bonus ac.

[cambium]

full navigation

BONUS AC

AC for the current month must be completed before requesting bonuses for that month. For new characters, AC must be submitted in lieu of the check in.

Each bonus is submitted as a bundle of three threads, which cannot be used for AC and must have a minimum of five comments from you. Threads have no expiration date and can be banked for the future, but each character is restricted to five bonuses each calendar month.

Bonuses must have an impact on the character, which can be as simple as a favorite food, or as poignant as a memento from a loved one. They cannot be a living creature. Bonuses can be common items (such as food, clothing, and tools) which are ICly requested by the character, or canon specific items (owned by the character) which are OOCly requested. Once general NPCs are unlocked, characters will ICly submit requests to the town head, who will work to acquire resources either from within the town or to be imported via train. Canon specific items will appear in a variety of ways.

Please use the following form:

Thread one: link (number of comments)
Thread two: link (number of comments)
Thread three: link (number of comments)
Bonus request:
Impact: motivation for requesting said item, emotions that would be evoked by the item, etc

code

Comments

[meiq]

Perfect. You're welcome to have a seat, then.

[He leaves the door open for Lark as he wanders back in towards the kitchen, preparing the kettle once more. Hopefully the man isn't traumatized by the very room after his last visit here. HiMERU does have to chuckle over the sugar situation, though.]

That is true. Hiiro had previously requested sugar and only gotten two of these. HiMERU wanted to try his own hand at it, and while three is an improvement, it's... still not enough to do much of anything with, unfortunately. Last time it was such a paltry amount that no one had the selfishness to claim it for their own greed, and HiMERU imagines the same would repeat should he present these three as well.

[A handwave, to dispel any of Lark's concerns.]

Thus, it truly isn't a problem. It's too little to make a significant difference for a group, but just enough for an individual cup of tea. So, sugar or no sugar? HiMERU won't tell if you don't.

[cambium]

[ He's absolutely traumatized but it doesn't show in his carefully schooled expression, though not by the way his slow pace is even slower to provide himself ample time to sweep his gaze left and right in preparation for an ambush. ]

...no sugar.

[ Even with HiMERU's assurance and even though he can't spot anybody else lurking in the shadows, he'd rather not risk it. He feels awkward enough as it is to be accepting tea, as it's a waste when he's what he is. ]

It makes you happy, yes? The sugar, I mean.

[meiq]

[HiMERU nods to confirm, and leaves the sugar packets on the countertop to save for another rainy day. He sets the kettle on the stove, then turns back to lean against the counter and continue to chat with Lark.]

Well, to an extent? It isn't everything, of course. But even the little things, the mundane enjoyments scattered from day to day can make even the most dire of situations [sorry to call your hometown dire Lark] just that much more tolerable. We've been doing... alright, but HiMERU can already count a number of people on his fingers whose entire months would be brightened with just one decent dessert. Alas, the wait will just have to continue for them.

[A pause, and then a smiling tilt of the head.]

What makes you happy, Mr. Lark?

[cambium]

[ What a question...

He fidgets with the strap of his mailbag, head bowed in thought. What makes him happy...? It feels like it's been a long time since he's been happy. Maybe because he hasn't had dessert in a long time, or because he's never gone sledding or gardening or any of those simple, mundane things he observes the other people around town doing, smiles on their faces that would look— feel— so strange on his.

Still, his expression softens, when he settles on the closest thing he has to happiness. ]

...when I sleep... sometimes I dream about my little sister. Death drove us apart many years ago... but in my dreams we are both there, as we were in life.

[ That's his happiness. A bittersweet happiness, one of mourning, of longing, of fear that one day this memory too will fade away. It's nothing anybody else can provide him, nothing as simple as a packet of sugar. ]

[meiq]

[Naturally, the answer is far from anything he'd expected, unable to mask the surprise that gently raises his brows, widens his eyes, slows his blinks... It's a new expression to see on the postman, who had only ever broadcasted his tension and discomfort prior (with good reason). This... really must be his most precious treasure, his greatest happiness — even if a memory, a fleeting dream is all he has.

HiMERU has only just learned about family, himself. What it means, how far he'll go, how deep his love can run. New though it may be, it's not so difficult to understand. Harder to imagine, though that may be due in part to the fact he's been actively avoiding imagining that kind of future with his newly-found little brother.]

... You must love her deeply, even now. That's beautiful.

[He speaks softly, threading his fingers in his lap. Condolences do not seem to be what Lark is going for, so he does not offer any; this is the man's happiness, and he has no intention of pitying that in any regard.]

Do you think her voice, too, is among the others?

[cambium]

[ Like a spell being broken, he returns to the present and the tension and discomfort returns ]

No... her is not among those here. I would not wish that of her.

[ Though he can't say he doesn't wish he could hear her voice, or that she were here with him, but those would be cruel wishes, for himself and for her. ]

[meiq]

[Ah... Like a sunset gone too soon. It seems to last forever while you're watching it, but as soon as you blink, you're missing it once more. He wonders if he'll ever see it again.

HiMERU tilts his head, glancing off to the side as he envisions the graveyard again, and the fog full of voices. How miserable they must all be.]

Did you live somewhere else with her, before you came here?

[cambium]

[ Lark dips his head, down and then back up. He was not born in the Nest, but it's the only place he has left with any semblance of "home". He doesn't elaborate, though— doesn't do a lot of reminiscing about how things were back then, his childhood. All of that seem like lifetimes ago. ]

...I should be going. Thank you for the tea.

[ they have not had tea yet but ]