1/11 training and breakfast

[citta]

[ As last minute prep for the dungeon, everybody has been called to get together for a training session during midnight at Lockdown, with promise of a light breakfast at the clubhouse afterwards and the suggestion that people take it easy during the day before they split up into their respective teams and head to the castle and the mountains.

Training is largely done in the school shrine, on the second floor where there's wide empty space without the maze to account for, where you can practice tactics together, or take on the Minato challenge where he has Messiah blast you apart in half a second and then immediately heals you and asks if you want to go again.

Breakfast at the clubhouse is split between western and traditional styles, whether you crave fluffy pancakes, or are more of a miso soup and grilled fish on rice sort of person. If you want anything in particular for lunch, Kido is on lunch duty and promises to make whatever you want, so long as you go out to the store and bring the ingredients back.

Thanks to everybody's efforts so far during the month, whether it's interacting with the townspeople or talking with the mayor or donating gemstones to the mountain shrine, the effects can already be seen around town, with the townspeople less wary of the Persona users, allowing them to purchase what they want in the stores if they want to have their own supplies to take into the dungeon later.

Now go out there and get along and learn to work together or is2g ]

Comments

iii

[yokeye]

[Toki imagines the food slowly rotting away in the fridge, after they've been gone long enough for the electricity to be cut off from non-payment.]

How long do you think we're going to be in there!? Months!?

[reveilation]

I mean... it's possible, when time gets distorted in a place like that, right? I was hoping for only a week or so, though.

[ Fresh vegetables start to go bad in the span of a week or two, even in the fridge, and she doesn't want to come home to a musty fridge, that's gross. ]

[yokeye]

[Toki is unaware of the life-span of vegetables. If he and Rei want to live alone, one of them should read up on these things.]

It really could be months!?

[Even a week is horrible... and he's crying. This month has been so stressful and it's not even half over.]

[reveilation]

[ Oh-- oh no, Kido moves beside Toki so she can rub his back. People crying is always so awkward when it's not Seto crying and the reason isn't because she punched him. ]

We won't be in there for months. What we experience is different than what goes on outside. Like how if you stay too long inside a dungeon and don't get kicked out at the end of an hour, you miss the entire daytime until the next Lockdown. Or back on Halloween, when that mansion showed up.

[ Stuck for three hours inside, but three whole days went by during that time. A month outside might only be two days for them. ]

[yokeye]

The mansion...

[There's a note of pure fear in his voice. That mansion was hell. He wants to ask if Kido thinks this dungeon will be as bad as the mansion, but he can't talk. He's crying too hard and starting to hyperventilate.]

[reveilation]

[ Aah... The mansion wasn't terrible for Kido only because she had her eyes closed and music blasting through her earbuds the entire time and basically never had to hear or see anything that was inside. The worst part was the burlap sack of bloody omamoris, which kept bringing to mind the bag her late stepmother was kept in.

Nothing to cry over, though... Kido continues rubbing Toki's back, pulling his food away across the table. ]

It's okay... breathe slow.

[yokeye]

[Toki never made it past the fear mirror room.]

I-it's not.. it's not...

[He takes several gasping deep breaths. He was fine, and now he's so worried about another episode of paranoia that everything is making him panicked again. Convincing himself things won't be a total disaster is very hard right now.]

It's not going to be as bad... as the mansion.

[reveilation]

[ She can't really promise that, because the mansion wasn't scary for her, not having engaged with it, and from experience, each dungeon has been worse and worse, from the normal school to the lake full of puzzles to the nightmare shrine. They all focused on different things, and at least the newest ones aren't psychological, because a lot of people dealt badly with that. ]

You're going to have everybody with you this time, Tokidoki.

[ Backrubs aren't working, so she takes his hands instead, held loosely in hers so she can rub her thumbs on the back of his hands. It's probably more weird than comforting, but the point is the distraction. ]

This time, we know we have to do it as a team, even when we're split half and half. We'll all be there to get each other through, and nobody will have to face everything alone.

[yokeye]

[Holding his hands usually helps; because then he can squeeze Kido's back as tightly as he wants. Rei does that too and it somehow gets him to focus most of the time.]

Right. Everyone's going. It will be okay. We can do it together. I'm sorry... what did you want to make?

[He'll focus on the food now, and try not to think about the dungeons and the tengu and the stress of not knowing where they'll go when it's over.]

[reveilation]

[ If things go well, Toki won't have to worry about that until July, but who knows how long everybody will hold out for— there are definitely those who want to go home as soon as possible, like Rio and 45 and Akira, and there are those holding onto this world as a better life than they've ever known. It's tough, and what happens after isn't something Kido thinks much about, choosing not to in favor of focusing on the dungeons. ]

Make? ...Oh! The nabe.

[ Backtracking a conversation while Toki's still tearful in front of her is hard, and discussing meals seems so trivial in face of that. But there's no solution, and the second best thing is a distraction, so she goes for it. ]

It's hotpot where you throw in all sorts of thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and everybody shares the meal by eating out of the same hot pot. I don't really know what else to do with myself today, so I thought I'd cook, and make sure everybody's fed and has enough energy tonight.

[yokeye]

[Distractions are very much needed.]

Can I help?

[Throwing everything in one pot means there's less chance of error.]

I won't touch the knives!

[reveilation]

[ What else is there to do besides chop stuff...... ]

Sure. We have most of what we need, but there are some other ingredients I want as staples. You can come with me and Rei to buy them later, and help me cook.

[ He can stir the pot that doesn't require stirring, maybe. She'll think of some way to incorporate him, even if it's just asking his opinion on flavors. ]

[yokeye]

Okay! I haven't been out to shop at all!

[Since they've been allowed to. He sounds excited about that; the last time he went out shopping, it was for the phone and not a particularly good day. Toki would happily just stir the pot or taste test.]

[reveilation]

Alright, I'll grab the both of you later, after everybody's done eating and I can get the dishes done. Is there anything else you need while we're out? You're good on winter clothes?

[ Does he finally have his own clothes, or is he still sharing Terry's? ]

[yokeye]

I have all the clothes I need!

[Terry took him shopping before the surgery. He does occasionally grab Terry's jacket by mistake, but otherwise Toki has his own supply of cute things; like the pastel lazy egg hoodie.]

Oh! Can we get pretzel soap!? I'm going to take a bath with Rei later and it would be fun!

[reveilation]

[ Terry should be the one borrowing Toki's cute clothes. Kido would love that too. ]

Uhh... from the bathhouse? I suppose we can swing by their gift shop, but how would it be any fun?

[ It tastes terrible?? Surely they would have realized it by now, both having eaten soap. ]

[yokeye]

[Let Terry wear cute things.]

It would be fun because it's cute!

[Toki can't see it, but Rei would be pleased.]

It's a symbol of one time we shared an intimate moment before we got married~!

[When he stole the soap for her, and when they wanted to have a bath together over the phone.]

[reveilation]

[ ...what can she even say about this? Was that an intimate moment? Kido was there for both moments and it didn't seem that way to her, but. Whatever. If Toki thinks so, then it's ...maybe fine. ]

Sure. Alright. But first, promise me neither of you will eat the soap. Swear on your life.

[yokeye]

[Anything can be an intimate moment when revisited through the lens of true love.]

On my life?

[He could swear he wouldn't eat the soap, but he can't promise for Rei.]

Let's forget the soap! Rei has a nice candle! That's enough!

[reveilation]

[ He can swear, and do his best to keep Rei from eating anything inedible? Toki, please. ]

Swear on your life neither of you will eat the candle.

[ If it's a nice smelling candle, it poses the exact same dangers as a nice smelling bar of soap, made even more dangerous because it's potentially lit. ]

[yokeye]

[It's 45's aphrodisiac candle. Please don't eat it, Rei.]

She hasn't eaten it yet and she's had it for a while, so it should be fine! I mean, I swear~!

[reveilation]

[ This is something he should tell Rei. ]

Right... Your lives are at stake here, so I'll be counting on you to keep that candle uneaten. There's no way Rei should be hungry right after eating dinner, so maybe plan for after then.

[yokeye]

[He doesn't know what it is. Just that Rei got a candle from 45.]

Yes! After dinner, and we'll have snacks so the candle won't be eaten~!

[They'll just have cookies or something floating around on a little tray. Which will inevitable flip over and Rei will eat soggy bathwater cookies and get sick.]

[reveilation]

[ God... The two of them are just going to have to be those toddlers who play in the yard and eat dirt and build up a strong and healthy immune system that way. Rei's immune system could use a workout after being locked up in a hospital all those years. ]

Right... I'll be home in case something happens, so you can always call for me or anybody else if something happens.

[yokeye]

I'll keep the phone close~!

[It doesn't occur to Toki that Kido could mean just yelling at her from the bathroom and not using the phone to "call". His phone will now also sit on the floating tray and he'll accidentally destroy phone number four in Cetana alone.]