[ well. time for them to never tell anyone how long it took for them to get the door to appear.
takaomi is just going to climb onto the table before going to start moving up the ladder. normally he would make sasuke go first but he trusts merriment to not kill him, so. ]
[As they enter the room, they'll find that it's...actually a fairly large, spacious sort of attic space. The room's chilly, little patches of frost in streaks on the walls and the floor. The first thing they'll probably notice is that there's no bed of any kind. There are a few little tables of trinkets and what looks like a little arts and crafts table with some objects on it. They'll have to get closer, really, to see what's what.
Spread around on various shelves and stuff there's...well, a lot. Board games, little trinkets, a book about the Easter bunny that Taka might recognize, a miniature catapult, etc. All offerings from his time in the temple. There's a window at the far back wall that's partially cracked open, frost around the edges of that, too. There's a map of Earth plastered on a wall with little x's and o's on it.
There's also what looks like a wooden something or other propped up in the corner, bound together in two places with what looks like ice and bandages.]
[ he can't say he's surprised about the lack of bed, considering what he was told. he rubs his arms a little from the cold, before walking forward to look at the tables with trinkets and crafts. ]
The map is interesting, but it doesn't correlate at all with a map of his own world, so he just... kind of glances at it and leaves it. With his head turning, his eye looks around at everything, the frost, the collectibles, and then Takaomi by the table--
Hm.
If you thought Sasuke was going to go for the Wooden Something or Other in the corner, you would be CORRECT.]
[Well let's get the easy thing out of the way. As Sasuke gets closer, he'll find that the wooden something is a long shepherd's staff. Upon closer examination it's broken in the middle, as though it was snapped in half. The rest is just keeping it bound together. If Sasuke touches it, he'll find it's also ice cold.
Meanwhile, Taka will find that there's a table full of little snowglobes, Another table has random little creatures made out of ice, like penguins and polar bears and rabbits. There's also a table of just random shit from around the temple like books, markers, little trinkets from the costume hall, random roses and tea cups he took from the parlor; it's mostly stuff from the other gods he's been collecting from visits.
The last table has a lot of paint jars and brushes, some stacks of paper and pens, etc. There's also five wooden nesting dolls. One that looks like a beautiful multi-colored fairy, one little yellow man who looks like the sun, one long-earred rabbit, and one that looks like Santa Claus. If Taka opens them, he'll find a variety of expressions on each doll nesting inside one another.
There's also a fifth doll that has smears of blue paint on it, but if he opens that one it's empty.]
[ yeah, he's definitely snooping through this. he's especially careful with the nesting dolls, studying each piece like he's trying to memorize their faces. he's pretty sure he knows who they are, and it's... kind of cute, even if he won't say that out loud.
when he opens the blue one, takaomi just. frowns. he turns to face sasuke, the doll still in hand. ]
[Aw, dang. Sasuke was going to spin it very cool like, but... Finding it broken, finding it icy, he carefully puts it back in its place after a moment. He balls his fingers into his palms and rubs them on the front of his shirt. Chilly!!
And then he goes over to Taka.] A staff. It’s... broken. [His eye peers at the dolls Taka is messing with. He doesn’t know faces like Taka maybe, but they’re familiar in their essence. He likewise frowns at the last empty one. Hm.] Hold on.
[He shifts around Taka and scours the table for some colored paper. Carefully, he rips it so it’s square and even. It takes him a few moments, so Taka can either watch or piddle with something else. A few times he messes up, but continues anyway. He hasn’t made one quite this small.
With a pen, he draws a small spiral in the center of the origami person, and then he hands it to Taka.]
[They can have arts and crafts time. There isn't much else in the room, admittedly, because Merriment otherwise doesn't have a lot of worldly possessions. Then again over on a shelf there appears to be a small craft of a baby hummingbird-esque creature in the same colors as the fairy nesting doll.
They're free to poke and prod and do as they wish, but the longer they stand there they'll soon see little patches of frost covering the window.
[ he does with sasuke says, placing the small craft into the doll. he doesn't set it back down though, and instead carries it with him as he continues to look at each individual trinket. ]
... it's a little--
[ he doesn't finish what he's about to say though, noticing the frost building up. takaomi blinks at it, then looks down at the doll. ]
[Sasuke doesn't mind--initially. Not until Taka stops. Sasuke whips his head around at the cold building with the frost on the window. This time, he isn't fearful so much as... don't ruin the surprise!
Reaching out, he picks up the next sized doll from the table and turns to quickly but carefully close it up around the one in Taka's hand, and then he takes that from Taka and turns back to put it in the next doll, the next, until they're back the way they're meant to be when stacked.
There, that's FINE. He leaves it on the table like they hadn't been doing anything at all.]
[There's enough time for them to finish what they're doing before the window creaks open and a figure gently flies into the room, skidding to a stop on the floor. Takaomi is used to his appearance, but for Sasuke this is probably the first time he's seen Merriment without his cloak and without his mask. The blue hoodie may seem out of place and his bare feet don't seem to mind the wooden floor, but he glances at the two of them before there's a half-grin.]
[Sasuke follows Taka's gesture to again look around the room, making sure he's not, like, paying much attention to the dolls or anything they had been handling. It's fine.
Slowly, he looks back... It is still weird to see the gods without their robes and masks, but this fine. He'd been lied to! Jack looks way younger than the oldest out of everyone here.]
[Listen. He's still Old Man Winter he just happens to look like, as Andie put it, a frozen twink. His eyes drift from Taka to Sasuke and then around the room before he shrugs.]
I've been around for a while. So I took what felt most important. [It explains nothing, but...] Did you find the answer you were looking for?
[This is to Sasuke, but also sort of to Taka, too.]
Sasuke is put on the spot. He watches Jack, and he glances at Taka venturing for the staff, and then he looks down.] ...Some of them. [When he looks up again, it's at Taka and the staff, though his face doesn't betray whatever he's feeling.]
About what I expected. [Taka will get to check out the staff. Very tall, very much snapped in half as though someone physically broke it with their hands. It's not entirely fixed but it's bound well enough.]
...not that I'm not happy to see both of you, but what are you actually doing here?
Good enough. [He can't blame either of them. He's eyeing the staff though, laughing softly as Taka pulls his hand away. When Sasuke asks though, he pauses to think.]
...I've tried. But I don't know if I can use it again. [A beat.] Call it a reminder.
...I hope they would be. [He can admit that much. As much as he didn't used to care and worked on his own, the validation was nice. It wouldn't have been so bad to have it again. To Sasuke's question though he just kind of turns away to look at the nesting dolls thoughtfully.]
I do, kind of, but sort of in the way you miss people who were familiar to you even if you weren't exactly friends. They worked without me for hundreds of years. What's another couple of hundred?
But I'm starting to understand some stuff North said to me. Sometimes I wish I could tell him that, but I've got a new job now. It balances out. [But that doesn't mean he's not melancholy as fuck on the best of days. He pauses though, looking at the dolls and noticing...]
...did you guys move some stuff around? [He notices absolutely nothing, actually, he's just seeing what they say.]
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Just kidding. The snowflake is made and the trap door creaks open. A ladder descends from inside, the bottom resting on the billiard table itself.
Going up? This absolutely isn't a tag just so I can get home what are you talking about.]
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takaomi is just going to climb onto the table before going to start moving up the ladder. normally he would make sasuke go first but he trusts merriment to not kill him, so. ]
That was easy.
[ no it fucking wasn't ]
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Anyway, he climbs up onto the table with a small wince and then starts following Takaomi up the ladder.]
Because we're not morons.
[but anna and francy sure are]
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Spread around on various shelves and stuff there's...well, a lot. Board games, little trinkets, a book about the Easter bunny that Taka might recognize, a miniature catapult, etc. All offerings from his time in the temple. There's a window at the far back wall that's partially cracked open, frost around the edges of that, too. There's a map of Earth plastered on a wall with little x's and o's on it.
There's also what looks like a wooden something or other propped up in the corner, bound together in two places with what looks like ice and bandages.]
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[ he can't say he's surprised about the lack of bed, considering what he was told. he rubs his arms a little from the cold, before walking forward to look at the tables with trinkets and crafts. ]
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The map is interesting, but it doesn't correlate at all with a map of his own world, so he just... kind of glances at it and leaves it. With his head turning, his eye looks around at everything, the frost, the collectibles, and then Takaomi by the table--
Hm.
If you thought Sasuke was going to go for the Wooden Something or Other in the corner, you would be CORRECT.]
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Meanwhile, Taka will find that there's a table full of little snowglobes, Another table has random little creatures made out of ice, like penguins and polar bears and rabbits. There's also a table of just random shit from around the temple like books, markers, little trinkets from the costume hall, random roses and tea cups he took from the parlor; it's mostly stuff from the other gods he's been collecting from visits.
The last table has a lot of paint jars and brushes, some stacks of paper and pens, etc. There's also five wooden nesting dolls. One that looks like a beautiful multi-colored fairy, one little yellow man who looks like the sun, one long-earred rabbit, and one that looks like Santa Claus. If Taka opens them, he'll find a variety of expressions on each doll nesting inside one another.
There's also a fifth doll that has smears of blue paint on it, but if he opens that one it's empty.]
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when he opens the blue one, takaomi just. frowns. he turns to face sasuke, the doll still in hand. ]
What are you looking at?
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And then he goes over to Taka.] A staff. It’s... broken. [His eye peers at the dolls Taka is messing with. He doesn’t know faces like Taka maybe, but they’re familiar in their essence. He likewise frowns at the last empty one. Hm.] Hold on.
[He shifts around Taka and scours the table for some colored paper. Carefully, he rips it so it’s square and even. It takes him a few moments, so Taka can either watch or piddle with something else. A few times he messes up, but continues anyway. He hasn’t made one quite this small.
With a pen, he draws a small spiral in the center of the origami person, and then he hands it to Taka.]
Put it inside.
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They're free to poke and prod and do as they wish, but the longer they stand there they'll soon see little patches of frost covering the window.
Looks like someone's on his way back.]
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... it's a little--
[ he doesn't finish what he's about to say though, noticing the frost building up. takaomi blinks at it, then looks down at the doll. ]
I think that's him.
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Reaching out, he picks up the next sized doll from the table and turns to quickly but carefully close it up around the one in Taka's hand, and then he takes that from Taka and turns back to put it in the next doll, the next, until they're back the way they're meant to be when stacked.
There, that's FINE. He leaves it on the table like they hadn't been doing anything at all.]
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...I'm not surprised you two found it.
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[ it wasn't.
but he turns to face merriment fully, before gesturing around at the room. ]
You have a lot of stuff.
[ the only other room he has to go by is cunning's, which was. different. from this one. ]
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Slowly, he looks back... It is still weird to see the gods without their robes and masks, but this fine. He'd been lied to! Jack looks way younger than the oldest out of everyone here.]
You said... there wasn't much, but...
There's enough.
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I've been around for a while. So I took what felt most important. [It explains nothing, but...] Did you find the answer you were looking for?
[This is to Sasuke, but also sort of to Taka, too.]
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he hadn't looked at the staff himself yet, so he just wanders over there while glancing between the two of them. ]
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Sasuke is put on the spot. He watches Jack, and he glances at Taka venturing for the staff, and then he looks down.] ...Some of them. [When he looks up again, it's at Taka and the staff, though his face doesn't betray whatever he's feeling.]
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...not that I'm not happy to see both of you, but what are you actually doing here?
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... I just wanted to see it.
[ he had wanted to for a while now, ever since disorder confirmed to him that it was okay for them to look. things have just been busy. ]
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[And so here they are, two soft emos being dumb in Jack's room. It's what he gets for being the way he is clearly.
His lips curl just faintly at the edges when Taka recoils from the chilly staff, but then his face smooths into something softer.]
Why haven't you tried to fix it...?
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...I've tried. But I don't know if I can use it again. [A beat.] Call it a reminder.
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he gives the staff another look, before shaking his head slightly. ]
I think that they'd be proud of you. If they could see how much you've helped us.
[ taka isn't sure of how much sasuke knows, so he keeps it vague just in case. ]
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...Do you miss them?
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I do, kind of, but sort of in the way you miss people who were familiar to you even if you weren't exactly friends. They worked without me for hundreds of years. What's another couple of hundred?
But I'm starting to understand some stuff North said to me. Sometimes I wish I could tell him that, but I've got a new job now. It balances out. [But that doesn't mean he's not melancholy as fuck on the best of days. He pauses though, looking at the dolls and noticing...]
...did you guys move some stuff around? [He notices absolutely nothing, actually, he's just seeing what they say.]
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