[Mari]

Arle's eyes locked onto Schezo's ears. For the first time since nearly dying, she'd had the presence of mind to notice them. Arle slowly stood up with some difficulty, her body still very much in great distress from the near death experience. "Well... We already triggered the trap, and it didn't kill us. . . ." Arle began, giving no one in particular a rather questioning look at that last bit as if questioning what she said. "So if the trap's already sprung, that means we don't have to worry about failing the puzzle anymore. We just have to get back in there..." Arle mused aloud. As she did this, however, she was inching closer to Schezo in a rather subtle way. Once she'd tested out her legs to make sure they'd support her weight, Arle would casually move forward and reach out to grab Schezo's ears without warning, gently pinch them between her thumbs and pointer fingers. She was at first testing to see how real they felt, as they certainly looked quite real, but was surprised to find they felt real too! ...The mage held them for just a moment before an amused smile overtook her expression. She began to rub those ears experimentally, having a bit of fun at Schezo's expense.

"...Schezo, when did you become a cat~?"

[Rina]

Schezo nodded, taking note of the puzzle being disabled because it already served its role. Getting back on track is another story altogether, with the huge pile of sand just blocking their way. With Schezo's hands all roughed up from digging with his bare hands, he's going to have a hard time digging deeper. Someone got a shovel? Schezo showed Arle his hands. Obviously, his palms are fine; his finger tips are not. They're sandy, dry, and are liable to getting worked raw.

"You may be correct on that assumption. However, I would surely have greater difficulty tunneling to where we once were. I did not know how long it took me to scavenge you but..."

Though...it's probably getting overlooked, with Arle creeping up on him. What's gotten into her? The cat-eared Dark Wizard got more puzzled and slightly spooked that she's getting closer without warning until...

"Eh? Arle, what are you- NYAH!?"

Schezo's cat ears got pinched!

"A-Arle! Stop! Confound it, I urge you cease the pinching of my feline features! I only utilized the power of the Super Bell for increased agility during the escape!"

Schezo's cat tail stood on end, and so did the fur, making for a very poofy, but angry cat boy. He flailed his arms about, really wanting Arle to stop. The moment Arle would let go, he'd fix the fur on his tail and ears before proceeding to try and tunnel through the entrance. That's one more "How to annoy a Dark Wizard" point to the book, and it's still one too many actions for him to experience.

"Furthermore..."

......

"You're supposed to scratch behind them."

Why are you telling Arle this, Schezo?

[Mari]

Arle hesitates for a moment. ...Huh. Nice idea! She watched Schezo try to get his way back into the room to no avail. There was simply too much sand. It'd take them hours to make a dent in it by hand. "Oh! ...I was just wondering if they were real, but..." Arle would remark, moving back over to approach Schezo again with intent. "Let me just..." she began, her eyes glimmering with interest as she hovered over Schezo and once again reached for his ears. This time, she drifted behind them and gave them a little scritch. She desperately wanted to see if she could control Schezo using this little factoid he'd given her. It sounded both useful and a little hilarious, if she were being honest with herself.

[Rina]

Schezo continued to try and dig into the dirt, but barely making any progress. He took an extended amount of time getting Arle out, and at the rate he's going, it'll take at least ten times longer to get through the door. The moment she reached up and scratched behind, his behavior went on cat mode override. He stopped trying to tunnel and slowly collapsed to the ground. Well, he was right. He liked it. Maybe it was all to swallow his pride and get Arle close to him. Maybe it was his feline instincts speaking for him, tipping her off on what he likes. Whichever it is, it was better that he was stopped. Continuing at this rate would probably be worse than beating a dead horse.

"Haha...Yes, like that."

It does bring up a curious question: Can and will he purr if Arle continued?

[Mari]

Arle wouldn't normally go this far into the territory of dehumanizing someone, but it had done a good job of stopping Schezo from hurting himself and she wasn't... hurting him. She supposed this was okay, if not a little odd. Getting comfortable with the idea, she proceeded to shift over closer to the fallen Schezo and casually mount his back, sitting on him in a somewhat lazy effort to keep him from getting back up. She then went right back to scritching Schezo's ears, testing just how docile his disposition would become now that she had found a weakness to exploit. "Fufufu~ You are a good kitty, aren't you~? You worked really hard back there, didn't you~?" Arle would coo, still testing those boundaries. All the while, she was quietly pondering a way to get back into that room that didn't involve working Schezo to the bone like some kind of beast of burden.

[Rina]

He would speak, but what would be an attempt to speak degenerated into cat purring as she continued to scratch behind the ears. The compliments, while a little bit babying territory, Schezo took it in. Feeling a bit spoiled felt nice for a change...

...until it dawned on him that he's behaving like a literal cat and not human.

"What in blazes am I doing?!"

Schezo snapped from his feline stupor, realizing that he's being treated like a cat and being sat on so he's pinned to the ground. He attempted to throw Arle off to resume digging, but one look of his hands made him realize that it's not at all worth it. They're redder than they were before, and he only just registered how sore and painful his fingers are. So he didn't. He looked back to the dirt pile, asking her if she has some ideas.

"...do you have a plan to tunnel through more sufficiently, Arle?"

And I suppose that scene is retribution for that crude joke about being curry-scented and edible...

[Mari]

Arle felt a weight lifting her and rather quickly hopped off of Schezo, not particularly wanting to wrestle with him. Well, she now had a better idea of where the boundary of Schezo's odd behavior laid... A rather amused giggle would escape Arle in response to Schezo's humiliation, but if he chose to face his tormenter he would find a very bright smile upon her face. There was a chance Arle might have been into that a bit more than she was liable to admit at that point in time. "Well, ...I do, actually have one idea." Arle replied, producing a ...Was that a giant toy?

It's our good ol' friend, the squirter!

"I'm starting to see why Viridi likes that~" Arle would remark off-handedly, neglecting to give any context for the seemingly out-of-the-blue remark. She then meandered over to the pile of soil and pulled on the back of the squirter. Y'know, come to think of it she wasn't sure this would work! ...But lo and behold, the very resilient squirter could not tell the difference between the very granular, sand like soil and a liquid. A large chunk of soil was ripped from the pile, being sucked into the squirter. Arle found herself struggling to carry the device now, but she was able to turn and blast the off back into the cave system behind them ...This tool was going to need some cleaning later. "...I'm really glad I picked this up--But boy is it heavy." Arle remarked. Heavy lifting really wasn't her thing, not that she could ask Mr. Raw Hands to help.

...It seemed that they'd get past the door after all. Now there was just the tedious task of moving all that soil.

MISSION COMPLETE

(You may leave the thread at will, or stay and post for a bit. It's your choice.)

[Rina]

Getting up after Arle got off him, he dusted off the dirt on his clothes, turning to see her rather amused smile. Unsurprisingly, Schezo was less than amused at her entertainment. At the very least, no one else was watching what happened. With a scoff, he backed up to see what Arle has in mind. Is that...a giant squirter? But it's empty. Once she put it to action, however, then it made a bit more sense. It was used in reverse; she used it to suck up the dirt to clear the path! Problem solved! Schezo peered in to the tunneled in door, and, well, it's open to take the plunge.

But not today. Schezo's hands are a wreck.

"Our job is done here, then."

Schezo turned around, about to take his leave...but he's hesitant about it. It's as if he wants to say something, but would he even be heard?

"...Arle, I..."

[Mari]

Arle was struggling to move the rest of the dirt, albeit far far faster than they ever could have hoped to by hand even then, when she overheard Schezo's words. Other than the sound of rapidly moving soil, it was very quiet in the cave system right now. Arle gave Schezo her ... divided attention, not wanting to take a rest just yet. She needed to be nice and sore before she considered taking a break, else she was just being inefficient with her energy.

"Yeah, Schezo..?"

[Rina]

Schezo stood there, feeling hesitant on what he wants to say. He didn't want to put his foot in his mouth, he didn't want to say the wrong words that lead to nothingness. He wanted to get Arle's full attention, but if he isn't getting it, then his words are going to be lost on her. He's growing inaudible by the moment, and if she were to look at him, he's got a very dead-eyed look to his face.

"am I beyond saving?"
"do I have no place for forgiveness?"
"am I not allowed to make amends?"
"do you want me dead?"
"haha...of course they true"
"an astray wayward child has no place the light"

...and his trance-like way of speaking is a little concerning, considering how unflappable Schezo is...

[Mari]

Arle was busy working to clear out the tunnel when she started hearing this really creepy musing from Schezo. It was like he was half talking to her and half talking to himself. She just sort of stopped what she was doing, a rather mild red flag raising in her head. Schezo... receives Arle's best look of cautious concern.

(CONCERN)

...A moment would pass before she responded. "...Schezo, you're scaring me." Arle replied rather bluntly. She considered her next words carefully, but not too carefully. She wanted to keep Schezo's attention, after all. "Are you alright..? I can try and heal your hands if they're really bothering you." Arle would warily offer. Her 'this dude is about to try and cut me' senses were acting up again.

[Rina]

There it is, Schezo's got her attention. He came to his senses after hearing her express concern, asking is he's alright. He took a deep breath, swallowing what's left of his pride and told Arle how he's really feeling. He's put on the mask long enough.

"Physically, I am alright save for my hands."

"Mentally... I've been constantly tormented by self-doubt and self-inflicted assumptions of hatred."

Schezo's eyes wandered a bit, averse to making contact with that confession. While his eyes drifted away, the drooping cat ears and tail show that he really is feeling rather down as of late. He looked at Arle again, wanting to continue the conversation.

"The truth is...I've been meaning to improve my image, but I'm firmly seated that my attempts are for naught. I try to control what should be said, but is it having an effect? Others may tolerate my presence, but deep down they want nothing to do with me...or even dead. All because I am a Dark Wizard, a title in which I had little say in. And of all the ones I've crossed paths with, I feel as if I wronged you the most and have already burned down the bridge."

[Mari]

Arle listened to Schezo and her guard slowly lowered as he became more coherent and focused. She did kinda wonder what that moment had been about, but she supposed it didn't matter now. As she listened though, it became clear that this would be a hart to heart talk. Arle lowered the squirter, not wanting to be burdened by it's weight.



"Honestly, Schezo... I have no idea what being a dark wizard means." Arle would reply somewhat awkwardly. It just sounded like vague implications of dark magic to her, but Schezo made it sound like something... more. "But... you shouldn't worry so much. There are lots of things I can't get used to. I can't get used to how barren a lot of this planet is, or how the air smells funny. ...Actually I'm kinda getting used to that second one. Not proud of that. ...I can't get used to people trying to kill me though, or being forced to kill people, and I really can't get used to everything and sometimes even people--like actual people like you and me--trying to eat me on this stupid planet. And that's because none of that is even slightly normal. ...But y'know, ...you're not on that list of things. I like having you around, and as long as you remember not to do anything that would hurt me it'd be really nice having a familiar face to talk to." Arle went on to state. She allowed her words to hang in the air for a moment before continuing to give Schezo time to process them. "...They're kinda in short supply, so if you don't mind me saying...~" Arle continued, getting a mischevious look on her face.

"I want... you~!"

[Rina]

"Eh- Hey! That's my line- Wait, not it's not supposed to- CONFOUND IT!"

And with one tone whiplash, Schezo found himself in a hole that he didn't expect himself to fall into. Oh Arle, still messing with him like she does. Still, everything that preceded the line steal put him at much greater ease than before. Schezo turned away, flustered, about ready to head out. He's lingered long enough, and staying out longer wouldn't get his hands healed up quicker.

"I-I believe we should be returning to the Sphere this instant right about now."

He was about to make a beeline to the exit...but he stopped. There were some things to address.

"Still..."

"Truly, I must thank you for those assuring words. Thank you, Arle."

......

"......Is it okay if I call you...a friend? I have yet to have one in years ever since my magic school days came to an end."

[Mari]

"I could get used to that smile too~!" Arle would remark rather light-heartedly, poking at the fact that... she didn't recall seeing Schezo smile very much, if ever? At least not in any way she'd consider pleasant... "...Hmm--Yeah. Friends sounds about right. Let's get out of here. I can come back some other day after I've had some time to recover to see what's inside."

(End of Presence)