i cannot be loved so set me free

[biddentodance]

Who: Minato and you! Plus a closed prompt for the last people to leave the Halloweentown groupwatch.
What: New friends, new toys, new developments
When: ...since the return from Silvereagle? This is a catchall.
Where: Different....places.....
Warnings: be warned: there might be kissing. there will definitely be excessively cute critters.

[where have you been, i mist you]
[For about a week immediately following returning from Silvereagle, Minato was extremely scarce around the station. For the record, he got sick again, but for once he actually stayed put in his room and rested. He made a promise to take it easy after all.

Which might be why he's still taking naps on the beach at this time of year. Don't worry, he's properly dressed and has a blanket....though he might be kind of hard to find. There's a localized cloud of thick fog on this section on the beach and he's napping in the middle of it. Honestly the best indication someone's here might be the faint sound of music coming from within, like unattended headphones.

It appears he has some friends - a small fox thing with big ears and a fluffy white....something...are curled up with him.]

[christmas came early]
[A while after he's officially not sick anymore, Minato is in the library, reading....anything really. He's got a pretty varied stack next to him, but his current book is something about gemstones and geology. He's got a chunk of metal with him that he's comparing to pictures in the book.

And then the metal melts when he grabs it to pick it up. Not fully - it just kind of becomes more of a blob than a chunk.]

...It didn't do that before. [Um.]

[closed; what is love baby don't hurt me]
[continued from here]
[The movie's over, most of the others have left. And this is most certainly a new development. Minato gapes at Goro. He. What?]

You....don't... [One was confusing enough.] ...what?

[wildcards for wildcards]
[find him somewhere else, or hit me up for plotting something specific, whatever floats your boat.]

Comments

christmas came early

[coagmentatio]

[ He blinks. He stares. He mentally asks a lot of questions, before there's a quiet: ]

Yeah...

[ Uhhh... ]

In most cases, metal doesn't just... do that [ a beat ] ever? So, this is either affected by some lingering Fissure effect, or you have some kind of fancy new power.

That's my guess, anyway.

[biddentodance]

[It just.....keeps glooping.]

Think mercury does something like this. Poison metal, liquid at room temperature.

[A beat. Poison.

He lets go of the metal and it immediately solidifies, leaving behind a solid silver statue of....an amoeba, or something.]

[coagmentatio]

Yeah... That's why I said most cases, but...

[ He blinks as Minato drops the blob, and then he reaches down, picking the... solid (????) piece of metal up. ]

If touched for a short amount of time, the amount of mercury that's absorbed into the skin isn't deadly. Even ingesting some of it isn't super dangerous. Normally, it's only fatal whenever someone encounters its vapor form.

Besides, this... doesn't seem...

....

????

[ Please hold, he's... just... so stumped while trying to figure out a proper scientific explanation for this thing they've taken turns holding. Honestly, he's thinking that it might actually be some kind of new power bc ??????? ]

[biddentodance]

[He watches it stay completely solid in Aiden's hand.]

Not body heat that does it, then. Don't think it's any kind of steel...

[It's just. A large but otherwise normal chunk of silver. Not that Minato has successfully identified it yet.]

Don't know much about developing powers. Remember Shido-san wasn't sure how to lion at first.

Closed

[foolishjustice]

[His face is still bright red, and he's too flustered to even think of looking Minato in the eye. But still, he...can't back out now. Besides, he was planning on saying something eventually, right?]

I wanted to let Akira confess first, since...he'd had those feelings for longer, but I've had a crush on you since at least the mines.

[One hand finds the bracelets on his opposite wrist, and he fidgets with them nervously. He's not wearing as many as usual, but they still clink slightly against each other as he toys with them.]

When you smiled at me in the infirmary, I nearly melted. And seeing you so excited with Halloween coming up has me even happier for this time of year than normal.

[biddentodance]

[Since....since the mines. And Akira's had them longer? Then since when?! Incendia? It can't have been since all the way back at the reef, there's just no way.

Is...is this what Akira meant when he said he wasn't the only one who could ever feel this way about Minato?]

Smiles, huh.... [Akira had...liked his smile, too. Why? It's just a smile.] Why me?

[foolishjustice]

Do you really want me to list? You're kind, you're devoted, you have a cute sense of humor, and...when you really set your mind to something, you don't give up on it. Plus you can fight well when you need to, and the looks certainly don't hurt.

[biddentodance]

[Each thing Goro lists off leaves Minato looking more surprised. None of these are things he's thought of himself. None of them are things he's ever had cause to think about himself.]

I- I'm not- ...I'm trying to be better... [It's not something he talks a lot about, that. His face flushes. What. What is he supposed to do with this? Akira and Goro are both immensely important to him, but... Is that love? He doesn't know what love is supposed to feel like, from either end.] ....not...that special, really...

[foolishjustice]

Ari-Minato, I've met a lot of people. Most of them wouldn't go so far to help others, without even expecting anything in return. They wouldn't be so kind and trusting. I won't say you don't have flaws, but...everyone does. You already know what the worst of mine led to.

Besides...you're a Persona user. I think you have to be somewhat special just to be able to use one, let alone more.

[biddentodance]

Don't do that much... [He'd tear himself apart to please others. Because his own happiness and health don't matter, and in fact barely register to him. He doesn't think of himself as kind, because he doesn't think about trying to be kind.]

Just don't think it's right not to do something, if I can do anything. Not anymore.

beach

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai walks out to the beach with her sword strapped to her back, but she pauses and stares at the fog. Carefully, slowly, she walks over.]

...Fox-san? And... Unsure.

[biddentodance]

[The fennec fox chirps and the white thing waddles over and looks up with big, watery black eyes. It looks kind of like a seal, but with short legs and big paws like a puppy. Hello, new person!]

...fog rolled in...? [He's just waking up, please excuse his half-asleep mumbling.]

[nojohnyouare]

Apparently. Mostly around you. ...Cute.

[Mai crouches down and pulls some berries and lunch meat out of her bag. Here you go, cute things.]

[biddentodance]

[The fox is eager to eat, but not particularly eager to leave the warm little burrow it's made in the sand by Minato's side. The white thing goes right for the lunchmeat, apparently entirely comfortable with strangers.]

Not sure where they came from. [Or where the fog came from.] Or...what they are.

[nojohnyouare]

Difficult to tell. But they like you. ...Magical. Though I'm not sure otherwise. Where I come from, fox-san are special, too.

christmas came early

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

[Poe was just minding his own business writing in the library, but looking up and seeing the melted blob is mildly concerning enough for him to pause in his task and stare.]

That's... mildly concerning.

[biddentodance]

[It...doesn't seem to be adhering to gravity. Minato isn't sure if that's a good thing or not.]

Not hot... [He looks up.] Never seen anything like this either.

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

[That mild concern is steadily rising and Poe moves Karl to his shoulder farthest from the blob.]

Erm... are you sure it's safe to be around right now?

[biddentodance]

No. [Well, he's honest.] Depends what's doing this?

[It's kind of creeping up his fingers a little. Like water rolling off, except going up instead of down.] Doesn't hurt to touch or anything.

[blackcatintheruemorgue]

Should you really be touching it then?

[He's just eyeing that blob warily.]

That's... not the best indicator of safety.

[There's plenty of side effects that could happen later.]

I mist you

[byanyother_name]

[That localized fog is a bit odd? Kurama can smell Minato in the middle of it, though, and he's been wanting to talk to him since getting back from the manor. So he moves closer carefully until he can see Minato and his new friends napping.

Oh no. That's entirely too cute. Kurama can't bring himself to disturb them, so he snaps a picture and sends it to the fiances before settling quietly on the sand. He pulls a heavy book out of the Armiger and settles in to read until Minato wakes on his own.]

[biddentodance]

[It might be a little while, but fortunately he'll wake up in...maybe a little under an hour. Plenty of time to observe that the unidentifiable white critter is the source of the fog.

He stirs first. Then yawns. Then...attempts to sit up, except there's a weight on his chest. That's new. Still pretty sleepy...] ...not Koro-chan...

[byanyother_name]

You seem to have made some new friends.

[Kurama smiles, looking over from his book. His tone is soft and warm as he watches Minato try to get a grasp on this 'being awake' thing.]

[biddentodance]

[He wants to take a nap... He startles a little, didn't see you there Kurama.]

Fissure? [He doesn't think these are native creatures. He definitely hasn't seen any around Keystone before. He slowly reaches to pet the white thing on his chest.] ...soft.

[byanyother_name]

[You just woke up from one, though?]

Most likely. The stabilization isn't perfect, sometimes things still come through.

[The sight of Minato petting the odd but cute creature is adorable. Kurama leaves his phone where it is, though; considering 99% of the photos on it are of Akira and/or Goro, he's not willing to explain taking one of Minato to Minato.]