snowblindrpg | [log] this place is pretty inhospitable [closed]

[The nuggets get set to one side.]

Maybe that's the difference. Your universe has multiple worlds, but they have a uniting element. Maybe your Lifestream isn't isolated to just one planet. What was that word you used? The Etherium?

Green beans or broccoli?

Green beans.

[ Another face, though this one is distracted. ]

Yeah, the Etherium. Tifa said where you're from, there's no air outside of the planet's atmosphere - like a vaccuum tube. In mine there's a ... layer, I guess, of air. All the inhabitable planets are in it, so that could be it.

[The green beans join the chicken nuggets, and Kunsel continues listing options for Jim to pick from. His mind is only half on that task, though.]

Huh. So you don't have to worry about airtight seals for your ships? Just propulsion to break away from a planet's gravity? [A pause, then-] What happens if someone falls overboard?

[ They fall into a black hole and die, or if the gravity's turned off they just keep floating away in the direction Jim kicked them.

Jim looks stricken before he shakes it off and tries to sound casual. ]

Just, uh, artificial gravity and propulsion. Most of the big galleons and everything are kept at ports outside the atmosphere.

And you just... keep falling. Until you hit bottom, I guess. That's why we keep lines on if there's a storm or something.

[Casual as Jim had tried to be, Kunsel had still caught that flicker of emotion, guilt and grief and-

And it's gone too fast to get a thorough read.

But still.

...maybe he should switch topics now, no matter how much he wants to ask what's at the "bottom."]

Sounds like it gets pretty exciting. If we ever make it to your universe, think you could get me up there sometime?

I think I could probably convince the Captain to take on some stowaways from another universe.

[ Jim's happy enough to latch onto the topic change, though his joking response is distracted, almost trailing off. If we make it to your universe, huh? ]

[Oh, hush, Jim. Kunsel didn't mean it like that.]

Would we really be stowaways if your Captain agrees to have us on?

[He's teasing you a little now, Jim.]

But that's good to know. It's good to know what our options are, in case we do get a choice for where we go, once we find the thing that got us here to start.

[ That catches Jim's attention, at least. He frowns slightly and a line of thought appears between his eyebrows. ] Options? You don't want to go home?

[ With what he knows now about what was happening to Zack and Cloud, Jim can well enough guess why, but it's still surprising to hear Kunsel mention it so casually. ]

Not so much me as...

[He trails off for a moment, all semblance of casualness slipping away as he looks at Jim soberly.]

You know things were bad for Zack before he came here, right? He might not want to go back to that. And... I think, wherever he goes, I'm going to follow.

[ Jim's voice is soft, as if he's not quite sure he should be acknowledging that. ]

If you… when we get out of here. If you need a place to go, we own an inn. My mom does.Lot of room, you know?

[ Jim's not going to say these people are family now, but maybe Kunsel gets it anyway with the edging-on-hopeful tone creeping into his voice. ]

[Surprise flickers across Kunsel's face, but soon softens into something else. Something with a smile, something genuinely touched.]

If it's okay with your mom... I think we'd like that.

[He doesn't even need to ask Zack how he'd feel about the idea of staying with Jim.

He already knows.]

[ For all Jim can't see him, he can hear Kunsel's smile. Something in his chest he hadn't been aware of loosens, and he nods before giving a smile of his own. ] I know it will be, if it's people that are important.

… Nothing like the time I brought home a Xenonian huitopus, as long as we make sure you've had a bath first. [ He's teasing. Mostly. ]

Hey now. [Kunsel's mock-offense is tempered by a laugh.] Do we seem like the kind of guys who'd turn down a bath if it was offered?

[Careful, Jim. Kunsel might be taking advantage of your blindness to reach out and pointedly ruffle the teen's hair, knowing he won't be able to see the hand coming to dodge.]

Besides, who are you calling a Xenonian huitopus? ...whatever that is exactly.

Dunno, man, you might prefer doing it the Norfinbury way. [ Jim meets Kunsel's mock-offense with more teasing. ] Not really acceptable in polite society, you know?

[ Jim doesn't try to duck out of the way of Kunsel's hand once he realizes what's happening, though he does make a small sound of objection. ]

I wasn't calling you a huitopus. It's a … big slimey thing, eight legs, they fall out of the clouds sometimes. They don't really belong in the inn's kitchen.

Oh, gee thanks.

[That deserves (and gets!) a roughhousing headlock there and then.]

I'll show you the Norfinbury way. Call me big and slimy, huh?

[ Jim's breath catches for only a moment when there's something wrapping around his head, but Kunsel's movements are telegraphed easily enough that he knows what's happening. That's why when he does start to struggle, it's not very hard, and he's laughing: ] Hey, let me go! Watch the hair!

[Jim, you should know better than to advertise a weakness. That just gets Kunsel to laugh and deliberately ruffle his hair.

But he's not cruel. He'll let Jim go.]

Just let that be a lesson to you!

[ Jim is giving the wall slightly to Kunsel's left a very fierce pout as he sets about rearranging his hair into something like the style it should be. ] Yeah, a lesson that I need to work harder at learning to flip people.

Think you'll need to practice that first.

[Does Kunsel sound sorry at all? Nope, not one bit.]

Start with someone small. Maybe Tifa or Zell.

Don't sound so confident, I could be really powerful!

[ Spoilers: no, no he could not. ]

Right, right, I forgot. You're hiding extra muscles under that coat.

[He forgot no such thing, and he's not even bothering to hide his grin.]

Well, if you want to try your luck with Zack or me first...

A ton of 'em.

[ Well, slightly more than Kunsel might expect but... yeah Jim, keep dreaming. Kunsel's got him sulking a bit now. ]

I'll get you when you least expect it.

I'll look forward to it.

[He might not even be completely facetious there. Go ahead, Jim. You have his permission to try to catch him off guard in the future. It'll be a good way to see how you improve.]

Alright, I think we've got your pack restocked with food. Anything else you need?

I think that's everything. [ Food and a driving reason to get better at this whole fighting thing: check and double check. ] Thanks, Kunsel.

No problem, Jim.

[He zips Jim's bag back up, but leaves it where it is so that Jim can easily find it later on. Then he stands, and his hand finds the teen's shoulder for a brief moment one last time, not quite a pat, not quite a squeeze, but still something reassuring.]

Anytime.

[log] this place is pretty inhospitable [closed]

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