Ruffle Ruffle CLUNK!
"Owowowow"
Millie rubbed her head as she carefully extracted her head from a pile of junk in the back of the convoy.
"Why can't our convoy be bigger?"
Millie sighed and fiddled with her hair again. Their convoy was always full, and everyone was always just piling it up over and over. She supposed she wasn't any better, her stuffed animal collection had just been growing and growing.
Huh? What's this?
Tilting her head curiously she pulled out what appeared to be a pair of cat ears on a headband. She dusted them off, sneezing in response.
"Are these...?"
She quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there. Was one of the cat Laguz secretly Beorc?
But what if...
Millie whipped her hair around a second time, except this time with a bit flush to her face. Once confirming that she was alone she quickly removed her handkerchief and replaced it with the cat ears.
"M-meow~"
She bent her arm forward like a cat.
I bet I look so stupid right now..
But despite this Millie grinned childishly. She looked around again to see if there was a mirror.
NEW MESSAGES
August 25, 2018
!= Evo Champ:
Mars' last couple of days had been... less than fun to live through. Today he wanted to relax, take his mind off of stuff, in a way, run. So, with that very scary thought pushed into the very back of his mind, Mars made his way towards the convoy, to retrieve a notepad he'd placed there recently. All the while half-humming-half-singing lyrics to a song he'd been writing for a while.
"Duh nun nah ride, duh nun nah burst, duh nun nah pride, never fear your desires."
The trip from Mars' tent to the convoy was short, but just long enough for him to reach the end of what he'd written and, in a much louder voice than he'd intended, he said
"Big bang sonic, strikes my heartbeat anew!"
Immediately after saying that, he realised he had sung it way too loud, and ducked behind a nearby tree to make sure there was no one nearby who could've heard that.
In hindsight, maybe I should've checked for people that could've heard it BEFORE I sung it so loud.
Mars thought to himself as he scanned the rather small line or sight he did have. Thanks to his position and how he had come up behind the convoy, could not see Millie from where he was hiding.
August 26, 2018
! A wild cyber appeared!:
Oh no!
Millie quickly tore off the fake ears and ducked behind a crate and peered around the cluttered convoy area frantically. Was someone here? What was anyone doing here? What if they found her? Millie chewed a lock of hair nervously as she cowered behind her crate, cat ears in hand.
!= Evo Champ:
Well, no one looks to be around, I know that this is when Boreas stands guard, and he seems to be fine enough just ignoring whatever insignificant things people do.
Mars thought to himself as he stepped out of his cover and in front of the convoy
Yep, looks clear.
Mars then proceeded to get on with what he'd come there for, and walked towards the open end of the convoy to start scanning for his notepad.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
I'll just sneak off and hopefully he won't notice me...
Millie quietly creeped out from behind her crate and stealthily crouch walked towards the entrance.
Please don't notice me please don't notice me please don-CLUNK
Millie banged her head against a hanging steel skillet, causing her to fall on her back.
August 27, 2018
!= Evo Champ:
It was impressive, even for one as fast as Mars, how smoothly and quickly he went from staring into the back of a wagon to looking behind him with a tome in one hand and a newly formed purple fireball in the other.
"PUT DOWN YOUR WEA-"
Mars had already screamed before he even realised who it was.
"Oh... hello there Millie, I was... unaware of your presence."
Mars gently placed his tome back in his robes and snuffed out the fireball with a snap.
"What happened? What caused the loud noise? Why are you on the ground?"
As a part of Mars' attempts to be more open, he tried to make his speech more of a stream of consciousness, he thought it would make him more approachable. He had noticed the cat ears, he was the kind of guy to analyse something quickly when he thinks there is a danger, but honestly that wasn't high on his priorities.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
"Ah-"
Millie quickly got up and dusted herself off, quickly stuffing the cat ears into her jacket.
"Mars, I was just- uh, just stretching my calves on the crates. Isometric exercise. Care to join me?"
Millie faked a perfectly normal smile and toed the skillet behind another crate.
!= Evo Champ:
Mars was... less than convinced.
"Hm, well, that still doesn't explain the loud, almost clank sound. Are you ok? Did you trip over something?"
Mars was fairly ok at getting information out of people, but he was out of practice, and considered Millie an acquaintance, and wouldn't want to ruin their relationship by full on interrogating her. Which was unfortunate, as that was about all he knew as far as tactics to get information out of people.
"Also uh, no. I'm not one of doing those kind of stuff with others."
Mars said, unintentionally making it sound like isometric exercise was a euphemism for something.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
Oh good he doesn't suspect anything. Why wouldn't he suspect anything anyways? Ahahahaha.
Millie looked Mars up and down before twirling around to inspect the convoy area.
"Awfully crowded in here isn't it?"
She picked up a rather beaten up looking teddy bear, wondering whose it was.
"What brings you to the convoy today?"
!= Evo Champ:
Alright, she was on the ground after I heard a clang... clearly...
"Did you hit your head?"
Mars said, with quite the deadpan delivery of his question
"Because, well, to put it blunty"
Mars began, without realizing how bluntly he'd already put it
"you are exhibiting some signs of a concussion, I should know I-..."
Mars stopped himself
"have... treated the concussions of many a people."
What a save.
Mars sarcastically thought to himself before continuing
"You seem to have some trouble focusing, given that you are seemingly unable to maintain eye contact and you seemingly ignored my question. Seriously, are you ok?"
! A wild cyber appeared!:
He ignored me...
Millie shook her head, and picked up one of Sally's old knives. She tossed it into into the air lazily before putting it back.
"I don't think so, I feel fine..."
She doubted she would get a concussion from a hit like that. Just to make sure she rubbed her temple to make sure it felt fine.
"Oh, how are you feeling now? Have your injuries healed since you got hurt in the air ducts?"
!= Evo Champ:
"Are you sure you're fine? Again, just tell me what that clank noise was, if you hit your head that could be serious."
Mars said, purposefully ignoring the bit where Millie actually seemed to care about if he was hurt or not.
"Here, look into my eyes, a key sign of a concussion is uneven pupil dilation."
Mars started walking closer towards Millie, and stopped at about arm's length.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
"Ah..."
Millie awkwardly took a step back, flickering between looking into his eyes and looking away guiltily.
"No I'm ok really!"
Ultimately she turned her head away, awkwardly shuffling her arms behind her back.
!= Evo Champ:
"Well that confirms it."
Mars said, again, bluntly
"You are fine, when in a concussion one needs to use quite the effort to not become incredibly suggestible, and when that happens it would be nigh impossible to move quickly and with purpose, as you did there."
Wait... did she think...?
Mars' face suddenly turned bright red
"O-Oh no I didn't-"
Mars stopped himself from digging a deeper hole and just went silent after taking another step back.
August 28, 2018
! A wild cyber appeared!:
After watching Mars experience a similar reaction Millie relaxed slightly, assuming it was just a bit of miscommunication.
"Why do you know so much about concussions anyways?"
!= Evo Champ:
"W-Well"
Mars began, still visibly red
"like I said, I have h-had to treat others for concussions often. M-Mostly villagers that I met on the r-road..."
... Dammit Mars, stop this. You are supposed to be acting more open, why lie?Well, maybe it's because telling someone that you've gotten 4 concussions and an extra one in a dream you had is fucking embarrassing, ever think of that Mars?
Mars had a back and forth with himself, and was still very red in the face.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
Millie tilted her head to the side, her silver hair flowing off her left shoulder like a waterfall.
"Huh, I guess since you use the staff you would know something about it."
She shrugged and turned around, her hair twirling behind her like a veil.
"Actually..."
She turned back around and held the cat ears in front of Mars's face.
"Did you notice some of the enemies turned to dust when they die?"
!= Evo Champ:
"...W-What?"
Mars was confused.
"Why did you just...? W-What?"
Mars was definitely confused.
"Why ask that question and then pull those out?"
Mars gestured towards the ears
"I mean... what? The question is totally unrelated, but then you just shove that in my face like I'm supposed to be paying attention that. So... what?"
Mars was exaggerating, mostly because he was that confused and what Millie had done.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
“What? Oh...shit”
Millie had completely forgotten about the ears, and she too turned bright red upon realization.
“Ah-uhm-you see....”
Millie fumbled with her words and tried to hide it behind her back.
“I just found them, and kinda absentmindedly grabbed them, and then forgot I had them. Yea! That’s what happened!”
!= Evo Champ:
"W-Why...?"
This didn't help Mars' confusion
"I... are you absolutely sure that you didn't hit your head? You aren't acting normal at all."
! A wild cyber appeared!:
“Ok fine! I did hit my head but I’m fine!”
Millie folded her arms and puffed her cheeks grumpily.
!= Evo Champ:
"That doesn't mean anything, your face is turning red, that indicates that blood is swiftly moving around your body, which given how seemingly mundane this situation is, is NOT a good sign. Seriously, we should at least not be standing around all these weapons."
Mars motioned around to the many shealthed and some unsheathed weapons that were strewn around the area.
"We're going to see a healer, let's go."
Mars, once again, took a step towards Millie.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
“Uhm...”
Millie turned her head away when Mars stepped forward, letting her untied hair shield her face.
“Aren’t you a healer?”
!= Evo Champ:
"Yes, but that's not the point, given how little time I've been practicing medicine I am less than confident when dealing with matters pertaining to others. In other words, I want a second opinion."
Mars walked around Millie to re-enter her line of sight
"Please, let's at least go literally anywhere besides all around these weapons."
! A wild cyber appeared!:
"Well why didn't you say so earlier."
Millie mumbled and followed Mars outside. She still found it a bit difficult to look Mars in the eye, was she always this way?
I wonder what Caspin would do if he were Mars...
Thinking about him didn't help at all. In fact, it just made her feel even more guilty.
!= Evo Champ:
"Ok, let's head to base camp, there should be plenty of healers there far more competent than I am."
With that, Mars starting walking away, turning around every once in a while to make sure Millie was still following him. The trip was short, only about a 5 minute walk, but Mars' mind still wandered, almost silent until he finally spoke up, halfway through the trip.
"You know... back there... in the uh... gods I don't even know how to describe it, the air ducts, I suppose. I saw you... well... collapse. What happened? Were you ok?"
Mars sounded genuine.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
Millie looked to the sky, making a silent wish to Kyria. She didn't like that question, but she didn't want to lie to Mars either. She would just be running away again.
"I..."
Millie took a second to formulate her words.
"I had a breakdown."
She didn't feel good stating that.
"A long time ago, I made a mistake. One that cost me everything."
She took a breath shakily, and kept going.
"I ran away, as fast as I could. Burned my past, buried my memories, pretended none of it existed. It felt like the world had drained of color, and some days I wish I could just end everything. I wish I could start over."
...
"That day, standing in a puddle of blood, I reminded myself of that mistake. I-I guess I wasn't prepared for that kind of shock, so my mind collapsed inward, like a turtle retreating into it's shell."
Millie pulled her jacket around her closer, feeling the chill of the autumn air.
"I'm sorry, you probably didn't want to hear that."
!= Evo Champ:
"H-How...?"
Mars was speechless
"Why tell me all this? Why just... dump your heart out in front of me? I-I can't imagine doing that with anyone, much less you!"
Mars was unaware of how incredibly rude his last remark was.
August 29, 2018
! A wild cyber appeared!:
"And this is what I get for trying to open up huh, stupid psychiatrist."
Millie mumbled under her breath. Rather than blame Mars for his outburst, she blamed herself for trying to face reality. There was just no point, she'd probably just get rejected and cast aside like a broken doll. Endlessly running from one place to the next.
Millie wasn't sure if she wanted to be angry, sad or relieved. She clenched, then unclenched her fist, resisting the urge to have another emotional breakdown.
I-I can't imagine doing that with anyone, much less you!
"I guess I don't know who I even am then."
Millie turned away from Mars, anything to avoid looking at him.
"I'll can find a healer myself."
!= Evo Champ:
Mars tried to stay stalwart, stay unmoving, stay uncaring... he didn't stand a chance.
"D-Dammit all..."
Mars' voice cracked as he began
"...They're right... I-I..."
Mars' breaths were uneven and heavy
"I-I'm sorry... I... I don't know... what else to say."
He'd know how to fix this. He'd be stronger. He'd be the pillar she could lean on...
"...You can go on ahead... I'm sure other people will help you here far more than I can, both emotionally and physically..."
Mars said, without even moving to enter her line of sight.
! A wild cyber appeared!:
Millie paused when Mars apologized. She understood that he wasn’t the best at social interaction, but she didn’t feel like forgiving him either.
“Bye then.”
Millie walked passed Mars and headed in the direction of the coast. She didn’t care about finding a healer, even if she did have a concussion. At least if she died, she could find who she had been looking for.
!= Evo Champ:
"...Bye..."
Mars said quietly, without turning around, before walking in the opposite direction, and promptly collapsing onto his knees when he could no longer hear Millie's footsteps. He sat there for what felt like forever, just staring at his hands, thinking.
I... I need to find him... I need... help.
Mars slowly stood up and limped back towards camp, slowly, making absolutely sure not hurt himself on his way back.
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