bakerstreet | Sweethearts

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[meme] shipping

Sweethearts

THE CHILDHOOD ѕωєєтнєαят MEME

Ahhh, young love. Whether it's precious or bittersweet, it's something that stays with you. Remember that time...? Of course you do. Both of you thought you'd last forever. Or maybe you were too young to know what that meant. All that mattered was that you were kids and you were together. But time and circumstance tears even the best of friends and young lovers apart. That person, your childhood crush, your first love, is just a memory.

Now, you're being given a second chance. Will it be painful? Will you confess everything and try to win their affection again? You've been reunited, and it's up to you what happens.

HOW TO
① Comment with your character. You can state preferences and such in your subject.
② Characters who comment will be their childhood sweetheart/first love. The muns can figure out how that works, but when in doubt, just wing it. It's a meme. Fun is the goal here.
③ KISS AND REUNITE. Or argue and storm off. Or cry. Or laugh. Or sex. Whatever is appropriate.

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[Lucina's expression grows murkier, more anguished; even with her head tilted down to obscure her eyes, her mouth gives the game away.]

I...I'm going to have to learn to live with that. But knowing he's at least alive should be enough...shouldn't it?

[she hesitates, feeling her throat start to tighten.

her voice gets lower, both because of that and out of fear of being overheard:] He already has a Lucina here.

... Maybe.

[It'd be hypocritical of him to try and reassure her that there's no difference between her and the Lucina of this time, or that recultivating a relationship with her parents here would be enough to fill the hole Grima left. Isn't that why he's avoiding Ylisstol in the first place? To avoid getting stuck in the position she's in now?

Still. If there's even a small shot of her getting to have that, it seems like a comparatively minor sacrifice for him to help her get there.]

You got options. That's all I'm saying. So think about it, okay?

[ashamed:] I shouldn't have them. [it should be only her burden, not his, not her other friends'.]

I'm sorry. M-maybe I shouldn't have...told you. And left you with this burden of knowledge. That was unfair of me.

C'mon. I asked, didn't I?

[He bumps her shoulder with his, ostensibly a little jostle to lighten the mood, but then he stays there, a silent offer of physical grounding.]

Besides, what'd we just get done talking about? I've got your back. Even if it's just knowing something shitty so that you don't gotta be the only one.

[there's more meaning that than Lucina can properly understand in the moment, given the proximity and the shame and fear swirling about. relief mixes in there, reassured, at least, that she won't have to argue him down from doing something terrible for her sake.

...hopefully. gods, she hopes he won't go behind her back.

relief, too, that she's not the only bearer of this burden to know. it makes it...realer. less mad. because it's mad, isn't it? slaying her father's tactician and dearest friend. even with what she knows of the future, it still seems mad, given all the other circumstances around it...

his shoulder is warm - stays warm, even after her bristle eases up. slowly, she lets her chin rest back on her knees, hugging her legs once more.]

...Thank you, Yusuke. Really.

[lightly:]

Sometimes I do alright, huh?

[The truth is, he takes this sort of thing seriously. Even if you take out the moral complexity of the situation — if it turns out Robin really is just a master manipulator and a turncoat — there's an element of it being Lucina's fight, dealing with her father's killer, that Yusuke wouldn't dream of taking from her.

For now, though, he just wants to try to shoulder what weight he can.]

Anyway. We'll have plenty of time to worry about this stuff later. No reason to let it ruin the whole night, right?

[she tilts her head to peer at him past her bangs.]

You mean you're actually going to let me take you to the quartermaster? [her mouth twitches up on one side.] Or, or are you meaning to go traipsing off for another fight...

I mean—

[He makes the mistake of glancing back at her, which is confusingly flustering enough to interrupt his train of thought briefly.]

— Uh, I mean, one of those ideas sounds fun. [he would love to be fighting at literally all times tbh] But you've been putting up with my shit all day, so... If you really want to that badly....

[with a little laugh in her voice:] Well, it would reassure me to know you were well-supplied...

[He sighs dramatically. The worst part of this is that he does actually need to get more supplies. She's literally right and he's just being a baby.]

Fine. [But!!!!] But I'm getting seconds on the way.

[the stew really slaps fr]

[she giggles, uncurling and climbing to her feet.]

That's fair. Eat as much as you wish; none of it should go to waste.

[but that will put him in the line of fire of one very nosy Owain, and Lucina, in turn, pounced on by Cynthia while she waits back by the wagon.

indeed, nobody is safe from the Justice Cabal. ]

[Yusuke's memories are just fuzzy enough that he overplays his hand — Owain's a yapper, sure, and he's already clocked that Yusuke is out of place here, but that's fine! Yusuke can tune out a yapper with the best of them, and he knows how to be slippery when it counts. He forgot, though, just how loud Owain is, and how determined he is to keep as many eyes on him as possible at all times: both deadly traits for Yusuke, who is trying to fly under the radar here as much as he possibly can.

The kinds of questions being volleyed at him certainly aren't helping: Who is he? Where'd he come from? What's he skulking around Lucina for? Did he cast a spell on her? Is he blackmailing her? Is he prepared to submit to a duel for blah blah blah blah blah

He really just needs it to stop, so he makes his next mistake, which is to tug Owain into a low headlock and try to give the basics of the situation... and of course only results in him having his name incredulously whisper-shouted back at him.

So much for under the radar.]

— Shut up! Look, just ask her, she'll vouch for me, she—

[He pivots, now trapped in a weird mutual-destruction double-headlock, trying to find Lucina and, unfortunately, finds her in much the same pickle.

they really beefed it this time huh]

[at least Lucina doesn't have to deal with dueling headlocks, though she does have to try to keep Cynthia from toppling her over with her bouncy clinging amidst her questions - less an interrogation and more just a giddy barrage. of all of those who survived to make it to this timeline, this girl's one of the few who has brought more joy than anguish with her (though she's not free of it, same as the others). it's more of a balm than Lucina realizes, especially not at the moment when she's stressed about that and...Owain...!

she can barely hold the girl back when she confirms Yusuke is, indeed, Yusuke: it's like holding back a sheepdog that's just so fucking excited to herd some sheep. emphasizing the having been seriously injured recently bit seems to slow Cynthia's roll, though she's only just barely restrained from bouncing over and jumping on both boys.

wanting to do right by Lucina, Cynthia trots over, keeping her hands safely folded behind herself to chirp her happy greetings and welcome-backs and congratulations on surviving Owain's demon power.]

[The confirmation certainly does not slow Owain's roll, whose headlock transforms into more of a rough, rollicking, round-the-neck boyhug type of situation. This pins Yusuke in place well enough to receive Cynthia's enthusiasm, too, even as he white-knuckles that second bowl of stew he came to get.

It's all very overwhelming. Yusuke doesn't often veer into deer in headlights territory, but he's coming close here: a combination of the shock of being remembered at all, let alone fondly; the stress of the metaphorical spotlight being turned very suddenly and very directly on him; and the complicated curdle that he's not the mischievous little boy they knew anymore, play-acting the villain — he's much closer to the real thing now. They've all changed because of what happened in their original timeline, certainly, but it's hard to see that beyond the brightness these two carry along with them.

They're expecting him to be happy, too, and maybe he should be... but he's never been any good at naming his emotions, only feeling them. All he knows is that it doesn't feel good, it feels bad — and there's a very obvious moment where that rare freeze response snaps back into his old faithful: fight.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, big day for everybody. Will you— [here he elbows Owain in the gut to shake him off, not as hard as he could but not gently either] lay off me? I'm tryin' to eat here.

[that trip to the quartermaster is sounding better and better by the second, tbh]

[thanks to Lucina's mention of serious injury (never mind the healing), Cynthia assists in pulling Owain off and grappling him until he's ready to stop being so handsy and instead awkwardly utter his gratitude for assisting his cousin and the cause, but to BE WARY, for his dark energies may erupt at any minute to consume him.

yeah okay.

Lucina steps in to help take the heat off Yusuke, let him go get his food, and field any other inquiries the Cabal may have about this, that, or otherwise (there is always so much otherwise).

while occasionally glimpsing over to see how he's doing, she gives her focus to them, able to ease out of the unsteadiness she feels when cutting through nonsense as inoffensively as she can, gradually taking on her milder, more amenable demeanor: she smiles small, but her eyes do crinkle with warmth now and then, even though her expression may pinch with exasperation or confusion when tangents strike. she nods along with the reports on their other friends, reminding them both to tone it down a notch for those who need them to tone it the hell down.

she may not be completely at ease, but she seems more comfortable and less strained by the gravity of things for a little while; that sense lingers even after the pair dismiss themselves to go check on the others, leaving her to sigh and run a hand through her bangs.

meeting Yusuke's eye again will yield a small, apologetic smile; hopefully that wasn't too annoying for him.]

[His hackles come down a bit as soon as Cynthia intervenes; even just having some of their attention be split on each other is less that's laser-focused on him. He's just as awkward receiving the gratitude as Owain probably is giving it, and as soon as Lucina steps in to redirect the rest of this particular attention-fire-hose, Yusuke fully slinks away, for space as much as food.

He's not fully out of the blast zone — so many of the Shepherds are just friendly, want to chat for the sake of chatting — but it's less and that's what matters. He and Lucina might be playing a bit of attention ping pong: when she's not checking in on him, he's checking in on her, watching her field the Cabal with a roiling mix of amusement, relief, guilt, and envy. He's been alone a long time. Sometimes you get a little too used to it.

He takes that final smile as a signal that it's safe to approach again, and he slinks back, bowl in hand.]

Hey. [He bumps her shoulder with his. This is as close as he'll come to a proper thank you.] You weren't kidding. Two of them haven't changed at all, huh?

[her smile warms at the greeting; she nods gently, looking back to where the Cabal darted off, already out of sight.]

It's nice. Despite everything that happened, they still have their spirit. It means...that's likely to stay true, if we can see all of this through.

[and it means she can't let either of them deal with the dirty work she has ahead.]

[It is nice. Sometimes you gotta worry about people like that, because it can be hard to tell how far away they are from their final straw, but he'll trust Lucina's assessment of that over his own any day of the week.]

Gotta hope so, I guess. [He sighs a little for effect, taking a morose sip directly from his bowl.] Even if it means I'm gonna have to hear about his damn "sword hand" every five minutes from here on out.

[with a laugh in her voice:] He hasn't introduced you to Mistletainn yet, either. Just wait. He might even insist you name your gauntlets.

[He has a visceral reaction to even just the suggestion of that, nose wrinkling distastefully.]

Ugh. I've never understood guys who get caught up in stuff like that. [He lets go of his bowl with one hand, a little unconscious urge to flex his fingers.] I wouldn't even use those things if I didn't have to.

[she tilts her head a little, trying to better recall Owain's logic (what there was of it - and admittedly? there was some logic to it!).]

He says...it imbues the weapon with a soul. And...gives it more cause to be strong for its wielder. That some kind of bond is forged beyond the simple utility of having a weapon at all.

And in that sense, I guess I don't mind it. [she lifts a shoulder in a little shrug.] If it means that tool becomes stronger in-hand, keeps them safer in a fight.

[a beat.]

I just wish he'd...pick names that were easier to pronounce.

[He goes quiet for a little while, thinking about that. It's fanciful, sure, maybe a little silly, but... Yusuke's always felt a disconnect from his weapons; they feel like a wall between him and really being able to appreciate the skill of the fight, a sort of necessary evil to keep him alive. If he had that kind of focus on it, would he feel differently? Would that change the way he fights, if he felt that kind of connection? Maybe.

In principle, anyway. The names themselves are too goofy not to poke fun at.]

Mis-tle-tainnnnn.

[He exaggerates it, pinching the syllables off between his teeth. He also pronounces it a little wrong, not even on purpose. He's just trying to copy her pronunciation and messing it up.]

He probably yells it out on the battlefield too, huh? Maybe it's a strategy. Hit 'em while they're distracted tryin' to figure out what the hell you're saying.

[she laughs a little at that.] I, I would say that, yes, only...Only I know Owain is very sincere about that matter of souls. So the distraction element isn't...really his intention so much as a side-effect.

[but she won't argue with the good result, especially if it keeps him safe.]

You can still have a soul with a normal name.

[He frowns a little, considering the back of his hand as if imagining his gauntlets there.]

Guess it wouldn't be as much fun if it was called "The Great Blade Susan" or something.

[she laughs.]

You'll need to hear the philosophy directly from him to be sure, Yusuke. He has a whole thesis about the, um, sliding scale of...[what was it again?] Of mystical severity? I think?

[she shakes her head.]

It's still a bit over my head, even if the spirit of it was...um. Affecting.

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sry for the delay, last week was....a week........

buddy it sure was........ you're all good, im just spinning back up again too

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