OPEN // OVERFLOW

[desertrain]

Comments

(( @relentlessbeauty ))

[desertrain]

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HA! Of course! But don't worry, I covered the damages.

[ It's not like he can't afford it... ]

Just got to Pomefiore! Are your pants on?

[relentlessbeauty]

[He's just. Staring at that question. Kalim.]

I still can't believe you just immediately hopped on your carpet to get here.

[That's an implicit yes. He's even got a sweatshirt because he's guessing Kalim doesn't do Slow when flying his carpet.]

[desertrain]

[ Look, slow or not, it's not Kalim's decision; Carpet is a free spirit. Carpet does what Carpet pleases. But double-checking the existence and presence of pants is very important, okay? Some of us don't bother with pants while in our bedrooms, Vil. Some of us really strive to reinforce the house rule of knocking before entering.

In any case, Vil can hear Kalim's laughter before he sees him, but it's not a long wait; like lightning on the heels of thunder. Wow! The balconies are way fancier than Kalim imagined! Pomefiore's a nice-looking place in general, really. But the balcony?

They should have balconies built onto the Scarabia dorm rooms. Everyone likes a good balcony, right? New line item for the list of Things to Bother Crowley About.

Kalim's sitting tailor-style when they approach, but his legs unfold smooth as anything when Carpet comes to hover over the balcony floor, smile bright as the sun when he offers Vil a hand, just to help him on board. ]

Anything for you!

(( @iblisian ))

[desertrain]

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What do you mean? Why wouldn't I??

[iblisian]

You should own enough animals to know better.

Squirrels are basically just rats with fluffy tails.

[desertrain]

Jamil!!!

Now I REALLY need them! I love rats!

Do we have room for a separate menagerie?

(( @cursing ))

[desertrain]

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[ Are we really so sure the world hasn't already descended into chaos? ]

Ohhh I get it...

Do you just want me all to yourself?

[cursing]

Fewer witnesses would be preferable.

[desertrain]

Oh noooo how dastardly! What could you be planning! My virtue, my innocence, you fiend...

[ Like he's not scrambling to pack up his books and notes, hookah mouthpiece hanging between his lips. ]

(( @octaplicitous ))

[desertrain]

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I'll be here!

[ Because he literally cannot get up. :) ]

(( @cursing ))

[desertrain]

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There's a new place in town!

[ in this case, place just means a sketchy guy with a ramshackle cart hanging around the alley next to the legit pet store. ]

There were all kinds of exotic pets there! He said he can get us a hippo, Jamil. A hippo!!

[cursing]

Know that I will never forgive you if you bring a hippo into this dorm.

﴾ it's fine, jamil will just have to amicably interrogate every vendor in town until someone gives up a name. and then things will get significantly less amicable from there. ﴿

So you went to the market. With a body guard, I presume?

[desertrain]

Just a little baby hippo for the oasis! It would be soooo cute!!

I didn't want to bother you to go with me, I was just running out for a bag of licorice.

[ and returned with an animal. as is tradition. ]

((@princeofpillows))

[desertrain]

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Never?? Silver!! You don't know what you're missing! It's soooo relaxing!

[princeofpillows]

I don't think we even have them in Briar Valley. I've floated on my back in a lake before, but that doesn't sound like the same thing.

So giving it a try sounds like it could be fun.

[desertrain]

Not even CLOSE to the same thing! It's like a floating bed in the water, it's the best! You're gonna love it!

I nearly posted this on the wrong character lmf

[viziernary]

[It had been two weeks and some odd days since the...elephant safety discussion, which was something that Jamil should have forgotten about at this point - they fed peacocks and then changed how the dorm handled the menagerie rotation, adjusted things based upon feedback, and that should have been that.

Jamil had a dream about the...elephant safety discussion. It was a few days after. He woke up in a sweat, saying Kalim's name. Someone asked him what he had dreamed about. He had to lie and spin a story about bugs and nightmares, and Jamil (frustratingly) could tell they hadn't bought it, and he heard whispers of overblot and some stares - some pitying, some angry, some smug. Which was still better than the truth, which was yet another secret between him and Kalim.

And so it went. He'd tried to forget about the...elephant safety discussion. It haunted him. And now it was two weeks (and a few days) later, and he walked into Kalim's room-]

Kalim.

[-and his fingers were twitching as he remembered, of all things, the...elephant safety discussion. Which wasn't the sort of thought he should be thinking of. (If it wasn't so secret, he might be desperate enough to turn to Azul, see if there was some way of removing the memory...but that meant turning to Azul and absolutely fucking not.)

Breathe.]

I thought it was time to bring you your food. [Perfectly normal, nothing to see here.]

[desertrain]

[ Kalim is, possibly, better at compartmentalization than Jamil has managed to be about this entire elephant safety situation.

It's not that Kalim hasn't thought about it -- touched his own lips fondly each time the memory surfaced -- but he's something of an expert at framing things as no big deal. He kissed Jamil. It was lovely, for all the shame Jamil seemed to have about it. He insisted that no one can know, like it was some dire, filthy, revolting act. So that was all there was to it. Kalim would carry it fondly in his heart, count his blessings, and focus on the things he had some ability to control.

Though something is bothering Jamil, that much is abundantly clear. But asking Jamil to be forthright and discuss (or even acknowledge) an emotion is like begging a camel to look at its own neck. Kalim learned long ago, it's better to simply embrace the stalwart stoicism as Jamil being Jamil, and leave him to sort through it at his own pace.

He certainly has more time now. Not an abundance of it, but ever since the winter holiday incident, Kalim's been going out of his way to take on more tasks for himself. Little by little, finding small ways to bring them to a more level playing field. It won't happen all at once, but he's making great progress. Case in point, Kalim made his own bed this morning (the blankets are unforgivably wrinkled), donned his own headwrap (it's very crooked), and has spent the better part of the day studying (and getting hopelessly distracted by his phone).

That's how Jamil finds him: cross-legged on his messy bed, texting Silver, with a textbook open in his lap. ]

Mm?

[ Kalim glances at the clock -- too early for lunch -- and then to Jamil's hands (empty?) before he cracks a smile. ]

Already? That's so thoughtful of you! Where is it?

[viziernary]

[The bed was...barely made, and that was fine, as inevitably Kalim would make a mess of it, the only people who would see it was Kalim and...himself (and that was a thought that Jamil very carefully kept from thinking too much about) and he could tell himself it was made much better and Kalim just rolled around while texting Silver, probably. He could let go of that.

Kalim's headwrap was unforgivingly crooked, and Jamil could feel his fingers want to twitch at the sight. They didn't, but they wanted to.

...lunch. Food. His hands are empty.]

I thought I'd bring you a snack and was going to ask what you wanted, but now I see you've barely been studying at all. [...and clearly, his empty hands are because he was going to ask Kalim what he wanted, not because...anyway.] And I see your headwrap is a mess- stay there.

[In case Kalim was trying to get up. He doesn't need to. Jamil can get a comb and climb onto the bed behind him. As they...do. All of this is normal, perfectly normal, and he doesn't need a mirror to do this and it's fine, fine, fine.]

(( @viziernary ))

[desertrain]

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No I was just thinking of a small croissant spread for the dorm (+ a couple friends), but we should TOTALLY have a breakfast party! Thank you!!

Oh this is so exciting! Let's make a list for the catering first and then I'll start setting up a breakfast party playlist!

[viziernary]

It never would have just been a couple of friends.

[Let him have his denial...]

No one is awake in the mornings, Kalim. The simpler the better.

[desertrain]

No way! I'm awake in the mornings!

[ Because Jamil brings him the sweetest, blackest coffee the Sands has to offer before he even rolls out of bed. ]

(( @viziernary ))

[desertrain]

(( continued from here ))

Isn't it?

[ This isn't the place for desert blooms or soft things. Maybe back home, where the canals help everything to flourish. But not here. The dorm's climate is too arid, too unforgiving, for soft things like that to survive. Perhaps that's part of why Kalim is so at odds with everything here; too nurturing and forgiving for a place like Night Raven, and yet he remains, because--

Well. He's only ever wanted to be at Jamil's side. Desperate to stay close to him, even when they were children. He only recently realized why that was such a devastating thing.

All told, it's not far from the dorm. Not as far as the oasis, at least, but far enough that they won't be discovered. Carpet drifts to a stop beside the columns, and Kalim hops off, holding out his hand again to assist Jamil. Distractedly so, though; Kalim is gaping up at the moon, a sharp cut of a crescent over the nearby dune. ]

Wow! It's really beautiful here at night. Haha!

[ Then, when he turns to look up at the columns: ]

What do you think this place used to be? It's not on any of the dorm maps. Then again, the oasis isn't either, but--

[viziernary]

[The part of him that noted that it was probably really weird that he was so used to being dragged around by Kalim had died something like...nine years ago. Approximately.

So, Kalim offers him his hand and Jamil takes it and climbs off of Carpet.

What did this place used to be...]

I never really thought about it. [He said, clearly now thinking about it.] Was it ever anything?

[What the hey, now he is thinking about it.] It may have been simply something someone thought might be nice to have. [Pre-ruined ruins and all. For atmosphere.]

[desertrain]

[ Kalim can see the mental pathways he would usually travel. Scold Jamil about a lack of imagination, cajole him with a stream-of-consciousness myriad of theories about the ruins' prior usage. And each theory would be more inane than the last, until he could goad Jamil into cracking the faintest smile, and the world would be right, if only because Kalim managed to melt that ice for a fraction of a second.

Instead, he hums, and nods, and shrugs through his grin. ]

You're probably right.

[ Carpet meanders through the air while Kalim picks his way up to (what he assumes is) the stage. ]

So! How do we do a fire show?