.:First Party Run, Recreational Runs & More:. [closed]

[ganymed]

Who ⬤ Ganymede and Co.
What ⬤ Dungeon-crawlin', exploring, talking with people. What can go wrong?
Now featuring some potentially cw-worthy memshares, or content involving that.
When ⬤ Following first meetings, and anything related to the below subjects.
Where ⬤ Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast, ΔHidden Forbidden Holy Ground, Root Towns
Content Warnings ⬤ Mentions of drunken behavior.
Further mentions and displays of captivity, kidnapping, stalking, and subjects relating to suicide.


[ Following some enlightening discussions that have more or less blossomed into actual plans, an unlikely band of four adventurers assemble!

Names added to friends' lists, details hashed out, which means one thing and one thing only, that the next point some adventuring is happening. Though, given that it is everyone's (probable?) first time, it seems that there is no way for anybody to choose specific places or areas they might like!

Thankfully, that's what the random Area Exploration mechanic is for.

Ganymede steps forward, and just decides to select a perfect set of coordinates for everyone...



...Not! As if even he can be decisive at this point. He lets everyone know that these are the keywords they'll be working with. "Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast", that is.

So once the Chaos Gate is utilized for them to all cross over...

Welcome to the wonderful location of Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast! Apparently it's an area that has a rocky desert-like appearance that stretches out for miles on end. Not to mention, there is a wonderful-looking flesh wall that is the proper beginning of the dungeon crawling, and entry point into the actual dungeon that is bound to be teeming with treasure and creatures.

But, they're not inside that wall as of yet. ]

RESULTS: Can be viewed here, for our reference!

Comments

[userunfriendly]

[ Winter was already regretting humoring him before even loading into Mac Anu, thanks! It's not as exhausting to run in the game as it would be in person... which probably means he has enough extra breath to curse quietly to himself as he hurries after Ganymede.

Still, he follows him onto the boat without hesitation. But he's got no shortage of complaints, and they're not going to wait for him to catch his breath to air them. ]

H-how... is this possibly more convenient?

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede is super helpful like that, nya.

At least here they don't run out of breath easy, huh. ]

Why wouldn't it be?

[ And then Michel learned at that very moment he certainly did not check his recent message. He's going to do that in a few minutes, though. ]

[userunfriendly]

We were already talking.

[ And only consider the benefits. No expressions over email, like the attention Michel has to now split on maintaining his impassive stone face. No strangely realistic water splashes. No worrying about being overheard or tripping over his words... ]

[ganymed]

Yes?

[ Ganymede tilts his head at him, but then looks back at the sky overhead as the gondola moves forward along the water. ]

We're still talking now, though. And it's far less quiet. I can feel a light wind on my face, and my hair. It feels a little pleasant like this, looking at the sky above, even if it isn't real. And maybe less like I'm turning those words without sound over in my head, even if I know you decided to lend an ear to them.

[ ...But then again, he isn't Michel right now. He is assuming that people won't overhear the most important parts while they're on this small boat. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ It's another reminder of all the ways they're subtly opposites. The solace Michel finds in the artificial distance, Ganymede finds in this equally artificial closeness. The illusion of being able to reach out and touch a person an unknown thousands of kilometers away.

Michel watches as that light wind lifts the strands of Ganymede's hair, the sunlight illuminating it like a halo. He doesn't look like someone who was just in the hospital. But that's the illusion of this place as well. ]

I'm... even more terrible at this in person.

[ "In person," such as this is. But Ganymede's words make him aware of the breeze, the sun. Isn't it... because he wanted to try to reach for those things one more time that he'd joined this beta in the first place? ]

But I— I can't very well tell you to go out and enjoy the real sky after telling you to rest.

[ganymed]

[ It isn't like Ganymede really cherishes that sort of thing; the ability to be with other people. Or so he'd say, but that isn't true at all. Four years is like a dream, but before that, there were many years where he'd sing, laugh, and dance with people. Even if he has places distance between himself and others, his heart yearns to find a way to grow closer still.

In ways familiar to him. Face to face interaction, without the baggage of his past. But now, he is confronting that even a bit. ]

But, you decided to come along anyway.

[ Uncertainty. That's what they're both facing now, isn't it? Though...is Michel telling him he wanted to say Ganymede should go outside and touch grass, but he knows he can't tell him that? ]

If you did, I'd really wonder where your head would be at. Though, if you really object to it that much, we could always exchange phone numbers.

[userunfriendly]

...I did.

[ He doesn't want to scrutinize his own reasons. It was simply — that they weren't done. Ganymede had an answer to give him. The thought of leaving him waiting and hopeful twists something in his stomach.

"You're not just a bystander, Winter-kun." Was Hani right after all? Is he making them right by involving himself like this? It's just...

He blinks and glances away, across the water, as he tries to settle himself down into a sitting position on the boat. He doesn't have a dancer's balance. If he has to think furiously while standing the whole time, he's going to pitch over into the artificial ocean. ]

We don't even know if we share a language without the auto-translation. But are you really going to keep logging in?

[ The doctors hadn't found anything, Ganymede said, which means they don't know it wasn't the game that caused this. Truthfully, it had crossed his mind for a second to offer at least a different chat handle to Ganymede. If he was planning on quitting the beta, they could keep in touch. As if they'd have anything to talk about.

Phone numbers, though. Easily linked to a location, a name. It sparks an old wariness and just a hitch of hesitation. ]

[ganymed]

[ Try not to fall into the river, Michel!!

Ganymede is probably being unreasonable, but deep down he never anticipated someone would really follow him even if he said 'come here' or 'come there'. He's not some perfect prince who holds the door open for the lady to pass through, and yet maybe that's not the kind of impression he has given just by his looks. Those that have stuck with him do so because of something else.

He looks over at the other and sits down with an elegant flop that doesn't disturb the gondola any. ]

We could always find out. [ He dares to say. But ironically, it's the second quest he hesitates at. For only a second to say: ] I'm not going to let this stop me. If I stop, who knows what might happen next? So, I have to at least see it through.

[ Honestly, it's for his own self-gratification he's here (though he can't explain that as a reason for the network post.) But, he wants to experience all of this a little more. And it seems that if he's going to get hurt no matter where he goes...does it matter where it so happens to be? ]

...If you were in my position, what would you have done?

[userunfriendly]

[ They could find out. It's on the tip of Winter's tongue to ask. If the Greek in Ganymede's profile reflects his background like Winter's Maupassant poem does, it's likely that he knows English as well. The phone wouldn't be face-to-face like the simulation, but it would be a step closer in another dangerously real way.

His brow furrows at the thought and he looks over as if he could read into Ganymede's thoughts with that glance. What does he want? What is he hoping for? What does that mean, to him? ]

You really are as stubborn as a mule.

[ It's almost laughable that Ganymede could call himself someone who preferred to run away. Winter draws in a slow sigh that he doesn't let out and frowns at the question. In-person, his thoughtful pause is even more obvious than when typing. ]

We're very different people. Our circumstances couldn't have less in common. Your cousin jumped on a flight for you in a panic. I don't have some goal I'm moving towards that would compel me to confront this outright. [ So, in the end, the only answer he can give is for what choice he would make. ] ...I would have no reason not to continue logging in, however.

[ganymed]

[ That is exactly why he brought up the phone thing. As it is, Ganymede hadn't expected Michel to be like 'okay' and only one entire person here happens to have his phone number. Who so happens to be his cousin.

So when the other male makes the stubborn comment, there is a brief look of pride in his eyes, as if that is something to be proud about... ]

That's right. So don't you forget it.

[ Anyway, Ganymede watches the thoughtful lines/expression on the other male's face, as if he can divine what he's considering just from that. ]

I'm glad that we are different people. You being who you are suits you, and who I am suits myself. Even if our motivations are different, I'm sure whatever reason you would have to keep coming wouldn't be inconsequential.

...But, what I want to do now is leave the past behind. I could never step into Ilus' place, when he and I always had different goals, and we were different people—just as you and I are.

[ And deep in his heart, a part of him does want to continue to forget the person that he was. Each golden memory seems only more painful now, and when he looks back, he only sees a stranger. But maybe that too is a fault. One that can't be overcome overnight—if it can be overcome at all. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ Does it suit him? Does Ganymede know him? If he did, he wouldn't be able to easily say that Michel's reasons weren't inconsequential. They're as inconsequential as they can be. He simply doesn't have anything that makes the real world worth returning to. There's no risk whatsoever. ]

Your sense of self is set in stone. I... really do admire that.

[ And he prays that it's possible for Ganymede to leave his past behind, if that's what he truly wants. He finally lets out that quiet sigh and reaches over the side of the gondola to run his fingers through the water. ]

So, where do you plan to go from here? Back to the stage?

[ It makes sense in a roundabout way. Ganymede has goals and ambitions, the determination to move forward at all costs. If his job is a part of that, then little wonder he feels so strongly about it. ]

[ganymed]

[ ...Yeah, hearing that it feels like he has everything figured out, doesn't he? That's fine with him. His comments are also nothing short of presumptuous here, but is he wrong? He doesn't think so (ahahaha) ]

That's exactly it. But, I never thought someone might admire me for it.

Someone might say it's more a sign of stubbornness or being far too headstrong.

[ He's sticking a hand into the water, lightly brushing against the current, watching the ripples made in its wake. ]

What do you mean? After I get some more rest? Because I'll never step down from the stage. Right now, it's only a temporary setback.

[userunfriendly]

[ Maybe he is wrong. But maybe it's not so terrible to leave him with that illusion a little longer.

Michel glances aside awkwardly, wondering if he's said too much. But this once it's a fleeting uncertainty. Is he so perpetually gloomy that he's allergic now to saying anything positive? He's managed on at least a few occasions these past few years. ]

I believe everyone has something that they can't let themselves let go of. Knowing what that means to you is a strength. ...However, I won't deny the stubbornness.

[ And Ganymede himself had already seemed proud of that, so Michel allows himself to snort softly at the thought. ]

After, yes. I wondered what your goal was.

[ Is it prying? Is it envy? He wants to know what light draws Ganymede forward with such unrelenting certainty. ]

[ganymed]

[ Ignorance is bliss, ain't it?

Ganymede is watching the awkward look on the other male's face, wondering why he turned his face away. But then again, the man did say he was bad at this. Though, if anything, he thinks it doesn't detract from his efforts at all. ]

Hey, are you laughing at me?

[ Because he's going to squirt water from one hand at the other male just for that! ]

My goal is to be the best theatre dancer in all of——my country. I don't see a reason to change it, simple as it might be.

[ But in doing what he does, he will prove something. Not just to himself. Or so he reasons it, though dancing has always been something he has loved. ]

[userunfriendly]

Of course n-- hey!

[ It's been beyond years since anyone's accused him of that. He's fairly certain he's forgotten how. And yet now he finds himself flinging up one arm to defend himself from the sudden arc of water droplets.

He gives Ganymede a measuring look, and then sticks his hand in the water and tries to replicate what he just did. With rather less success. The moment to frown at the water gives him another moment to think, turning those words over in his head. ]

..."Simple." Being the best in your country. You have no sense of scale, do you?

[ But if he says it with that much confidence, there's no reason to think he doesn't know his own capabilities. ]

[ganymed]

[ Ganymede's new accomplishment:

Being one of the few people who have dared to j'accuse Michel occasionally of laughing at him. But, he's more entertained at the reaction of the other futilely raising an arm to defend himself against the army of water droplets.

The somewhat failed attempt in replication of the maneuver makes him give the other man an amused look. He squirts some more water at Michel just for the hell of it. ]

Maybe that's simple to me. Then, I could aim for the world next...take it by surprise.

That sounds reasonably more-than-simple enough.

[ The way he phrases it indicates he is a little more than self-aware of how ridiculous that sounds when he makes such a comment, though. Ganymede isn't so ambitious to go for world titles or something like that. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ is that a French joke I'll fight you

Oh, to have grown up with his brothers teaching him useful forms of combat, like how to successfully perform this water attack... Keep it up, Ganymede. He's a fast learner, a few more demonstrations and he'll get it. Or else just swat the water back at Ganymede outright. ]

Maybe you will.

[ Just this time, there's no teasing. He could believe it; he wonders if he'd manage to hear of it if Ganymede did. What must it feel like, to have that kind of drive, the ability to line up one goal after another to create a path forward?

He tries the water squirting technique one more time before he just splashes a little back at Ganymede with his palm. ]

...Did you call me all the way out here just to throw water at me?

[ Someone better at this would know what other things to ask. He wants to know about Ganymede's dancing, about his brother. If his cousin isn't fussing at him for running back to the game. A dozen other things. ]

[ganymed]

[ I have no idea what you're talking about :3c

Ironically, his own brothers were the fighty ones as well. Not Ganymede, even if he has some self-defense skills under his belt! Also, he does know some moves...like how to mercilessly send water at someone by squirting water towards them so skillfully it might be an art.

There's a moment of surprise flickering across Ganymede's face when Michel says that. 'Maybe you will,' are words spoken with no trace of doubt that makes him feel actually...a little embarrassed. But, not in a bad way.

He lets out a surprised yelp with the water being splashed right back at him, though. Defenseless in his minute moment of surprise. ]

You know what? I think it's funny you're asking me that when you're splashing water right back at me?

[ What is asking the right questions? One can never truly know. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel catches that look of surprise and glances aside again, doubt reigniting in him. Was that irresponsibly careless to say? He doesn't know Ganymede's field, or even his skill at dancing. All he knows is what he wants to be true from the impulse of a moment.

Impulsiveness... isn't like him anymore either. It's a strange in-between. He'd joined the beta for a new start and had found quickly that he was still so suffocatingly himself. Now, with these flickers of someone he doesn't recognize, he's all the more uncomfortable. ]

You thought you could avoid retaliation?

[ He almost smiles, and the expression must look ghastly with uncertainty and disuse. Just as well he hasn't looked up again. He watches the water swirling around his fingertips and gives it a little flick. ]

"Everything flows"...

[ He uses the French translation this time, although the game's autotranslate would have obfuscated his lilting and awkward Greek. ]

[ganymed]

[ Speaking of avoiding retaliation, Ganymede's just going to squirt some water at him again when he least expects it. Which is definitely now.

Even as he answers the question with one of his own. ]

Yes?

[ Look, he can absolutely be as ridiculous as he wants, okay? But at the sudden quote, that gets him to blink twice, and then there's an expression of consideration settling onto his face. An indescribable emotion flickering over the blond's face as Ganymede's expression then shifts towards a curious look as he finishes the second part of the quote, and more. ]

Everything flows...and nothing stays.

No one steps into the same river twice. For, it's never the same river, nor is one the same person by the next time. When one moves forward, the past changes, and their future with them. Whatever was before, is left behind.

In the end, even the world has changed, through the eyes of a person who has become so different, that their view of reality has transformed.

...What do you think of that, Winter?

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel lifts his sleeve quickly, though not fast enough to stop more water from splashing his face. He gives Ganymede a look like an affronted cat — and about as serious — before he shakes his head to shed the stray drops and wipes his face.

It's a painful question. Are the words comforting to Ganymede? They had enough meaning to him to put them in his profile, and Michel had studied them in curiosity, like a piece of a riddle. A habit remaining from other forums, perhaps; a tendency to look at traces left behind, like finding the beauty in the spectrum of light scattered through broken glass. ]

There's a similar quote from an American writer. "You can never go home again."

[ Less elegant, but perhaps closer to the heart of the matter. Michel leans back a little in the boat, his expression statue-still again. ]

I believe... it's true. Time does not stand still. No person remains unchanged, even though they might try. The place you imagine returning to ceases to exist the moment you take your eyes from it.

[ Whether it's a hopeful thought or a nihilistic one, he supposes, depends on whether the listener envisions anything before them. Otherwise, the future is empty, and the past, an illusion shaped like memory. ]

[ganymed]

[ Of course Michel does well to think deeply upon those words spoken. But, he notes, the other man considers matters thoroughly, and carefully. Even if Ganymede thinks he has started to truly warm up to that straightforward nature of his, he thinks he has come to cherish the thoughtfulness he places in all subjects. Maybe, the blond also thinks, he has figured that the other man would too consider this matter carefully. ]

I believe that quote does work just as well.

[ A smile blooms softly across his face, ephemeral, not unlike phantasm of dreams borne from pleasant sleep—comforting to have, yet also painful to awake from into the cold reality that grounds oneself.

But his heart is not so full of joy to embrace the concept with happiness as he presumes it has. Even if he likes the answer. So, he hides his smile by shifting his knees to pull them closer, face half-hidden in them. ]

There is no way to return to the past. It has already come and gone.

...You're always thinking a lot, you know. But, I never considered that to be a bad thing.

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel glances back at that smile with a look of faint surprise before his forehead creases pensively. It's a surprisingly lovely expression on Ganymede. Warm, if strangely fragile. For just this moment, he thinks he might believe that it's sincere. He thinks he might want to see it again.

A terrifying thought. He doesn't even know if he's said the right thing this time. Aren't his halting words as gloomy as usual? He watches Ganymede curl himself a little smaller with an unpleasant nervousness tightening his chest. ]

I have little else to spend my time on, that's all.

[ Does that sound as pitiful as he's afraid it does? He tries to feign indifference, glancing out across the water again as nonchalantly as he can, his thoughts racing. ]

And you're, um... [ He feels turned around in his thoughts already, unsure how to put the impression into words. This is why he doesn't deal in feelings. ] ...never... quite what I expect.

[ That isn't quite it. He's not someone who enjoys uncertainty. But it's more — an impression of resilience, defiance. Startling in the way the sight of new leaves forcing their way up through the snow is startling. ]

[ganymed]

[ Michel continues to spend his time with him when he could have already logged out or continued to express only exasperation with whatever he had to say. People might believe or presume that their words have to always be so elegant to land the right way, but that isn't true.

As long as he thinks the earnest expression to support him is there, even Ganymede might find himself reacting well to that. Even if...it's something he certainly can't acknowledge with a string of elegance—unlike his dancing and more refined movements.

The initial reasoning Michel gives falls extremely flat, though. A considering 'mhm' leaves him, because it sounds like something he might say in order to avoid embarrassment. ]

What exactly do you expect, generally, from other people? And also, from me?

[ Ganymede prods, earnestly curious. There are always a litany of expectations, but he feels proud he can be something unique. That he can defy them at all. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ The reward for bumbling his way through one difficult question is a far more impossible one, is it? Michel glances back towards the shore — although the truth is that if he had the desire to leave, it would be easy to log off. Maybe that level of remove is what makes this feel possible, compared to having the same sort of conversation in real life. ]

...I've long since stopped expecting anything from other people.

[ It's true. It should be true. He made himself empty, and that was safe. He can continue to pretend not to understand why his armor began to turn red yesterday. But he's trapped himself enough with his own words that he needs to say something, before Ganymede pries entirely too much from him. ]

I thought you seemed headstrong, stubborn, and proud. ...I don't think that much was wrong, actually.

[ Maybe Ganymede will rethink wanting his thoughts if he starts there? He does have a temper, after all. Just... not the kind Michel had anticipated. ]