The Wishing Tree (2) : Your wish is only said to come true if you grant the wish of someone else; when you write your wish, you must also take one off of the tree and do your best to grant it. What wish do you pull off, and how do you intend to ‘grant’ it? Do you work with someone else to grant this wish, or do you work alone? You may get approval from another player to use the wish their character hung up, but no names are attached so your character may not ever know who wrote it!
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Follows a solo I haven't written yet...
Laike's potted plant was tucked under his arm as he made his way to the wishing tree. It was kind of a cool idea — Laike's plants could use more friends anyway — but really, he was here to make sure his own wish got some visibility. Still, with so many people around chatting to each other and taking wishes from the tree, he felt he had to take one to avoid getting noticed by the crowd. Flinching, as if any of the papers could permanently infringe on his delicately lazy lifestyle, Laike reached up and tugged one from a hefty, sagging branch.
He squatted down in the grass, parked his tiger lily named Ahri between his legs, and rolled open the paper. He skimmed it, then frowned. Then read it more thoroughly.
This town's a goddamn mess, and I ain't getting nowhere without stepping in somebody's cig ash. I sure wish all this ash would get gone.
It wasn't the worst wish he could get, he guessed, but it sounded like pain and suffering in the flavor of community service. Laike never went to jail, and never wanted to, specifically because community service sounded horribly exhausting. He wasn't about to push a broom all over the city and sweep up every last random pile of ash, but he'd probably like… Get a couple and call it done. Or maybe call in some help and clean more than a couple.
Not that many of his friends were into that. There was that random recruiter guy who really wanted to get him to go to college, though… What was his name, Aiden? Laike still had the contact, and he was quick enough to find in the list. Right, Aiden Hunter. If he was interested in getting people to better themselves, maybe he'd be interested in bettering the community.
Hey I was thinking about what you said and I thought I would try like Granting this wish But I could use your help Its Laike btw
"I hope your new friends are worth the effort," Laike said to Ahri as he hit send.
kyuseisha no hikari
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:30 pm
It was a little less than a fluke that Aiden was in the area already; his cousin’s bakery wasn’t too far away from the Wishing Tree, and he was having too much fun with the local stalls and events to stray too far. It was convenient to have family willing to feed you while you were loitering around town.
The text message had come as a surprise; he didn’t immediately recognize the number and it took a good few seconds for him to remember Laike--and when he did, he was typing back a response immediately.
It wasn’t hard to determine that this had something to do with the Star Festival; he’d heard plenty of people talking about the wishes on the tree in town.
'I can help, I’m in town right now if you’re out too. What do you need?’
Honestly, he hadn’t been sure he’d ever hear from Laike; he’d given him his number in case he wanted to talk again but he hadn’t been holding his breath. Aiden wasn’t really one to push college on anyone, and the experience was different for everyone--but, it was an easy social project he’d been able to use towards his class completion requirements. Still, he’d enjoyed his experience so far, so it was easy for him to run his mouth about it--especially on all the tricks he’d picked up for financial aid.
Given that he was out right now with the expectation of properly experiencing the Star Festival, Aiden couldn’t help but consider that he might have a bit of luck on his side already.
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:44 pm
Laike's nervous world shrunk down to that of his thumb as his fingers worried the screen. Were he a little more aware, he'd notice the mother of a family of four staring at him, as if glaring daggers would convince him to move without asking, but he hadn't noticed her for the moment. Between his ring and little fingers was the wish, now a little crumpled, but the seeds rattled around expectantly.
I'm at the Wishing Tree And the wish I got is kinda Dumb I'm not into community Service but like It wants all the ash Cleaned up But idk what ash???
Hitting send, Laike followed up the thought by taking a photo of the wish and sending it over to Aiden. Maybe nothing would be done of it, but if he could pawn off at least half the effort onto someone else, the wish looked a lot more doable.
It was then that Laike finally turned and walked away from the tree, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone continued to stare at him disapprovingly. It was then that he spotted the mother, immediately faced forward, and started walking more urgently away from the tree. He already played nice with the wishes, and he was already paying for it — what more was she expecting? Well, whatever; if she was mad about something, it wasn't Laike's business.
He started a last message and sent it before he could think twice.
Want to meet Up?
kyuseisha no hikari
Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:35 am
Did Aiden really want to do community service right now?
Maybe not. But it was a nice day outside, and he didn’t have anything else to do--and it seemed like a good opportunity to do something for the Star Festival and have a bit of company. To be fair, with the damage he’d seen from some of the fights out there, maybe he should have done a little community service to make up for them. He’d definitely seen at least one of the city’s little gardens torn up, and he didn’t know much about ash, but he knew a lot about dust, and maybe if they destroyed enough youma they were leaving piles of dust somewhere.
‘Yeah, give me a few minutes. I’m like four minutes away. I’ll bring some brooms and keep an eye out for ash on the way over. Do you like sweets or anything?’
He pushed himself away from the counter he’d been hovering at and went to go fish around the cleaning supply closet at the bakery; he severely doubted his cousin was going to miss two brooms and a trash bag and didn’t think it was even worth bothering him to ask. Besides--it was to help clean up the city. Of course he wouldn’t mind.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:02 pm
Four minutes away. Wow, that was really accurate. Laike blinked at the screen. His response was quick:
I like sweets and anything
Laike meandered just far enough from the giant purple tree's epicenter to give himself some breathing room from the people, but he was still close enough that Aiden would probably spot him. If he remembered what Laike looked like. Laike wasn't sure he could remember what Aiden looked like, so they would probably be stuck texting each other until they bumped shoulders or something. Maybe he should say what he was wearing, but… That just seemed creepy.
There's a lot of Crowds just fyi I stood off to the Side
That was better. He touched send, then kept a sharp vigil for any newcomers with brooms. Duh, Laike — brooms are how you'll find each other. That dumb feeling wasn't about to fade anytime soon.
kyuseisha no hikari
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:36 pm
’I’ll find you.’
And then, nothing--for four minutes. And then five. Before the clock could work its way to six minutes, Aiden rounded the corner. He was dressed a bit more casually than the last time he’d met Laike, and he didn’t even bother to look up from his phone until he’ crossed half the distance between them.
When he glanced up, he did a quick scan of the area and didn’t immediately find him, but before he could settle back onto his phone to text anything, his eyes landed on him.
Aiden was good with faces, most of the time. Today, he considered himself pretty lucky--for more reasons than just finding an extra Star Charm on his way over. Tucked under one arm, two brooms and dustpans, and two folded garbage bags. In his other hand, his phone--and a paper bag.
“Hey,” he greeted, smiling when he was within speaking distance. “Sorry, took me a minute to grab everything. But I brought you some sweets. I was my cousin’s bakery. He says these are the ugly ones so he gave them to me for free, but to be honest I can’t tell the difference. Which isn’t to say I think his things are ugly, I just don’t see what’s wrong with these. Here,” he said, and adjusted to pass the bag over.
“I don’t know that I saw any ash on my way over, though. That’s an oddly specific request, yeah?”
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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:50 pm
The greeting startled Laike out of his Google deep dive, though his nerves smoothed over soon afterward. Looked like Aiden was really coming to the rescue on this one, not that Laike minded. The reclusive gamer gave the brooms and supplies a brief once-over, decided he wouldn't be carrying those, and then received a bag of sweets as an excuse to not carry those.
Which he didn't mind at all. Though he didn't feel particularly hungry, he opened the bag to take a look inside. Decadent little things, like creme puffs and tarts and macarons. It reminded him that he hadn't been to a bakery in a handful of years. "It's nice of your cousin to do that. And nice of you, too. Thanks." He reddened a bit at having nothing to provide in return.
"I uh, haven't seen any either?" Laike added in, finally putting his phone away. He tended to walk around with his nose in his phone; he could've easily stepped in the ash and thought nothing of it. Where were they supposed to go to start looking for ash? Bars? Smoking clubs? Wherever else people liked to smoke? Maybe like, bus stops or hospitals. Or convenience stores. Or shady hangout areas. Laike didn't really know if one would be more liable to have ash than the other.
He checked the wish again, though it lacked any obvious clues.
"So… Do you know any places where people smoke? We could like, try a couple of those, and call it a day." Especially if they didn't find anything. He hoped they didn't find anything.
kyuseisha no hikari
it's so hard to write around this cat
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 6:23 am
Aiden nodded, because it was nice of his cousin, even if it was just an excuse to get rid of some of the less attractive sweets.
“Well, no harm in walking around to look. It’s a nice day, at least. Weird that someone would wish for something to be cleaned up but not give any information about where it was, but--maybe someone already got to it? I guess…”
He seemed to strain his mind for any direction to go.
“I read about a fire a few streets over, but I don’t know if that’s left any ash or if it’s all just smoke damage. And it was at least a week ago, so I don’t know how much is left. If we don’t have any other direction, we could head over there and look, at least. Otherwise, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find something on the way, but I don’t even remember the last time I saw an overflowing ashtray.”
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good luck, i am free of a cat for right now but woke up to two dogs standing on me and they haven't left me alone since
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:27 am
"It reads like they're mad about it. They probably just forgot to say where it was." It was all Laike could come up with, too.
Burned building sounded weird but cool. He could be up for that kind of gawking adventure, as long as they didn't have to go in it. That'd be trespassing, though, he was pretty sure. "Yeah, let's do that." Laike steadfastly avoided the news, so he knew nothing of the fire or where it started; it was cause enough to follow behind Aiden while he led the way.
While he followed, he texted his sister too. Damn, he was really going the extra mile for this dumb wish.
Do you remember ever Seeing a bunch of ash Anywhere? Asking for a Friend.
Laike touched send. She was in the middle of one of her summer classes, history of asian art if he recalled, and she usually spent the period shopping on her laptop and checking Facebook. He doubted she'd wait long to answer. By then, they'd have scoped out the burnt place, he hoped.
kyuseisha no hikari
there is no winning with animals
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:14 pm
Aiden seemed pleased to at least have a direction to go in, and he didn’t seem like he minded carting around the brooms. He began to lead the way with obvious interest; it wasn’t that he was happy with the fire, but it was human instinct to be curious and awed by the destructive force of fire.
“Weird to be mad enough to want someone to do something about it, but not try to be specific. But I guess if you’re just making a wish, it would be sort of extra magical if whoever was reading it just sort of knew what you were talking about. Even if we can’t find any ash today, I’ll keep an eye out for it later and text you if I find any.”
Not that he seemed to have any intention of doing it just so Laike could go take care of it; Aiden had agreed to help, so as far as he was concerned, it was as much his responsibility to help clean up some ash as it would have been Laike’s.
An amused smile lingered on his face and he turned to Laike as they walked. “Did you text me because you’re thinking about college or just thought I’d be interested in doing something to help out the community?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:27 pm
Or you could do me a favor and not, Laike wanted to say. Community service wasn't his thing, it would never be his thing, the wish he pulled sucked, and he was already ready to go home before they even started on the task. Laike just stretched his arms up over his head and nodded halfheartedly at Aiden's comment. He'd come if asked, if only because it was easier than making up excuses for why he couldn't go.
The followup question caught him off-guard, and the gamer ducked his head a little. Arms dropped, slunk into deep pockets as he stooped his shoulders a little. He felt caught, though he couldn't exactly tell the truth about why he asked Aiden. That would cause problems.
"Ah, kinda? College, I mean. Both?" Laike blew air between his teeth. "You seem like the type to want to do things for people. And, my parents have been getting on my case for not doing something with my life…" Which wasn't exactly wrong, but it hadn't bothered him, either. They still paid for his apartment, and his mom still stopped by every week to help clean up the place. Nothing about his routine was changing.
It was like when he was a kid, and they wanted him to learn piano. But he kept ducking out of piano classes, and making up excuses, and being a dumb kid, and eventually the piano classes went away. He just had to be patient.
The walk felt super long, and he wished Aiden had a car so he could take a nap on the way. Even if it was three blocks, it was three blocks too long for Laike to walk. But they neared the burnt house, and Laike expected it to smell like campfire for miles around, but there wasn't much of a smell at all. Some of it was even rehabbed and painted over, and some was gutted out where the fire must've done too much damage to keep the wood. Was kind of a shame, because the place was cute but for the big hole on the bottom floor.
It didn't look like anybody was around. Seemed like the family was trying to rehab it on their own, too, and they just… Ran out of wood first or something. If there even was a family; the place looked like no one was home.
And he didn't see any piles of ash like the wish said. He looked at the sidewalk, looked at the yard — "Do you think we should check inside?"
kyuseisha no hikari
here i am, stuck under a sleeping cat, unable to go to bed
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:22 pm
”For ash?” Aiden asked, glancing back at him. To be honest, it seemed like a weird place to be hiding it, and they were clearly trying to patch things back up. It didn’t look like it was in any way livable so he doubted it was like, really breaking in or anything, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be caught trespassing, even if it was with good intentions.
“If we’re being totally honest, I think I’ll be fine not checking inside. But,” he scratched his chin thoughtfully. “...I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to poke in.”
Kinda lame that this was sort of a bust; he had actually wanted to do something to help out but if there wasn’t ash, maybe a rain had washed it away already? Maybe someone else had gotten to it?
“I can keep watch,” he said, a little more invested in the idea because he was curious…
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:03 pm
Laike hadn't wanted to poke in, either. He was perfectly content glazing it over, and considering the wish impossible since they visited all of one place and found nothing. It sounded like a much better idea to return home, turn on Bloodborne again, and go through with an arcane build this time. Or he could try to watch Mirrormask for the third time. Or just take a nap.
Laike was going to suggest they move on, when Aiden volunteered to keep watch. "… oh." So much for leaving. Seemed like that meant Laike had to go investigating.
"Guess I'm going in, then." His fault for opening his mouth. The unfenced yard was mostly cordoned off between two stocky brick pillars that framed the walkway to the house, a couple of trees, and a cockeyed mailbox. Laike dipped under the tape and walked toward the place, felt his nerves start to perk up, start to tell him about people watching him, or cops lying in wait. He made it to the house without any interruptions, though, and no flood lights kicked on to blind and dissuade him.
He wasn't sure how people got a rise out of crap like this. Breathing a small sigh, Laike tiptoed around the burnt husk as he looked for a good entry point. He found the big hole in the side of the building, considered it, then decided it had to be the way to go if he didn't want to trip any alarms. With a hand on each half of the burnt wood wall, Laike hoisted himself inside.
It was dark, with litltle more than moonlight coming in through the windows and gaping hole to light his path. After a quick fumble, Laike dug his phone out of his slacks and touched the torch button. The first room looked pretty crusty, all burnt linoleum and destroyed cabinetry in what he assumed was a kitchen.
The second, however — "Hey, Aiden? I think I found something?" Brows furrowed, Laike stared at the vaguely shaped clump of dust? Ash? That laid at the threshold to another room.
kyuseisha no hikari
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 7:32 pm
Aiden had done a good job of keeping watch for the brief amount of time he was tasked with it, but to be fair it wasn’t like anyone was even coming down this way. He frowned when Laike called his name and couldn’t help but approach.
Finding something sounded too interesting to ignore; he didn’t expect Laike was the sort of person to put so much effort into pranking him, so he trusted that there was something worth seeing.
He hesitated for only a moment longer before he hurried to catch up, carefully navigating his way towards the house.
“What is it?” he asked when he was a little closer. He wasn’t really worried about someone else hearing him since the road had been pretty empty, but he didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks and just made his way to Laike to see what he was talking about.
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Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:03 am
"It's like if somebody smoked a carton of cigarettes all at once?" To answer what it was required that Laike knew what he was looking at, and he wasn't sure he did. Brow furrowed, he looked up at the ceiling, but it just looked blackened. No chunks missing like further in the building, and Laike didn't want to tread too far and have the whole place come down on him.
So he waited, until Aiden came up to join him. Didn't take him long; Laike was glad for the company. He wasn't much for creepy burned down places — if it wasn't for the possibility of crazy monsters, he found them depressing.
