't he! as much as hugs shouldn't come to an end, shoyo knows the invisible rule to let down when the ticker comes to zero. his eyes are twinkling with wetness and a burning sting, but the sclera never turns really red— it's got a turquoise tint to it instead.

oh—! ]

Were you watered when you were sleeping? You're kinda droopy!

[worldisyours]

[Once released, Rindo removes his arm from Shoyo's side with an awkward parting pat, then gives him a cursory once-over for any changes he might have missed from a distance. …There's nothing obvious.

Don't his eyes look a little strange, though? This color isn't particularly Werewolf-like. And wait, he definitely sounds a little choked up… Oh, no. He better not start actually crying. That is far beyond his ability to deal with right now.

The question takes Rindo aback. Had Shoyo read the guide, or perhaps seen Ingo's network post, and figured out that Rindo transformed into a plant while he was sleeping? Or did Shoyo just… assume that he stayed in his normal Nymph form and people poured water on his roots, or something like that?]

Um… Yeah, actually… [This is weird!! This is why he didn't want to mention it!] What do you mean by "droopy", though?

[Your local depressed Nymph has not been taking good enough care of himself to notice that his flowers look a little worse for wear.]

[jumpie]

[ has shoyo painted his nails? they’re actually thicker, and black, but not entirely sharp? they actually stop short from getting into points from what looks like clipping and keep to oddly angled blunts.

not that it bothers him, but long nails are just asking for injuries in a sport as hands on as volleyball. he doesn’t want them to fall off again. ]

Well, you’re all . . . [ how does he put this? shoyo droops his head to the side along with a one sided slump of his shoulder, ] Nyoop— [ complete with a fall in tone to signal “down”. ] y’know?

[ hoping rindo can speak onomonopiese. and did he know about rindo being an actual potted plant? no! but he was at least smart enough to think of rindo’s physiology as, well. a plant. he doesn’t remember the difference between chlorophyll and chloroplast, but he knows that plants need watering and sun. right?! ]

[worldisyours]

[Right! And dead people, in Rindo's case.]

…Oh.

[The flowers may not be him, but they're still directly connected to him, and through Nymph powers, it's remarkably easy for him to intuitively sense their state. That is, if he's paying any attention at all, which he was not until Shoyo brought it up. After a brief tuning into his monster abilities, he finds that Shoyo's right—his flowers are, in fact, droopy.

The fix is just as simple. Nymphs can bring even near-dead plants back from the brink, so giving his own flowers a little boost is a trivial matter. If Shoyo's watching, he'll see them perk right back up, seemingly of their own volition. Were it not a sunny July day, he might even have gotten to see them glow faintly for a second or two.]

Must've forgotten to fix them this morning.

[Having flowers on his head does make sleeping inconvenient. They tend to get crushed and damaged no matter what position he lays in. It doesn't hurt him, but it feels… rude to them? (Appearances are a secondary concern.) So when he gets up, he takes a moment to repair any damage, much like combing one's hair.

After this, Rindo's gaze happens to land on Shoyo's thick, black nails for a split second. Their dark color catch his eye, making him linger on them, deep in thought. They're… actually quite familiar—Swallow's own nails in Kelpie form are just like that. Shoyo's a sporty guy, isn't he? He probably wouldn't paint his nails…]

[jumpie]

[ it’s magic (or just . . . photosynthesis?), and shoyo can’t help but to watch with silent, vibrating splendor. even nymphs are cool. but . . . he does keep that to himself now.

being a monster isn’t just cool. there are gritty strings attached that he’s still having trouble catching up to. whenever he finds himself thinking about it, or close to he always attempts to divert.

speaking of divert, where is he looking— ]

. . . Oh, um, [ he notices, and brings his hands up to spread his fingers apart. ] Miss Shoka wrapped them up for me when they fell off.

[worldisyours]

[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.]

cw body horror mention

[jumpie]

[ 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?

[worldisyours]

[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?

[jumpie]

[ 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!! ]

[worldisyours]

[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…]

[jumpie]

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?