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 Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:48 pm
Amsvartnir made sure he had plenty of packed sandwiches and water bottles, plus a little soda just in case they wanted something different to drink with their food. He usually liked to drink a sweet soda with his savory turkey sandwiches, but maybe Murikabushi just wanted water. And maybe they wouldn't even be gone long enough to even eat all this! Which would be fine, he would have lunch for a while back at home anyway. Just pack it back in the fridge and mark it. Wouldn't even be an issue! Except for the fact that he really wanted this to go well, because Murikabushi was his friend, and while he had other White Moon friends—they all had their own planets and wonders to visit. Murikabushi didn't. He'd not get the chance to go to space like this probably ever again, and he really, really wanted to do that for him. Sighing, he checked again that he had plenty of chips and cookies to pair with his dumb sandwiches and waters and sodas. And, shamefully, his smokes, in case they really were there a long time... Yeah yeah, he was ready, he just had to turn off the jitters and go already to their meeting place. He arrived right on time, breathing deeply and trying to stay calm.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:57 pm
Reiki had been vibrating with excitement since he and Amsvartnir had set the time and meeting place. He hadn’t been up to space since they’d gotten kidnapped to Astraya, which overall could have gone a lot better. (Thinking about it for too long still conjured up the memory of that ominous tinkling tune, of the golden tendrils rushing toward him, of everything going cold and dead, then rousing sometime later, collapsed at all odd angles like a Dead Sex Worker Of The Week on Criminal Minds or Law & Order: SVU, with a killer pain in his skull from where it had hit the ground.)
Still, as ******** up as Astraya had been, it hadn’t dulled Reiki’s love of SPACE. No, he hadn’t yet accepted Kerberos’s offer of a visit to his planet, but……like, he would, though, okay? He just had to wait for the right moment.
Same as how, right this particular moment, Reiki had to wait under the row of cherry blossom trees in Eastside Park, until Ser Duckling, Squire of Cosmos, showed up to take Reiki up to visit his wonder. For the occasion (and just because……he wanted to be a polite guest), Reiki had some extra water stashed in his subspace in case they wound up needing it, and a pair of bento boxes that he’d sweet-talked Yuki into making. (Promising that one was for Levi had helped, but thanks to certain Garbage Ex-Fiancés Who Lost Their Name Privileges, then the need for secrecy about magical girl things, Yuki and Levi hadn’t even properly met yet. Yuki just stuck to kosher rules in making up the bento—convenient, since Amsvartnir was also Jewish—and the chances of Yuki actually getting a chance to ask Levi about the bento seemed slim.)
Even in such an early stage of blooming, the sakura managed to catch Reiki’s eyes and keep him from getting bored. While he waited, he paced up and down the row of trees, humming various tunes and trying not to stray too far from the specific spot he and Ams had agreed to meet at: a tree where some intrepid young vandal had taken some sort of pointy object and carved a heart with a somewhat misshapen eggplant inside. Whoever they were, they’d clearly modeled their eggplant on the emoji more than any real life eggplants, but in Reiki’s mind, that only added to the charm.
By the time he felt a White Moon aura approaching, Reiki really really hoped it was the right one, because he’d gotten a bit wrapped up in singing softly—“We must be strong, and we must be brave.… We must be braaaave.… We gotta find every bit of strength that we have and never let it gooooo……”—and drinking in the cherry blossoms. Having to prove that he wasn’t draining anyone or doing anything nefarious just to avoid getting attacked sounded, like, super tedious.
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:31 am
Amsvartnir followed the sound of the singing—was that the She-Ra opening?—until he spotted his friend and grinned, bouncing over to him. "Are you ready to go to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism?" he asked immediately, eyes bright and grin fierce over his dumb little reference. Also, wow, the cherry blossoms were absolutely gorgeous.
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 6:26 am
Reiki startled briefly at the sudden input from another voice, but he settled down once he realized that it was Amsvartnir. Took a moment and a nervous giggle for the reference to ping in Reiki’s mind. Once it clicked into place, though, Reiki tossed on a manic grin and exclaimed, “SPACE!”
Although Reiki allowed himself a moment to throw his head back and enjoy a Certifiably Camp Evil Cackle, he only allowed himself that moment. As always, he was a messy b***h who loved drama—but he loved space more. Soon enough, he was bouncing eagerly and looking at Amsvartnir with an earnest, open expression.
“So, what do I have to do to come with you? Do we hold hands or do I just stand next to you, or……?” Reiki shrugged, smiling warmly. “How does it work?”
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:02 pm
Amsvartnir chuckled at the evil cackle, reaching out to take Murikabushi's hand in answer. He took a deep breath, and then - There they were. This time, he'd landed them near to the castle instead of at the docks, which was nice. The wind blew harshly over the tundra landscape as usual, but it was slightly warmer on land versus all the way out by the lake that surrounded the village and castle. Moments later, a door by the castle's main doors burst open (and Amsvartnir had sudden clarity as to why that door had been there) and Feilan, the wolf that been an orb all those months ago bounded forth, slamming into Amsvartnir with all his might and knocking him to the ground. "Okay, okay, Feilan, I'm sorry I can't visit more often," he said, laughing as Feilan licked him all over his face. "Murikabushi, welcome to Amsvartnir. This is my wolf, Feilan."
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Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2023 11:33 pm
Reiki wasn’t certain what to expect from traveling to Amsvartnir’s Wonder, but he trusted his friend, so he took Ams’s hand without question. Too eager to close his eyes, Reiki watched in awe as the world around him lurched, shifted, changed into something entirely new.
As they settled on the ground of Amsvartnir’s Wonder, Reiki gasped. Taking in everything—oh ********, he was in SPACE (again). (Hopefully, this would go much better than Astraya.) Fortunately, Amsvartnir’s Wonder had such a different character from Astraya, with the tundra all around them and only a castle, rather than the complex of different buildings that all seemed to lead to either Mystery or Bad Things. (Bad Things like Reiki’s starseed getting ripped out of his chest.) Between the wonder of it all and the wintry landscape, Reiki itched to start running around, jumping all over everything, and singing, “What’s this? What’s this?! There’s color everywhere~” like a stop-motion animated skeleton, straight outta Halloweentown.
Good thing Reiki kept a handle on that impulse, though, because the Very Good Boy who came bounding out of the castle needed—nay, deserved—immediate attention. Joining the wolf and Amsvartnir on the ground (kneeling rather than getting knocked back), Reiki gave the Very Good Boy a heartfelt awwwww.
“He’s precious,” Reiki cooed. Apparently, this distracted Feilan from Amsvartnir enough to come investigate the Other Person. Reiki didn’t know if magical space (maybe?) wolves worked like dogs, but he smiled brightly, holding out the back of his hand for Feilan to sniff. “Hey, buddy……”
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2023 12:33 am
Feilan looked back to Amsvartnir warily, hackles raised—but when Amsvartnir just nodded, Feilan sniffed Murikabushi's hand cautiously and then licked it, permitting the being of Chaos. If Amsvartnir trusted him, so would Feilan. "He's a real sweetheart," Amsvartnir promised. "Probably just a little worried about me bringing someone who's Chaos here, but he trusts me. He's a good boy. If I bring you down to see dear old grandad, though..." He winced. "We'll just not do that. I didn't explore much of the village down the way, or the fisheries, but given a good chunk of it is ice and probably unstable ice, I felt like it was probably safer to just... ahh... not go out there."
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 12:52 am
The hackle-raising and overall hesitancy on the part of the wolf-puppy made Reiki’s heart sink and shoulders slump. Even with Feilan eventually licking his hand and deciding to allow him to stay, it felt like a kick in the teeth. Like finally getting clocked as a fraud while trying to prepare a soufflé during the talent portion of a pageant—as if Reiki knew ******** anything about how to make soufflés.
And with Amsvartnir’s grandfather (apparently?) not being one to tolerate a Chaos rat……? Slouching, trying very hard to look only nervous instead of hurt, Reiki asked, “Is it really okay for me to be here? I mean, I appreciate you bringing me, but I……I’m not going to cause problems just by being here, am I?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 1:30 am
"Bah, we're just not gonna bother some old fart," Amsvartnir said, "Look, I respect him as someone who knew how to tend to the Wonder and everything, but... I can't blame him for not wanting any piece of Chaos on it, I guess? But... Nuance exists, y'know? You're not hurting the Wonder just by being here. I could feel it, I think." Feilan sensed the sadness and chuffed, jumping up a bit to bash his nose into Murikabushi's stomach and beg for attention with soft whines. "See, Feilan's already adopting you," Amsvartnir said with a soft laugh. "He wouldn't do that if he just thought he had to tolerate you."
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 3:22 am
Some doubt lingered in Reiki’s mind, but he couldn’t argue with a precious baby puppy whining at him for attention (even if the precious baby puppy was, in this instance, some kind of magical space wolf). And what Amsvartnir was saying, it made a lot of sense. More so as Reiki ruffled his hands up and down Feilan’s sides, softly reassuring him that he was a Very Good Boy and that Reiki appreciated him very much (which had the benefit of being true……it was impossible for Reiki not to appreciate dogs).
After a few moments, Reiki stood up, nodding and giving Amsvartnir a smile. “Well, I’m happy to be here, and……I hope I live up to your trust in me.” Stepping closer to him, Reiki looked out at the landscape and hummed. “So, the ice might not be safe, but……are there other places that you want to check out?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 1:05 pm
Amsvartnir gestured down to the small village. "Probably just some homes in there. I'm sure there's more interesting stuff in the castle, but... Like I said, we're not gonna bother senile ol' gramps," he said with a wicked grin, starting on his way down the road. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes to reach the first home. Feilan chuffed at Murikabushi and took off after Amsvartnir.
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