#inkyara 02

[darkenforcer]

@inkyara || nom nom nommin...

this actually isn't half bad; yuri's gotten pretty comfy here on nommin. all he needs is a good meal... and judging by some nearby rustling, he's finally getting one! time to spring into action!

orrr not. just a dork in a green beanie.

he lowers his makeshift spear (would it have killed 'em to let him keep his sword?) and clicks his tongue, sharp. it's not like he's disappointed, but his stomach really would've appreciated a wild boar right about now, that's all.

"oops. thought you were dinner, sou," he's leaning forward on his weapon, relaxed once more, "that would've been a shitty start to an island vacation... how's that going for you, by the way?" in layman's terms: are you okay?

[cladinivcry]

"Yeah?" They examine the fish with thought then smile. "Good thing there's other things." If Sou wanted to just get by with coconut water, that should be fine. A person could survive without food for some time, but water was essential, wasn't it?

Placing what they caught down, Indigo starts working on building the fire underneath shelter. It doesn't take long and real quick there's a warm fire to keep the two warm. Indigo doesn't remove the fish from its makeshift spear and instead hooks the spear right above the fire at a SAFE distance to cook the fish at all angles.

"Man, this brings back memories." They say with a chuckle. Reaching over, they grab hold of the coconut and looks over at Sou, "Have you ever had coconut water before? It's delicious."

Sou really regretted not speaking up. He stared at the fish in front of him with trepidation. He wasn't certain he was ready to eat yet, though he knew he needed sustenance to survive. He tried to push all his thoughts aside and focus on that fact. "... I'll be honest... when I cook fish, it wrecks my stomach." He sat hugging his legs, not prim in the least. The mildness of his bearing betrayed no contrariness. Sou seemed willing to risk the impending meal, but was more concerned with the coconut.

"Though... I think I'd be okay with the coconut water..." He eyed the fruit with interest. Maybe if he was sweet enough, he could get by without the fish...

[kleinstar]

Looks like the guy's a little timid but that's never stopped Eiden from making connections. There's no agreement made in words but Eiden can tell when he's welcomed.

" Sou then! " Eiden happily replies.

" Itadori Eiden! Eiden's fine of course, we're probably around the same age anyhow? Either way nice to meet you! "

Shin had such meager experience with 3-D modeling, it immediately caught his attention. If they both had a bit of experience, he assumed the other might possess much more skill than himself. He'd almost started a timid tangent on the matter, but... What was his name? What name...? How could he introduce himself? He stopped himself right as his jaw was about to flap. He didn't usually think it through this much.

With mousy defeat, he exhaled, "I-I-I-I'm S-Sou... Sou Hiyori." It shouldn't matter... if his suspicions were correct, his captors here wouldn't out him as Shin Tsukimi either. Sou Hiyori was... surely his name on this network...

[cladinivcry]

With a nod, they gently pat Sou's shoulder. "You stay right here. I'll be an earshot away, so shout if you need anything, alright?" And they smile before rising to their feet and stretching.

"Hope you like fish~." They chime with a sing-song like tune before stepping away. They're about to leave the area, but they spare Sou one last look. It should be relatively safe. When they were here with Chain, there were no danger other THAN the storm that caused them to quickly make way to hide into their little shelter.

"I'll be back, kiddo."

A moment after, Indigo returns with a wooden spear-full of fish in one hand and a whole coconut in the other.

His vision swam as he tried to focus on Indigo's demonstration of their ability to create fire. Though curious, Sou's thoughts are hazy. He stood up, feeling a bit unsteady.

When Indigo offers to go hunting together, Sou knows he must accept. He didn't wish to squander his moment of relief so soon, but the part of him that wished to survive won out. He hadn't any hunger pangs, but his body wavered in their stead. He held his hands over the flame, goose flesh lining up his arms.

"Yeah, I could use some food," his voice trembled weakly, "but I don't know if I'm up for hunting right now. I'll just be a liability..."

[cladinivcry]

Maybe they can even see if they can get Sou to eat just a little bit. They'll suggest it later when they build that fire. "Yeah, actually I can." They say with a smile. "But it'd be a good way to start a fire. Easy and super quick."

they hold out their hand in front of them, palm upward, "I can create 5 fireballs. That's what the Stars said at least." As they speak, a small ball of flame starts to form. It's small, not big enough to get out of control (Not that it ever would.) Their free hand hovers over this small flame, now encasing it into a small cocoon and gently they place it down against a bunch of wood that Indigo had placed previously. AND there's their fire.

"There we go. Now we got a lil bit of fire going on. We'll probably have to grab some food too. You wanna go hunting with me?"

For a fleeting moment his denial temporarily cracked to pieces, but he could pick up from worse even quicker. The deadly grip of starvation squeezed his thoughts into a nasty puree, but rationality drained blood away from his face visibly only in the way his body shivered. I'm fine. This is just... a hallucination. He sighed, something indulgent oozing out of the sound. With balm all over his back, sensation still lingered in a distracting way. His own underfueling was a powerful motivator to keep pushing, but the promise of heat especially sprang him out of his short-term reeling. Sou starved himself in more ways than one, and he became skittish to the realization that he enjoyed that more than he thought he would.

"Thanks," His voice was small and brisk, "I would like that. Now... jog my memory, didn't you say you can throw fire balls or something? Not that I'm suggesting you should..."

[cladinivcry]

Indigo watches him. The way he began to feel almost uncomfortable. Like he was trying to find words to say, but nothing would come out. His brain wasn't forming any words.

"You're alright," Indigo attempts to sooth and gently applies the aloe ointment over the redness. Indigo can't help but wonder exactly what happened. Did this kid eat? They had thought that Sou looked ghostly if anything, but this....mmm.

"Does that feel alright? Is it soothing a bit?" Indigo finishes and places the ointment aside and sighs softly, "All done. You're good." They want to ask, but they decide against it. Sou really looked like those starving children from a long time ago. ah...that actually aches.

"You want to build a fire under here before it starts to pour?" Indigo can smell the rain in the air approaching.

Sou purposely turned his head away from Indigo, fighting a slight smile in favor of a grumpier look. Especially in light of the nudges, his first response was to appear aloof. Despite his attitude, some of his tension receded in his joints. He held his tongue back for once upon seeing the clearing. Reluctantly, he followed them inside. He took his sweet time about it, evidently uncomfortable but resigned with the medical attention. As if he were familiar with it, he rolled up his pants above his knees, and slipped his shirt off over his head. The dermamyositis was the least of his problems.

"... ... ... U-Um..." He shivered. He couldn't think of what to say. He despised his shape and there was no way around it. Sou's ribs were prominent, his belly sunken, and his hip bones barely had mass. Even his time with Yuri couldn't reverse it all so soon.

[cladinivcry]

They are sure it's not what they mean, but Indigo smiles, nudging Sou playfully with the use of their elbow, "If we team up together, we'll definitely succeed in putting him on the spot and burdening him." It's a playful jab to kind of lighten the mood.

They arrive at a slightly more cleared area and Indigo smirks, "There it is." It's hard to see when it's covered with vines, leaves, and moss. From afar it just looks like a mound, but upon closer approach it looks to be a decent sized hut with leaves, twigs, and other supplies to hold the shelter together.

Indigo jogs on over, crouches down to take a peek inside and nods after rummaging through some stuff, "Here it is. Sou, c'mere real quick? Let me see those red splotches."

Sou had been listening and watching Indigo fixedly, cumulating every detail he could from the moment of his approach. Theories were already stirring and rattling in his head. Mx. Reyes could vanish again in any moment...

"I'm by myself today," He replied, "sorry to disappoint. I can't burden him every moment of every day, though I try," he sighed. He honestly didn't know if what he just said was the truth or not. He was too busy recollecting his lighter load and dreading his impending check-up. Of course he opened his big mouth. Gin was right, in a way. I am honest to a fault, sometimes, he thought. He dragged himself after his escort, his muscles still flaring up in the process to an electrifying degree. Don't panic, just take it slow.

[cladinivcry]

So, Indigo ended up back here. Whatever this whole glitching system was, it couldn't make up its mind. From here at the beginning where they met Chain and then to glitching out and popping in some shipwreck for a brief moment, then glitching to the strange horror-based facility and meeting Marcille, it's a bit much. They can only hope that Marcille was fine and that Chain was able to have her little vacation elsewhere.

Anyway,

Between all that and hiding away from some creatures, they had lost their hair tie. More like it had been cut right off by an attack. Thank goodness it wasn't their hair. They are not ready to part with it, honestly.

And THAT'S why Indigo does not notice the familiar presence approaching. They have their back facing Sou while they're focusing on making a makeshift hair tie for their hair. If there's one thing that will VISIBLY make them annoyed, it's sand in their hair. There's too much hair and their hair is too long to deal with all of that.

Ms. Reyes.

Indigo lifts their head then turns to look over their shoulder, blinking. From a mild surprise look, their lip curls upward into a smile. "Hey, kid! Small world." Fully turning to face Sou, they stretch the handmade hair tie to see its elasticsy. "Perfect." And there they go. Instead of braiding their hair (Because that'd take a minute), they're wrapping their hair around, around, around, and around until it's formed a perfectly round ball on top their head and they tie.

"You doin' alright? You need help with those?"

Sou spent hours a day scrounging up sticks and bark, snapping vines and tying his would-be lumber together. He'd hoped to find something special by following a river bank. He followed the sounds of rushing water to that of a waterfall, seeking shade from the sun's rays on his skin. Great dangers lured fools in with beauties like this sight, and he wasn't alone. He wrapped his slender arms around himself and his splendid inventory protectively, but that stature... ... ... how familiar, and what a small world.

"Ms. Reyes... ... ...?" He kicked a pebble with his sand encrusted shoe, "I'm not intruding, am I? It's odd running into you in such serene places." His languo hair stood up in the slight breeze, clearer to see without his usual sleeves. Of all things, he shivered despite the heat.

@cladinivcry liked for a starter!

[darkenforcer]

there's a moment when yuri's almost thrown off by the reciprocated eye contact (sou's getting bolder, it seems). he ultimately breaks it off himself, though... it's giving him the heebie-jeebies...

"don't sell yourself short, i bet you know your way 'round computers better than i ever will. i'd consider that pretty damn impressive," a genuine compliment played straight (it's just the truth, after all). too bad IT skills are practically useless here...

"the hard work's only for today, promise. i actually wanna enjoy our island getaway," he reassures with a hearty pat; they'll both be deadweights sipping on coconuts soon enough! "how about i text you a list of what we need so we can divide 'n conquer, then meet back up here later? think you can handle that?"

"Pfft, you're just saying that...!" Sou's fragile clarity of mind nestles under his skin and shakes his small frame briefly. He held eye contact, brimming despite a fear of losing himself in another's gaze. It's back where they left off last time, though warmly; What use am I? "I'm pretty useless outside of computers," He states with some gentle diffidence, "I'm even pathetic with what I'm good at. I'll do my best not to be a deadweight, fuahaha...!" Sou's actions and words finally led up to acknowledgement, as skewed as it was. Sou's thoughts were rapid as energy washed over him. He strained with it, but he miraculously said nothing to protest the physical contact. It was as if he was too enraptured with his own extreme mood.

[darkenforcer]

thick as the silence is, yuri lets him solve whatever puzzle he's got in that head of his. while the eventual response is hardly an acknowledgement of any sort of team-up... he's still here, yuri curiously notes, and actions speak louder than words. doubly so for anyone as evasive as this guy.

"uh, what..? not a fan of meat?" he tucks his catch away with a shrug. that's what he hopes sou means, at least -- last thing he needs is him passing out for real this time. "i can work with that. getting stepped on every now and then isn't so bad."

(...phrasing, yuri).

he moves to lean on the shorter man's shoulder, the sliiightest bit pushy when he suggests, "maybe we'll find something more your speed while we set up camp. you do have a useful skill or two under your belt, right, chuckles? aside from your charming wit, obviously"

Yuri's so different - lively, capable, unhindered by loneliness. Sou studies him thoughtfully for a long moment. It affects him too much, this tease of an offer. His easygoing nature and cheerful persistence intrigued Sou, even as they made him uneasy. Sou folded his arms tightly, unsure of how to respond to this gregarious spirit. That's so mean! What choice do I have that isn't torture? Sou thought, feeling exposed and uncertain. It wasn't even as if he wanted that corpse. His appetite was nonexistent for solid food, but companionship? The prospect made him voracious. All his vulneability drove his laughter out, but he masked the maddening sensations as usual.

"Ahaha! If this isn't poetic! Poetic justice even-!" Sou giggled, going along with the merriness, "it's your paws I'm stepping on. I can't eat that! Ahahaha, haha!"

[darkenforcer]

nope? and he's so blunt about it -- blunt enough for yuri to pause, if only briefly. there is such a thing as being too asocial, especially in situations like these.

he's rolling his eyes at the little tune, but he doesn't stifle his chuckle either -- sou's so complicated. "awuu?" he echoes, "that's too bad. i was actually gonna suggest you stick around here, but i wouldn't wanna step on your paws or anything."

honestly, there isn't much of a 'here' yet; yuri's been too focused making deadly pointy stuff to build anything, er, sustainable... but hey, turns out he caught something!

he grins, hopping from his spot on the jungle floor, "hell yeah! there's even enough for two! ohhh, wait..."

Sou's face and tone flattened. He didn't take the bait this time. No why, I'm flattered but what big teeth you have, or it was no little jog, Lowell! He instead deadpanned, "Nope."

With that, he turned back into the brush and resumed minding his asocial business; his passionate (ireful) date with harvesting a stinging nettle's fibers. Nooooooot. They say you attract what you fear. Sou doesn't stay still this time, his arms twitching up as if he were going to grab Yuri's spear but thought better of it. He tramped by his side, not in the least permitting Yuri to look back at him. His lips were pressed shut in a teasing sneer.

"... ... ... I'm a lone wolf too. Awuuuu." Sou's little gloomy melody cracks in his throat, his tone finishing off more cynically. He put a hand over his heart, curled into a fist. He didn't even try when he howled.

[darkenforcer]

"riiight. impressive." even yuri's sweltering in his unbuttoned aloha shirt, he doesn't want to imagine what it's like for anyone with sou's constitution. at least he ditched the scarf (weird to see him without it, though).

"they say you attract what you fear, y'know." on a serious note, 'i'm doing great'? the scrapes along his arms aren't exactly reassuring. saying he's worried would be a stretch, buuut...

...he has traps to check on. the only monster here's his appetite.

yuri straightens, tapping sou's head gently with the shaft of his spear as he passes by. "anyway, shouldn't you get back to whoever's waiting for you to finish your little jog? they might start thinkin' the big bad lowell's gotten to you, too."

Sou shrunk back with his mouth agape. His heart had nearly leapt out of his mouth like an affronted toad given his hoarse croak. Yuri's words didn't reach him proper until the spear withdrew. His scarf was missing, but he clutched his green halter top in it's stead. Scuffs and scratches lined his slim arms. "I -- Mr. Lowell?" Sou sighed deeply and gulped more of the humid air. His chest was tight, too tight, but he studied Yuri's lax posture. His teal eyes fired up before his brow eased. This was not how he thought foraging would go. This guy again... Now he's going to think I'm even more stupid.

"It's hot... my lung capacity is poor, and I've been running laps," he said, wiggling in a little lie, "I'm doing great. I was even teleported where I willed to go. I thought something would go terribly wrong, like a monster stabbing me in the throat with a scary spear! Oh, wait."

[cladinivcry]

"Here," With ease, Indigo takes some of the supplies off of Sou and smiles, "Damn, Yuri indeed. Mm? Always getting people in trouble and shit." They're only teasing. Yuri is good people and they're damned glad to have met him!

"Is Yuri with you or are you here on your own?" Shifting the weight of the supplies, Indigo actually gestures with their chin for Sou to follow. "Let's get those red splotches on your skin checked out, yeah?" They begin to lead them through the tropicalness of the island.

"When I was last here, I made shelter. Hope it's still there, 'cause I made all sorts of shit just in case." There were probably some plant-based ointment they made that might work for those redness on Sou's skin.

Sou's grunt was more of a sigh as he carefully relinquished half of the weight of the wood into a pile. His smile didn’t hide his frustration, his brows were furrowed and his hands were planted at his hips. He was going to build a trap that'd catch something, but he didn't expect to catch the attention of someone he knew. He watched as Indigo fashioned a hair tie out of some materials, impressed by their resourcefulness. That question again... ... ... do I look really unwell? Sou pondered glumly. His fingers glided over his shoulders to scratch his skin.

"I'm doing all right, thanks. Just trying to gather some supplies for a project," Sou replied, gesturing towards the pile of sticks and bark. "I think I'm breaking out from myositis... damn Lowell." He huffed dispassionately, his nails having left claw marks on his pale arms. Red patches peppered his inner elbows and even his chest. He was one of the lucky ones. Autoimmune issues and muscle weakness be damned. He just... couldn't admit his gratitude for the other man. "I would appreciate it. There's more where this came from, if you're hurting for supplies... in fact, you might need this more than we do."