asgardmeridiem | [OPEN LOG]

Entry tags:

[OPEN LOG]

Who: Jade + literally anyone
What: Jade bribing people into her restaurant with free things.
When: Day 355.
Where: The Highwind, in Heimdall's district.
Rating: PG-13 for language at most!

EDITED TO ADD: Also, totally feel free to threadjack and use this as a mingle log IF YOU WOULD LIKE ♥

[ It had worked once before, back in the heat of late summer in Asgard, so Jade was trying it again. She had dragged the sign out to the front of the store, right in the middle of the sidewalk, and written in huge letters:

free hot chocolate! :D
just come inside ♥

The temperature hadn't broken the sixty degree mark today - it was getting chilly fast. Both Orihime and Annabeth were gone, and the store was oddly quiet. Jade will be found keeping herself busy throughout the day with odd little chores when it's completely empty of customers - sweeping, dusting, and occasionally dozing in a booth near the door when the boredom becomes too much to bear. ]

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[Such a nice kitty-- oh. The nudge surprises her openly, making her go still. She blinks, considers the cat - tries to parse what might have been meant there and decides on something... friendly?]

[It seemed like it, anyway, and so soon enough she's smiling again, all the more brightly.]

Yeah...! I sort of wish I'd met her sooner.

[So great. <3]

Well, you can come over and spend as much time with her as you want now! Even if I'm not home, I'm sure Aurthour would let you in. And Pounce would always be happy to see you, right, Pounce?

[The rumbling purr says it all.]

...! Really? You wouldn't mind?

[Gosh, that's unexpected. Kind of flattering, though.]

I'd be happy to see her, too.

[Pet pet pet--]

Who's Aurthour?

Nuh uh! Not at all!

[Pounce rolls back onto her front and rubs her head against Namine's side, her own version of inviting her over.]

Aurthour is Equius' lusus! He's a centaur. He's very nice and polite.

Thank you...! I'll-- try not to be a bother.

[Such sweet folks, both of them. Extra ear scratches for Pounce.]

Oh...! So you live together, then? He wouldn't mind either?

Pfft, you'd never be. If we can put up with some of the other trolls then we definitely fur sure won't mind having you over.

[Namine knows Sollux, so Nepeta is guessing she has an idea just how difficult some trolls can be to deal with.]

Yes, yes, we do! It's so good to be living in the same place! Back home we were really far off from each other. And no, he won't mind, he's either at the shop or down in his workshop most of the time. If he says anything just tell him you're my friend and that I said you can come over.

[... Hah. Yeah, she has an idea.]

Well, when you put it that way...! [Joking, of course. She's had several troll friends. (There have been much more troublesome people in her life than them.)]

Oh...! That must have been hard. I'm glad you can be together here. I'll try not to startle him too badly, if I do. [A beat.] Is... that a thing moirails do, sometimes? Staying together? Or-- is it for other reasons? [... She still wonders how it works, even... er, given she doesn't really have one, anymore.]

Just don't let him startle you. He's pawesome really, he just looks growly on the outside most of the time.

[Nepeta shakes her head.] I don't really know? Some of them do, maybe. It's not the same for everyone, maybe some moirails like having more space and others just like being close. Equius and I get along and he likes knowing where I am and that I'm safe and I like having him around to pounce him regularly and remind him to take breaks and have fun sometimes.

Hee...! I believe you. Besides, I've always thought the heart means more than the body it lives in.

[She nods, a little slowly. It's an active endeavor not to get nostalgic.] Right, of course. I'm sorry, I-- I know things vary. [That much had been clear, at least.] It's just... hard not to wonder, you know? [For obvious reasons.] I'm glad that you two can look after each other well here, at least.

That's right! And very very true.

[Nepeta reaches out so that her petting efforts are now focused on Namine, gently stroking her hair in a silent offering of comfort.] It's okay. I understand. Do you want to talk about it?

[It's hard not to let her attempt at a smile drop, at that - because she knows she's caught, that she's been found out, and it feels a little futile, trying to act like that whole situation doesn't bother her. How initially unexpected the gesture is startles her enough that the shift in her expression is noticeable.]

[Swallowing, she turns her eyes away - but it's comforting, really it is. Finally,]

... I don't know if there's much point, now. [... No, Naminé, don't be bitter. (It's not bitterness, exactly. It's more like resignation.)] It's-- as I thought. He doesn't remember me anymore.

[Even Pounce seems concerned at the sound in Namine's voice, and she comes closer to rub the top of her head against her, trying to be comforting. As for Nepeta, she's debating whether another hug would go amiss. She can't even imagine how much she's hurting.]

I know...I spoke to him. I'm so sorry, Namine.

[Her eyes shift up toward the cat a moment, briefly widening as she realizes she kind of stopped with the petting and instantly feels bad despite her distraction, but she appreciates the gesture all the same and raises a hand to pet at the lusus' head as best she can. Looking back at Nepeta when she speaks, Naminé at least makes an effort not to frown as deeply as her mouth seems to want to, or to let her eyes sting any more than they already do.]

It's alright. [It's not alright, but it has to be, anyway.] You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault. [Even if she knows it's not that kind of 'sorry'.] But thank you, Nepeta. It's... sweet of you to be concerned.

[She takes a deep breath and lets it out, careful not to let it shake.]

I always thought it would happen eventually, you know? From the very beginning. [It's not as though anyone's ever managed to remember her for long, after all.] I was... prepared.

[And it hurts as terribly as she expected it to.]

[Sorry, Namine, but Nepeta and Pounce are definitely not going to stop fussing. They're curling around her as though she's an unhappy wet kitten, both trying to soothe her in their own way.]

You shouldn't have to worry about things like that...it's not right! Relationships are hard enough without having to be sure that they're not going to last...

[It's so strange, being fussed over so-- well, completely. Surrounded by attention, by concern - it's... overwhelming, but in a good sort of way. It makes her heart swell a little even for all its heaviness in her chest. More than anything, she wants to comfort them, because she knows this is her fault and that just won't do at all. Still a little cautious, she leaves one hand on Pounce and pets the other gingerly over Nepeta's hair in some echo of a comforting gesture she's been shown.]

I know. I know-- but that's just the way things are. It's how they've always been. [~~Even before she came to the city.~~] I've had a long time to get used to it. So-- please, you don't have to worry about me.

They shouldn't be, though. You deserve to be a lot happier than that!

[It's good that Namine doesn't mind the concern too much, because all evidence points to a great deal more fussing in her very near future. Both Nepeta and Pounce seem to be half-cuddling her, half-grooming her, furiously trying to prove to her that she's cared for and won't be forgotten, not by them.]

Of course we're going to worry! You're our friend!

[As easily as she could disagree, she refrains from saying any such thing; what she does or does not deserve is probably better left unsaid.]

[All the same, she submits to their attentions without resistance, chest warm even though it's getting hard not to tear up. (It's especially strange, perhaps, for the fact that she's never had attention of this sort bestowed upon her so thoroughly before. That's the thing about never having had a family, about lacking any real source of comfort whatsoever for most of the early part of her life.)]

I know I can't stop you, but-- I just don't want you to be sad because of me. I got to see him again. That's-- that's enough. I'm happy.

[She also sounds far too watery for someone saying that.]

You can be friends again.

[She cuddles her, uncaring that they're out in public. The more they fuss over her the more Nepeta realizes that perhaps Namine hasn't ever had the advantage of someone to comfort her like this, and that seems almost as sad to her as the loss of her moirail.]

It's still another chance to get to know each other all over again, right?

Yes.

[She does not repeat what he'd said that first time they spoke, because she knows he can be thoughtless in situations like that and she knows that he can exaggerate and truthfully she'd prefer to think it's just that, even if all her insecurities refuse to allow her to leave it be. She can really only hold on in return and just sort of... let herself be cuddled. She doesn't cling - doesn't know how to cling, not really, but she appreciates it deeply all the same.]

That's right. I'd... like that more than anything. I mean-- not if that's not what he wants, but... I'll still want to look after him, no matter what.

You have to give it some time, okay? You know what he's like. He's not taking it well that he was here before and doesn't remember it, but that's not furry surprising.

[Restaurant or not, it seems like Pounce and Nepeta have made an impromptu protective pile of themselves around Namine. The situation seems to call for it, and since she's not protesting they'll cuddle her as long as they're allowed to.]

[Fortunately enough, Naminé's not one to worry overmuch about where they are; her mind's on this, after all, and she's not one to protest such kindness unless in some failing of self esteem.]

Yeah. I know. [And even now, she can sort of smile about it.] I know it must be hard for him. It makes me want to help even more, but-- maybe it would be better if I gave him a little space, for a while. [Or at least go about it differently than that first conversation.]

Give him a little space, but not too much. Sollux would like a whole planetful of space around him if he got his own way, but that's not good for him! Just don't bring up what happened with him before. Try and get to be his friend all over again. I know it's hard but I think you really can do it.

[Nepeta just really wants to see Namine happy - and more than that, she's such a sweet girl. She thinks that she'll be good for Sollux, and it's obvious Sollux had been good for Namiine with how fond she still is of him.]

[There's a breath of a laugh and one she has to cover with her hand. It's a touch bittersweet.]

Yeah, I know. He always was such a stick in the mud. [It's openly fond; not a criticism but rather an affectionate sort of musing. (He really had been good for her.)] I'll do my best. I don't know if he'll like me this time, but-- I can't let that stop me from trying.

[She pauses, sobering slightly. (Not that she wasn't sober enough in the first place.)]

... Do you think he'd be angry with me? If-- we became friends again and I didn't tell him for a long time what things were like before?

[Nepeta squishes her in her arms at that laugh. She'd been hoping that saying it would amuse her, mostly because it's quite true.

But then the conversation turns serious again, and Nepeta mulls that over, frowning.]

I think he might be, but Sollux does get angry very easily. And the way he's thinking about things now, he might run away if you tell him everything straight away. But if you're friends first, even if he gets mad about it later, I'm sure he'd forgive you. You're not doing it to trick him, after all. You're doing it so that you both get a chance to know each other and be friends, just as he wants, as if it's the first time all over again.

[Her eyes search downward at-- er, what would normally be the ground, but she's sort of surrounded at the moment, so she settles for turning slightly to search for answers in Pounce's fur. She finds none, as expected.]

That's what I'm afraid of. Even knowing that, I-- it feels a little underhanded. I always thought I shouldn't do that, especially not to-- [One's moirail. But he doesn't count as her moirail anymore.] ... to him.

[She shakes her head slightly.]

You're right, though.

[There's a brief, heavy sort of silence, then,]

I always sort of thought it was a fluke. That we were friends in the first place, I mean. [Much less anything more than that.]

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