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[gemigod]

VOICE | ACTION | LETTERS

Steven lives in Helian's Glade and can usually be found somewhere in the gardens. Letters can be left on his bed, which is made of moss and several supernaturally large blooms, or the drawer filled stump where he keeps his belongings. He is responsive to network communications but prefers not to speak one on one over them.

Comments

[hippocarnival]

"No... I think this is her." He rubs the back of his neck, apologetic. "I. I showed her something and she got really upset about it and stormed into her tower, so..."

It wasn't the result he was aiming for. His bad.

[gemigod]

Oddly enough, hearing that takes a lot of the weight off of Steven's shoulders. After all, it's not his problem if she messes up her own garden - even if the state of the flowers still makes him a little sad. He goes from looking worried to looking mildly annoyed and mostly baffled.

"Really? What did you show her?" he asks, tilting his head and raising his ears attentively.

[hippocarnival]

Oh, Steven in constrast is taking that better than he thought. Yuya lowers his hand. "Um, it was a drawing of a symbol Peridot and I found in one of the castle's rooms... a cat lying in a sunbeam."

He shrugs helplessly. "She said she didn't know it, but then told me not to show anyone else or draw it again. And then she went into her tower."

[gemigod]

"Oh... I saw one of those," he says, looking surprised. He hadn't expected at all that the random symbol would be anything important. "Actually, a bunch of those. That room I fell asleep in was full of them!"

He'd complained anecdotally about having been locked in a room for several hours when it happened, but he hadn't gone into much detail about the room itself. The decorating hadn't seemed important.

[hippocarnival]

"Really?" Yuya looks up, brows raising. "We saw it in a long room on tapestries of people... but all their faces were ripped out, so I couldn't tell who they were."

But they seemed regal, probably important. There weren't even any names to tie them to.

[gemigod]

"Weird..."

He guesses if he saw that he'd have been more curious about it. And if it was bad enough to make Helian act like that...

"Whatever it is, it must have really gotten to her. More than usual, even."

He glances towards the tower warily. Yet, there is a curious hope that flickers in his heart. Anything that can affect the Gentry's moods that strongly must be important. If it's something, anything, that could change the status quo...

[hippocarnival]

"Uh-huh... b-but she told me not to tell anyone, so don't tell her I told you!" He waves his hands quickly. "Or anyone who can't keep their mouth shut, I don't want her to know I disobeyed!"

[gemigod]

Steven crosses his arms, folding back his ears.

"Well, I saw it myself, so she doesn't even have to know it involved you," he says. He's obviously thinking hard. "You said Peridot was there, too? Do you know if she asked anyone about it?"

That, admittedly, is a little bit worrying conceptually. If Helian reacted badly, there's no telling if Calor or someone like that would react even worse.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya shakes his head. "She said she was going to look in the library about it. She didn't seem to think Calor would be any help... I was the one who offered to ask Helian."

He didn't think he'd come away so empty handed, but maybe that shouldn't be a surprise.

[gemigod]

"This is exactly the kind of thing we need!" Steven insists. He doesn't seem to think this is coming away with nothing at all. "If they don't want us to know about it, we need to know about it."

Maybe it's years of having things kept secret from him, or past experience with how much a twist in expectations can achieve. He's clearly getting excited about this, though, as daunting as that may seem.

[hippocarnival]

"Is it?" Yuya blinks rapidly, a little uncertain. "I--I guess, but what if it's just too sad for Helian to talk about? You know how she is..."

That's kind of pessimistic, but Yuya'a been fearful about getting his hopes up for a while.

[gemigod]

"But if something makes her that sad, then it must be important to her," Steven explains. "If we can understand what's going on with this place... m-maybe we can understand what we need to change it."

His ambitions are bold, here, but right now it's all words. Yet, the edge of worry can still be heard as he speaks. He's nervous, even if he doesn't want to be.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya rubs his arm, considering that. "... Maybe. Maybe we can find other rooms in the castle with that symbol? Ones that aren't as wrecked."

[gemigod]

"The room I was in wasn't wrecked, but I spent a lot of time poking around in there and didn't find anything helpful..."

He considers.

"But if there were two rooms with it, there's bound to be more, right? Even the Gentry don't have complete control over the castle."

[hippocarnival]

"No, they don't." Yuya looks down at the wilting flowers. This is the first time he's even entertained the idea of looking into things, going behind the Gentry's back, since... since Steven was punished. Before he snapped, even, though all those memories muddle together in confusing fragments.

He knows it's been a while, though. It makes him nervous with himself. "I guess, it wouldn't hurt to..."