triverse | Kick Out, Break Out, The Place That I Flee To Is Always Inside Of My Heart

[As Kor chases after Caius, he can hear Rubia screeching the boy's name. How can he just ignore her like that, is his hearing really bad or something? Poor guy.]

Really, you think so? You two seem like really good friends to me, so I don't think she'd hold a grudge for long.

[If anything his hearing is slightly better than most. Which makes the screaming even worse.

At Kor's comment he just shoots him a dead look, as if there's no way he could be serious in saying that.]

Well... Yeah, we're good friends. But Rubia, she holds onto things for way too long. She brings things up that happened when we were kids like they happened yesterday! Embarrassing things!

[He can only take so much of Rubia telling him how much of a wuss he was as a child. Granted it's normally his fault for pushing her buttons in the first place but anyway.

As they walk along and the streets begin to grow busier, more businesses appearing the longer they head on, Caius spots a clothing store. Hmm. Maybe there are accessories or something in there Rubia would like? He gestures to the shop with a toss of his head.]

Anyway, let's take a look in here for a second. It won't take long. Then we can really take a look around this place.

[Holds onto things for way too long, huh... Man, she really is like Beryl...

Kor looks at where Caius was gesturing. A clothing store? Why a clothing store, they didn't need new clothes, their clothes were fine. Did they need disguises or something?

Well, Caius seems to think they need to go there, so he just nods to him.]

Uhhh... Okay. Sounds fine to me.

[Bam, they're in a clothing store. It's about what you'd expect, clothes on racks and outfits up on mannquins. There are small stands of accessories dotted around too, which is what Caius makes a beeline for once he spots one.]

Let's see, something for Rubia...

[Just shopping for accessories for his friend who happens to be a girl, it's fine.

Flicking through whats on display he ends up picking out a barrette with fake pink and yellow flowers covering the whole thing. Is it excessive, or is it Rubia's style? She likes flowers. She is dressed as a flower most of time. Can you overkill what has already been killed?

Looking back around him for Kor, he'll show his friend the barrette with a tilt of his head.]

Do you think Rubia would like this? It's got flowers on it, so you know. [Makes sense.]

[While Caius hunted for the perfect apology gift, Kor decided to look around. He wasn't really all that great at gift shopping, but... Maybe he could find a nice souvenir or two take back to Kohaku. Whenever he manages to get back, that is. And maybe find some other cool stuff to take back too. He and his friends did seem to like collecting accessories to wear.

When Caius comes to Kor with the thing he picked out, he'll find Kor in the middle of trying on an accessory himself.

A pair of blue aviator sunglasses. They almost seemed out of place with the rest of the shop's offerings but they caught Kor's attention for some reasons. He lifts up the glasses to take a look at Caius' offering.]

Hmm... Yeah, I guess? It looks like something a girl would like to me. [He didn't really understand the things girls seemed to like.]

[... Caius feels a little bad for just completely forgetting about the reason why he came in here, but seeing those sunglasses completely derails his train of thought.]

Uh, yeah. Good, cool. Uh...

[Does Kor remember suddenly?? Or is this just some fantastical coincidence. Whatever it is that's the cause, he ends up just shoving the barrette in with the other glasses Kor was looking through. After that he grabs a pair of glasses for himself and slips them on.]

Okay, and... What do you think of these?

[Orange aviators. He wants to smile, but if Kor doesn't remember then there's really nothing worth smiling over. It'd just be a bittersweet happenstance. Instead his heart beats hard in his chest as he watches Kor intently for his reaction from behind the tinted lenses.]

[Kor looks at Caius' new acquisition... and feels his heart skip a beat. Something about this just... feels so familiar to him, but he doesn't know why. None of this should be familiar to him.

...Is there really something Kor's forgetting here, like Caius seems to think? Kor almost looks troubled by this, by the weird feeling he's getting in his chest.

He shakes his head, trying to dismiss it. It's not like him to get caught up in thoughts like that. Instead, he just smiles for Caius.]

They look good! They kinda, err... match your hair?

... Thanks.

[He hadn't looked particularly hopeful before, knowing it wouldn't be worth getting too excited over. And yet somehow he looks let down all the same. Caius lets his shoulders fall, his chin and mouth briefly dipping down to be hidden behind his scarf.]

Damn it. Stupid glasses.

[It's childish to get so outwardly upset over this, especially when he tried to jog Kor's memory before only to get similar results. It's unfair to push his friend when, as he already knows, Kor just can't remember at the moment.

And yet.] We had sunglasses like these before. There was a third person with us. He wore green ones? [He's never been one for just giving up.]

[Kor was happy to see Caius find a matching pair of sunglasses, like some sort of symbol of their friendship. But when the boy seemed so downtrodden by Kor still being unable to recall these events Caius seems to remember, these fun thimes they shared together, and this third person they all shared them with... It makes Kor's Spiria ache. ]

I... [Stupid brain. Why can't you just remember these things Caius keeps talking about? He wouldn't make this stuff up.]

...I-I'm sorry, Caius. I can't remember any of this stuff. I'm not even sure if the me you're thinking of is... Well, me. But...

[There's a pause.]

...This friendship you remember having with me? I want to have that kind of friendship with you. [He smiles at Caius, wide and cheerfully, masking how bad he feels for his friend here.] I won't let some stupid memories get in the way of that. We'll just make new memories!

I don't want new memories Kor!

[Well, that's just not true. It's said in the heat of the moment, and Caius can tell he said the wrong thing the second he closes his mouth.

He shakes his head quickly.] I mean... I do, I wanna make all sorts of memories with you. I just really wish you could remember the other stuff as well. We did so, so much Kor!

[It's not good for him to get too over-emotional, that's the kind of thing that leads to him transforming. For his own sake he needs to calm down.]

I'm... Glad that I get to be your friend again. [But why does it have to be again when they could still be friends, through everything? It isn't fair. It just isn't fair and he doesn't understand! And this really isn't helping him calm down.

Caius takes his glasses off and shoves them back into the display, not caring how badly it rattles as he turns away and walks off to... Stare at some clothes or whatever. Anything to stop him from looking at Kor for a few seconds while he composes himself.]

[Caius says he's glad they're friends again, but... why does he look so upset?

As Caius storms off, Kor tries to reach out after him, but just ends recalling his hand instead. What's he supposed to do here? This feels like it's Kor's fault somehow, but it's not like he can just apologize for it. How can he apologize for something he didn't do?

He looks back over at the display and just... grabs the sunglasses Caius had discarded. Kor had to remember somehow, and right now, these glasses were his best shot at remembering whatever memories Caius is talking about. And whenever he does remember, he wants to be able to give these to Caius as a symbol of their reforged bond.]

[While Kor goes and takes those glasses, Caius completely forgets the main reason why he came in here in the first place and the accessory he picked out goes forgotten. He's far too busy staring at some suit or skirt or whatever he's in front of, he couldn't care less. All he's doing is looking straight ahead, fists balled up tight at his sides as he breathes deeply...

And tries not to tear up. That would only make Kor feel much, much worse if he caught Caius crying. Really he should be happy he has Kor here at all, what are the chances of him showing up in his world after all. But he's still upset. Still frustrated.

Ugh. He has no idea how he should be feeling about all this.

In the end he starts heading outside, motioning to Kor as he walks through the store that he's leaving. He'll wait outside the door if Kor needs a second to get anything, and in the mean time will be looking around for where to go next.

There are shops lining the street which seem to head all the way down to some sort of plaza. The city center maybe? There are also some pretty large... What are they, machines? One looks like a bunch of horses on a spinning platform. There's a giant wheel with carriages on in the distance too. Huh.]

[Kor too forgot about trying to find souvenirs for his friends back home, only concerned with buying those aviators. No... More like too concerned about Caius.

One quick purchase (with immense relief over them accepting gald, talk about convenient!), he comes out the door to meet up with Caius.]

So... Where to next?

[Bless currency working across words. Crazy how Gald is just the everyman's cash of choice.]

How about over there? [He points off to the plaza area.] It looks like there's some stuff going on. It could be fun.

[And it does look fun! Since its basically a small faire going on and all. Something which might not be as lavish or crazy as the festivals he's seen in Verens, but it's what his world has to offer and that makes it exciting by itself.

Also seeing kids running around having fun and people laughing is getting him excited already. His expression isn't the brightest thanks to what happened earlier, but Caius is clearly slowly bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation.]

Hmm?

[Kor looks where Caius is pointing to, off at the fairgrounds up ahead. There were rides and it looked like people were having fun... It kind of reminded him of Lion Park.

And that made it seem exciting. So while Caius may have been curbing his enthusiasm, Kor made no such effort, his eagerness to check it out made all too plain.]

Ah! Let's go check it out, Caius! C'mon!

[He's not really giving Caius a chance to consider here, because he's already running on in the direction of it.]

Hey, I pointed it out! I was gonna go first!

[Off he goes, hot on Kor's heels as they head towards the plaza area. Once there they can see more of what's on offer. More stalls, all sorts of foods, balloons being given out, a teacup ride, haunted hou--

Oh heck.

Caius purposefully decides not to give that last thing any further thought once he realises what it is. It's a small, derelict looking hut that stands out from the rest of the faire and the city itself and is probably infested with ghosts.]

Whoah, I didn't think there were places like this anywhere in my world. Kinda wish Tilkis would have mentioned this to me, this is cool! [He gives Kor a nudge.] What should we do first? If you don't pick, I'm saying the cup thing.

You mean the teacup ride? [That sure brings back memories for Kor. Competing with Hisui to make the cup go fast, Innes breaking the ride, Beryl trying to paint while on it... Riding it with Kohaku...

...Maybe he'll have to ask Kohaku to go with him to Lion Park again sometime. It might be nice with things being different for them now...]

Well, I was kinda hoping to check out that haunted house, but...

Why? There's nothing even good about a house like that.

[He folds his arms, giving Kor such a look. How could he even suggest going for the haunted house?

...!

WAIT. WAIT... THERE MIGHT BE A SILVER LINING TO ALL THIS.

Yes Kor might have lost his memories. But then that would mean that Kor also doesn't know how poorly Caius deals with anything remotely spooky. This could be a chance to make a great impression, to prove how cool he is in that he can totally tolerate a horrifying pit of the paranormal and pertubing.

His tune quickly changes.]

If that's really what you wanna do though then sure. We can do that first. It probably won't even be that scary.

[His knees are shaking already.]

[(Un)fortunately for Caius, Kor remains cheerfully oblivious to Caius' underlying fear. He's buying right into his forced bravado.]

Yeah, exactly! We'll show that abandoned creepy-looking house full of ghosts and ghouls and other spooky stuff just what we're made of!

[He's feeling pumped up here. Which isn't to say he isn't a little afraid himself, but courage is all about conquering fear!]

[Ghosts please don't pay any attention to what his friend is saying, you're all very scary and Caius respectfully asks you don't go all out to try and make Kor regret saying what he did.]

Y-Yeah! What you said! [Help.] We're going to-- Ghouls too?! Uh, yeah, we'll... We'll be the ones making the ghost scream and run away all afraid!!

[He is more than happy to just stand here and get psyched up. No actual movement towards the house is necessary. This is fine.]

Yeah! So let's get going while the going's good!

[Kor's ready and raring to go here. He wraps an arm around Caius' shoulder, ready to drag him along, practically forgetting all about how tense things were between them just a couple minutes ago. But he notices something as he does so.]

...Hey, Caius, you okay? You're all sweaty and clammy and stuff.

[WHY ARE THEY MOVING TOWARDS THE HOUSE THIS ISNT NECESSARY DAMN IT.]

I-I uh, I just... I get a little sweaty when I'm excited, that's all! Come on, stop being embarrassing pointing stuff like that out and let's go!

[And off he goes, putting an arm of his own around Kor's shoulders as they head off together!!

Except Caius' legs have locked up. The knees. They don't want to bend. When he tries to take a step foward he ends up stumbling and putting all of his weight on Kor for a moment as he tries to keep his balance.]

[Gross, Caius. Gross.

With the two of them firmly latched together, away they go! ...Or so he thinks, but when Caius stumbles, he causes Kor to stumble too. He catches himself from falling to the ground at least.]

Whoa! Did you trip, Caius? Maybe we should've been looking for new shoes for you!

[How in the world do you walk in those, Caius?]

[KOR IS GROSS.]

My shoes are fine! I don't really wanna find out what'll happen to other shoes when I-- A-Anyway, I just stumbled, it's nothing. It's nothing!

[Awkwardly, while trying not to drag Kor to the ground again, he wills his legs to work. And they do! But it's like he's doing some stiff march while he hangs onto Kor.

He looks like an idiot and he's pretty sure people might be staring their way. But they're making their way to the haunted house so he'll be dead and buried soon anyway, it's fine.]

[Kor blinks confusedly for a second. When he what? Although Kor remembers Caius mentioning having the ability to transform, he hadn't really given much consideration to what that actually entails. But okay, if Caius says they're fine. He thinks they look cool at least!

As they head towards the house, Kor notices the stiff walking Caius is doing. But he assumes Caius is just messing around now, so... He joins right on in on doing it, mirroring his stiff legged movements. So at least they're being stared at together?

Soon enough though, their stiff journey comes to an end as they stand before the haunted house.]

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