deercountry | late bloomer jokes [feb catchall

Who: Manabu & others
What: Misc hijinks
When: February
Where: Misc locations

Content Warnings: Will be marked in tls/comments as needed

February is weird. Manabu feels...weird. He's always an impatient kind of person, needing to always be moving somewhere or doing something, but this is a different kind of impatience. More and more, he's noticing the way couples interact, double-taking at public displays of affection which he'd typically fluster and look the other way at. He pines for a lot of things here in Trench: his family, his coworkers, his job... but he's not used to pining for things like...y'know, hand-holding.

So goes Manabu Yuuki's 24-year old awakening to romantic pining; it's going to be coloring a lot of the month for him! And that's weird and confusing for him, so you bet this'll be coloring the way he interacts with folks he runs into! Lots of word spaghetti, lots of hair frizzing with static, and some apple-red cheeks...at least he has the cold weather to blame for that.

...Even if he's a coldblood.

Shut up. It's nothing!!!

open prompts

o1. Willful Machine: Errands and Odd Jobs
[regardless of these roiling, blood-based feelings throwing him off his game, Manabu still throws himself into work of all sorts. he does errands and handiwork around the Roost for Diluc, but also picks up the occasional odd job for locals - Sleepers and natives alike. he's a jack of many trades and definitely master of none, but what he lacks in expertise he makes up with patience and determination.

perhaps you see him replacing tiles on a store's roof, or maybe he's hauling a wagon full of winter supplies, or part of a small squad lifting some heavy furniture by pulley up to a second floor, or simply carrying someone's groceries! either way, prime encounter opportunity.

also, Magnet is always there: that little mutt's noisy, but friendly, and always apt to bounding away from Manabu to sniff out a friend or potential friend...or at least some pets.]

o2.The Gate: Gunswordplay
[maybe it's too much to bank on, but smacking around the unsnake last month's given Manabu a boost of combat confidence (never mind the concussions)! that said, he definitely needs to get better at this gravity saber business; swords are really archaic, but seem to be quite a common thing here! and look, he wouldn't admit it, but he wants to be cool with the swords, too.

here Manabu can be found a couple hours before sundown after busy workdays, stretching and then trying to master balanced, repeated strikes on dummies with slashes or sparks of flame...boring stuff, but he knows it builds results. still, if anyone's itching to spar, he'll jump at that.]

o3. Gaze: Research
[if things are too slow as far as work goes, Manabu will veer off and go to the Archives - a place he actually hasn't made a point to visit much before! he's not a big studying kind of guy, but he knows the plans he has in mind require a lot more research and thought than just running on hunches and rumors.

also? he wants maps. an atlas feels like a reach, but if he can cobble together some maps...

so that's what he's up to: cringing and veering away from ickier aisles of oddities, picking at the spines of assorted books in increasingly lessening hope.

what's it take to find a map of the world around this place...!?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah, they’re back to this. He considers what could be a trade. But he already knows what he wants in return.] Jot down what doesn’t feel right, month to month. It doesn’t have to be personal or detailed. Just note if you feel influenced or not.

How you feel pushed would be ideal. You don’t have to do it. Teaching you means we have another protector to save more lives. But I would appreciate it.

Eh...?

[journaling? that sounds suspiciously like self-care, Diluc...]

Are you collecting that kind of stuff from people?

Yes. The moment I realized I was being influenced I started writing things down. And asking others to do the same. The only way to see the truth is to view all the angles.

[Only in recording things where the mind can’t argue against it can one see the light. He would do all he could to make sure Justice had its due.]

[Manabu utters a soft 'oh' to that in response at first, because... oh. that...]

That... Makes sense, yeah...

And it is a fair trade to ask you for it. If coldbloods are being influenced one of us could alert the other.

[He nods once and looks at the shelves.] And you could see where you are being pushed. It helps with the resistance.

[true, true...

okay, this...makes a lot of sense. it's almost...good protocol! the way the SDF would operate! Manabu nods, buying into it more and more by the second.]

Mn, you're right. It could help out others too, so...so I should at least give it an effort.

[beat.]

...Man...when was the last time I wrote anything by hand? Gradeschool...?

[That makes him raise an eyebrow. But Manabu comes from a higher tech society so he asks,] What did you use instead?

[A device like an Omni?]

Aa, computers and tablet screens mostly. [he hesitates.] Do they have computers where you're from? Consoles or holo-terminals...

[Diluc shakes his head.] No.

If we had that I would have a lot less paperwork for the winery. We have books and scrolls. Whatever the ancients had…it seems a bit like you and others have described. Just operated by magic.

[he shakes his head and sighs, craning his head to look up at the higher shelves he is in no way reaching unless he grabs a ladder.]

You have no idea how convenient it was, Diluc... I can't believe I used to complain about lag! The grass is always greener, as they say, huh...

Yes, it is. [Diluc says as he glances around. He locates a ladder and pulls it over. He sets his books down on the table and climbs up.]

What were you looking for up here? Besides maps and reports. And I can imagine it is and was quite convenient. When I wanted to refer to or locate the records of House Ragnvindr I had to check the archives. We’re an ancient family. The records of past heads of the family take up several shelves in our library.

[Manabu hesitates, bristled a little, wondering for a moment if Diluc was somehow a mindreader all of a sudden.]

That kind of thing...I mean, maybe back on Earth? The planet humans came from, sure. All that old history...and even the bigger digital archives set themselves up like this kind of. Just... [just less laborious.] More for the aesthetic, I guess?

But...but if there's really no maps to go by...I better start getting some accounts on what's on the outskirts. If it's any different than what leaks into the city streets, that is.

[He has read reports and tried to find any answers about why Trench is so isolated before. But maybe between the two of them. He locates the hunter reports he found a week ago and takes it and another more recent volume.]

It was part of our education as knights to learn how to navigate archives and read old Mondstadtian. There was an attempted purge of information during the dark times. Language shifted slightly to hide true accounts.

[Diluc climbs down the ladder and offers the books.] I haven't found maps in my time here. But, these hunter reports are everywhere.

[Manabu sighs as the books drop into his arms, frowning down at them. the homework...she is inevitable.]

A...aa... Thanks, Diluc.

[editor please fade to black so this idiot can suffer the actions of his consequences.]

late bloomer jokes [feb catchall - open & closed prompts]

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