[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

[exothermia]

[He watches as she shifts closer, and nods. It would be gauche to refuse, given he's doing the same thing... maybe in lesser words than the depths of his feelings really go to, but all the same.]

[noprophecies]

[she tangles her fingers together in front of her, focusing on those. This is not something she finds easy to talk about and it's clear in her voice, the way she drops most of her usual formal talk]

It doesn't get easier. Figuring out where to go next, or even what to do with yourself. It's like coming to a crossroads where one road is pointing to the easy way, and the others are all uphill climbs that look impossible.

[she clasps her hands tighter together, lips pursing for a moment]

I've stopped trying to take the easy road, so I am like you, without anywhere to go and no idea what to do. And . . . I think it's okay, to wait there a while. To focus more on - waking up the next day. To do normal things other people don't give a second thought to. To grieve, when you feel like you need to, or be upset when it's too much. To just live, at those crossroads, until something comes along that finally clicks.

I could be wrong. But . . . that is my take on it. From where I stand right now.

[exothermia]

[He listens in silence, expression less guarded than it was before. Hermione had said a similar thing - that it could be weeks, months, years before it felt like he could move forward. There's a truth in it, as well, but it still agitates him. The driven part of him, whatever's left of it, hisses its scorn at his behaviour. It's hard to please it when there's nothing he's driving towards.

He's quiet a while longer after Aurae finishes, turning a leaf over in his fingers.]

It is like that. Only I don't think there's even an easy way left, anymore. [If there ever had been one. If he's at a crossroads, it's one at the bottom of a pit, and all roads lead up.]

[noprophecies]

[her shoulders slump a little bit when Erik finally talks, both in relief and something else. She wants to say the same - that she doesn't have an easy way, either, but she's considered it. More times than she'd like to admit to, even though there hasn't been much in the way to remind her of it here]

I would think that is a good thing. You aren't a coward like I am.

[exothermia]

[He can't and won't make the connection. That easy way had nearly destroyed him once, and he's past it now. But he shakes his head.]

I am. Fear rules me, more often than not.

[noprophecies]

[she reaches over to gently nudge his shoulder]

That is not being a coward, love.

[exothermia]

[He looks at her, not arguing the point but not accepting it himself either.]

Maybe not all the time.

[noprophecies]

[she has no rebuttal to that, so she just hums quietly and nudges his shoulder again before letting her hand drop]

In any case . . . I understand where you are right now.

[exothermia]

[He sighs, more at himself than anything Aurae's saying. When her hand drops away he reaches out to pinch her little finger lightly.]

It means a lot.

[noprophecies]

[she quirks a brief smile, shifting to push to her feet. Sitting for so long was making her legs numb]

I know. [she leans over to press a kiss to the top of his head, before heading over to one of the plants Erik was taking cuttings from] Do you need more of these?

[exothermia]

Ah - just a few of the nuts. I want to see if I can store them.

[noprophecies]

[she leans over to pull her knife out again]

You likely could. They are just nuts, yes?

[exothermia]

As far as we can tell. Hank tested them to make sure they were safe.

[noprophecies]

Who is—. . . oh, the skinny boy.

[she brushes her fingers over the plant with her free hand with a curious frown, before she cuts some free]

He did some kind of rubbish science thing?

[exothermia]

[Erik snorts, amused.]

Yes, exactly that.

[noprophecies]

Rubbish.

[she mutters it loud enough for him to hear, but turns her attention to using the knife to get the nut open] These look like the kind you'd find in my world, perhaps a shade or two lighter.

[exothermia]

They're fairly similar to my own as well... [He works on separating a few more clusters.] Hopefully they cook the same.

[noprophecies]

Cook? You can cook nuts?

[exothermia]

You can bake them into things, or sear them. Grind them into powder and mix it with other ingredients.

[He pauses, dropping the cover of his bag shut.] I haven't really thought that far ahead.

[noprophecies]

I see . . . I have had them roasted before, but - I did not think you could cook them into things.

[which isn't a surprise, considering her aversion to the kitchen]

[exothermia]

I've done it before... a long time ago.

[noprophecies]

Ohh? It is good that you are getting into doing it again, then.

[exothermia]

[He doesn't say anything at first, turning his attention to sheathing his knife. He had brought it up almost automatically, but he had no real plans to cook... it had probably been obvious in the Heron that no one was really doing it anymore. He sticks with the protein gels himself these days, and even that is less.]

I haven't, really. I'm just thinking about it.

[noprophecies]

[she tilts her head curiously at the brief silence, before she hums a little in understanding]

It may do you some good, getting back into it. You used to bake often, yes?

[exothermia]

I did, but that was quite a while ago. I didn't do quite so much of it when I lived with Magda.

[It wasn't so much a lack of desire or some preconceived notion of who did what tasks, as practicality. Magda spent more time in the home than he did, and he was always last home after finishing at the factory. It made more sense for her to cook. He still did his part on weekends.]