[and! surprise, nimona and nico are both standing there. they've pulled a table up onto the deck of the ship, and on it are a couple of things. there are two boxes with bows haphazardly slapped on top, as well as an assortment of food! it looks homemade, and it's not... like, excellently laid out or anything, it very much looks like two stupid teenagers tried their very best to make ramen and spaghetti from scratch and did a passable job.
put up across all of the boat are pirate flags - i only have descriptions of some of them so for the most part just assume they're all flags that represent something around like eight people: nimona, nico, will, hung, datz, rita, saya, and temenos. some of the flags are hanging from the boat railings, but a specific one - a black flag with a wonky sunset and a shark - is put up high enough to signify that it would be the flag that the ship would be flying if they were moving.
nimona, who is holding nico's hand tightly, glances at him, and then at the two of you.]
[ this was important. this was important for them to do alone, and he's holding onto her hand to try and calm any nerves that the two of them may have. they really did try their best. but he offers a grin to both of them, lifting his free hand to wiggle like the world's most exhausted jazz hand. ]
We already said it, but welcome back. We, uh, got you guys some stuff. Presents.
[oh no this is so cute. you guys. this is adorable. the fact that they are nervous about it is the cutest part. he is trying to look calm about this because he hasn't even seen what the presents are yet so he refuses to get emotional, but his emotional energy is very weh.]
[ okay well first of all his feelings at the boat are fond and nostalgic and little bit longing, and he's keeping that up when looking at the both of them except he's very affectionate and excited too. present!!
hilariously there's a bit of him feeling shy and like 5% overwhelmed by the amount of affection involved with planning this out and the damn boat itself but no one acknowledge it ]
Yeah, they didn't, but I wanna see! [ nudges reigen like he again is not feeling shy about gift. ]
nimona squeezes nico's hand, and then lets go of it so she can go over to the two of them and tug them over!! the emotions are excited and nervous and like oh god because gifts are hard and she really wants them to like what they got... the food is a big part of it, too, they both were like we can't just amazoom them stuff it has to be homemade!!!
she hands one box to reigen, and the other to ace. i feel like these boxes are wrapped but the tape is fucking everywhere because nimona's an animal and i can't imagine nico cares enough to wrap a box like a fancy department store.
We totally did. [ he lets nimona take their hands to drag them over and distribute the gifts, his own emotions kind of fond and soft and amused. there's excitement and a little ahhhh at the idea of having to be perceived due to these gifts but he seems pretty mellow about it. nico does not super care about gift wrapping, it was probably his idea to slap on bows in the first place.
so anyway. when reigen opens his he finds a teapot and cup set along with a canister of a special handpicked blend of tea. something light and soothing and very much what they thought reminded them of reigen.
when ace opens his, he finds a lego set so he can have his own ship and go anywhere he wants with it. ]
[cute. he smiles to himself as he opens his present and yeah he will be just a little watery but also laugh, especially at ace's lego set. it's just very nice to be thought about by some cute kids who definitely did not start out this 8 week long murder experience being comfortable openly expressing their affection with gifts.]
Well, I didn't bring you anything from the newspaper. They had camping gear.
[ reigen making camping his personality was scary. there's definitely a little bit of bewilderment at ace's gift because what are legos, but also it's a pirate ship so he's very fond and also he figures it's a toy so he's amused. this is where i'm like yeah i think this is probably the first actual toy he's ever played with help me he thinks this is adorable ]
You guys really went all out. [ hes just kind of .w. that's the emotion. .w. is an emotion ] I wanna try the food, c'mon.
[they can all build the lego set, honestly. i don't know if legos exist in nimona so idk if she's seen them before. help.
anyway, they open the gifts, and she grins! there's a lot of relief because she was worried they totally were going to hate it and think it was lame. which is dumb, the whole reason her and nico wanted to give them gifts is because they've both always been encouraging, god.]
... It was probably a really good thing that you guys got out of there when you did, huh.
she opens her mouth to say something else, and then there's a burst of embarrassment and she closes her mouth. she was probably going to say something sappy and then remembered she's supposed to be cool and not a baby who took eight weeks to be able to tell people she loves them. instead, she scoots around the table and nudges the food at them.
they followed the recipes exactly. i think this is the hardest nimona has ever tried to cook something and have it taste good.]
Nico came up with the recipes. And we didn't burn Phoenix dorm down. [8D]
[ okay well my favorite lore now is that he probably only found legos were real when he got out of the lotus hotel so they're newer to him, too? he just likes doing things with his hands, they can all build the lego set because it's truly 2500 pieces somehow.
anyway his emotions are really like nervous dog tentatively wagging his tail energy before it's tail wagging wildly energy. ]
I think we'll both pass on the camping gear, don't worry. [ the food is actually very good. the presentation isn't the greatest, but everything tastes delicious and the kids really tried their best on this one. he looks a little sheepish though when nimona says that. ]
It's more like I looked up some recipes online and improvised a little to make them better. I didn't think sauce from a jar was good enough for the spaghetti and I swapped out some of the spices used and the pork for the ramen took a little longer but…yeah. [ so recipes exactly, but with some liberties because what he isn't saying is it's a recipe from his mom he retained from years and years ago. ] Dorm's still standing, that's a win.
Edited (i forgot to elaborate why.) 2023-11-08 23:36 (UTC)
[emotion share is really handy for stuff like this because you can tell when it is very important to a kid that you like his spaghetti but fortunately it is also very good spaghetti so he doesn't have to pretend to like it? let's go sit down to eat, but he'll have a bit of both.]
...Hey, how come both you and Lillium are amazing cooks? Not fair for Phoenix to hog two?
[ also tail wagging wildly energy. you know how ace is always going on about food. the vibe here is very much he was never kidding he is like, genuinely so excited and happy and grateful and affectionate at having people cook for him. it's gross.
anyway just NOM he will also try both. and he wants nimona and nico to eat with them so they better also eat the food its a family meal that way ]
It's great! Man, you guys would've been life savers with my first crew. I didn't get a cook until I joined up with Pops. [ blip of grief longing ERASES IT!!! for nostalgia ] Cooks and doctors are some of the most important roles on a ship, y'know.
[ he will also join them! his portions are smaller than the three of them and he seems embarrassed still but quietly pleased. ]
I've never actually done this before. I only picked it up a few weeks ago. [ mostly after lillium died, and the emotion is faintly fond. ] But I watched Lillium enough to kind of figure it out. The pumpkin soup was something he made while I was carving out some pumpkins for the dorm. It was like...pumpkin and pork and broth. [ he picks up on nimona's emotions though and gives her a curious little look. ]
It's weird to think about how this place actually allowed us to figure some things out. [ cooking. new hobbies. how to openly express affection. all those things. ]
[ this is unimportant it's just tattling. ace is kind of just vibing in good vibes feeling happy and comfortable on a ship with fwends. this is like. his happy place. ]
Reigen's right. You did great. [ a very dumb part of him wants to ask what's the occasion. he does not. ] And you learn more from the people you meet than anywhere you stay. Or, well, that's been my experience.
[she kind of just brushes off the curious look, settling into her chair.]
... Thanks. [she says to both of them, embarrassed, but - she likes this too. she missed them both a lot, and it sometimes doesn't exactly feel real to see them both sitting in front of her.]
I've never been around this many people before that I actually care about listening to.
[ he's sort of pushing his noodles around as he nods. ]
A lot of this was Nimona's idea. [ also tattling. ] I just helped with the details because I thought it was a good idea, too. We both thought that...[ he pauses here, trying to think of how to explain this and also make sure he's explaining well. ]
Things weren't the same without you. And we wanted you to know that we were thinking about you guys all the time because you probably didn't think of how much we'd miss you both. And besides just caring about listening to you, neither of us have ever really had many people who listened to us, too. [ or. like. any. in a lot of cases. ]
[ ace has that kind of shy squirmy feeling when you're being complimented and you don't know what you did to deserve it, while also being .w. pleased at the affection, except it turns into fond amusement at reigen's weh and trying not to cry face IMMEDIATELY he's distracted and laughing a little like an asshole ]
You guys are going to make Reigen cry. [ the feeling is like. fond nyehehe. ]
[thank god for nico because there's absolutely no way she could bring herself to say any of that! but like, it's true - she feels that just as strongly, and her emotions reflect that, something stupid and embarrassing and earnest.
so when reigen looks like he's about to cry and ace becomes a gremlin, nimona kind of just - laughs. not meanly! she's just really happy, is all.
she shifts into a cat, hopping across the table so she can launch herself up to sit on reigen's shoulders, bunting her kitty skull against his.]
Good. [teasing!!] ... He's right, though. Neither of you guys get how important you are sometimes so we just... wanted to make sure you knew.
[ nimona has reigen and it means he slouches a little to kick ace lightly for being a gremlin even if he also sort of laughs a similar fond overwhelmed laugh. ]
Like you're not just as affected. [ but he nods. ] It's not like we're never gonna see you guys again either, so we'll remind you as many times as it takes until it really sticks.
[ it is a light kick but ace still kickies back. :T ]
Yeah, coming down with feelings. [ he's responding to reigen because the call out on not knowing you are important just got a swirl of embarrassment, guilt, and some kind of unsure feeling. that's his own horrible weh moment, though he doesn't look like he's gonna cry so he still wins. ] Anyway, you don't have to go that out of your way for it. You guys already made it kind of obvious...
[ while they were dead. but also hilarious of ace to say this while knowing he hears it and still has an emotion that's like ?? rly?? and they can all feel it, but if any of them try to discuss his issues more he's going to throw himself into the sea and drown again ]
she is very amused at reigen getting weh at them - and at ace being embarrassed, because that was the point, to make them both feel things. she stays where she is, tail flicking back and forth.]
Don't talk about my lame letters to the dead. [nyeh!!! embarrassing!!!] ... And we're not going out of our way.
[ hehehe...he is just. full of fond amusement, sorry. and then a touch of sheepishness. ]
I guess this is where I say I'm sorry I didn't write more. I never really knew what to say or how to say what I wanted to say. But she's right. We're not going out of our way. That's like saying you guys went out of your way for us and I know that's not true.
It's okay. We couldn't really answer you guys without putting it on blast in the newspaper. I didn't take you not writing as you not wanting to talk to us, just. Not wanting to talk to us like that.
[ kickies nico. no they don't go out of their way gosh.
but yea the feeling at thinking of the newspaper letters is just kind of Urgh and a little awkward ]
Yeah. I never even knew how to answer the ones we did get from you guys without making a whole public production out of it. And everyone could see what you guys sent...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w7, WEDNESDAY
come to the boat
[and! surprise, nimona and nico are both standing there. they've pulled a table up onto the deck of the ship, and on it are a couple of things. there are two boxes with bows haphazardly slapped on top, as well as an assortment of food! it looks homemade, and it's not... like, excellently laid out or anything, it very much looks like two stupid teenagers tried their very best to make ramen and spaghetti from scratch and did a passable job.
put up across all of the boat are pirate flags - i only have descriptions of some of them so for the most part just assume they're all flags that represent something around like eight people: nimona, nico, will, hung, datz, rita, saya, and temenos. some of the flags are hanging from the boat railings, but a specific one - a black flag with a wonky sunset and a shark - is put up high enough to signify that it would be the flag that the ship would be flying if they were moving.
nimona, who is holding nico's hand tightly, glances at him, and then at the two of you.]
Surprise!
no subject
We already said it, but welcome back. We, uh, got you guys some stuff. Presents.
no subject
...Hmm? You guys didn't have to get us anything.
[nooooooooooooooo.]
no subject
hilariously there's a bit of him feeling shy and like 5% overwhelmed by the amount of affection involved with planning this out and the damn boat itself but no one acknowledge it ]
Yeah, they didn't, but I wanna see! [ nudges reigen like he again is not feeling shy about gift. ]
no subject
[help you're both dorks
nimona squeezes nico's hand, and then lets go of it so she can go over to the two of them and tug them over!! the emotions are excited and nervous and like oh god because gifts are hard and she really wants them to like what they got... the food is a big part of it, too, they both were like we can't just amazoom them stuff it has to be homemade!!!
she hands one box to reigen, and the other to ace. i feel like these boxes are wrapped but the tape is fucking everywhere because nimona's an animal and i can't imagine nico cares enough to wrap a box like a fancy department store.
lets ty tell you what's in them]
no subject
so anyway. when reigen opens his he finds a teapot and cup set along with a canister of a special handpicked blend of tea. something light and soothing and very much what they thought reminded them of reigen.
when ace opens his, he finds a lego set so he can have his own ship and go anywhere he wants with it. ]
...tada. [ haha. ]
no subject
Well, I didn't bring you anything from the newspaper. They had camping gear.
no subject
[ reigen making camping his personality was scary. there's definitely a little bit of bewilderment at ace's gift because what are legos, but also it's a pirate ship so he's very fond and also he figures it's a toy so he's amused. this is where i'm like yeah i think this is probably the first actual toy he's ever played with help me he thinks this is adorable ]
You guys really went all out. [ hes just kind of .w. that's the emotion. .w. is an emotion ] I wanna try the food, c'mon.
no subject
anyway, they open the gifts, and she grins! there's a lot of relief because she was worried they totally were going to hate it and think it was lame. which is dumb, the whole reason her and nico wanted to give them gifts is because they've both always been encouraging, god.]
... It was probably a really good thing that you guys got out of there when you did, huh.
she opens her mouth to say something else, and then there's a burst of embarrassment and she closes her mouth. she was probably going to say something sappy and then remembered she's supposed to be cool and not a baby who took eight weeks to be able to tell people she loves them. instead, she scoots around the table and nudges the food at them.
they followed the recipes exactly. i think this is the hardest nimona has ever tried to cook something and have it taste good.]
Nico came up with the recipes. And we didn't burn Phoenix dorm down. [8D]
no subject
anyway his emotions are really like nervous dog tentatively wagging his tail energy before it's tail wagging wildly energy. ]
I think we'll both pass on the camping gear, don't worry. [ the food is actually very good. the presentation isn't the greatest, but everything tastes delicious and the kids really tried their best on this one. he looks a little sheepish though when nimona says that. ]
It's more like I looked up some recipes online and improvised a little to make them better. I didn't think sauce from a jar was good enough for the spaghetti and I swapped out some of the spices used and the pork for the ramen took a little longer but…yeah. [ so recipes exactly, but with some liberties because what he isn't saying is it's a recipe from his mom he retained from years and years ago. ] Dorm's still standing, that's a win.
no subject
...Hey, how come both you and Lillium are amazing cooks? Not fair for Phoenix to hog two?
no subject
anyway just NOM he will also try both. and he wants nimona and nico to eat with them so they better also eat the food its a family meal that way ]
It's great! Man, you guys would've been life savers with my first crew. I didn't get a cook until I joined up with Pops. [ blip of grief longing ERASES IT!!! for nostalgia ] Cooks and doctors are some of the most important roles on a ship, y'know.
[ no one asked ]
no subject
Don't let him get away with downplaying it, he did good. [she's proud!! das her nico...
there's a little flicker of something where it's like, i want, but it's unclear what.]
He made this really good - what was it, soup with pumpkin?
no subject
I've never actually done this before. I only picked it up a few weeks ago. [ mostly after lillium died, and the emotion is faintly fond. ] But I watched Lillium enough to kind of figure it out. The pumpkin soup was something he made while I was carving out some pumpkins for the dorm. It was like...pumpkin and pork and broth. [ he picks up on nimona's emotions though and gives her a curious little look. ]
It's weird to think about how this place actually allowed us to figure some things out. [ cooking. new hobbies. how to openly express affection. all those things. ]
no subject
[but he nods.]
No downplaying. You did good. Both of you did.
no subject
[ this is unimportant it's just tattling. ace is kind of just vibing in good vibes feeling happy and comfortable on a ship with fwends. this is like. his happy place. ]
Reigen's right. You did great. [ a very dumb part of him wants to ask what's the occasion. he does not. ] And you learn more from the people you meet than anywhere you stay. Or, well, that's been my experience.
[ nomad ass bitch of course you'd say that ]
no subject
... Thanks. [she says to both of them, embarrassed, but - she likes this too. she missed them both a lot, and it sometimes doesn't exactly feel real to see them both sitting in front of her.]
I've never been around this many people before that I actually care about listening to.
no subject
A lot of this was Nimona's idea. [ also tattling. ] I just helped with the details because I thought it was a good idea, too. We both thought that...[ he pauses here, trying to think of how to explain this and also make sure he's explaining well. ]
Things weren't the same without you. And we wanted you to know that we were thinking about you guys all the time because you probably didn't think of how much we'd miss you both. And besides just caring about listening to you, neither of us have ever really had many people who listened to us, too. [ or. like. any. in a lot of cases. ]
no subject
I see.
no subject
You guys are going to make Reigen cry. [ the feeling is like. fond nyehehe. ]
no subject
so when reigen looks like he's about to cry and ace becomes a gremlin, nimona kind of just - laughs. not meanly! she's just really happy, is all.
she shifts into a cat, hopping across the table so she can launch herself up to sit on reigen's shoulders, bunting her kitty skull against his.]
Good. [teasing!!] ... He's right, though. Neither of you guys get how important you are sometimes so we just... wanted to make sure you knew.
no subject
Like you're not just as affected. [ but he nods. ] It's not like we're never gonna see you guys again either, so we'll remind you as many times as it takes until it really sticks.
no subject
[sniffling mildly. but his irritation is so obviously not genuine at all, just an automatic reaction to being teased. petting the kitty gently.]
no subject
Yeah, coming down with feelings. [ he's responding to reigen because the call out on not knowing you are important just got a swirl of embarrassment, guilt, and some kind of unsure feeling. that's his own horrible weh moment, though he doesn't look like he's gonna cry so he still wins. ] Anyway, you don't have to go that out of your way for it. You guys already made it kind of obvious...
[ while they were dead. but also hilarious of ace to say this while knowing he hears it and still has an emotion that's like ?? rly?? and they can all feel it, but if any of them try to discuss his issues more he's going to throw himself into the sea and drown again ]
no subject
she is very amused at reigen getting weh at them - and at ace being embarrassed, because that was the point, to make them both feel things. she stays where she is, tail flicking back and forth.]
Don't talk about my lame letters to the dead. [nyeh!!! embarrassing!!!] ... And we're not going out of our way.
no subject
I guess this is where I say I'm sorry I didn't write more. I never really knew what to say or how to say what I wanted to say. But she's right. We're not going out of our way. That's like saying you guys went out of your way for us and I know that's not true.
[ "...right?" ]
no subject
[which he didn't want, either.]
no subject
but yea the feeling at thinking of the newspaper letters is just kind of Urgh and a little awkward ]
Yeah. I never even knew how to answer the ones we did get from you guys without making a whole public production out of it. And everyone could see what you guys sent...