thecrossinglogs | Wind In the Desert Just Sounds Like Music

Wind In the Desert Just Sounds Like Music

WHO: Sunny and You! (This happens right after the therapy meet, but it’s OTA. If you weren’t attending the meeting, you can still see Sunny running off ^^)
WHAT: Sunny got upset and ran off. Now he’s lost in the Desert. Help?
WHERE: The Desert (and Dunes. Really he might end up at one of the inserted locations too, TBD)
WHEN: Post-Therapy Meet, Pre-Second Crossing
WARNINGS Most likely signs of PTSD and anxiety. Will update in Subject as needed :)

Sunny didn’t know where he was. He remembered getting upset, running off… but he didn’t recognize any of the surroundings nearby. He wasn’t in the Oasis… and, because he had spent all of his time in said safe haven before now, that fact filled him with dread…

He needed to find his way back. But… that meant finding everyone else, which would probably lead to more questions. Questions that he didn’t want to answer. Questions that caused his stomach to cramp and his breath to come short all over again.

Maybe it was better to stay here…

[OOC: OK! Here’s the search log for Sunny! I’ll be making several prompts below, and whoever ends up finding Sunny will be left to random draw to keep it fair ^^ But feel free to mingle, join the search with someone else, etc. Any of the locations added by us are fair game to explore too!]

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Oh, it wasn't on the schedule. [Was there a schedule of things to do during that meeting? It all seemed pretty informal to him.] Something upset him. He's a little skittish, so it's really not good for him to be off in the desert on his own like this.

...Oh, the unplanned kind of search. [The FOMO deflates rapidly, his puzzlement winning out as the main expression on his face.] Does everything think... something else will upset him in the desert? Or maybe, is he skittish enough to burrow in the sand for a few weeks?

[That could be a problem. Hiding away out of upset long enough for this big mysterious Crossing to come again...]

He's probably skittish enough to wander around for a few weeks, at least. [Hopefully he doesn't burrow; it would be really hard to find Sunny then.] So we should find him now while we can still catch up to him.

So skittish! [That's some kind of impressive, though not really commendable or convenient.] I wonder if this shouldn't be a hide-and-seek after all... Except, with the searchers hiding.

Ah--actually, at least some people doing something like that might not be a bad idea... [In case Sunny actively runs from anyone calling his name...]

You see! [He says, reacting as though 'not a bad idea' is synonymous with 'great idea'.] Between visible seekers to draw the eye, and hidden seekers to look between the lines... We can drive even the most skittish of therapy fleers back to the oasis!

[Full of triumph about this idea, he starts to turn to leave to do just that. Then pauses, hesitates, and turns back.]

Oh, hey. What does this Sunny look like?

[Well, at least the skeleton is enthusiastic.] He's about this tall. [Nagito holds up a hand to indicate in relation to himself.] Short black hair. He should have an orange cloth over his right eye. He probably won't say much. But I think he likes when people talk to him anyway!

Ah, a quiet sort... I know just the thing for them. [He's very good at monologues, given a topic or three and an audience.] I guess 'human' goes without saying... And, hey! There's so few people around, even if I find the wrong one, they're probably out looking anyway.

[Not that he doesn't like challenges - really, he likes to make things more difficult for the sake of making little things in life into opportunities to struggle about something - but it's nice to know the parameters.]

Ah, yes, he's human. Until you arrived, we were all at least human-shaped, but that's really no excuse for me to be so rude as to not clarify. [He'd go on longer about how of course someone useless like him would make a thoughtless assumption and so on except he's preoccupied with the task of helping to find Sunny.]

Edited 2025-04-08 16:54 (UTC)

Huh? I wouldn't call that rude. [There are other things about Nagito he might call rude, but there's no need to jump to specifying examples right this minute. Maybe at a different therapy, when they don't have a search to be getting underway soon.] Humans are very skeletally-shaped, and even have bones of their own. Not all monsters do...

[So, you know, if any other monsters or aliens (cyborg or not) do end up showing up, they might be very differently shaped.]

More reason to get it right now, before someone even less human-shaped shows up. [Nagito prefers his impoliteness to be intentional and pointed, not accidental, at least when it comes to solid rules he can remember. The vagaries of conversational politeness often elude him, but he can keep track of this.]

That's true! I'm sure they'll appreciate your consideration!! [Unstoppable force vs immovable object, round 2, fight.] Something to practice while we search, then...

They should take such consideration, and me, for granted, I think. [The fight never ends...]

Huh?! Of course they shouldn't! Not only for your sake-- [which they both already know Nagito doesn't value.] --but their own! If they take such consideration for granted, they'll undervalue their own considerationing efforts in the future...

[This move feels risky, but worth trying out. The skeleton's particular unstoppable force isn't a battering ram that only attacks from one direction, after all - a good parade of bones is useful for testing how well an opponent dodges, but the fun attacks start when toying with expectations, like a faster bone rushing in from another direction. Even if Nagito's stubbornly not thinking well of himself, it sounded before like he puts a lot of value on other people. Getting him to keep that up should mean the only difficult part will be tricking him into thinking well of himself later! Simple!!!]

Well, I wouldn't want to interfere in their own--considerationing. [Nagito is pretty sure that's not actually a word. But he guesses he can allow this?]

[Every moment in the skeleton's company is another chance to revolutionize one's mental dictionary.]

Of course not! So it's decided. [He nods as though anything was actually concluded here, content to pretend it's a victory, and promptly changes the subject.] But before we can get to any of that, there have to be new people here... So for now, let's focus on the less-new. Sunny, our skittish therapy-absconder. Do you know what direction he left in...?

That way. [Nagito points in the direction he'd been walking.] You just have to follow the footprints. But I doubt they'll last in the dunes.

[At least it's a general direction, though.]

And no guarantee he kept going the same way, with how wide-open this place is... But! It's a starting point.

[Sometimes the first step is the hardest, and all that.]

It's better than wandering off at random. Then we might have to look for even more people even after we find Sunny-kun! [Which would be a hassle. And Nagito may or may not do it depending on who's missing.]

Oh no! [A hassle, and an incredibly plausible-sounding one to him.] Well, I'll do my best not to do that. If I get too lost to bear, I'll find some interesting landmark and ask for help.

Oh, I know a tip for if you get lost! [Since... Nagito kind of got lost a lot when they first arrived and he was trying to search the dunes. He points up to the birds circling.] Those birds are almost always hanging out around the oasis. You can see them from pretty far off, which makes them a good thing to look for if you get disoriented!

Incredible! The most effective landmark isn't even in the land... I'll be sure to cherish those birds. [And also to use them for directions, as needed.]

Sometimes keeping track of the different colors of sand you pass helps as well. Sunny-kun helped me find my way back that way once. ...So really, I should do my best to return the favor and find him as well.

[He is more worried about Sunny than he wants to let on, or than he really is entirely aware of himself.]

[Another helpful piece of navigation intel noted and tucked away for his impending travels, and - is that a little bit about the bonds of friendship between the other dead?]

Hey, yeah!! Let's collect everything we've learned for this search!!

I appreciate your enthusiasm! [He really does; Nagito is still a fan of working together, even if in this case it's working together to sweep the desert mostly alone.]

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spaghettimonster - 2025-04-16 21:56 (UTC) - Expand

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