Just wanted to let you know where I'm staying! I'm in the Burrows. There's a nice waterfall nearby we could meet up at and you show me what you promised!
That seems to be a popular place to live! I can stop by on my way home from work. I have to drop off some fresh vegetables for Junpei, anyway. How does around 5:30 sound for you?
[ After his class gets out at Kuma Lisa, it doesn't take Henry all that long to take the train to Lapine and deliver the veggies from his garden to Jumpei's burrow house. He keeps his talk with the teen brief, explaining that he's got plans to meet a friend, then makes his way over to the waterfall Wuxian mentioned. He gets there a little early, so he decides to slip off his Birkenstocks and socks and dip his feet in the water while he waits for Wuxian to get there. ]
[ Wuxian is, for once, not late. But he's also not early. He's already barefoot when he comes up though, enjoying the water over ankles and feet as he wades up the river to the waterfall. His grin when he sees Henry is at least genuine, even if they've not met in person before, and he waves. ]
I'm here!
[ Aiming for more of how he'd been as a teenager and still arrogantly innocent than...wounded and silently bleeding from the heart. ]
I'm here! [ He calls again, as if Henry could hope not to have heard him. ]
[ Henry looks up from his silent contemplation of the waterfall, and raises a hand to wave before he rolls up his pant cuffs to join Wuxian standing in the river. Sure, it might be an unconventional place to stand, but they're unconventional guys, living in an unconventional pocket universe. ]
Hey there, pal! Glad to finally meet you in person!
[ He wades over to offer his hand to Wuxian for a shakeā a habit he picked up from his friend Darryl Wilson. ]
Thanks for inviting me; this waterfall is beautiful!
[ No one could call Wei Wuxian conventional. Ever.
He blinks at the hand thrust out at him but sees nothing in it - so lifts his hands up and cups them before him and bows. He ignores how his wings flutter to keep balance he doesn't need help keeping thankyouverymuchstrangeshapeshiftingability!. ]
I grew up by the water, I'm happy to find a nice place near it again here!
[ Oh. Okay! Henry's adaptable, so when his offer of a handshake is ignored in favor of a formal bow, he quickly changes gears and follows suit, albeit a little clumsily. His own wings shift as he bends, and then straightens. ]
That sounds like a neat place to grow up. There was a lake near where I grew up, but you had to walk a bit of a ways to get to it. We were mostly in the middle of a forest.
I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you are free to teach me about plants and perhaps healing magic, as we talked about about on the network. I'm free any time.
Oh, and I will send you the location of my greenhouse, so you can get there if you'd like.
[ True to his word, Henry shows up in the afternoon, after his classes at Kuma Lisa get out. His natural instinct is to bring a gift of food when visiting someone's home, but he knows Kaneki won't be able to eat any of his veggie dishes. Still, he's pretty sure he saw Kaneki say something about making coffee, so he does bring over a pound of fresh roasted coffee beans. ]
[ kaneki is inside - and of course there are oh so many books in that greenhouse. kaneki has picked many and has been reading in order to learn how to properly care for the plants, but honestly reading and doing it isn't the same.
Still, the flowers he keeps - White carnations, Striped Carnations and Red Spider Lilies - are all he is focusing on right now because that's his starting point to learn. And they seem to be in good health, at least!
When he hears Henry, he walks to greet him at the door, smiling back at the man ]
[ Sunny is Japanese, but an American citizen. So around this time of year, he reflects on the things he is grateful for. He's not at home this year around, but instead he's found himself here where he's made a bunch of friends. A bunch of friends who have already helped him through many obstacles and he still isn't quite sure why.
If you've ever wondered what your HEADSPACE version of yourself is (as in, how Sunny sees you in his mind), perhaps this gift will give you an idea.
[ A half hour or so after Sunny sends his text, he gets an image back from Henry: a photo of Henry's fridge, where he's hung both this headspace drawing, as well as the self portrait of Omori that he had asked Sunny to draw, both printed out on a color printer. ]
Looks great, Sunny! -Henry
[ Then, midday on Thursday, there's a knock at Sunny's treehouse door. If he opens it, and looks down, he'll see an odd-colored Bulbasaur standing by a little basket. Once the door is open, the Pokemon chirps a chipper greeting, then turns to go. Tucked inside the basket are a number of Tupperware containers, filled with all sorts of vegan versions of traditional Thanksgiving dishesā cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, sweet potato casseroleā alongside a handwritten note. ]
Happy Turkey Day (sans the turkey), from your pal Henry!
[ People who wake you at this hour intentionally are not of this planet. Truth be told, Sunny has been having nightmares lately as his dreams start the process of opening the doors in Black Space once again. The cycle will continue and Sunny will reset the fabricated story he has in his head, unable to overcome what frightens him the most. This was always the hardest part of his escapism.
Where the question came from, though, is a mystery. ]
do you miss her? yes i would like to know
[ Sunny canāt remember if Henry has ever talked about her before, but he knows he has talked about his kids so that made Sunny assume he is married or was married at some point. ]
I do miss her. She's not just my wife, or the mother of my children... She's my best friend!
[ He hasn't talked much about Mercedes with most of the people he's met here. He's talked to Kyle about her, but that's just because the subject of partners came up naturally in conversation.
It's not that he doesn't miss her. He does, terribly. But it's hard for him to keep going if he spends too much time dwelling on what's waiting for him back home. ]
[ one day he's going to tell Henry he doesn't like vegan food but.. the more he eats what Henry gives him, the more it grows on him. He does open the door just a crack and reluctantly takes the gift, giving the Bulbasaur a weary look before shutting the door tight once he has everything. ]
Well... It just sort of happened naturally. That's the thing about falling in love. It happens or it doesn't, but there's not one magic thing you can do to make sure it happens.
For me and Mercedes, I met her at a really vulnerable time in my life. I'd run away from home, and my mind was all shaken up. Not only that, but I'd been wandering alone in the forest for days. I was dehydrated, delirious... I could barely remember who I was.
And then Mercedes found me. I passed out not long after, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital the next day. And there she was, by my side. She saved my life, even though she barely knew me.
I think that's the moment I started to fall in love with her.
[ It really does sound like a romance story; not something that could actually happen, but if Henry says that how it happened, itās how it happened. Sunny rubs his exhausted eyes, staring wearily at his ceiling in his treehouse. Heās got to do something to help him fall back asleep, but heās too alarmed to try again right now. ]
ok.
[ A weird response. His usual nervous texting dots appear and disappear a few times and then: ]
And no matter how much I love my sons, they don't always love me back.
[ That also came out way too fast. Henry swears under his breath. He really doesn't want to burden Sunny with his problems with Lark. But the fact of the matter is, he can't accept a compliment he isn't deserving of. ]
[ Sounds like Henry is going through something that is similar with what Sunny is going through with his father. Sunny doesn't know Henry's history with his kids, but with how he's taken care of him he can't imagine Henry ever doing anything that would make his kids not love him. ]
but it's not your fault.
[ It's out of his line to say something like that, but he can't help it. ]
[ It is his fault. He's the one who drew the Rogue card from the Deck of Many Things.
Is it oversimplifying to say that Lark's hatred of him is all due to that one action? Is that removing Lark's agency? Maybe. But the fact of the matter is, if Henry hadn't drawn that card, there's a chance that Lark wouldn't be holding that grudge. And the entire world would be better off for it. ]
[ Sunny is hardly the best person to give comfort since he has a negative outlook on his own life, but he is a realist when it comes down to it. He doesn't want to pry and all he has is how good Henry has been to him to go off of in this case, so.. ]
[ Henry takes a second to think of all the times kids who were not his sons have had to rely on him. Grant, Terry Jr., Nick, Paeden... Now Sunny, and the other young men he's met here in Folkmore. ]
Thank you, Sunny.
I'm glad that you feel you can rely on me.
I'm always going to try to do right by you.
[ Whatever shape that takes. He can only hope he learns from the mistakes he's made in the past, and doesn't end up making things worse just by being involved. ]
ty for not giving up on me like my dad did. i take a lot of patience and give nothing in return.
[ The more he's been bonding with Henry, the easier it is for him to talk about his feelings. It seems like he might be accidentally treating some of these friendships like therapists.
But at this point, it's a good thing. He's been avoiding help for so long now. ]
Hey, now that's not true! You give me lots in return.
[ Someone to focus his energy on taking care of. It would be so much harder for him to be away from his kids if he didn't have a kid to put all his dad energy towards.
āNot that it's entirely fair to either Sunny or Lark and Sparrow to think of one as a stand-in for the other. But... the truth is, it's hard for Henry not to think of it that way, at least a little bit. ]
If you weren't here, who else would help me take down Walmart? ;^)
I had to do a bit of digging on this one... The guy seems to be pretty private. But he spends a lot of time with Charles Xavier, so maybe you can try asking him what he might like?
[On Christmas, Henry will find a small package outside the door of his house. It's in nondescript paper, because she only bothered with Steve.
Inside the box is a recipe for vegan pizza and some vegan butter. There's a note on the back of the recipe.]
I didn't know that pizza could be vegan, but I'm afraid to ask. This was in one of the shops of Epiphany, but I remember that butter is one of the things that is always needed in baking and cooking. And I nearly gave you alcohol as well, but I have a one-per-holiday rule and Raven already got it. - ŠŠ°ŃŠ°ŃŠ° Š Š¾Š¼Š°Š½Š¾Š²Š°
[Sometime during the night, Vex will hunt down Henry to give him his gift. It's a plainly wrapped package, but the red paper is a pretty shade and the wrapping job is immaculate. After kissing his cheek and wishing him a Happy Winter's Crest, she moves on to the next person on her list.
When he removes the paper, he will see two books and a note in Vex's elegant scrawl.]
Darling Henry, I know that you don't speak much Elvish, but I would like to help you with that. Please accept these books. One is a primer that is used for children when they are learning how to read and write in Elvish and the other is a vocabulary book, written for Common speakers learning Elvish.
If you need any help with this, Percy, Keyleth, Vax and I are all fluent speakers.
[ In mid-December, Henry can find his mailbox filled with a cookie tin that contains a spread of different kinds of cookies. The enclosed note explains that they are vegan gingerbread, chocolate chip, snowball, and snickerdoodles.
There is also a handknit beanie with a pom-pom.
The enclosed note simply reads:
"Happy holidays, Henry! Thanks for running the Secret Snowflake.
[ One day, an outfit is laid out for Henry in his room. It's mostly straight forward, save that the blinged out goggles turn into sunglasses when worn. ]
And, let's see...I'd like to start reading Terry Pratchett, but I don't know where to start! And Neil Gaiman's Sandman, though at least those volumes are numbered. I read 'Good Omens' by both of them and was hooked, so I'd like to see what they can do on their own!
[Just outside of Henry's front door is a leaf wrapped package with a small notecard reading his name pinned to the top with a slender thorn. Inside is a hand carved wooden pendant of the Ashari crest, painted with marble swirls of colors.]
Henry,
Happy Winter's Crest! I hope these holidays treat you well. I wasn't sure what to get you and what turned out isn't perfect but this is the crest of the Ashari, my people. I wanted you to have it. If you ever find your way to Exandria, you will be welcomed.
-Keyleth
P.S. Thank you for the notes! I can't wait to read them!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
overnightoaks) wrote2022-06-05 02:45 pm
[Text] un: yilingpatriarch
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>> action!
[ After his class gets out at Kuma Lisa, it doesn't take Henry all that long to take the train to Lapine and deliver the veggies from his garden to Jumpei's burrow house. He keeps his talk with the teen brief, explaining that he's got plans to meet a friend, then makes his way over to the waterfall Wuxian mentioned. He gets there a little early, so he decides to slip off his Birkenstocks and socks and dip his feet in the water while he waits for Wuxian to get there. ]
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I'm here!
[ Aiming for more of how he'd been as a teenager and still arrogantly innocent than...wounded and silently bleeding from the heart. ]
I'm here! [ He calls again, as if Henry could hope not to have heard him. ]
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Hey there, pal! Glad to finally meet you in person!
[ He wades over to offer his hand to Wuxian for a shakeā a habit he picked up from his friend Darryl Wilson. ]
Thanks for inviting me; this waterfall is beautiful!
Feel free to ignore if too old!
He blinks at the hand thrust out at him but sees nothing in it - so lifts his hands up and cups them before him and bows. He ignores how his wings flutter to keep balance he doesn't need help keeping
thankyouverymuchstrangeshapeshiftingability!. ]I grew up by the water, I'm happy to find a nice place near it again here!
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That sounds like a neat place to grow up. There was a lake near where I grew up, but you had to walk a bit of a ways to get to it. We were mostly in the middle of a forest.
@samsa, text
I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you are free to teach me about plants and perhaps healing magic, as we talked about about on the network. I'm free any time.
Oh, and I will send you the location of my greenhouse, so you can get there if you'd like.
@rocks.rock
Sure, I'd love to come over and talk shop about plants and healing! Send me the address, I'll stop by after my classes are over.
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[ he will send the address, of course. Which is right in the middle of Cruel Summer - Kaneki's greenhouse is besides Dirk's ranch ]
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Hey, Kaneki! Is now a good time?
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Still, the flowers he keeps - White carnations, Striped Carnations and Red Spider Lilies - are all he is focusing on right now because that's his starting point to learn. And they seem to be in good health, at least!
When he hears Henry, he walks to greet him at the door, smiling back at the man ]
henry-san -- hello. yes, now it's a great time.
[ TEXT. ] un: omori - 11/24
If you've ever wondered what your HEADSPACE version of yourself is (as in, how Sunny sees you in his mind), perhaps this gift will give you an idea.
Sunny sends a drawing. ]
ty.
-- āļø
[ feel free to respond or simply receive his gift! ]
text; @rocks.rock (+ action)
Looks great, Sunny!
-Henry
[ Then, midday on Thursday, there's a knock at Sunny's treehouse door. If he opens it, and looks down, he'll see an odd-colored Bulbasaur standing by a little basket. Once the door is open, the Pokemon chirps a chipper greeting, then turns to go. Tucked inside the basket are a number of Tupperware containers, filled with all sorts of vegan versions of traditional Thanksgiving dishesā cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, sweet potato casseroleā alongside a handwritten note. ]
Happy Turkey Day (sans the turkey), from your pal Henry!
[ TEXT. ] un: omori, at like 4 am
[ thatās it, thatās the question out of nowhere. ]
@rocks.rock
Oh, hey, kiddo!
Geez, that question's kind of out of the blue, huh?
[ He doesn't want to just dismiss it outright, though. Any time Sunny reaches out for human contact should be encouraged. ]
I mean, I could tell you how I met Mercedes Oak-Garcia, but I think our situation is kind of unique.
no subject
Where the question came from, though, is a mystery. ]
do you miss her?
yes i would like to know
[ Sunny canāt remember if Henry has ever talked about her before, but he knows he has talked about his kids so that made Sunny assume he is married or was married at some point. ]
no subject
[ He hasn't talked much about Mercedes with most of the people he's met here. He's talked to Kyle about her, but that's just because the subject of partners came up naturally in conversation.
It's not that he doesn't miss her. He does, terribly. But it's hard for him to keep going if he spends too much time dwelling on what's waiting for him back home. ]
What do you want to know?
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He blames himself. ]
how did you fall in love and then also have someone else fall in love with you?
[ Seems impossible. But other people make it look so easy. ]
action; not here
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For me and Mercedes, I met her at a really vulnerable time in my life. I'd run away from home, and my mind was all shaken up. Not only that, but I'd been wandering alone in the forest for days. I was dehydrated, delirious... I could barely remember who I was.
And then Mercedes found me. I passed out not long after, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital the next day. And there she was, by my side. She saved my life, even though she barely knew me.
I think that's the moment I started to fall in love with her.
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ok.
[ A weird response. His usual nervous texting dots appear and disappear a few times and then: ]
you are probably the best husband and father.
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He whistles, impressed. ] Look at you! This is a great setup you've got going, bud!
[ He chuckles, and nudges Kaneki with his elbow playfully. ]
Haha, Are you sure you need my help? It looks like you're doing just fine on your own!
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There's a minute where some texting dots appear and disappear on Henry's side, for a change. ]
That's nice of you to say, kiddo. But I know I'm not.
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not like my father did.
and it sounds like you love them very much.
unlike my father.
[ Sunny had expected to take some time to type all of that, but instead it came out rather quickly. He was still rather bitter about all of that. ]
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And no matter how much I love my sons, they don't always love me back.
[ That also came out way too fast. Henry swears under his breath. He really doesn't want to burden Sunny with his problems with Lark. But the fact of the matter is, he can't accept a compliment he isn't deserving of. ]
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but it's not your fault.
[ It's out of his line to say something like that, but he can't help it. ]
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[ It is his fault. He's the one who drew the Rogue card from the Deck of Many Things.
Is it oversimplifying to say that Lark's hatred of him is all due to that one action? Is that removing Lark's agency? Maybe. But the fact of the matter is, if Henry hadn't drawn that card, there's a chance that Lark wouldn't be holding that grudge. And the entire world would be better off for it. ]
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its ok.
i am lucky to have you as an adult i can rely on.
[ Embarrassing. ]
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Thank you, Sunny.
I'm glad that you feel you can rely on me.
I'm always going to try to do right by you.
[ Whatever shape that takes. He can only hope he learns from the mistakes he's made in the past, and doesn't end up making things worse just by being involved. ]
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i take a lot of patience and give nothing in return.
[ The more he's been bonding with Henry, the easier it is for him to talk about his feelings. It seems like he might be accidentally treating some of these friendships like therapists.
But at this point, it's a good thing. He's been avoiding help for so long now. ]
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[ Someone to focus his energy on taking care of. It would be so much harder for him to be away from his kids if he didn't have a kid to put all his dad energy towards.
āNot that it's entirely fair to either Sunny or Lark and Sparrow to think of one as a stand-in for the other. But... the truth is, it's hard for Henry not to think of it that way, at least a little bit. ]
If you weren't here, who else would help me take down Walmart?
;^)
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ty mr. henry.
for everything you do for me.
[ He's very appreciative seeing as he's thanking him yet again. ]
i hope you can be reunited with your wife and sons again someday because you deserve it.
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[ he looks around before he sighs a little ] It's a bit overwhelming, I should have specified what I wanted a bit better.
text: un; bells
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I had to do a bit of digging on this one... The guy seems to be pretty private. But he spends a lot of time with Charles Xavier, so maybe you can try asking him what he might like?
no subject
12/25, outside his house
Inside the box is a recipe for vegan pizza and some vegan butter. There's a note on the back of the recipe.]
I didn't know that pizza could be vegan, but I'm afraid to ask. This was in one of the shops of Epiphany, but I remember that butter is one of the things that is always needed in baking and cooking. And I nearly gave you alcohol as well, but I have a one-per-holiday rule and Raven already got it. - ŠŠ°ŃŠ°ŃŠ° Š Š¾Š¼Š°Š½Š¾Š²Š°
12/20 (Winter's Crest)
When he removes the paper, he will see two books and a note in Vex's elegant scrawl.]
Darling Henry, I know that you don't speak much Elvish, but I would like to help you with that. Please accept these books. One is a primer that is used for children when they are learning how to read and write in Elvish and the other is a vocabulary book, written for Common speakers learning Elvish.
If you need any help with this, Percy, Keyleth, Vax and I are all fluent speakers.
With love,
~ Vex'ahlia de Rolo
mailbox
There is also a handknit beanie with a pom-pom.
The enclosed note simply reads:
"Happy holidays, Henry! Thanks for running the Secret Snowflake.
-Steve." ]
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no subject
And oh, hey... Any hints for what you would like from your Secret Snowflake?
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And, let's see...I'd like to start reading Terry Pratchett, but I don't know where to start! And Neil Gaiman's Sandman, though at least those volumes are numbered. I read 'Good Omens' by both of them and was hooked, so I'd like to see what they can do on their own!
no subject
Winter's Crest Gift
Henry,
Happy Winter's Crest! I hope these holidays treat you well. I wasn't sure what to get you and what turned out isn't perfect but this is the crest of the Ashari, my people. I wanted you to have it. If you ever find your way to Exandria, you will be welcomed.
-Keyleth
P.S. Thank you for the notes! I can't wait to read them!