[07] move along, move along just to make it through

[judicialassistant]

Who: Susato and anyone
Which: Open catch-all log for September + network option
Where: The Wild Harvest garden, but open to other locations.
What: Yujin Mikotoba has left Songerein.
Warnings: Will add if needed.

🌸 A. an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Reverein's clinic

[ It's short, and to the point. Susato doesn't use the journal often to broadcast like this, but now that she is, she feels it prudent to be as direct as possible. ]

To whom it may concern:

For the past couple weeks, the Reverein communal clinic has been without a proper doctor to run it. If you are in need of aid, please be patient, as the volunteers are doing the very best they can.

If you have medical experience and would like to help, please let me know. Thank you.

Regards,
Susato Mikotoba

🌸 B. move along, move along, like i know you do.

[ Within the garden of the Wild Harvest, among the faint hissing of snakes and the lull of the waterfalls, Susato closes her journal and tucks away her pen. She takes a deep breath as she moves to stand from her favorite bench, and she walks with purpose into an area littered with stars that look like stepping stones upon the ground.

For a moment, she stops and simply stares. There it is. A blank star, waiting for a name. Perhaps it appeared some time ago. Perhaps she simply ignored it, but after digesting recent events, she has no time to wallow in the remaining stages of grief. He's not even dead, but she wonders if that doesn't make things worse.

Either way, she doesn't even need a pen. She slowly bends down, spending another moment feeling the rough surface of the starfish with her hand before she commits with her pointer finger.

The strokes appear in a glow, and the end result looks engraved. ]

御琴羽 悠仁

🌸 C. wild card.

[ If neither of these fit! ]

(( ooc: Feel free to write your own prompt/starter, or if you'd like me to write a personalized starter for you, hit me up at yammdere or via PM!

Side note: I would love to incorporate Quest #902. Hug it out if you hit prompt B. uwu ))

Comments

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato takes an extra moment to take in the scene and process what she's seeing. She hears the way Sholmes' voice echoes off the gramophone's horn, but the music playing makes it hard to hear. His hand flopping helplessly at the settee though, she can kind of guess what he's saying, but first things first: she moves to stop the gramophone by it's handle.

There's a sigh, a ringing in her ears remaining when the music stops, but she doesn't seem angry. Just... tired. ]

I've come to check on things. The greenhouse... but also you, especially.

[ Both things meant a lot to her father. She would take care of both in his absence. ]

How long have you been like this...?

[thegamesafoot]

[ He makes a weak sound of protest when the music stops. Closer now, Susato may note a teacup on the floor, overfilled with spent pipe tobacco. The pipe itself is perched on the saucer, still coiling smoke like some kind of votive.

He shifts Yujin's hat up far enough to uncover his mouth and then gestures vaguely with the same hand. ]

Since the news reached me. Hours? A day? I'm afraid I don't recall ... [ He trails off then, after a pause, adds: ] No need to worry yourself. Go see to his flowers.

[judicialassistant]

[ . . . Well, that won't do. That won't do at all... Only now does she notice the smell of smoke permeating the area. She also notices her father's hat, which twists her heart further, but after seeing that almost all his belongings have simply vanished as if they had never been there, she is grateful that there is something to remember him by.

Susato shakes her head, opting instead to sit on the settee where he originally indicated. ]

No, the flowers can wait. [ She places a hand on his shoulder, applying some pressure as if trying to correct his posture. ] Come now, Mr Sholmes. Sit up straight, and hold your head up high! For him...

I...

[ For the moment, she doesn't know what else she can say. As a judicial assistant, aside from from information, she has learned that being encouraging also helps with morale... ]

I'm still here. [ For you. ]

[thegamesafoot]

[ Sholmes relents to the pressure, weak as a wilted flower himself. His torso shifts upright, away from the gramophone. The hat jostles free from its precarious perch on his brow and falls into his lap.

This reveals what was hiding beneath: his under-eyes are dark from lack of sleep and his lids are puffy from ... well. It's not hard to guess. A hand quickly comes up to cover them again.

Sholmes swallows hard; he takes those last words a bit differently than she might have intended. She's still here.

He can't help but think back to when he first met Susato aboard the SS Burya. There was so much of Yujin in her eyes, he felt as if he'd already known her a very long time. Watching her over the following months, he couldn't help but feel both proud and protective—the exact same way he felt about Iris.

Still uncharacteristically silent, he peers through the slats of his fingers and reaches his other hand for hers. ]

[judicialassistant]

[ There's a visible reaction when the hat falls. A quiet gasp manages to escape before Susato places a hand over her mouth, and a part of her can't believe it. To see Mr Sholmes so broken, with those puffy red eyes, accented by dark bags underneath...

If her image of the great hero detective was not shattered before, it certainly is now. But it also makes him seem very human.

For all her encouragement, Susato is rendered speechless. She squeezes his hand once she can feel it against hers, but then she mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like a curse before she throws her arms around him.

Hat, be damned. ]