the tenth trial?

[hot_mess_express]

Who: everybody
When: Day 22, starting bright and early
Where: the jackal zone


[What was it...ah, yes. Come hither, Heroes, prove thy worth.

The familiar tremor of a trial comes with a voice that's probably familiar to a lot of train denizens. Entering the door to the trial reveals that somehow, yes, it is in fact Naeva who's done this.

The game room is a beautiful tea garden with elegant, victorian-style tea tables set out throughout. Naturally, the tables all have tea, a variety of snacks, and flower arrangements featuring the herbs from each team. The garden is also full of crystalline jonquil, though they can't seem to be picked up normally.

There are baskets set out for everyone who arrives, and a sign explaining the rules of the game. Across the top it reads Bonding Game.

Cardamom, you've made a huge mistake.]

Comments

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow glances at the placard. Next on the list is--

Oh. Hmmm. ]

....I know we're from the same world.

[ There, he shared something about himself. That definitely has to count, right? ]

[crimeson]

Mm, I thought you might.

[seems to consider this for a moment, then leans forward again.]

As for me, I do actually remember you. But... we were acquaintances at best, so I figured it wasn't my business when you showed up.

[bad_crowmance]

Honestly, that's understandable.

[ It's not like he wouldn't have done the same in Randy's place, and it's an awkward topic to bring up at best. ]

But you know, Jusis is under the impression we'd never met there.

[crimeson]

[Randy shrugs.]

Guess that makes sense. He's... younger than the Jusis I've met where we're from, and I joined up with Rean and everyone pretty late in comparison.

[bad_crowmance]

He mentioned that too. Something about "missing time."

[ He shrugs lightly. ]

Besides, I really doubt he knows everything that's ever happened in my life.

[crimeson]

Yeahhhh, I figure he probably doesn't. Knows more than me, maybe, but you don't seem like the sort not to hold his cards close to his chest.

[bad_crowmance]

A guy's gotta keep some mystery! How else can I have any fun?

[crimeson]

Plenty of ways, but there's nothin' wrong with a little mystery, either.

[bad_crowmance]

Plenty of ways but this one's the most fun.

[ He glances at the placard again. ]

You know, I feel like "Share something" and "learn something about someone" really go hand-in-hand.

[crimeson]

We shared and learned in one fell swoop!

[bad_crowmance]

We are so good at this.

[crimeson]

Guess that means we're good for handholding!

[offering his hand to Crow.]

[bad_crowmance]

That'd be the next one up!

[ He takes Randy's hand pretty readily, not even a touch of hesitation. ]

[crimeson]

[all right let's do moe handholding. he can do that, no problem.]

Nice and easy.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Moe hand-holding is a-go! And Crow knows Naeva enough to realize he's gonna have to do this for more than like two seconds for it to count, so he's just gonna keep holding hands while they move on to the next one. ]

Next one's "Tell someone how you feel about 'em".... But honestly, I don't remember you at all and my opinion as it stands is pretty much just, "Yeah he's hot, I'd hit that."

[crimeson]

I mean. Good opinion, the reverse is also very true.

[might as well say it!]

As for me... I do remember you, but we were never terribly close, so... Mostly I trust you.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow can't help but wonder what the fuck is wrong with Randy if he both knew and trusted him. Then again, he did say they weren't close. ...That explains it. ]

In that case, you're very welcome to swing by my cabin sometime.

[ And he's not addressing the rest of that at all. ]

[crimeson]

[all right you shady fuck, take it that way, he knew you would. he grins.]

I'll be sure to! Same to you, of course.

[bad_crowmance]

[ He grins. ]

I'll be sure to.

[crimeson]

I guess that leaves us with... hugging without lewdness? And memories. I'm thinking we skip memories.

[bad_crowmance]

Skipping memories sounds like a good idea to me.

[ No, Thank You. That's the only one on Naeva's list he really has a problem with. ]

So let's chastely hug then.

[crimeson]

A tragedy, really.

[the chaste hugging, mostly. but he's getting up from his chair to-- well he thought about climbing in Crow's lap, but offering him a hand up instead.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ While Crow would find that fucking delightful, that's not chaste at all. He takes the hand to stand up. ]

It's so nice to have someone else who understands.

[crimeson]

We can hug lewdly later.

[for now! tugging Crow into a nice, cute hug with no groping or other nonsense.]

[bad_crowmance]

I'll keep you to that~.

[ Crow hugs back, even being good enough to keep his hands in safe places. Honestly, he's not terribly used to hugs of a non-chaste variety and it probably shows, but he's doing his best not to be stiff and lean into it as though he were a lot more comfortable with it than he actually is.

Still weird, though. ]