WEEK THREE

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WEEK THREE

19 Villagers

They say nothing is healthier for the mind and body than physical labor - especially if you can hold the fruits of it in your hands and store it in your kitchen. Whatever cruelties you have witnessed or endured in the past week, your fields need tending to and they reward you with as quick as harvest as always.

If drowning your grief in work is not enough for you, there are new spots to explore in Puffin Town. Allow the novelty to distract you from your dwindling numbers!

Always remember, the value of a community is not measured by it's size.

(( OOC: Murder proposals are due by Tuesday at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST for this final week! Get your bloodthirst in or forever hold your peace! Gift submission is still open as well!

If your character has been planting Astera, here's a reminder to report it at the Astera tracker - this does not need to have been threaded, we're just taking stock on an OOC level.))

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working the field;

[enkiboo]

[ Greetings, buddy.

Enkidu is coming right on over, so that they don't damage his work. ]

Good morning, Noah.

You're out early. Did you get a chance to eat anything before deciding to work so hard?

[ Humans need that sort of thing, right? ]

[revelate]

[Enkidu... Were this any other day, Noah would be happy to see them. Unfortunately, he's in a bit of a mood, but he's not so far gone that he doesn't stop what he's doing to turn and look at them.]

No. I was a bit predisposed yesterday.

[...Which bled into today. Apparently, Noah's been up all night. The dark circles under his eyes support that idea.]

I'll eat after I finish my work. Don't spare me any worry.

[enkiboo]

[ Enkidu receives the foul mood graciously, and will continue to do so...probably. ]

I understand. A lot happened.

I suppose you're correct that expending worry is useless, as it doesn't actually change much of anything.

So, I'd like to help instead. Afterwards, we can share a meal together.

[ They get to work and begin to help out on the field. ]

[revelate]

[Enkidu... They'd have made great friends and allies had Sunday's events never transpired. Noah knows he's being extended an olive branch here, but he doesn't want that, doesn't want to open himself wide for more hurt and betrayal. At the same time, he doesn't want to deny Enkidu their right to do as they please and help him of their own accord. Still...]

...Don't tell me you're concerned. I'll be fine, Enkidu. Right as rain.

[Worry about yourself. Here, that's the only person you can protect.]

[enkiboo]

Of course I'm concerned.

Isn't it natural?

[ They ask simply, working at what they're doing here. They go at it, their actions seeming hardly deterred by his reactions or what he's saying right now. ]

I learned the hard way that time is short, even for someone like me. I want to do everything I can for the people I care about while I still can.

It's impossible for us to truly get to know each other in such a short amount of time, but I don't see why I can't do at least do this. I can be useful...to those I know.

[revelate]

[They really are too alike, aren't they? Even on the precipice of despair, Noah can see that clearly.

There's a pause in Noah's work, a moment of silence, while he considers Enkidu's words.]

What does it mean to you to be useful to the people around you?

[Does it grant them a sense of purpose? Does it motivate them to keep moving forward? Is that enough to keep them going when the people around them fail them?]

[enkiboo]

[ They are. Enkidu sees some elements of those similarities, though they never could originally pick them out by name. Just sensing they could relate, perhaps... ]

From the day that I came into being, I was meant to always be of use to others. Whether it was the gods, to Gilgamesh, or someone else entirely...it was never no one.

Though, when I met Gilgamesh he taught me to think for myself. Even if the gods' merely wanted me to exercise their will. In the end, however, as the moments of my own life began to count down...I knew that the best way I could be useful is to support him as long as I could.

It is the same here. That is what it means to be useful to people, for me.

What about you, Noah?

[revelate]

[Noah bites his lip, hesitates to speak. The way Enkidu describes themselves is how a tool might— as if they exist only to be used. Then they go onto describe Gilgamesh and their finite life, and as they go, something coils painfully tight in Noah's gut.]

...Maybe I'm not that different. There's someone I want to protect at any cost— someone whose life is nearly at its end. If I can help her achieve her goals, if I can make her happy, then my own life will have had purpose. I'll have found it worth all the pain, all the struggling. To me... so long as I'm useful to her, it doesn't matter what anyone else might think.

[enkiboo]

[ Enkidu has always known what it's like, living like that, and they know few people can understand. But, listening to Noah talk, they feel as if he would be able to understand them well.

If things were in a lighter way, they could smile; they cannot and will not, though it touches their heart, bringing something soft and sorrowful. ]

...I understand that feeling completely. Even if Gilgamesh's life is bountiful, it would have come to an end if I did not defy my creators and paid the price. I feel I haven't changed a bit since then, so...

Maybe that's what I think that, even if the world keeps on making you both struggle, I wish for you to be able to still be by her side.

To be able to make her happy, for as long as you are able. Finding happiness in someone you can care about to that extent is precious, no matter how finite the time you have left with them is.