[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.]
unfortunately taka is a bad liar. if he has time to prepare or can easily change the topic, then he's not so bad, but when he's put on the spot it's. no. so right now he just glances between the dolls, to jack, to sasuke, then back in rapid succession ]
[Thankfully, out of the two emos, Sasuke is a pretty good liar. He glances at Taka and then follows Jack's eyes back to the table, his expression unreadable.]
I touched most of it. I was nosy. I wanted to see if you were hiding anything. Takaomi was just exploring.
[ it's not really a question, considering it's a little obvious with the bunny and santa in particular. takaomi can only really guess about the other two, but he never really thought about what the tooth fairy might look like. ]
[Welp. They spent too much time looking at the dolls. Dang.
Sasuke glances from Jack to Taka to Jack again. He hadn’t questioned too much about the friends. Maybe he should have. WORLD HOLIDAYS MEAN NOTHING TO HIM SORRY.]
They're them. [He doesn't know if Sasuke needs an explanation, but he points them out individually.] Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. North, Bunnymund, Toothiana and Sandy. The Guardians.
[Jack's going to move then, hauling himself up on the table and idly poking the Bunny doll in the face =\]
...when North brought me to his workshop after the Man in the Moon chose me to join the Guardians, he went on this whole big thing about finding my center. [He waves his hands a little, suddenly mimicking someone who sounds very deep and very Russian.] "If Man in Moon chose you to be a Guardian, you must have something very special inside." [The accent drops.] It's supposed to be what we give to the world and what makes us Guardians.
North's was wonder. And Bunny's was hope, and while Tooth and Sandy never said I always thought theirs were memories and dreams.
[There's a beat.] I never found mine before I ascended, so I figured maybe I should think about theirs instead.
That’s the wildest accent, honestly. Sasuke sort of stares. And then he glances from Jack to the dolls. The brows soften. He’s quiet for a bit. Wonder, hope, memories, and dreams. Slowly, he looks around at all of the trinkets. The toys, the games. They did come in from the game room.]
I think... you already know. The answer you want. I think you know, but... [Like himself?] ...you don’t realize it.
[Like. Sasuke's right, but Jack's always been good at dishing what he can't take so his own brows furrow in thought.]
...I think I'm a little happier here. [It's a thought, and he's staring at his own unfinished doll before he picks it up, holding it in his hands.] And maybe I realize it, but I didn't know if it was true. Or if I could take it for myself. [He's twisting the doll a little and it pops open, but he's not really paying attention.]
But you know the same can be said for you guys. [Feeling differently than before they arrived, and knowing answers they might not realize. Wasn't that the crux of the game?]
[ it's not the first time the subject has come up for him this week, and he still isn't entirely sure what he's gained from all of this aside from a new fear of ferris wheels. but he knows there's something that he can't quite name. ]
But whatever it is, I don't think I would have found it if you weren't here.
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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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unfortunately taka is a bad liar. if he has time to prepare or can easily change the topic, then he's not so bad, but when he's put on the spot it's. no. so right now he just glances between the dolls, to jack, to sasuke, then back in rapid succession ]
We touched some stuff...
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I touched most of it. I was nosy. I wanted to see if you were hiding anything. Takaomi was just exploring.
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...the dolls are probably a little weird, aren't they.
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[ it's not really a question, considering it's a little obvious with the bunny and santa in particular. takaomi can only really guess about the other two, but he never really thought about what the tooth fairy might look like. ]
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Sasuke glances from Jack to Taka to Jack again. He hadn’t questioned too much about the friends. Maybe he should have. WORLD HOLIDAYS MEAN NOTHING TO HIM SORRY.]
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[Jack's going to move then, hauling himself up on the table and idly poking the Bunny doll in the face =\]
...when North brought me to his workshop after the Man in the Moon chose me to join the Guardians, he went on this whole big thing about finding my center. [He waves his hands a little, suddenly mimicking someone who sounds very deep and very Russian.] "If Man in Moon chose you to be a Guardian, you must have something very special inside." [The accent drops.] It's supposed to be what we give to the world and what makes us Guardians.
North's was wonder. And Bunny's was hope, and while Tooth and Sandy never said I always thought theirs were memories and dreams.
[There's a beat.] I never found mine before I ascended, so I figured maybe I should think about theirs instead.
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[ sorry, give him a minute. ]
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[ there's a pause, before he reaches over to pick up toothiana's doll and turns it over in his hand. ]
I was told that what you guys felt before you ascended might not be the same as you do now.
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That’s the wildest accent, honestly. Sasuke sort of stares. And then he glances from Jack to the dolls. The brows soften. He’s quiet for a bit. Wonder, hope, memories, and dreams. Slowly, he looks around at all of the trinkets. The toys, the games. They did come in from the game room.]
I think... you already know. The answer you want. I think you know, but... [Like himself?] ...you don’t realize it.
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...I think I'm a little happier here. [It's a thought, and he's staring at his own unfinished doll before he picks it up, holding it in his hands.] And maybe I realize it, but I didn't know if it was true. Or if I could take it for myself. [He's twisting the doll a little and it pops open, but he's not really paying attention.]
But you know the same can be said for you guys. [Feeling differently than before they arrived, and knowing answers they might not realize. Wasn't that the crux of the game?]
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[ it's not the first time the subject has come up for him this week, and he still isn't entirely sure what he's gained from all of this aside from a new fear of ferris wheels. but he knows there's something that he can't quite name. ]
But whatever it is, I don't think I would have found it if you weren't here.
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