"...Y'know, I haven't actually tried beaming my thoughts at anyone yet.  I want to touch the core."

Haru holds it up.

Handpress.  Thinking really hard about how he doesn't want to hurt the dungeon.

(Maybe he doesn't even have to be psychic for this?  Dungeons are doing some amount of knowing things about peoples minds, somehow -)

w̴̬̱̿ḧ̴͈͙́̈͐͒̌̆́̿̐͒̕y̵̡̢̙̠̹̰̠͖͍̥͐̋͌̕͜ͅ ̴̨̥̖̥̹͇̥̜̫̉̆̓͘̕t̵̲̲̭͇͙͚͎̟̍̈͜ò̴̡̦̣̻̠̞̯͔͈͚͎́̀̆͂̅̌͘͜ú̶̢̱͓̝̩̭͇̦̙͍͎̘̆̌́͒̓̉̑́̀̽̊̚͘͜͜ͅc̸̬̩̗̊̌̿̑̓ȟ̶̬̝̦̮̅̓͗̉́͒̈́͑̚̚͝í̴̥̹̘̊̆͂̉͛̅̿͌́͘̕͝n̶̬͎̥̟̠͔̳̊̒̍̅͊ġ̸̹͓̞̫̩͚͉̻̠͔̐͋͊͒͂̒̕͘͠.̶̨̪̮̙͓͓̙͓̣͇͇̝̲́ ̵̘͙̦͇͈̣̳̓̀͌̉ ̸͖͙̪̔̄̍̎̃̿̅̕ͅw̵̧̞̪͕̟̖̼̻̩̭̒̑͛̿̽͐̌͌̑́̊̚̕͜ȟ̵͔̞̥̱̓y̴̛̛̻͇͈̬͖͉̼͕͗̌̓͗́̀́̉̎̚͝͝.̴͙̇͋̄͐̅̂̓͘
̵̛̞̰̭͔̼͉̞͇͇̯̟͗
̸̢̛̮̟̼͕̝̟̩̬͕͊̓͌̒̉͊̈̀ş̵̛̖̮̼͔̙̟̼̘̥̱̮̀̌̈́̇̓͛̉͋͊̌͝͝͝c̵̣̪̺̤̼͍̥̪͓̮̙̲͙̈́̑͛̔̿̈́͂͑́̚ͅȁ̶̫͚̌̓ͅr̸̜̈́̉̈́̒̀͐̊́ě̶̡̠̟̠̗̰̺̙̦͖̭͈͍̻̓͑͗͒̀̿̽͂̏͘͝d̸̡̼̟̦̮̙̪̹͍̙̀͜.̷͙̼̮̂̐̃̀̆̿̐͐͐̓̒̈̒̂̕ ̷̧̛͓̠̤̏̈́̏̋̈̅̈́͂͜ ̵̨͈̱̪̘̭̪̩̫̦̼̣̬̦̱̔͊̓̑̅̍̌̐̚͠t̵̲̦͓͉̥̝̩̳̫͈̰͈̿h̸͍̙̔̂͗̎͋̃̐̈́̍̌͝i̸̪̬̞̙̩͕̙̳͊̽̑͋̓̓͛̉̏̒̍̀̔̚͠r̷̨̳̯̻̟̺͋̓̊̚s̷̜̼̰̞̯̱̬̗̔̓͊̿́̏̾̀̑͜͝ͅt̴̼̪̣͛̈̕͠͠y̶̢̨̻̼̥͓̙̙̰̪̤̦̯̓̊̊̔͑͠.̵̧̧̱̤̹̭̩̹̩̜͉͎̙͂

What if he... keeps touching it, exactly the same, and then lets go of Haru to - pet it.  With his other hand.

Come on, come on, he doesn't want to hurt you and he wants to give other people a reason not to either -

t̶͓̞͙͚̥̥̾̍̍̈́Ȉ̴̢̳̫̪͔̥̳̲̖̥̟̗̳̻̹̅͆͑̓̃͗̑͘C̶̡̨̗̜̘̗̣͍͍̫͉̘̩̖̔̇͂̅͂̽̆͝k̴̝͇͈̦͙͎̔͋ͅl̵̢̡̡̨͎̰͙͖̺̰̠̲̀̈́̐̿̃̉͗̆͗͛̈́̋̈́͝ͅȆ̶̡̞͚̱̝̦͒͊̈́̎̀̉̆͒͛͝s̶̝̦̰͑̎́͌̊̔̏̓̇̂̚̚!̷̖̺͈͔́̈́͆̾̚̚?̴̡̬́̊͑͐̽̅͛̂͌̑̇́͊̅̉

Wh.

...Pet, pet, pet.....

a̶͉̩̼̜͎͖̦̞̪̝̤̮̽̏͑̂̐̽̏̿͝ͅa̶͇͓̬̼̼̦̍̏̔̈̀̍̌ͅA̸̛͇̞̳Ȧ̶̩̱͓̣̰̼͙̬̦͎͔̺̯͊͂́̂͌e̶̢̥̯̱̭̳̟̻̫̞̍̉̀̓͂̎͑̑̽̊͆̽͘͠͝é̷̡̛̹̥̰̺̲̫͎̟̃̆͋̿ę̷̙̩͍̦̉̾̐͋͛̋̓͝ ̵̮̖͛͗̈́̀͒̋̍̇̽͊̽̆̐͘t̵̰̩͛̈́͌̈́͌̈́̏͑̐̋̀́̐͝h̶͎̺̖̋͒̓͘͘e̵͖͚̤͓̺͈͓̟̪̊͗́͊ͅ ̵̠̹̟̹̥͚̤͉͉͔̐̓̈́̔̀̂̓̈́̍̾̓̈́͝ṯ̸̡̡̧̛̺̳͕̙̖̟̳̜̙̈́̇̒̅͠ǫ̶̱̘͉̰̞̰͎̙̉͆͘ȗ̴̢̢̧̨̮̲̼̺̼͖̝͓̜̺̊̒̏̂̊̀ć̴̨̡̧̬̺̳͇̰͕͔̥͕̥̠͗̂̂̍͋́́̉͘ȟ̸͔̤̪̰͎̝͖̥̼̰͕̱̉̅͑̀͌̅ͅį̷̬͗͋͛̇͛̀̐͒n̷̢̢̹̫̰̭̲̮͙͓͕̗̬̈́͆̏́̀g̶̡̙̫̗̭̖͆͛̓̿͂͘

- Okay okay he's going to stop and take his hands away and put his face in Haru's shoulder.  Maybe forever.

Haru gives the core back to the dungeoneer team and hugs him.

Yeah.

"Mmmph mmph," okay he should at least briefly come out of the shoulder, "I think - we should go home soon and restrategize with me sane, and come up with an actual plan for the next one.  And - 'give up on this one' sounds bad but.  Stop tormenting this one.  But I want - a plan, here, of something I can do, that's - not the high-inertia bad emotions, but - I don't know, a way to - have them later that doesn't feel empty.  Like, I could - it probably wouldn't work to have me 'say a few words' at every single dungeon; some of them are going to be too dangerous..."

"You could - fill out a profile of each one, memorialize it at the same time as collecting data? You could name them. Dungeons collect lots of unofficial names before they become formally named and you can submit those to the relevant databases."

"Maybe...  Do you think I'll be able to get an object from every single one?  I don't want to miss any.  Probably if some are really - busy - for me, then I can buy a scrap of something after the fact?"

"If you're in a dungeon you can pick something up off the ground, if it's got a physical existence at all, which not all of them do. Not necessarily whatever it's got that's really big ticket but something." There's a splinter of magnetic wood on the floor. Haru scoops it up for him.

"I think I'm going to not worry about the illusory ones right now and try to get something worthless from every dungeon I visit."  Woodchip take.

"Sounds like a plan."

ò̴͓͉̓̾̋͗͛̐͌̚͝w̵̮̋̔̆͛̅

"- Let's go."  Sigh.  "Bye, dungeon.  I'm sorry."

The dungeon can't hear him, it seems.

Out they go.

"Tent or truck?"

He didn't think it could.

"Not being backlashed is really great."

"I'll take that to mean 'tent'." Tent aaaaand makeouts?

Nnnnnot immediately.  Shirts off, though.

"So, I think all of the last makeout sesh might have been Bug.  In a - what even is identity anyway; we didn't realize it; the thought patterns were distinctly more like his than like mine - way."

"- okay. So, should I be - taking things he said at the time with a grain of salt, or...?"

"...I don't think he said much?  The.  The biting idea was still me I think."