deercountry | late bloomer jokes [feb catchall

Entry tags:

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

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

It's not fun if they've tied you up and you can't fight anymore, [he admits, not having enjoyed hanging from the ceiling like a cow up for slaughter. Plus that zealot snuck up on him anyway...cowards.]

But, facing off against one man to man has loads of enjoyment. Really, it doesn't hurt to see the fun side of this. You might even begin to like it.

[He steps away from the dummy, gesturing towards it.]

Go ahead, see if you can polish up your swing. It was looking pretty good, I bet you can get it with just a little more practice. You'll be severing heads off in no time, hahaha.

...

[Childe......................

Manabu side-eyes him with his good eye before moving to take the place Childe had been and sizing the dummy up again before getting back into it.]

Haa-!

[editor cue the swishy-swish montage.]

[Why is Gonna Fly Now suddenly playing in the background? Childe didn't bring a boombox.

He watches on as Manabu practices, scrutinizing every little motion about how his arm swings to how the rest of his body supports every attack.]

Not bad... [He finally says, when Manabu finishes, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder.] I could already see the improvement. All those lessons with Master Diluc really paid off, huh? Or maybe you had a secret talent I didn't know about?

[Manabu scoffs a little. he likes praise, sure, but he's never been keen to believe a possible conflating of special gifts!]

I don't think so. I'm just a guy, remember? No special powers. Swords have been outdated for at least a century where I'm from, you know.

[he wipes sweat off his forehead with the back of his sleeve, smearing his bangs on his face.]

Whatever's happening here can only happen if I work hard enough.

Come now. I didn't have my Vision, or any powers at all when I began to learn swordplay myself. I had to train under a master, the exact same as you. To be honest, I probably still can't beat her.

[He shrugs at Manabu. That probably sounds weird coming from him, but it's true.]

Though...I won't argue your point. You will get what you put into it.

[yeah, but whatever learning he did, he did a while ago from now; as far as Manabu's concerned, he's got himself a mountain to climb before he reaches any acceptable level.

he sighs, rolling his shoulder.]

And I know rushing things only messes stuff up in the long-run...but I can't help but worry I'm taking too long to get the hang of this. Never know when the next mess is coming, right...

Manabu.

[He puts a hand on his shoulder. If there's anything that Childe is when it comes to fighting, is encouraging. He doesn't even taunt his enemies in a way that would put them down.]

It's good to have high expectations of yourself, but setting them too high will only serve to discourage you. And in battle, that's no good- and I'd hate to hear that you fell only because you acted as your own barrier to improving. Take it at a pace you can handle, and stay alive; that's what matters.

[He doesn't mean to be so concerned, but still. He'd just rather not see Manabu die, not again.]

And take advantage of us, too. You have at least two people I know of who you can utilize for information and advice. Don't waste that, comrade.

[Manabu frowns a little like a chastised child, but he does take the remark to heart. it's clear, it makes sense...it also doesn't puff him up or completely put him down.

he nods.]

Right... I'm not looking to die again anytime soon, [he smiles faintly.] so I'm going to do this right.

That's the spirit.

[He says, setting his arms akimbo and giving Manabu a satisfied smile.]

Now, how about a little light sparring? Want to test out your skills a little on something a bit more lively than a dummy?

[his mouth twitches, tilting his head.]

Aa, I don't mind... But don't think I'm at a hundred percent right now! Since I was at this for a while before you showed up, okay?

Oh, don't worry. I'll push you, but not so far that you aren't able to handle it. I've yet to completely assess your skills.

[He brandishes his blades, water snapping into existence in his hands to form flowing weapons of pure hydro.]

Come at me, Manabu! Don't hold back on me.

[as expected, Childe comes out on top, but Manabu could at least hold his own for a few passes. it's tough to keep up with two blades when you have just one functioning eye to work with, you know!

he's sweaty, which leaves frigid, icy patterns on his visible skin and little crystals of ice on the tips of his hair where Childe's water blades sliced too close and splashed at him.

on the plus? he did not get tripped up on his ass this time.

just his face.]

Hoo... [he doubles over, hand on his knee, saber propped up in the dirt.] Not...not bad, right? Haa...

Not bad at all, especially for your first time against a Harbinger.

[Sure, he might of gotten tripped up on his face, but that was embarrassment and lesson enough on its own.]

Though, I've been meaning to ask you...what spurred you on to dedicate yourself to learning swordplay? The last time I asked, you didn't know. Now you fight like you have a reason.

[Manabu did mention earlier that one doesn't know when the next mess is going to hit- but that's only one part of a reason, usually.]

It's personal responsibility.

[he straightens up, frowning back at him.] What business do I have keeping this...if I'm not going to know how to use it? And besides... If I'm going to go out there, to go find what's outside of Trench...I need to be able to handle myself.

[a beat.]

Aa, I didn't...mention that to you yet, did I. Well...

[It's a fine a reason as any. People seek strength for all sorts of reasons, and if that's Manabu's, that's just fine. Childe nods in understanding when he says it, but the next part is intriguing.]

No, you didn't mention that. Sounds like there's going to be an expedition, eh? You weren't going to forget to invite me along, were you?

[Childe says, sounding expectant, like he should absolutely be invited, do you know how much fun he's going to have and how great of an addition he would be to the party wow? Even his eyes get bigger at the thought of it.]

Ha... [he smirks dryly.] No, of course not. You're at the top of the list once I get some more preliminary research done.

[beat. he shrugs, lifting the saber a bit as point-in-case.] And some training. I'm not going to drag anyone down if I can avoid it, you know.

[His smile reflects how he feels about Manabu's resolve. Proud of him, really.]

Hmmm. You've really taken the lead on this, haven't you?

[He asks curiously. It's not that he didn't think Manabu had the constitution to do such a thing, nor did he ever think him incapable of leading an expedition. But!]

Is this the sort of duty you would have carried out back at home, too?

Hmh? [he looks up from the saber, blinking.] Sort of duty...? [...] Not...not really. The SDF isn't really about expeditions, not unless it's like a search party or manhunt, you know?

Well, that's close enough for me.

[Not that it matters greatly to him, he just hears a great chance to go out and have an opportunity to slay some fierce monsters.]

I'll see to it that your expedition is as success. In the meantime...perhaps more training is in order. Guess I'll have to work a little harder too, just in case things go awry out there.

Haa, right. Let's do it!

[EDITOR PUT IN ANOTHER MONTAGE AND END THE THREAD]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

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imo we can handwave their little sparring match so we don't get bogged down and skip to the end

agreed

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