Private Eastern Brisshal Heroes Do More Than Kill Goblins and Drink Ale

[Toko]

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"Uh-huh..." Her gaze followed Brutus' finger when he posted at what looked like a pile of decaying plant matter, though a questioning tone still remained in her voice when she spoke. "... killing monsters, of course."

While naked, apparently, because that's totally how you dress when killing monsters.

His next words made a little bit more sense, though the Lepus' cheeks still kept a blushed tint to themselves. In a way she supposed this confirmed that she had been acting like a child earlier... clearly Brutus was quite comfortable being in the hot springs with the opposite gender.

"Y-Yeah,, I'd be pretty embarrassed too if I was in Ilya's shoes..."

The blush deepened just lightly as he reached across from Toko to grab the basket filled with the onsen tamago, causing her heart to flutter slightly before the rabbit forced herself to calm down again... she didn't want Brutus freaking out and thinking Toko was overheating twice in one bathing session.

"A-Anyways, these should be done for the most part I think... we need to let them cool just until they're easy to handle, that helps making the task of peeling them easier."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Badump Badump Badump.

The Lion's eyes narrowed into slits as his gaze dances sideways to Toko, his eyes squinting slightly. "Alright, spill it." He would declare, setting the dripping basket of eggs on the side of the springs and turning to face her. "I'm not quite sure what's going on, but your heart keeps going nuts." He would lean in closer to her, glowering slightly.

"Are you hurt? Ill? Hot? Dehydrated?"

Scowling, he would stare into her eyes. "Like seriously, are you okay?"

His senses would adjust as it got quieter, and occasionally he could swear he could hear the fly's buzzing on the corpse of the Plantera. It was beginning to get kind of annoying, and the only way to keep it from happening was to keep the noise up in the air. Keep his ears from adjusting.

He would simply stare the Lepus down, trying to tease the truth out of her.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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The second Brutus' eyes narrowed in her direction Toko knew she had fucked up.

"Sp-Spill what...?"

She attempted to feign ignorance on the matter, though she couldn't afford looking the Felis in the eyes for that... opting instead to glance at the egg basket that now rested by the edge of the pool. Ochitske...!!! Try as she might she couldn't full get rid of her nervousness, and then Brutus dropped a bomb that Toko hadn't expected.

"N-Nani...?"
He can hear my heart...?! That's cheating!!!

Badump badump... badump badump badump!

"A-Ah... n-no, I mean yes! Of course I'm ok-kay, Brutus-ni—ah, s-senpai!"
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...!?

Her hands waived frantically in the air as the Lepus tried, and probably failed, to look totally normal and relaxed... suddenly that Plantera corpse looked extremely interesting too. "S-So you and Ilya killed some m-monster around here, huh? That must have been wild...!" Hoping to buy herself a distraction out of sheer dumb luck the Lepus suddenly tried to wade deeper into the pool.

Kamisama tasskete kudasai!

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

It was at this moment that the intellect of Olivier stepped in, taking a hand back on the reins from the wild sledgehammer that was Brutus. She was hiding something, but what? It was time to turn it over in his head. The Lion could tell her heart was racing, but she wasn't willing to be forthcoming on the reason why. He'd only spent a day with her, but he felt he had a rather solid grasp on the basics of all things Toko. She was strong, proud, and somewhat rowdy. She had a competitive streak a mile wide, and a taste for adventure. She was also pretty honest, which made this whole thing more confusing.

Is it her pride?

She could be hurt, perhaps a leg or ankle injury? It would be easy to hide those, though she hadn't been limping when they approached the spring. Cracked rib? No, that also would have impaired her movement. Rattling down a catalogue of injuries she could have sustained in the mud, none seemed to stick other than a concussion. But that didn't make sense because this came in bursts, no it probably wasn't an injury.

She's deflecting, why?

As she tried to pivot his attention back to the Plantera, he squinted. She would begin to wade away, making distance between the two. What was she playing a-

She's uncomfortable?

He frowned, righting his posture and raising an eyebrow. "Are you...am I.." he paused. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Wha...?"

This time her heart skipped a beat, the Lepus feeling a pit of guilt quickly settling in her stomach, when Brutus' words reached her ears. Oh... Oh no... no, no, no! Her grandmother always said lying never benefited anyone... but she couldn't just come out and say what she'd been thinking!

It'd be too embarrassing!
"No! Brutus no, of course I'm not uncomfortable with you!"
How do I fix this?!

Long ears had dropped as Toko's mind was working on overdrive now, her brows furrowed slightly together even as the Lepus gnawed on the inside fo her cheek out of nervous habit. A part of her wanted nothing more than to get swallowed up by the earth right now, and she even contemplating dipping under the water for a hot second or two... except that would probably give Brutus the wrong idea again and she didn't want to shoot this new friendship in the foot at the end of day one.

"I just, well..." She had now graduated from biting the inside of her cheek to the bottom lip, trying to find what words would be the correct ones to say that would still save her some embarrassment but also not give the Felis a totally wrong idea. "Aaah, mooo...!!!"

Toko let out an exasperated groan, her hands running through the long hair before choosing to pull the tip of her ears downwards. The blush remained on her cheeks, although diminished in intensity thanks to the new conundrum wracking her head. Kind of hard to be flustered about a hot guy suddenly being way too close when they were also your friend and currently thought they were making you super uncomfortable.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Alright Numbnuts, we did the thinky think and she's refuting that conclusion. Is she a liar or are we wrong?
Uhhh, I'm running the other options over, give me a moment.
The other options?
She could be having some sort of episode from a personality disorder we haven't been made aware of.
Or?
Or she's super into us.
That's a bold statement coming from they guy too chicken to ask out Princess Leandra.
Dude she's totally into chuck
You and I both know Chuck is gay.
What does that have to do with the price of tea in china?
How fucking certain are you that she's into us?
Like, given the data? 60%
I'll play those odds.

The lion would take a casual stance on the edge of the pool and raise an eyebrow at her. "Look, I know we haven't known each other for very long, but we've washed each others backs and watched each others backs. If you want to talk we can talk, and I won't judge you for any of the words that leave your lips. If you don't want to talk, we don't have to talk about it." He would reach over and grab one of the Tomago, tossing it to her gently. "And I can talk about all sorts of monsters I've killed, give you a whole history of em if you want."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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There was a pout to her face now as the Lepus had sunk most of herself into the water, the level of it now just underneath her chin, though the Lepus didn't let go of her own ears. It was, quite probably, a very comical—and perhaps a bit endearing—site to behold and, with her hair now loose and floating about the surface, she almost resembled a bunny jellyfish.

"I don't hate you... but I don't wanna talk aboutitphhhbbr."

The last words were almost unintelligible as the water level now reached Toko's lips, those red eyes looking away from Brutus as she spoke though the rabbit did return—albeit very slowly—back to the seat she had occupied moments before.

And hey would you look at that? It seemed that—for the time being at least—her heartbeat had calmed back down! She finally sat down like a normal person instead of a petulant child, just in time to catch one of the eggs that the Felis softly lobbed in Toko's direction.

"I wanna hear about the monsters though..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"What sort of monster do you want to hear about then?" He would ask, raising an eyebrow and giving her a reassuring smile.

Are you satisfied with that?
Alright, that checks out.
What're we gonna do about it?
It's day one, lets see where this goes. Romance is like a fire, slow and steady otherwise you'll smother it or it'll flash and peter out.
Where did we learn that one?
Shakespeare chucklefuck.

"And for what it's worth, I don't hate you either. In fact, I am quite fond of you." He would take a sip of his ale and take one of the eggs out of the steaming basket, looking it over puzzled. "How the fuck am I supposed to eat this? Do I just sorta...crack and slurp?" He would toss the egg handily for a bit up and down, waiting for the rabbit to instruct him in the cultured art of boiled egg.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"What's the most interesting monster you've fought so far?"

By now she had turned around, kneeling instead of sitting on the grove by the wall's pool. Her hands rested above the edge and towards the soil ahead, the egg held carefully in her hands. The eggshell received three soft taps against the edge of the pool, before Toko carefully begun peeling the eggshell away from the top of the treat.

"In fact, I am quite fond of you."

Badump!

"L-Like this... dummy."

Eventually, and with much patience, the Lepus had managed to slowly remove about one third of the shell from the top of the egg, wiggling a bit to loosen the soft contents from the membrane, before knocking it back like one would a shot. It was a mouthful, but one she enjoyed, as the poached egg slowly melted away.

"Oishiii..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Hrrrm, old Planty boy was pretty interesting but kinda a pushover. He had a huge freaking tentacles. I'm talking like, at least a hundred feet long, thrashed em around real quick and fast." The giant would shake his head. "It was real hard, but not because he was stout or anything, but because his body was so small it was nigh impossible to hit. Once I got Ilya clear and took the shot, he died in one shot."

He would lean on the counter and raise an eyebrow as she demonstrated her superior egg cracking technique and would follow along with her. Her being flustered amused him to no end, and now that he'd picked up on it the signs were simple to read. "I see." He would follow her lead, and grimace a bit.

"That's...unique."

He would take a sip of this drink and chuckle, "You're cute when you're flustered, you know that?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Heeeeeeh, that sounds... disturbing."

A faint shiver went down the Lepus' spine at the thought, though there was the possibility it was caused by a soft breeze that caressed her shoulders as they sat peeling eggs by the hot spring. She watched as the Felis gave the onsen tamago an experimental taste, his grimace eliciting a soft chuckle from the rabbit.

"They're way better when you sprinkle some dashi shooyu into them, but unfortunately we lack that right now."

"You're cute when you're flustered, you know that?"

Badump badump!

The completely unexpected compliment caught the Lepus off guard, her cheeks instantly flushing, before she averted her eyes to the first point of interest—in this case a nearby butterfly passing by—just as she uttered a few choice words to Brutus.

"U-Urusai na... baaaka."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus' chuckle would erupt into a full blown guffaw as he forced himself to slurp down the rest of the egg like a shot. He wasn't much a fan for eggs unless they were in omelets or scrambled, but he'd cracked one open he would at least finish it.

"Dashi Shuoyu?" he would ask with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever heard about it."

The tsudere bunny was quickly devolving into a flustered mess, but he opted to spare her anymore teasing. He ran the risk of actually upsetting her, which was probably the last thing he wanted. He would reach over and make another sandwich for himself and begin to munch on that slightly. It was by this point the sun was slowly beginning to sink over the horizon, bathing the entire scene in a nice crimson light.

"I wonder what the stars are like here?" He mused aloud. "I'm usually back at my shack logged out around this time, I'm curious to see if the stars are pretty."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Tzurui..."

There was a pout on her face as the Lepus rested her chin on one hand, looking away while the Felis laughed besides her, clearly amused by her antics. To his credit he did finish the onsen tamago, even if it didn't seem like it was to Brutus actual liking.

"It's soy sauce mixed with dashi," There was a pause, before Toko figured she might as well explain what dashi actually was, just in case. "Ah, that's when you steep konbu, a type of seaweed, and bonito flakes to create a stock."

The basket of eggs was softly pulled closer to where Toko was, the rabbit happy to go through another couple of them while Brutus prepared himself a sandwich instead. "You know, I wonder if food spoils inside the UI's inventory...?" It was an interesting thought, considering there were still quite a few eggs left from the basket—possibly too many for Toko to finish on her own.

"Mmm... I wonder if they look the same as back home." One of the perks of living in a rural village was the lack of light pollution, the night skies were always a sight to behold. "Though I guess this game wouldn't have the same constellations as our world... right?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Ah yes, Brutus thought, I know some of these words.

"I see." He would reply as she explained the Konbu Bonita stock, not really understanding what she was on about but nodding like he did.

"It slows the spoiling process, there's like.." the giant pauses, thinking of the words to use. "A bar that shows how much time left it has before it spoils. I keep my inventory loaded with apples as an emergency snack so I'm constantly playing a game of first in first out with em to make sure I'm not lugging around rotten food."

"I couldn't tell you." The giant replied before munching down on the sandwich. "That'd be wild if they were the same though, right?" He raised an eyebrow. "And have some very...strange implications." He took another bite and pondered it for a moment.

"Do you know the stars back home very well?" The question hung in the silence for a moment. "Cause I only know like...the big dipper."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Eeeh... I had never tried it, but maybe I should if it's that useful."

After all it'd be a shame to waste all of these eggs... then again she could also give them to Mabelle back at the inn, she was sure the woman would enjoy them and even put them to good use. "Yeah... that would be quite weird." This world already felt so real, so similar to their real one, the last they needed was having the exact same nightly skies on it as well.

"Obaachan knew almost all of the constellations seen from home by heart... I never learned them, but I enjoyed watching the starry skies at night with her."

They'd often would sit out at the egawa of their home, eating fruits and drinking tea while the gazed at the gorgeous sky above. "I've seen pictures of how the sky looks in other places, especially big and crowded cities with lots of artificial lights at night, and honestly... it seems like such a waste that most people don't get to enjoy starry nights to their fullest." Considering the immense lack of light sources here however Toko was quite sure the night sky of The World would be quite the sight to behold.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I grew up just outside a real big city." Brutus would state, taking a sip of his drink and reflecting on the moment. "And the sky was always just an inky black. Nothing to look up and see at all. I spent most of my whole life looking up at an inky black sky thinking stars were overrate." The man frowned a bit. "Then one day, my Ex and I went camping to celebrate some sort of anniversary. Some stupid milestone like two or three months, but I had it in mind to be romantic so we went out the the mountains to pitch a tent and vibe for a night. Huge fuckin mistake, she was miserably cold, bitched the whole time, BUT!" He would raise a finger and turn to Toko, a grin on his lips

"I got to see the stars for the first time. Like, really see em. I remember laying on a blanket snuggled up with her, staring for hours. Even after she got fed up and crawled into the tent, I laid out there for way too fucking long just...enraptured." He would finish his drink.

"I never too the stars for granted ever again. Every night I'm out somewhere I can see em IRL I poke my head out a bit and give em a gander."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Uun, I see..."

A part of Toko was a bit confused, after all weren't anniversaries ment for... well, yearly things? Her head tilted sideways as Brutus instead mentioned the celebration to be a two or three month milestone of sorts, but considering her lack on experience in that department Toko supposed she wasn't really in any position to comment about it.

"Really, she didn't like the activity?" Well that was dumb, honestly the way Brutus described it Toko had to agree the whole idea had sounded well planned out and actually romantic... she couldn't figure out why his ex at the time would've been upset about it. "Well, at least one of you actually enjoyed the trip to the fullest."

How someone who'd never seen a starry night sky would not become immediately enraptured by the beauty of such a sight was something Toko couldn't understand, and honestly she was sure she'd never even try to.

"I'd never wanted to leave Oogimi... but if I ever did there's no way I could move to a place that only has black skies. That's just depressing..."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I travel all over. Sometimes it's black skies, and sometimes you get to see some real shit. Once, we were out in Canada for a tournament a friend of our Troopmaster's and I got to see the northern lights." He chuckled, slinking deeper into the water.

"It's like...better than anything you can imagine." He would look down to his hands, now getting pruned and tut. "Damn, it might be time to get out soon, Ne?" He would turn back to her, a smirk curling across his lips as he asked the question. He was loathe to end their little day of adventuring and chill, but frankly it all of the fighting, wrasslin, and tension between the two was beginning to catch up to him. His eye's were getting heavy, a yawn escaped his lips.

He would push himself up and out of the water, sitting on the edge and stretching. All things considered he felt godly. Steam would radiate off his body, water running down his abdomen.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Eeeh, majide?"

That was a sight that Toko had never seen before, having been too young—or not born—the two recorded times in Japan history that the northern lights had appeared on their own night skies. She'd seen many pictures of the event, but never actually experienced it with her own eyes... a small part of the Lepus couldn't help bit feel a tiny bit jealous at that.

"Yeah, I suppose so..."

A light splash of water was sent in his direction as he tried to mimic her speech, before Toko looked at the rather prune digits of her hands. They had certainly been soaking in for a while, perhaps more than recommended, but before the Lepus could move Brutus was already standing up to head out of the pool.

Badump!

Plooop!

Her reaction was almost instant as her cheeks flushed in a very bright shade of red, Toko immediately submerging herself completely under the water.

Bikkurida yo!!!!

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus rolled his eyes with a smirk as he began to towel off and wrap his hips, restoring his decency and hopefully preventing the rabbit any more cardiovascular distress. He would grab another croissant and chow down on it, turning back to the water and frowned. She was spending a lot of time under there. He would wander closer to the edge, waiting for the bunny to surface, simply offering her a hand out of the water as she rose.

"You really should get your heart checked by a doctor or something, your heart keeps skipping beats."

He would chuckle a bit, raising the rabbit out of the water and setting her on her feet. He would toss her a towel and find a rocky chair to sit on whilst he dried off some more.

"Do you think we need another round of showers to get all the mud off?" He would ask, raising an eyebrow at her.

@Toko