farstones; backdated to aug 26th

[ichininyaanshi]

[The last time he used the Farstones, he was making a pretty big deal about the whole dying-of-flowers thing. Kind of embarrassing in retrospect, but -- more anticlimactic than anything.]

[It went just as he'd expected it to go, waking up the same way he had died: alone.]

[That's how he'd wanted it. That's why he'd had no complaints as he'd picked himself up from the cold, flower-laden floor of the Storyteller's Temple, shook the petals out of his sweats, and went home. Slept on and off for a couple days. Scrounged around unsuccessfully for the courage to check which one of his friends had made it and which ones hadn't. No big surprise in any of that.]

[Anyway, this time, there's no melodramatics; Ichimatsu's voice pops over the network in a sigh, and then a simple question:]

Everyone's done dying now, right? So I have a question. Especially for you guys who got kittens from Karamatsu.

Did anyone's pets get sick, too?

[His voice is nasally, as if he has a lingering head cold, but it's far off from sounding like anything from the Overgrowth.]

Comments

[ichininyaanshi]

[A few beats of silence in return. His reply comes out a little bit haltingly, more surprised than anything else.]

... seriously? [a pause and sniffle.] ... you don't have to feel bad and do anything just because I died, you know.

[yourattention]

Listen? If you die again, I'll probably have to take care of your stupid cat? Because I'm not a sociopath? And I know your stupid cat is the one eating my chickens so basically I'm preventing the total destruction of my hard work toward becoming the farmhand I was always meant to be. [A beat.] Also I want to make fun of you for being a loser who has allergies in person.

[But, like. In a friend way. Mostly.]

[ichininyaanshi]

[how dare u slander his beautiful princess like that?? But Ichimatsu behaves, working down his temper and instead just making a mental note to stomp through his neighbor's boobytrapped yard in the middle of the night and kick as many chickens as he can reach.]

[But like, also in a friend way? Sort of.]

... sure, then. Come over whenever. I'll make some food or something.

[He probably won't even spit in it.]

[yourattention]

[There's a five minute gap between when Connor hangs up and when shows up in front of Ichimatsu's house, announcing his presence in . . . a typically Connor-esque fashion.]

Can you actually cook? 'cause you're kinda useless.

[is this friendship]

[ichininyaanshi]

[Ichimatsu's greeting is equally cheerful, especially considering he doesn't even look up when Connor appears.]

Shut up. It's not too late for me to sneeze on yours.

[He's referring to the rice he's currently packing into a sheet of nori; a depleted jar of pickled plums sits next to him, and he scoops the last of it into the onigiri before he starts folding it up.]

Unless you want chicken instead.