ᯓ⭐ WEEK THREE MINGLE

Happy third week, lovebirds! Here's to hoping you're riding high on the wave of success of one whole pair being correct! Surely you must have an idea by now how to win this thing!

Probably?

The good news is that you're not going to have to find yourselves in any weird clothes this time around, except maybe that just leads to a strange sense of foreboding for a future scenario...? Who knows. You can't quite brace yourself for it this time.

But don't worry, it's not like there's nothing happening. On the contrary!

For the entirety of this week, you'll find yourself feeling... clingy. It's going to start feeling very strange if you're not leaning on someone, holding their hand, cuddling with them, sitting in their lap, stealing a kiss, or engaging in some other form of affectionate physical contact. And if it's someone you're already feeling fond of OR someone you actually can't stand, guess what?

That feeling is doubled!

You may realize this is an unusual feeling, but so what? Trying to ignore it is only going to make it feel stronger and do you really want to make yourselves feel miserable?

Shut up, masochists.

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[ ........ the way oz patiently waits for uroko to make himself comfortable on the nearest pillow pile.

like 🧍‍♂️, but sitting in a fort. ]

Shaping the world in the way I wished, through force.

[ (...)

pours himself more of whatever liquor he's brought over that isn't sake. drinks and considers in this silence that they can both vibe in.

(truthfully he's used to silence, it's how he spends most of his days as the people of Shioshishio live out their lives. being here with this bunch has been far more lively than anything else he's experienced in hundreds of years.) ]

Oz. What do you see yourself as?

[ ...

oz has no fear of being judged. he is who he is, and he's done what he's done; the roots of his hesitation rest at the feet of someone else who is not here, and he attempts to rip them out all the same.

so, the silence nor the question bother him. ]

... I am myself. That is all.

[ it's not so useful a response, but it's the only response a wizard that's lived as long as oz can give. ]

Hmm.

[ uroko considers the answer much in the same way he considered the question to ask in the first place. it is a very oz answer. it is also not a particularly human answer. there is no defense of it, righteousness, shame, or any of the other emotions displayed tonight.

humans are not gods. but oz is oz, and whatever that is, he is not human either. ]

Do you drink?

[

it's a question shylock might follow up with. unlike the last one, oz isn't entirely too sure how to respond to this one. he— focuses on the now, then, as that's the only option he's given. ]

I am not opposed to it, if the conditions call for it.

[ and if the company isn't terrible. ]

These conditions surely want for it.

[ does it count as pouring if uroko has his magic do it for him? he even gets oz a fresh cup (how thoughtful), popping a glass of sherry in front of the wizard.

will oz accept? ]

[ do they. ]

In this space.

[ oz looking at the environment of forced, uncomfortable secret sharing and thinking really?

well, actually- ]

... Perhaps you are right.

[ oz will accept. he takes the glass, not quite saying thank you, but the nod that he offers is basically that. ]

[ a slight raise of his hand in toast (still lazing on the pillows), kanpai. ]

Now then. I could tell you a "secret" or we could talk of other things, not of this game.

[ unforced things. he takes a sip, realizing there's really only one attractive option here. ]

What will you do after this?

[ oz follows that flow. there's a lack of toast, though he drinks in time with uroko's sip.

this atmosphere is quite different from the bar that he visits now and again, but... ]

I will resume what I was doing.

[ not the "taking over the world, pinky" part.

the existing portion. the prevent the world from exploding portion. there is a distance, a sense that he speaks of this as if it's something that will slot into a small portion of a very long life; it's a sentiment that oz thinks uroko will understand.

or... maybe not. ]

Is it not the same for you?

It is. Someone asked me the same in the earlier weeks.

[ and it's been on his mind lately, as this draws to a close. four weeks is very short, but given as they have been four weeks where he's had both freedom in being cut off from his god and his duties, they'll be remembered. he takes another sip.

as much as freedom has been nice, he's missed the sea terribly. ]

What I'm returning to will be far quieter. All of the Sea God's people, save those that have made the land their home, are in hibernation for several years to come. But they still need protection, even under all the layers of ice.

[ it does sound quiet.

oz is reminded of the terrible volume of the silence following arthur's departure, a lack of sound that he recalls with a deeper clarity than many events in his life.

among other things. obligations, heavy and not. his gaze drifts elsewhere... until he focuses. ]

A duty you may not ignore.

[ ... ]

Will they wake and then sleep once more?

[ uroko tips his head rather than give verbal confirmation: it is a duty he can't ignore, though it is one he is in fact ignoring right now. not purposefully, but the fact that he has is yet another thought entirely. ]

That depends on the Sea God. The land took too much from the sea, and this is his recompense. He shelters his children from the long winter but does nothing for the land as punishment.

[ for his love?

it may seem too harsh a response for others, but for oz, it makes perfect sense. there's no cruelty in the act; it simply is, for if you are taken from, you take in turn. a true northern wizard would not judge that, and as a northern wizard, he does not.

but he also does not voice his thoughts on that. it is disconnected from him, and there is no place for him there in the affairs of others. ]

... I will not assume your heart, so I will ask.

[ oz can recall that uroko had said he did not question that duty or his promise, whatever that was. oz would never ask on the latter, given what it means to him. ]

What do you, as Uroko, think of that decision?

[ ...he needs to drink more to answer this so he does, finishing his glass and pouring another. really, if he wanted to not be feeling anything at all he would at least need to down several bottles before speaking again, but the action helps as a placebo if nothing else. ]

I think it's foolish. The land and sea will continue to comingle, regardless of the Sea God's desires. He could not stop his children from leaving him when they were all of the sea, so he cannot stop them now.

He wishes to see them protected, like any father does, but in doing so he causes pain. And he knows himself, just what it feels like to fall in love with someone from the land. If their voices could reach him, perhaps something could be done. For now, there is simply time and distance.

[ there is something within oz that feels a specific way towards the notion that such a response is foolish. there is some measure of defensiveness, irrationality, and agreement; there is no need for him to feel such things, as it's a situation so far from him, and yet they are there.

uroko drinks in preparation for his response. oz's gaze merely dips towards his glass, staring at what remains in silence.

you are right tangles with you do not understand, then, and he is uncertain which is the stronger or weaker one. from within, there is only a singular conclusion that both protects and accurately reflects what oz views as the truth. ]

... Then remember that distinction. It is proof of the freedom you hold beyond your origins, and your obligations. There may be a time when you need such a thing.

[ but perhaps uroko already knows that. there's just something that seems young in the way he speaks, despite not being so. beyond all else, it's a compliment. ]

Mmn. [ another sip, slower this time. ]

I am but a single scale of the Sea God, but even I am not free from the current, it seems. But perhaps that is not complete sacrilege. After all, my tendency to be stubborn comes from him just as well.

[ it's something he needed to hear, even if it's something he will sit on for a few more days before actually acting on it fully. oz won't get a thank you, but he does get a warm smile instead. ]

WEEK THREE MINGLE

ᯓ⭐ WEEK THREE MINGLE

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