[ Nen ponders for a moment. It's three hours, plenty of time for most people to lie down, catch a cat-nap, and wake up again before the day changes over. It's also the time of day Nenonen feels the most anxious, even with more than a month spent in Ellipsa under their belt. They have never not been hyper-aware of the time in the hours leading up to midnight. ]
I think I will stay awake. Thank-you though.
[ Nen really appreciates it, especially coming from someone who does understand their reasoning like Chipp. ]
[Not a question he expected, but frankly not one he's surprised by. He may as well loop an arm over them properly if they're really gonna lay around like this, wide awake, for three entire hours.]
Well. I brought plenty o' snacks and drinks and a lotta books to read, so... Don't see why not, I guess.
Like I said, Reapers like me ain't got no use for sleep. I'd be able to hang out the whole time, if ya really wanted to.
[... Yeah, he can't say no to a look of wonder like that. Especially when it's about something so deeply entrenched in who he is, like the language he spoke with his family. But at the same time...]
You sure 'bout that? Not all of'em are easy reads. Could leave ya behind, since you still learnin'. Or, well - Think I nabbed a kid's book 'bout the language, maybe? Could read ya that. But it is a kid's book...
I do not mind. I've never read a book for children before.
[ That's right. Nen and the others went STRAIGHT FOR MEMOS AND PUBLISHED VOLUMES. It was fun...times... But then again, they had nothing but time? So. ]
You ain't read a kid's book... but ya learned how to read. Damn. Make me feel like a turtle still crawlin' my way forward, huh?
[They will, unfortunately, understand when they get to That Bookâ„¢. Just don't pick on him, okay, Nenonen...
But. Well. If that's what they want, then he'll go ahead and sort through the box - Using his magic, of course. Like fuck he's getting up now. The book he ends up floating their way is painted in watercolors, a simply drawn scene of cypress trees lining the water behind the book's title.]
[ Nen only teases in the name of high-level magic....being mean to someone undermines the purpose. Chipp's dignity shall be forevermore intact so long as he doesn't mind Nen asking if he ever wants their help&hearrts; ]
I don't mind. It's the first children's book--I want to see what they're like.
[ Also: it's something Chipp picked out for them to better understand him, so why wouldn't they read it? That alone makes it worth it. ]
[okay but nen helping him with english in exchange for french would be cute tho]
[... Something about their response manages to untie a knot in his stomach he hadn't even realized had formed. It's enough to get him to relax into everything a bit more, bringing the book up where he can see it best without actually having to move much.]
Awright. Get comfy, then. Interestin' fact 'bout this one, the author's name is Guidry - 's a good name, one I been runnin' into since I was a kid...
[There aren't too many books in the box written in French, and only a couple of them - including the one he'd started with - were written in Cajun French. A book on music in the Acadian region came after the kid's ABCs, and from there, a book on the history of Louisiana... then a short novel written in Standard French - about a an alley cat acting as a vigilante, revealing criminals for the police to find - as well as a poetry book in the same. A lot of the poems are industrial in nature - poems about the sight of city skylines, of pipe drills, the sleekness of cars, the awesome nature of space travel.
It's pretty quick to burn through them all. Or at least, it feels quick. By the time he's done, it's around 11:30. That last one gets wrapped up and placed on the table again, as does a couple empty pudding cups and an empty can of beer (emptied by Chipp himself, of course).]
That was the last of'em. The ones in French. You makin' my throat hurt with all this readin' - ain't used to usin' my voice this much! But it's, ahh... [again, he checks his phone] ... nearin' midnight.
[ Nen doesn't hesitate to answer that. Enkidu is gone, and while Nenonen has no problem sending Vash and Shigeru messages after midnight just to check that time really has moved forward...it's nice to be able to receive that instant gratification, too.
A few times throughout the reading Nen gets Chipp to pause to explain something, or to ask what a word means. More than once they just want to try saying the words like he does (as it turns out, Nen's ear for how to form an accent? Dreadful! But they love it anyway). It makes time seem like it flies by. ]
When it turns midnight, we need to do something we did not do at that time yesterday. I do something new every day!
[ and, because he said his throat is feeling a little sore; ]
- Okay, no. Where I'm from, "makin' water" means takin' a piss. You ain't makin' it anyway - that's what the tap do. Say somethin' like... "I can get some for ya".
[Can he ruffle their hair? He's gonna ruffle their hair.]
... 'Sides, I'm good anyway. That'd mean we gotta get up, right? I just got myself all warm 'n cozy, I don't wanna do that yet. Instead, uhh... how 'bout that whole "do somethin' new" thing? You got any ideas?
[p Hair ruffles!! Nen makes a tiny sound, but really only moves to try and fix their hair insofar as getting it out of their face requires. It can stay messy for now.
As for the water, Nen would argue that they can make it now with magic--but Chipp distracts them with that very important question, getting Nen to make a contemplative sound as they scooch back in against him and settle. ]
...
I have a bomb in the bath. We can use that.
[ nen has a BATH BOMB, not an actual bomb. just to be clear lmfdf ]
....Would we fit together? You are very big. The bathtub is small.
[ Not that Nenonen is against it--Yuuto hadn't wanted to bathe with them last time, so they thought Chipp might have been the same. But it could have been fun to put him in the bath and use it. They didn't get to share last time, and they don't like to have baths if someone isn't there to hold their hand...
They are not a fan of the feeling of being submerged in water. ]
Hun, I barely fit in a bathtub on my lonesome - And bathin' is... it is three or four rungs up the relationship ladder from cuddlin' at least, it ain't somethin' you can just go 'n suggest like that! ... And I dunno why I'm even sayin' that, you don't know what relationships are!
[Welcome back to High Level Magic Town, population: Chipp. He actually ends up pushing himself up a bit so he can look at them better, too. Despite the blush, there is also concern.]
That - you gotta read the books 'fore doin' that kinda thing with someone. Before doin' anything that got you takin' off any clothes with someone else, ya gotta read the books.
But I always take my clothes off with other people.
[ HAHAHAHA SORRY CHIPP, ENJOY DEALING WITH THAT ONE. Nen means that historically, they have pretty much always had other people around when they've taken their clothes off...like to change. get ready for a medical examination. bathe... u know. Normal Test Subject Things. ]
--Oh. But not for routine medical examinations. Shigeru says I should keep my clothes on for those. So I do not get undressed for that, anymore.
[Thankfully, that last little "anymore" fills him in immediately with what they meant. And while it makes his chest a little tight - a bad kind of tight, one of understanding and upset at the situations they've been forced to live through - it also does absolutely nothing to quell how bright his blush has gotten. Again, he has to look at something other than Nenonen as he talks.]
I mean - it's different. You been in some kinda group settin' that made you do that - Gettin' undressed with folks more... "intimately" needs to be saved for after you read the books. And bathin' with someone that ain't family or ain't just assistin' you cause you need it - that there is considered "intimate". Real intimate. Beaucoup intimate.
Off limits 'till you got all the information. Okay?
[ Nen huffs. Not because they're annoyed or anything, but because there is this niggling little part of them that is dissatisfied with being told that they have to wait until they've studied...but just as much as there's that, there's also a real gratitude that it is conditional only on them understanding the concept better. It makes logical sense--and Chipp hasn't just brushed them off for not understanding.
Nen's just impatient. ]
Okay... I understand. I will read the books before I ask you to bathe again.
[That huff gets their face pinched. Lightly, gently, carefully - he doesn't wanna bruise them or anything. Just enough to be obnoxious. ... Yes, annoying them is the goal with that. But it doesn't last long, considering what they ask next.
He slumps back against the couch, arm tucking itself around them again.]
... You got two ways to figure that out. Either you related to'em by DNA, or they just... feel like family. 'Nother love thing. Different kinda love, though. That whole "unbreakable bond" thing cranked up to eleven, but ya don't necessarily wanna go... kissin' and huggin' on'em and shit. Like friends, but stronger. Better.
[ WOW. Nen makes a small sound at the pinch, but also? Completely puts up with it. This is a new thing! Again! Maybe they can just pinch him for their new thing at midnight. ]
Sort of. I do not have any biological family though, my maternal genetic donor died after my birth. I have never met the paternal donor.
[ There isn't even official records for them either, on account of the whole dubiousness of the experiment; Jane Doe will forever go down in Nenworld history as just that. ]
On the internet posting some people said I am like their family or sibling. Is that the same?
Edited (forgot to pick an icon oops) 2023-04-16 18:59 (UTC)
You don't got any biological family that you know of. Sure as shit, those professors hid any sorta family tree from you. You gotta a whole bloodline that goes up beyond just a mama and a papa. When I talk about my memère, she part of that for me. Memère is my grandma, my grandmother. My mama's mama.
Just... want ya to know that. Important to know that you got roots, even if you don't know what those roots are.
[Family is, obviously, a very big thing for Chipp. Even now, years later and deceased, he does not love anyone more than he loves his family. Even though he'll never see them again. He still loves them more than anyone else.]
... As for the folks on the internet, that'd be a "yes". Bein' seen as family, or as a brother or a sister, it follows the same path o' logic I'm talkin' about. It means they got a bond with you that they think is that strong. You important to'em, real important.
[ It definitely comes across as something profound for him. Nen doesn't understand the feeling...but it might be something like how important the other Test Subjects were to them. They're the only people Nen wants to see again from their world.
They also don't let that train of thought continue past that point before they shut it down and refocus on Chipp. ]
...I like being important to people. They're important to me, too.
Feels nice, don't it? ... And just so we clear, you important to me also. If you really determined to follow that whole "husband" thing, then you gotta know bein' important to one another's a big part of that whole shebang.
[Or, at least, it should be. Nenonen will never hear about shotgun weddings and eloping to Las Vegas. Not from Chipp, anyway. In his eyes, if you're gonna choose someone as a life partner, then you oughtta mean it first!!!
...
After a second, that arm tucked around them reaches to take one of their hands. Just to hold it. It's a good source of that seasonal power, plus they're right there and they're cozy. No harm, right?]
You gotta lotta folks 'round here you'd say are important to ya?
[ It also has the very potent effect of making Nenonen rather happy. It's not the same as a hand taken to lead them somewhere. It's a hand held just for comfort and closeness--something Nenonen is becoming more and more familiar with. Chipp takes their hand and they twine their fingers right around back on his, shifting a little at the bubbly rush the contact gives them. ]
Yes.
[ Nen gives his hand an unconscious squeeze. ]
I have you. And Vash, and Wolfwood, and Knives and Yuuto. And Kenta and Shigeru. And Venti and Saya.
I have other friends too. But I think they are the most important.
[ And Nen's learned to differentiate them. There are friends, then there are friends who are important because they've made a big or profound impact on Nenonen as a person. ]
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[He's gotta wrangle it out of his pocket, but the question's enough to get him to pull out his phone and check.
He knows the reason why, after all.]
... Just a li'l past nine. Thinkin' about takin' a nap for real?
Could wake you up 'fore midnight rolls around, if ya want.
[Look. Three hours is still a nap in his eyes. Screw those piddly-ass 45 minute naps, he goes in for the long haul.]
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[ Nen ponders for a moment. It's three hours, plenty of time for most people to lie down, catch a cat-nap, and wake up again before the day changes over. It's also the time of day Nenonen feels the most anxious, even with more than a month spent in Ellipsa under their belt. They have never not been hyper-aware of the time in the hours leading up to midnight. ]
I think I will stay awake. Thank-you though.
[ Nen really appreciates it, especially coming from someone who does understand their reasoning like Chipp. ]
Can we stay like this until midnight?
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Well. I brought plenty o' snacks and drinks and a lotta books to read, so...
Don't see why not, I guess.
Like I said, Reapers like me ain't got no use for sleep. I'd be able to hang out the whole time, if ya really wanted to.
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[ Nen is gonna get on that so fast if he's offering. Nen cranes their neck to peer back at him, eyes already bright and keen. ]
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[... Yeah, he can't say no to a look of wonder like that. Especially when it's about something so deeply entrenched in who he is, like the language he spoke with his family.
But at the same time...]
You sure 'bout that? Not all of'em are easy reads. Could leave ya behind, since you still learnin'.
Or, well -
Think I nabbed a kid's book 'bout the language, maybe? Could read ya that.
But it is a kid's book...
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[ That's right. Nen and the others went STRAIGHT FOR MEMOS AND PUBLISHED VOLUMES. It was fun...times... But then again, they had nothing but time? So. ]
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Make me feel like a turtle still crawlin' my way forward, huh?
[They will, unfortunately, understand when they get to That Bookâ„¢. Just don't pick on him, okay, Nenonen...
But. Well. If that's what they want, then he'll go ahead and sort through the box -
Using his magic, of course. Like fuck he's getting up now.
The book he ends up floating their way is painted in watercolors, a simply drawn scene of cypress trees lining the water behind the book's title.]
Awrighty, then... one I got on tap is "B Pour Bayou: Un Abécédaire Cadien".
Basically, kid's ABCs in the kinda French folks like me speak. You really sure this the one you want me to read ya?
Guess there definitely a point 'bout bondin', readin' a kid's book together... but y'know.
You are an adult. I ain't gonna leave ya to kid's books if you don't want me to.
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I don't mind. It's the first children's book--I want to see what they're like.
[ Also: it's something Chipp picked out for them to better understand him, so why wouldn't they read it? That alone makes it worth it. ]
1/2;
[... Something about their response manages to untie a knot in his stomach he hadn't even realized had formed.
It's enough to get him to relax into everything a bit more, bringing the book up where he can see it best without actually having to move much.]
Awright. Get comfy, then.
Interestin' fact 'bout this one, the author's name is Guidry - 's a good name, one I been runnin' into since I was a kid...
2/2;
A book on music in the Acadian region came after the kid's ABCs, and from there, a book on the history of Louisiana... then a short novel written in Standard French - about a an alley cat acting as a vigilante, revealing criminals for the police to find - as well as a poetry book in the same.
A lot of the poems are industrial in nature - poems about the sight of city skylines, of pipe drills, the sleekness of cars, the awesome nature of space travel.
It's pretty quick to burn through them all. Or at least, it feels quick. By the time he's done, it's around 11:30.
That last one gets wrapped up and placed on the table again, as does a couple empty pudding cups and an empty can of beer (emptied by Chipp himself, of course).]
That was the last of'em. The ones in French. You makin' my throat hurt with all this readin' - ain't used to usin' my voice this much!
But it's, ahh... [again, he checks his phone] ... nearin' midnight.
You still want me to stay?
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[ Nen doesn't hesitate to answer that. Enkidu is gone, and while Nenonen has no problem sending Vash and Shigeru messages after midnight just to check that time really has moved forward...it's nice to be able to receive that instant gratification, too.
A few times throughout the reading Nen gets Chipp to pause to explain something, or to ask what a word means. More than once they just want to try saying the words like he does (as it turns out, Nen's ear for how to form an accent? Dreadful! But they love it anyway). It makes time seem like it flies by. ]
When it turns midnight, we need to do something we did not do at that time yesterday. I do something new every day!
[ and, because he said his throat is feeling a little sore; ]
Do you want some water? I can make it for you.
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Say somethin' like... "I can get some for ya".
[Can he ruffle their hair? He's gonna ruffle their hair.]
... 'Sides, I'm good anyway. That'd mean we gotta get up, right? I just got myself all warm 'n cozy, I don't wanna do that yet.
Instead, uhh... how 'bout that whole "do somethin' new" thing? You got any ideas?
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As for the water, Nen would argue that they can make it now with magic--but Chipp distracts them with that very important question, getting Nen to make a contemplative sound as they scooch back in against him and settle. ]
...
I have a bomb in the bath. We can use that.
[ nen has a BATH BOMB, not an actual bomb. just to be clear lmfdf ]
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A... a bath bomb? One of them fancy, frou-frou things that make the bath all fizzy?
You askin' to take a bath with me?
[If he looks incredulous, it's because he is. The cuddling was already too much for him, Nenonen, please be kind to his poor, weak heart--]
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[ Not that Nenonen is against it--Yuuto hadn't wanted to bathe with them last time, so they thought Chipp might have been the same. But it could have been fun to put him in the bath and use it. They didn't get to share last time, and they don't like to have baths if someone isn't there to hold their hand...
They are not a fan of the feeling of being submerged in water. ]
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And bathin' is... it is three or four rungs up the relationship ladder from cuddlin' at least, it ain't somethin' you can just go 'n suggest like that!
... And I dunno why I'm even sayin' that, you don't know what relationships are!
[Welcome back to High Level Magic Town, population: Chipp.
He actually ends up pushing himself up a bit so he can look at them better, too. Despite the blush, there is also concern.]
That - you gotta read the books 'fore doin' that kinda thing with someone. Before doin' anything that got you takin' off any clothes with someone else, ya gotta read the books.
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[ HAHAHAHA SORRY CHIPP, ENJOY DEALING WITH THAT ONE. Nen means that historically, they have pretty much always had other people around when they've taken their clothes off...like to change. get ready for a medical examination. bathe... u know. Normal Test Subject Things. ]
--Oh. But not for routine medical examinations. Shigeru says I should keep my clothes on for those. So I do not get undressed for that, anymore.
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And while it makes his chest a little tight - a bad kind of tight, one of understanding and upset at the situations they've been forced to live through - it also does absolutely nothing to quell how bright his blush has gotten.
Again, he has to look at something other than Nenonen as he talks.]
I mean - it's different. You been in some kinda group settin' that made you do that -
Gettin' undressed with folks more... "intimately" needs to be saved for after you read the books. And bathin' with someone that ain't family or ain't just assistin' you cause you need it - that there is considered "intimate".
Real intimate. Beaucoup intimate.
Off limits 'till you got all the information. Okay?
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Nen's just impatient. ]
Okay... I understand. I will read the books before I ask you to bathe again.
How do I know if someone is my "family"?
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Just enough to be obnoxious. ... Yes, annoying them is the goal with that.
But it doesn't last long, considering what they ask next.
He slumps back against the couch, arm tucking itself around them again.]
... You got two ways to figure that out.
Either you related to'em by DNA, or they just... feel like family.
'Nother love thing. Different kinda love, though. That whole "unbreakable bond" thing cranked up to eleven, but ya don't necessarily wanna go... kissin' and huggin' on'em and shit.
Like friends, but stronger. Better.
That make any sense?
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Sort of. I do not have any biological family though, my maternal genetic donor died after my birth. I have never met the paternal donor.
[ There isn't even official records for them either, on account of the whole dubiousness of the experiment; Jane Doe will forever go down in Nenworld history as just that. ]
On the internet posting some people said I am like their family or sibling. Is that the same?
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You gotta a whole bloodline that goes up beyond just a mama and a papa.
When I talk about my memère, she part of that for me. Memère is my grandma, my grandmother. My mama's mama.
Just... want ya to know that. Important to know that you got roots, even if you don't know what those roots are.
[Family is, obviously, a very big thing for Chipp. Even now, years later and deceased, he does not love anyone more than he loves his family.
Even though he'll never see them again. He still loves them more than anyone else.]
... As for the folks on the internet, that'd be a "yes". Bein' seen as family, or as a brother or a sister, it follows the same path o' logic I'm talkin' about.
It means they got a bond with you that they think is that strong. You important to'em, real important.
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They also don't let that train of thought continue past that point before they shut it down and refocus on Chipp. ]
...I like being important to people. They're important to me, too.
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If you really determined to follow that whole "husband" thing, then you gotta know bein' important to one another's a big part of that whole shebang.
[Or, at least, it should be. Nenonen will never hear about shotgun weddings and eloping to Las Vegas. Not from Chipp, anyway.
In his eyes, if you're gonna choose someone as a life partner, then you oughtta mean it first!!!
...
After a second, that arm tucked around them reaches to take one of their hands. Just to hold it.
It's a good source of that seasonal power, plus they're right there and they're cozy. No harm, right?]
You gotta lotta folks 'round here you'd say are important to ya?
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Yes.
[ Nen gives his hand an unconscious squeeze. ]
I have you. And Vash, and Wolfwood, and Knives and Yuuto. And Kenta and Shigeru. And Venti and Saya.
I have other friends too. But I think they are the most important.
[ And Nen's learned to differentiate them. There are friends, then there are friends who are important because they've made a big or profound impact on Nenonen as a person. ]
I want to protect them.
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wao lookin at nen's legs there huh i see i see
i almost had him actually go and feel for muscle but that wouldve meant letting their hands go 😔
OH WEH that would have been cute....maybe even ticklish lmfao
1/2; note to self: tickle punishment for face squishing
2/2;
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im sorry he's so awkward
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why did spell check tell me "inferrance" is correct
spellcheck trolling you this early in the morning is rude
taking advantage of my dyslexia, knowing id shrug like "ok sure that looks correct"
pats u :'c
pats nen so much more???
jdkf ;u;/// also **nod, not now gd hamhands
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eyyy camping psl becomes canon B)
no no, sweet & tender first time first, THEN the camping psl
oh weh....precious
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cw: mention of euthanasia/suicide...of a sort? choosing death over going home basically
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