alnifolia | ( psl ) can I go where you go?

[ It feels like waking from a long, long dream, when Sumina Heartleaf finds her way back home to the Elderflower Inn at last. Like emerging from the recesses of her mind, reaching, reaching for a thread, for anything to hold on to, for her to be able to remember all that took place in that warm, wonderful dream. Like reaching... for someone's hand, and holding fast to its grasp like nothing else in her life has mattered as much as it—

Like making a wish.

The Elderflower Inn is a wondrous place whose entrance can appear in the most unexpected places in the material world. At the moment, however, it's as if its arched, wooden doors and its stained glass inlay appears in that dream, and again Sumina reaches, reaches with one hand for its handle, and pulls the door open... to find herself at home.

She's home.

With her other hand, she squeezes, her fingers laced tightly between another's. When her gaze slides down and sees a ring - her ring - of shooting stars and the roughened hand which offered it to her and then at last to the face of the man arriving here with her, she knows from the very depths of her heart: it wasn't a dream, and Satoru Gojo is here with her, at home, a true wish come true, bound by that thread she so desperately held onto.

It seems to be midday when they find themselves standing at the lobby of Sumina's beloved inn; a quiet time, when most of its guests have either checked out, or are still asleep. There's no one else around for the moment but the two of them, it seems, but perhaps it's all for the best, so that Sumina can clap her hand over her mouth as she gasps, when it hits her - truly hits her - that she's home. And he is here, too. ]

S...Satoru... We're here. We're—

[ We're home. ]

[ Fortunately for Satoru and Sumina, the passage of time hasn't felt all too disrupted by their various interdimensional jaunts. Though the Elderflower and the worlds it tends to visit operate on different calendars than the ones they'd grown accustomed to both at the Hotel and on Escordvi, Sumina has been able to correctly ascertain the rough conversion of dates...

...and just in time for Satoru's birthday, too. Not that she'd gone out of her way to tell him, necessarily, what the date is, or how closely December 7th was approaching. Instead, Sumina sees a rare opportunity to maybe, just maybe— surprise him like he had surprised her for the anniversary of their meeting (now also known as the day they became engaged).

And to that end, Sumina awakens this morning much in the same way that she would most any other day. Now that they've returned to the Elderflower, especially, Sumina has only taken to getting up and out of bed early more and more. She's only too happy to allow him to sleep in - he's technically retired, after all - except for today.

Today, after she's dressed as if she's about to go about her usual morning work routine, she sits at the edge of the bed (their bed), and gently rouses him: ]

Satoru? Honey? I need your help this morning... Could you give me a hand?

[ This entire plan, of course, hinges upon the assumption that Satoru hasn't figured out how the calendar works here, but... even if he knows, and he somehow managed to lead up to this day without insistently reminding her like he had last year, maybe he'll play along for her sake... ]

Edited (there were so many mistakes wtf) 2024-12-11 19:57 (UTC)

[ Though an adventurer typically must find a magical door to lead them into the ever-mysterious and mystical Elderflower Inn, there are a select few who are fortunate enough to have the inn find them. This includes, naturally, the members of the Heartleaf family; but it is a feat bestowed upon their most trusted companions, too. Party members who have walked in stride with the sorcerers for years, close allies, or even longtime business partners.

And also: Vaer, who had somehow charmed or perhaps more accurately tricked their way into this esteemed (?) circle. It had been during their days of traveling alone when the bard had first encountered the family spitfire Elenaril and was subsequently tasked with impersonating her twin brother during a routine visit to the family inn, and it was then, too, that the unknowing family darling Sumina had so perceptively seen through their ruse.

These days, they travel with a different crowd - a pirate crew, to be precise - but for all of their half-truths free-spiritedness, they remain dutiful in their periodic appearances at the inn to entertain its guests, as they had promised Sumina a few years ago.

Being dutiful, and also absolutely dying with a burning curiosity is what brings them sauntering through the inn's entrance one afternoon, followed closely by a few other crew members joining the alabaster-skinned bard in a sea shanty as they cross through the foyer. ]

Miss Heartleaf! Oh, how you've broken the hearts of these lonely crewmates of mine with the word we've received! Is it really true!? That you're... [ They swoon, all but draping themselves dramatically over the front desk, ] Betrothed!?

[ ... ... ...

The aforementioned front desk is - unfortunately for this whole crew - currently unattended. But thankfully, the tavern doesn't seem to be empty! And so does this gaggle of tipsy pirates wander then towards the bar, where Vaer simply starts from the top with more feeling, as the show must go on: ]

Miss Heartleaf! Oh, how you've broken the hearts of these lonely crewmates of mine with the word we've received! Is it really true!? That you're... [ They slide into a bar stool, only to be met by a very tall human with eyes bluer than even the dazzling ocean which greets Vaer every morning, ] Oh. Well met, sir.

[ uh oh ]

[ Despite the ever-elusive nature of the Elderflower Inn, there are a select few locations in the multiverse which enjoy a steady connection to that mystical place. The Hollow Hearth is one such place, home of the Alchemighty, led by an adventurer from a family that also enjoys a longtime friendship with the Heartleaf family. Though it took years and no small amount of effort for Daelareth Veltris' part to establish such a connection, now the Inn and the Alchemighty have an arrangement wherein the Elderflower shall always act a vehicle through which its adventurers can travel to other worlds, and the Elderflower has some of the guild's resources at its disposal.

Chief among them is a way to call upon its healers in case of emergencies, like a guest arriving and needing attention for an ailment that simple potions and concoctions cannot heal, when there are no other healers present... or, as is the case this fine morning, the Innkeeper inexplicably collapsing whilst working.

Miss Heartleaf - or is it Lady Gojo now, Ori still hasn't quite figured out which one the Innkeeper prefers to go by these days - has already been laid up in her private quarters by the time the druid arrives through the door leading to the Hearth. After shooing the helpful guests who had assisted her and a thorough examination followed by a casting of Greater Restoration, all that's left is to inform the Innkeeper's husband, who had apparently gone out for the day.

And by "inform," Ori really means to send an animal messenger to wherever he's gone, a little, daisy-covered robin that eventually perches within earshot of the sorcerer, opening its beak to suddenly speak in Ori's voice: ]

Satoru of the Elderflower! This is a message from Oriphi of the Alchemighty. Congratulations are in order! Please return to the inn soon. Thank you!

[ Satoru knew that the pool would become one of his favorite features of the Elderflower, a place that allows him to both relax and stretch his muscles, but it's usually somewhere he visits early in the morning, as a way to wake himself up and get in a good workout before starting his other daily routines. Only occasionally has he had the chance to swim alongside Mina; even after their wedding, she's still notoriously busy, despite his best efforts. Maybe it's time he stages an intervention for her, but even he has been getting back into his workaholic nature lately. Old habits die hard, don't they?

Which is also why Satoru winds up at the pool in the middle of the night this time. It's a crisp 2 AM, a time which during his old teaching days, he'd still be hard at work, well before his three-hour nap cycle. Though swimming at the pool is far more relaxing than any bullshit administrative work he would have been working on back home, it's still not sleeping. What can he say? He's gotten bad about sleeping alone, which is...still hard to believe, sometimes. He's gotten just that used to being attached to another person...

Though maybe it's not that surprising. A fundamental part of himself was always built for that. It's just that for the longest time, it had nowhere to go.

...Once Sumina heads to bed, he'll join her. For now, he'll enjoy swimming laps in the pool in the utter, pristine silence — though unlike his morning swims, he isn't even wearing a swimsuit. It's the middle of the night, after all, so naturally, that called for skinny-dipping. It's nice! He feels so unrestrained...and even he can still enjoy solitude from time to time.

That said, he certainly wouldn't mind some very specific company right now... ]

home sweet home.

🎂 satoru's 30th.

ah, there they are

no timelines we thread out of order

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