snackcakeordeath | date 2

Very well, I'll help. [It's probably better to keep himself busy, if nothing else. He shrugs off the blanket, getting to his feet.]

And... thank you. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful; I appreciate your kindness.

[pauses, looking blankly at Yusuke for a beat ("kindness"??????) before shaking his head]

So long as you can keep yourself going, there's no issue. Those witches don't deserve to beat us down here. ...And we don't deserve to catch frostbite here in VR or whatever this is, so an extra pair of arms will be helpful.

[heads over to the rack of snow gear near the door to bundle up (at the cost of a dramatically flaring jacket, the true torture here)]

That's very true. Showing weakness so soon will only give them what they want.

[Yusuke goes to the door, picking a coat and gloves of his own. Even Yusuke understands practicality trumps #aesthetic sometimes, Kaiba.]

... Admittedly, I've never had the opportunity to see this much snow in Tokyo, so this is somewhat new to me.

[#aesthetic, though. he sucks it up and challenges the outside dressed for the weather like a pleb. it's pretty snowy; there's a little porch on the cabin so they aren't straight out into it, but despite the sun high overhead, it's still pretty crisp out. someone has plowed a path around behind the cabin, and a second one that heads off towards what seems to be forest, though more snow has blown over so they're more like an inch or two deep instead of a foot or two deep. the snow packs well and is probably great for snowballs or sledding, but kaiba seems more put out than anything, glaring at the horizon.]

Domino certainly doesn't get this much snowfall, and the last time I had to travel someplace this snowy, we stayed inside. But I suppose no one's keeping you from frolicking to your heart's desire.

[Yusuke steps out from the porch and into the snow, and sure enough, it feels real enough under his feet, just the same as the beach. Weird. Though in comparison, he definitely prefers cold weather like this to how hot the beach was, so wandering around outside for a while shouldn't be a problem.

"Domino" gets a blank look -- is that somewhere in Europe? -- but otherwise, Yusuke is too interested in looking around to question it much.]

I can't say I intend to do any frolicking, but under better circumstances, I would have liked to paint something like this.

Oh? You mentioned you enjoyed art, but not that you actually made it, too. ...Though I guess it's easy enough to paint with all this white.

[he crunches out to meet him, much less appreciative of the scenery--mostly only thinking about the chances of actually being able to hike far enough to potential freedom before dark (spoilers: not high)]

Yes, I'm an aspiring artist. Drawing and painting are my greatest passions. [Yusuke stuffs his hands into his pockets to keep them warm.] You're correct that this would be relatively simple to paint. It's a bright day, and the sun is high, so much of the snow would not require shadow tones, except where it lies around the trees over there.

[Which reminds him, before he can go off on a longer tangent--]

Ah, but we came to gather wood, not to discuss art, did we not? Shall we go?

I think there's a structure behind the cabin. We might be in a civilized tiny cabin and someone's already left us a fuel supply in it.

[if there's no argument, he'll start rounding the building to check it out]

So, drawing and painting, huh? Have you had your hands insured?

Good thinking. [Yusuke's absent-minded enough that he would have gone to the forest first before checking, just because it was prettier. Thankfully someone here has common sense, so he follows him around to the back.]

Insurance...? No, I've never thought about anything like that. It's expensive, I assume?

Obviously it would depend on how much your hands are worth to you. But it's not cheap. Some people are less worried about the price than the security. Some prefer to take their chances.

[they come upon the shed. On one side is any number of different snow and outdoor supplies--shovels, buckets, sleds, horseshoes, etc. On the other is a meager stack of split logs. There's a saw and handaxe as well. Beside that, also covered, is a smallish hot tub next to a snowed in outdoor fireplace.]

Well, that's something.

The security of having that kind of money to begin with sounds rather luxurious...

[Talking with Kaiba feels jarringly like talking to Haru. Both of them are leaders of corporations, which really gives them an entirely different perception of money compared to a starving artist.

When they arrive at the back of the cabin, Yusuke looks around, before moving over to the pile of logs.]

I wonder if this will be enough to serve as fuel for the day? I've never used a log fire before.

Those who live in luxury are generally the most afraid of losing that security, I've found.

As for the fire...I guess it'll depend on how warm we want to keep it, and how fast it burns.

[which is completely different from just saying "i don't know," somehow,]

It probably wouldn't hurt to get more.

Then let's take these inside for the others to use for now. We can gather more after.

[Yusuke picks up as many of the logs as he can in an armful, which... isn't a lot. Why doesn't his high strength stat in the Metaverse translate to the real world :( ]

Sounds like a plan. This should serve us for a while, anyway. Good to know this stuff's out here, at least.

[those hands are meant for art, not for labor]

[Kaiba also grabs a bunch in his noodle arms before following Yusuke back to the house]

[With their noodle arm powers combined, they can be... well, mildly useful. Yusuke's beginning to look happier than he was before, at the very least, now that a Nice Person wants to hang out with him.

Once they're inside, Yusuke crouches down by the fireplace, and adds a few logs experimentally to the fire. Then he uses a poker to try and adjust the logs a bit until they begin to burn brightly.]

Hmm... That seems to have done it.

["Nice Person"......... That said, Kaiba does seem somewhat less tense now that Yusuke looks less aimlessly distressed. Or maybe it's just that now he knows they won't end up as noodlecicles at the end of the day. Either way, after depositing his load of logs near the fireplace, he lingers near the fire a bit, chafing his hands. Not because he's cold or anything!! He's too rich to have human needs! But 'cause why not, it's there]

Your fireplace-wrangling skills are leveling up. You'll be a master of cabins by the end of this.

[Most people just tend to ignore Yusuke outright and/or call him weird, so the bar is set pretty low for what he thinks is nice. He sits back, looking proud of himself.]

Truthfully, I've only ever seen how to tend a fire in movies, and simply imitated that. I'm glad it worked.

Lucky for us, flames are pretty good at taking care of themselves so long as they've got something dry to eat. I gather you haven't been doing much camping, then?

No, not really. My school field trips have never involved camping, and I haven't really been on vacations outside of that.

What about you? Are you familiar with anything like this?

Nature isn't really "my jam," as they say. My brother has been camping; I prefer accommodations with more amenities and less...rustic "charm".

[he doesn't do finger quotes but the scare quotes are pretty audible anyway]

I see. Personally, I think the inconveniences of nature are only a minor price to pay, in exchange for the opportunity to contemplate its beauty.

I feel as though I can do ample contemplation from an indoor location where the only living beings present have been personally approved. I'll leave the artist's vison-y stuff to you.

I suppose there are ways to enjoy nature without immersing oneself in it... Art itself is one such way.

[Although, speaking of immersion in nature--] Shall we head out now to gather more wood? Then we may enjoy the fire without worry of fuel.

Yeah, best to get it over with. At the very least there haven't been any unfortunate interactions with wildlife, so we're still doing better than yesterday.

[and he strides off, though to much less effect without his massive trenchcoat]

[Follows after, perturbed.] What "unfortunate interactions" are you referring to?

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