(no subject)

[belheir]

From: Kazuya Minegishi
To: Everyone
Subject: Birthday Boy

Two months ago, my cousin Naoya decided to announce to the world at large that it was my birthday. Today I get to return the favour.

Please send him your best birthday regards. He's older than dirt and will need them before inevitably expires due to being a literal fossil.

I know you saw this coming, Naoya.

Comments

[crouching_sin]

I'm not going to turn those down, no.

... It's been a while since I've actually celebrated my birthday with someone other than my cousin. Usually I tend to work through the day.

[beshackled]

Where shall I bring them?

[crouching_sin]

I'll send you my address.

[And he does so, though he's aware that other people might see it.]

[... Well. They could deal with demons if they showed up uninvited.]

[beshackled]

I shall come as soon as I have the sweets in hand.

[Hopefully Naoya likes figs and spiced sweets, because Erichthonios is going to be showing up with sykon cookies.]

[crouching_sin]

[Sweet but also flavorful? Sign him up! He opens the door and...]

[... Hm.]

I suppose I didn't realize just how tall you were. ... Just be careful as you come inside.

[There's an extremely ugly orange couch in front of a coffee table or a small dinner table with four chairs he could sit at.]

[beshackled]

My thanks. It has taken... some getting used to, though I admit I do not often receive invitations to dwellings.

[He's been living pretty much like a hermit for the past several months. And spent most of his time outdoors.. so he doesn't have much practice in the way of balancing on smaller furnishings.

In fact, he looks an awful lot like a parent trying to balance on their child's play furniture.]

[crouching_sin]

It's fine. It just means that we'll have to find a solution for you. It's a dream world, so there's no reason you should be made uncomfortable.

[Maybe that's a bit more sentimental than he usually is, but... it's his 'birthday'. He's in a good mood.]

[beshackled]

I wonder if I might be able to make myself smaller... If it is a dream world and we are but projections of our own consciousness... 'twould not be impossible, I think...

[Nearly ready to sink into thought, Erichthonios recalls the gift he'd brought. Shifting his weight carefully, he moves to retrieve the bag of cookies, setting the spiced sweets on the table.]

Either way, 'tis good to finally meet you in person.

[crouching_sin]

It is. There should be a way to create things. If you can do so in lucid dreaming, you should be able to here.

[Maybe a bit less so in a collective space, but... he'll figure it out. But ah - he looks down at the cookies. They look and smell... quite distinctive, but in a good way.]

It is. In recent years it's become common in my world to meet people without physically meeting them, but it's always good to put a face to the name.

[Also he's now very curious about the other's species. Are they all this tall? Hm...]

[beshackled]

[They are, in fact, much taller.]

Aye, that it is. Though, 'tis interesting that you should mention creating. 'Twas among the thoughts that came to mind when I first arrived, given the abodes available being sized to accommodate those of a... smaller stature.

Unfortunately I have not mastered dreamotion so well as to achieve a feat as great as creating a house and furnishings... Then again, I have ever struggled with creation magicks...

[crouching_sin]

[No one needs to be that tall! Ser please.]

... So creation magicks are not uncommon where you're from, if it's something you struggle with. No matter. If there's a difficulty in creating it, maybe we can do it the more solid and satisfying way - with our own two hands. I haven't done it in a great many years, but I have helped design and build cities. A home shouldn't be too difficult once we can get the materials.

[beshackled]

[Naoya has designed cities? Whole cities? Truly, he is a man of many talents!]

Y-you need not go to such trouble for me, my friend! Unless it is something you would enjoy doing, I would not ask of you to labor on my behalf.

[crouching_sin]

... If this place will not provide for us, we'll provide for ourselves. That's always been the way that people have advanced - just sitting around and suffering will do you no good.

[beshackled]

...A-Aye.

[He shifts a little, awkward and humbled and... maybe just a little bit happy, too.]

In that case... I accept.

[crouching_sin]

Good. ... I may be what my cousin terms a 'grumpy old man', but that doesn't mean that I want most people to suffer.

[Just some people, but everyone has enemies, right? Right.]

... Do you have a birthday some time soon?

When the majority of NPCs in your canon do not have assigned birthdays...

[beshackled]

Such days are not as significant to us as to many of those here. Mayhap it is because our lives are so very long...

[Without that hard upper limit, it becomes a little less important to mark each year as a notable achievement.]

But the days are shortening. If you'd like to do something special soon... mayhap for the winter solstice?

It doesn't help that the calendar doesn't exactly match up, either...

[crouching_sin]

Ah, I see. No... dying from old age in your culture, I take it?

[It's an interesting thought. Not one that he'd like for himself. Sometimes lives have to end, and that's okay.]

The solstice sounds good to me. There are some holidays that people celebrate in my home world that I... do not care for. ... The god who cursed me is associated with them, you see.

Re: It doesn't help that the calendar doesn't exactly match up, either...

[beshackled]

[Erichthonios nods at the first. Death due to old age... is not a thing for his people, really.]

Ah... That is... unfortunate. Do they celebrate them here, too?

[crouching_sin]

I'm... not certain. I'm sure some do, being from some version of Earth - but I haven't been here long enough to know.

I'd hope not, but it's not as if my hopes have been that helpful. Heh. Do your people celebrate any sort of winter holidays?

[beshackled]

[Starlight is a long, long ways from coming into existence. Many, many, many years from his time.]

Mayhap not in the same way that people here seem to celebrate [With elaborate displays and costumes and so forth.] but I recall some enjoying the marvel of the turning seasons.

I fear I cannot tell you much else beyond that. I never had much cause to indulge in revelry in the past.

[crouching_sin]

Oh? Based on personality, experiences, or something else?

[He’s a little surprised - most people like holidays. He doesn’t, but he’s weird.]

[beshackled]

A combination of the above, truth be told. I... was not very outgoing, growing up. And though keyward Hesperos... was kind, after my mother died...

[And here, Erichthonios grows increasingly uncomfortable, visibly cringing at memories less than pleasant to recall.]

...he was more mentor than friend. I had colleagues, but friends are... a more recent experience for me.

[crouching_sin]

'Keyward'? I'm curious what he - or you? - was warding, but... if you don't wish to speak of it, we don't need to.

... Friends are difficult. I tend to find them happening to me rather than actively going and recruiting them. And yet... for most people, being social is part of their being. Not that it's easy for everyone, far from it. But if you have friends who do accept you for who you are... those are the best kind.

Somehow this got marked as read and got lost in the tags, sorry

[beshackled]

...Aye. That they are.

[At this, he cannot help but smile. A small, serene expression, though it quickly fades as he returns to the former subject, the tall man shifting awkwardly in his seat.]

...As for the nature of our work, and those I worked with... 'tis a difficult story for me to tell. Mayhap not one best suited for celebrations. But... another time.