Complete Private Quest Pormont [Reaping Season I] Golden Fields

[Luthien]

She had chosen to use some of the stacked bundles of wheat as a sitting area, making sure to stick to the stalk part instead of the grain heavy tips. The elf had remained quiet as Moonsong gave some insight into her medium choice, her voice, along with a small peek to the ambivalent feelings she’d dealt with. It sounded like someone who spoke from personal experience, and for a moment Lúthien couldn’t help but wonder if this player was perhaps entangled with the music industry. However Moonsong was quick to change the topic of their conversation, earning a soft chuckle from the girl before Lúthien nodded as she stood up.

"Sure, I think we’ve done enough work to earn ourselves a little break," One last swig was taken from her waterskin before the elf capped it, sending it off into her UI inventory before a new item materialized afterwards to take its place. A special violin that she’d managed to have commissioned thanks to a mixture of surprising connections, and the pride and joy of the ranger. "Mmm, there is a song I’ve been trying to nail down on the violin for a while now… here, I’ll play it—and if you know the lyrics feel free to hop right in?"

A soft check was done on the item to ensure it was properly tuned before the elf closed her eyes and concentrated a small portion of magic into the instrument. One hand reached over to her quiver, thumbing over a few of the arrows safely nestled within, before finding one of the few crafted specifically for playing her violin, one final check done before Lúthien nodded to herself.

"It’s a fairly new song from a singer I’ve followed for a while now, got to hear it live in the Mega Summerfest hosted in New York~"

With that the girl lifted the electrical violin to her left shoulder at an angle, her chin resting atop the provided place, before her right hand brought the bow towards the gap between the bridge and the fingerboard. The sensors glowed then, confirming the crystals within were currently energized by her Harmonics, before the elf began the intro for Red.

---

Performance Check
1d100 (68) + 15 = 83
Harmonic Magic | Luthien | 1285

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.


.

Critical Success

100

"Wow." She muttered in awe. The bow is a violin? That's very creative. Now she is also tempted to make a longsword for a mic stand for her next performance in real life. "Beautiful piece of instrument." Moonsong praised with a thumbs up. It doesn't look like something a human would build, perhaps elven's personal touch on a classic instrument?

It looks like the blonde elf also went to Summerfest. It was a big event, after all. Everyone went to see their favorite artists, and there were millions of people for the entire week. "Don't worry, I know new songs. I'm a hip youngster, you know." Okay, that one sounded like a 'how do you do, fellow kids' type of reassurance. As the blonde played the intro, Moonsong's ears perked, quickly recognizing the melody.

Plot twist, it wasn't Despacito. A bigger plot twist? It's a song she had heard a million times before, not because it was a summer hit (which it actually is, it made the charts), but because she wrote it by herself.

Red.

Can't blame it, the English title track was a success. But to hear it in-game was a treat to her, giving her a sense of pride and accomplishment. The brunette smirked, "I know this," before following up on the intro. She was enhanced with the Harmonic Magic, so there's no need for a microphone.

Moonsong deliberately sang the whole intro with a lower tone, coupled with the violin melody making the first part of the song extra somber. Gradually, as they approached the chorus, the brunette raised the pitch before going full angelic.

Darling, you are my Crimson Disease
Without your hug, I'll cease to exist
I'll paint the town with my cherry love and tears
I'll make it Red, so that you'll come here

The girl quickly followed up with yet another raise in the pitch, which is unheard in the original song as she adlibbed with a long high note, increasing even higher.

"Darling, you are my Crimson Disease-eeeee-eeeeee-eeeeeeee~"

She was too absorbed in her song that she steered away from the original key, and she might've sung it too close to how Dayeon would have. Moonsong had to take a full breather after that ad-lib, looking at the blonde violinist with bated breath to see if she sang it to her expectation.

Rolls

Singing Red times better than the original version

Mastery Check
2d100 (Advantage) (79, 100) + 15 = 230 (Critical Success!)

Harmonic Magic | Moonsong | 1285 # Advantage for singing her own song

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"I know this."

A smile crossed her lips while Lúthien continued to play, excited to hear that her companion of the day knew this song—though a part of the blonde supposed she shouldn’t be too surprised about that, Red had become an instant summer hit since its debut on the festival as it had quickly climbed up the charts. A faint shiver crossed the elf as she felt a shift in the area, the Harmonic energies that radiated from the woman resonating against Lúthien’s own.

She was surprised by the voice, Moonsong having chosen a lower tone at first to match the melody of her elven violin, before the beat had doubled as it entered an exciting rise in preparation for the incoming chorus. "Darling, you are my Crimson Disease-eeeee-eeeeee-eeeeeeee~" It was then that the human chose to add a personal touch of her own with an ad-lib, one that Lúthien quickly adjusted to make space for and highlight before slipping back into the rap portion of the song.

It was the most challenging part of the score, or at least that was Lúthien’s opinion if asked about it. The constant switch and delicate balancing of the notes needed to achieve a similar effect on the electric violin were still something the blonde was getting used to. It didn’t help that she’d already begun to move and sway with the rhythm, a habit that Lúthien had certainly picked up from her favorite violinist. A duette wasn’t something the elf had expected to experience today when she had logged in to play, but she was quite glad to have the opportunity… though she couldn’t shake off a feeling of familiarity as she listened to Moonson’s performance.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.


.

Cause darling, you're my Crimson Disease
Only with hope, I cross the Red blood seas
For me, not even Ichor make me fear
Until the end, as long as you're here

The singer bowed just right after the violinist played the closing melody, a habit of hers. The duet reinforced the idea for to put violin strings for her next work. "Phew," she exhaled, "Quite a duet we made, huh?" The girl cheered for both of them. The song wasn't made to be played on an acoustic violin since the original used different effects to accompany the note-switching, but the blonde elf proved her wrong.

"The chorus. I've watched countless covers of the song on YouTube and I don't think anyone arranged that part like yours." To be fair, nobody also raised the note three times as Moonsong did. "You certainly looked like Lindsey Stirling just now." The brunette chuckled, recalling when Luthien moved with the rhythm during the double time. She would really like to talk more about it, but sadly they're not paid to sing in the golden fields.

"Now that we're refreshed..." Moonsong stretched her arms upwards, feeling the rejuvenating effects of the Harmonic Magic already. "... Let's get this portion of the field done before sundown, shall we?" Summoning back the spinning blades, she proceeded to send those over across the field, moving down yet another sizable harvest.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The final vibrato faded away as the song came to a close, the elf allowing a long sigh of relief to escape her shortly after even as a wide smile remained on her lips. "I… fuck, that might’ve been the best take I’ve had on it yet." She struggled to breathe amidst the excitement, acutely aware of the strong pounding in her chest caused by the palpitations of her heart.

She felt both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, a faint blush covering her cheeks when Moonsong turned to complement her improvisation on the chorus. "Wish I could say I planned it, but it just sort of happened… your modification to the end of the chorus was simply amazing, before I knew it my fingers were already moving on their own to match your voice." In fact the elf was quite sure she’d never seen any YouTube cover songs perform such a spin on DAYEONSONG’s latest single success. A part of her felt sad even that there had been no way to record such a moment within TerraSphere to share with others.

"You certainly looked like Lindsey Stirling just now."
"Thanks, that’s actually a huge compliment. You were also fantastic, the very image of DAYEONSONG—"

A sudden thought crossed her mind then just as the elf uttered those words, crimson eyes turning to look back at the brunette but this time with more focus than before. If she looked past the armor and the makeup Lúthien was sure she could see some distinct similarities between the face of the avatar and the one she’d gotten to look up close to back at the summer fest months ago. Still what were the chances that one of her favorite songwriters and singers would be here, playing the emulation of Stardew Valley inside an illegal game that could probably cost Dayeon her career if it ever became public knowledge?

No, surely that wasn’t her… right?

"Y-Yeah… we’ve been making good time after all, be a shame to let it slow down now."

Lúthien watched as Moonsong summoned her magical scythes once more, beginning the spin that by now the brunette had mastered. Like before the wheat stalks within her path offered no resistance, easily felled as the human calmly walked down the field of gold. That definitely wasn’t her, there was no way that it could be her, and yet the elf found herself reaching out telepathically on a whim.

< Dayeon… is that really you? >

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.


.

"Thanks, that's actually a huge compliment. You were also fantastic, the very image of DAYEONSONG—"

"Thank you."

Of course, because that was herself. Improving day by day, she had found ways to improve her vocals and potentially her next performance. The Summerfest Dayeon pales in comparison to the performance both of them did just now. Minus the dance break, probably; that thing took months to perfect.

Focusing on the job, the hellish woman collected the cut ears of wheat when suddenly a voice rang inside her head.

< Dayeon… is that really you? >

Wait.

What the actual fuck.

She swore that somebody just called her, by her own real name. Was it Luthien?

Moonsong quietly and slowly looked from the corner of her eye. Nope, the blonde elf is silently watching her mowing down wheat. Was she just hallucinating? Was the wheat actually weed the whole time? Is she going to trip on every thread she is in from now on? Nobody knows.

The girl decided to ignore the potential telepathic mind-hacking attack, pretending that nothing happened, and called out to Luthien while joking instead. "Are you just going to stand there? Help me bundle these up. Sun's getting low."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She had watched the brunette from where she stood, trying to read up on any cues that might reveal if Lúthien’s suspicions were true. However none seemed to show, or perhaps her message just hadn’t gone through? She wasn’t even sure if that was even possible, after all it had seemed to work fine on the few occasions she’d tried it… the only time Lúthien could remember having an issue was whenever she had tried to send anything other than just telepathic conversation.

"R-Right…! Sorry ‘bout that."

Moonsong’s voice suddenly cut through her thoughts, causing the elf to look up from her pondering before calling out a response. Shoot, she had spaced out entirely there for a moment… but by the looks of it maybe her guess had been off? Yeah, that was probably it… after all, why would Dayeon of all people even play this game? Surely the songstress had plenty of better things to do with her downtime than an illegal and potentially deadly VR game.

Lúthien quickly began gathering the various ears of wheat that the brunette had harvested with ease, by now her body used to these movements. Once she had a good enough armful, the blonde would take a moment to properly tie them together, before starting to repeat the process all over again.

---

Awareness Check
1d100 (29) + 15 = 44
Awareness Check | Luthien | 1285

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.


.

The sun was beginning to set, as the clock on her UI shows that it was almost 6pm. The farmers are working overnight, but the travelers have to conserve their energy more carefully. Also, there was no paid overtime anyway.

"Look how much both of us produced today! If we had one more person, we could've been done by now." She thanked the blonde for a job well done, giving her two thumbs up. The whole roadside was covered with piles of wheat bundles. "The elder told us to just leave it here. The villagers will pick them up with carts. Wouldn't want to break your back." Moonsong joked, before gesturing for Luthien to go back to the guest house. "Let's rest for today, shall we?"

The walk back was quite uneventful. They talked a bit and suddenly they reached their haven. "I'm gonna take a bath first, if you don't mind?" The human asked, pointing at the outhouse. It's less than ideal, but it's better than spending the rest of the night reeking of sweat. As the woman went inside and washed the makeup off her face, she remembered that she did not have any clothes in her inventory. She went back outside and opened the door to the guest house.

A head popped from the side of a door, with the

uncovered face of a certain idol clearly showing to the blonde elf. This time, it was nigh unmistakable.

"Luthien? Do you have spare clothes? I have to dry the whole armor set off and walking in just my undergarments outside is less than preferable." No dark lipstick, no black eyeliners, no pale skintone; Moonsong was as closest as Dayeon looked during the Summerfest. She stood for a while in the doorway, waiting for the other party's reaction, whatever it will be.

Rolls

Roll Result
2d4 (3 + 3) = 6

How many fields harvested day 1

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

A heavy sigh left the elf as she finished tying up the last bundle of wheat was properly tied up, her arm raising to wipe off the building sweat on her forehead before Moonsong caught her attention. "I know, we did super well huh?!" The elf didn’t want to imagine how much time, and effort, this would’ve taken the Landers to accomplish on their lonesome—and it had actually been fun, kinda.

"Yeah, I’m good with some rest for the day… especially if we wanna try and break this record tomorrow~"

After all, their start had definitely been slow while the girls figured out how best to use their masteries for the task at hand, with some luck tomorrow would yield the same results… perhaps more? The walk to the guest house was uneventful, spent in idle chatter as the girls reached their temporary residence.

"Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll go after you."

They had parted ways as Moonsong headed for the outhouse, the elf leaving her work boots outside before entering the small room. Her fingers casually moved to interact with her HUD, tapping the air a few times before a paper bag materialized into the air. Lúthien caught it, setting it onto the empty table, before the girl pulled one of the molasses cookies from within. She popped the treat into her mouth to hold it, her hands working on sealing the bag up before being left atop the table.

”Lúthien?”
"Mmm—!!!"

She had turned towards the front door, a muffled hum of a confirmation muffled by the cookie currently between her teeth. The second her eyes fell on Moonsong however the elf’s changed into one of surprise, not even registering the words that followed as her mouth suddenly opened. "Dayeo—ohwaitshit!" Her exclamation caused the cookie to slip into a freefall, snapping the elf out of her stupor for a second as she managed to catch the treat midair before it fell onto the ground.

"What the—it really is you!"

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.


.

"Dayeo—ohwaitshit! What the—it really is you!"


The human raised her left eyebrow with confusion, as she walked inside the room. "Yes? Of course it's... me?" She replied with the same puzzlement the elf has. She had never made an attempt to disguise who she was, and it was confusing enough that the blonde did not recognize her after apparently listening to her during the Summerfest.

"Dayeon-Song, Moon-Song?" She waved her pointer finger in the air as if it's gonna make the obvious connection more obvious.

The gears inside her brain turn slowly, but eventually, she put two and two together. "Wait, the voice inside my head. It was you?" The brunette then pouted, putting both hands on her hips like she was going to lecture the blonde. "I mean, you could've just literally asked...."

Moonsong however, was quickly distracted by the cookie in the elf's hand that almost fell. "Wait, you brought cookies? Gimme." The sweet-tooth turned to the paper bag on top of the table, and with her right hand as fast as lightning swiped a molasses cookie from it, putting it inside her mouth.

"Mm, that's tasty. Do I know you?" The girl turned back at the dumbfounded Luthien, resuming their conversation while licking her fingers.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"I… right. Fuck, how did I miss that...?" Her surprised look had turned to one of confusion, and finally a faint frown as the blonde connected the dots with the help of the brunette. "I just… wow, I didn’t expect you to be playing a game like this one, that’s all."

It was then Dayeon’s turn to put two and two together as she nailed who had prodded her thoughts a little while ago, the ranger offering a nervous chuckle as she watched the shorter woman place her hands on her hips. Lúthien was sure she was in for quite the lecture—only seemingly saved when Moonsong noticed the cookie that the elf was holding in her hand.

"Huh, o-oh yeah—they’re molasse cookies. I always like to travel with a few snacks on my UI, especially when going to places I don’t know very well."

She was certainly not going to stop the brunette as the human went for the paper bag, after all Lúthien had meant to share these with Moonsong regardless, but a sigh of relief quietly escaped the blonde. Maybe this meant she’d be off the hook about that whole mindsending stuff…?

"Mm, that's tasty. Do I know you?"

"Well yeah, of course you do—" There was a pause as the elf remembered that—unlike Ari, Naomi and now Dayeon—Valeria had actually avoided using her IRL appearance as the base for her avatar. "You even autographed your smelly jacket for me~"

Her last words were accompanied by a wink and a cheeky grin, te elf taking another bite of her cookie as she gave Moonsong a moment to figure out Lúthien’s real identity.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.

.

"I just… wow, I didn't expect you to be playing a game like this one, that's all."

Yup, probably because it's an illegal game, but she wouldn't be a celebrity without doing one or two illegal things, would she? "I'm just as surprised as you," Either it's a small world, or so many people played this game, "That I didn't get outright arrested on Summerfest. My manager would prefer if I were doing cocaine instead." She joked. On the other hand, this probably means that her road to global popularity is still a long way to go.

Moonsong couldn't get enough of the molasse cookies, as her hand quickly swiped the bag for another, munching on the cookie quickly like a hamster. "Yum. Never tried this. You gotta tell me where you got this." It looks like she was planning to stockpile the cookie for her next mission.

"You even autographed your smelly jacket for me~"

"Wait..." Gears turning again. Which jacket? Most importantly, which smelly jacket? The green suit jacket she bought with her first pay?

Click.

"Valeria?" Moonsong answered after realizing the fact that the group she went with on the first day of the Summerfest all consisted of TS players. She also remembered the fact that the blonde was a fan of Lindsey Stirling, which made the connection much easier as her real-life counterpart doesn't look the same.

The human leaped to hug the slightly taller girl for a while, before backing off quickly. "We have so, so much to talk about, but I gotta wash up first. So, any spare clothes?" She asked again.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Pffft, imagine finally finding something that trounces cocaine in the showbiz industry as PR logistical nightmares." She couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped her lips at the thought, before watching as Dayeon reached for another cookie. Lúthien couldn’t help the prideful look that showed on her face, giving the brunette a wide grin as she spoke. "Actually I make those myself~"

"Valeria?"
"Yup~"

A giggle echoed when Moonsong leaped over to give Lúthien a hug as realization dawned on the human, the elf returning the affection before they quickly parted back. "Oh right! Yeah, I can definitely help with that, hold on a minute…" Good thing she had raided Madam Myriil’s Silver Threads store in Finweald not long before setting out on this quest, the purchases still sitting on the ranger’s inventory as a result.

"Let’s see… I should have a good one here… ah, here we go~"

A few taps in the air had the elf access her UI inventory, looking over the options before finding a pj set with a longer top that might be a good aesthetic fit for Dayeon.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.

.

"Let's see… I should have a good one here… ah, here we go~"

From thin air, popped a pj set that looked like it was made for Dayeon herself. "Yay!" Grabbing the outfit, she stormed off before giving her best attempt at an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. "I'll be back." The brunette disappeared after giving a thumbs up, slamming the outhouse door closed. A minute later a humming could be heard alongside water sounds.

Five minutes later, Moonsong popped her head back into the room with damp hair. "I'm back!" Saying it was Moonsong is an overstatement, as without the imposing armor and scary makeup she's just the small Dayeon. "You wanna use the bath now?" She asked the blonde.

Whatever it is, the brunette grabbed another cookie like the sweet-hogging gremlin she is, before jumping on the bed and rolling around. "At least the bed is comfy!" She proclaimed with a happy face. The big, fluffy bed is a lifesaver after a long day of working in the field.

Waiting for Luthien, she decided to open the conversation when the blonde is ready for a talk. "So, I was disappointed." She jokingly pouted, trying to look as irritated as possible, "I thought you were my biggest fan, but it took you the whole day to recognize me." The girl was unable to hold it back and laughed shortly after, though, before moving on to the next question.

"Right! What was the telepathic thingy? The one you used to send messages into my head." Rather than being angry or anything, she looked at the elf with curiosity. "That thing was so jarring!"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips at the Schwarzenegger impression that Moonsong delivered before heading out the front door, the sound of running water shortly drifting into the small room as the brunette showered in the outhouse. A hand reached for a second cookie of her own, quietly munching on the treat, and before long the smaller woman had returned clothed and with damp hair.

"Yeah, I’ll be glad to get rid of all the sweat still clinging to my skin from today’s reaping."

It took about seven or so minutes before the ranger returned, sporting another cute Halloween set of her own. Like Moonsong her hair was also damp, the elf having tried to rid it from as much moisture as possible before coming back inside. Although she would’ve preferred a longer shower there was the small detail that the outhouse water was fucking cold, and Lúthien didn’t felt like finding out if colds were actually a thing within the realistic game.

"Wow, you really like sweets."

A soft chuckle escaped as the blonde grabbed the paper bag and walked towards the bed to join the artist, delighted to find that at least the material that served as a mattress for it was welcoming instead of hard and/or itchy. "A-Ah, sorry about that… I just wasn’t expecting Dayeon of all people to show up within this game," There was an apologetic smile at first, before it slowly morphed into a teasing grin as the elf poked one of the brunette’s cheeks softly.

"Much less looking exactly like yourself… can’t say I was surprised By Kyra and Yugam, but Moonsong I thought you’d be smarter than that." A third cookie was pulled from the paper bag for herself, before the bag with two remaining cookies was placed beside the songstress. "What if a VRSA were to see you, Dee?"

The mention of her telepathy caused the ranger to flush slightly in response, a hand raised to rub the back of her neck awkwardly. "That, well… apparently it’s a thing some elves can do?" She motioned for Moonsong to scoot closer, before using her hands to get the brunette to have her back faced towards the elf.

"Didn’t exactly want to shout your name across the fields, you never know who’s watching after all… but I probably overstepped, so sorry about that."

She would then concentrate aeromancy within her palms, allowing a soft breeze to blow around Moonsong’s hair like a makeshift blower of sorts. Granted Lúthien lacked the capability to generate warm air, so this would probably take a bit longer to dry up as a result… but it was probably better than going to sleep with both of their hairs dampening the bed.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.

.

"Wow, you really like sweets."

The only response from the cookie gremlin was "Hey, hey. At least here, I don't care if I get a little bit fat." As funny as the joke was, it's true that Dayeon had to maintain her figure thanks to the idol body expectations. Fortunately, diet cokes often came to the rescue. To counter the elf's cheek poke, Moonsong proceeded to pull both of the blonde's cheeks in retaliation while giggling.

The human smiled ear to ear. Having a bedmate like this really brought her back to the Slime Girls days. Most of the time she was sharing the bed with the small and cute Japanese member, Mako. Think she was in the voice acting business nowadays.

"I thought you'd be smarter than that."

"What can I say? I didn't even graduate high school." Grabbing another piece of cookie, Moonsong answered the blonde's worry. "But what are they gonna do? Arrest me?" She joked, "Sure, I might be easily identified. But by getting to me, they are revealing to the world that they also went to play this cursed game." To add further, the girl winked. "Even if it's to catch drug dealers, cops shouldn't do drugs."

The telepathy thing was actually interesting. Maybe because she hadn't met another elf before? Now she can at least pinpoint the telepathy thing if it's elf-exclusive. Damn, humans got shafted really hard in the traits department, huh? "Don't worry, I'm not mad at all. I'm just confused." She turned back on Luthien's motion, unsure what she was going to do before a breeze blew through her damp hair. Well, that's convenient use of Aeromancy.

"Hey, Luthien..." Suddenly, Moonsong leaned backward and placed her head on Luthien's lap, looking skywards and meeting the elf's eyes. Her pupils are dark, but you can see the abyss of loneliness painted there. "... I wanna be your friend. Do you mind?" The idol asked, the soft tone making it clear that this was not a joke whatsoever.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The brunette reached over for Lúthien’s face when she teasingly poked at Moonsong’s cheek, the cookie gremlin’s hands pinching both cheeks on the elf’s face before tugging at them softly in retaliation. "Awight awight, I get it geez~" Once Moonsong released her grip the blonde would stick her tongue out playfully in the woman’s direction, though the giggling that followed showed there were no real hard feelings between them.

She finished off her own cookie while listening to Moonsong speak, the elf giving a soft nod in agreement as the woman brought up a few valid points. "I guess… still feels a bit risky to me, though." Then again maybe that was just her cautious ass talking, after all getting doxxed on the internet was never a fun experience… and Val could only assume getting caught by the VRSA would be even worse.

"Hey, Lúthien…"
"Mmm? What’s up, Moonsong?"

As the brunette tilted backwards the elf moved her hands away, letting Moonsong rest her head on Lúthien’s lap. There was a seriousness in those dark colored eyes that hadn’t been there before, and the blonde didn’t shy away from the direct eye-to-eye contact they shared in that moment. There was a reason people often referred to the eyes as the windows of the soul, and a faint smile would cross her elven lips when the question finally left the songstress’ lips.

"Mind it? Of course not," Her hands rested at either side of Moonsong’s head, one moving over to lightly play with the dark strands on the woman’s bangs as Lúthien made sure to keep them away from Moonsong’s eyes. "In fact I’d love to be your friend, Dee."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.

.

"In fact I'd love to be your friend, Dee."

The brunette doesn't know why, but the elf playing with her hair triggered something warm inside her. Really warm; comforting, loving. Maybe it was a motherly show of affection she never experienced? Holding tears back, she closed her eyes and smiled. "Thank you."

The girl was quiet for some time, as if she had fallen asleep. Or perhaps she was savoring the moment, feeling like a little child embraced with a touch of affection. There was no angry Moonsong to be found in the room; only little Dayeon existed.

"So, are you still dating Yugam?"

Moonsong asked, without confirming if the other party knew the man also played the game, as she would presume that the couple didn't keep anything hidden between them. "I met him in-game way before Summerfest. When I saw the black-haired guy that was with you, I instantly recognized him." The cookie gremlin put her hands on the elf's, asking the blonde with her eyes closed, still smiling from ear to ear. "Does he treat you well? Hmm?"

It must feel really good to have someone care about you. I felt that way, a long time ago.

It's a shame that I am broken beyond repairs now.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She was content to continue playing with Moonsong’s hair as the woman remained still, the songstress’ eyes closed. It was an odd sensation, not something Lúthien was accustomed to do, but as time passed the blonde realized it wasn’t a feeling she hated. "No need to thank me, that’s what friends do." Perhaps this was how others felt when interacting with their siblings? If she’d had a sister growing up a part of the elf was sure she’d loved it was someone like Moonsong.

"So, are you still dating Yugam?"

Her hand momentarily froze as the brunette suddenly sprung up an unexpected question in her direction, a light blush covering her elven cheeks. The elf shifted her gaze towards a random spot in the opposite wall, quietly nibbling her bottom lip as she pondered how best to approach the topic. "I s-see… yeah, it’d be hard to not recognize him in-game, or in real life, once you’ve met him in either of the two first." Instead she chose to ignore the first question, focusing instead on Moonsong’s shared thoughts when she had first seen the man back in the Summerfest… but that was short lived as the brunette circled back to the original topic after a moment.

"Does he treat you well? Hmm?"

By now the woman’s hands had reached for Lúthien’s own, giving them a small squeeze as a content smile was displayed in her lips. With Moonsong’s eyes closed she had no way to see the myriad of emotions that shifted through the elve’s features as Lúthien continued to stare at nothing in particular on the wall.

"I-I… we’re n-not… " Suddenly words were hard, and the blonde struggled to find her voice as she struggled to give her friend an answer. "We never d-dated in the first place, Dee."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

.

.

They never dated in the first place.

Moonsong quickly jumped up in shock, staring at the elf with a serious face, thinking about her next question before proceeding. "Why? Is it because of the distance?"

"Yeah... pretty much. You know how it goes, those relationships never work out for anyone involved."

Jackpot.

"Distance," The idol exhaled, raising her hand and putting it on Luthien's left shoulder. "I had someone once. We were perfect," The brunette paused, her fingers playing with the blonde's side hair struggling to continue, only letting out a vague ending to the story. "... I shouldn't have gone to Korea."

Her glowing eyes wandered for a while, before zoning back to the elf's direction. "Wait, how old are you two again?"

"I'm twenty-one, and he's twenty-two... why?"

"Wait. Both of you are actually younger than me," She protested in disbelief, probably because she's an oldie. After all this time, she thought she was the younger one. "I'm gonna be twenty-five this year. Still looking pretty good, I suppose?" The woman joked to lighten the mood up.

"Anyway, you're both still young. Go figure things out, take things slow. Don't be a selfish dumbass like me." Moonsong gave Luthien a piece of heartfelt advice, coming from her own experience. After all, someone's gotta fall so others don't.

She put her arms around the blonde, pulling Luthien towards her to lean on her shoulder.

"Well, don't worry. Your unnie here will ensure that nobody is going to break your heart, ever." The older woman proclaimed, having no visions of the dark future yet to come despite having S rank in Astramancy.

@Luthien