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[waitingforplayer2]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHIAKI NANAMI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

*** galagamer has joined XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
<galagamer> This is Chiaki Nanami.
<galagamer> I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Comments

<galagamer>

[waitingforplayer2]

yes please i'd love the company

[ She does mean this even if she's been exhausted. Look. There's only so much Tetris and Peninsula of Passions you can do before you start to get bored. ]

wait let me check

[ ... ]

yeah it's fine!!

<Zigazigah>

[figlia_morbida]

I'll be there in an hour, then.

[Trish isn't nearly as punctual as Fugo, but she will appear around the hour mark, with a gift from Toni in tow – a huge bag of chocolate-drizzled biscotti, enough for Nanami and her gracious hosts.

Somewhere between home and here, too, she's taken off her bear skin, draping it low around her elbows and looking distinctly more human than her day form. Not completely human, of course, but the closest she'll ever get here on the peninsula. There's a reason for this, and that she's not really interested in strangers looking upon her bear form at this point in time. It's nice to have a choice, actually.

Anyways, she taps her still-fuzzy knuckles gently but firmly on the door. Hewwo, is Nanami home?]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ In the intervening hour, Nanami's fallen asleep again. The knock wakes her up, and she blearily calls out: ]

Be right there!!

[ She wraps the blanket around herself and moves to the door. When she opens it for her friend, she's all wrapped up; her nearly fully-transformed roots visible poking out below the blanket, and her face wooden but still somewhat fleshier than it usually is when she's a nymph. The fronds that make up her hair don't quite seem to have the right structure to them, falling more like hair than like leaves.

She's exhausted, but she gives Trish a tired smile when she sees her. ] Hey... you made it. [ Back to Ryslig; and now again, to her. ] Come on in...

[figlia_morbida]

[Ah.

Back to nymph, it seems, and the poor thing looks like the change is taking its time with her. Trish doesn't understand why some people come back as if nothing ever happened, and then there are unfortunate folk like Nanami that have to do the whole song and dance again.

Maybe it's because of how deeply Nanami fell into E+L's ranks, taking the nanites into her body, but that's mere conjecture. Also, she doesn't want to think much on Elias, the bastard.]

Buona serata, Nanami.

[Trish will step next to Nanami quickly, putting a hand on the door to prop it on her friend's behalf. She's taller, you can't stop her, Nanami.]

After you. Please, I insist.

[She doesn't know where she's going anyway. It's up to the world's sweetest tree to be her guide.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ It's not really her slowest change, given how absolutely glacial her changes in the caves of Felfri were. But it's definitely her slowest Ryslig change; other than this, she's been lucky (unlucky?) enough for all of them to hit at once.

Really, the turning into the tree part sucks but it could be worse. It's the nanites that are really fucking her up.

When Nanami speaks, she's a little hoarse, like she's recently lost her voice but is on the mend. She nods gratefully at Trish's gesture, and moves back into the house. Somewhat more smoothly than she walked on wiry half-legs when she was aligned with the caves, but not quite as smoothly as normal when she's in her nymph form. Things are still growing back; she's still relearning it all.

Nanami's set herself up in the living room; her game console sits discarded on the couch where she left it, the screen turned off for now; and her laptop set to Trish's messages is next to it. The television still plays Peninsula of Passions at a very low volume. ]

Thanks for coming, I... I really missed you. [ It's been ages, she realizes. Not since the concert went bad have they seen each other.

Once she's led Trish into the room, she isn't able to hold herself back for long, and then she's hugging Trish tight before the werebear can object. ]

[figlia_morbida]

[Oh, they're both hoarse. Fortunately Trish can mask hers well enough by speaking softly, but Nanami is more prone to sudden jumps in volume, excitable as she is.

She has...no idea what Nanami went through after her arrest and ejection back to Ryslig, but if the boys are any indicator, then staying Felfri only continued to get worse. The fact Nanami survived all the way through is incredible and a true testament to her tenacity, Trish thinks.

Here in "Josh-kun's" house, Nanami has set up an almost perfect mirror of her apartment, and Trish feels a gentle fondness at the sight, and she could laugh hearing the familiar murmur of Peninsula of Passions. Oh, old timey television, her beloathed and yet constant companion on her nights as a bear.

The backdrop of this little vignette of everything she knows about Nanami becomes that much softer at the edges when Nanami herself speaks. Trish has said all kinds of things in the aftermath of the concert and Felfri itself, long-winded diatribes and pithy exchanges both, but what Nanami says is so simple and yet so much stronger than all the words she could have said herself. It's weird to think she's in a place now where people can miss her.

She's gotten used to missing people herself, she thought, but something rises to her throat when she feels the gentle pressure of Nanami's arms around her.

There's a delay, and Trish gently lets her bag go, all so she can return the gesture, enveloping Nanami in the puffy arms of her coat.]

...It's good to see you again, Nanami.

[It has been some time, hasn't it?

Awful to think that Nanami's last memory of her had to be that, but now she's here, and they're both...they're not fine, but they're better.]

[waitingforplayer2]

... You too, Trish-san.

[ She buries her face in Trish's shirt; and it's only now, this close, that she realizes how strange it is for Trish to be only partly transformed, as she is. Not fully human, like in Felfri; but there's enough little touches of animalistic traits to her face that Trish is much less fuzzy than Nanami expected her to be.

That coat, though, sure is warm and fluffy.

After a while Nanami breaks up the hug, and rubs her eyes. ] I can make you some tea... are you still changing back, too...?

[ She moves a room over into the kitchen to put the kettle on. ]

[figlia_morbida]

[It's here and now that Trish is grateful she was a thorn in Mana's side about this ability. Maybe she's a godawful monster, but a bear gives better hugs than it gets, and it's nice to be this close.

This one doesn't like to be touched, but there's exceptions. There's always exceptions. Nanami is one of those.

She's only ever been hugged by her mother with any regularity, so she's admittedly not sure when to move away, and after everything Nanami has been through, she deserves as long of an embrace as she needs, and not a second less. So when Nanami pulls away, she steps back just once to give the girl space, and Nanami, ever a busy bee, immediately is struck by wherever whim takes her, which in this case happens to be the kitchen.

In the meantime, Trish nudges the bag with her foot, pushing it closer to the couch, before following Nanami into the kitchen. She's nosy, and maybe there's signs of who exactly Nanami is staying with.

For example: is the kitchen spotless, or filthy?]

Tea sounds perfect. Abbacchio has been giving me tea with a dash of honey every night these past few weeks that it's starting to become habit.

[As for that question, Trish hums.]

And no, I'm not. I was back to being a werebear as soon as I woke up in the arcade.

[It's hard to see the bear part anymore besides the fact she's hairy, but not overtly so. And her tail is a nub, never to be seen in this form unless she deigns to remove her coat.

Still, it's a curious detail. Did all the ones who got shunted back early revert instantly compared to those who came through the portal vis a vis their allegiances?]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ At Hope's Peak, and for most of her year so far in Ryslig, Nanami's been reluctant to hug. It's the sort of thing that you never really know whether the other person is going to be okay with it, until you find out.

But the more time she spends in Ryslig, the more times she dies and the more horrible events she goes through, the more shameless she's gotten about it. All of the current residents of the house have been hugged by Nanami now - in most cases more than once - and Trish and her companions themselves haven't been immune to this, either.

As for the kitchen, it's about the state of mess you might expect for a house in which three teenage boys live. There's a few dirty dishes in the kitchen, and somebody left out a box of cereal on the counter recently. But it's otherwise fairly tidy. Trish will find Nanami bustling between different cabinets, getting the ingredients. It makes her happy to know Trish has a specific order, rather than trying to guess what she might like. ]

That's kind of Abbacchio-kun... it's a nice way to soothe your throat... [ Trish does sound hoarse. She wonders why that is? She isn't coughing up nanites, surely?

But Trish's other comment deserves more attention. ] But you aren't right now-- so how...

[ Her gaze falls to Trish's coat, and her eyes get very wide. She very carefully deposits the little box of teabags on the counter before she drops it instead. ] I've read about this!!! You're using your skinchanger ability!

[figlia_morbida]

[Holding onto the people who matter starts to become a necessity in a place like Ryslig. Who knows if they'll be there tomorrow, whether you've been whisked off to a pocket dimension or they've been washed away to the Sea of Stars.

Losing people is scary...but never knowing them at all is not less painful and deeply lonely.

Trish's inspection of the kitchen, meanwhile, yields a space that isn't spotless...but frankly ordinary. As such, she deems it acceptable.

She finds it funny, too, how easily excitable Nanami is. Her ability here isn't nearly as impressive as her Stand, but that doesn't seem to matter to Nanami.]

It's nice, isn't it? Otherwise I would've worried about coming to visit you, only to find I can't fit through the door.

[She sweeps across the tile floor, then, to join Nanami.

While it's nice of Nanami to be such a gracious host, she's the one who's sick!]

Would you like a hand? Since I've got actual hands to offer now, as you've seen.

[Very funny.]

[waitingforplayer2]

I think you could have fit... probably?

[ Now she peers down the hall, actually, at the front door, trying to visualize Trish's massive werebear form. She frowns a bit, concentrating as she tries to figure out whether the bear would actually fit.

This would be a lot easier if she had like a tape measure or something. Oh well.

That's just enough time for Trish to come in and start helping her, while she's distracted. ] Oh! Sure...

[ She steps back from the counter respectfully before she has to cough into one of her elbows. Then she watches Trish, fascinated anew by her friend. ]

The coat... that's your skin? Do you change back to normal if you put it on?

[figlia_morbida]

[Unless a car can also fit through that door, Nanami, a big bear friend sauntering through is immediately precluded.

Anyways, if Nanami is going to relinquish her space after helpfully gathering everything, Trish is simply going to take over for her entirely. Can't stop her.

She sets about making tea for two in earnest, not looking up from her task as she answers:]

Probably some facsimile of it, otherwise I'd be horrifying to look at.

[Again, very funny, Trish.

She waits for the water to boil.]

From what I can gather, it works exactly like other werebears have described, although I wait until I start to feel awful before I put it back on properly.

Do you want some honey with your tea, by the way?

[She heard that, you know! One could say they're sore throat buddies.]

[waitingforplayer2]

You're not horrifying. You're cute like Lili-chan.

[ While Trish works, Nanami rests on the counter near her, watching her work. It occurs to her to glance at the bag Trish brought with her - she thought she smelled something sweet from it, but isn't sure whether she should assume it needs to be unpacked or not. ]

That's like... it lasts you an hour, right? [ Just gonna gently touch Trish's coat. It's not Trish's fur so it's not weird. The coat is silky soft and very poofy. It seems comfortable. ]

It's too bad it wouldn't turn me into a bear if I put it on...

[figlia_morbida]

Not quite what I meant, but thank you.

[Trish replies as she sets to steeping the tea.

Here she is making gross jokes when Nanami is being as sweet as can be. Or maybe she's simply that unflappable in the face of gore jokes when they live as monsters now. Either way, Trish let's the comparison to the Sanrio bear go without shrugging it off this time.

They can enjoy the snack bag she brought once the tea is ready; in the meantime, Nanami makes an interesting comment, and Trish hums, watching Nanami's hand draw a trail in the fluffy fur of her coat.]

Are you sure about that, Nanami? I've never heard of another monster trying on a werebear's coat.

You might be the first.

[She would understand if the idea is unappealing too.

Imagine wearing a part of someone you know. That's inherently weird.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ The half-changed nymph's eyes get very very big. She rubs a bit of the material (Trish's fur? it feels similar but different) between her leafy-textured fingers. ]

I don't think it would work... it's only a power that werebears have...

[ But she's not sure... and surely the only way to try it would be science, right?

... Is it gauche to ask your friend if you can try on her skin. ]

[figlia_morbida]

[The main difference in feeling is that it's not as warm, separate from Trish's living skin, and silkier in texture. But otherwise, it's weirdly similar.

Also, if it's gauche to ask, it's probably weirder to offer.

But it's also a sign of trust. After Lusamine's poor fate of losing her coat, Trish is aware that could happen, but she can't remotely imagine Nanami doing anything to hurt her in any way. Not purposefully. Besides, they're indoors. There's not a lot of places a big, bulky coat can disappear into, not in a house this small. The palazzo would be a different story.

Trish finishes up with the tea, stirring honey into both mugs with a hum.]

Maybe so...but it's magic, and magic is mutable. For every rule there is an exception.

[She sets the spoon down with a clink, pushing a mug towards her leafy friend.

Trish continues:]

Let's head back to the living room. I think sitting somewhere warm will do us both good while we experiment.

[waitingforplayer2]

Oh, I guess that's right...

[ Magic never does feel like it's fully explained, does it? After all, the Guide she loves so much -well, its information is only partly right, because the Fog's magic produces such variation in all of Her monsters. Nanami's experiences there never seem to quite line up with what Spengler predicted.

She takes her mug and thoughtfully looks into it as they move back into the living room. What if there's countless tricks to being a monster that none of them have figured out yet, just because they haven't tried the right thing?

Well, in any case, now she's actually kind of hoping the trick they're about to try works.

She sets her mug down on the little table in the living room, and then turns to Trish. The ceiling here is a bit higher than in the kitchen, at least. ] Okay! May I see your coat?

[figlia_morbida]

[Trish would tell her magic is dumb and does whatever it wants. She could sit and tell Nanami about all the ridiculous things Stands do, and completely peel away any of the mysticism of magic, unveiling the absurdity roiling underneath.

After all, between Sex Pistols being a group of sentient bullets that have salami for lunch whenever they want, Gold Experience turning pens into eyeballs, and non-sapient animals having Stands, it turns into a mess of possibilities and unique situations with rules as flexible as her own power. All this to say she isn't thinking about practical experimentation of monster forms and abilities the way Nanami is, but that speaks to their different minds.

Trish sets her mug down as well, slipping her coat off and instead of answering, she flicks said coat over Nanami's head to drape it around her small shoulders. It's much warmer on the inside than it was on the outside!]

Just be careful not to drag it on the floor.

[She'll let Nanami get comfortable with it from there. The nymph can keep it around her shoulders or put it on properly. Whatever she'd like.

For her part, Trish will settle onto the couch, mindful of Nanami's things. She waits a moment, raising a brow as she appraises the newly furred nymph.]

Feel any different?

[waitingforplayer2]

[ With a slight squeak of surprise, Nanami's suddenly covered in the warm pink furs. She struggles out from underneath it, and her head pops out at the neck, her leafy hair rustling.

Look, Trish has a bigger build than her. It's fine.

She wraps the fur around her, putting her arms through the armholes. Maybe it only works once it's on correctly?... Trish was wearing it a little low before.

She waits for several long moments for the magic to work. ]

... Warm. [ Slight disappointment. She presses her fingers against the fur again, as if that'll do anything; it does not. ] I guess it's just for you...

[ Ah well, that makes sense. But it would have been nice if Nanami was wrong.

She settles down on the couch with Trish, still wearing the coat. Being such a brightly colored pink companion to Trish makes her think of Spice Girl; and the fur makes her as soft as Spice's power, too. ]

Spice-san... she didn't come back with you, did she? [ They only met briefly, but Nanami finds her missing the stand. ]

[figlia_morbida]

[Nanami being smaller just means more cozy fur per square inch of gamer girl. She can be literally buried in the comfort of a friend's physical presence!

Anyways, the whole point was to get Nanami warm and comfortable, so even if they haven't made her a bear in a single instance of experimentation, Trish thinks this is better anyway. Nanami would probably enjoy being a bear, actually...but that's for another day, should Nanami wish to experiment. Still, it's a little sad to see her disappointed? Nanami always has a capacity for wonder about even the strangest things.

It's sweet.]

It was worth a try.

[Trish says, gentle, while Nanami settles in. She's keeping the coat, so she must at least enjoy that.

And then the nymph says that, and Trish makes a soft noise of surprise. It still catches her off-guard to have the capacity to be missed by other people, and she never imagined the same for her Stand. Spice Girl was an anomaly for the eyes of so few until Felfri, you know?

Spice-san...Miss Spice. That nearly makes Trish smile.

She leans to pick up her mug, taking in a long, soothing sip. It's nice against the rawness of her throat. Only after does she answer, mug held securely between two hands adorned with a dense collection of fur along the backs of them that trail down her forearms.]

...No, and yes. Spice Girl as you met her isn't able to manifest anymore. But if you'll remember, she's the shape of my soul, power and all.

In a sense, she's always here.

[I am you.

She'd said that, but even Nanami can tell the difference. What does it mean when a Stand can, well, stand on their own as a separate entity? With what she'd learned about Doppio and Diavolo, what does it say that she has another mind separate from her own?]

[waitingforplayer2]

In a sense...

[ Nanami stares into her tea. The heat from the mug and from the jacket is all warm and cozy; maybe when she changes fully back, this sort of thing won't be as good for her wooden body. It's a little sad to think about.

And so is the absence of Trish's stand, as Nanami sips from her own mug and lets the honeyed tea that Trish carefully made soothe her throat. ]

It's still too bad... that she can't be here. It's like being without a friend...

[ Spice was nice to talk to. And she saw the easy friendship that she and Trish had, talking together. Certainly Trish seems to have more affection for her overall than Abbacchio did with Moody. ]

I hope you can see her again someday. [ It must be possible, right? Hopefully? She gives Trish a gentle smile before taking another sip. ] And I'm really glad I could meet her.

[figlia_morbida]

[No, wrapping a tree with a coat probably is not at all comfortable for the tree. It really is unfortunate to see her changing back to that, and Trish thinks on it. She thinks on how the fog chooses arbitrary forms that leave her victims bereft of some comfort. Whether it be the comfort of touch or the simple joy of settling into a fluffy bathrobe after a hot shower, many monsters can't enjoy those things anymore.

Fur makes fur coats redundant, for example, which makes her glad her fur mostly vanishes when she doffs her skin and negates that problem for at least some portion of the day.

It makes her angry, as always, but Nanami manages to make her feel lighter. She's gentle in her words and sweet to regard Spice Girl so fondly for how little time she got to know the Stand. After months of being unable to both here and back home, it was nice to share in the marvel of it all.

Trish hums, a grumbly timber. Not intentionally so, but her throat makes her sound more like her monster than she ever has, really.]

You're right, it's not the same. I like to think that the moment we find a way to free our powers from the constraints put on us...she'll appear when I call.

She always had, even before I knew she was there.

[Felfri was unusual in every regard. Spice is practical to a fault, and really only appeared unprompted because of the huge, unprecedented gap in her understanding between when she was last conscious and then. After all, she said it herself: she'd been at Trish's side since Trish was little. It's weird to think about, that she had a constant companion she could neither see nor hear until meeting other Stand users prompted her own untapped potential to fully awaken.

It must've been lonely. Is the way she feels now the way Spice felt, or was Spice simply content to be there for her in the tiny capacity she could? Trish takes another thoughtful sip of her tea.]

Regardless, I'm not too worried. She's safe with me, so I'd rather focus on the friends I've got who aren't literally a part of my heart...like you.

It's why I came to see you. I won't lie and say I wasn't worried sick over everyone left behind in Felfri. So I'm happy to see you with my own eyes.

Thank you for the peace of mind, Nanami.

[waitingforplayer2]

[ In transforming to a monster, Nanami appreciates the necessity of finding new methods of comfort. An octopus person must swim. A dog person must awoo.

But she's struggled with that, as a nymph. Maybe because her nymph form keeps changing and morphing almost every month, but that can't be the only reason; even in the intervening weeks between changes, she's found it hard to grow comfortable with her form.

It can't be helped, she supposes - except that it can; and Felfri, among many other things, was a reminder of that. Already ideas are starting to form in the gamer's head. ]

I've had a thought about that... [ She's murmuring it quietly enough that Trish might miss it, especially since it's followed by a few more hacking coughs.

The other part of the conversation, though, makes her feel warm. She feels almost too flustered to look at her friend, so instead she sips into her tea, letting the emotion hit her. ]

Th-thank you too... I've been so so worried about everyone...

You know they're not all back yet? Hinata-kun and Okami-san... I've been... checking the apartments for them, but...

[ She shakes her head. ] I just want everybody to be safe... [ Or at least, the Ryslig facsimile of it. ]

[figlia_morbida]

A thought...?

[Trish starts, but then Nanami is coughing, and she can't do anything for the nymph, but she does wince sympathetically. Nothing escapes werebear ears.

Nanami keeps her gaze down, though, and Trish peers down at her own cup, idly swirling the tea therein.

She remembers what Hinata said, although she's surprised that he didn't come stumbling out soon after her boys did. What is he doing, she wonders? Nanami supplies a new name too, but the blending of Ryslig's magic and the meaning of the word is not lost on her. They don't have very many mutual wolf friends!

And the last she saw of Mukuro, well...she was in that video, so she rallied herself back around to her usual level of function.

Trish shakes her head, almost defiantly.]

I'm sure they're fine. Hinata promised me he would come back in one piece, and I'm holding him to it. And if she's with him, there's not much that could trouble them.

[Hinata is a surprisingly vicious fighter. He'd proved it once before, but Felfri only solidified that reality.

Mukuro, meanwhile, is unparalleled. A soldier by trade doesn't lose easily. Even if all it takes is one bad situation, she believes in them.

A thought occurs to Trish.]

But since they're gone, you came here. Am I right?

[waitingforplayer2]

Sort of...

[ She settles into the coat. It's warm and makes her a little sleepy. But maybe that's just the coziness of the situation.

Still, talking about her friends makes her a little uneasy - for several reasons. ] I hope you're right... enough of us died over there.

... I came back with Shoka-chan, and got sick pretty quickly afterwards... so I've been staying here. It's... easier than being alone in the apartment.

[ She puts her cup down, and hugs her legs close. Soon enough they won't be legs at all - maybe another day before their splitting goes thru its last stages, and she'll have her roots again. Her roots that should be natural to her by now, but which she's going to have to learn to use again. ]

I'm worried... I think I really messed up in Felfri... I don't know if they'll be able to look at me the same way...