isleofavalon | January catchall with some oak barrel aged December

Entry tags:

January catchall with some oak barrel aged December

🧙 WHO: Kadoc and others, including perhaps you(r character)?! CR should definitely poke in for holiday gift fun!
⚔️️ WHAT: Catch-all for January and even some backdated into late December, because That's Life Babey! Event, holidays, TDM!
🕒 WHEN: Late December through mid-January
🗺️ WHERE: Nicnevin to begin with, then the Forest Camp and Camelot after the event
⚠️ WARNINGS: oops I forgot to do this part. None right now, will add as needed!

1. December 22nd: I Say Thee Neigh; for Klaudia

[Remember last month in Nicnevin, on the 21st-22nd, when that wacky dead horse rap battle thing happened? Boy, Kadoc will. For a long time to come. Let's flash back to that day and set the scene:

What's the only thing sadder than losing a rap battle? Not even putting up a fight. Kadoc, despite knowing what Mari Lwyd is and knowing damn well he's staying in Magical Trickster Country where everything should probably be treated as potentially real and dangerous, had just shut the door in the horse's face when it had come knocking, totally unwilling to bend and play along—and now he's paying the price. He should have realized! He'd had a comparable wealth of safe food just yesterday afternoon, and now he's lost everything, and it kinda serves him right for being a killjoy. Kill not your cringe, but the part of you that cringes!

It's been a day. He's getting hungry. So finally, he's subjecting himself to a different kind of cringe: here he is sitting on a bench in the residential area holding a sign that says]

LOST ALL MY FOOD TO A SKELETON HORSE BECAUSE I CAN'T RAP

can't believe this is my life now

[just in case some kind soul with extra to spare happens to take pity on him.

At least he can't possibly be the only one this happened to, can he?!]

2. January 1st: New Year, New Awww You Shouldn't Have; for all CR

[Kadoc hadn't managed to get anything out for anyone for Christmas; he'd had grand plans, and then run into a stupid snag, procrastinated on them, and half given up on the idea entirely when it had become too late to do anything in time. But on the holiday itself, when he'd been showered in thoughtful gifts, way beyond what he'd expected . . . there's nothing like other people's kindness and care to shame him, I mean inspire him, to get over himself and go hire an alchemist already at his personal expense to do the thing he'd wanted to do in the first place.

So people are getting New Year's gifts instead. On New Year's Day, people who know Kadoc well (and definitely anyone who gave him a gift themselves) will be receiving packages in the mail; each one contains a rectangle of fabric, the size of a postcard, framed under glass. Each piece of fabric is enchanted via the spell from this event with an intricate moving pattern. The patterns are all different, individually tailored to the person receiving them.

They come with a note:]

New Year's gifts aren't a thing, so you can probably tell this is a week late. Sorry about that. I won't waste this letter explaining or apologizing, except for the one I just did. And honestly, I'm not great at being sentimental, so I'm not sure what else to say. Happy new year. We're both here ringing it in together. I just wanted you to know I appreciate that.

Kadoc

[You're free to choose what pattern your character got, ask me for details via PM or Discord @ Hen#6953, or comment to this post if you want your character to respond somehow to the gift and I'll make sure to describe it in my reply. I'm easy!]

3. Early January: It's Another Farming Quest!; for Ritsuka

[Kadoc doesn't bake, generally speaking; he cooks, and decently at that, but he leaves the baking to Gareth, and even if this were a cooking competition he wouldn't join it or anything. No competitive confidence in those skills.

So he doesn't really need to go out fetching ingredients. And neither, as far as he can tell, does Fujimaru . . . does she bake? She doesn't bake, does she? So why is she even out here going out of her way to head into the forest to gather things? Why did she insist he come along as her friendly(?) Wilderness Expert?

Why the hell did he say yes?

All this and more on today's Chaldea Farming Mission!

Here he is shaking snow off a small bush to confirm that it is, in fact, rosemary, when he has to pause and squint up at her—the snow is bright, and he wishes he had a spell to dim his vision for this—]

. . . Give it to me straight. Are you just obsessed with resource management stuff or something?

[Like he can talk.]

4. Early January: Sprung a Little Leek; OTA

[Though Kadoc's spending most of his ingredient hunting time being bullied into helping out Ritsuka, once he gets a good idea of what's out there, some of it is worth going back for on his own, for his own purposes. Herbs! Juniper berries! He wants those for stew once he gets back to Camelot!

Of course it's when he's by himself that he makes a stupid rookie mistake and tries one of the leeks, even after engaging its little stupid frowny face in a staring contest for a good few minutes. How bad can it possibly be, he thinks! He should know better by now! How many times do we need to teach you this lesson, old man?!

And that's why just anyone might come across him five minutes later, curled up in the snow some distance from the camp, sobbing his eyes out. He tries to keep his tears wiped off on his sleeve, but to no avail; there are too many of them, crystallizing in his eyelashes in the cold. These . . . are the sad boy hours.

Of course, if he senses anyone approaching, his hiccuping, watery response is,]

'm fine! It's . . . just . . . fine . . .

[Uh-huh.]

5. It's The Wildcard

[I've had a rough go of it this month and last so I don't have a plotting comment up for the month, but please, by all means! Surprise me, or PM me, or hit me up on Discord or Plurk (

benthic)! I would definitely be interested in egg babies if anyone's into that, just hmu. Or poke me about a quest or another prompt. Let's 2022!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Yeah, he already had his mouth open to protest, for exactly the reasons she's expecting him to. But she cuts him off, and he has to smile instead. Damn. It really does take someone who knows him to just cut through his bullshit at the pass . . . Kadoc has to appreciate it. He always has, even if he hates that he makes it necessary.

So he just nods, because he knows when he's lost.]

What am I supposed to say to that? But that's the point, right? All right, yeah. I'll accept. I don't need that much food, anyway. I never really got my full appetite back after the crap I was pulling back home with my eating habits.

[He eats so much more now, the same way he sleeps so much more than he used to, because his body needs it and he can't control that anymore. But he's pretty sure, almost a year out, that he caused a permanent change in how much of either he can handle at once.]

[ Mission accomplished. With that done, she leaned forward and smiled. ]

Come then.

[ Should he follow her, she would lead him to her room where she had the food stored. What Drake had been able to share with her, at any rate. And she'd not taken anything like meat because of her old vegetarian habits. On the way there, she tilted her head at his comment. ]

Eating habits... Bad ones I assume? [She'd been heavily guilty of that after her epiphany.] Do you live alone? I found it's easier not to fall back into bad habits with people around.

[He follows, tucking the sign under his arm, more relieved than he realized he would be; sitting there like that was getting under his skin, as much as he'd managed to convince himself he was too dead inside from hunger and embarrassment to care anymore. Forward progress always helps.]

I live with Gareth. So I'm doing just fine when it comes to having someone hassle me into eating and sleeping when I need to . . . which I appreciate. I'm not complaining about it. Back home, I'd managed to get my magecraft to a place where I didn't need to sleep anymore, and I used to eat as little as I could get away with. Magecraft helped with that, too.

Magecraft can remove the need to sleep...? [That was impressive but--] I can easily imagine the problems with that.

[ Sleep was needed for more than just resting physical organs. Even if magic could remove the physiological need for sleep, the psychological impact over time had to be... Really really bad. She'd had a taste of that with the game "fast-forwarding" from a day to the next so the player would have a "good" experience.

Regardless, when they reached her room she sat down on the bed and took the bag in which Drake's provisions were. She patted the space next to her, inviting him to sit down. ]

With Gareth... [A smile. To ask, or not to ask...? .... To ask.] Um, if you don't mind me asking... Do you like her?

[ Well that could mean many things, but considering it was the girl who adorned all of her furnishing with hearts and went on about how important the concept of "love" was to her? It was obvious what she meant. And she really thought getting a girlfriend or boyfriend would do wonders for his self-esteem. ]

[Sitting beside a girl on a bed . . . yeah, he's not above blushing a little about it, ears turning pink. He refuses to actually say anything to lampshade it or acknowledge his embarrassment, because that'll definitely make it worse, but he's a bit awkward about sitting at a respectful distance, watching Monika's hands on the bag. And then she's asking a question like that, too! Even though it's not related—just a coincidence—it's just two different things now for him to feel flushed about at the same time!

It's the nature of them, that's all. The most embarrassing part is that neither situation is remotely scandalous, and yet just having to consider them, in proximity at that, makes him feel self-conscious. Still, he can clear this up easily enough. Of course she means like like.]

. . . It's not like that. We're just friends. Honestly, it's not like we didn't think about it or have a moment or two, but . . . it didn't feel right. At least on my part. It's nothing to do with her, but I think I'm too messed up still to be able to just like and date someone in a normal way.

[ Monika was going to tease him and comment on his blush— It was a cute reaction, thinking to it maybe she should have found a chair for him to sit on... But what he'd just said took priority. Just because he was "messed up" he'd renounced the possibility of a relationship? Gosh, how miserable would she be if she did the same. Because she couldn't conceive of him being any more of a mess than her. ]

What? You're not messed up! [She shook her head, turning to look at him with worry.] You're human. We're not supposed to be perfect. In fact, love is how we overcome a lot of our problems. I know it sounds super cheesy, but it's true.

[ Having someone so important in your life— That changed everything. For better or worse, and Monika wanted to think only of the better bit. ]

You're cute and always interesting to spend time with! [She raised a finger and smiled.] If I hadn't planned to confess to someone on New Year's Eve, I'd totally ask you on a date right about now. [In an alternate reality, it probably happened. For disastrous(?) results.] So please reconsider that, okay? I don't know Gareth all that well... But even if not with her, you shouldn't give up on the possibility of dating someone.

I—

[That was a lot! He gets stuck, maybe predictably, on her saying she'd have asked him out if she didn't have someone else . . . his heart flops back and forth a few times, trying to decide how to feel about that. Flattered? Disappointed? Offended? Excited? In the end, he can't hold onto any one feeling about it except one:]

. . . Thanks. For all that, but I guess hearing you'd even consider asking me out is kinda . . . it's not like I'm not still a guy with a fragile ego who likes girls, so hearing that from someone I like and respect means a lot. Whoever you're confessing to, they're lucky as hell. I hope you know that. And that they do too, obviously.

But I'm definitely messed up. On top of just being normal messed up, I'm a little messed up about relationships specifically. . . . There's something back home I never really got to unpack.

["Got to." No, he's had time by now. It's just that he hasn't done it. He's gone out of his way to keep Anastasia in a big old suitcase in the middle of the floor in his mental room.]

[ If it was her? She'd most certainly be disappointed and offended. But she was glad that by now he seemed to know her well enough to discern what she had meant to say. She was honest— She'd seriously thought of him as one of the few people she may confess to. And it's a bit of a fun thought experiment, to wonder how things may have turned out should her feelings for him have prevailed. An alternate reality not so different from this one.

But in this reality, her feelings for Minako were the strongest. Which hurt all the more seeing how: ]

Ahaha! Well, I fully expect a rejection. Besides, I'm not so sure they'd be lucky... [A pause.] You've only ever seen me while I'm in control and living a relatively normal life. But the things I did to try escaping my reality... "Monstrous" is a very kind word to define my actions. [She looked down.] And yet, even though I still carry so much guilt and so many regrets— Love isn't something I'm giving up on. Ever.

[ She gave him a determined smile. ]

And neither should you. [Opening the bag, she pulled a sandwich out of it and handed it over to him— A vegetarian one.] So if you ever want someone to lend you an ear while you unpack, I'm always here you know? It's a judgement-free zone.

. . . Thanks, Monika.

[It's so hard for him to believe that—but he does. He actually does. Maybe it's the way she talks about herself, using words like monstrous; he doesn't believe them, but they feel so familiar. They spill out of her mouth the same way they spill out of his own, and it makes it a little easier to believe that maybe they can talk about these things and it actually will be all right. She might understand. And he knows he will, too.]

The same goes for you. I wanted to make sure you know that. Whatever happened, I'm not gonna judge you for it. I'm not in any position to do that, and I'm not the type anyway. I wanna talk if you ever need it. It's actually . . . kinda cool.

[He looks down at his hands, murmuring that half to himself. The truth is, he's never once found himself in a position to be anyone's confidant. Anastasia, maybe, but the Master/Servant relationship is unique. She hadn't chosen to reveal everything to him that he'd ended up knowing about her, and that which she had chosen hadn't precisely been because they were friends. It certainly hadn't been for the sake of having a shoulder to cry on. Kadoc's never been that for anyone in his life. . . . Can he be? Does he deserve to be?

It's nice, though. He wants to try.]

Either way, I know they'd be lucky. I'm not backing down on that one.

[ Monika had been someone's confidant, once. They'd trusted each other so much. And then when she'd realized the nature of her world, when she'd been driven to doing such horrible things... She had betrayed this trust. Did it count, if said person hadn't been aware of her reality, hadn't been fully sentient? Was it just a comfortable lie than to say Sayori hadn't been sentient in the first place, one that made the guilt more tolerable?

Heh... She wondered what Kadoc would think of that. If he'd even trust her knowing she had once betrayed someone who had trusted her so completely. Of course she believed she would never do it again, but... Could monsters ever truly redeem and cease being monsters? ]

I may take you up on that sooner than you expect.

[ She didn't want to live in a lie any more... And about nobody had heard the whole story from her in Avalon. Maybe that would lift a weight off her shoulders, than to tell someone everything. Heck, maybe that would even drive him to open up, seeing her doing it. ]

Ahaha! Guess I can't argue then. [Minako was lucky, huh... But if he insisted, then--] But then I'm not backing down either. You definitely aren't too messed up for a relationship.

It's not like it's a priority for me anyway. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Maybe I gave up on the idea years ago . . . which I know is stupid, but it's still hard to shake.

[Of course he'd have needed to have an heir of some sort eventually. Even his shitty bloodline and magic crest . . . the whole point is that by expanding it and passing it down, maybe someday, centuries from now, his family will actually have something to be proud of. Theoretically. In practice, that doesn't make for great immediate incentive to find romance, when he had so much else to worry about.

And also, zero self-esteem. That too.]

It doesn't really bother me to be single, if you're worried about that.

No, that's not what worries me.

[ Most people his age didn't really think that seriously about love, that was to be expected... But she could tell the reason why he had given up on it had nothing to do with him being too young and immature. Was "love" not such a central concept to her very existence, she would have given up on it too.

But nobody should have to give up on love. ]

Of course, I'm biased due to my circumstances... But I truly think love is important. More so for people like us who struggle to love ourselves. [She looked up dreamily.] Knowing there is someone out there who will always love you more than anything. Someone who will accept your flaws and always be there for you. Someone who will say "I love you" regardless of who or what you are. Someone who will still say "I love you" even when you're at your lowest and can't find the strength to see anything good in yourself. [She then closed her eyes.] Even should you doubt the reality of everything in the world, nothing can question the love the two of you share. An unalterable truth made possible by the union of two hearts.

[ After a pause, she laughed awkwardly. Oops, she got a bit too serious and rambled too much when that topic came on the table, huh... ]

Ahaha! I know, it's like, super cheesy... But I can't think of anything more beautiful than to be that special someone for the one you love, for the one who loves you. And I think it's unfair for you to deny yourself something so special.

[He listens to all of that with some amazement. Whoa. She's really into it. That's stupidly obvious, and he'd known it to an extent before, but this is the first time the full force of it has hit him. It's really that important to her . . . he doesn't judge her for that, but neither can he relate. If anything, he has to admire somewhat the kind of passion and hope that those sentiments are coming from, and wonder if his heart will ever be able to match them. Maybe someday, once it heals some.]

. . . If someone's really damn sure they wanna be that for me, and they manage to convince me of it . . . I won't deny them. Or myself. It's just an uphill battle. I'm the kinda guy who's convinced anyone who'd agree to be that person for me just doesn't know what they're getting into, and I'm too weak to let myself be crushed by someone agreeing to it and then taking it all back once they realize.

[That's the real fear: that he'll finally let someone support him, only to be too much for them to handle, and he could've prevented all that misery by just putting them off in the first place. Irrational? Maybe. But it's powerful all the same.]

I'm working on it. I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but I'm working on myself. Someday . . . maybe. But I'm not looking for it, either.

So it's gonna take someone convincing you they want to be that person for you... [A smile.] Guess I need to go talk with Gareth for a bit then~!

[ She winked at him and immediately-- ]

Just kidding, ahaha! [She didn't want to embarrass him too much. But their conversation had been in dire need of some levity and honestly teasing him was fun. With moderation, of course.] I understand. Well, kinda. It's a bit hard for me to wrap my head around love not being a priority... That ties into the nature of my reality I guess. [She'd really have to explain it all someday...] But I understand the fear of rejection at least. It's a really horrible feeling. You take your time, alright?

[ Twice she's had her heart broken already, and it didn't get easier. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, least of all on someone like Kadoc struggling when it came to loving himself.

She marked a pause. Should she dare... Teasing him once was a thing, but twice? That'd be murder! Yet again, he needed the self-confidence boost. ]

Just don't wait too much. Your future sweetheart totally deserves to spend time with you while you're still a cute and handsome young man~!

You're thinking of the wrong guy.

[Shot down! Cute and handsome who? Kadoc doesn't know him! . . . But by now he is pretty red from all the teasing, even if he doesn't hate it. That's the unfortunate truth about him. He does best with people who subject him to all kinds of needling like this, like the masochist he is.]

Dammit, I can't believe I've gotta thank you for all that while I'm still reeling from that last part.

Ahaha!

[ She giggled— Really it was his fault for being so adorable, how could she resist teasing him like that? But well, that was enough for today. There was such a thing as going too far when it came to teasing and jokes, even between friends. And she felt like she'd cross a certain limit if she said anything else. ]

Sorry sorry, I'll stop tormenting you. [For today. Unfortunately, he now had someone very much intent on helping him find love. Because everyone deserved love! She placed a few things in a bag and handed it over to him.] With the sandwich I gave you, that should keep you fed for at least a few days, more if you ration yourself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

January catchall with some oak barrel aged December

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject