Complete Isulus Midnight Snack

[Toko]

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Perhaps it was a good thing Azykia is blind, for she wouldn't be able to see the way Toko suddenly froze as a very particular world tumbled out of the blonde's lips. The rabbitfolk's eyes went wide as saucers, looking at the smaller girl with a renewed shine and sparkle as Toko resisted the urge to just grab her into a tight hug. She'd always wondered what life would've been like with younger siblings, especially one as cute as Azykia.

"O-Of course, Azykia-chan~ If you need anything feel free to let me know, ookeei?"

She listened to the blonde's word, nodding softly in agreement. Toko had never outwardly spoken it, but if it ever came to it the Lepus was sure she wouldn't mind living in The World forever. Besides her only close link in her real life was gone now, and soon many of the elderly neighbors she adored would follow suit... Nao wasn't sure if she wanted to be around for all of that.

"Hahah, I guess you do have a point... gomen."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

With the agreement had, Azykia gave Toko a smile of understanding, though her gaze was still fixated on the magic-laced eatery. "Can I... ask you something though?" She took a bite of food if only to wait for Toko's response. That being said, it was still a rhetorical question, so she would find the means to ask the next one regardless. "I've met a couple people who seem as though they have multiple sides to them, and... I guess, long story short, I wanted to know if you would consider yourself a different person entirely from when you're logged out."

"I've seen people trip up the acts they put on in front of me, presumably letting their real personalities shine through, but I... Wouldn't that make it weird for me to insist... that I'm not the same person I am outside?" Her question seemed to carry a lot of weight with how she slowed down to actually consider how she was phrasing it.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Of course, what's on your mind Azykia-chan?"

Her own bowl now sat besides the Lepus, the contents finished as she allowed a satisfied sigh to pass her lips. There was nothing worse in life than going to bed with an empty stomach... and likewise there was nothing better than falling asleep after eating one's fill of food.

"Mmm... that is a very good—and mature—question there." Toko allowed a soft giggle to escape her lips, a sign that she was only teasing the blonde with her words and was not offended by the inquiry. "If we had met when I first started playing I would've probably answered that I didn't feel too different here from my real life self."

There was always the chance that Azykia was older than she showed herself to be, and yet at the same time perhaps she was just a young kid exposed too early and too fast to the worse parts of the world. Either way it was not her place to pry further on the blonde's thoughts, but she had no issue sharing her own if Azykia was asking.

"Now I'd have to answer 'yes' to that question of yours... I guess in this world I've been able to discover more of my true self, and act more freely than I would've probably dared back in Japan." There was a pause as the rabbitfolk considered her next words, weighting the heaviness of the topic with the fact that she was talking to what seemed to be a young teenager. "However sometimes people have two sides to themselves for reasons that aren't in their control... like the environment they live in, or they people they are with."

Individuality was certainly frowned in Japan, the collective given more weight than a single person in their society in most cases. It had its good things, Nao wouldn't deny that when she compared her country to others, but she could also see the shortcomings the system created... even if it was less enforced in the more rural areas that she lived on.

"You always come to know who your true self is... and, of course, you're always growing and changing too. Who you were in the past won't necessarily be who you are now—and your future self could also be vastly different from today too. It all depends on the choices we make, I guess, and how true to ourselves we commit to be."

Wow... heavy talks to be having with an underage kid for sure, a soft chuckle escaping Toko as that thought dawned in her mind before she turned to Azykia with a smile. A hand reached over, patting the top of the blonde's head softly as if she truly was her younger sister.

"I have such a bright imouto~"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Azykia listened with intent from the beginning, though she seemed a lot less passive the longer Toko's explanation went on, staring at her dinner deep in thought when she wasn't actually eating it. It was about the sort of response she expected, but those little extra differences Toko provided made a huge amount of difference between those expectations and the conclusion the younger girl eventually came to.

Her face did begin to redden at being called this woman's imouto, but she couldn't really complain. The jokes about her apparent age were embarrassing, but every time it happened, it felt less and less so. It was as though instead of being in a costume she shouldn't be, she was beginning to feel that even if she didn't fully accept this other self yet, others had, and that could pave a slow road to her own acceptance. Maybe one day she could stop being depressed after all.

In the meantime, she swallowed her last bite of food. "If I'm the imouto, doesn't that make my aneue even brighter by default?" Azykia never had siblings outside of the game, so saying things like this carried little weight to her. Or rather, there was no long-term sibling rivalry. Her pride had nothing to do with her feelings towards her siblings, and so she could at least stroke Toko's ego a little bit in return for the kind treatment. "Thank you for taking care of me, Toko-ane'. I feel... mostly better." She gave one last exhausted chuckle before her sleeve came up to cover her mouth as she yawned. It was then that she remembered that she was soaked in sweat, overheated, and covered in some disgusting and likely fungal sap.

"If there's one thing I can say I miss about the real world, it's shower access..."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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The Lepus shook her head in response to Azykia’s comment, an amused chuckle escaping Toko at the thought of it. "If only it worked that way… but no, I’m afraid your aneue isn’t as bright as you." After all she had always been average at school, and average at a lot of things if Nao really thought about it.

"However you can count on your neesan to have your back and help you out if you’re ever in need, Azykia-chan~"

She wouldn’t force her attentions on the girl however, after all it was clear the girl wanted to be independent as much as possible—and that was a feeling Toko could relate to very well. Still she bumped her side softly against the blonde, an unspoken reminder that others would be around to help if she ever truly needed it… there was no shame in that, or at least Toko believed that.

"Agreed, a long and hot bath would be so nice to get rid of all this humidity and dirt…" The Lepus herself already craved a good soak in the mud springs of Honeyhome… but looking at Azykia and her current state Toko could imagine the blonde must have been super uncomfortable right now. "I don’t have any Aeromancy or Hydromancy to help… but I do have a spare change of clothes in my UI and some water and towels." Perhaps that could serve enough for Azykia to clean most of the grime and dirt of her skin. "The clothes might be a bit too big, but it should be more comfortable than what you’re wearing right now… and im sure in the morning we could find someone with magic to help clean your clothes up too."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

That nonverbal reminder brought a much more genuine grin to her face than the bittersweet and polite smiles she had shown up until now, though she could only return a nod. She held out the bowl and spoon as though questioning where she should place them.

"Ar-row-mancy...? Hydromancy...?" The young one's eyes slowly widened as she came to a realization she should have many moons ago. "Wait, that's water magic, isn't it? So you could 'magic up' a bath whenever you wanted with that, right?" Her blank yet colorful eyes practically lit up at the thought, at least for a few seconds until she came up with a proper response for Toko's offer.

"I forgot that there was a UI for clothes. That sounds like it'd be really nice to have..." She turned her head towards the lago' finally, though her eyes were some number of degrees off from staring at the woman's actual face. "When it comes to loose clothing, however, you could use a sash or another article of clothing to secure it." She very gently tugged at the darker pink cloth belt that held her airy clothes against her waist to show better what she meant. "And even if we don't find somebody with magic, I don't mind waking up early to wash my clothes."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Mhmm, air and water magic respectively." The questioning voice of the blonde caused Toko to offer a bit more detail in return, though she hadn't missed the first genuine grin on the young girl's face. "I'm not sure if they could magic out a bath... but perhaps with Geomancy—earth magic—and maybe Pyromancy—fire—you could perhaps make a hot bath...?"

It wasn't something she had thought of until now, mostly because she lacked two of the masteries for it, but she had thought before of modifying that mud spring back in Honeyhome with her own Geomancy. A hand reached over to take the now empty bowl and spoon, stacking them with her own, when Azykia offered them to the air.

"True—oh, I think I have just the thing actually!" It took a few moments of checking, the Lepus actually thankful for that one impromptu shopping session she had in Finweald shortly before embarking on this adventure. "I got a cute pj set that might actually fit you alright enough... and the shorts have a drawstring."

With moments the garments materialized into existence, the cute pink fabric with little carrots sprinkled around still sporting the tags from when Toko had bought them. These were removed and, before she handed them to Azykia, the Lepus took a moment to slowly infuse some of her nature magic in them.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

She gave a nod of appreciation as the outfit was infused with magic so she could see its general existence, but she wished that she could appreciate the Lepus's taste in clothes. At the same time, if it turned out to be simply abysmal, she didn't have to feel strange about wearing them anyways because she couldn't see. Who knew there were secret perks in the world of being blind? She took a few moments while sitting to undo ties in different places both within and outside of her current outfit without actually disrobing yet. With how careful she was being, it was clear she was the self-conscious sort.

Afterwards though, she looked away and brought a gently curled fist up in front of her mouth. "My apologies, but... is there anything we could do to allow me some privacy? I truthfully still struggle with this particular thing sometimes." She brought the back of her hand up to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. "If not, I'll deal with it. It's just that, I'd die of embarrassment if somebody saw me trip while getting dressed of all things."

It was one thing to trip around this forest full of fungi and uneven ground. That was something even people with working eyes could probably fall victim to. It was all the things that used to be effortless in her real life that made her feel the worst when she struggled with them anymore.

"... Actually, I think I could manage it myself, if you could just turn away. I can trust you to do that, right, neesan?" After flashing Toko a smile, she put her hands out in front of her. Over the next twenty seconds or so, the younger girl struggled against her lack of knowledge to create something out of magic. Using her Arcanamancy, she began to shape a long wall that, once she stood, would shield her from the direction of the rest of the resting crew. How did she know where they were? Well, some of them were just naturally flashy with their magic, and the other directions she left to Toko as she stood and changed from a pink kimono of flowers to Team Rabbit, Yeah pajamas. Not that she could tell even once they were on.

"This is pretty comfy, actually! Thanks, Toko-ane'." She continued to suck up to the woman, for no better reason deep down than it was actually kind of fun.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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She had been puzzled at first when the young blonde had begun undoing a few knots here and there in her current garments, her mouth opening and closing a few times as Toko debated if to interject or not. "A-Anooo..." On one hand she understood Azykia want to be independent, and the reality was that Toko herself didn't share the western stigma for nudity... but that was usually in the setting of mixed hot spring pools, not a random camp in the middle of who knew were.

Thankfully Azykia pipped up then, the fighter releasing a sigh hadn't realized had been held in her chest until then, before she nodded in affirmation as she spoke. Even if the player behind this avatar might feel older than the appearances she possessed the Lepus wasn't exactly interested in letting a young teen just disrobe out here in plain sight on an outdoor camp.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I can help—"

Before Toko could follow through however Azykia had seemingly changed her tune, simply asking the Lepus to turn around for some privacy as she began to work on a wall of sorts with her own masteries. "Ch-Chotto matte, Azykia-chan...!" It's not that she didn't believe on the girl and her abilities, but just a lone wall felt like a little bit too exposed in Toko's opinion, so she quickly added her own Geomancy to the mix to erect a small room that could provide better cover for the blonde.

A weary sigh left her lips then as the Lepus sat back down on the log, her ears high and alert to any nearby noise as she waited for Azykia to finish changing her clothes. Before long Azykia had finished changed, the Lepus giving a thumbs up of approval (momentarily forgetting her newly adopted imouto would be unable to see it) before she smiled genuinely at the attempt of an honorific by Azykia.

"You can call me neesan, or even neechan, if you prefer." She wouldn't force it, of course, but a part of the rabbitfolk hoped that the blonde would take the offer... she truly wouldn't mind having an adorable sister like Azykia. "I'm glad you like them, and they look really good on you~ You can keep them if you'd like, think of them as the first gift from your aneue in this new world."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Azykia frowned just a bit and tilted her head to the left in dejection. She leaned very slightly to the same side to put a little bit of expression into it. Despite her exhaustion, she still put in the effort here and there to not be such an emotionally gray individual towards people in this game. "I see. So onee-san doesn't like my nickname?" Despite the attempt towards acting more, she decided she should stop messing with Toko quite so much. At least for the time being.

She stood back upright, beginning to actually feel at her shoulders and torso in general to find yet more comfort in the soft new attire she had been bestowed. "You can call me whatever you'd like, though."

The younger girl gave a respectful bow which admittedly looked more out of place than ever after the change from formal attire to pajamas, but she was still slow and graceful with it, which probably counted for something. "Thank you for the new outfit." She stood upright a second time. "I wish I had something to give you in return besides a friend request."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Ah, no, don't get me wrong...!" Toko immediately kicked herself mentally, aware she was at fault for assuming Azykia had made a mistake in the used honorific... she hadn't realized the blonde was just adding her own spin to it. "My bad, I assumed and that was wrong of me... gomen."

It was a genuine apology, a half smile given to the blonde before Toko remembered she wouldn't be able to see it. "You can call me however you wish, even Toko-ane~" A nod was given in return when the blonde stretched the same open offer to how Toko preferred to address her.

She was surprised at the bow for it was quite refined and graceful, something that wasn't easily achieved without practice, but no comment was made regarding the gesture. "You're welcomed, it's a light pink fabric... and it has small carrots embroidered into it, you can probably feel them if you pass you hand across the fabric." While magic could help her detect the items Toko wasn't entirely sure if it would display such details, and so the Lepus offered a small description in case her new imouto was wondering what her new gift looked like.

"A friend request is plenty enough~ So, Azy-chan, feeling better now?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Hah, I see. So that's what I was feeling." She couldn't help but to giggle a bit as she considered how sincere Toko was. She seemed like the kind of person who wasn't fond of making mistakes, but she could also simply be a courteous person. Azykia wasn't a cynic, so of course she believed in the latter.

"I'm feeling a lot better, yes. Thank you." She reached up and ran her cleaner hand through her hair to get it all back out of her face again. She then had to shake an honestly impressive amount of liquid off her hand gently so as to not infect Toko with the unique brand of disgust she suddenly felt that could only consider as 'this forest's fault' from now until the rest of time. It still didn't take the smile off of her face, but she was good at wearing a smile for people anyways.

"But I feel so rude. Have I asked you how you are, Toko-ane'?" She leaned ever so slightly closer to Toko as she once again failed to look directly at her. "How are you, Toko-ane'-nee-san?" This was her one playful moment of payback for previously correcting her nickname, though she would make it an effort to tell her new friend sorry for all of the messing with her Azykia was doing. Maybe one day. Probably.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"What can I say, they were super kawaii and I couldn't resist."

It might be silly, but the pattern was simply adorable—and the embroidery was very well done too! Now, seeing it on the smaller frame of Azykia, the Lepus couldn't help but grin widely—she looked so cute that Toko had zero regrets about the purchase, and subsequent gifting, in the slightest.

"Alright, I deserve that one."

She chuckled heartily at the verbal jab from the girl with the new name, sitting back down on the moss covered log. "I've been... better." Some of her muscles still ached after the latest fight, the mushroom creatures having presented quite the challenge.

"Still wouldn't change being here though, after all it'd be such a wasted opportunity to see and explore new places... even if the weather is a little inconvenient."

Humidity was certainly not something the Lepus enjoyed, but she was willing to put up with it considering this was essentially an all expense paid adventure... coming all the way out here on her own would've been, aside from expensive, marginally more dangerous.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Still able to see the moss, Azykia took a seat and just afterwards remembered to dismiss her own wall of magic. "So you wouldn't. May I ask you something else, then?"

She looked down for a few seconds, placing both her hands in front of her lap, though she sat with her knees apart so that she wouldn't get this plant stickiness all over her new outfit right away. "I actually did want to go back a few topics now. What... made you want to play a game like this, anyways?"

"I feel like... I've had this game explained to me in many different ways by now, from fun and fluffy recollections to acquiring mortal reminders as a strange sort of common courtesy." She took a few seconds to just catch her breath, as she really was starting to feel kind of sick. "Even still, I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of the pieces I shouldn't be. For example, I'm very bad at doing the whole..." She paused for a second to actually consider what to call this phenomenon everyone seemed to exhibit, where everyone treated this world as being so real. "... May I call it 'acting'? I've been told by a few landers that the way I speak is off-putting for my age, and other players seem to think I should try 'acting' more, since this is a chance to be a different side of myself."

"Or, perhaps for a less abstract example, I can't actually see the thing people call a 'UI''. So I don't know how to send you a friend message. I've really only memorized how to log out."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"Sure, what's on your mind?"

She was an interesting one, and her questions were things Toko had mulled now and again in the back of her mind... but hadn't vocalized them yet. "I was at an... uncomfortable moment in my life, you could say." There was a soft shrug from her shoulders as Toko spoke, her gaze drifting upwards to look at the starry sky above.

"Mmm... I wouldn't necessarily call it acting, but I can see why you'd struggle a bit with this." After all it wasn't the same to just feel the grass versus actually being able to see one of the many fields full of wild flowers in Eastern Brisshal. "It's really fascinating how very real everything looks, and even feels, here... not to mention how organic conversations can be with the Landers"

Perhaps in part Toko had quickly adapted due to the similarities Honeyhome had with Ōgimi village, although it was clear many of the friends she now had in game certainly shared her feelings.

"Well, I can certainly help you with that last one, if you open your UI I can guide you through the process as I look at my own."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Mh..." She listened to Toko's words intently for a little bit, slowly raising her left palm to open the menu after everything had been said. In this short time, she thought of what to even say in turn.

"So you don't think I'm off-putting, or out of place here?" Azykia took a deep breath through her nose. If there was one thing she didn't mind about this miserable, yucky, disgusting, good-for-nothing forest architected by a spiteful god with horrible taste, it was the smell of all the many different varieties of flora around her. Even the moss was enjoyable enough of a scent laced together with the wind-carried sweetness of flashy flower and predatory plant alike. "I don't really know what I would do with myself if I had to stop playing Terrasphere. If I had to bend over backwards for the world itself to accept me here, I'd be willing. I'm just... not confident that I would know how I would need to."

She turned her head towards Toko again and gave her a surprisingly genuine smile. "But if you were to tell me, honestly, what you thought about me from time to time, I think it could really help me a lot."

"After all, what good is a nee-san if she doesn't tell me what I'm doing wrong from time to time?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"I think you're different, yeah... but that in itself isn't a bad thing." She certainly had some experience in that, plenty of her similarly aged peers had always considered Nao weird for wanting to stick around in a rural village full of middle aged and elderly people instead of seeking more modern areas like Tokyo or even overseas. "It'd be pretty boring if everyone always acted a certain way, almost like a scripted game... ne"

There it was again, another bright smile on the blonde's face that actually felt genuine and spirited—the Lepus grinning widely back in return even as Toko leaned closer to bump her side against that of Azykias.

"I'd be more than happy to, and I would've done it even if you didn't asked because that's what oneeesan do for their kawaii imooto like my little Azykia-chan~"

She would then wait for the blonde to confirm she was ready, going through the steps on the UI slowly. If at some point she noticed the girl struggling to keep up, or commit to memory a certain part, Toko would subtly stop and backtrack patiently.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

With the way Toko called her kawaii, she almost expected her cheek to get pinched, but thankfully that moment never arrived. Surprisingly, Azykia wasn't much slower at this than an older person with five years of experience using smartphones would be. She slowly moved her hand as instructed until she felt the vibration of each button she moved past, and communicated the way they were positioned to Toko in order to help make sure she wasn't clicking something entirely incorrect each time.

If ever asked, she would admit that she was shown this exactly once before, so that helped her out just a little bit with certain parts of the process. She was thankful for that, because the further they went, the more and more out of it she felt. Her voice grew a bit weaker in reflection, assisting in providing the young girl a demeanor slightly more appropriate to that description if only a tiny bit.

"I'm truly grateful for your patience, onee-san. I would understand anyone if they were to get frustrated helping me perform a task that should be simple for anyone. I don't think I would have made the time, much less spent it as calmly as you are."

"Before we resolve everything for the night... Is this something you're used to, or something you've never had to deal with?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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To the blonde's credit she was quite quick in adapting to this unexpected obstacle, and it didn't took all that long before Azykia had successfully sent a friendship request to Toko—one that she happily accepted from her own UI.

"It isn't fair to try and pin the blame on anyone—including yourself—about the matter, after all that's not going to actually solve the issue." A hand rose to pat the teen softly atop the head, much like an older sister would to her cute and young imouto, before a nervous chuckle escaped the Lepus. "I guess, in a way, you could say I have some practice."

Nao had lost count of how many times during her years she had done similar tasks, at first to help her grandmother although eventually this would also extend to dear elderly neighbors and older craftsmen that the woman had formed close bonds with in the village.

"I grew up in a rural village on Japan, a little bit known for the majority of the population being on the older spectrum one could say, and obaachan was the one that raised me."

Besides the UI was a very functional tool, able to get Travelers out of a few sticky situations even when used right... Toko would feel better knowing Azykia had a way of using it for her own safety, and if that meant she had to invest a few moments of her life to help the blonde girl figure it out the Lepus was more than happy to pay that price.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"I see. So we're both living as we've always been at the moment." Though she continued to smile, Azykia's grin dimmed, losing all of its sincerity and glow as it became just another polite smile. Matched with her pale skin being flushed over with color from the heat, she would be glad she couldn't see how pathetic she looked at the moment. At least in her own opinion. She was just a tall order like that (the kids call it high maintenance).

As she gave the entire process a practice run from the beginning again, she had to slow down considerably from before due to a mixture of personal distractions and not having every single step memorized in habit yet, which gave her time to vocalize a bit of what was on her mind. After all, Toko was either going to pry, or not pry just to be polite, and part of the younger girl deep down was far too appreciative of people's kindness in this world to let herself get put in a box again socially so shortly after starting this game.

"I grew up as an only child with only one overprotective... and very wealthy parent, you see." Sometimes, being taken care of and coddled so much frustrated Azzy, since to her it pretty much removed any reason to lift a finger or even attempt to do anything. "So there was always somebody nearby to fix my every issue, even if I didn't necessarily wish for that to be the case. I-" She paused. Her brow furrowed as she navigated a screen with an annoying amount of buttons on it, putting more of her focus into it before continuing both past it in the menus and verbally in her conversation. "Even though I act the same, and people here treat me the same, I have this one reminder," she waved a free hand in front of her face with little energy, "that things are different. Not that I wouldn't act more different from usual if I had the time to practice..."

@Toko