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[howtheyshine]

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[howtheyshine]

[A fumble, a tumble of video as the communicator drops, and then a feline face shoved close to the screen.]

He showed me light glyphs!

[greatoldjohn]

[ Oh. Oh yeah. Charter marks. Light. He could have-

Dammit. But there's something much more important-]

You're in your body!

[ He looks thrilled. ]

Did it get lost in the dark?

[howtheyshine]

Well, uh. Not exactly. I did lose it for a little while though.

[S W E A T. He's not lying...? He doesn't want to lie to his brother, for one thing.]

What about you? Are you okay?

[greatoldjohn]

[ That's an easy enough nod. ]

Much better. The darkness fucking sucked, but I did work out a few things with Astarion and Arthur because of it so it's better overall. And I went to go see Jedao.

It's been a good few days.

[howtheyshine]

Good. Good, I'm glad.

[He is, too. And relieved, there's no way to hide that part.]

How's... Is Arthur okay?

[greatoldjohn]

Better as well. We talked about some things that weren't settled between us.

He's going to spend a few days helping Una until she feels better.

[howtheyshine]

Good.

[A brief silence. He still feels Weird. He feels like things have ended, or that some piece of something has ended, but he can't put his finger on what and he doesn't know what happens next, either.]

[greatoldjohn]

[ Yeah, he's picking up on that. ]

...did you maybe want to try doing some art together?

[howtheyshine]

[!!!!!]

Yes! [Said as the communicator tips over backwards and gives a view of the sky through his greenhouse cabin roof before he rights it again with an extra limb.]

Where?

[greatoldjohn]

That depends! Music or painting or something else?

[howtheyshine]

I don't know any instruments yet, but I'm going to learn the piccolo. ...Do you know how to play it?

[Look it wouldn't surprise him, John Knows Everything.]

[greatoldjohn]

No. The only instrument I know how to play is the violin.

[ A pause. ]

Possibly the piano. I've never tried it, though.

[howtheyshine]

Because of Arthur?

[greatoldjohn]

[ A quick nod. ]

The same way I knew how to read and write and what a lamppost is.

I've never tried it, though.

[howtheyshine]

Why not?

[GUESS WHO STILL KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT WHY ARTHUR DOESN'T PLAY ANY MORE IT'S THIS GUYYYY.]

[greatoldjohn]

I never thought about it.

[ ♫ It's helpfully true! ♫ He's just not saying whhyyyyyy! ♫ ]\\

Maybe I'll give it a shot when we head up to the art gazebo.

[howtheyshine]

Jedao and I were talking about what would work well for small hands. Since my body is... more limited. That's why I thought piccolo, maybe. Though there's also, uh--

[A pause. Then, because he's not at all sure how to say it, he types it:]

Ukulele.

I like the word but I've never heard it said. It looks like a tiny guitar.

[greatoldjohn]

Ukelele.

[ He pronounces it correctly. ]

There's one in the art gazebo, and I made a point to learn all the instrument names while I was working there.

[ He considers before- ]

Do you breathe?

[howtheyshine]

No. But I can kind of... approximate lungs. It takes extra work, it's not like a human body, but I can do it.

[greatoldjohn]

Same here.

The ukelele might be a better option since you just have to keep fingers. Lungs are more complicated.

[howtheyshine]

But I can. I can do it.

[greatoldjohn]

[ A blink. ]

Of course you can. But it'll be harder for you to learn something new while you're doing it.

It's a 'better' option, but you can choose whichever you like.

[howtheyshine]

[He's not sure what to do with his sudden restless need to prove he can manage even if he has to learn how to breathe while learning everything else at the same time. He can do it. That's the important thing.

Quieter:]

I can do it. It goes with violin better.

[greatoldjohn]

Okay. Then we can do that.

[ Walking alooooong. ]

Are there songs you want to learn to play?

[howtheyshine]

[He can tell John is in motion, so he leaves his communicator on his workbench and lets himself out of his cabin to join his brother in the hall before he answers.]

There's lots that I like but I don't know if there are versions specifically for violin and piccolo. It seems... more likely than violin and ukelele.

[Excuse him as he attempts to climb John's leg on his way to his brother's lofty shoulder.]