Iro snickered, a grin of mischief spreading across his face. "We'll just have to see, then."
To Muna, his playful demeanor finally faded, and he grasped the straps of his travelpack nervously. He liked the idea of settling down for the night — his legs were starting to ache, he had to admit — but…
"The sage. Will it last you until we get to the city with the shrines?" he asked Jin. "Not to be a downer on the mood again, but, I mean… I'm just worried about you. That whole fiasco at Edenborough was kind of nervewracking."
"The sage…" Jin trailed off, frowning. "I think so. I mean, I have so much of it the small gods will really have to make an effort to get through it all."
"And you have all of my things," Muna added, nodding towards the jacket and ribbon.
"True. I'll be fine. I promise I won't die on you again, Iro." Jin placed a hand on his chest, giving Iro his most serious look. It only lasted for about five seconds before a smile took over his face again. "I'm excited to sleep. At least about the bed. Hey, Muna, want to share? Just like old times, eh?"
"We're not sharing unless there aren't enough for everyone," Muna replied quickly, speeding up slightly so Jin couldn't see his face.
Iro shook his head, yet a smile managed to break through his worried visage. What a goof. Oh, well. It was good to lighten up the mood, anyhow.
He snickered in response to Muna's comment, casting a side glance at Jin before looking back at Muna.
"It really is just back and forth between you two, huh?" he chided playfully. "One would think you guys were married, the way you bicker."
"Ah, well." A soft smile played across Jin's lips. That wasn't the first time someone had said that. It had actually been a running joke with the group he, Muna, and Rusi were in. Every time they would start arguing or teasing each other someone would go, 'oh, it's the married boys again'. And then Muna would get delightfully red and deny everything and Rusi would chide them for making fun of Muna even though Jin knew he secretly liked the sound of it and Jin would make everything worse and Muna would get even redder and probably attack him and/or Rusi, which never helped his case at all.
"We're not married!" Muna exclaimed, turning a predictable shade of red.
"You wish we were, though," Jin snickered, predictably making things worse.
"Hune!" Muna growled, blushing harder.
(WOOP i took longer than i wanted to with responding, sorry hbbbb. semester change and final exams kept me busy)
Iro couldn't help a bout of laughter as his remark seemed to increase the amount of bickering between the two.
"You're making me miss my dush'va," he murmured, wiping the tears from his eyes as his laughter died down. There came that feeling of homesickness again. It didn't sour his mood, but the twinge of pain in his chest certainly dulled it. His smile remained, but his eyes revealed that he really did miss home, and it was starting to get to him.
Oh, come on, Iro. Get it together. He cleared his throat and found himself fidgeting with the straps of his travelpack.
"I've heard you mention a Rusi before, the more I think about it," he continued, casting a glance over to Jin. "You found Muna again, were you wanting to find him as well?"
(You're good, school has been attacking me as well. :)
"This isn't funny. You're encouraging him. Stop it," Muna grumbled, shooting Iro a glare.
"No, don't stop, this is so funny!" Jin exclaimed, throwing an arm over Muna's shoulder. Muna glared at him too, but didn't make any move to get him off. He was guessing dush'va meant something similar to xlis, which made him feel a little bad. Iro was obviously missing his home, but he was still stuck with Jin. Still, last time he'd tried to get Iro to leave, it hadn't worked. So trying again would probably end the same way.
"Oh." Jin's face fell slightly at the thought of Rusi. He missed him so much, but he didn't know if Rusi would feel the same. He was stubborn, and Jin had no idea if he would come around the same way Muna had. "I do want to find him, but…"
"He might not want Hune to." Muna thankfully said it for him. "Rusi took everything a little more to heart than I did."
Iro nodded solemnly.
"Yeesh. This whole trip's been a mess from the start, huh?" he mumbled. "I guess for there to be resolution, there needs to be conflict, but…"
He shook his head, expression dulling as he cast his eyes to the ground he walked on.
His silence only lasted for a few moments, though, and he tightened his grip on his travelpack, a certain look of determination about him.
"It'll all work out," he vowed. "It has to. You'll get rid of the small gods, I'll finish my mission, and things will get better. We'll make it better — that's why we're doing this, right?"
He took a breath; a weary breath.
"Just one step at a time. Literally, in this case," he added with a small snicker.
(Apologies for the late response, life hates me. :)
"Yeah, I suppose. Still, I would have liked a little less conflict," Jin said, letting out a weak laugh. Muna glanced at him, a sort of soft look on his face. Rather uncharacteristic of him, but Jin appreciated it. "Yes, we will. We're going to beat up those small gods and you're going to do… whatever your mission was, and it'll be alright." Jin nodded, trying to take those words to heart. Everything would be alright.
"We're coming up on the city," Muna said, nodding down the road. Indeed, Jin could start to see houses and other buildings appearing on the horizon.
"Oh, good. I cannot wait to sleep in a bed." Jin let out a sigh. He hadn't slept on something remotely comfortable since he'd died the first time.
"Hmm. Just stay quiet." Muna shrugged Jin's arm off his shoulder and sped up slightly.
(not a problem! life is hella busy for me too atm lol)
Iro breathed a sigh of relief at the mention of a city. He was no stranger to demanding exercise, but he'd be lying if he said trekking for as long as he had been wasn't wearing him down.
He rolled his shoulders, shifted the weight of his travel pack, and attempted to catch a glimpse at the city ahead of them. Maybe, if he had the time, he'd hit a library. All this exploration could be an invaluable opportunity to acquire foreign knowledge for the Brigade.
"Oh, thank the stars," he mumbled. "My legs are going to hate me tomorrow. Are we staying at an inn or camping out nearby?"
"Inn," Muna and Jin said at the same time.
"I didn't bring anything to camp with," Muna explained, glaring at Jin.
"What?" Jin glared back at him. "What's with the face?"
"Nothing." Muna shook his head. "Start looking for an inn, both of you."
"Alright, then." Jin sighed and started looking around. They were still on the outskirts, so the buildings were all still houses. Muna was probably just trying to get him to stop talking. Jin understood. He was supposed to be not drawing attention to himself, after all. He didn't think he'd ever been in this town before, so it was quite sad that he wouldn't be able to look around much. Muna probably wouldn't let him out of the room once they got it.
Iro snorted lightly at the bickering, yet turned his attention to the town surrounding them, his interests obviously lying with their new environment.
It was all so… new. The architecture, the organization of the town's buildings, the people — nothing like what he'd grown so used to seeing back home. Just like that, the thrill of adventure had reawakened in him, and he pulled his satchel in front of him to retrieve his journal, furiously scribbling down his thoughts for back home.
"Is this land you're familar with?" he whispered to Jin. "What's an inn supposed to look like in these parts? You think their signs will be in Commonspeech?"
(Sorry this took so long, life has been rough. )
As they got deeper into the town, Muna started acting more and more nervous. Jin really didn't see why, since no one was looking at them at all. Maybe it was because they still hadn't found an inn.
"Hmm?" Jin glanced over at Iro and laughed. "Yeah, I am. Not this specific town, but this area. And to answer your question, no. It would be in Oprei." Jin paused. He wasn't sure giving Iro a crash course in Oprei and its entirely separate alphabet was a good idea. "Just look for a building with green tassels hanging outside." Jin turned to Muna. "They're still doing that, right?"
"Obviously." Muna rolled his eyes. "It's not like they can just ignore a tradition like that."
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