Complete Private Quest High March (Reaping Season I) Aurora Terminus

[Yugam]

Feeling Luthien press into his side, Yu's gaze turned to look at the elf who stared up at him, a pleading pout on her face as she thrust a half-eaten rice ball towards him. "You shouldn't have grabbed if if you weren't gonna eat it," the man chuckled as he rolled his eyes and took the rest of the onigiri from her. Luckily for Luthien, the hemomancer was a essentially a sentient trash can. He could eat just about anything and in almost endless quantities.

"What kinda cookies did ya bring?" the man asked as he took a bite of onigiri, somehow stuffing a whole quarter of the rice ball into his mouth. He knew she'd brought peanut butter cookies, based on what she'd given Finwid earlier. While those were, without doubt, Yu's favorite cookies, he wouldn't mind knowing what other options Luthien had brought along.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

A sheepish smile was given back to the hemomancer's comment while he took hold of the onigiri Lúthien wasn't able to complete, a song and dance that went back to the very first day they had met in NYC. "I really thought I could finish it... but I want the cookies more." She was thankful that Yugam had no issues finishing off the onigiri, a soft chuckle escaping as she watched him stuff a quarter of it into his mouth.

"Well these are matcha chocolate chip ones," The paper bag was opened before the elf pulled one of them out to show the man, curious to see what Yugam would think about the unusual combination. "Though there's still some of the peanut butter ones left too, Fin really seemed to like them too~"

Said cookie was held out towards the man then, the elf's eyes focused on Yugam to see what his reaction would be towards their flavor.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"I really thought I could finish it... but I want the cookies more," Luthien said, giving the man a meek smile.

"You're lucky I love you," the man joked, casting that cheeky, lopsided grin of his in her direction. Popping the remainder of the rice ball into his mouth, the picked up his sake cup and knocked the rest of the liquid back, washing the food down.

The elf opened the paper bag, a rustling sound filling the room as she pulled out one of the green cookies and offered it to him. "Matcha, huh?" The man examined the cookie with a skeptical look on his face, an eyebrow raised as he examined it carefully. He wasn't usually one for matcha, so he was uncertain about the cookie, but he was willing to at least give a try.

The man bit into the green cookie, chewing it experimentally for a few moments before swallowing the sweet down. Honestly, the man was a little bit surprised he didn't hate it. But it wasn't really something that impressed him either. Maybe that was just because he didn't like sweets though. "It's good," the man said, taking another bite.

@Luthien

Rolls

Roll Result
1d100 (57) = 57
Yugam | Cookie tasty? | 1226

 

[Luthien]

"You're lucky I love you."

She wasn't sure if it had been the spoken words or the adorable lopsided grin that he shot her back, perhaps it was the combination of both, but Lúthien could feel the heat that rose to her cheeks in response. The blonde attempted to hide it, focusing instead on rummaging through the bag for another cookie the second Yugam had taken the offered one into his hands.

"Y-Yeah, matcha..."

Finally she pulled out another one, quietly nibbling into the treat as the elf pretended to be interested in the fire to hide her face away from the man's gaze... with some luck she'd be able to get the blush under control before it spread towards the tip of her elven ears, because that was gonna be pretty damn impossible to hide.

"It's good."
"M-Mhmm, I like how the matcha blends with the dark chocolate."

Unfortunately the attempt of hiding her blush had resulted in Lúthien missing the look on Yugam's face when he'd first bitten into the unusual cookie. There was a soft huff as that thought dawned to the elf, a faint pout on the blonde's face while continuing to nibble on her own cookie.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"I've never been much of a fan of matcha," the man admitted as he too nibbled at the strange green cookie. "We have a ton of it at the coffee shop, but no matter how many times I've tried it, it's never really been my thing." Still, the chocolate was good. It complemented the matcha quite well, just as Luthien had said.

The man held the cookie in his mouth for a moment as he dismissed the leftover sake to his inventory again, stowing it safely away for tomorrow. Taking a bite as the cookie returned to the cookie, Yu looked over to Luthien, "Did you make these, by the way?" he asked curiously. She'd never mentioned to him that she liked to bake. And Yu couldn't bake in the slightest. Cook, sure, but bake? Someone better call the fire department. Or at least prepare for some really shitty cakes.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"It's a... special flavor for sure." She could understand where Yugam was coming from, after all the grassy and bitterness notes found in matcha weren't to everyone's liking. "I actually didn't like it too much before, but then I discovered some tea satchels that also mix it with brown rice—I was surprised it complimented it so well, that I got curious about trying other things with it."

Luthien was thankful that the heat around her cheeks had dissipated as she took another bite from her cookie, only to cough slightly as she caught his question. "Y-Yeah, I did... nana liked to bake, and since her recipes always had exact measurements I found it easier to follow them." Sure she could cook alright enough to feed herself, and avoid setting the kitchen on fire in the process, however the blonde was nowhere near to her grandfather's skill in the kitchen.

Cakes and other desserts though? Those she had taken like a swan to a lake, enjoying both the process that was involved in making them as well as decorating them afterwards. The last of her cookie disappeared into her mouth before Lúthien began closing up the paper bag once more, yeeting it to her UI Inventory before looking at Yugam.

"W-We should probably go to sleep soon, right?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Mm, there's actually a green tea I really like that also has...I think it's like roasted brown rice in it? It's super good, kinda a nutty flavor. I always have a hard time finding it though," Yugam said thinking back to the last time he'd actually gotten his hands on the stuff. It'd been at the asian market he went too, but for some reason, they were always sold out of the stuff whenever he went to go look for it.

Ah, right...Yu had gotten the sense that Luthien was still missing her grandparents when they'd talked about cooking in New York. The man should've figured she had done some baking with her grandparents or something. Known better. But, it was too late now.

Wrapping an arm around the man drew the elf into a side hug, planting a comforting kiss atop her head and giving her shoulder a comforting rub.

"W-We should probably go to sleep soon, right?" the elf asked after she'd returned the cookies into her inventory.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Yugam answered, popping the last of the cookie into his mouth as he looked around the room, confirming what he already knew. "There's only one bed. Feel free to take it, I'm good on the floor here," he said to the elf.

Yeah, sure, they'd shared a bed in New York, but...those had been different circumstances too. And the man didn't want to assume...

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Yeah, that's the one~" Delicious and with nutty undertones... and also a pain in the ass to get a hold of, Lúthien was sure that Yugam was referring to the same green tea satchels she liked so much. "I always stock up on the very rare occasions that I manage to find them, but they're super good."

She hadn't expected Yugam to wrap his arm around her, pulling her closer into a side hug, before she felt his lips press atop her head in a soft kiss. The elf was sure her face was beet red after that, the heat extending all the way to the tip of her ears, even as Yugam gave her shoulder a comforting rub.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea."

Luthien assented with a nod of her head, before the next words out of Yugam's mouth had the blonde turning to look back at the man with one eyebrow arched high in the air. "What...? Yugam, you're not sleeping on the floor." Her blush had dissipated for the most part by now, brows furrowed into a stubborn look that the man could probably recognize by now.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"What...? Yugam, you're not sleeping on the floor."

It was Yu's turn to raise an eyebrow and give Luthien an inquisitive look. "Uhm...why not?" the man asked. It wouldn't be the first time he'd slept on a cold hard floor before. Besides, he had his traveling cloak with him. It would double wonderfully as a makeshift pillow. Sure, the floor wasn't quite as comfortable as a couch, but it was better than going out camping and having a rock jabbed up his ass the entire time.

Yu's eyes wandered over to the lone bed pushed against the wall. Only slightly bigger than the bed that Finwid was sleeping in. There was no chance it could fit two people comfortably. Or at least not without them sleeping one on top of the other. Yu looked back at Luthien again, his brow still raised as if to say 'really think we're gonna fit on that?'

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Uhm...why not?"
"Because...!"

Because the floor was hard and uncomfortable? Because it wasn't fair to have Yugam sleep on the ground while Lúthien got to sleep on a bed? Because they'd already slept in the same bed before in New York? Because she missed sleeping with him? That last thought had caused her cheeks to flush in response—actually it felt like she'd been doing a lot of that lately—before Lúthien's eyes quickly darted away from his own.

"... just because, okay?"

Honestly, did she actually need to spell it out for him? There was a pout to her lips as the elf crossed her arms in front of her chest, and for a moment the blonde couldn't help but second guess her attempt to try and convince Yugam. Perhaps she'd been wrong, and there hadn't been a shot here for Lúthien to take...

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Because...!" the girl said, emphatically, crossing her arms. Yu was about to open his mouth to say that that wasn't a reason, the instinctive reflex to never lose an argument kicking just before he noticed the small pout and furrowed brows she was shooting his way.

Yu's mouth promptly snapped shut.

"...Just because, okay?"

Yu had seen that look before. And Yu also knew that it was pointless to argue with the elf when she wore that face. In fact, the first time he'd seen that face, it had been back in New York, and for the same exact reason. She'd refused to let him sleep on the couch for another night. Well, who was he to argue? "Alright, fine," the man said, surrendering, accepting the girl's terms. "We can share then." The man then stood up, offering the elf a hand up before taking off his coat and throwing it over the back of a chair.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Alright, fine, we can share then."

She'd been about to open her mouth, though if she had planned an argument or a concession would never be known for the human, when Yugam finally decided to accept the offered arrangement instead. Lúthien's face seemed to light up in response, despite the elf's best efforts to contain the excitement the blonde felt inside her chest.

As Yugam offered his hand out to her Lúthien readily accepted it, picking up the cloak she'd been using as a cushion and setting it on top of Yu's own. Her boots and stockings were removed too, after all she wasn't about to climb onto the bed with her shoes on like a savage, before taking a moment to check up on the Caenis pup as he slept.

He'd kicked off part of the blanket as he'd been sleeping, Lúthien taking a moment to properly tuck the small boy back up, before she headed over to the spare bed and climbed onto it.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

As soon as Yu had agreed, Luthien lit up like a Christmas tree. It wasn't so much the fact that the pout faded from her pretty face, or the fact she'd ceased crossing her arms. No, it was more so a change in her demeanor. Like she was full of both nervous, excited energy, and calm, relaxed contentment at the same time.

As the man had shrugged his coat off his shoulders, he hadn't missed the chance to steal a glance at the girl as she went to go check on Finwid, covering him with the blanket he'd misplaced in his sleep once more.

It took a few more moments for Yu to untie his boots, slip them off and put them to the side, his feet suddenly very glad to be free of the confining leather they'd been trapped in the entire trek to Aurora. So much so, in fact, that Yu actually let out a small groan of relief as he stood and looked over at the small fire in the pit in the center of the room.

For a moment, the man considered dousing the fire for the evening. But it was cold outside, and the stone home would only get cooler, so the man thought it best to leave the fire going.

Slipping into the bed alongside Luthien, the man slid an arm around her shoulders, half out of necessity, so that they would both fit on the tiny bed, and half out of a desire to hold her close to him. The strangely familiar warmth of her body against his brought him all the way back to July. How did the game manage to perfectly replicate that sensation, Yu wondered for a moment. Did it draw on his memories? Was it some strange mathematical approximation? No matter. The man shut his eyes and let the warmth of the girl next to him wash over him. "G'night, Val," he whispered.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Lúthien had scooted over to the side pressed against the stone wall, a vain attempt at pretending the small bed had more space than it truly held, before watching as Yugam seemed to debate what to do with the small fire that lit the center of the room. In the end the light and warmth source of the room was left untouched, the man finally walking over before slipping into the bed alongside the elf. When he reached out for her Lúthien shifted closer, the elf happily snuggling up against Yugam's side just as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

The excuse being played was that the bed was tiny, so naturally they needed to be close to one another in order to comfortably fit and be able to sleep through the night. However that wasn't the main reason as to why Lúthien had been so adamant for them to share the space, and the blonde couldn't help the content sigh that escaped her when she rested her head against his side.

"G'night, Val."

Her arm rested comfortably atop his chest, barely able to pick up the rhythm of his heartbeats through the fabric of his shirt, even as her leg naturally draped over his own with ease. It was amazing how very real everything inside the game could feel, and for a moment it felt as if they were back in that cozy hotel room booked in New York City. She tilted her head upwards, just enough to glance at the side of his face, before the elf shifted just a bit closer—enough so that her lips could press against the skin of his cheek before whispering softly in return.

"G'night, Ari."

@Yugam

 

[Vesuvyan]

Spoiler: OOC Spice

This thread is part of REAPING SEASON and participants @RizuChan and @PandaIsInSpace have requested specific Spice be added to move this quest along. This is not a DM Challenge.

Proof is in the Pudding​

---

Consciousness waned. The roaring sounds of the magic storms picked up, though were muffled into a low bass rumbling by the stone walls. At first, it would be restful sleep. The kind in which the dreams were vague, short scenes that were forgotten in the next moment. They slowly became more permanent. Conscious bodies would be able to feel the warmth of a life form with you two. Incoporating the stimuli into what you saw, what you understood. Immediately following, the darkness of closed eyelids and dimmed housing lights waned. Replaced by a mist, thin and wet. A pale grey, like of that of fresh bones began set in. The sensations remained the same. Quick movements would seem both like lightning striking, while straining one's body as though they were trying to walk at the bottom of a body of water. Your bodies light, your heads heavy. A step forward would echo. Ahead of you, seemingly forever, but the mist was too hard to see through, becoming more like an intense fog even just a few feet away. Behind you, sounds would drift off, and distort, becoming clouded with everything else back there.

It'd sound like there was voices and people from behind you, no matter how much you spun around and looked. Only able to truly see each other now. A moment alone in an unending, colorless void. The only direction you could walk was forward. The direction of the mist seemed to constantly be pressing against your frontside. Blowing past you whether you wanted it to or not. Leaving behind nothing but feeling of air against your skin as though you were running, and with it, the faint rush your eardrums picked up on as it breezed by.

The mutual visions didn't stop there, thanks to Luthien's dreamshare. Together, you'd share in Finwid's nightmare.

@Yugam would get the first glimpse of the supernatural. A girl he knew, an idealized image of the middle-school aged girl in her black jeans and white t-shirt seemed to materialize in the air in front of him. "Whatever, you don't care anyway." Unmei had said, walking forward, slowly being surrounded by the fog. Behind him, the voices of those who raised him, and the sister who lived with him could be heard murmuring. The small pattering of footprints echoing in the distance behind him. But, if he were to look at Unmei, he'd see her escaping. Getting deeper into the fog. Choking on it. Repeating the words "What's the... point-" the air in her lungs getting more strained. Choked by a lack of oxygen. She needed pulled back here.

@Luthien would have a different experience. To her side, holding her hand with one grip, and biting at his thumb nail with the other, Finwid would watch. Looking at something in the distance. If the Elf tried to follow his gaze, she'd be met with a towering figure, a looming shadow. One that played goalie to her field of view, moving like a defending sports player to block her path. Shifting from side to side, with the face of her mother. "Come play checkers with us, Val. Abuelito can't wait to see you again." Her grandmother's voice could faintly be heard ahead. Though it was younger, less crackled and hoarse then in her later years. If she moved around and tried to dodge the shadow enough, she'd catch glimpses of the couple. Both with their all of their hair, and only the roots having greyed so far. Standing on two legs both, healthy. Before her mother would get in the way again. "Where are you Mi niña?" The urgency picked up, her voice losing it smoothness part way through.

"Phantoms." Fin spoke, his tail dropping and ears flattening, watching both of them for their reactions. Though some part of him knew what was going to happen.

 

[Yugam]

Yu hadn't realized how exhausted he was until he'd sunk down into the bed. Luthien's head on his chest, shifting briefly to kiss his cheek and bid him good night before shifting back, the warmth of her body next to his, the comforting crackling sound of the fire. All of it worked together to gently lull the man away from consciousness.

It hadn't taken long for the man to fall asleep then. Soon enough his breathing had slowed, and his eyes flitted back and forth beneath his eyelids. Through the fog of slumber, the man felt some small weight settle upon him, shifting across his body, forcing him to grunt reflexively, despite not rousing from his sleep, before the weight settled itself in the alcove between his body and Luthien's.

And then he was standing. All around him, an ever thickening mist, slowly turning itself into an impenetrable fog. Looking down even, it was as if he was walking upon solid fog, if that was even possible. As the man looked around, everything felt disjointed. Like every action preceded the thought, and not the other way around. Was this a dream? If it was, it was unlike any he'd ever had before.

"What is this place?" she said as voices spoke from behind her. She spun around to look at who was speaking, but found no one there. A child's laugh then came, followed by the sounds of tiny feet running on tile, all from behind her. She wheeled around again. No children. But instead, "Ari...?" She could have sworn that was his face hidden behind the fog.

"Ari!" she called after him. "Mei!" but the girl kept walking on, heedless of his cries. "Whatever, you don't care anyway," she muttered quietly, turning away from him and walking deeper into the fog.

"Mei, wait! Come back!"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Sleep came easily for once, the warmth of the body that shared the space with her own comforting and soothing. Slowly the sounds of howling winds and rolling thunder faded away into the distance, a faint smile on elven lips as her mind slowly drifted into the realm of dreams. At some point she was faintly aware of a small body crawling its way closer, her arm lifting just enough to allow space and snuggle the little one closer as Finwid settled between the pair.

Settling in once more, now with a tiny third body added to the mix, the elf allowed her mind to drift back into a restful sleep, her consciousness slowly submerging into darkness. The sensation had been expected at first, and so the elf had thought little of it... until a mist began to form around her, carrying with it a thin layer of humidity that settled uncomfortably against her skin. Her vision became obstructed by the thick and grey fog, and a foreboding feeling began to grow inside Lúthien's chest Where am I...? Every movement attempted in this foggy space felt sluggish and heavy, and a weight continually pressing against her chest caused Lúthien to feel like she'd plunged into deep waters. Every strained step would echo excessively around the unfamiliar space, seemingly forever. Slowly the elf became aware of the fact that she was dreaming once more... though she couldn't recall ever visiting this place before in her lucid dreamwalking.

"What is this place?"

Behind her she could hear a familiar voice, accompanied by a childish laughter and the little pitter patter of tiny feet running on tile, but whenever Lúthien turned the sounds would end... only to be renewed once more behind her, always from behind. "Ari...?" For a moment the blonde could've sworn she'd seen the familiar face among the fog.

"Ari!"
"Mei!"

She had barely managed to spot Yugam through the thickness of the mist, a step taken in his direction before the elf suddenly paused. A confused look settled on elven features upon hearing the unknown name shouted from his lips. It was then the mist shifted, and suddenly the elf felt like she was back in the unusual storm that had greeted them upon reaching the territory of Aurora once more. It blew past her, unyielding and unrelenting, and it caused long golden strands of hair to flicker and flow even as the rush of the wind picked up its intensity against her eardrums.

"Whatever, you don't care anyway."

His hand reached forwards in an attempt to grab the shoulder of the middle-school girl, only to be thwarted by a gust of wind that buffeted the man's face. It forced Yugam to close his eyes for just an instance, feeling his fingers close on nothing but air, before they desperately scanned his surroundings as he tried to find his friend among the thick fog. He could hear the whispering voices of his parents and Ili, muttering and murmuring words that the man couldn't make out, before his eyes spotted the back of Mei's head as she ventured deeper into the fog.

"Mei, wait! Come back!"

The loud shout caused the elf to turn in the direction of the sound, barely able to see as Yugam seemed to run deeper into the fog that surrounded them. "Ari?!" A step was taken in the direction she'd watched the hemomancer disappear into, before the touch of another caused Lúthien to halt her movement.

A tiny hand tightly gripping onto the ranger's own, causing Lúthien to look down before her eyes widened in surprise. Finwid was there, the young boy standing close to her even as he chewed on the thumbnail from his free hand anxiously. "Finwid...? Sweetie, why are you here?" She would reach towards him with her free hand, softly trying to keep the wolf pup from biting off the nail out of his finger entirely, before realizing his gaze would never stray from one direction—looking forwards and past the elf lady as he stared down the fog.

Her eyes slowly trailed in the same direction as the elf straightened herself once more, finally spotting a looming shadow that towered over them not far in the distance. ". . . !" Her first reaction was to overlap her body in front of Fin, determined to protect the young Caenis, before a familiar voice that Valeria had never expected to hear again carried over the distance towards her ears.

"Come play checkers with us, Val."
"N-Nana...?"
"Abuelito can't wait to see you again."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Although the voice was lighter, less worn ragged by time, there was no way that the elf could have ever mistaken it for anyone else's. His body froze as his muscles seized, the tension in his back and shoulder's rising.

"Nana!"

He took a step forward at a diagonal, attempting to peer around the large shadow that blocked her view. "¡No, échate al lado!" The girl didn't even turn to look back at him. Striding into the fog, each passing second threatened to swallow her completely from view once more as the laughter of his little sister echoed behind him.

The little girl sped past her, her laughter eerily light and carefree as she ran by, straight to the dark-haired middle schooler. She ground her teeth in frustration, enamel grinding against enamel as she caught a slim glimpse of the figured hidden behind the unwelcome guardian. Their faces were unmistakable to her. Green eyes turned to look at her as the little girl jumped into her embrace happily. "Where are you, mi niña?"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The appearance of the little girl had startled her at first, her attention momentarily turned away from the middle schooler to stare at the small child that sped past. A hand reached out for her little sister, the elf failing to grasp her, before a sense of urgency washed over him. His grandmother's voice increased in volume, losing the initial smoothness as it cracked partway through, calling out for him once more.

"Espera... ¡¿a dónde vas, Ili?!"

The thumping of her heart increased inside her chest and pounded against her ears, before his vision warped and blurred. Tears began to pool against the bottom of his eyes, their mass increasing until gravity finally forced them to drip down his cheeks. The shadow shifted, interposing itself against him once more as it blocked the two figures from his view.

His free hand balled tightly into a fist, the skin atop his knuckles whitening as it went taut with tension, before the feeling of tiny fingers squeezing harder on his right one caused the man to pause. Brown eyes looked to his side to notice the small Caenis child, the white ears flattened against his skull even as the matted tail seemed to drop and curl around his tiny legs. Her eyes widened then as she looked ahead, seeing the figures of the dark-haired middle schooler and her little sister going deeper into the fog.

"What's the... point—"

Mei's voice became caught in her throat, her face beginning to warp as the girl gasped and struggled to breath. The elf could also see the same struggled mirrored in her little sister's face, still cradled in the arms of her childhood friend, before she rushed forwards with her hands outstretched.

"Stop! Don't go!"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

His arm was pinned beneath the bodies of other, preventing him jolting upright. The cold sweat that had soak dampened his clothes made it easier for the man to slip turn and tumble out of the bed, body thumping on the floor as he rolled away before jumping to his feet, a scarlet dagger forming in his hand as he stepped backwards, the point aimed at those in the bed.

"Yu!"

A voice called to him from behind, and the man wheeled around to point his knife at the dark-haired girl from the dream. "Yu, calm down. It was just a dream," the woman said slowly, her hands held in front of herself to show that she meant him no harm.

Recognition finally lit up in his eyes, his breathing slowing down as his mind caught up with the rest of him. Right, he was still in game. Turning to look at the bed, Luthien. And Finwid, the boy must've joined them after they'd drifted off.

The bloodblade melted away in the man's hand as he exhaled slowly. "S-sorry..." he said to the pair. "Bad dream..."

@Luthien