middaeg | [open] oh lamia please try to help me

Oh!

[Hey, that's right! Not that she's forgotten about Yuri being here, because of course there was no way that was going to happen. She's been doing her part to help him and Alice get settled, find their way around the city, but she's also given them a fair amount of space. The two of them have a lot of catching up to do— and before he got here, Yuri and Karin had spent over a year attached to one another at the hip.

It was probably... a good thing, to let herself take some space to breathe, too, even though she's grateful that he's here. When she arrived, she'd been so convinced they would never see one another again. His showing up had forced her to confront a lot of confusing and difficult thoughts and feelings, but it was still a happy surprise.]

You two should absolutely meet! Actually, I think you would get along great. You're a little bit alike in some ways. You could get to be really good friends.

[That's something she should probably be happy about, right? Even if she feels just a little bit guilty for letting herself grow so fond of someone else when she's supposed to eventually... you know.]

I'll have to introduce you. You're both... really important to me.

[Except how do you introduce your combination best friend/first love/future son to your current maybe-kind of-boyfriend? There should be a handbook.]

You think so?

[something about that really touches Styx, in a way that he can't immediately define. maybe it was because Yuri was so important to Karin? even without the complex and existentially upsetting bond of blood that they shared, he was still a close and dear person to her. to be able to stand on the same level of esteem in her mind - to be capable of becoming friends - was a deep honor, even if it never moved past the point of possibility.

and then...not only does he become someone worthy of her best friend's time, but someone important as well. Karin's told him this before, but now - with context, with a comparison, it feels so much weightier of an honor.

he laughs, stupidly, barely able to absorb such a fact, and leans heavily against his friend. would it be wrong to put an arm around her, here where people might see? probably...but he really wants to give her a hug.]

...we'll definitely get along, then. For sure. Can't be any other way, not when we've got the same important person.

I know so.

[Even as he laughs, she feels herself turn scarlet, and it seems so silly to feel this flustered after all the things they've talked about already, not to mention some of the moments they've shared that have bordered on something more intimate.

It's not the first time he's told her she's important, either, but it does feel different this time. Things have changed, slowly but surely, and introducing people from what she still sometimes thought of as her 'real life' into the equation made everything here feel more real, their relationship— or whatever it was— included.]

That's how I feel, too. There's no other way it can go, when you both mean so much to me.

[It's the implications of that that have her blushing so hard, she's sure, but she feels her face begin to cool just a bit as she forces herself to laugh some of it off.]

Besides, I find it hard to believe there's anyone you couldn't charm into friendship. Give yourself more credit!

What? No way!

[he laughs, the deep sound shaking Karin thanks to their close proximity. him and Yuri might be a sure thing thanks to her relationship with them both, but saying that he could make friends with anybody? that was definitely taking it too far, right into joke territory. it really does seem to genuinely amuse him, at the very least.]

Plenty've people don't like me. Gotta try really hard no to get on anybody's nerves, yeah?

[oh, but-]

You don't gotta worry about that though, ok? 'm gonna be real careful when I meet him.

Those people just have bad taste.

[She laughs again, more openly this time, and responds with a playful hip bump as she scoots closer to him— not that there's much closer she can get to begin with.]

Believe me, I'm not worried. And you don't need to worry about being careful.

[She can't even imagine what he would have to be careful of, but she knows there are a lot of layers of self-consciousness there to get through.]

Just be yourself. That's the Styx I like, so I know he will, too.

[there isn't really any room to scoot into left, but that doesn't matter very much. sensing Karin's desire, whether she'd meant to broadcast them or not, the big guy lifts up an arm to drop it down comfortably around her shoulders and allow her to press against his side if she likes. he'd already checked that no one would see them, so it's fine. right?]

Mm, well...if you're really not worried at all, guess it'd be pretty stupid for me to be.

[his friend knew better than anyone else, and Styx was willing to bet a hell of a lot more than just his social future on anything she told him. he trusted her completely...and now he's laughing a little with relief.]

's kinda a load off my mind, honestly! Don't ever really know how to be anybody but me anyway.

[Truth be told, it wouldn't much matter if anyone were there to see. The arm around her shoulders is a pleasant surprise, and she smilse as she leans into him without hesitation. It's starting to feel as natural as breathing, being this close to him. Everything about him is so inviting, how could it not?]

Good. One less thing to worry about, right?

[She'd say it doesn't seem like Styx worries about much, but she knows him to be an overthinker, so that's not really accurate.]

I'll make sure it's soon. I've just been giving him a little bit of space since he got here— his girlfriend is here, too, and I haven't wanted to... intrude. They have a lot of catching up to do.

[it wouldn't matter very much to Karin, no, and on some level the drummer knows that...but at the same time he can't help feeling that even innocent closeness like this was something he should keep away from prying eyes if he could help it. being seen with him of all people could only be shameful.]

Oh, shit, he's got a girlfriend?

[despite the fact that the woman has described Yuri multiple times as being around her own age in the...time zone...that they had been both currently inhabiting before she'd been pulled into this world, the fact that the guy's also her son had Styx almost subconsciously picturing him as younger. much, much younger. like, was it really responsible for him to be alone with a girl right now?

...focus, Graves.]

She been waiting for him this whole time? Or uh, did they come together?

[it'd make sense, right? dating and all.]

[She nods quickly in response; Alice has been such a big figure in her own life for so long, and they had never even met until Aefenglom facilitated it. She'll spare Styx the more somber details for now— she's not sure how much Yuri or Alice wants getting around— but the fact that it's a reunion doesn't need to be kept a secret.]

Mmhmm. They both arrived at the same time, but otherwise, it's been awhile since they've seen one another. Her name is Alice.

[She's quietly proud that her voice doesn't drop when she says the other woman's name, the way it might have only a few months ago. Parts of this are still hard, but she had always been of the opinion that if they did have the chance to meet, they would have liked each other very much.]

They have a lot to talk about. She's very nice— I'm sure you'll meet her, too. I'm only just getting to know her myself, but she's very sweet.

[Styx has actually met Alice already, but the name is so common and the woman herself so innocuous that he fails to connect the exorcist he'd gone geriatric ghost-hunting with and the figure that (unbeknownst to him) loomed so large across Karin's life.]

Yeah, I bet! Uh, about everything, you know?

[that the two probably had a lot to talk about, that this Alice was very nice...even that the drummer would eventually make her acquaintance as well. he sighs a little, someone else's happiness prompting a small portion of his own.]

's real lucky, to have somebody you know here right away. Probably makes it super easy for them, uh, getting to have two people they know 'nd all. 'm glad.

Mm... I think you're right. I'm a little jealous— there will still be a lot for them to get used to here, but I'm glad that they have one another to make things easier, and that I might be able to help them, too. I was lucky to make friends early on when I got here, but it was still stressful, not knowing anyone.

[He'd been one of those fast friends, of course. Between him, Lightning, Rikku and Ann, she'd been surrounded by good people right away. All things considered, she couldn't have really asked for a better interdimensional kidnapping, except for the part where it happened at all.

Still, she can't even find herself feeling resentful of that. Not anymore. For as many challenges as this place offered, it also granted time and opportunities.

It has it's good points. One of them is sitting right next to her.]

Maybe we could all go somewhere together sometime. Help them settle into the city a little. Like... a double date?

[There's a note in her voice on that last part that's just a little bit tentative. How you feelin' about that word, Styx?]

[Styx nods understandingly. he's used to being alone - only recently in his own world had he found people willing to support him - and so of all the ways which finding himself here had overwhelmed him, the lack of familiar faces surprisingly hadn't been one of them. he was almost grateful at the time that no one was there to watch him struggle and disappoint.

(he's better now though, isn't he? surely they could come now, if it was possible.)]

Hey, that's really killer! 's always more fun getting to see new stuff with other people.

[can you hear it, Karin? it's the wooden echo of the empty head you just knocked against with that word. he feels great about it, because it has absolutely no special meaning to him in this context whatsoever. I'm so sorry.]

Too bad they don't got like, laser tag or nothing here...that'd be perfect. We'll have to find something super fun.

[Right, 'killer.' It would be a lot of fun, and it would help her to feel more at ease with trying to help Yuri and Alice adjust to life here if Styx came along, as well. Without him, she'd feel just a little too much like a third wheel, like she was intruding, even if they insisted she wasn't. Still, there's more to it than that— she enjoys spending time with Styx himself, of course, and being open about that feels like an important step in moving forward and leaving some of what has weighed her down behind.

But she can hear it. The wooden echo, the fact that he'd responded without even skipping a beat, and it makes her wonder if that means that he's interested without a second thought, or if he just hadn't thought anything of it in the first place.

This has been, low-key, an incredibly confusing few weeks. She's just going to... gently forge ahead.]

Right? I mean, we've gone places on our own, so maybe we could pick some favorites to show them over time? [It's mostly places to eat. They do a lot of eating, don't they.] The city is always hosting different events, too, so I'm sure something fun will come up.

[Wait.]

What's laser tag?

[that's probably for the best, Karin. why start up a whole new firestorm of issues when you haven't even gotten over your last? more importantly, what would the abomination of a child at your feet think about having to watch you grow distraught?]

Oh, dude, did they not have that yet where you're from? It's so fucking cool!

[Styx, she was fighting the goddamn first world war. why would they have invented laser tag?]

You got like, gun, right? Except they don't shoot bullets, they shoot lasers...except 's not like, action movie lasers or nothing, they don't hurt. 'nd you can't really see them at all anyway? And you put on these vests, 'nd if the vest gets hit by a laser your team gets a point!

[this is an extremely jumbled description of an already nebulous concept, but the drummer's enthusiasm simply can't be beat. if he wasn't already holding Karin against his side he'd probably be leaning in her face right now like a child, eyes sparkling.]

Usually they've got these cool mazey things you fight in...only been, like, once at home but it was so killer.

[Yes, we must think of the mechanical abomination of a child!

She watches him intently as he explains, trying to piece the picture together in her own mind, but her own experience with very real guns colors it a bit oddly.]

So you shoot each other for fun?

[But it's clearly not dangerous, since there are no bullets and nobody gets hurt. It's just not something she'd ever really considered. His enthusiasm is as catching as it always is, however, and even if she's struggling to envision it exactly, she has a vague idea. Pressed against his side like she is, she can practically feel him vibrating with excitement just talking about it.]

It sounds interesting. I've never seen anything like that, but I wonder if it could be done here with magic? Harmlessly, of course— just lights. I'd hate to see anyone get hurt.

[Guns are not toys. Again, think of what we're teaching the abomination at our feet.]

And how do they know if a vest gets hit? If there's no bullets, it doesn't leave a mark, does it?

Yeah, exactly!

[they're definitely teaching this little mechanical monster that its head has more inside it than Styx's, given how enthusiastically he confirms that 'murder practice' is a popular pastime in his own world. it's a damn good thing that he's big and warm.]

There's, uh, like, little targets on the vests? 'nd I guess if you hit one then it knows about it.

[hit with...the invisible laser lights...that just let it know to count a point up for the other team? it's really quite amazing that the concept of sensors is so far from even potentially entering his brain right now.]

Amazing the things people come up with in the future.

[She'd say it sounds like magic, but it's not so far off that she can't imagine technology making that whole setup possible. More impressive still that it's apparently so widely accessible? Enough to be popular.]

Everything here isn't so different from my own time, really, so I've had a pretty easy time adjusting. They're a couple of decades behind us, maybe, but it wasn't much of a change for me when I got here.

[She's seen monstrosities like the horrific automaton child at their feet before. Clearly, she's right at home here. Styx, probably not so much.]

I never really thought about what it might be like for someone coming from a time or place that's so much more advanced!

[Styx laughs, a little embarrassed. he's probably the worst representative a world could ask for, especially coming in as an 'advanced' sort of place by comparison. funny how things work out, isn't it?]

Well, Eddan's kinda ahead of everybody even back home. Started out as, uh...think they called it like a model city? That sort of thing.

[partially autonomous, cut off from the mainland by everything but bridge and ferry...it really was like its own universe.]

Must be nice not to have so much to get used to. 's been months now, but 'm still looking for stuff that don't exist here when I'm not thinking about it.

It is, in some ways. There are a lot of things that are familiar, but others that are just different enough that it doesn't feel quite right.

[The city itself, at least, reminds her of her own corner of Europe in some ways, and she's traveled widely enough that adapting to someplace new had come pretty easily overall.

Thoughtful for a moment, she looks up and gives him another playful nudge with her elbow.]

So what do you miss the most, from Eddan? Besides people, I mean.

[It goes without saying that he misses his auntie and his bandmates the most, of course.]

[he nods understandingly, the motion cut short by Karin nudging him in the side. he looks down at her, curious expression transforming into thoughtful as he considers the question. what he missed most that wasn't a person? hmm...]

Uh, the food I guess! Had all these killer spots I'd always swing by that I can't now...oh, and recognizing all the bands at a music shop. Thought it's kinda exciting that everything's new now!

[the truth of the matter is that Eddan had shut him out in much the same way his own community had. a city on the cutting edge of progress didn't want someone looking like him wandering through the more affluent parts of town, and he'd felt that silent judgement very keenly. the most of the city Styx had ever seen came from riding the bullet trains around and round without ever disembarking.]

[She laughs, not only because of the simplicity of the answer in itself, but also:]

That's what I miss the most, too! The food here is good, but the last year or so before I got here, I was traveling all over the world, so I was getting to try all kinds of different dishes just about everywhere we went. There are some places here that do things similarly to home, too, but I really miss good German desserts.

[A lot of the food is pretty comparable, but none of it tastes quite like home.]

And I miss— well, it's not the same as going to a music shop, but I do miss the opera. Or the idea of the opera? I only ever got to go once.

You really like sweet stuff, huh?

[it's something that he's noticed in all of the times that they've gone out together, although given his own gluttonous preferences it's certainly not something the drummer's going to judge her for. but mentioning it now gives Styx a good way to confirm that like, since...well, it gives him a more concrete focus during his own searches.]

...oh, uh - that's the one where they're yelling all the time, right?

[says the metalhead.]

Guilty as charged.

[She grins; there's no defense for that to be given, really. She'll try just about anything, but it's true that he's seen her indulge in a lot of different pastries and desserts during their various food adventures— a part of her thinks it might come from them having been such a rare treat when she was young. They always remind her of happier times, on top of being delicious.]

It can definitely sound like yelling sometimes, depending on the performer. But the wonderful thing about opera is how dramatic it is! Every opera tells a story, and they do these fantastic swordfights on stage— it's really incredible to watch!

[who could ever deny themselves a sweet when given the opportunity? certainly not Styx, king of the gluttons. for someone who was so repressive of his natural self for the sake of others, he was surprisingly open about eating what you wanted. food was safe, after all - everyone needed it.]

Sounds pretty fucking killer when you explain it like that, yeah! 's kinda too fancy for me, though, so I've never been.

[probably for the best. who wanted to enjoy a classy opera with someone like him in the seat next to them? scratching at his cheek idly, a great idea occurs to him.]

Bet it's the kind've thing they do here too, though! You should go watch another one sometime.

They probably do— they must have some kind of theater scene here, at least, but I haven't looked into it, really. There's just been so many other things going on, but it would be nice, even if I won't recognize any of the music in whatever they put on here.

[That's exciting in its own way, too. New music means new stories, new tales of adventure!]

You know, it's not really that fancy, people just make it sound like it is. No matter what kind, I think music should be for everyone.

[Not only for those who can afford box seats, although he's right— it's definitely become the sort of event only those who are well-off ever get to attend, which means it's always been right out for her with that one exception. Who has that kind of money lying around?]

Maybe we can pay our way in to watch from the rafters sometime. A lot of stagehands will let people do that, so long as they're quiet— people who can't afford the house seats.

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