castaside | [Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

"You know, I wanted to talk about how hot Macaque was but I wasn't sure if we should in here and then RED SON had to go and beat me to it. He's right, though. On all of it. Your ears are like the best ears ever. Even if they aren't ticklish," MK echoed and watched the spot start to glow.

"Okay. Hold on," Without warning he grabbed Red Son by the knees and lifted him up with ease.

"Up you go!"

"Get good next time," Red Son said with a smirk. "He deserves to hear how pretty handsome he is."

Red Son squawked as he's suddenly grabbed, flailing a bit to get his balance. "Why are-you and Dragon Girl are just like this?!" Because Mei absolutely did that for the peach.

"I can also FLY." He groused before huffing and reaching up to touch the tile.

You get a sense of amusement instead of isolation from the corridor.

When Red Son touches the tile and removes it, he will find a heating duct with a red scrap of fabric in it. It's quite hot in there but not dangerously so even for humans. Just uncomfortable.

Touching the tile gives you a memory:

You are Macaque, and you're quite comfortable.

You're resting beside a sleeping Red Son, cuddled up with his heat. Basking, really. Happy and satisfied in most ways, which is a pretty good record given that it's you. Just happy for the moment, against all odds.

You nuzzle closer and you can't be sure if it's instinctive or she's really partially awake, but she reaches up and strokes through your fur. You purr against her shoulder, soaking in the attention, whatever she can give. It's greedy and you know it, but at this moment you don't care. You'd give anything for time to stop right now, just for a bit.

You make a note to make a habit of this. You could get used to it.

"You know you love us~" MK said with a gremlin giggle. He looked up and smiled.

"Nice! Another memory!" He wasn't about to address the fact you can fly, Red Son. He knew it. This was way more fun.

"Alright. Another memory down. Look at us go!"

"Unfortunately," he said as he goes to remove the tile.

Then Red Son is absolutely blushing, hair flaring up. Why is this maze assaulting him?! "Ah...y-yes, there. May be two. The tile is one too," Red Son said and is going to reach up to grab the red fabric.

You grab the red fabric. It is fraying on the edges. It seems vaguely familiar...

You get the impression of Macaque, by himself, wrapping himself tight in his worn red scarf for warmth and comfort. It's a situation he's been in often over his many years. Sometimes of his own making, sometimes by circumstances beyond his control.

You get the sense of him wishing for something better. Wishing and hoping, but not optimistic.

"Two memories? Score! Alright. Grab 'em and I'll get you down. They good? Got a theory about the maze yet?"

MK asked as he waited for the all clear.

Oh.

Red Son breathes in sharply. He had known it had been a big deal for Macaque to give him his scarf, but that just makes it hit all the harder. Giving Red Son his comfort when he felt he had nothing else.

He rubs at his eye. "Down," he said. "Its....one is hoping for better when he was alone. And...and..." He swallows thickly. "Wanting to keep me close."

MK brought Red Son down and let him touch the solid ground again.

"Alright. So not being alone, afraid of losing himself, and wanting to keep you. Kinda getting a losing people theme here. Let's keep moving. Gotta be more. We haven't been through the whole maze yet."

MK nodded and smiled. This was getting easier to deal with and that was nice. Best to keep this momentum going.

You continue down the rest of corridor G, finding that it comes to a dead end. No amount of goodfeels will open any doors, so it's back the way you came. You find yourselves at the end of the man corridor. In front of you is corridor D, that would be the next one on the "keeping with right turns" agenda.

However, after a few feet, not even any turns, it seems to dead end. Want to try the goodfeels again, or give up and turn back?

"Losing people and wanting people and better things," Red Son said. He puts away the objects into his bag and loops his arm with MK's to keep leaving the string behind and hand along the wall.

"But we'll help this room outside, wont' we? We're going to shower Macaque with love and affection," he said as they moved further down the path. "Because he's very important to us."

But it was a dead end, and so they turned back and went to the end of D with more affection and.

Hm.

"Nothing? That feels...weird," he said, looking around. "Mac? Could you give us a hint? You're very good at that. Even if you want to challenge us, you're always good at giving some hint or clue on what we're supposed to do. You've been working hard, so there's a reason this corridor is here? We want to see all your efforts through, you're important to us and we want to help you."

A nice breeze gusts in from beneath the wall immediately to your right. Unlike before there doesn't seem to be light under this wall, but there's something back there.

Mk followed. Oh this maze was tricky. His map he kept updating but it seemed like there was always something new going on. Like this new wall and the breeze. MK got down on the floor to see just how much clearance there was between the wall and the floor.

"All these fun hidden passageways. You definitely know how to make a maze, Macaque. You smart trickster you," MK said and tried to size up if he could shrink and get under there.

"You also love making us think outside the box. Never just one obvious answer. Hold on." MK poofed and turned super small. He's gonna try and fit through the gap.

As MK turns tiny and goes to squeeze under the door, the wind kicks up and that makes it impossible to get through without being swept away. Nice try though!

Welp! There goes tiny Mk, being blown away by the wind. Until he turned big and slammed into the wall.

"Hey! That was smart! Okay. Uuuuh..." Mk looked around. Last time this happened there was a portrait here. Was there one now?

"Want to see if it'll work if I manipulate the wind?" Red Son asked. "Or do you just want to see if we can find the reassurance that he needs?" He asked, feeling along the wall.

"He is clever at hiding things. But he does also want to be seen. Its easy to protect yourself in the dark, but its also lonely. Suffocating to a degree. After all, if you're determined to hide, then the light can be another kind of cage. But you'd like to have a choice. To be able to bask in the light with us," Red Son said, hand tracing over the wall.

No portrait. At least not the same kind.

As you look around and the warn fuzzy feelings continue, you find a doodle of Macaque on the ceiling. As you notice it, it winks and motions for you to follow. Then it proceeds across the ceiling and vanishes into the wall. No heat this time, at least.

MK looked up and watched the doodle move through the wall. Oh.

"Your art skills are amazing!" MK said and pointed to where the doodle disappeared to.

"Doogleque went through there. Check and see if it moves?"

Red Son will move to where MK was pointing to see if there's a loose brick or something like that.

"Perhaps we need to draw something ourselves?"

No loose bricks in the wall. The ceiling tiles do come loose if you want to go up and over. Or you could try the drawing thing.

"I'll draw something. Check the ceiling again. That worked last time," MK got working to draw a Macaque doodle. One like he did in the game. Macaque flexing his arm, looking all cool, and sparkling. Then he'll put it on the wall once he finished.

"Okay," Red Son said. No reason to not do clever AND cute. So he'll work on making a space through those ceiling tiles.

The ceiling tiles are easily removed, no memories up there per se... unless you happen to touch the doodle of Macaque itself, which peeks out to see if you're following.

The drawing on the wall makes the wall shudder and open just a foot. You can squeeze through if you turn to the side.

"Alright! Let's do this," Mk turned to the side and squeezed by the wall. "Come on, Red Son! Doodleque has something to show us!"

Edited 2024-03-14 04:24 (UTC)

"I'm coming," he said and he'll turn into a butterfly to move through the ceiling gap to follow Doodleque.

....maybe touch him.

Depends how close he's allowed.

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door

Re: Level U - East Door