malnosso | [Locked to Residents]

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malnosso

[Locked to Residents]

[Appearing on the journals is a written message as follows. A voice option is provided for a computerized reading of the text.]

Attention Luceti Residents.

The following names are being called to participate in a strike against the cultist hordes:
[the names listed here appear on the journal.]

All subjects are required to arrive at the tunnels at 8AM on the 27th of March for deployment. All listed individuals are required to be present. Subjects will then be escorted to TERRACE for battle preparation and further details.

Target will be Region One, a former Malnosso stronghold, presently in cultist hands. Subjects are advised to prepare for combat in forested areas. Further information will be made available at TERRACE. Questions and answers will not be provided at this time.

[The Malnosso will not reply to this message, but everyone is free to use this post to discuss among themselves, whether using voice options on the journal or doing action threads.]

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[If Eley needs something productive to do, then Rudy is quite sure he knows just the person to help out with that.]

Yeah, I think I know someone who can help out with that. There's a friend I have here who did something really nice for the people on the previous draft. Do you know Grune?

Edited 2013-04-02 05:29 (UTC)

Grune? Yes I have met her before. She always seems concerned with those around her... I can imagine that she would want to help those returning from the draft.

You say she did something before? What exactly?

[Working alongside someone he already knew would definitely help make Eley feel more at ease. He knew Grune was a kind person. This would be good for him, he was sure of it.]

Well... she set up a stand last time. It had snacks and other refreshments for the people coming back from the draft.

[It was a really thoughtful gesture on Grune's part, thinking about it now. He really can't say for sure what Grune is planning, but one thing he does know? She's got a good heart. Rudy wouldn't put it past her to do something this time around.]

The last one was pretty rough on all of us, so there's a lot who really appreciated the thought. I'm not sure if she's doing anything like this after this one, but y'know? You should go see her anyway.

I am sure I could assist her in that case. It would give me a chance to learn more about cooking... and I suppose to meet others.

[Really he worries most about his friends. Perhaps he couldn't protect them on the field but he could help to nurse their wounds and help them relax. Assuming they came back...]

Thank you, Rudy. I will speak to her.

[To be truthful, Rudy is just happy to see Eley wanting to help out. He knows Eley's going to be worried either way, but seeing Eley actually going out and doing something for everyone else despite his own fears? That's more than enough to reassure the boy.]

I'm sure both of you will do great. I'm looking forward to seeing what you two come up with when we get back.

[It might not be much, but it does make Eley feel a little better to have something else to think about and something to work towards to. A goal, a purpose, that was what he needed.

...still he can't help but add one last request.]

Perhaps it is a bit forward of me to ask, but I have a request for you as well.

A request?

[There's a curious look. Eley had a favor to ask?]

What is it?

Were I also participating in this battle, I would likely spend my time helping to protect my friends. You are someone I consider a friend and so I would ask you to be careful. However, I would also ask that you look out for those fighting alongside you. Tsuzuki, Spock, Saleh, Helios... there are a few I would say are worthy of my protection in particular.

Would you carry my blessing with you in the hope that they will return safely? And you, of course.

... For you to say that, they all must be very important to you.

[Out of all the people Eley had mentioned, Rudy was only familiar with Spock. Briefly Rudy falls silent, pondering something. Then he looks up to the spirit, serious.]

You want me to look out for them?

[Him? It's more of a statement of surprise rather than just repeating his question. Eley really trusts him enough to entrust him with the safety of his friends?]

They have all shown me great kindness since my arrival here. They have shown me that humans are not always as... cruel as I have been led to believe. They have also taught me much about humanity and opened my eyes to things I never knew existed.

[He turns to Rudy now, addressing his later question.]

As have you. Perhaps we still have much to learn about one another but I sense that you are a good person, Rudy. I... feel as though I can trust you.

[For a moment, one might briefly catch the hint of the boy's eyes slightly widening at the spirit's words. Perhaps it might not be readily obvious, but... those words mean a lot more than Eley might think, and they're not ones he'd take lightly. And Rudy knows Eley well enough to know that they're not ones Eley would take lightly as well.]

... I can't say I know all of them, but...

[There's a small smile.]

They mean a lot to you, don't they? I'll do what I can.

I... do not make friends easily. In fact, until now I would not have been familiar with a definition of 'friend' either. To have any at all is... quite a major event.

[He looks down now, nodding firmly. It was if they had just made some kind of deal despite never signing anything.]

Thank you. In ancient times you would receive a token with my blessing, but I am afraid we do not have the time nor means for such a ritual here.

You don't need to give me anything. Anything you need, I'll do it anytime.

[That's what friends were for, right? And... Rudy looks slightly downward, admitting something in a rare moment of openness for the boy.]

... To be honest, I'm surprised you asked me.

[And said all those things. It wasn't quite an honor of sorts, but for Eley to say those things... it was still something that meant a lot to Rudy.]

...I could say that I am surprised you would offer your assistance so openly as well. To say you would do anything for me is quite a serious thing to admit to.

[He looks back to him now.]

May I ask why you were surprised? Do you not feel that you are capable enough?

... well. Sort of. It might not mean much, but... to me, you're a really good friend. And it's just, well--

[There's some slight fidgeting as he looks down once more. ... This was so difficult to say. He didn't usually open up this much, as far as his own feelings went.]

Those things you just said? That means a lot. So, um...

[Eley could see that this was proving difficult for Rudy. That the words he said certainly had great meaning behind them.

He gently rested a hand on his shoulder to try to reassure him.]

You do not always have to speak to make your feelings known. It is my understanding that expressing one's love for another is a difficult task for any person.

Love?

[Bwuh? For a moment, Rudy looks completely confused. Did Eley mean a platonic, familial sort of love, or... something more?]

What do you mean by that?

[Oh... Eley hadn't expected to be asked that question, or any question at all really. He still saw love as one thing only, so why was Rudy so confused?

He takes his hand away and looks rather embarrassed.]

Ah... perhaps I was mistaken. I am still not very well versed in reading humans, especially not when it comes to matters of love.

[He shakes his head.]

... Well, if you want to look at it that way, I guess you could say it's sort of like that. The friends I have here? They're all people I consider important, if not irreplaceable.

[There's a soft smile, as he places his hand on Eley's shoulder.]

That goes for you too.

[Love doesn't always have to be romantic--it can come in many shapes and forms! That's something his grandfather always told him, after all! ... Unfortunately, Rudy is way too innocent to even consider it as anything more.]

[Eley looks at him at that, partly triggered by the hand on his shoulder but also from those words. That Rudy should consider him as something irreplaceable touched him in a way that only being a Spirit could. No Spirit wanted to feel as though they were unimportant. They were all born for one purpose that nobody else could do after all.

Eley still wasn't sure about this love business though or what Rudy was implying.]

Sort of... then you 'sort of' love me? I had thought it something that was either one or the other. You either love someone or you do not. Is that not the case?

Ah, I don't think it's that black and white...

[Now Rudy wasn't entirely sure of where Eley was going. Which prompts a question.]

It's, well... don't you care for your friends too?

[In a way, that was almost disheartening for Eley. If it wasn't black and white then it was more complex than he had first thought...

Still he'll follow Rudy's lead.]

Yes, of course I do. I would not want any harm to come to them... I wish them happiness. However... I am not certain if I would be intimate with them in some ways. It would seem inappropriate to kiss them for example.

Huh? ... Kiss them?

[... Oh. Yeah. That outright spells it out to Rudy that these two were clearly not on the same line here. W-Welp. He looks down, hand over head and feeling slightly embarrassed now.]

T-That's, ah... not exactly what I meant. I, um, think we're thinking of two different things here... Completely different things.

[...welp, looks like you just made the situation even more embarrassing for yourself Eley. He's just... not looking now.]

Forgive me. There is no reason for me to think that you would feel that way towards me... it was a foolish assumption.

Ah, but you would still say that you love your friends? That you love Jane, for example?

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