hadriel_logs | [OPEN, MINGLE] 'cause not all who wander are lookin' for the exit

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[OPEN, MINGLE] 'cause not all who wander are lookin' for the exit

Who: Taako, Lup, perhaps you-- invited or not?
What: Taako's been trying to think of a good way to have a party now that ice hell is over, and the disappearance of his sister's husband and his brother in law sounds like as good a time as any to start denying bad feelings and cheering up his goddamn twin.
Where: Around Horny House, aka Imported House 5-1
When: April 11th
Warnings: Alcohol, food, some stupidity most likely.

The night of the 10th, anyone who's friends Taako or Lup-- especially if you're friends with Lup-- will get a text from Taako. It reads:

hey
come over tomorrow at noon
i took down a totally massive animal and im having a barbecue
also bring a gift for lup
dont tell her dont ask questions dont care what it is just do it
your prize is a significant amount of roasted whateverthefuck that i have tested to be sure it will not kill you
also if you dont show up im going to come get you so see ya then

And sure enough, the next day, behind horny house is a large pit filled with rocks and... something or other spit roasted over it. Whatever it is happens to be very, very big, but you can probably see the smoke before you see the animal. Most of the tables in the house have been dragged out onto the lawn around it, covered in mismatched cups, containers of water and plates of fruit, and something lovingly labelled 'SPACE JUICE (CONTAINS ALCOHOL)' that is being served in a large punch bowl. It's bright blue and smells like lighter fluid, so it's pretty unlikely you needed to be warned that there's alcohol in it. One table simply has a sign that says 'PUT GIFTS HERE', which is pretty self explanatory. There also seems to be music coming from discernibly Somewhere, though it's completely unclear as to where-- seeing as the guy running it is magic, it might actually just be coming from the sun. None of that is especially important right now. What is important is this:

Everyone here is legally required to go care about Lup, or Taako's going to punch you in the head. And not even with magic- just with his little fists. So do it, punk.

OOC: This is a MINGLE LOG- please put up toplevels and tag around! While Taako had people he invited, it's pretty damn easy to see this going down, and if you play by the rules and say nice things to his very sad sister he won't kick you out. Have fun!!!

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[Sometimes, hopping between dimensions is a good thing for someone's growth. When it's the 102nd in a long, long line, maybe they've already learned the lesson to be taken from hopping worlds. But if all else fails, Alphys would say she was happy to meet Lup-- that if Lup had never come to the city, she wouldn't have become the person she is now.

A lot can happen in a year and change- the reversal of their roles here proves it.

Alphys nods at Lup's suggestion, doing a little bounce-step over to the fridge to retrieve the requested items. Once she has them in her arms, she slips back over, placing them up above her on the counter.]

Are there bowls and stuff down here t-too? Or is that, uhm, that higher up?

[She starts peering into the nearest cabinet like maybe she can just sleuth it out.]

[That's real gay, but there's definitely a part of Lup that would agree.]

I dunno, short stuff.

[She's already turned away so Alphys wouldn't be able to catch a glimpse of her expression, wouldn't get to see if the corner of her mouth twitches upwards or not, the elf's voice perfectly level. She's pulling out the flour, the sugar, before digging into the back of the pantry where the chocolate is hidden.]

Wanna check? Y'know, you're not the only tiny thing under this roof.

[As if Alphys isn't already pulling open cabinets. She's probably approximately Angus-sized, standing about 4 feet tall, but obviously bulkier than a scrawny preteen. When Lup turns around, only the back half of her can be seen sticking out of a cabinet, before she starts wiggling her way backwards and coming out with a bowl. There's some dust on her spines, and her glasses are fogged up, meaning she stumbles once before she can push it onto the counter and wipe the lenses on her coat.]

H-Heh, that was uh... tighter. Than I thought.

[God is she trying. Alphys counts out what's on the counter, trying to remember all the things that go in cookies and just ending up unsure. Lup will say something. Probably.

Which reminds her, she has another responsibility here.]

Do you wanna talk about your favorite things? A-About him? What was it like when you met?

[She is trying and Lup sees it, even when the elf's trapped so deep within her own head. Lucky for them both, plucking the needed ingredients out of cupboards doesn't require any thought, Lup's done it enough times here in this house, so that question comes and she's already dropping everything needed onto the counter, arranging it for ease of use, quietly cataloguing what she'll need to stock back up on after this.

Taako will probably do it if she asks. Lup knows he'd pretty much do anything for her right now, but maybe dragging her sorry ass out of the house will be good for her. Maybe. Depends on how she feels tomorrow.]

You wanna know how we met?

[Of course Alphys is following along with the same type of questions Lup asked her a million years previously, but it's still sweet, painful and soft all rolled up in one. Lup isn't sure if anyone's ever asked her that before.]

We met through the Institute, both got in on the same job. Thought he was the lamest dork in bluejeans I'd ever seen.

[This is Lup's script, down to the core of it. Alphys is supplementing where she can, starting things off in the right place as much as she can, but of course she's sticking to the basics as they ramp up. The question back does make her smile though, a perk of her head spines in encouragement.]

So you were coworkers first? Did you ever see each other uhm, before that? I know you were off on that big, uhm, that big mission, but... you didn't fall for him at first anyway, right?

[She's searching through her mind of what she knows of Lup, of Barry. There was a beautiful performance, a violin singing above the crowd, but she knows that was later. It's hard to concept how much later, her life only a fraction of theirs.]

Did you ever think you were gonna f-fall in love? Like, at all?

[It's not what she wants - they both know exactly what Lup would prefer in this moment if given the chance - but it's maybe what she needs most in this moment, a familiar script with questions that tug at her nostalgia. That remind her more of their love than of her current loss, something warm and soft and sweet to help mask some of that pain.

Despite herself, Lup smiles softly while she works with Alphys, pushing a mixing bowl across the counter to the other woman, dry ingredients already measured out and ready to be mixed.]

Nah, not a chance.

[Spoken with all of Lup's usual confidence, like she's never been more sure of anything in her life.]

Koko an' I just couldn't see that for ourselves. We grew up with just each other, y'know, so the idea of adding another person to that mix? No way. Why mess up the good thing we already had going?

[It's more than that, more that Alphys may already understand, the twins' long running trust issues and refusal to genuinely connect with the world. But that's not as easy to say.]

And Barry was cute, sure, but it took me a decade or so to really see him.

[She stands on Angus' stool to see over the counter, working on mixing the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Alphys knows that was probably hard for them- for someone who has such a hard time talking about her own weaknesses- but from an outside perspective, it's also hard to imagine a world where Lup and Barry didn't simply flow from one to the other, like their names were always meant to go together in a sentence.]

Oh my g-gosh, a decade? That's so much time. I look at somebody cute and I have a crush on them, uh, pretty much immediately and then forever.

[Hence why she has crushes on... just so, so many people. Lup included. She's been trying to be better about what she does for said people, and not lying just to ensure they think she's a good person. It's hard.

It helps that, thanks to the Gods, most people that know her saw her truths without her revealing them. It's hard to lie when your friends know your reality; in her case, this was actually a good thing.]

What happened? The first time you, uhm, you realized he was cute a-and you wanted to kiss his face?

[wow alphys thats peak gay]

Oh really? I hadn't noticed.

[But the sly, teasing look Lup shoots the other woman says the exact opposite, especially then when she laughs, not quite up to her usual standard loudness, but at least it's something.]

Nothin'.

[Of course Lup could lie and make herself sound like she swept the man off of his feet and they've been together happily in love since day one, but everyone already knows that isn't the truth. Besides, she's not embarrassed by the ridiculous length of time it took her and Barry to get together. It was the slow burn of the century, alright. And rushing it would have spit them out onto some other path entirely, one where Lup wasn't ready for a real relationship so soon, where Barry wasn't as confident around her, where they just crashed and burned instead. Lup may not be one to believe in fate or predetermined futures, but how they went about things was exactly how it was meant to happen.]

Big ol' nothin'. We flirted - Well, I flirted, he got there eventually - but we both just kinda danced around it. There was more important shit goin' on, a whole annual apocalypse to figure out. We worked together in the lab, so like, it was pretty inevitable we spent a crap-ton of time together, but we kinda just kept it on the dee-el.

Def wanted to smooch his brains out all of the time tho.

[The absolute callout of a look makes her giggle at a higher pitch than she likely should, but she forces herself out of that to hear Lup's answer. And it's... a little surprising, actually. Knowing them and hearing about certain things in their relationship, she would have thought some big sweeping confession was in order. But it still sounds so sweet Alphys can't help but put a hand on her face, a dreamy little grin.]

So it was a workplace romance! Or well, k-kind of. Lots of close quarters time behind closed doors, all those beakers and time for the centrifuge to spin...

[Damn she's a fuckin' nerd. As if that wasn't obvious.]

Undyne used to come over and watch me work sometimes, but she didn't s-stay long. It wasn't really her thing. But she tried to understand what I was doing...

[Not that Alphys wants to compare her crush to Lup and Barry's eternal relationship or anything, and this is supposed to be about Lup, so she scrambles to get back on topic.]

I mean, uh, it must be really amazing to have someone who you share so many interests with.

[No wonder she gets along so well with Barry. Total science nerds together.

Lup isn't at all put off by Alphys bringing herself and Undyne into the conversation, it just leaves the elf grateful that her friend's experienced anything like that at all. She deserves it, to not just crush hard on everyone around her, but to feel loved, to feel that special connection. She deserves that and so much more.]

For sure. 'Sides 'Ko, I never had that with anyone before Barry. It was fun, the whole anticipation of it all. Workin' together, comparin' research notes an' lab results, late nights in the lab...

[Brushed hands, shy glances, stolen kisses. All of the memories that leave Lup warming from the inside out, even half a century later. As beautiful as their relationship has come to be, nothing quite beats the blossoming feelings stage, when everything had been all blushes and giggles and newness. All sly flirting and soft promises. They'd both tried so hard to keep things professional, to deny the feelings that had been building for decades before that, but in the end, their love was just too great for that.

And look how incredible it's turned out since then. Lup feels the familiar warmth of love she always does when she thinks about their beginnings, but there's no missing the ache that comes with it now too.]

He ever talk about it? Bar sure liked to gush about our story.

[All of that sounds so sweet she can't help but sigh in a dreamy little exhale. Adorable. So adorable. Just like one of her animes for sure. She can't imagine being so isolated from people, but... maybe she's just more of the Barry in this situation than the Lup. She and Undyne would get along like a house on fire.

Which, uh. Maybe that's not a good comparison. Anyway,,]

Well, I would ask him, uhm, a-about you, but he would always talk about different things.

[Little stories that sounded almost the same but not, on a timeline she couldn't place but loved hearing every time.]

He would talk about you every chance he could. It was really cute.

[For a moment, Lup's just quiet.

It's an uncharacteristic moment of silence for a woman like Lup, who always have something to say, never leaves a conversation without having the last word. But for just a moment, she's quiet, arms still in movement, stirring the last step of batter for their cookies.

When she finally speaks, it's softer than normal, softer than Alphys may have ever heard her speak before.]

Miss him. Miss his dorky face. Miss his dumbass laugh. His everything. [The bowl, finally prepared, gets dropped on the counter, before Lup pushes away, arms wrapping around her middle.]

He's such a friggin' sap. Sixty-plus years together and he still talks about me he's got a schoolboy crush. Who even does that.

[It gives her pause, to hear the lull in conversation, causes Alphys' head to turn towards her with a softer gaze as she speaks. It was hard enough to lose her friends, but someone like that? Someone who's spent more than her entire life together only to be taken apart?

She comes down from the stool she's on, and wraps her arms around Lup. She's about Merle-sized, so it's not the ideal arms around arms like she'd imagine in an anime, but boy is she trying.]

You know, it's... in m-my favorite shows, it's always those kind of loves that are the strongest. People, uhm, destined to be together, from other lives or worlds just... always finding their way back to each other.

[Alphys can't look up to see her face like this, so she just concentrates in putting her all into this hug, the magic of her SOUL pressing a bit of extra warmth into it.]

And I think that's what you'll do too. You'll, uhm, always f-find each other no matter where you are, because your hearts are connected, and... yeah.

[More than anything, it's the soft, comforting touch of someone who loves her that sends the elf over the edge, like she's been touch-starved for some time.

Even now, months since her return to a real body, the full weight and physicality of her emotions sometimes takes the woman by surprise. She focuses on each piece in turn, focusing on just how raw the emotion feels within her. First, before anything else, she feels her throat seize up, a lump suddenly sitting there where it had been empty before, that makes it hard to swallow. Next is her chest, tightening, then the pit at the bottom of her stomach that makes her want to squirm, then the wetness pricking at her eyes. It all falls into place, each piece manageable on their own, but together so entirely overwhelming.

It takes a moment, but the elf eventually drops down, just so she can throw her arms around Alphys instead of around herself, just to bury herself into the other woman's hug, to let herself become fully enveloped in that kind warmth and love.

Things will be alright. Lup's not the type to fall down deep into paths of pessimism. It's just the now. Barry should be here with her right now, burning a batch of cookies or stumbling and dropping all of the batter on the floor.

Lup doesn't cry, but she sniffles, eyes wet but no tears falling.]

Yeah, yeah. I know. It's whatevs. Not forever, just for a bit. Been without him before. No biggie.

[All of a sudden Lup is fully in her arms, and she thinks maybe she's completely ruined it. But the pure feeling off her feels otherwise, and Alphys pulls her close on instinct before even contemplating what was happening. Once she has a second to get her footing though, she's right back into it. Alphys pulls Lup to her chest, her fluffy and cool form like a scaly teddy bear. And more than that, she's... warm. Unusual, for someone cold blooded. But it's not just a general warmth, a press of something special to Lup's chest where they connect, and more than just being heat it feels like love. There's a feeling she's imparting here, a transfer of emotion.

A reaching from soul to soul. Because this is what monsters do. They connect from the most intrinsic part of them, and give it away bit by bit by bit.]

It's ok if it's a big deal. It's gonna be okay. But it doesn't have to be okay now. Uhm, o-okay?

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[OPEN, MINGLE] 'cause not all who wander are lookin' for the exit

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