A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION.
You wake up on a train.
Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words—
WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION?
▶ NO
Please take a moment to complete your orientation.
Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale.
As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9.
If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need.
Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer.
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming.
TO THE NORTH
The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information.
Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk.
The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions.
However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers!
TO THE SOUTHWEST
The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat.
As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long.
Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky.
TO THE EAST
The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that.
A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business.
You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like.
The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils.
As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen.
Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building.
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
SO A TURKEY WALKS INTO A BOWLING ALLEY...
There's a bowling alley open in the newly-accessible district, and you're invited to come test your mettle!
Walking into the lobby, you're struck by a peculiar combination of scents—shoe polish, floor wax, pretzels and nachos, and something pungent and a little oily. On the wall behind the desk is a shelf full of pair after pair of shoes, in every size you could possibly imagine, and there's a low rack filled with brightly-colored, heavy bowling balls that are ready for the taking. You can also hear the low hum of machinery and the rattle of pins being reset every time someone knocks them down, the bowling alley a well-oiled machine despite the fact that no one seems to be manning it.
You can bowl alone, start a match play (1-v-1), or bowl as a team, but you'll quickly find that bowling is much more fun (and somehow easier) when you're playing with others. Maybe it's because being around other people raises your spirits, but you feel more confident when you step up to bowl, and you find that when you're playing as part of a team, the bowling ball travels faster and in a straighter line, and you seem to be making strikes and spares with much greater frequency. Teamwork really does make the dream work!
If you occasionally see what you think might be the shadow of someone passing behind the machinery at the far end of the lane, don't worry about it—that's probably just your imagination.
If you stop by the bowling alley at night, you will find the place totally transformed. There's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and brightly-colored lights flashing and dancing around the floor and walls. Any white parts of your clothing glow a delightful blueish color, and you find that you're illuminated in all kinds of interesting shades by the blacklight bulbs glowing in the ceiling. This is cosmic bowling, truly not for the faint of heart!
When you've finished bowling, you may want to stop by the snack area for a pretzel or hot dog, a soda, or—if you're there for cosmic bowling—maybe even a more adult beverage from the food counter on the far end of the building.
There isn't anything especially spooky about the bowling alley—except, of course, being forced to wear shoes that have been worn by a hundred strangers before. Characters are welcome to find their shoe size, grab a bowling ball, and go to town! Characters who come during the day will encounter a normal bowling alley, but they can always come back at night to get the full cosmic bowling experience. There will always be shoes in their sizes, the pins will reset themselves, and the balls will always be returned. Just be careful, those ball chutes can crush your fingers if you're not careful!
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.
JUMP TO TOP ↑
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![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
citycenter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
citylogs2023-07-01 11:00 am
2/2
Come on, aren't they obvious? Nowhere near as cute as the Pomp-Pom stickers, obviously, but they're plenty good enough to liven texts up too~
[ she's beaming back up at him and holding a V sign with her free hand to match that emoji he got spammed with. yeah, this is much better than mulling over those extremely suspicious questions. that "hypothetical scenario" did instill in her a very healthy dose of skepticism right off the bat, so don't worry (she knows he will anyway, but still), she's very aware this is serious! ]
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his gaze flickers at her face, noting the minute changes that tell him what's going on in her head. and for a moment, he's tempted to reach out and find a way to comfort serval, but gepard stays his hand and simply glances back down at his phone. it's not ... the landau way to easily get so caught up in their emotions.
they understand each other's baggages; there's no reason to talk about it anymore. ]
And here I thought your strange experiments would've kept you up at night.
[ meaningful look because look, he knows about that chainsaw, neesan. no need to hide it when the trailblazer practically namedropped her. ]
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Huh? W-well, I have always been a night owl. The time of day doesn't matter anyway when you can set your own schedule, it's the questionnaire maker's problem for sticking to stereotypes!
[ a what now? she has NOOO clue what he's talking about, or why he's looking at her almost like a disappointed parent he takes WAY too much after dad (affectionate). totally doesn't relate to why she is NOT making eye contact, and has gone back to aimlessly scrolling through the network instead.
--except oh wait, she doesn't need to do that! blinking once before looking around as if she's just realized something important, she continues without missing a beat (while still pointedly NOT looking at him): ]
Soooo, District 2! That's where we're at right now. Are you out shopping? Watcha looking for?
[ pink fluffy handcuffs, right, ]
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gepard simply stares at her flatly before he shakes his head, exasperated. it's so tempting to call out her bullshit, and if he were a little more belligerent, he might've done so already. she's lucky he's fond of her enough that he's not about to make fun of her; then again, it's not in his nature to do so, either.
at her question, he clears his throat and starts walking away from the window he was so fixated on earlier. ]
... Nothing that would interest you.
[ because why would a pair of handcuffs interest someone like serval. anyway? ] Let's go, let's find shelter for the evening.
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I'm interested in plenty of things! An open mind and a healthy curiosity are great tools for finding inspiration, I'll have you know.
[ oh, they're leaving already? bummer, that's no fun... but while serval may be an atrocious liar, she's not tone deaf to social situations - including those of her own creation. she's probably pushed her luck far enough for today, and she's really not out here to cause her one and only little bro more headache than he already has. pocketing her phone, she follows alongside him after giving that curious store one final glance over her shoulder. gotta have to come back here sometimes later, something about curiosity and cats as an age old saying goes...!
but until then, it's back to business. ]
Do you have somewhere specific in mind? The digital map was surprisingly detailed about where the residential apartments are.
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That wasn't— It's not the kind of interest I meant—
[ it seems like a family trait, digging a hole for themselves.
he quickly turns back around, determined to put this behind them! no point in talking about something that's nonexistent and irrelevant for someone like him. ]
... No, but it seems everyone's congregating in those residential apartments. It would be best to stick with the group for now.
[ there's safety and comfort in numbers, after all. and it would be easier for him to ask more questions if there were people around. ]
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Putting it like that just makes your big sis worry more, y'know~ And here I was thinking I could use the inspiration for a new song, subjects like restraint and temptation are timeless after all. Should I secretly dedicate the next one to you? Ooor maybe there's other stuff I could help you out with?
[ they're still moving at a decent pace towards the right direction, even if it may be beginning to feel like the longest walk gepard's had in recent memory. serval's cheeky wink probably isn't helping either, but oh well!! ]
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it was a mistake, definitely a mistake to try and address that offhand comment; he should've realized in the first place that it was an offhand comment in the first place. now his face is burning and he's just given his sister ammo to use against him. as if this place isn't enough to unsettle him, he simply has to make his own bed and unwittingly force himself to lie in it.
but really, restraint and temptation? does she have to say it out loud? even if no one can hear them, it's still mortifying, coming from his older sister.
sputtering: ] Oth, other stuff?
[ what other stuff is she even talking about? ]
I don't know what you're talking about, Serval.
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a lack of function for Gepard Landau, Captain of the Silvermane Guards, and a lack of responsibility for he who is always working tirelessly to uphold his oath. right now, it's just Gepard Landau, baby brother to Serval Landau, with a completely empty schedule on his hands like he probably hasn't had even before he enrolled with the Guards. if not now, when else would she EVER get another opportunity to get on his case about these interests he would have a myriad of (albeit legitimate) excuses in not entertaining back in their own world?
this is what fuels serval's boldness, shamelessness even. but it's like she's told the trailblazer, how little this serious and uptight brother of hers pays attention to his own affairs IS a very real source of concern for her, so of course she's going to pounce on this chance to... broaden his horizons, so to speak! ]
We don't have shops like that in Belobog, it's pretty obvious why, but you don't need to have studied economics to get all businesses are generally founded over the concept of demand and supply~ [ "generally", because she herself dubiously qualifies. ] And since it got your attention, that just proves you've got a 'demand' of your own, even if it's just budding curiosity for the time being! Don't think too hard about it, it's totally normal for instincts to override reason sometimes. My music is pure instinct, y'know! [ don't dwell on why she sounds so proud about that. ] Anyway, what really caught your attention? Was it the cuffs~~~?
[ let's embark on a journey of self-discovery unhindered by the prestigious and troublesome weight of the family name and all the baggage that comes with it, geppie!!! ]
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his standards have always been held higher because of the name he carries, and he's never once expected to hold themselves against the same set.
but without his work, his responsibility, his oath, then what is he to do now? perhaps that's the very reason as well as why serval is adamant in pursuing this line of conversation with him, as if addressing it right now would change anything in the long run.
(spoiler alert: it won't) ]
I don't have a demand for anything, Sister. I was merely— [ he doesn't want to use the word curious because she's already used it against him. ] —surprised that a pair of cuffs would be brightly colored and covered in fur. It seems very counterintuitive.
[ desires and instincts are easy to curb when there are more pressing things to think about. like where they're staying for the night. ]
There's no other underlying reason behind it.
[ very convincing statement from a 30something-year-old otome maiden. ]
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save himstop her from dragging him along that sort of lifestyle now! ]Not at all, you're just not thinking about it the right way. Here's a different example for you: it's not that different from how my shop works. Why do I run a business, if I'm not making money?
[ she doesn't have say more, that's a rhetorical question he already knows very well the answer to. ]
So try again. "Why design a pair of cuffs that are pink and fluffy, if they're functionally bad for holding down law-breaking criminals?"
[ one step at a time, they got no shortage of it after all. ]
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gepard presses his lips together and closes his eyes, exhaling through his nose in exasperation. it's clear that his sister isn't going to let this go unless he indulges her against his own will and she satisfies her need for amusement at his own expense. ]
They're to hold down another individual except they don't wish for said individual to feel any kind of discomfort.
[ ... he's trying to make this as neutral as he can, but he's pretty sure the older blonde will keep hounding him about it. ]
That answers the fluffiness of the cuffs, but the pink color—
[ he shuts his mouth. ]
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at his succinct and composed answer, she claps both hands together in approving delight. as expected of a landau! (not really, their old man would probably get a stroke if he knew of this...) ]
See? I knew you could do it! The color's just a style customization thing, wouldn't surprise me if they also come in red, black, and then some. Aah, now it puts me in the mood to mod something! Oh, but let's finish this first. With all that we've now confirmed, can you conclude what they're really for, or the clientele such an item may cater to~?
[ is this cutting him some slack or making matters worse? not necessarily mutually exclusive things, are they? ]
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at the mention of her modding something, his expression turns stern again, tossing a warning look in her direction. can she not while they're here in this place where some of the technology surpasses that of their own at home? in her hands, they might turn into weapons of mass destruction as that flying chainsaw almost was. ]
Clientele? [ he repeats the word in utter bewilderment and disbelief that they're talking about this. ] ... Sister, please. Why do we need to speak about those that item caters to?
[ he gets it, ok. a store that's very wantonly named only has one kind of clientele. ]
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Because this is a great chance for you to start thinking about that sorta stuff, when you couldn't before for a whole scrapyard load of reasons! [ reasons AND excuses in her honest opinion, but she'll keep that bit to herself for now. ] Having a store like that so easy to find in the commercial district is basically open support from the City itself, for the variety of lifestyles it encourages the people living here to have. Everyone's got their preferred ways to unwind and gets their kicks from different things, there's no shame in liking what you like~ That's the sort of vibe you end up with, and I can rock with that! So why not take them up on their offer and do a little more exploring in uncharted territory, go inside for real the next time you pass by there?
[ she's practically sparkling as she explains herself. this is highly probably the most roundabout way anyone could tell him to find
what he's intosomething he'd enjoy, cough. leave it to his frivolous sister to be so gung-ho and in his face about it, at least her heart is in the right place? s-sorta... ]no subject
she's enjoying this a little too much at his expense, and gepard can feel his face burning hotter than a thousand geomarrow heaters as they—or more like, serval while dragging him like an unwilling victim—continue down this path of ... what is this conversation for, anyway? enlightenment? self-discovery?
"everyone's got their preferred ways to unwind", "get their kicks from different things"—if their dad were to hear what words are coming out of his estranged daughter's mouth, he'd have an aneurysm in less than a minute. ]
Qlipoth help me, [ he mutters under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and mitigate the building pressure in his head caused by serval and serval alone. ] It's not, it's not uncharted territory that I need to explore, Sister—
[ he's a guy ok, he's been a teenager too, and he bunks with guys in the military. ]
I somewhat know ... what I need to do. [ look, science is science. and it's also his responsibility someday as the only son in their family. ] But isn't this place rather ... inappropriate for those thoughts?
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As much as I'd like to believe you, all you've ever had eyes for was work. Can't be helped, I know, but if we let you have it your way, there's never going to be an "appropriate" time. Now just to be clear, I don't give two hoots if you find a "proper lady" dad would approve of. [ it's literally up to him to continue the family bloodline, the future of the landau has nothing to do with serval anymore. not in any official capacity at least, she would absolutely be a doting aunt to any kids gepard and lynx may foster, but that's neither here or there-- ] I'll be rooting for you, of course, but as long as you're well and happy, I won't fuss you over the details.
[ but maybe this is not a good time to wonder how serval would treat a potential partner of his... not that she's letting them dwell on that, because Qlipoth help is right: ]
But that's a separate matter from basic self care ☆ It's not like they'd ever teach that sorta stuff in school, so it boils down to self study. Knowing you though, I'd be surprised if you ever branched away from the basics~?
[ arms crossed and giving him a sidelong glance while keeping one eye closed, she really does seem far too much at ease talking about this with her little brother, hm. is he gonna prove her wrong, tho? ]
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but really, why is serval not embarrassed about this conversation? how is she still going on with this line of inquiry with his brother who is already past his teenage years? he's the one embarrassed for them both, the flush in his cheeks furious and bright as his mind works overtime to parse what she's saying and to piece them together.
talks of finding a partner aside (and he doesn't even want to think of that right now), why is she calling addressing one's "needs" basic self-care? ]
Serval, [ no amount of clearing his throat or calling her by her name would remove that huge lump in it nor would it push down the brightness of his cheeks. ] It doesn't matter if I don't branch away from the "basics" so long as I perform my responsibility.
[ and his responsibility is ...........................
to make more blond babiesto make his partner happy!! ]no subject
he's not ready to grapple with the full scope of tech she's modded, unsurprising as it is if you really think about itbecause lbr would they have ever talked about this before?? definitely not during their overachiever school days, even less likely during her researcher and his captain days. the period after she left the house and before he became too busy has the highest odds, but it's not like this kind of topic can just be breached randomly. HE's the one who provided the opportunity today, but if it makes him feel any better, this is totally the City's fault for uprooting them away from their obligations entirely. ]
And there you go again, responsibility this and responsibility that. When's the last time you did something you liked, just for yourself without taking in account of a-n-y-b-o-d-y else?
[ it's her turn to sound accusatory.
yeah give her cute blond (or other hair color, adopting is 👌 she's open minded) nephews and nieces!! serval is too burnt and stunted on relationships and values the freedom of flying solo too muchonly GEPARD LANDAU can make DATING sound like work, Qlipoth help him smh ]no subject
as stern and impassive as he often is at work, gepard can't help but show his surprise at being lobbed such an accusation. still, as much as he tries, he's unable to come up with an excuse to get around it or pacify serval. has he been that engrossed in his work? it can't be, not when he still has time to drop by at home or at serval's workshop.
(another spoiler alert: his dead flowers would like to beg to differ) ]
... I actually like my work.
[ ............................................. okay, so maybe that's a terrible response, especially when she's criticizing him about said work. ]
And I do raise flowers.
[ or attempt to, as per pela. ]
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crashing his hq with modded chainsaws (ACCIDENT)going too far with her shenanigans, every single last one of their mutuals know this!! her shop might as well be part of his patrol route at this point, so even if he's off duty, it's STILL also tied to his ice hard sense of responsibility. thus the second part of her question, which he only keeps reaffirming. ]Mm-hm. Is that why the handcuffs in particular caught your attention? Because they remind you of work?
[ yeah she's never letting that go, ]
Pela raises your flowers. [ *their, actually, but this isn't about serval so she's not including herself when she flatly corrects him. ] I should hit up the Guards' medical chief once we get back and ask about the results of your latest check-ups. Maybe they could tell me just how much tension you're been repressing?
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gepard doesn't want to answer or even address that question, if only because they both know that it's just going to be a resounding "yes". why else would a brightly-colored, gaudily-designed handcuff catch his attention other than it's because it's related to his work with the guards? ]
To be fair, I can't just bring my plants to the restricted zone. The cold weather will kill them right away.
[ as opposed to dying a slow, probably painful death in his care—or lack thereof, since he's usually not at home. hence he appreciates pela's assistance in the matter ... even if they die eventually anyway when they're returned to his care.
but even his response sounds like an excuse. gepard sighs under his breath. ]
Sister, let me ask you this. [ and he hates that this is his way of deflecting. ] Do you truly believe that Dad would simply accept anyone I bring home, even if I insist that they're someone I like?
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gepard doesn't need to know about that though, so she doesn't comment. she's not batting a single eyelash either, at the unimpressive excuses he's scrambled up this time. ]
Of course he wouldn't. But that's not his decision to make, mom would understand that too. [ serval won't go so far as to say they can easily secure their mother's approval, but she'll be easier to reason with and give more of a chance to this hypothetical SO than their stubborn old man ever would. ] Besides, he's in no position to criticize you for anything right now. [ mainly because it's physically impossible, two can play at serving cheap shots to each other. ] Are you so scared of looking into your own preferences that you're gonna hide behind his archaic values when he's probably worlds away from us?
[ getting scolded by neesan bc you don't wanna entertain your type or think about hidden kinks you've yet to discover/admit to... it's hard being gepard landau 😔 ]
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Please, Serval.
[ honestly, bringing up their dad like this ... if there's anyone who's lived longer under his shadow all these years, it's certainly not gepard; he's not the one who still has hangups that he refuses to speak with him. but he's not pointing that out, knowing how his sister would react to that.
he's also not uncharitable enough to say that to her face, knowing where her sister's aversion towards their dad stems from. still, to say that he hides behind their dad's ethos— ]
We have no idea how long we'll remain in this world. [ mr yang also had no clue how to go about explaining what's happening. ] And upon returning to Belobog, I'll be resuming my duties, and whatever I learn here will be once more set aside in lieu of the things I need to do.
That includes any preferences [ or types ] that you'd like for me to discover.
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[ she glances away with her eyes lowered. okay, okay, so she might've been a little overkill there. the question's pretty rhetorical anyway, and she didn't need to amp it up with her own Feelings, that was uncalled for.
but she's not gonna apologize, not because she's petty
maybe, but because the point still stands. she DOES feel strongly about this, even if it's none of her business and she's probably projecting at least a little. b-but that's neither here or there, so let's leave it at that! ]So why raise flowers if they're gonna wilt anyway? Why have hobbies at all if you're just gonna shove it aaall aside once you're back on duty? Just because the future is uncertain means you should live as little as possible in the present?
[ "better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all." or... something like that? hah. not that she expects him to have come across the adage somehow, but ugh, this hopeless lil bro of hers...! how's she supposed to ever keep her nose out, if he's really gonna fumble through life with an awful mindset like that? ]
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