DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE REEF

[phantasmods]

Expedition day dawns, as usual, with an android mass text -

Okay, so, this time we're aiming to go out and stabilize the Fissure in the reef you can see up a little to the north of here. The waters are usually pretty calm this time of year, so if you can swim instead of needing to take a boat, that'd be a great help. We only have a few of them.

Also, I know that last time was a mess, so I'm just gonna say this: If you need to get out for any reason, just send us a message and a picture of your location. We'll get a drone out to you as soon as we can and bring you home. No questions asked.

( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Stay safe out there! When you're ready to go, meet us down at the beach. The rocky, sparkly one, not the sandy one.

Unlike previous expeditions, this time there's no rooftop sendoff - instead, as Charm noted, the tables are set up on Glitterstone beach, along with a series of boats pulled up on the sand. Two rowboats that could maybe sit six people but probably better suited for four, a trio of inflatable rafts (with motors attached to the back, all mismatched) of about the same size, a two-person dinghy and a long canoe that could hold two or three.

Besides the little fleet, there's also the usual bagged lunches (in gallon ziplocs this time, and other such watertight containers), and every boat is equipped with a large number of those chepa dollar-store water bottles, all with their airtight store seals. There's also a selection of life vests and other floatation thingies in a box next to the table. Strange hovers over the setup, checking watertightness of a handful of first aid kits with a spritzer and a bucket to submerge things in. They give a little wave to anyone passing by headed to the boats.

For those who opt instead to swim, everything seems perfectly normal until you reach the border of the Fissure... When, very suddenly, it isn't.

Comments

[founderinglight]

If you can believe it, I used to be far more of a stick in the mud.

[myocordial]

How did people put up with that? That sounds awful.

[founderinglight]

It's a valuable enough trait when someone needs to make sure infrastructure projects meet deadlines. You just smile at them like -

[And very briefly, in spite of his altered state of mind, there's an aura that will probably remind Heart very much of when Yuuri is doing the menacing thing.

And then it's gone.]

- like that and they are all too eager to go fill out their paperwork.

[myocordial]

[Oh, it's absolutely familiar, alright. In fact...]

...Yuuri does that better. She's much scarier.

[...What? She is.]

[founderinglight]

I just can't win with you people, can I?

[DRAMATIC SIGH.]

[myocordial]

She does, though. It's like... Medic level scary, at least? Mhm. I actually believe she'd try to stab me.

I don't get that from you.

[founderinglight]

[So Izunia has totally misparsed that as an actual medic rather than someone's name but he's also high and his fwb is the terrifying troll doctor so he just accepts this.]

Well, I don't have any desire to stab you and I imagine it's probably difficult to produce the right feeling of threat in this state of mind.

[myocordial]

I'm pretty sure Yuuri would never stab me either, but it still works for her.

...Mostly sure. Pretty, ah... Pretty sure.

[founderinglight]

That sounds like you've only just realized you aren't sure at all and don't know how to deal with this revelation.

[myocordial]

No, no, no, no. I'm fairly sure.

...I just... don't think I can rule out the possibility completely.

[founderinglight]

[He's just going to laugh at that, sorry.]

Well, I know for certain she wouldn't hesitate to stab me, and yet I confess I don't find it particularly frightening at all. Perhaps it's because I can do it myself?

[myocordial]

[A moment of genuine confusion.]

...You're going to stab yourself?

[founderinglight]

No, I mean, the aura of violence thing.

[myocordial]

What, so you can't stab yourself?

[founderinglight]

I very much could, but it would be unpleasant and potentially deadly, and I'd rather not annoy Jetshard with any more self-inflicted medical shenanigans.

Honestly, what kind of Lucis Caelum do you think I am? I am always in possession of a multitude of sharp objects, it's who I am as a person.

[myocordial]

Right. Humans are fragile like that.

...Fragile and also have an unhealthy obsession with blades and other sharp objects. I should write that down.

[founderinglight]

It is not an obsession, I just think they're neat.

[Pouuuuuuuuuuuut.]

[myocordial]

Obsession. I'm noting it down. I... I actually should write that down, right now, honestly?

You're weird. I mean, you are, definitely, but that was the general you.

[founderinglight]

You should invest in a waterproof notebook.

[Actually, so should he.]

Humans are delightfully eclectic, it's true.

[myocordial]

They're strange and confusing and stubborn and frustrating and very stupid sometimes-- no, often.

[Maybe it's because he's high or maybe it's because of his actual feelings, but somehow, his tone implies none of those are actually a problem.]

[founderinglight]

And emotional and greatly contradictory. And yet, brilliant as the stars in the sky all the same, no two exactly alike.

[How is this the thing they agree on?]

[myocordial]

I've tried hating them. It would've made everything a lot easier.

...I was never very good at it.

[founderinglight]

I don't think true hatred suits you. Not the kind that sinks deep inside and paints you wholly with its stain. You are far better suited to enjoying things.

[myocordial]

Well. Joy is my emotion, after all.

[ . . . ]

I've hated like that before. Once. [He thinks about it. Actual serious thought, as much as he can manage like this. Because this topic deserves it.] ...Maybe twice.

[founderinglight]

It's not a pleasant thing, is it? Burns in the most awful way.