Tick Tock Wood be Clock
Group Chat for the Quest: Tick Tock Wood be Clock
Participants: Americano Beans and Kaito Kuroba Word Count: 3,114 Each member filled the quota for the 600 word part.
“This would have gone so much faster if Amel stepped in sooner.”
Amel: So Sarah and the pest actually went off to clean the inn. I can't believe I'm stuck with you again.
Kaito: "... What's with that look?" Not that Kaito isn't shooting a particularly nasty one back at Amel.
Amel: "...Nothing." He's so upset. "There's a bigger problem at hand, why are you looking at me? I don't recall ever giving you permission to breathe in my direction."
Kaito: "Oi... what am I supposed to do? Hold my breath just because your highness is in the vicinity?" He thinks there's plenty more to worry about here, such as Amel's bad attitude! Wow!
Amel: "Hold your breath and die, yes." Kaito is catching on... nice! "Anyway, are you just going to sit around all day? Why don't you run back to Sarah?"
Kaito: Ignorance is bliss and Kaito would much rather be ignorant than answer his need to pick a fight. "What? No, Sarah's off cleaning beds or something. I'm not going to do that."
Amel: "Ah right, you'd probably dirty the place even more just by being there. Smart. Then, why don't you run an errand for me?" Do my quest for me, Kaito...
Kaito: "I'd rather step on a cow pat." Kaito grumbled, flicking open his phone and looking through the available quests. SOOOO many of these warned of sleeping and advised bringing a partner, why! Aoba wasn't here! Ugh.
Amel: "I'm glad to see that you're cooperative. So, there's this guy who wants me to kill a big tree for him, but I think such a savage task would be better suited for you. All you need to do is kill a tree and bring back what it drops, and I'll... give you a pat on the back." Sounds like a good deal!!
Kaito: "Why." He started, sardonically regarding him. "Are you too young to let go of your blaaanket and do some fighting yourself?"
Amel: Wow, piss off? "I'm the youngest, you all should be looking out for me." Man, if only he could pull the 'I'm just a cute 12 year old!!' card right now... "But if you have a phobia of trees, I guess there's only so much you can do. How lame."
Kaito: "Why would I do the quest for you when I can just do it for myself?" Kaito rolled his eyes, actually marking it on his list despite clear avoidance.
Amel: "I'm telling Sarah all about how you peaked up the skirt of a 12 year old girl." Binch. "Well, to be more on topic, are you sure you can handle it all by yourself?"
Kaito: "Go ahead, tell him." Bleeeh, he doesn't care! He's pretty sure Aoba's done worse in his life... probably. Now that Amel mentioned it, taking on a tree with a gun probably wasn't the best course of action. "I dunno." Shrug. "Guess I'll find out when I get there."
Amel: Why are you so rude... "Then, before you leave, tell me your last words to Sarah, so I'll know what to say when he asks me what happened to you."
Kaito: "You don't die in this game, iiiidiot." Which Kaito accented by sticking his tongue out. "If you're so worried, just come with me."
Amel: "I'm not worried. Why would I worry about someone like you?" He'll tag along anyway... he's not worried... he just wants to see Kaito struggling with trees.
Kaito: "I don't want to be worried over by someone like you, anyway." And he's going to brush it off and start heading towards the area. "I sure hope your sister's not as bad as you."
Amel: "Tch, I wasn't planning on ever worrying about you in the first place." Follows behind Kaito. "I hope you get a concussion from the trees."
Kaito: "Oi... do you always put people down?" Speed walking because wow he doesn't like this guy! At leas the forest is looking to be pretty so far... pretty ominous.
Amel: "Put people down? I'm just being honest." He shrugs, picking up his pace to keep up with Kaito. "Everyone is just too sensitive."
Kaito: "Have you ever tried looking in a mirror and saying those things to yourself?"
Amel: "Huh? That's just a waste of time. I don't have to." Because everyone insults him, even his own family. RIP. "Anyway, how are you going to take down that tree? Do you have any plans?"
Kaito: "Do other people do it fooor you?" Now he's grinning, but then shrugging. "Beats me. Maybe if I slice off enough branches it won't have anything to hit me with anymore."
Amel: "Hmph. I hope you run into a tree." Okay, but cards? Squints. "What are those cards made of, anyway?"
Kaito: "Seeecret!" I don't actually know.
Amel: "...Well, good luck when you're fighting the tree." Is Kaito really going to be okay... he can't help but worry a little bit. "I'll sit back and watch you suffer when the time comes."
Kaito: "I think I might have to fight it twice." He ponders aloud, holding up his phone and following the beeping dot ahead of them.
Amel: Twice? "Why twice? Isn't that a bit..." Dangerous? Stressful? Tiresome?
Kaito: "Yeah! It drops something magical, and this guy wants to make a watch outta it, see?" Gestures to the phone. "But if we get two drops, we can make something cool too."
Amel: "Well, good luck fighting it twice." He's not offering any help. "What are you planning on making?"
Kaito: "I don't think I can make anything." Kaito shrugged. "Maybe we can get you a staff."
Amel: "Eh... get me a staff? I don't think that would be necessary because..." Snaps his fingers and bam, there's a fancy magic circle and out comes his staff. "My sister is letting me borrow her staff. Why don't you get something for, I don't know, Sarah or Pesky Glasses?"
Kaito: Unsurprisingly, Kaito doesn't even look towards Amel's fancy lil trick, doting over his phone and deploying his gun from his bag. "I dunno, maybe- where is your sister, anyway, and why'd she give you something she might need?"
Amel: Looks off to the side, sweating. Don't look his way while he desperately tries to create another story, Kaito. Keep staring at that phone. "She said she'd rather pick flowers than fight monsters... uh, this week is usually when she's on her menstrual break, so she's spending her time sightseeing the island."
Kaito: A believable story. Not really. Amel did sort of... give off that vibe when they met, but then again, they'd met in a shopping district? Heck if he knew. "Does this kind of thing run in your family or--" Kaito cut off for a second, glancing down at his foot and shooting an offending vine going for his ankle. "Is it just the hair colour?"
Amel: Was he being insulted. Why does he feel so insulted by everything that comes out of this guy's mouth. Also, was it really necessary to shoot at a vine. "I have no idea what you mean. What kind of thing runs in my family? Where I'm from, everyone has this kind of hair color, or something similar to it, anyway. What are you trying to suggest?" Fight me.
Kaito: Absolutely, it was going to attack him. "Look, all I'm saying is, people with your hair colour from my place... dye it." Kaito shrugged, going back to walking. The whispers in his ears were seriously irritating, if only because they were insulting and... demoralizing, really.
Amel: "Is that so?" Not really a serious question, because he's been away from home for four years now. Long enough to realize his hair color makes him stand out from the crowd, quite painfully so. "Are we almost there yet? I'll be hanging around in the back, ready to insult you as you fight." This is a very healthy relationship going on between them.
Kaito: "Why are you coming, anyway?" He stopped in his tracks, almost pouting at him. "I'm pretty sure these trees do enough insulting, thanks."
Amel: Good question. "Why are you making that face? I'm coming because I want to. Why are you listening to a bunch of trees, anyway? What do they know? Nothing, so nothing they say is valid. Stop being so soft."
Kaito: "I'm NOT listening to them." Kaito arrogantly threw his head in the other direction, getting closer towards their target. As far as lighting went, it was awful, and he really should have thought about taking a candle. "The trees are actually way nicer than you, thaaank you very much."
Amel: "Hm? So they're sugarcoating things even when they're insulting you. Also, you're about to run into a tree... no, that'd be funny to see, keep going." He starts taking a couple steps back. Go Kaito, you can do it... beat the tree.
Kaito: "They're nice to you at the beginning, idiot." They were getting close enough that he'd memorized the path towards the big baddy, now using his phone as a light. Wow. He nearly DID hit a tree. "You sure you wanna be here?"
Amel: Squints at Kaito. "Honestly speaking, I don't have anything better to do. I don't like you, but I prefer you over everyone else right now because you're stupid in an entertaining way, I guess." And now that he has his staff out, he might provide support... but that felt like effort, and he wasn't feeling it today.
Kaito: Kaito TWITCHED. Oh great, now he was the class clown?! ..... Okay, he didn't mind that in class, but not outside of class, especially when he wasn't trying to be entertaining. "I ain't saying that, but the second we confront this tree, it's all psychological. If you've got anything bugging you, it's gonna hit you with it." And maybe a leaf or two. Or eight.
Amel: Well shit. He has so many issues. "...I can deal with my own problems just fine. Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself?"
Kaito: "Pft, like I'm gonna let a tree get to me." He waved a hand nonchalantly, putting his phone in his pocket and shifting out the extra gun. Nnnot really, he isn't all that ready for the daddy issues to arise from the grave.
Amel: His mommy issues are very intense. They have something in common now. "Are you sure? Well, whatever. I don't really care what happens (to you), but do your best." It shouldn't be much longer until the giant tree comes to ruin their lives, anyway.
Kaito: It's really not, because within seconds of walking into the messy, ominous clearing, there's a giant tree looming over them, its branches waving creepily in the wind. Such suspense. "Can you hear it?"
Amel: All he hears are the insults of the trees and his mommy issues slowly coming back. But not really, because his mommy issues have always been there. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be hearing, but sure. Yeah. Totally." He sends a spark to a tree behind him, reducing a branch to ashes and smoke. That tree was getting really personal. Now he hates trees.
Kaito: "I dunno either, but-" The first attempt to shoot the much larger willow in front of them is a success. The card slices through the branch and it falls heavily to the floor, but within seconds comes the sudden wave of accusations, much worse than the others. Shit. So this was a timed battle.
Amel: Watches Kaito actually succeed in life. Wow, those cards are so cool. "Ehh, not bad." He just stands by and watches. Look how helpful he's being...
Kaito: It's hardly a success when all these thoughts are stringing through his head. It hurts, really, being forced to think about his dad's death at a constant pace, but it doesn't stop him from hitting the tree in revenge. Stupid stupid tree. How dar-- Oh okay there's a bunch of leaves coming at him. Is he listening out for Amel anymore? Not really, he's too busy trying to dodge the leafy shurikens.
Amel: And Kaito said he wasn't going to let some stupid tree get to him. Uhh... should he do something? Nah, Kaito's handling it pretty well! His dodging skills are literally goals. He's feeling some lowkey admiration.
Kaito: After shedding half the branches on the tree, he comes to realize it sucks the life out of the leaves on said branch. Awesome! Not that he can do much about the leaves going for Amel, but he's sure it'll go fine. Kaito eventually retreats for a moment, rubbing the side of his neck with his wrist and groaning. "Okay, I've got no idea how to stop this thing."
Amel: Wow! He can dodge too?! And his defense is high enough to survive being bashed against walls repeatedly by some superhuman clone of his mother, okay. The leaves are kind of annoying, so he burns off a couple branches with his magic, but he feels like he might've just made the tree angrier. "Ehh? Well, maybe if you toughen up and stop listening to its insults... what's bothering you? Just deal with it." Amel gives out such good advice, honestly.
Kaito: Considering the tree just started moving towards them, he bets that Amel did make it angrier. Thanks. Good thing is wood and fire don't go well, so the tree is starting to freak out under the flames. That gives Kaito some time to start working on snapping off the other half of the tree, branch by branch. Pew pew. "Oh, thanks, you're such a supportive guy, Latte."
Amel: See, this is why he'd rather work alone. No one sasses him when he does something stupid. And, was that sarcasm? How rude?! "I know. I'm amazing. Way better than you'll ever be." Shrugs.
Kaito: "Uh hu-- UH." No time for sass when you have to dodge so many of these leaves. He really needs to buy new clothes after this, these ones are so tattered now. Kaito huffed and decided to go for the other side, so thankful he didn't have limited ammo anymore. There were only a few more branches to take out now... god bless. Except the chanting in his head was just getting worse. "Uuugh, I wish it'd shut up already!"
Amel: Meanwhile, he was sparkly clean in comparison because he had Kaito deal with all the troublesome things. "Well, I can't do anything about it, but..." Whacks Kaito in the head with his staff and sends a couple sparks toward the tree to burn off a couple more branches. "I don't know, everything will be fine."
Kaito: "OW?" So, after much battling, they were now stuck with a relatively naked tree, but also an angry tree who was getting more insulting. There was also a thick fragrance in the air that was hard to ignore, but it wasn't really relevant anymore. "What the hell was that for?!"
Amel: "To clear your head in a twisted way. Now you can focus on how much your head hurts than pay attention to the insults. Probably." Shrugs. And he wanted to do it, as revenge for lying about being Okuta, when he wasn't Okuta. "What's so hard about ignoring the stuff its saying, anyway?" Well, his fears kind of motivate him to work harder, but he didn't know about Kaito...
Kaito: Grumble. Kaito rubbed at his head, shrugging. "I dunno. Lack of closure, I guess." Which was the only way he could come to explain it, really. "Do you wanna finish it off, flame princess?"
Amel: "Hah?" Lack of closure? What did that even mean? And why was he being called princess? "Tch, I'm not a princess?!" But, he might as well just end it now that the tree was weakened to this extent. He shoots a series of sparks toward the tree, but he's more concerned about Kaito than the currently dying tree. He's glaring now. "Don't give me such an offensive nickname."
Kaito: "Flame prince?" He arched a brow, resting a hand on his hip after depositing one gun into his (stolen) pouch again.
Amel: Sends a couple more sparks for good measure, and aims one at Kaito. "That still sounds terrible, and it makes me want to fry you. Blanket Man and Latte are enough, I don't need any more nicknames. Okuta."
Kaito: "Would you rather I just stick to Amel?" Kaito snickered while dodging the stupid spark, using the push in footing to head towards the now withering tree. It grumbled away, leaving a lingering hunk of wood that sparkled a little.
Amel: Freezes. First of all, how? He needs to dispose of this guy... but the thing is, no one can actually die here. "Again, what part of me makes you think I'm a twelve year old girl?! I can't just change my age, height, and gender!" The tree is no longer relevant to him, now.
Kaito: "I was kidding." Snort. "But I mean, you're a mage, can't you just change that if you wanted to?" After shoving the wood into his bag, he took a few steps back and cocked his head. "I wonder how long it takes to respawn."
Amel: Now he has to hold back a sign of relief. Don't scare him life that, you jerk... "That falls under the category of a remodeling experiment, which is taboo. No one has tried it yet. It's not possible. Throw that thought away."
Kaito: "That sounds kinda strict... you can't even be like, a cat if you wanted to?"
Amel: "No. If that happens, the daughters of the ladies are sent after you. In fact, it's their job to hunt down those kinds of things." Life sucks.
Kaito: "..." He gave it more thought. "Can you turn other people into cats?"
Amel: "..." Did he really give it more thought. "I'm already being risky, using magic like this. I don't wanna. I already said that it's illegal."
Kaito: Kaito laughed. "I'm glad I'm not into this whole real magic business, then. It doesn't sound fun at all!"
Amel: "...It really isn't." Kind of jealous, actually.
Kaito: "Do you wanna go get a bite to eat before we attempt this thing again for funsies?" Funsies, sure. Emotional trauma aside.
Amel: "Meh, might as well." He'll contribute more next time, because, wow, he really made the process longer by just standing around and looking pretty in the background. "And let's have Sarah sit down and talk to you about how to cope with your issues, because you really need the lecture."
Kaito: Blink blink. "I don't have issues." Kaito grouched, waving the poor wrecked tree bye bye before starting to head back out of the clearing.
It is assumed they later went back and fought it again. Probably faster.
