ioduanlogs | [May Catch-All] A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down~

Characters: Devin, Valdis, Kit, Zephyr, the Fool
Date: Backdated to mid-April-ish for Devin, throughout May for the rest.
Location: All over Aifaran.
Situation: Ranging from 'hi you should probably know that I'm never going to go to sleep again and here's why', to 'we need a therapy group stat.' Also some identity theft and finely-tailored coats thrown in.
Warnings/Rating: None for now, but at least one thread is going to get personal, so warnings in comment headers as they become applicable!

A: Devin | mid-April-ish, a few days after the park destruction | Oh, By The Way

Valdis has gone missing, and X is pretty sure there's nothing he can do to find her until she wants to be found. It's not ideal, and it makes him antsy, so he's focusing on the one thing he can do something about -- Devin.

For the past few days, whenever X isn't at the park helping to repair some of the damage, he's with Devin in the library, talking. He talks even and especially when Devin doesn't talk back. The bookcases are high, but Devin is better at staying within his own physical limits than X was fearing, and as a result X never has to leap up and help out. He does wince, though, once or twice, when Devin reaches a little far.

Once it's pretty clear Devin is completely healed (and that ability, both in humans and in people like Devin, will never stop being weird), X knows he can't put off the truth any longer. "Listen," he says after one short and companionable silence. "There's... something I need you to know."

B: Valdis and Kit | early May, after talking to Valdis on the beach | Therapy Group, Stat

Valdis has moved out of the Dreaming Bridge now. That's something X intends to do himself, eventually, but not yet -- nowhere near, if he's being honest with himself. He doesn't spend much time there to begin with, and since it looks like sleeping is not an activity he'll get to engage in again any time soon, there's really no point until he's saved up a bit more money.

But he still considers Valdis a roommate. And you don't need to be a reader to know when two different people could benefit from having someone to trust. So X sends both his roommates a message -- text for Kit, audio for Valdis -- in the hopes that Valdis won't keep ignoring him.

Meet me outside the Bridge. There's something I'd like all three of us to do. Don't worry, it's nothing bad.

C: Zephyr | mid May | Crime 1, Identity Thief

Well, X thinks as he stands and blinks at the poster on the outside of the Sentry building. At least this time it took three months for them to decide I'm a threat.

He feels more at home right now than he ever has. That's... something he undoubtedly needs to work through. Still, X can't pinpoint what might have caused this. The one thing he's done that he knew would make the authorities angry, he's already been punished for. Is it because of the park last month? Has someone worked out what he is and decided he can't be allowed to roam free anymore?

The longer X stands there pondering those questions, the more obvious it becomes to any onlookers that the angry, aggressive face depicted in the poster looks about as similar to X as a dragon does to a lizard.

D: The Fool | mid May | Commerce 3, But It's Bespoke!

X's weekly chats with the Fool aren't the only reason he suspects the Fool might be the one who's sent him this... frankly, beautiful coat. It fits X perfectly, which implies an attention to detail, and he can't help recalling the day he tried to climb through the cafeteria window and shattered the glass. He'd been wearing a coat then, nabbed for practicality, cheap and thick and entirely ineffectual against the rain. It would be just like the Fool to order a custom tailored coat right after that.

The problem is that, if he did, he doesn't seem to have paid for it.

So, with the tailor standing right there and very impatient, X tries to get the Fool on the yimo. "He's not very good with technology," X explains to the tailor. "It might take a minute."

"I'm telling you," says the tailor, exasperated, "no one called the Fool ordered this! You did!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Much more polite that way," X agrees with a surprised smile. He expected backlash, but he isn't sure why. Habit? Or maybe he's just pleased at a little validated reminder of his home, however far removed.

-- and his new friend has a point. They're on display here, right next to a wanted poster, and if anyone tries to start something, it could trigger X's trance again. That's the last thing he wants. That's the last thing anyone wants.

X steps away from the poster, suddenly much more mindful of his face being in view. "Do you have somewhere in mind?" he asks.

Granted, if you know the god you're addressing, there's a point where it comes back around to polite to use their title-- but a name is certainly better than yelling 'god' into the air. Imagine yelling 'human' when inconvenienced.

Zephyr flashes a quick grin in exchange for that smile, and then shrugs, falling into step with X. "I'm new around here. Lead the way."

Assuming, here, that someone who's been here long enough to get into trouble probably knows something of the area. "I'm Zephyr, by the way," he says as they go.

So it's true, then -- people keep appearing here, all the time. It's not that X didn't believe all the welcomers at the Dreaming Bridge, but seeing it for himself is humbling. Or, well, not seeing. Hearing for himself.

"X," he says, before remembering that's not usually enough. "That's me," he adds with a chuckle. "X. It's good to meet you, Zephyr."

There's a small cafe out of the way down the next street, so X heads in that direction with a gesture. "Down here."

It's not that Zephyr follows without question -- he's been around the block a few too many times to trust someone he's just met unconditionally -- but he has a good feeling and he doesn't feel like questioning anything.

Anyway, he was the one opting to believe X in the first place.

So Zephyr falls into step, pacing with long easy strides at X's heels, keeping half an eye for people who look maybe too interested. "Just X?" He's not one to judge other people's name choices, he just wants to be sure he heard right. "Nice to meet you too." He thinks. Probably.

"Just X." No one here has known what the placeholder means, and no one here has recoiled in shock or disgust, but X is fairly sure a part of him will always expect it. "There's a story behind it, but it's not a very interesting one."

At least, as far as he's concerned. It's a painful story. Not an interesting one.

"How new are you?" X asks as they approach the cafe he's thinking of. "Have you tried any of the local food yet?"

"I think stories are probably least interesting to the people they're about," Zephyr says wryly, but he lets it go; it's no skin off his nose. X is X, fine.

Zephyr shrugs, linking his hands behind his neck for a moment. ...And then opts to have a little fun: "No, not at all. I've been subsisting on the wind for the last two weeks."

"Oh." X glances at Zephyr as they walk. "Can you eat? There's a place down here that does some very good seafood, but if you can't eat, then..."

A very small, very new voice in X's mind alerts him to what he's missing, and he stops, and his smile turns self-deprecating. "... you're joking, aren't you."

Oh no, X thought it was serious. Is it his face? Is his deadpan just too deadpan?

Zephyr laughs when X turns to him, a little amused, a little sheepish. "Yeah, I'm joking. What clued you in?" And there's a sort of waving-onward as if to say don't let me stop you. He'd actually like to get to this cafe.

"I'm... still a little new to recognising it," X confesses, laughing along. "I'm still learning. But in my defence, there are plenty of Dreamfolk here who have different sorts of survival needs. It wouldn't be a stretch to believe."

They reach the cafe, and X holds the door open for Zephyr to go in first. He'd thought his day would go very differently when he first caught sight of the wanted poster, and if previous experience with his own luck is any indication, it still might; but Zephyr is observant, and optimistic. A new friend who didn't need to be told there's more to the story of the poster than meets the eye.

A thought occurs, and X laughs all over again. "You're not a detective, are you?" he asks.

"I suppose so." He'll admit there's plenty of different types of people.

Zephyr ducks inside when X holds the door for him, absently turning back to check if X has any intent about where to sit. Then-- "Where'd that come from?" he wants to know. "I mean, I've done my fair share of tracking and recovery and dealing with mysterious culprits, I guess, but I wouldn't say I'm a detective, no."

X has no intent about where to sit whatsoever, and is in fact waiting to see where Zephyr chooses to sit. This could turn awkward.

"It seems to be a popular career," X replies with a small shrug. "When a kin'nal girl went missing several months ago, I met a lot of Dreamfolk detectives. You were on point with the poster, so..."

At least the detectives X has met here in Aifaran seem, as a whole, more reasonable than the sort he's used to.

"Says a lot about a place that needs a lot of people solving mysteries." Zephyr watches X for a moment more to see if he's going to pick, then shrugs and goes to pick a seat out. Somewhere near a wall, preferably. Fewer people to keep an eye on.

"So what'd you get into that you've got a wanted poster, huh? You seem like you have way too many manners for that."

[May Catch-All] A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down~

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