Senecio adn Tide II

[Mirach]

Senecio paid good attention to Alpha's reaction to the request, since the Star inadvertedly gave him the exact body language he wanted to portray. "So you want to collect *Senecio points*?" he chuckled. "Deal. But I won't tell you how many you get until I convert them into something."

[VisAnastasis]

" That's fair. As long as you at least give me a hint of direction of whether I am doing well or am extremely off the mark, I am good. I mean, I really, really want you to take this even if it loses me points, but always good to know how I am doing, so I have a future reference to suck a little less, " Alpha snorted a little bit, easing just slightly, as he seemed anticipant and hopeful about Senecio's reaction. From one of his pockets, he took out something, and since he was so tall, only one taller than Tide from their friend group, he leaned a little more forward to offer it to the actor and to better see his reaction. It was a ring, transparent as if made from iridescent glass, with numerous, but thin lines of runes carved finely upon it. " Size adjusts to the wearer, so even if you borrow it briefly to someone else, it will adjust. It is made not to accidentally fall off, and to only work on you or someone you give it to willingly. Otherwise, without you willingly giving it, it is just a fancy glass ring. We made it very finely thin and light, so that, unlike a shield protection artefact that you still have to consider weight and bulkiness of when being on stage, this is so light it won't affect your movements or have its look to be taken into account with different costumes. If you will it so, it can turn invisible, so no one can see it, so you might even forget it's there most of the time. It will still work if you put it as a pendant around your neck, but much less efficiently, so as much as possible, wear it on your finger. How about trying it, so you can check? And don't worry, " he reassured gently. " It does not have any active effect; its effects are passive and conditional, so it won't change anything in how you feel in day-to-day life. Ideally, it should only affect you while its effect is exerted, but it is one of a kind. Due to the nature of its conditions, only one such ring can exist in the world at the same time, and it is something that I was heavily banking on getting Riversong's help for to be able to pull it off, and I got it, so luckily, I made it just in time... But I would really not appreciate any garbage about other people needing it more or any of that, " he made sure to clarify that part. " Which is to say, if it's your desire in the moment, I will leave it to your discretion to borrow it shortly to someone else if your heart tells you to, but it is made solely with you in mind, because I wanted it for you. So, no little Svarik, Hans or Tide, Janus or anyone else - can't transfer ownerships, dear. For starters, know you can't convince me, so it's either you or no one, got it? " he allowed himself to show the warmth in words that could otherwise be perceived as stern. " After all... I am a small-time actor, hoping for my big break. The item may not be much technically, considering how heavily conditional and simple functioned it is, but if you count pushing what is physically possible, it is my S-tier game. Effects aren't anything spectacular, unfortunately, alas, I am still just a person. If you'd find it more fun to guess what it does, we can totally do that so I have future reference for future gifts... or if you're dying from curiosity, I can just tell you. What would you prefer, sweetest marshmallow? A guessing game to give me future inspiration, or truth with no caveats for instant curiosity satisfaction? What gives me more Senecio points? "

[Mirach]

"I was wondering when you get to the point of what it actually does," Senecio chuckled. "I'd prefer to not guess. First, my guess would be about trying to figure out what's most likely that you would want to give me, not about what I would actually want - if I even had any clear ideas about that right now, which I don't. Second, what if I rule out some option as too boring for your S-tier game, and it ends up being exactly that? No, better just tell me."

[VisAnastasis]

Alpha smiled, but still he hesitated just a little bit, as if indeed, he was a little uncertain, as he clearly put his whole heart into this and was a little embarrassed, knowing Senecio could tell.
" You are right... might be best... to rip off the bandaid." his expression was soft, but he was not smiling, as if that was part of his promise of sincerity. Once the ring was in the actor's hand, he finally explained, with a neutral tone, with none of his usual performance to it. " You died and suffered the most from it... so it's not your responsibility to comfort me. I will only say this once... because I do not believe it's the responsibility of a person who has suffered to console others for suffering their suffering causes. But seeing you be killed so horribly is... something I don't want to see again, so this is not just for you. I would probably make this at some point, even if it did not happen, but I can not claim seeing you die like that did not absolutely speedrun how quickly and how much I wanted to make this. If all I could do was tell you things will be okay, speak soothingly and remove alcohol from your wine like at the ball, I'd keep doing it. But I believe it's hypocritical to be able to do something but pretend you can't just because the price is steep. Not if I want to be something more than a quirky background role, " he shook his head lightly, before finally saying it. " When we first met... you asked me if it was possible to make an enchantment that would grant invulnerability. I was really sad to disappoint you. I knew you asked for it because of the challenges of your closeness with Tide. It is still not possible. I promise we will figure something out for that, but that is something we'll more likely figure out when you become Being, and is something Riversong, not me, can change. This is a maximum limit, instead, to what outside artifact can do. An artifact that changes physics and pushes price and cost. It alters... who pays the price of causality. It's complicated, but briefly put, thanks to Riversong's ties to life... it's able to alter the effects of two different vitalities in the song carved into Song of the World as it's being sung, mine for yours. My notes in exchange for yours. If you were to receive a life-threatening injury... it would cause rapid healing and force your body and soul to stay alive against the laws of nature. It does not respond to minor injuries, only life threatening state. But because the cost is so great, I can only pay for you staying alive with my lifespan as a star. In the grand scheme of things, I have an unaturally long lifespan compared to most Beings, due to being amalgamation of three stars, one of which is fated to live for many thrillion years. I have a lot of lifespan I am constantly using up while doing supernatural things, so it's not like you would be doing something I am not already doing. It's just that the nature of the artefact is that, due to unnatural change of fate, its lifespan usage is immense, and its keep-you-alive ratio is very inefficient. You can easily burn through thousands of years of my lifespan if you were to purposely give yourself mortal injuries, so naturally, it requires me to trust you... But I do.  I know you would not set out to purposely harm me. Whether now when you are human, or when you are Being - all I want is for you to have certainty you won't die either due to malice of people like that unspeakable bastard, or due to having fun with Tide, " very delicately and carefully, he adressed it, and by clear worry that he could hurt his feelings, Senecio realized Demon knew about his tastes, though they never spoke about it directly. It seemed he did not dare comment further on it out of fear he would get defensive and distant, but there was a fervent protectiveness, in which Being but dared to lay one his hand over actor's hand holding the ring artifact, and press it lightly, while he kept talking sheepishly, almost as if apologising for not being able to give something better. " I was really sad, you know... not being able to give you artifact of invulnerability. It's just not feasible. Even this is not really... that great. It just rapidheals and suspends death at the cost of lifespan, that's all. If you get deadly poisoned, it would still hurt like hell and mess up your insides as it rapidheals roughly. If your spine snapped in half, it would still be agony - you would just be forced to stay alive, and we'd still have to find healers right away and set your bones back into right direction and have operations to get you to normal. We would still have to act right away, because longer I force your song to go at the expense of my own, the more lifespan I would spend. If someone finds out and kidnaps you, it can be double edges sword - like Janus's fast regeneration, it would enable your torturers to reduce you to a mush, and you would still not die until you ate through all of my lifespan. Nothing about it is ideal. So it's really my S game, despite its effects are lousy without immediate healing aid to fix whatever is wrong. But knowing that you can have some reassurance of normalcy and lowering of risk, despite your and Tide's unfavourable circumstances... Knowledge I could sincerely give you a chance to mess up a little without it costing you your life. "his hand was pressed slightly, as he anxiously hoped to show his sincerity. " I know you dislike hurting others even in potentiality, even if they hurt you terribly. So I plead with you to consider the hurt you'd cause me by dying needlessly. Even if no one ever tried to kill you, even if you become a Being, I don't want you to die every now and then in silly things like love accidents. If a bad accident happens, I want to patch you up and to eat pancakes and drink wine with you the day afterwards. Only if you were to want it, though. Pancakes eaten over will always be cold. If guilting you to take this would lose me Senecio points instead... I will accept it. I can keep trying to win more, if we have time. The only way I lose is if you die. After all, once you are dead, then... Senecio points are dead currency, and I could no longer win or lose them, just keep them tucked away in a shoe box I occasionally take out to cry over with Hans, Janus, Erdel and Tide. It would... just be too sad for all of us, wouldn't it? "

[Mirach]

Senecio remained quiet for a while, just looking at the ring in his palm. "You seriously expected me to guess that?" he asked finally. "I should just casually guess that you would give me thousands of years from yoyr lifespan in case of an emergency? I'm not really sure how I feel about it, but I won't be ungrateful, so I thank you. And I know that Hans will like it. He was worried that something might happen to me before I get the chance to become a Being, just because he's read too many tragedies. I can't say I like the part about spending thousands of years of your like, but if it gives you and Hans and Tide peace of mind, then I'll wear it and just hope it never gets used."

[VisAnastasis]

" As long as you do not refuse it, I will have no qualms. As long as you use it when you need it, it does not matter if you are grateful or if you hate it. I did not do this expecting thanks. All I expect is that you take care of yourself. Notion I would not sacrifice thousands of years in exchange for your whole existence is silly. I would have sacrificed much more if only I could have had that night. It is not like I do not spend my lifetime often. Just a bit ago, I spent a decent couple of decades making special protective clothes for Svarik and Conrad. I really do hope those two cute punks wear them more... it's only the difference in amount, dear. Someone has to pay casuality of altering what should be possible, and it's natural for someone abnormally rich in lifespan to pay." Alpha explained, and hesitantly, he knelt a little further to get closer, and put hand on actor's shoulder, and brushed along it - as if trying to see if it would soothe or unnerve him, if there is closeness he can pursue or not. " If you have questions that would make it easier, ask, and I shall answer. When I say lifeslan, I do not mean life as you know it. I am six dimentional creature, after all. I mean, my lifetime as a constellation of stars. I live as an entity here... but my main body and the biggest part of my soul is within those three stars... So, what I am actually spending is causality tied to those three. Energy that fuels them. Possibilities that come with the energy of that magnitude. I have to spend casuality, to make up for changing things to an unnatural degree, like with this ring. When their lifespan would be spent, it is not that I would die - only the stars would die, either blow up or fade away into cosmic dust. I could die with them if I choose, but I could also sever the connection with that main part of my soul - and keep living, as a lowest Being, with no powers. Like Janus, who used to be a star before its life burned away and he separated from any cosmic personification ties, so he could keep existing and move on, untied to cosmic events. No magic clothes, no magic defying reality... I would be just a regular little Being, sewing regular, humble, simple clothes. It might suck in many ways, sure, but it's not so bad, isn't it? So, dearest sweet, won't you raise your head high? It would be a problem if you thought about this as something grave you should feel sorry for me about. In the grand scheme of things, you are actually doing me a favour if you spend a bit here and there, you see, " he whispered softly, caressing the actor's shoulder so very lightly, as if trying to figure out if he's soothing or upsetting him - ready to withdraw at the slightest sign on discomfort. " Beings are said to be immortal... and they are, in a manner of speaking, that they will always return whenever they die. But this specific world has a set end. It is so, so far ahead that most minds can not comprehend it. The world will become uninhabitable, long before one day sun swallows the earth.... And I am in bad luck, because my life as a star is destined to be too long. I am destined to have a lifespan much, much longer than our dear Sun, if things remain unchanged. After world ends, true, I could linger on and keep hoping new world would become inhabitable close enough for me to be able to reach it, and close enough for Death to be able to transfer souls of dead Beings there... but in case it does not, it would just be thrillion of years of solitude. I can not risk that. So... when I just started living on this planet, I was actually spending my star lifetime most carelessly everywhere. Because I wanted to spend my star lifetime much sooner, so that I could end my Being life whenever everyone else does, and only keep living if everyone else one day gets a second chance on some other planet, too. If I stay as I am now, it would be just me and Solstice, at the end of this world, having one last tea party before the end. I... do not wish to be alone again, like I was when I just came to be. But to be able to tear myself away from the fate of the stars and tie my fate with everyone else, I would have to have spent most of my energy. So, if we go that route... uninhabitable earth, being among the last ones standing... you are actually doing me a favor, don't you see? By helping me spend more of my lifetime before then, " Alpha confided most softly, as he kept caressing him, but there was no despair, but words laced with hope, as he continued. " That is how I used to think, once, anyway. But in last thee hundred of years... seeing Janus's technology... it does not have same limits of casuality. It has endless potential for growth. Surviving outside of this planet... does not seem like something that would be impossible, one day, for people weaker than me, if it's in vessels made with technology, not just brute force of the mighty. So those days, I am having different dreams, often. Dreams that one day, few billion of years from now... I could travel the stars, with people I love. People that would love me. People that would not care whether I have any more star powers or not. People like you, who can see Janus, who is no diffferent from human, and see immense value in him. I dream of future where I travel the stars, just one person among many people, moral or immortal... a dream as of recently, you are a part of, too. Dream where we eat regular milk and regular pancakes, because I am no longer a star, and my blood is just normal person blood. I planned to spend most of it on Long night, to buy First layer even littlest bit of more time until Spirit army would come, for at least one more person to survive... I am lucky that it never came to that, and that I have lifetime to give instead to someone as sweet as you. It is wonderful, for my life to be dedicated to something lovely, instead of to violence that I abhor.  " his smile was genuine, bright, and full of tense, extremely anxious hope, as he finally asked. " Do you... understand now, Senecio? Why for my dreams, even if you spend a trillion of my lifetime, it does not matter? How much of my lifetime you end up spending is completely irrelevant, if it will mean you will be there one day to explore the stars with me, one day, when I am no longer a star... "

[Mirach]

Senecio focused on the feeling of the touch, exploring it with some curiosity while Alpha spoke. He found it unlike anything he felt, similar to the feeling of very find sand, almost liquid in fluidity but without wetness. He found it interesting and rather pleasant, so he leant into it. "Wow. That's a perspective that's terribly hard to imagine to me. Even a thousand years is so much, I can't imagine trilions. It's reassuring though that you're not spending your actual life but your force, that you can also live without. On such a timeline, something happening today at three in the afternoon must seem a bit ridiculous to you, but let's get back to that timescale before I get dizzy thinking about trillions of years."

[VisAnastasis]

Alpha finally laughed with that, warmth twinkling much like stars as his shoulders shook - it seemed he was finally a bit more relieved, as he felt the actor understood him better and was relieved he was not repulsed by him.

" Please, do not get dizzy, dearest little marshmallow... I have an extremely important appointment at three that I dearly look forward to. What will we do if the main Star for the day is unwell? Please, do not look down on mundane three o'clocks. It's a three o'clock with people most dear to me. Thousands of years can not compare to it, " he whispered most tenderly. Everything about his gestures was soft but respectful, and he did not push for anything more, even though he was bubbly that the actor did not shy away from him. Everything about the light warm caress as he spoke was delicate, as he treated him preciously. " I will happily return to the timescale that does not make you dizzy... Just make sure to keep it in mind in the grand scheme of things? I am miles older than beings like Tide and Hans... it is just unfortunate that it took me such a long time to find this planet and find a way to separate part of myself to send here. But I am rich in vitality, so you spending such a short quantity of vitality here and there won't change anything for me, okay? On the contrary, if it'd make you happy, I see no reason why you should feel bad about it, you know? For me, it's equivalent to if you asked Hans to buy you a carriage. Like, not normal person money - not something as small as the life force I spend while making clothes. But not something I can't afford. You know Hans is one of the richest people in the country, right? You can look at me as one of the richest people in vitality. It would not be worth even stressing you about it if this was efficient artefact. But we are sneaky little rebels, tricking the World's song into keeping a dead person alive... That's a cosmic crime that's bound to cost an impressive cosmic fine. That's the only reason why I have to warn you, because this is one of the few things that can spend a huge amount of life span if you do it every day for a while, just like Hans can buy a building or two here and there, but not every day. Even a sprinkle of joy is well worth a bit of casualty in return. I spend casually like rich people throw water. A party with a sweet Senecio is worth much more than a bit of empty lonely eternity, just like your happiness is worth much more to Hans than a lonely pile of gold. So what do you say, sweets? " he asked most softly, as with one finger, he but dared, and gently and lightly booped the actor on the nose in endearment, as he pleaded. " Are you a little less burdened with this gift now that you have my perspective? "

[Mirach]

Senecio nodded slowly. "I understand better now. It's indeed a bit similqr to trying to comprehend Hans's wealth when you've been poor sll of your life." He opened his palm to observe the ring once more, and then slipped it on his finger. "There you have it Guilermo," he murmured. "No matter how well you may have hidden your traps, they won't kill me..."

[VisAnastasis]

A wave of relief and thankfulness washed over the actor as he put the ring on, as if a creature only now at last dared to be happy about this, once he made sure Senecio both accepted it and was not consumed with guilt about it. A little sprinkling of sadness was dancing on the edge of it with the actor's words, but they could not overshadow the comfort creature felt for convincing the actor about this that was clearly extremely important to him.
" Or, you know... No matter how hard Tide might smash you against the wall in the spicy moment of passion, it might suck for a moment if you get badly injured, but you won't die, " he cleared his throat, and it almost seemed he would throw a tease, or some more playful image - anything to cheer him up, almost as if doing those things on reflex. It seemed it took a great deal out of himself to reel it in, as he offered something else instead. " Isn't it nicer that you can stick it to the bastard on both fronts, both by being safe and happy without him? Might be more fun to focus on the happiness part, because well... we all might be tinsy bitsy overcompensating on the safety part. Like, so many Beings snooped all around the stage since the premiere that it's ridiculous. Rain swept through any clothing materials. Erdel snipped through it all like a silly puppy he is. Janus toiled to recheck any possible mechanisms outside of the stage. I've snuck through every corner of that building snooping for suspitous casualty that I am sick of the stains on the wall. I've sanded down every sharp edge and even disassembled all the mouse traps and moved the mice to live elsewhere, so not even a tinsy winsy mouse can take a bite at you. That's Tide's job, not mice's we can't delegate things like that for free, " despite how hard it was for Demon to not deflect his sincerity with light tone even when he was trying his best to be serious, that sincerity shone through in his feelings, as actor could see, despite being jokey and light, that Alpha was clearly worried and supportive in his unique way. Not wanting to burden him, he instead just did all he could behind the scenes, however small, with childlike hope that things would have to add up to a better outcome one day. Despite speaking and acting casually, seeing him talk like this, with his feelings laid bare and with how strong an intensity the demon was feeling about things, was like seeing an additional colour of him that others could not easily see. " So, no suspicious little critters, no suspicious casualty traps, no mechanisms... to be honest, I was really, really tempted to go through all your costumes and weave slight protections into all of them. I almost almost did it, it was killing me so much not to do it, it's so hard, like trying not to scratch when you're itchy. And it sucked, but I stopped myself, " he admitted, sounding clearly proud of himself for showing what in his opinion seemed to be an inhumane level of restraint. " I just thought through it a lot... and with all the garbage history of you not being able to be the one to decide about matters concerning yourself, not even up to the point of being able to decide to take someone's blood to save your life... despite it being the only rational choice, it sucks you were not able to decide it for yourself. It just felt like it would be a breach of trust between us if I messed with your clothes behind your back, no matter how good my intentions were, " he admitted, and added, more hopefully, clasping one pair of his hands. " So, when we are at that... scale of one to ten... would you mind if I went over your costumes and enchanted them with some protection? It's not like I could do it all at once without getting a bit exhausted since I've not been doing too great in the resting department lately, but how about a tinsy bit, enchanting your costumes one by one, the day before you should use them on stage? If it's one at a time, it won't be that tiring, as doing it all at once would be. Yeah, I sort of made the ring so we can have peace of mind in case you do get hurt, but I naturally don't want you to get hurt against your will on stage, not even by the splinter. It would just majorly suck for us to have to reflect on that bastard when any unrelated small mishap happens, " he huffed, shaking his head resolutely. " Better to just never have any bit of reason to ever think of him, right? We are all working hard to have none of that, related or unrelated. Hans even ordered extra soft sturdy carpets replacements for rooms, so you won't even easily slip and fall, so rest of us can't fail short of that, can we? "

[Mirach]

"I know you've all done so much to make me feel safe," Senecio said a bit guiltily. "No, I think costumes with protective enchantments would be over the top already. Most of what you did is already ridiculously over the top. I know there's no chance of any trap being left. It's just in my head, that's the problem. But the ring really helps, because it doesn't leave any space for *what if we missed something*, it's a *so what if we did, it doesn't matter*. It's much easier to disassemble the whole theatre than to get rid of Guilermo in my head, but at least I can show him... heh," Senecio took the ring off of his finger and placed it on his middle finger instead, "there, that's more right."

[VisAnastasis]

Alpha tried to and failed to suppress an entertained ugly laugh, not able to contain how it burst around his face like crunchy sand.
" Sorry, sorry... No, you are completely right, " he spoke through the cough, while apologetically brushing away bits of sand that landed on the actor's shoulder. " Stick it to the bastard! Save the other fingers for happier rings! I'll be cheering for you, whether it's from Tide or anyone else, as long as you're happy, you silly rascal,  " he winked with his orb eyes playfully, clearly sentimental as he hopefully reflected on actor's future, completely unaware of what was coming in a few hours in his own life. " Wouldn't it be extremely uncool if we gave you the impression we are only supporting you this much as long as you fit into the cookie-cutter shape of Hans's and Tide's shadow? It majorly sucks when people only treat me well to placate me for Hans's sake or for my skills. I'd never act all mushy if I weren't genuinely cheering for you. What's all that silly garbage, being apologetic for not being able to instantly get over most of your life being hell? What would we, who have been worried sick about Hans for the last three hundred years, have to say? Tide is also still dealing with a lot of issues with handling intimacy that his garbage relationships left him with, and I am constantly in my own head, racking my brain, wondering if I am actually close to people or if it's all just superficial, if I'll belong with others or if every circle I am in is bound to only contain me in the end... Huh, uhm.. It's fun times all around. We are not... exactly shining beacons of entangling bad things in an instant, so why should you be? You barely had a few days of safety opposed to a whole life of garbage, you absolute idiot... " The actor could feel Demon was feeling freer around him by the higher rate of gentle insults and more openly bemused but fervent supportive feelings. " Get... as much into your head as you need to, you fool. We all are. Claw out and chew on the ugly things you dig out as much as you need to. We all have our own major panic crash-outs every now and then. After all that happened, you can have lots of crash-outs, as a treat! As many as you need! You can struggle as much as you like. All you have to do is stay alive, not a single thing more or less. Now that me, Janus and Riversong put our heads together to make this ring, he can no longer claim you. So all you have to do is keep flipping him off with the pretty ring without fail. Only way we all lose is if you die... He has already lost. So now that you have accepted it, feel free to have as many crashouts as you need. I'll forgive any words or aggression in the heat of the moment," the demon demanded from him determinedly, and as if he felt pats or touch could be burdensome with the shadow of Gulierno looming over them, he did not touch him; he only leaned to the ring on his middle finger and flicked it, smiling satisfied as it made a ringing sound. "The only thing I will not forgive you for is if I learned you took the ring off your finger out of some silly guilt, even if you knew you could be in danger, just so you would not accidentally use a bit of my lifespan unnecessarily. If you know you won't do that one single thing that would hurt my feelings, what's left to be guilty about, dear sweets? "

[Mirach]

Senecio nodded. "Alright then, we have some invites to deliver. We can invite everyone who's here, I assume? And what do the pancakes really do?"

[VisAnastasis]

"Yes, it'd be lovely to invite everyone here, if you agree! Uhm, little complicated if you'd want to invite Eros, I find him lovely, but if you'd rather not, tell me, and I can talk to him, he's currently looking after kids in the mansion since he's hesitant to go outside, so let me know if we're not inviting him so I can take care of it so you'd not have to feel awkward about that. Oh, and what food made from Being parts does depends heavily on the power and nature of said Being and if it was given willingly, or if you killed them to eat them. Just like when Being willingly affects you, and you accept it, it turns into a Blessing, but if they exert their power to create effect over you against your Will, a blessing can turn into a Curse. Here in Alpha's magic pancake bakery we strictly uphold the chill willing vibes policy so you are good, but if anyone tries to give you Being food sneakily without telling you what it does, tell me and I'll kick their ass, " Alpha responded brightly to the question, now that heavy talks was done and his worries more dispersed, despite little feeble and tired, actor could see he got a little more energy back, as he waved his arms around in sweeping gestures as he explained. " It has bigger effects on people of star descent or people who have been eating food from a star regularly, so it will have more impact on people like Svarik who had Star ancestry and had eaten Solstice's heart. So eating it once won't be as big a deal as if you eat it more often, but in general, since it comes from star and all that, its most important effect is being delicious and healthy. Rather than having specific delicious taste, it is closer to say it reminds you on flavors you find extremely pleasant and fills you dizzy with happy secure feelings. Lot of it depends on deeper rules of the world, since stars give light that can support plants and in a chain feed the whole ecosystem. It means the same even if the said Star does not have habitable worlds around it like me. I am still a light bringer, which fuels my ridiculous casuality, " he explained brightly, excited as it seemed he was not often asked matters about himself. " If you have health problems, it skews casualty slightly to the side so your healths get better and more balanced the more you eat them. So, for the most part, just healthy and delicious, and if you eat them regularly, it lengthens your lifespan a bit and makes you very hard to get sick, in the same way that food made with little Simbel's flowers and crops grown under his influence does, because of White Eagle's star mother. Also, since it holds my casualty, it might give you hm, game equivalent of extremely slight luck stat increase - very extremely slight nudge for luck to be in your favour. Extremely small palpable things, like rolling well in a board game, not rolling your ankle if you fall, not feeling sick even if you ate something bad. Nothing major, like winning the lottery for no reason, just enough so you feel your luck is good that day. Small boosts like that depending on how much casualty you ate. So it's not really a health warning, much less important for you since you'll become a Being, but just saying it so you don't feel like I omitted it on purpose. As I said, I only invited you for pancakes that casually because eating food from Being blood is the lowest possible level of influence from a Being because blood replenishes itself naturally, so the level of intimacy, favor and sacrifice is different. It's an extremely different level of change warning compared to if you asked to eat something like my heart, if you asked for my Blessing, or if you asked for the same blood-in-your-veins thing Eros did. All do different things. "

[Mirach]

Senecio thought for a moment. "No, I think Eros should be there, if he wants. It's fine. Who else would you like to be there who's currently not here? Erdel can invite them quickly."

[VisAnastasis]

" If you say that he wants, he'd probably not come to not make you uncomfortable. It is a dilemma... on one hand, it's true everyone's at visit at sea, so it is delightful timing to have more of our friends, and Eros is pretty close with the rest of us, but I wouldn't want to make you feel bad. I know I made it sound super fancy and official for play on ham sandwich budget, but you really don't have to be too burdened by it. It's more about an invitation to hang out. I'd hate it if it just turned into work or an obligation for you. Everyone seems positive about spending more time together in future... I am certain we could also do it some other day, here or in the capital, if you'd need more time to sort through your feelings, " Alpha offered supportively, clueless about the true intent of the event, doing his best to lessen whatever pressure the actor might have put on himself. " Since it was more about hanging out, I naturally expect you to invite whoever you like, too. On a possible uncomfortable side, other than people already at the picnic, I would normally invite Eros and Sage, since Tide, Hans and I are closer with them, but I am not sure how you'd feel about it, since you didn't talk to Sage much. Also, Riversong, that is, Ben, who came as a guest and little cook Jake, if you agree. They seem to be having some extremely juicy will they-won't they, and I planned to see how I can keep putting them in the same rooms casually to see how it goes. That seems like it could be fun, don't you agree? Does not hurt to get some Ben points, " he continued excitedly, unaware of the true nature of the event, sharing what seemed fun and nice to him. " There are a lot of nice and neat other Beings currently in the mansion, but I am not particularly close with any, and neither particularly fond of bringing people that are strangers to you to our little fun event, so other than that, I think Erdel and Rain are peachy if you haven't invited them already. Normally, if Ben was not there, I'd invite Death too, but huh... Currently it strikes me that Death would definitelly not want that, so what do you think, should we maybe not make him uncomfortable, or invite him just in case he's lonely and wants to eat cookies in the corner? Other that, you can invite anyone you like. Just hope you're taking your needs into account and don't overcrown over your capacity to have fun. It means nothing if you're on the clock instead of having fun, dear... "

[Mirach]

"Oh, I'm really looking forward to it," Senecio smiled at the clueless star, and then turned to Erdel, giving him a thumbs up that Alpha agreed and they can go ahead with the invites.

[VisAnastasis]

Erdel beamed with excitement when he received the sign he was hoping for, just like Senecio, though, acting casually about it to not reveal how big a deal the event secretly was. He talked with everyone present and after getting their promise, he raised a thumb up back to the actor with a grin, before stuffing the last from pancake in his mouth and hopping up toward the actor and Alpha to get the rest of the invitation list from them so he could invite everyone else.

[Mirach]

"Eros with kids and Xia should be inside, then we have Riversong, Jake, Rain and Sage," Senecio said. "Could you ask inside while I get one pancake, and then we'll jump back?"

[VisAnastasis]

Erdel double checked with a quick look to make sure Senecio would be okay staying here on his own with Svarik, but once he made sure it seemed to be okay, he nodded.
" Relax and eat, I'll be back here quick, as soon as I invite them all, " he promised, " Should I tell Tide and Hans as well so they know the event is happening, or do you want to do it yourself? "

[Mirach]

"Just invite Eros, Xia and the kids now, then we'll get back to the house together so you can invite Sage, Rain, Ben and Jake and I'll confirm with Hans and Tide," Senecio said, and took just one pancake.

[VisAnastasis]

Erdel nodded and jumped up and left. Although he knew the actor more likely ate to reassure him than actually feeling hungry, Demon seemed content he coudl feed him something nice, much like he was glad to do little things for Svarik and Conrad. Demon sat down and took sketches with moths again and continued sketching and discussing them with others, partly because he clearly adored the little soothing project, partly because he hoped the actor would be more comfortable eating in a lively atmosphere while others were distracted than if he felt he was in the centre of attention.
As for the pancake, just like Demon explained, it was clearly not as powerful a meal as something like Being heart would be, as it did not come with the weight of someone's sacrifice, but it was intently pleasant in a different way, because it clearly came with care of Star, desiring to feed him something good that would make him feel better and healthier. It was bringing different, homely, safe kinds of feelings with each bite, overflowing with fervent wishes for his health. It smelled like fragnant bouquet of meadow flowers, probably due to symbolic ties of light and plants with life, and it tasted as one would imagine starlight given form would, the warmth from each bite overflowing and settling down in his stomach like a vibrant scorchingly hot song, full of life. There was no magical effect like the ability to feel feelings, no permanent change in his nature, no blessing - only the simple warmth, as promised.
While he was eating, Erdel was certainly doing his best to do the task well and quickly. By the time Senecio was finishing his pancake, the vampire jumped back on the beach this time, and walked back to the group.

[Mirach]

Senecio watched the sketches of moths without really paying attention to it as he was rather focused on the taste of the pancake. "That was really delicious, thank you," he said as he finished it and joined Erdel. "I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the performance. It will be memorable," he winked and let Erdel to pick him up to jump away.

[VisAnastasis]

It seemed that both the acceptance of his gift and the little comment and effort the actor made really made Alpha more hopeful and made his day, as he seemed much brighter and timidly excited about the upcoming event, unaware of how big it's going to get.
Erdel was already getting more used to carrying the actor, both in distributing his weight and following his cues, and they were already more in sync, so he easily jumped up right away. After a brief and high exciting jump, they carefully landed in the garden on the mansion. There, among the flowers on a bench, Tide and Hans were having some small talk. When Hans noticed them first, his feelings revealed nervousness and hopeful anticipation, as he was anxious to know how Alpha responded - but since Tide was present and they were keeping it secret from Tide, he did not ask first. Instead, he winked innocently and gave his own sneaky thumb up to the actor, which turned into a ring shape gesture, to silently tell him that he delivered the cut bones to Sage in the meantime, motioning with his head to Tide to mark demon is clueless about Sage making Alpha's engagement ring and that their plan is on track.

[Mirach]

Senecio nodded to Hans's ring gesture. "Three o'clock is confirmed, Alpha and the others will be there," he said. "Erdel is going to invite Riversong, Jake and Rain - and Sage, if you haven't yet? We're a bit unsure about Death, leaning towards no since Riversong will be there. What do you think?" he asked both Hans and Tide, since Tide knew Death best.