Palace Game 6/3

[fujimaru]

The Dreamer In The Grand Temple
Humanity Foundation Value: ????

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Comments

[cultfavorite]

All right, if you insist. I thought you might like to make some friends.

[WHY WOULDN'T IT WANT TO SIT ON THE BED WITH THE OTHERS! But fine! He gets up again, going to skim the room one more time. He's looking for anything that might stand out as being Ritsuka. Maybe she doesn't need a stand-in for herself in this room, which is her room, but maybe there is one and if there is it should be with the others on the bed!

. . . He stops to pick up the Best of Tristan CD.]

[fujimaru]

Well, there is this that plays. This is unfortunately minus Tristan's actual flashbacks, but in its place is a halting description of what happened... and a genuine sense of fond amusement that grows and grows, though Ritsuka somehow manages to avoid laughing.

"Thanks for the great return gift," she says, though her voice is shaking with the effort of not cracking up, and after she's taken it, he can have the brief memory of her putting it away in her desk. She doesn't listen to it yet in this memory, but she does let herself giggle when she's alone.

[cultfavorite]

[Oh no. That's pretty hilarious?! Saturn laughs too, hand to his mouth, and puts the CD back where it belongs, even though he's tempted to take it and try to find somewhere to listen to it.

One more look around to make sure he's not missing anything that looks like a Symbol of Ritsuka!!]

[fujimaru]

Though he can find plenty of signs of colors of the other teams (at least one from every other team, in fact), there is nothing that seems to be Ritsuka herself represented here. The sense of her presence is here, unmistakable, but there is no sign.

[cultfavorite]

[This is a nice place. . . . He's gonna look for Tsuruno. He has to before he leaves! Where's the Tsuruno!]

[fujimaru]

There are a handful of items in the room that have Kraken's color on them somewhere:

A bubble tea charm, with the Archer symbol on one of the little boba.

A figurine of a phoenix in flight, wings open, with a Lancer symbol hidden in the flames.

An uncustomized ball-jointed doll, on a display stand, with a handful of different outfits in its arms. The Assassin symbol is stitched onto one of the outfits.

A little jar of fireflies, with the Caster symbol carved into the lid.

So, which one is the Tsuruno?

[cultfavorite]

[HE KNOWS THIS ONE. He picks up the phoenix carefully in his hands to rub a thumb over it and admire it.]

[fujimaru]

It's a very delicately-made piece--they all are, really. Whoever was the actual crafter of all of these pieces, they were obviously made with deep affection.

The feelings for Tsuruno's piece aren't as strong or as immediate as with the ones he found for certain members of Cerberus, but they are still there, filtering in after a second or two: a sense of affection and something that is almost childishly excited. Maybe it's been a while since Ritsuka has had a girl friend her own age, and what of it?

[cultfavorite]

[THIS ROOM IS SO CUTE HOW IS HE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE IT and how is he supposed to resist going around and finding the objects for everyone he knows and touching them and

He does not put this one on the bed, but he does put it on the shelf over the bed with the tentacle, because that's cool and fine, and then he one more time picks up his own piece to cradle it gently and feel those emotions again.]

[fujimaru]

There's that sense of warm affection again--for him in particular, it's more deeply pronounced, edged despite how gentle it is, and there's also an edge of lingering confused embarrassment, like Ritsuka herself is surprised at feeling this way at all. But it's there, and even if she's embarrassed, they're not going anywhere.

There is also, buried somewhere under that, deep deep deep down, a sense of wistfulness. This is something that is not meant to be mine, but I'll hold onto it while I can, almost lost under everything else.

[cultfavorite]

[He sits to meditate on this for a little bit, eyes closed, smiling faintly, until he can sort all of that out. Then:]

. . . You aren't the only one who feels that way. I wonder if I'm being selfish, with you . . . but I don't care. You're special to me, Ritsuka. I'll cling as long as I possibly can, as long as you let me.

[Then he sets that aside and stands again.

It's time to head for that golden door!]

[fujimaru]

The door opens...