ISO My Next Adventure

[solitarynote]

WHO: Sunny and YOU! <3
WHAT: Sunny is looking for the next Captain Spaceboy comic
WHERE: Starting in Communal Living Hut, can branch out to other areas!
WHEN: Post-Inbox thread with Kel, pre-sleepover thread, inspired by this conversation with Nagito
WARNINGS None right now but will add in Subject Headers as they apply!

While everyone else seems to be busy making preparations for the sleepover, Sunny mostly sleeps. And then, one day, a conversation he had with Nagito drifts back to him, and the teen realizes he hasn’t found that item yet.

Which prompts him to search, first around their communal living space and then branching out to the other huts. He tries to stay away from the ones marked with strands of grass (those ones walk, he says), but searching is hard work and… there’s a lot more stuff here than there was in the Oasis!

Sunny might need help… but he’s afraid to ask for help, because things feel shaky right now. He feels all out of sorts, stuck between a hazy dream and the mist-filled world he can spy outside the bedroom window.

Someone is bound to take notice eventually, right? So he shouldn’t be surprised when he hears the creak of floorboards behind him, even as his body freezes and he looks like he was caught doing something not allowed.

“… hi…”

Comments

[urtitan]

[Good grief, he's really shaken, isn't he? Her expression turns sympathetic, all the more when he writes down his next message. He's facing his fear! She reaches down to rub his shoulder, plopped on the floor as he is, proud of him for being brave.]

Let me get us some pillows!

[Since they have such luxuries here, why should they not get as cosy as possible? Briefly leaving his side to gather several pillows and cushions, she soon returns and hands a couple to them. Whether he opts to sit on one and hug the other, lie on top of them on his stomach, or whatever other position, she'll match him so they can comfortable open the comic book in front of them. She doesn't rush him, letting him take in the rising tensions between Captain Spaceboy and his First Mate under duress at his own pace, though she occasionally does make little comments.]

It's no wonder the First Mate is stressed in that situation, hm? He shouldn't take it out on his Captain, but I'm sure he'll realise that himself.

[Hopefully, she isn't too optimistic there...]

[solitarynote]

[If only Sunny could be brave. But he isn’t - that’s why he’s in this situation right now. He can’t face Kel… not now… because the other said he knew that the thought of that was enough to make Sunny feel like the floor would swallow him whole again.

Sunny clutches one of the pillows to his chest, laying on his back on another and leaning partly against Frieda as they read. Her voice is soothing, melodic almost, and even her own surprises help to ease his feelings a bit. (Her patience, too, as always, as he worked through things.)

And yet…

It was much easier to forget. To pretend it didn’t happen. But then Kel came into view, and Sunny’s heart started hammering with nerves and… he just couldn’t. Not this time. Not yet

So that’s what Sunny did while they read the comic, even as his hands shook when they turned another page and the tension between the two titular characters mounted.

It’s fake. It’s fake. It’s all fake. Just a bad dream.

Frieda’s words might be optimistic, but they sound more hopeful and understanding to him. Sunny nods, still shaky, and writes something in his notebook.]

Maybe… maybe it’s the captain’s fault too…

[It was a bit of both characters’ faults, their unspoken problems, the fact they just kept going without addressing the issue - so much like Kel and him, Sunny realizes with dread - until it feels like the chasm is too great to cross.]

[urtitan]

[Reading like this is always near-therapeutic for Frieda, even with Sunny's current dilemma in the mix. Pausing to read his input, she readily nods.]

Oh, absolutely - they're equally at fault. If they honestly told each other what's worrying them, this probably wouldn't have happened!

[Rubbing his shoulder again, she turns the page, genuinely hoping that the characters will demonstrate good conflict resolution skills.]

[solitarynote]

[It stings less, knowing Frieda is talking about the comic characters, and yet…

If you talked about it, they would simply hate you, wouldn’t they?

That voice again. His worry, his fear, and yet the truth… it had gotten louder over time, more insistent.

Sunny tried to ignore it, focusing as Frieda flipped the page and…

Well… like a bruise, it had to get worse before it got better. It seemed like the first squabble was only the start. The crack that had divided their team started to widen. Provisions, what path to take through the marsh, even sleeping arrangements were all brought into question.

Sunny’s own fear grew with each new panel.

Yet… as the comic drew to a close… there was a bright light. Captain Spaceboy and Rococo had gotten separated from the rest of the crew during a particularly heavy mist, so the two were forced to sit down and talk.

”What’re we doing, Cap’n?”

“Squabbling like children… when really we should be sticking together.”

As the dreaded ‘find out what happens next’ came into view… Sunny felt like things might be alright. It wasn’t clean, the fight still left jagged pieces between the two but… they were trying.

The teen was quiet as Frieda closed the comic, clearly lost in his own thoughts.]

[urtitan]

[Even Frieda felt like she was on a rollercoaster ride (not that she'd have a concept of rollercoasters) while progressing through the comic. She might not be in conflict with anyone herself, but following the escalation was tense! All the greater was her relief when the characters eventually did talk things out. Certainly, the depiction was realistic enough in not immediately resetting things to the status quo, but it was a satisfying ending. Had the volume ended in a cliffhanger, she'd outright have made up a continuation to offer to Sunny as her prediction!

She gives Sunny time to process the story, wondering if she should actually ask him about his argument with Kel... but in the past, he's shut down over less, she she doesn't dare. In the end, she simply posits:]

Sometimes, people need to be forced to take a break from being angry to reflect on whether they really want to keep going in that direction. It's fortunate that they went astray in the mist, isn't it?

[She idly wonders if that might be the purpose of the fog in this marsh - to separate them from each other and make them face whatever person manifests for them.]

[solitarynote]

[Thankfully, the comic had ended on a semi-satisfying note! Frieda’s creativity is always welcome though.

As for that fight… it was probably better for her not to ask right out of the blue. She’s certainly getting more attuned to his moods.

Though…

Sunny nods, taking in her words, and yet… the teen hesitates. Scribbles something on his notebook, erases it, thinks, writes something else down.]

I made a mistake

[It’s an admission, as much as he is afraid of writing the words, but they are the ones he ended up with.]

[urtitan]

[Again, she comfortingly rubs his back.]

But Sunny, that's alright. Everybody makes mistakes. As long as they can be fixed, it's not a big problem - and even they can't be fixed, there's usually something that can be done. What kind of mistake did you make?

[A wide open question to allow him to be as specific or vague as he wants to.]