#crystalknuckle

" Hey, hey!! "

" Sorry I couldn't help but notice but you're participating too?! "

Having noticed the stamp card Eiden slides to the chair next to the handsome big guy. The more the merrier right! If he gets that free dinner he could maybe even invite Veoc with him...

once had been enough, hadn't it? clambering and clawing over mounds of anxious nausea; of guilt, and fear, and desperation they had worked so hard to bury. to overcome. all for the sake of informing them -- informing him -- where their trusty, time-tangled friend had gone.

they had held it together, then. best they could! even with those looks that fell upon the star; the unfamiliarity. oh, how they wished they could forget. forget it, forget them, forget, forget forget forget -- !!

if not for the fingers latched around their forearm, loop may have descended in their silent spiral. the squeeze they provide themselves is a means of staying grounded. well, if one could call it that.

was good enough for the time being. they merely needed to stomach this again! something they were more than used to by now! a new script to follow, that's all this was. that's all it was...

that's all it is.

' oh, well . . . ' no point turning back, or trying to hide. they've kept themselves still a moment too long; out in the open. how blindingly delightful! ' fancy seeing you here! '

stars, they feel sick.

' perhaps it's as good a moment as any to say this is a bad time? really have to dial back on these spontaneous meetings! ha . . . haha . . . ' that was terrible.

Send me a !! and I will make a text shitpost for your muse | accepting

I haven't gotten a chance to play ISAT yet, but I tried my best!

And a bonus one:

"I haven't forgotten your birthday." A true statement. You promise. You flash a wry smile, knowing that even if you did it'd probably just be shrugged off anyway. "I definitely didn't forget."

You shuffle something behind your back, your cloak bunching up over your hands.

"Like, when have I ever forgotten anything?" More awkward shuffling. He better not answer that, it was just a joke. You know you forget. But you didn't forget this! Really, you should be the one getting a gift for this amazing feat.

No, but you do have a gift for Isabeau though. And he is the one that deserves it. He's the birthday boy after all! Your gift isn't what you wanted it to be, but it is still something you made yourself (as all good gifts are, in your opinion!) But you still make a show of shuffling it behind your back. But it's not for the bit anymore. You're getting a bit nervous about it.

It's not what you thought you'd make him, once you remembered his birthday was coming up. You did try though. To carve something. To carve him specifically! Like you have the others. But it was hard. Well, that's not true. It was about the same. It just felt different. Somehow. You know how, you just... it's easy to overthink it. You know Isabeau takes a lot of pride in his appearance. You also know he would be nice enough to appreciate a gift like that, and probably get a bit emotional or something too. But you get the feeling he knows himself better than you could ever hope to replicate, if you even could. You can't get the image of him rolling it over in his hands and nitpicking any spot you didn't capture just right. No amount of mutterings for it to please turn out good could save you from that.

So!!! You didn't bother with that!!! Don't tell that to the blocks of wood you stuffed away into your bedside table! Okay, you bothered. Tried to. You tried. You decided to do something else. It was just less stressful that way. Hopefully it still holds the same sentiment. You intended it to!!!

"And when you don't forget someone's birthday, you give them a gift, right? A present?" Yes, Siffrin, that is the way things are done most of the time. He didn't ask for anything (did he even know his birthday was today?) But you still got it covered. Because you don't think anyone else here would know his birthday, unless he's been sharing it around in private or something.

ANYWAY!!! You're getting a bit caught up on how you remembered, how you have something, and how you have to give it to him. Just give it to him. Bring your hands forward and show off what you made he won't judge it as harshly as your original idea there is absolutely no way this would turn out bad so why are you hesitating why are you nervous just give it to him...!!!!!!!!!

"SO," Woah! Too loud!!! "I made you. A present." No fanfare, just palms upturned to reveal a bracelet. Each piece carved carefully, individually, and all entwined with string. It's not much, but when you carved each piece you made sure to whisper wishes for him to please like it and that was enough for you. They're still not perfect, but you suppose you can chalk it up to how much feeling you put into each piece, whether good or bad (most good!!!)

the defender sways in place, tapping a darkless envelope against his scrunched forehead. he could ask sif to meet him, but what if they're busy...? he'd hate to interrupt! or, worse, make them feel pressured to show up!! he already blew it waiting this long to hop on the super-sweet, isa-coded valentine's wagon; what if they assume he forgot about them entirely!? scary thought!!

okay, okay! new plan! the safest bet would be to slip it into his mailbox and pray nobody's nosy enough to tear into an envelope with 'TO: SIF' written in giant, glittery gel pen lettering. still, it's a plan he follows through with a pang of disappointment he can't entirely suppress. yes, isabeau's sure he'd only wind up tripping over himself somehow, but it would've been nice to see his friend's reaction...

as for the gift itself? nothing wild! just a card that reads 'you're pun-tastic, valentine!', sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. there's also a daffodil attached for, uh, vaugardian cultural exchange or whatever! befitting for a friend that means a whole lot to him, even if they only get the surface-level Flowers Mean You're Important! bit.

You almost missed it, were it not for a glint of glitter catching your eye. Honestly, you're lucky you even caught that with your limited peripherals, but you did quickly recognize that it was very much your name (or, at least, the one Isabeau calls you) written on the envelope atop the counter in the quick glance you managed upon your rare entry to your own housing.

An envelope. With your name on it. From Isabeau. That's not normal. Or expected? Okay, it could be normal now, you guess. Whatever!!! You wrack your brain for a reason. He didn't mention anything? Why would he......... oh. Oh no.

Stars!!!!!! How long has this just been sitting here?!? You never checked, you didn't think to look. You fumble around for a moment before quickly snatching it up and scrambling off to the privacy your room.

It feels a bit weird to hold a letter, truthfully. You can't remember the last time you did, you don't ever remember receiving any before either. So then this is your first one! Hahaha!!! Okay, Isabeau, can you set the standard then?

For all your deliberating, you are rewarded with a simple card containing a middling pun in it (you're trying very hard to ignore the fact that you had to rend the heart-shaped sticker in two in order to open it.) You do laugh, though it's more a mix of pity, relief, and genuine amusement.

So then... would it be awkward? To acknowledge it now? Then again, you don't want him to ask you about it later. Even though he hasn't so far. But he's got to eventually, yeah? If he did, and you said you got it just fine, that'd be even worse, right? Because then he'd assume it just wasn't noteworthy enough to mention receiving. Which just isn't true...!!! It's nice! You appreciate it! You weren't. Really expecting... anything, is all. You just didn't think you were it was worth it. It's just a goofy holiday that you could have skipped right over without thinking about any deeper implications.

You rotate the card in your hands, as if reading it upside down would reveal any hidden truths to you. It doesn't. Probably for the best.

You can't exactly skip over it now, can you? If you thought about it more, you must relent that this kind of thing does suit him. Feelings, or whatever. You're not going to think of the specific word this holiday seems to encompass. You have to acknowledge it though. No, not it, just him. The effort! He put into this card!!! Obviously!!! That's what needs your attention, that's all you should spare a thought for, that's all this is... It's just a nice gesture.

It is kind of weird to already acquaint himself with the holidays here though. Then again, you yourself had partaken in the previous winter holiday here, so... No, that was an exception. That was because... Well. It doesn't matter (you try not to glance at the wood on your nightstand as you think that.)

Okay. You have to do something. Say something? No, it'd be stupid to hunt him down over a little card and a flower you neglected. It doesn't mean that much. Does it? Uh... should it? No. Um, no. You're going with no. It's just a gesture!!! Remember that!!! Just because he could...!!! So you're going to at least send him a message back! Just because you can!!!

[TXT]: thanks.

You briefly consider leaving it at that, but it's kind of ominous, isn't it? You're late, uh, getting it, so... maybe he forgot! It'd be a lot easier on you if he just forgot. You didn't consider that. But now you've sent him an ominous thanks. and if he forgot you know the natural follow up is probably a You're welcome! Uh, what for, though? or something of the sort. And you don't want to answer a What for? not because you won't say. It just means talking about it. With him.

Ahem. Alright. Context. You can do that.

[TXT]: 5/10 pun though. [TXT]: a real daffodil-emma.

Ha. Maybe more than he realizes. You don't have to mention the state the flower is in. But that's, uh, that's context enough, right? You haven't really revealed any of the turmoil you've thought yourself into, but you also didn't really get any of your gratitude across. Properly. A dry thanks isn't exactly how you want to come across here.

[TXT]: you get 1 sympathy point for trying though.

Three more for even bothering in the first place, but you're not mentioning that. (Also, it's not too much to assume there would be a next time, right...?)

[TXT]: so i guess that's a 9/10! ദ്ദി( o ᴗ ⎚ )

Now... do you? Do it back? A valentine??? You stare down at your phone, suddenly struggling to hold it right. Your face feels warm, but your mind is freezing over. This is awful. Just... say it back. He'd be satisfied with that. Probably.

isabeau sure hopes loop will agree, being the notified recipient of a looong overdue valentine. aside from a finger covering the very top-left corner of the photo, his message shows their card's design in all its glory-- most prominently, a weirdly-cute, bug-eyed fella flying a plate in the night sky. does he have any idea what it's referring to? ha, nope! but its message is the important part: 'you're out of this world!'

(it also came with a heart-shaped lollipop, but he didn't want to seem insensitive if they can't, y'know, eat, so he had to ban it from the photoshoot).

[to: Loop ✨] [from: Isabeau 🥊]

[txt]: [IMG Attached] [txt]: Happy belated PAL-entine's Day from one world-yoinked punster to another!! Hope you've been figuring things out since our last chat! [txt]: OH. Sorry this if this is crazy sudden by the way. Or weird. I would've slipped this into your mailbox like Sif's but I dunno your address. [txt]: Promise I'll keep it in tip-top shape until our next fateful meeting 💪⭐

. . . they don't. agree, that is.

even as they stare over the attached photo, as they reread the message sent to them. all it does is add a weight to their phone not previously there. causes the astral beings fingers to tighten; clenching around the device. enough to cause a tremble.

better late than never. right. well, they would have preferred never.

tentatively, a thumb hovers over the screen. just a few simple presses, that's all it would take. a word of thanks, of rejection, of something. anything. he deserved that much, right? always there, always trying.

while they remained tucked away in the safety of shadow. trying to forget, wishing they could separate everything once known with the reality they were currently served. would be far easier if they simply didn't know him, or the other way around. yeah -- yeah, the other way around would work. like it used to be.

. . . loop never did have to show themselves to all of them. could have just as easily allowed things to continue, watching time repeat itself right up until their favorite moment!

. . . that didn't matter. not when they ended up here, granted a change far too different to appreciate.

oh, who cares. on the bright side, the fighter wasn't physically present. he didn't have to witness their weighed stare, how it bore through the phone and into the grass beneath them. how their shoulders remained slouched, how hands impulsively rubbed at their arms for some form of reassurance they'd never rightfully get.

quietly, shoulders rise. a breath in. they slouch. a breath out.

. . . tap tap tap . . .

[to: Isabeau ] [from: Loop ] [txt:] ദ്ദി´ ˘ `)✧

' happy pal-entine's day. ' it does earn a snort from them, though perhaps a bit forced; dry. there was no heart in it. ' sure. '

"Oh, Isa-!" There he is! See, you're still good at finding. Still, it feels kind of funny to have to catch up to him, maybe he's already decided on a quest then? "Got all your gear? Do you need anything else? I've just been messing around, so I've got a few things if you wanna use any of them..." Okay, now your stride matches his at least.

Hopefully the sugary affliction overtaking everything doesn't sour your attempts at nonchalance. Because you are trying! There are many reasons why you'd be stressed despite the fantastical overhaul of everything. But you're only really caught up on one thing now.

"If you're doing a quest, will you let me tag along?" You're not about to let him go it alone, even if all the foes are little more than sweet treats. "Just point me in the direction! I'll lead, no questions asked!" You're still useful...! ...........Right?

“Hey, it’s okay. Show me?”

“No — I am — I am fine.”

They had tripped on a root, and had fallen atop their wrist. It hurts, but it doesn’t hurt enough that they want to call attention to it— but it seems, this person had spotted Chara’s tumble; unfortunate for them.