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

[Varian's really enjoying the food, but he's not going to pass up the chance to talk up his boyfriend. Not for anything. He swallows his mouthful of food, nodding enthusiastically.]

Oh, yeah! Fern can grow all kinds of stuff, he's really impressive! You should try his coffee sometime, it's great.

[Maybe some people would feel weird about eating food your boyfriend has directly produced on his body (or at least seen some sort of innuendo in the whole thing) but Varian is not some people. ]

Duly noted. Carrots and onions. Can do!

[Oh, he did not think this through. He's blushing a little at their reactions, shrugging.]

Y - yup, any plant or mushroom or whatev, I can grow. [He gives Varian a little warm grin.] Including coffee, though I dunno if great is how I'd put it.
[Probably just good? He should really work harder on getting super high quality coffee beans grown, since they're so popular around here.

At any rate, he keeps on downing his own bowl.]

Have you ever thought about opening a restaurant? Or like, charging people for cooking classes? 'Cause I bet you'd get takers.

Nahhh, [Manabu waves his hand a bit, shaking his head.] I'm not cut out for that. Knowing two or three dishes doesn't really qualify for one thing, y'know? Making food for friends versus strangers is entirely different.

[Too bad, Fern, you're getting talked up!]

Well, I like it just fine.

[Not that Varian should really DRINK coffee - it's always a recipe for disaster whenever he does it. He smiles in Manabu's direction.]

Yeah, I can understand that. But hey something like a soup kitchen would really appreciate stuff like this. Do-do we have soup kitchens here? I feel like we probably have soup kitchens here.

[Okay yeah, being able to make good food doesn't automatically mean Manabu could run a whole restaurant. Varian's idea is a good one though, and Fern nods along at it.]

Yeah, what about a soup kitchen?

Eh?

[blink blink. Manabu looks confused...because he is. because he's from a very well-off galaxy (for the most part), where the idea of soup kitchens is pretty far from his mind.]

Isn't that just a restaurant...that's only soup?

[Manabu.

MANABU.

Varian kind of stares for a moment. Before letting out a slow sigh. He's trying his best. ]

No- no, buddy. It's a place where you feed people who struggle to buy food for themselves. Like...the poor or homeless? It's helping the community, it- it's not all soup. That's just the name.

[Fern, meanwhile, chuckles a little. For once, he doesn't feel dumb!]

Sometimes there's no soup involved at all. But it's all for free instead of for making money.

[getting schooled by a couple of teens...friends or not, it is a bit emasculating, isn't it? Manabu pouts a bit, but is able to stuff his face and get over it as he listens.

his brow furrows as the notion forms more clearly in-mind.]

That sounds...like an awful lot of ongoing work. How would I be able to maintain while still doing stuff at the Roost and all the pick-up jobs around town? Not to mention the mapping I have to do... [SLURRRRP.]

[Sorry, Manabu, at least it's loving teasing. That's the best sort! Varian kinda just...blinks at him for a moment.]

Wow. You- you've got a lot on your plate, huh? Maybe not then. [Then, carefully:] You are giving yourself a break in all that, right?

[Friends aren't friends without a little ribbing, but yeah, that definitely sounds like a lot. Varian is asking the question on Fern's mind very tactfully, and he helpfully pipes up in a less-than-tactful manner.]

Are you even sleeping with all that junk to do?

[after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.] Of course! You sleep better after having had a hard day's work, right? No tossing and turning, just lights out when you hit the pillow.

Any sleep I might miss is sleep I get trying to read up in the archives anyway. [he laughs a little, shrugging.]

But don't worry! Only worry if it turns out I'm not keeping busy, because that's the bad condition for someone like me.

[Varian shoots Fern a look for going into this with all the subtle grace of a wrecking ball, before exhaling softly, turning back to Manabu.]

Okay, see, if I told you I was doing that, you'd tell me I need to get proper sleep. In a bed. Like. For eight entire hours. I get that you wanna keep busy, but you need sleep that's not technically passing out, too.

[What. What is that look!! Fern shrugs a tiny bit, at least his tactlessness gets answers.]

Varian's right. You gotta take care of yourself.

[he squints at each of them in turn before sitting up straighter.]

This is all backward. I'm the adult here, after all! When you're an adult, your capacities change, you stop growing so you don't need as much rest as kids and teens do. That's pretty basic science, you know?

And besides, I made time to come hang out and have a meal with you guys, didn't I?

[He knows why.]

...Uhhhhhhh. No? [Manabu, Manabu please.] I mean, sure your body stops growing but you've still gotta look after yourself. It still uh... it still needs care to stop it from...collapsing on itself. Like a machine!

[THERE'S your basic science Manabu, wow wow wow.]

Okay, I'll give you that. That's good, and I hope it helped you feel...relaxed? A little? We should do it again sometime.

[Oh man, Fern just grins at all that.]

Duuude, you don't wanna use science when you're arguing with V. That's a lost cause.

[RIP Manabu, RIP.]

Yeah, this was fun! And relaxing, and we got to make something delicious, so it was great all around.

[he makes a face. machines, come on! it's different! because...because it needs to be so he sounds right!

he shakes his head and sighs, sitting back in his seat now that he's got a full, content stomach.]

Mn. I wouldn't mind it. [smirking:] Actually, it'll be good to reconvene and see if you can't master this yourselves!

[He made a valiant attempt and that's what matters!]

Oh sure, of course! You're welcome here anytime you like.

[Because Manabu is a friend and as such can just wander into the hellscape that is this house whenever the mood takes him.]

Hopefully, next time you come here we'll actually be good at it.

Yeah! Maybe next time we can try cooking for you.

[Like a whole thank-you or something.]

We're gonna study hard! [He punches the air. That means a lot, coming from him, given how much he hates doing things like studying.]

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

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