CATCH-ALL 1: December-January-February

[starswink]

[The world continues. By now, everyone will have settled in to the places they've made themselves, whether they've truly become like a home or not. It may seem like a lot of time has passed or none. But wherever you've found yourself by now, a reminder that life yet continues graces your morning.

The sky above the simulation is programmed for weather. And now, it's snowing... the first snow falls delicately in the night, and by the time the sun rises, the evergreens in the tree city are all glittering from the white covers sticking to their branches. At first there's only thin layers on everything, but as the month of December begins and goes on, you can be sure there will be more snow to come.

So, are you thinking about the holidays? It may be a good time to start... Not like there's much else to do in the simulation, talks with the outside nonwithstanding.]

Comments

[sendintheclown]

[Ice skating with Mitarai had become somewhat of a past time for Gogol; it had great significance in their relationship, after all. It was no surprise that they'd made it into a thing, though he respected his independence to go off on his own and practice in his own time too. He also, of course, felt some flush of paternal pride seeing just how much progress he'd made since those awkward earlier days. Arriving on the scene in some number of furs - a mixture of black and white, fox probably - he's just in time to catch a crucial part of that conversation.] Someone who could...really understand you? [He parrots back the words uselessly, with tone that's just the right amount of hollow beneath cautious curiosity to suggest that he's been wounded, deeply.]

[starswink]

[Yoosung has a big jacket. He knew a little bit about ice skating from his childhood so he's trying to help Mitarai out. This statement makes him skid a little more slowly in confusion, and with Gogol showing up, he can only turn to him and see if he shares in it!! Is he missing something obvious here?? His instinct is honestly to Will Smith pose at the other man but for now he'll just look back at Mitarai and say]

What???

[lovedanime]

......

[Mitarai skids to a stop. After this much practice, standing still on the ice is just barely within his capabilities, though not in a cool looking way. He is wearing a knitted cap and scarf over a brown coat. His eyes are wide.]

No, no! It's completely different! I mean understand here... Wait, not even "in this place"—Just a particular... Um...

[He's realizing that he still admitted to some sense of deprivation. His brow furrows.]

[sendintheclown]

[True to form, Gogol doesn't let his face betray the level of hurt that he's feeling right now. But, he's been wearing his masks more loosely nowadays, and a familiar or observant eye would be able to pick up on the emotion behind that pained smile.]

Ah, Ahaha! [He idly dusts his jacket, though no snow has fallen on it.] I see how it is! Every bird leaves the nest, doesn't it? Or, in the case of the cuckoo, wasn't meant to be there at all.

[They call that a brood parasite. He felt a fool for being a gullible species, but that's just what clowns were.]

[starswink]

Ah... Gogol?

[It doesn't really matter whether he lets his face betray it or not - Yoosung's super analysis can't help but notice the sudden discordant activity in his code. It's a bit of a red flag... so the glance he was already giving in his direction grows a bit more concerned. He's just gonna skate a little closer to him! Whoosh!]

I was surprised he said that too, but I'm pretty sure he didn't mean that!

[lovedanime]

Ghk! [Mitarai is similarly legible, looking and sounding like he's been sliced in the heart. A metaphor that plays on species mismatch itself as bad practice cuts him deep - but he knew he was relying on a bird with a sharp beak, so it's what he deserves, isn't it?

He raises both his gloved fists in agreement with Yoosung's words.] Of course not!

[The motion forward throws off his center of gravity; when Mitarai digs his toes in, the blades of his skates draw sparks.] I, I love the home we have and trust you more than anyone, so if that changed, I would tell you!

[His shoulders sink.] Is it really so wrong to consider discussing one or two things with someone else first? [It must be. His long face shows his resignation.]

[sendintheclown]

[Perhaps Gogol would have otherwise insisted it was a lie; he'd heard what he'd heard, and everyone was a liar to themselves and others, but that admission of trust knocks him off course. He might have had an idea, but hearing those words spoken made it real, and he finds himself stunned once again. Putting trust in a clown was a terrible idea, but...things were different now, weren't they?

Thinking on it for too long would be a trip down a winding path, so he returns to the matter on the surface. If Mitarai trusted him, so would he in his claims.

Such a misunderstanding made him look silly, but what else could he do but laugh?]

Hahaha! [He bends over, then back, touching his hand to his forehead.] I see what we have on our hands! The answer...a comedy of errors!

[How classic! He bounces on his heels, amusement and curiosity taking over. He looks to Yoosung, closest to him for his valiant whooshing.]

Now, my question is: what's this all really about?

[starswink]

Comedy! Right!

[Yoosung is relieved that this didn't escalate, but he double takes a bit when it seems like he's being asked personally what Mitarai was on about. He couldn't answer that without reading into it too hard, so instead he decides to go back a few steps.]

Um... I dunno. We were just talking about Valentine's Day before this. And how more people who don't know about it could join in and stuff. We're still talking about that, right?

[And now he is putting the ball back in Mitarai's court. He did mean something to do with that, right. Probably.]

[lovedanime]

Yeah, Valentine's Day... And all the rest of us who hang out lately have a Valentine, except... You know...? It would be inappropriate to look for a Valentine, but even someone else without one, just—I'm really sorry I put it that way! When I know how much you've both been through...



[This is enough facing his feelings for one day, ahaha! Mitarai turns to skate a little circle until he ends up on Yoosung's other flank, mirroring Gogol's conspiratorial posture in his own shier way.]

That's what most comedies are about in the end, huh? Kim-kun, you're better than I realized at the Tragicomedy Game.

[sendintheclown]

Haha, right you are! There's no romance without heartache, no fun without pain!

[With all this being about Valentine's, Gogol is much more at ease. It's nothing that puts his standing with Mitarai in jeopardy, and the exact kind of thing he's happy to sit back and watch as an agent of chaos.

At Mitarai's extra comment, he gets a glint in his eye.]

Say, he is, isn't he?

[He leans over to Yoosung with such an unnatural movement it'd be more in place on a doll that had a ball-joint at the waist.]

Well, would you like to give it a try?