[ with the costume emporium now on the campus, kon's at least updated his wardrobe since his field trip ruined the clothes he came in. he still can't wear anything super heavy on his back, though - or at least for long - so he's... just doing a kimono cardigan. it's nice, at least! and a little warmer than him just wearing t-shirts. i found the site and wanted an excuse to use it. ]
[Kon your injuries. It's fine tho, they can be injury buddies later in the week.
Also Lalli does appreciate that Kon dressed up too. He's going to have to ask Kon about why he dresses the way he does at some point though, it's not clothes Lalli is used to seeing.]
Mhmm. It's comfortable.
[Lalli, who doesn't give 2 shits about how he looks most of the time and just goes for comfort.]
[ yay we hate it! also it's fine, he's refused to have them healed even if they hurt, because someone might come out of a field trip more hurt than him and they'll need the vouchers. (and they did! boy did they.) ]
It looks like it is. [ kon reaches out to pinch a little of the material between thumb and forefinger, rubbing it contemplatively. someday he'll wear one again... :pensive: anyways ] Fashion and function.
[ it suits him! and is less than all of his 500 layers. ]
So we can head inside, grab some books if you want to just settle in and read together. Or to each other. [ it was nice, when lalli did that for him. ] Or, we can grab hot chocolate and go for a walk. There's a rink for ice skating set up, snow everywhere for doing stuff in...
[It's soft! And clean too, Lalli has actually been doing his laundry finally.]
Did you like it when I read to you before? We can do that again.
[The only reason Lalli is asking before saying "let's do that" is because his reading isn't very fluent and he knows it probably didn't sound so great. If Kon wants to do something else, he'll go with it.]
[ honestly, proud of lalli for doing his laundry. he can enjoy that while he's here, at least. ]
I did, actually. [ for all that his reading wasn't fluent, it was... nice, to listen to. it's not something that he really remembers anyone doing for him. if his mother did it, it was long before his memories started to develop. ] ... especially after what happened, y'know? Things were kind of rough.
[He'll understand it much better in a few days eyyy]
I don't mind taking turns reading out loud. Let's find something to read.
[Lalli hasn't been read to in years either, not since he was a small child still at home with his parents. Someone else reading to him, it actually sounds nice. He's looking forward to it.
He's going to pick a fairy tale book to read, even. It seems thematically appropriate.]
Sounds like a good date to me. [ it's pretty lowkey, and sometimes that's absolutely fine, really. kon will follow along with him to check out the books. seeing lalli grab a fairytale causes a quirk of a smile at the corner of his mouth, but he doesn't say anything, moving to pick out an omnibus of fairytales, himself.
thematically appropriate it is. they can trade stories. ]
[ he tilts his head back and forth a little, thinking. ]
Not sad - yeah, things get sad without having to read stories about them. I'll take a happy ending, or even just a win.
[ because not everything is a happy ending, but at least you can feel some kind of victory and come out of it satisfied. distracted from how bad things can get. ]
[Pretty much. 'A happy ending after a long struggle' is pretty bog standard for the stories he heard growing up too.]
Mom and dad used to tell me stories of their grandparents and the extended family. They were long dead by then, but they were the ones who survived the end of the Old World, and they had a lot of struggles in that first decade. They were kind of like fairytales, just more recent than fairytales usually are.
Folk heroes, basically. [ because folk stories always have some kind of grain of truth, especially in a world where monsters run rampant.
kon's not sure if monsters were ever real, in his japan, outside of how he's experienced them. but at this point... he's willing to believe about anything, having been in wiwaldi. ]
There's a lot of stories like that in my version of Earth, but people don't tell them as much anymore. It's kind of sad, really, since I like learning about folklore and things like that.
I always wanted to hear stories about Grandma more, but Grandma didn't like it when Mom told those. Something about it being bad luck to tell stories about the living.
[Oh, but if Kon likes folklore, then that gives Lalli an idea.]
I could tell you the folk tales of my world. I don't think those will be in any books.
That's a pretty common superstition. [ a thoughtful noise ] Some people tell stories while the subject is still living, and it can do the opposite - the more you tell their tale, the stronger they get. But it could very well depend on the person, and the tale.
Maybe for your grandma, it would have been bad luck.
[ but - he visibly perks at that. ]
... if they're not, I could write them down for you. If you wanted.
It might have been. She was in her 70s back then, and most people don't even live that long. She wasn't sick or anything yet, but she was just really old, and I guess old people care more about that kind of stuff.
[He pauses, because he's taken off-guard by that offer.]
Old people always care more about that kind of stuff. It's ingrained in their upbringing, I think? Even in my Earth, the elderly in Japan are a lot like that, too.
[ superstitions, traditions, things that have been alive longer than them that they've kept alive.
but he blinks at the reaction. ]
Sure. From what you've said, survival is probably more a priority after the Old World fell, right? There's probably not as many people that concern themselves with holding onto old records or creating new ones for things like folktales, so oral tradition would be more prevalent - it wouldn't hurt to give you something that you could take back. And while I don't know Finnish, I do know English.
You're right. Even in our mission to collect books, medical textbooks were prioritized over anything fictional. And while the Skalds probably could write down anything spoken now, their time is more spent on book preservation and translation.
[He does pause at the thought of taking something back home though. It would be nice, to have things to take with him. But where would he store it?]
...if I do take it back, it needs to be small and light. Where I was before this, I was traveling.
[ that makes sense, to him - even now, people are still translating and rewriting things that they find, with little priority given to things that aren't inventive. but fiction is the pulse of mankind, isn't it? the wonder and imagination and hope in a story.
kon does consider that, scratching his fingers carefully around the edges of the burns on his neck. ]
A pocket journal wouldn't be so bad. I can write small enough while it's still legible, and we can do the stories that you know. The ones that are important to you.
[ kon probably should have expected that, he thinks? he's seen a bunch of memories all in one day, so he should have. after it, he can feel his heart rattling in his chest like a bird, grimacing back the nausea from the after effects of - well. the smells and sounds and sights, certainly, and the terror.
but oh, okay, he sees why lalli was worried. that was... ]
So. That's terrible. [ eurgh ] ... trolls are definitelt the fucked up cousin of whatever the monster that attacked us was, so to speak.
[ oh - kon covers his face briefly with something a little unhappy pinched between his brows, before closing his eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath.
he pushes it down and lowers his hand, once he's good to go. ]
... that makes it even worse. [ the similarities, or the existence of the trolls? both, one, the other - hard to say. ]
No, those - that won't go into the book. Your world needs happy endings and hopeful heroes.
[For a second Lalli thinks he might have said too much- that kind of reaction is one he sees a lot when he's bothered Onni to the end of his temper- but then it passes and Lalli relaxes a bit.
Happier times. That's what they can talk about.]
I know plenty of those, enough to fill a whole book.
...my grandma was actually one of the first mages born into the new world. Some people suddenly got magic when the Old World ended, but Grandma was one of the first ones born with magic.
[ ... wow that realization that kon and onni have very similar tempers when it comes down to it. hm. i am a joke of myself.
but it's fine, he's fine. he's compartmentalized his field trip again and put it away for now. ]
Really pioneering things, huh? [ this is easier to focus on. ] Magic isn't around in the part of my world I'm from, originally, though Tsuyukusa's has plenty of it. It's innate, there.
So your grandma got things started with how you guys do things?
Mhmm. My world used to be like yours, a long time ago. But the gods came back, and they brought magic with them.
Grandma helped with Finnish magic, yeah. Everyone kind of stumbled through it at first, figuring out what prayers did what and how to protect their minds from the whispers from trolls. But by the time I was born, they had a lot figured out already. So learning from Grandma helped a lot, and even after she died I learned from Onni, who had been taught by her too.
So it really runs in the family. [ thoughtfully, as he roots himself more in lalli's voice than the troll whispers, or the crying and screaming of the monster that attacked them on their trip. ]
So that means the Old World didn't fall that long ago, did it? In a historical sense, I mean, since you said she was in her 70s. If your grandma was a pioneer for Finnish magic after it was all just - gone, then she was one of the first in the world after, wasn't she?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-07-02 06:16 pm (UTC)Oh, good, you kept the sweater.
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Date: 2021-07-02 07:04 pm (UTC)Also Lalli does appreciate that Kon dressed up too. He's going to have to ask Kon about why he dresses the way he does at some point though, it's not clothes Lalli is used to seeing.]
Mhmm. It's comfortable.
[Lalli, who doesn't give 2 shits about how he looks most of the time and just goes for comfort.]
...so what do we do. On a date.
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Date: 2021-07-03 03:01 am (UTC)It looks like it is. [ kon reaches out to pinch a little of the material between thumb and forefinger, rubbing it contemplatively. someday he'll wear one again... :pensive: anyways ] Fashion and function.
[ it suits him! and is less than all of his 500 layers. ]
So we can head inside, grab some books if you want to just settle in and read together. Or to each other. [ it was nice, when lalli did that for him. ] Or, we can grab hot chocolate and go for a walk. There's a rink for ice skating set up, snow everywhere for doing stuff in...
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Date: 2021-07-03 03:41 am (UTC)Did you like it when I read to you before? We can do that again.
[The only reason Lalli is asking before saying "let's do that" is because his reading isn't very fluent and he knows it probably didn't sound so great. If Kon wants to do something else, he'll go with it.]
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Date: 2021-07-03 04:36 am (UTC)I did, actually. [ for all that his reading wasn't fluent, it was... nice, to listen to. it's not something that he really remembers anyone doing for him. if his mother did it, it was long before his memories started to develop. ] ... especially after what happened, y'know? Things were kind of rough.
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Date: 2021-07-03 04:46 am (UTC)[He'll understand it much better in a few days eyyy]
I don't mind taking turns reading out loud. Let's find something to read.
[Lalli hasn't been read to in years either, not since he was a small child still at home with his parents. Someone else reading to him, it actually sounds nice. He's looking forward to it.
He's going to pick a fairy tale book to read, even. It seems thematically appropriate.]
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:02 am (UTC)Sounds like a good date to me. [ it's pretty lowkey, and sometimes that's absolutely fine, really. kon will follow along with him to check out the books. seeing lalli grab a fairytale causes a quirk of a smile at the corner of his mouth, but he doesn't say anything, moving to pick out an omnibus of fairytales, himself.
thematically appropriate it is. they can trade stories. ]
What're your favorite types of stories, Lal?
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:22 am (UTC)[He means the fairytale books they picked out.]
Anything not sad, I guess.
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:24 am (UTC)Not sad - yeah, things get sad without having to read stories about them. I'll take a happy ending, or even just a win.
[ because not everything is a happy ending, but at least you can feel some kind of victory and come out of it satisfied. distracted from how bad things can get. ]
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:33 am (UTC)Mom and dad used to tell me stories of their grandparents and the extended family. They were long dead by then, but they were the ones who survived the end of the Old World, and they had a lot of struggles in that first decade. They were kind of like fairytales, just more recent than fairytales usually are.
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:39 am (UTC)kon's not sure if monsters were ever real, in his japan, outside of how he's experienced them. but at this point... he's willing to believe about anything, having been in wiwaldi. ]
There's a lot of stories like that in my version of Earth, but people don't tell them as much anymore. It's kind of sad, really, since I like learning about folklore and things like that.
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:50 am (UTC)I always wanted to hear stories about Grandma more, but Grandma didn't like it when Mom told those. Something about it being bad luck to tell stories about the living.
[Oh, but if Kon likes folklore, then that gives Lalli an idea.]
I could tell you the folk tales of my world. I don't think those will be in any books.
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:55 am (UTC)Maybe for your grandma, it would have been bad luck.
[ but - he visibly perks at that. ]
... if they're not, I could write them down for you. If you wanted.
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Date: 2021-07-03 06:08 am (UTC)[He pauses, because he's taken off-guard by that offer.]
You would?
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Date: 2021-07-03 03:25 pm (UTC)[ superstitions, traditions, things that have been alive longer than them that they've kept alive.
but he blinks at the reaction. ]
Sure. From what you've said, survival is probably more a priority after the Old World fell, right? There's probably not as many people that concern themselves with holding onto old records or creating new ones for things like folktales, so oral tradition would be more prevalent - it wouldn't hurt to give you something that you could take back. And while I don't know Finnish, I do know English.
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Date: 2021-07-03 04:16 pm (UTC)[He does pause at the thought of taking something back home though. It would be nice, to have things to take with him. But where would he store it?]
...if I do take it back, it needs to be small and light. Where I was before this, I was traveling.
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Date: 2021-07-06 03:07 am (UTC)kon does consider that, scratching his fingers carefully around the edges of the burns on his neck. ]
A pocket journal wouldn't be so bad. I can write small enough while it's still legible, and we can do the stories that you know. The ones that are important to you.
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Date: 2021-07-06 03:48 am (UTC)[And right on time, a memory! From there to page 173, where Lalli fixes up Emil's hair.
By the end of it, Lalli just looks tired again. At least it wasn't a sad one this time, just a little spooky.]
That is a troll.
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Date: 2021-07-06 05:40 am (UTC)but oh, okay, he sees why lalli was worried. that was... ]
So. That's terrible. [ eurgh ] ... trolls are definitelt the fucked up cousin of whatever the monster that attacked us was, so to speak.
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Date: 2021-07-06 12:57 pm (UTC)[He figured as much. Which was why he spent a whole week waiting in anxiety over if Kon was going to transform into one of those things or not.]
It's good you're immune. That black speech there, that was the infected. They're still conscious inside their troll forms.
[Look at all that body horror!]
...I don't want that story included, there's enough of those kinds of stories in my world.
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Date: 2021-07-06 02:15 pm (UTC)he pushes it down and lowers his hand, once he's good to go. ]
... that makes it even worse. [ the similarities, or the existence of the trolls? both, one, the other - hard to say. ]
No, those - that won't go into the book. Your world needs happy endings and hopeful heroes.
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Date: 2021-07-06 02:36 pm (UTC)Happier times. That's what they can talk about.]
I know plenty of those, enough to fill a whole book.
...my grandma was actually one of the first mages born into the new world. Some people suddenly got magic when the Old World ended, but Grandma was one of the first ones born with magic.
[Might as well start with that story, at least.]
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Date: 2021-07-06 03:13 pm (UTC)but it's fine, he's fine. he's compartmentalized his field trip again and put it away for now. ]
Really pioneering things, huh? [ this is easier to focus on. ] Magic isn't around in the part of my world I'm from, originally, though Tsuyukusa's has plenty of it. It's innate, there.
So your grandma got things started with how you guys do things?
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Date: 2021-07-06 03:57 pm (UTC)Mhmm. My world used to be like yours, a long time ago. But the gods came back, and they brought magic with them.
Grandma helped with Finnish magic, yeah. Everyone kind of stumbled through it at first, figuring out what prayers did what and how to protect their minds from the whispers from trolls. But by the time I was born, they had a lot figured out already. So learning from Grandma helped a lot, and even after she died I learned from Onni, who had been taught by her too.
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Date: 2021-07-06 06:26 pm (UTC)So it really runs in the family. [ thoughtfully, as he roots himself more in lalli's voice than the troll whispers, or the crying and screaming of the monster that attacked them on their trip. ]
So that means the Old World didn't fall that long ago, did it? In a historical sense, I mean, since you said she was in her 70s. If your grandma was a pioneer for Finnish magic after it was all just - gone, then she was one of the first in the world after, wasn't she?
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