[muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

[geonomy]

Who: You! Me! Everybody!
Broadcast: idk but we've sure got a pretty broad cast of folks eh, eh
Action: HECK YEAH PLANET MINGLE
When: 10/7 until plot update or recaptcha

It's a deep, deep forest filled to the brim with fungi, mysterious life forms, and pitch black darkness. Explore if you dare and discover all these things and more! Just don't get lost...

Comments

[axiomed]

[ Charles shakes his head. He can think of a few reasons, but it's not his place to voice them. Charles' fears may have calmed but they're still there. The Atroma are still there. Another powerful creature will come along and again . . . ]

Well. Perhaps it's better not to know and just let them pass.

[exothermia]

[They won't pass. He hopes they will for Charles, at least. Instead, Erik rolls his shoulders and sheaths his knife.]

If we find some kind of vegetable here, that should be the first thing we take.

[axiomed]

[ They were doing it again, running circles around each other. He briefly considers pointing that out, but he sighs. Navigating Erik is a skill he's been putting to use for weeks now. ]

. . . Of course.

[exothermia]

[Erik catches Charles's eye for a moment, before turning back to the path. Try as he might to focus on just the physical action, the walking, the twists and turns of their conversation casts a deeper shadow on his mind. Things had been fine, then he'd brought up something that needled them both, and... what? For what? For him to cut off and pretend like he hadn't raised the issue himself.

His jaw clenches in the silence, and he stops walking.]

--no. I'm sorry for bringing it up like that. [And then dropping it as soon as it got too hot for him to handle.]

[axiomed]

Erik.

[ He turns his chair around. ]

I'm not bothered by the topic. I'm not bothered by you bringing it like that, so to speak. But if you don't want to discuss it, then you should just tell me.

I don't read minds.

[exothermia]

[And if he doesn't know what he wants? Doesn't know how to talk about it? He folds his arms across his chest, and it nearly reads as defensive. He bats any number of replies back and forth in his mind, each stranger and darker than the last, before he lets out a sharp huff of breath.]

It's not that. [It's not a lack of want. It's a lack of means.]

I haven't been able to sleep the last couple of nights.

[axiomed]

Only the last couple?

[ That's . . . unusual. Charles mentally tallies up the dates. ]

Not since . . . your excursion in my head?

[exothermia]

No. That's not it. It's likely being in a new system. Having to adjust.

...they do sell something like sleep tea in on the waystations. [The price is exorbitant, but it was there.]

[axiomed]

[ He nods. If Erik says it wasn't the cause, Charles believes him. ]

Is that something you'd like to try? I'm terrible with taking aids myself but that's more due to the way it affects the mind.

[exothermia]

I... suppose. [The idea of taking aids at all leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.] I still have sleeping tablets, I'd just rather not use them if I don't have to.

[axiomed]

But you said you haven't been sleeping for a couple of nights, Erik. Maybe it's time to try and use them.

[exothermia]

[He sighs, scratching his chin. Two days isn't the longest he's gone without sleep, but that's hardly an argument he's going to use. He doesn't want to, either. He'd like to sleep.]

I might as well buy it. I can afford it. It can be kept with the other supplies in the kitchen.

[axiomed]

[ That wasn't a complete agreement, but it's a start. Tea, at least, Erik would be willing to try. ]

Tea does seem like the better option.

[exothermia]

All right. I'll do that.

I can keep an eye out for other types as well... [He sighs, sleep problems giving way to more mundane disappointments.] There's no real fresh food to buy on the stations.

[axiomed]

[ His lips twitch. ]

Truly the greatest crime.

[exothermia]

I was able to make challah with the ship's supplies last week, but there's really not enough of it to do that sort of thing all the time. [And he's not always inclined to do it. The challah had been for a set occasion, and the first thing he's really 'made' since coming back to the Fleet.]

[axiomed]

No, we never seem to have enough of fresh food around, I'm afraid.

[exothermia]

It's probably intentional. [Now that things are at ease again, Erik gestures for Charles to come as he resumes walking.]

I had a lot from the hand-holding world, but that's been used up for a long time.

[axiomed]

Well, even if we store a lot of it, fresh food cannot be kept in the fridge for that long.

[exothermia]

No. You'd need a freezer for that. [And the tiny freezer space in the provided fridges is barely enough for one or two items.] Maybe we should look for canned goods instead, next time.

[axiomed]

It would certainly be a better alternative.

[exothermia]

I'll keep it in mind.

[Soon enough, they pass through the treeline and can see the Heron in the clearing up ahead.]

[axiomed]

Looks like we're here.

[exothermia]

Before sunset, too. [Though the shadows are certainly starting to lengthen, and the light turn golden in readiness.]

[axiomed]

We were lucky.