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hey cool hair hows it holding up?
Edited 2025-04-01 18:03 (UTC)
do you always ask such philosophical questions?
[A handwritten thank you note appears outside of Pom's door one afternoon.]
Dear Pom,
I hope that I'm leaving this note in front of the correct room!It smells I received a lovely anonymous gift recently, a handmade satchel of impressive quality. I believe this very kind gift was from you because, so I wanted to express my gratitude. It is a fine gift, and I am honored to receive it. Thank you ever so much.
Yours,
Gale
Dear Pom,
I hope that I'm leaving this note in front of the correct room!
Yours,
Gale
[Well, that is a note at his door with a lot of words on it. Pom recognizes what he thinks is his name, and that's about it... for the words. What he also recognizes is the scent on it: another carnivore, one who smells like petrichor after a storm and the storm itself, like lightning before it strikes. He knows this scent because it's one he tracked himself - Gale.
Maybe this note is about the package he left for him. A thanks, or something indicating it wasn't appreciated. Hopefully the former - he supposes he'll find out next time they cross paths.]
Maybe this note is about the package he left for him. A thanks, or something indicating it wasn't appreciated. Hopefully the former - he supposes he'll find out next time they cross paths.]
[At some point when Pom isn't around, someone leaves a letter. It's a few pages long, in neatly looping handwriting, and sealed with purple wax and impressed with a circle with tendrils coming out of it. Actually, upon closer inspection, the seal is made of melted plastic, because a wizard too poor for proper stationery will figure out how to make do.
The letter itself is primarily a very sincere apology for the incident in the kitchen, when Gale lost control of his Natural Soul, though it also thanks Pom for saving him from himself and promises to make it up to him somehow.]
The letter itself is primarily a very sincere apology for the incident in the kitchen, when Gale lost control of his Natural Soul, though it also thanks Pom for saving him from himself and promises to make it up to him somehow.]
[Oh no. That is... a lot of words, spread across several pages. While Pom recognizes the scent on it (once he gets past the smell of whatever the seal is made of), he has no clue what it could be about. What happened in the kitchen, maybe? Or is Gale asking for a favor? Is he disclosing something important that Pom should know?
He has no idea, and can't fake it without one. Maybe he should find someone who can read it.]
He has no idea, and can't fake it without one. Maybe he should find someone who can read it.]
[Palamedes has learned one very important thing with the Syntrofos: how to do very minor video editing. He's created something incredibly simple here, a sped-up timelapse video of what appears to be a vine wrapped around a tree, its leaves curling up and opening again a few times as the lighting changes throughout the day.
These vines are all around the science cabin, so like, he didn't necessarily sit and hold the Syntrofos in his hands for several hours. He just left it in the woods for an afternoon! Anyway, after that, the accompanying voice message:]
I thought you might find this interesting. Who knew the Syntrofos was this capable!
These vines are all around the science cabin, so like, he didn't necessarily sit and hold the Syntrofos in his hands for several hours. He just left it in the woods for an afternoon! Anyway, after that, the accompanying voice message:]
I thought you might find this interesting. Who knew the Syntrofos was this capable!
[Oh hey, it's Palamedes. Pom's friend Palamedes. Harrowhark's Valued Colleague, Palamedes. It takes him a second to call back, as he's transfixed by the video: he's only seen a few videos in his time here in Karteria, and never one sped up like this. Thankfully, the light changing as the sun moves hour by hour helps clue him in as to what's going on.]
Not me, though that's a helluva trick. What kind of vines are those?
Not me, though that's a helluva trick. What kind of vines are those?
I don't know, honestly. The kind that wake up in the sun? You haven't seen them before?
[A plant Pom hasn't seen while out there... Ten points for Palamedes.]
[A plant Pom hasn't seen while out there... Ten points for Palamedes.]
Not up close. Lot of plants out here I've never seen.
[And thus, he's interested. It looks similar to the ivy from his world, albeit with different leaves.]
Is someone at the cabin cataloging all the samples I've been bringing? Or is it just the mutated ones?
[And thus, he's interested. It looks similar to the ivy from his world, albeit with different leaves.]
Is someone at the cabin cataloging all the samples I've been bringing? Or is it just the mutated ones?
I think so. I like to look at them, but that's about all my experience with plants.
[But surely, right, because why catalog mutations without the non-mutated counterparts. He's been staring at the Katalyth for too long to remember what everyone else is doing.]
[But surely, right, because why catalog mutations without the non-mutated counterparts. He's been staring at the Katalyth for too long to remember what everyone else is doing.]
Oh, God, no. We had a copper garden in lieu of actual gardens. There were plants, but there wasn't flora, you know? Nothing wild. And space was limited.
[Stomping around in the woods has been good for him, probably, maybe.]
[Stomping around in the woods has been good for him, probably, maybe.]
[ She does, in fact, hear it coming from a rather close direction before he picks up. Regardless, she does answer even as she starts up the stairs to the roof. ]
I am. I'm sorry for worrying the both of you. It looks like I overdid things.
[ And she's still rather exhausted but at least she's awake, moving, and can feel her magic again. ]
Momo and Jayce told me you brought me back home.
I am. I'm sorry for worrying the both of you. It looks like I overdid things.
[ And she's still rather exhausted but at least she's awake, moving, and can feel her magic again. ]
Momo and Jayce told me you brought me back home.
Yeah. You passed out as we were carrying you.
[As he was carrying her, he reminds himself, in his mouth after an uncontrolled Shift left him more monster than man.]
But you don't gotta apologize to me. It's Jayce who seemed like he was about to have a come apart.
[Crumble, rather, but he'll keep the rock-based puns to himself.]
[As he was carrying her, he reminds himself, in his mouth after an uncontrolled Shift left him more monster than man.]
But you don't gotta apologize to me. It's Jayce who seemed like he was about to have a come apart.
[Crumble, rather, but he'll keep the rock-based puns to himself.]
Edited 2025-08-28 20:37 (UTC)
Jayce is all right. [ For now. ] I apologized to him and Momo. I...don't remember much of what happened after that creature stopped moving. But I remember hearing your voice.
[ Seeing him briefly. Seeing him change, knowing he was holding her in his grip. Even from deep below the haze, she knows she felt safe, because she didn't keep trying to fight the current that pulled her under. ]
[ Seeing him briefly. Seeing him change, knowing he was holding her in his grip. Even from deep below the haze, she knows she felt safe, because she didn't keep trying to fight the current that pulled her under. ]
Edited 2025-08-28 21:10 (UTC)
That'd've been me coming to make sure you were gonna make it. Couldn't just leave you lying out there.
[His tone is light, almost playful; it's a sharp contrast to the anxiety and frustration he's been feeling since delivering her home. Old habits die hard when one is a habitual liar, particularly when they use those lies to protect themself.]
[His tone is light, almost playful; it's a sharp contrast to the anxiety and frustration he's been feeling since delivering her home. Old habits die hard when one is a habitual liar, particularly when they use those lies to protect themself.]
[ She's on the steps now up to the roof, going slower while she's speaking, but she's listening on his end for signs of movement. Jayce told her how Pom left. She doesn't want him to go again. ]
I'm grateful. Truly. Even if the fighting was over...I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come for me.
[ So close to Patho-Gen, one of them could've scooped her up under the guise of getting medical attention. And for all she knows, anything else could've happened. ]
I'm grateful. Truly. Even if the fighting was over...I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come for me.
[ So close to Patho-Gen, one of them could've scooped her up under the guise of getting medical attention. And for all she knows, anything else could've happened. ]
[No movement on his end just yet, but he's ready to run at a moment's notice. He always has been a coward, unable to face his part in his unsavory past, unable to face his feelings in the present, unable to face his uncertain future alone.
He pushes a single, quiet chuckle from the back of his throat.]
Momo would've grabbed you. [Pom isn't as familiar with his fellow musician as he ought to be, but the few times they've spoken, he seemed nice - and even as a giant bug, he was certainly worried about her. Talking, concerned. Human enough.] You've got good people looking out for you, even if they do got a few extra appendages or are turning into rocks.
He pushes a single, quiet chuckle from the back of his throat.]
Momo would've grabbed you. [Pom isn't as familiar with his fellow musician as he ought to be, but the few times they've spoken, he seemed nice - and even as a giant bug, he was certainly worried about her. Talking, concerned. Human enough.] You've got good people looking out for you, even if they do got a few extra appendages or are turning into rocks.
[ She can feel it already, that purposeful distance being created through deflection. It's a tactic she knows well enough. Only she feels it more distinctly now, like a curtain falling over her or a chasm stretching out. Mel's final few steps before she reaches the door are measured, slow, careful. ]
I'm very lucky to have met them but I don't deserve the kindness they've given me. [ A pause. A breath. ] I don't deserve the kindness you've given me, either, but here we are.
[ Here they both are, with the last bit of distance between them, and with her afraid it will make him leave again. ]
I'm very lucky to have met them but I don't deserve the kindness they've given me. [ A pause. A breath. ] I don't deserve the kindness you've given me, either, but here we are.
[ Here they both are, with the last bit of distance between them, and with her afraid it will make him leave again. ]
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