auroraexpress | (no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: Day 20, evening
Where: The train and surrounding terrain

[So after all the earlier excitement.... dramatic organ music starts to play through the cars. There's no obvious source. It's just... There? All around you for a while, before fading.

Of course before the music fades there's more things going on. A mist seeps up from the earth outside the train and within the train simply seems to form like it's produced by invisible fog machines. As the mist grows into a thick fog, you can hear eerie noises. Distant wolf howls, the screech of a fox that sounds like human screaming, owls hooting hauntingly, the leathery flap of bat wings, and other, less identifiable noises of the night, strange and otherworldly.

If you go out in it, breathe it in, the mist will chill you. Make you desire... Touch.

The need to hold another person is an almost growing compulsion, but it can be fought.

However things that are harder to avoid are the flowers, night blooming wisteria in white and purple seems to have grown from nowhere in the train cars, hanging down to brush the heads of passengers with sweet scented blossoms, and the floors of the train and ground around it have become endless beds of gently glowing moonflowers.

The only places the fog and flowers don't reach are team cabins.

Effects:

Mist:

Cold that cannot be dispelled without touch, a desire to touch others.

Wisteria:

Purple blossoms cause an empathetic bond with the next person you touch.

White blossoms cause arousal and a mild to powerful aphrodisiac effect.

Moonflowers:

Share memories or thoughts with the next person you touch.

By morning the mist and flowers will vanish.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm sure I could've at least purchased suitable clothing. I could make anything work.

Your confidence is certainly inspiring.

Of course.

[And it's... pretty genuine. At least about his looks. Jusis can feel his fondness, though, as he tugs Jusis a little closer.]

We've been manipulated again, haven't we?

[It's embarrassing and nice and a little unsettling in that way where Jusis is always somewhat alarmed by things like this, like anyone would be. But it's not too much different from a combat link, a little deeper and more invasive but it's his brother so it's not like he's upset about it really.]

So it appears.

[He even scoots closer at the tug, sighing.]

Well, it isn't so bad this time.

[He drops his other arm around Jusis, pulling him into a proper cuddle as if Jusis is still a little kid. There's a twinge of sadness there, and nostalgia. He never held Jusis enough back then, did he? It probably would have done them both good.]

...You used to smile so much more easily, when you were small.

[??? He's not sure where that came from but, well, he's not sure where the cuddling is coming from either and he doesn't actually want to question it. It is embarrassing, he's a grown up, he shouldn't be this happy to have his brother hold him like he's a kid, so there's that conflict of simple happiness at something that's genuinely comforting and warm to Jusis, and that embarrassment.

It's even more complicated because he knows Rufus can feel what he does just as he can feel what Rufus does, is trying to understand the sadness without wanting to ask. If it's regret, he doesn't want his brother to feel that, but he's too awkward to know how to voice that.

He wraps his arms around Rufus after a moment, holding on tentatively. It does dispel the chill, and it feels warm in ways that hurt a little.]

I still smile plenty.

[Tiny guarded or shy smiles that are somewhat rare and very often brief, but it's not like he never smiles! Just not like he did as a child. But doesn't everyone grow up?]

Not like that.

[And Rufus doesn't see that as "growing up". He sees it as Jusis getting hurt and ground down by the way they were raised. Weren't they both? Aren't they both strong just to be able to feel nice things even a little?]

...Let's sit this way a little while.

[Jusis had a lot more defending him from their upbringing than Rufus did, Rufus was one of those things shielding him, too. Even now he can't help it that being in Rufus's arms still feels like the safest place in the world, mixed embarrassment aside. He nods, a tiny bit, and tucks his head on his brother's shoulder.]

All right.

[Because he doesn't want to move anyway. This is nice, and he would like to stay like this a while.]

Good.

[He leans his face against Jusis' hair, remembering how small he was when they first met. How soft. Jusis had a warm family for the first half of his life, and while Rufus could be jealous of that, instead he's just sad. He wonders if the happiness Jusis got to experience at first just made it harder to cope with the empty chill of the Albarea household.

He wonders about his own effect, too. Was he a good big brother? Did he make Jusis stronger, or did he just help in making him shut everything out for so long? Jusis always praised him, but if he grew so much without him, then maybe Rufus wasn't so great after all.

He's being quiet and snuggly outwardly, but magical empathy makes it hard to hide those feelings.]

[It's difficult to feel his brother doubting himself, it's weird? But it's also something he doesn't want Rufus doing. He doesn't know what the thought process is behind those feelings though, so he'll have to ask.]

What are you thinking about?

[Because his brother is the most important family he has and if he can't reassure him when he feels like this what kind of brother is he?]

[He has the urge to lie. Of course. But he knows Jusis can tell what he's feeling, and he can tell what Jusis is feeling, so it's pretty pointless.]

...I'm wondering what kind of scars I left on you.

[Now what he was expecting because Jusis just doesn't think of Rufus as a bad point in his life ever, so he just has confusion and then a bit of consternation in response to that. Sure he'd been annoyed at his brother for things, and sometimes Rufus has even hurt him, but never would he consider Rufus as having left scars.]

What--?

[Should he be flustered or annoyed or embarrassed or endeared that his brother is worried about something like that? Maybe all of it.]

Why are you even thinking of that kind of thing?

It's a side-effect of admiring how much you've grown.

[He blushes, happy for the praise.]

Honestly... I didn't know you worried so much. You never left scars. You taught me so much, I could never express it properly. But I'm happy, that I've gotten to be your brother.

...I'm happy, too. It's just that you grew so much outside of my view. I know very well that some of what I attempted to teach you reflected my own failings, and you overcame those through your friends' influence.

[He really is. He's so incredibly proud of Jusis. He loves him so much. He just wishes he hadn't been so foolish as to cast that aside without thinking.]

I suppose, however, that no one raises a child perfectly. What's important is that my beloved little brother has become a fine man.

[That love and pride is reflected in Jusis. He adores his brother, even if he's kind of dying of embarrassment there will always be a part of him that is weak to Rufus's praise. It's a good thing his face is hidden, because he's bright red and smiling and also flustered and he can't hide any of his feelings but at least he can hide his expressions.]

It's true that I wouldn't be the man I am if not for meeting Class VII. But it's also true I would not be the man I am if you had not raised me so well.

Everything you taught me, no matter if it is something I still practice, is a part of me. I value that greatly.

....You know, it's something I've felt for a long time but I don't think I've ever said it; I'm grateful, that you raised me like you did. So I don't want you to go doubting yourself now, not about me.

[Maybe there's a lot of things Rufus should reflect on in his life but Jusis doesn't think "how Rufus raised Jusis" is among them at all.]