Minseo

these boys are a disaster

are you sure you want to touch any of this with a twenty-foot pole

are you joking

do you know how boring my off time gets during a confluence

try closing your eyes and leaving them that way for four hours

then do that, every single day, for the next several months.

well I'm compatible with both of them so idk what that says about your compatibility with either

one of them has a huge crush on the other, and it's unclear if it's reciprocated

Russia is even more homophobic than Korea

the one with the crush has a tendency for frivolous power use and an impulsivity backlash

which combines just as badly as you'd expect

the other one probably has a ton of trauma from doing the job of a professional partner without the actual respect you need to give a fellow human being

is frivolous power guy the one Da-eun was grumbling about?

don't answer that I expect the answer is yes

I can probably tolerate either tbh, though Da-eun might make faces about the impulsive one being near me

but otherwise whichever you think is more likely to be compatible with me, not like my backlash is secret.

bored esper reporting for duty, sir, deploy at your discretion! o7

my guess would be Dasol

that's the other one, not the frivolous power use one

his backlash is allodynia

I think I'll probably be both his and Misha's Buddy btw

ooo, two for one deal! you're becoming a proper mother hen

sitting on all your lil baby espers

anyway I expect the ace girl who just wants to play video games might be nice for your other guy?

I literally want nothing from him!

okay I do want him to generally be mentally okay and not like, attempting to sex me or w/e, but

you get me right

yeah

uh

he might be expecting to need to sexually pleasure you to be worth keeping alive 

fyi

generally mentally okay does not describe either of these boys 

came from a hell of a place, huh

I will be firm and gentle and channel unnie in all but the yelling

stuffed body pillow for snuggling away the trauma, that's me

one hell of a place sounds just right, yeah 

good luck 

you'll need it

luck is for scrubs

I will bring my elite skills to the table!

bwuahahaha

Yun Dasol had been told to await requests to meet, which he does by huddling on the couch staring into the comm screen readout of

0 New Messages

until his eyes start to hurt. Quasar HR had said that it would probably take a few days to get him a list, but he didn't really have anything else to do in the meantime. He had music on, sure, and he had found the learn Korean tab for practicing the language, but it was weird. He was in one of the temporary silos, for the moment, as they didn't want him returning to the last location where he had used his old identity, and there wasn't really anything else to do—okay, actually, there was lots to do, he just didn't want to do any of it. He couldn't focus, not even on the soothing pop music he had absolutely blasting. He gets himself a glass of water and tries not to experience thought for the ten seconds it takes to down it. When he opens his eyes, though

1 New Message!

he suddenly wonders why he wished for this. He opens the message boards after a few failed tries. These hand signals aren't as intuitive as they seemed!

Hey, heard you were a new professional partner looking for someone to guide? I could use a co-sleeper during the confluence, if that isn't out of your area of expertise

Oh, boy. 'Co-sleeper.' That's a new euphemism. But yes! The answer is yes. He can do whatever!

Best not to write that, however.

It's nice to meet you! I'm open to whatever would serve my partner's needs best! Would you like to tell me a little about your guiding needs?

That sounds professional. Right?

Nice to meet you, too! I'm Yun Minseo, I'm a sensor. My backlash causes me to lose my senses, starting with sight. I tend to spend confluences almost entirely blind. That being said, I am really not into the wet and sticky parts of 'efficient' guiding, and when I say co-sleeping, I do just mean overnight cuddles. Though the frequently-made-blind does mean I have some other needs, like, please do not leave anything on the floor where it might be tripped on, please do not move any of my stuff to a different place, that sort of thing? I gotta navigate the silo blind, and for that, I need to know where everything is.

Oh, no, she thinks I wanted to have sex with her. I mean, I thought she wanted to, I didn't necessarily want—I just want what she wants!

This is so much more confusing than in Russia.

Thank you for being so clear! Nothing wet, nothing sticky, sleep with maximal skin contact, don't move anything or leave anything lying about. That seems like a pretty simple set of instructions to me!

My Korean is not quite as fluent as I would like, but I will work extra-hard at it. Please let me know if there are better ways than the comm-screen to translate for you if I forget a word, though.

Would you like to test for compatibility?

Is that too eager? It's probably too eager. He deletes it and tries again.

Let me know if you would like—

Mmm, nope. Delete, restart.

I hope that you find exactly what you need.

Comm-screen is fine, I've got a special set up to let me read and write while backlashed. I'm down to help you practice Korean though, my non sleeping hours get kinda boring, and I've helped people learn Korean before.

I'm up for testing for compatibility if you are, though you'll need to come to me. I'm currently backlashing; I'd just hurt myself if I went wandering around unescorted.

Eeeeeeee maybe this is it!

Of course, sunbae-nim. Where can I find you? I'll come over right away.

She sends over directions. If it weren't a confluence, she would just offer him a teleport, but since it is, there's a little Ji-woo on her shoulder grumbling about necessity of resource use. Yes, little shoulder Ji-woo, she will be good, and walking off some of the nervous energy might do the poor new guy some good.

"Hey, I'm seeing if I'm compatible with one of the new hires, see if you can go spend some actual time with your family."

This is, of course, directed at the partner she's currently sitting on the couch with.

"... which one?" she asks, delicately.

"The one that has not bounced off of your shield like a sad and stupid mosquito."

Shit she wasn't supposed to let on that that time she was shielding was for - augh she's so bad at information security of this kind!!!!

"Oh. Okay. Cool."

On one hand: Minseo is her own person, and can make her own choices. On the other hand: but she's so vulnerable when she's backlashing, and it is Da-eun's personal responsibility to keep her safe! On the anatomically improbable third hand: Okay but her babies miss her!!!!!!

They might not even be compatible. She's probably worrying over nothing.

"Are you going to have a responsibility hernia if I tell you to shoo so as not to spook him? I hear he's extra spookable."

"Nnnnnnoooo. Maybe. ... yes."

"I'll let him know you're here," sighs Minseo, who now has to figure out a non-threatening way to say to the guy worried he's about to get tossed aside like trash that, oh, by the way, her current partner is right here available for snuggling.

"Noooooooooo no no you will not, I'm getting over it, just, here," and she foists a little pendant off onto Minseo. Si-yeon was wearing one just like it, for 'be shielded by the esper from afar' reasons. "And let me know the minute you need it, and. Maybe set up a little quick emergency button in case of..." what would she even say, here? Sexual assault? Weirdly directed, Russian assassination? Ninjas breaking in through the window? "... emergency."

"Sure. But after I teleport to safety."

...

"Okay, yes, but. ... Shush."

Da-eun will nonetheless vacate the area immediately, so as not to spook the poor little asylum seeker NEW RECRUIT TO THE GUILD OF QUASAR.

Snort.

Okay, out of the little silo and down the hallway, not running because there is no reason to run, going to make it to the elevator before he even knows she was on this floor -

"Oh, excuse me!" The women coming down the hall is moving fast, he is moving faster, there is an awkwardly timed 90-degree angle in the hall, and—well. Momentum is a tyrant.

He tosses himself sideways so as not to physically collide with her, hitting the wall with a dull thunk instead. "I'm so sorry, ma'am, I'm in too much of a xurry. Please forgive me." He bows low and skitters past, breaking out into a sprint so as not to be late to this casual meeting with no time specified. Once he gets to the door, he takes a moment to relax his shoulders, roll out his neck, close his eyes.

Nobody wants an anxious guide. You should be relaxed and warm, so they aren't spooked.

Yes, mental Klimka. Of course, mental Klimka. I'm the perfect guide.

He nods to himself, smiles welcomingly, opens his eyes, and lifts his hand to knock before thinking better of it. What if she can't call out or navigate easily to the door? He sends a message instead.

Hello! I have arrived. I can let myself in, if you would like, once you are ready.

... okay yeah, clearing out was a good idea, their combined anxiety levels inside one room could potentially cause some kind of superanxiety explosion event...

Door's open!

"Good evening, sunbae-nim!" he calls out with the practiced toddler-calming brightness of a seasoned cashier during a major holiday shopping event. "This is Kim Dasol! I'm coming in now."

Inside is a perfectly innocent looking modest setup, about the size of a hotel room. There is a small hallway leading past a tiny kitchenette and attached bathroom, to a room with a couch at the foot of the admittedly rather large bed, a desk, and a table and a couple of chairs by the window. There's a television mounted on the wall, facing the bed, currently off.

There's an esper on the couch with improbably long white hair, and red eyes that look kind of far off and unfocused. Her fingers are moving, and there's a comm screen in front of them, though she stops typing to give a little wave when the door opens.

"Hello!" she says.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yun Minseo-nim." It feels wrong not to bow, even if she can't see it, so he does. "I am looking forward to working with you. I xope we turn out to be compatible."

"Pleasure to meet you too. Uh, just sunbae's fine, you don't need to 'nim' me? And if we're not compatible, it's not anybody's fault, it just kind of happens sometimes." Statistically speaking, it's most of the time for random espers, but their backlashes are pretty opposite, so they do actually have good odds. Probably. "... Are you just standing at the door? You can come in, it's cool?" She nonetheless holds out her hand from where she's sitting for a poke test.

"Ah! Of course, sunbae. I was just getting my bearings." He tiptoes further into the room. "You noted that you need things to stay in the same places, so I was looking around to make sure I knew where things ought to be. Please forgive me if I take a moment to remember everything's place properly." He finally gets to her and tentatively reaches out a fist. "So, I'm going to touch you now."

Boop.

Hm!

Yeah, that's pretty nice. It might beat Da-eun, actually? It's pretty close, though. Solid guiding, theoretically excellent co-sleeping material for when Da-eun doesn't have too much backlash of her own.

"Nice!" she says, pleased. "At least on my end, are you the same, or do we have one of those asymmetric ones?"

It's alright. Not as good for him as it sounded for her, but good enough that the sensation is—ah, it's a good thing she's blind, maybe. "It's certainly a match!" he agrees. It doesn't matter, ultimately, how well it works for him. He's just the guide. And hey, maybe slight compatibility is better, given that she doesn't want to—

Anyway. "Yes, if it was a match for sunbae, then we are in an excellent position, I feel. Let's discuss your symptoms and xow I can xelp during the process, then. I'm going to sit a little distance over on the couch, now, unless you want me to be in touch-range while we talk."

The way this guy phrases everything is so concerning.

"Either's fine? Symptoms are pretty straightforward. I generally don't push myself until I lose hearing unless it's a real emergency. There's some general loss of feeling everywhere else even before hitting deafness, but it's mostly an irritating dexterity problem, not like. Anything anybody can help with, besides guiding away. What about you? Do you need any accomodations?"

He sits gently to avoid jostling sunbae and scoffs dramatically. "Oh, you don't need to worry about me! I can xandle it just fine! I just need a place I can scream!"

Hmm, that sounds bad.

"What I mean is that my power is voice projection. If sunbae needs me to rapidly accumulate severe backlash, I can do so, so long as there's someplace I can throw a loud, sustained scream to without disturbing anyone. I can go through walls, so it can be, say, out the window. Just any old place with nobody in it, really!" He works his jaw silently for a few moments, suddenly nervous that he had led off on a bad foot. "Or, for more moderate levels, I can read aloud for my partner? Or carry a conversation using only my projected voice? It's whatever sunbae might want, really. I can accommodate."

Some of her horror at this phrasing must have shown on her face. Because: that is a yikes from her.

She is now painfully aware that this guy is terrified that if he's not useful enough, or possibly not efficient enough for his partner's benefit, that he's going to be discarded like trash. Or handed back to Russia, or forced to be a backlash battery for whatever esper is compatible and feels like using him.

"Just co-sleeping would honestly be really useful? And company to keep me from going crazy from boredom, but - I'm a sensor that's most useful for mid-grade dungeons? I don't tend to have big unexpected backlash spikes." That's more Da-eun's thing. Or Ji-woo's, in confluences. (She is also keenly wishing Ji-woo were here.)

"I'm a straightforward, predictable workday, really. And I absolutely don't want you torturing yourself daily over it?"

"Oh, well, that's perfect! I would be delighted to keep you company. As I said, I can converse using my power to get a good amount of backlash. And it xurts less to bring it on more gradually, anyway!" Is he chattering too much? Her face says yes. "Not that I'm unwilling, of course! If it's needed. That's fine!" Yeah, he's chattering. She would hardly be the first esper to be annoyed by too much one-sided talk. He clears his throat and looks away. "Um, your place is very tidy. What sort of things do you do when you're unable to see?" Good yes. Ask questions. If she's talking, then he can't be!

Annoyed is definitely not what she is. The correct word is concerned. She is very concerned. She wants to put him at ease, let him know that he is safe.

Small talk will probably help? Engaging with him as a person, and all. (She really misses Ji-woo.)

"Thanks. I keep my silo small, any larger and I'll have trouble finding everything. I have my comm screen set up to do tactile feedback, so I can read and write and keep up with what's going on. There are also some sound based rhythm games I can play, though they're a bit brain dead for me to marathon? And I can do puzzles and listen to audio books and stuff, though usually I prefer reading over listening when it comes to literature." There. See? She is a sweet innocent little geek. Safe and nonthreatening.

"So, voice projection? That's cool, is it just yours, or can you, like. Put on different accents, mimic people and stuff?"

Ah, she’s now asking him questions. Dangerous! He risks being too chattery again. “Not with paranormal accuracy or anything. I still xave to consciously mold the voice to mimic someone, same as if I were doing it with my ordinary mouth. It’s good for entertainment and guiding and not much else. Which is all I need, really.”

Too much chatter. He is so bad at this! It has been years since he was working with totally new-to-him partners and he’s out of practice at this part. He will compensate, though: focus resolutely on what she needs! “Ah, you said you have reduced sensation through your body. Do you need to be checked over for injuries before guiding? In case you didn’t notice something?” It really wouldn’t be all that different from how his family cared for his babushka back in the day, if so.

"Nah, I usually deploy with a shield esper whose whole main thing is keeping me safe, and get checked over by medical at least twice a day. Usually more. Plus, like - uh, do you know of Baek Ji-woo-unnie?"

The local pub in my village has a first-edition pin-up behind glass. It was a local scandal when a drunk defaced the bust area. "Yes, I know of her. You work with her?"

Oh, poor little hoobae, he has no idea.

"We have asymmetric compatibility, in her favor," she says, as normally and casually as physically possible. See! Asymmetric in her favor, your guide status is not in danger! (Just, uh, don't ask questions about that shield esper yet, she hasn't done the necessary prep work to make you not think you're going to be thrown out of the window for uselessness.) "So I'm one of her primary partners. I get so many medical checks, man, if nothing squishes me I will probably make it past a hundred."

There. Totally normal, nonthreatening thing to say. What's the damage in freakout?

"I see. You seem very well looked after. Nonetheless, I will contribute however I can." This last sentence trails off, as he desperately wracks his brain for how he could possibly add anything to the lives of busy, highly successful espers—wait! "Ah, surely all that work must be stressful for all of you? Perhaps I could give massages? I did that for my former partner, and even at xigh backlash the palms of my xands are pretty okay. I checked before coming up xere and they xave the brand of massage oils that I like to use—well, you said nothing wet or sticky, so maybe not."

Aaaaand it sparked some more concern that he's not Contributing Enough, and now he must Service Her To Be Accepted. Yeah this guy is not cleared to know about Da-eun yet. One day the revelation will hit him like a bus, and that bus will inevitably slam into him, but until then, she can set up little crash mats and safety gear and whatnot.

"Uh. No, thank you? ... You keep looking for ways to sell me on partnering with you, and I'm honestly a little confused as to why? Co-sleeping to clear all confluence backlash by morning so I can wake up with my eyes working is actually really useful to me?"

"I was just trying to xelp. If I'm going to be around anyway, I thought— I didn't mean any offense, sunbae-nim. It was just an idle thought." He should have remembered the no-wet-and-sticky rule sooner. "I can do whatever is needed. Even nothing."

Oh fuck oh god he thinks she's putting him down, that is not what she meant at all, she is not equipped for this boss battle where is her Ji-woo.

"N-it's not - you're not doing anything wrong, I'm not offended? You're fine, workshopping ideas is fine, I'm not exactly against massages in principle, it's just..." The entire way you are making the consent around that a complete and utter nightmare. Saying that is not helpful towards any of her goals. What would be? This guy has so much anxiety about needing to be useful and it's so much like Da-eun, except Da-eun has a really awesome power and he just has his body and his ability to guide. ... That does help a bit for putting things into perspective and knowing how to tackle this.

Okay. She knows how this guy actively and obviously makes her life better, and it's that Da-eun's hair is a thing made out of witchcraft that gets fucking everywhere, but especially in Minseo's face, and she tosses and turns and sighs sadly and obviously misses her husband in a way that is actually so obvious that a literal blind person can tell. It is not fun to co-sleep with, full stop, and Da-eun is the one making more of a sacrifice there, being the one that is sad about being away from her husband and kids. But how does she show him that what he's doing is valuable and useful and worth respect and dignity?

"... Do you want to hear about a friend of mine," she blurts, because she sees a potential path to reach victory, and even if this topic change is awkward as fuck, if it gets her to where she wants to go, who cares.

... huh? "Of course. Xowever you wish to pass the time. Do you want contact during this?"

"Yeah, sure," she says, a little carelessly, vaguely waving a hand towards him as she tries to think about how to tackle this.

"So, Kim Da-eun is the shield esper I work with a lot, and she's also my friend, and she's from Vietnam. And her husband got her out of Vietnam because they were - so her shielding power is a whitelist, it only lets in things she actively chooses to let in? And it's cheap to hold up. But it's not cheap, backlash wise, for it to be pushed. So, everything that gets blocked because of her shield is backlash intensive. But, this is still a really complete shield that can block fucking everything.

"And Vietnam was going to waste her and burn her out, because the - the standard, obvious thing to do with a shield esper, especially a powerful one like her, is put the shield first."

He's nodding along absently, half-listening, because of course the primary focus should be on backlash management. He unbuttons his sleeve and rolls it up first, then catches her hand gently in both of his and begins to massage it with his thumbs, slowly scooting up the forearm, trailing his own arm along hers to gradually increase the contact surface. He is acutely aware of the oils on his skin. Hopefully they aren't "too sticky." She's got a decent chunk of backlash on her, so he responds when she pauses her story with his projected voice, a few inches away from his face. That's pretty negligible accumulation but it's better than nothing.

"I hope she has found better success in Korea so far. Has she been here long?"

"Yeah, it's been several years, she's been doing great here - uh, hold on, are you racking up backlash over there??"

"Of course! Sorry, it's not very efficient unless I'm louder, but I haven't yet been told if there's someplace I can project to more loudly than this and I didn't want to disturb anyone! Um, I see a bathroom over there, I can—"

"—maybe make my voice come from here without any problems? Shouldn't take more than a few minutes if I sing continuously!"

"Ack, no, please don't rack up any more on my account, I know you're trying to be the most efficient guide ever, but, like, well for one full cuddling would be more efficient without hurting you at all, and I'm just completely fine with that, two even with you being maximally efficient you're unlikely to get me to seeing before I go to bed unless we do some things I am really not comfortable with, and three, my reaction was not asking you to get more, please don't!!"

"Oh, of course, you're right! I just wasn't sure you wanted to—you said you were comfortable, I should have assumed! Just give me a moment." The sound of a seam popping rips through the tranquil atmosphere as he yanks off his shirt and undershirt while discarding his shoes. He's quite efficient at undressing: if the needs of his partner weren't sufficient motivation (and of course it is!), his backlash makes this cotton-poly blend feel like a newly minted nurse trying to find a good vein on a heroin addict. Everyone's happier, really, when he's naked, so it is his duty to get there as quickly as possible. "Would sunbae care for assistance?"

Why is he like this.

Not the battle to pick, Minseo, just let the man help the way he knows how before he gives himself a stroke trying to figure out how to please you. He very clearly needs a job to be succeeding at, and she understands that well enough.

"- Nah, I'm okay," she says, and she can stand up to get out of her own clothes. She was already barefoot, and was in a little sundress that was entirely for Da-eun's benefit, so this is not a hard problem. The sundress can just hit the floor immediately, and then she's in a sports bra and some similarly sporty briefs.

"Okay, available for cuddling." He's a little exasperating, but: this is still way better than being bored, actually.

Aha! Success! This wasn't so bad! Just a little miscommunication up front, heh! He'll have to clean up the script for future partners, of course. But for now: progress! His voice lapses back into the gentle late-night-nature-documentary cadence of a seasoned professional. "Would sunbae like to sit back-to-back first, or nested?" How do they call it in those western message boards again? "Ah, I think you all say 'spoon?'" What does that mean, anyway? Is one of them supposed to be soup? "You can be the spoon or the soup."

...?? The? Spoon or the soup???

This earns a little amused snort.

"Big spoon or little spoon, though 'spoon or the soup' is pretty great," she corrects, amused. "With the big being the one holding the little spoon. I can be big spoon. You okay moving to the bed?"

"Of course!" he says, bouncing up off the couch and walking to the bed. He stands next to it, hands folded demurely over his boxer shorts, and waits patiently for her to climb into the bed.

"...Wait. Spoons have to be the same size to nest properly. Why do you say 'big' and 'little?'"

"Little spoons can nest inside bigger spoons, but not the inverse," she clarifies, as she begins navigating to the bed. This is a bit slower and more deliberate than someone with functioning sight, but she navigates quickly enough by keeping a hand on the furniture as she moves. "So I assume that's why it's big spoon and little spoon, but. Spoon and soup is really evocative."

"I see!" He does not see. But then, neither does she, so it's the blind leading the blind. That was rude of him. Bad brain.

Once she looks largely settled, he takes her one hand in his and holds it continually as he climbs into the bed, so that she can always tell roughly where he is. He lays facing away with several inches of distance between them and places her hand on his shoulder, so she can scoot in and make herself comfortable. "How is that? Do you have enough pillow?" he asks after she's moved in.

"I'm okay, but thank you," she says, scootching over and snuggling up. This does involve a little bit of fumbling, because she's not cheating with her power even a little, but, well. He can feel like an excellent guide that is Doing His Part^TM.

(It's a pity that he didn't say his thoughts out loud, because they would have earned another snort from Minseo. But since he's not comfortable enough to handle her deft verbal ripostes without finding them threatening in some way, it's probably for the best.)

"All comfy?" he chirps. "Would you like the sheet over us? I can take on more backlash more easily without it, but I can make do if you're cold!"

"All comfy." Deep breath. Damn it, she lost her train of thought. She's not even sure that strategy would work anymore. Whatever, she'll figure it out.

"Okay, ground rules while we don't go running off for partnership contract drafting, because I expect you would find a contract exactly zero protective and probably actively threatening: no taking on backlash without warning. It's, like, some is fine, but we want pre-negotiated consent before we start drinking the mind and body affecting magic debuff juice, yeah? It's going to freak out people about the same way as if you cheerfully offered to stab yourself to donate blood without like. Properly understanding what backlash you are playing with and how you will be from calling it upon yourself. And I know your reply is going to be that 'But sunbae! You are yourself extremely backlashed,' but mine is only torturous in that I have been pretty shit at picking up non visual hobbies and so I get kinda bored while I'm blind. It is not mind affecting at all. You are currently solving the 'being bored' problem, and so I am completely fine."

Don't say it, don't say it— "But sunbae! You are yourself extremely backlashed!"

Maybe I'm the one with the impulsivity backlash.

Called it.

"I am! But this is my third confluence as an active sensor, I absolutely know my limits here, okay?"

He chuckles. "I know mine as well. I've done this before, alright? I know what I can take, and you're way under that level. You don't need to worry about me, sunbae. That's my job. You just relax and get ready for another workday."

"You've done sketchy as fuck de-humanizing Russian guiding, dude. And you don't know my limits in regards to you torturing yourself, so let's play it safe and just not. This is your first confluence in Korea, you're dealing with a whole culture shock, and you're terrified that if you're not useful enough we're going to discard you like you're trash. Which: we're not, because objectively, you are not any kind of trash just because your power isn't good for dungeoneering. That's a dumbass reason to treat people like trash, and it resulted in you and your buddy literally fleeing the country, so we can see for ourselves how shit it is."

"Oh, come on, I don't think that!

"...You all would definitely recycle."

Snort. "Sure. Recycle you to a nice and comfy and fulfilling and purposeful alternative job opportunity. Like, if nothing else, pretty sure you can sell sperm to gene clinics, they go nuts for esper genes for upping the chances of babies being espers themselves." Pause. "Actually I'm not sure if it's sell or just donate, I literally don't care, but regardless. You are so economically valuable, dude, you clearly have no idea, Russia was lying to you."

Sigh. "They didn't lie. I was compensated well, financially. They just... said I had a duty. And that things were this bad and desperate everywhere, and who would look out for us if not ourselves?

"And, I mean, they're not really wrong, are they? Look at Indonesia. Everyone knows we're all only a few selfish years away from that."

"..... no? No, we're not. That is just factually incorrect, your model of the world outside of your frigid shithole is wrong. Your model of your frigid shithole might also be incorrect, actually, because guilt tripping you and saying that things will be lost without you giving up everything possible is part of the indoctrination to extract more out of you in the short term, but I'm less sure about that one because I don't know how badly that place is fucking up. Indonesia's whole thing is a lack of organization and ability to systematically locate, categorize, and disable dungeons, not a lack of espers working hard enough. Actually, I think it's getting more esper per capita than other places, just because the people with superpowers have to go bail it out instead of letting people with guns do most of the work, but I haven't stalked those statistics lately, so."

"Nothing to do with the individual espers, and everything to do with the benevolence of the organization controlling them, yeah. You and the GBE are in agreement there. They'd just say that you all throw your crazy Western money at the problem whereas xumble Russia must soldier on. You give what you can, the organization sorts it out, and you should be proud to contribute."

"Ehhh. It's not that we throw our crazy Western money at the problem, it's more like we use money to track and reward what is working and what isn't? Just blindly trusting your organization is... well, I mean, is there literally anything making sure your organization is efficient? That it's using the resources it has well? That the people it's got a chokehold over are not going to realize they're being treated like shit and flee the country to somewhere better? I was going to make this point gently with my 'Da-eun-is-like-you' storytime thing, but I guess I can just go full Ji-woo instead. Efficiently leveraged power is better than flat power any day of the week, fuck them asking you to give it your all if your all goes somewhere stupid."

"Okay, just to be clear, I left all that behind, so obviously I... Wait—"

"How do you know I'm from Russia? My official ID and record say I'm from Korea!"

"A-rank sensor, dude, I'm a nosy little snoop even without the superpowers." She sounds exactly zero ashamed of this. "Don't worry though, I tried to cover your tracks where I could, got people in the lobby insistent that people were yelling in German and everything."

That one she sounds very pleased about.

"This is going to be a very rocky transition, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sorry. I swear I'm trying to be as gentle as possible. I can help with accent practice a bit though?"

"Are you? Well, I was also trying to be as gentle as possible with the new blind partner but I guess we're both just sort of fumbling in the dark here!"

"—uh, shit. Bad metaphor."

"Ha! I'm only part time blind, mister, and even when I am, I have better navigating skills than some people with working eyes!" she snorts. "I'm fine, I told you my hard no's and you're respecting them, we're good, man."

She gives him a friendly sort of pat on the shoulder in the cuddles.

"No moving stuff, no tripping hazards, no wet, no sticky. No... backlash accumulation without permission.

"I really am fine, though, to take on more, you now. It's not tough to do if I have the space."

"I'd say 'no backlash accumulation without prior negotiation and consent of both parties,' but sure, permission is close enough. And maybe you are, but I don't know what backlash accomodations you even need? We literally didn't talk about it at all? And that's a scary position to put people in, we Koreans aren't wired to go, 'Oh, that's just the new guy, don't worry, he just screams and cries when you touch him, but he says he's fine, nothing at all to worry about!' like you're not a human being whose suffering matters. You are helping me be comfortable by being okay."

"...Doesn't seem like there's much that needs to be discussed, if you already know about the screaming-and-crying-when-touched thing, A-rank-sensor-sunbae."

... Ah. Hm. Yes. Privacy concerns. She's aware that these are things people care about, and she has perhaps misstepped by being too much of a nosy little snoop.

"I know approximately nothing about backlash accomodations," she says. "And the screaming and crying was extrapolation, not a - condemnation or dismissal of your ability to cope with the debilitating medical condition that's been forced upon you by the weird arbitrary magic lottery?"

Her little shoulder Ji-woo is grumbling under her breath at her conduct here, so to appease her:

"... And, um. Sorry. About the snooping. Without your permission or knowledge. I should come with a warning label on being perpetually curious and bad at information boundaries."

"Snooping? I've lived under a surveillance state with Misha as a partner—I presume I don't need to explain xis pastimes to you, either. The fact that Xa Si-Yeon-sunbae thinks we can keep secrets at all in a place like this—xe's the weird one!

"If you must know, I do not need any particular accommodations, like I said. Si-yeon-sunbae insisted that I ask for some, anyway, so to make xim xappy I requested all-cotton sheets because they are easier on me. And xeated floors are apparently a common thing around xere, so not even a concern! I guess if you really want to baby me, you can give me some warning so I don't have to skip dinner over backlash, but emergencies xappen, so we'll just roll with it."

"Keeping secrets from the outside world is more doable, it's just that I'm a little bit the worst person to try and keep secrets from in this guild. Or the best, maybe, I don't advertise what I know to people? Definitely one of those. But I'm telling you stuff I know about you as a courtesy, not because I make the habit of blabbing to others."

Relatedly: she would only know about Misha's stuff because Da-eun was shielding Si-yeon from him, and while Dasol can probably guess it was her from Minseo's description of her power and basic logic, she doesn't need to spell it out for him. She makes a note to herself to ask about his deal later. She was going to ask anyway, because nosy little snoop, but it's nice when it plays to the narrative of her not already knowing everything gossip worthy in Quasar.

"Anyway, your standards suck, because cotton sheets are easy. These might be cotton already, actually, I'm not sure? But I can definitely make sure they are for next time or before co-sleeping actually happens.

"I don't expect to get surprise emergencies, exactly? I'm a solid dungeon sensor and sometimes get called in for weird stuff, especially with Da-eun keeping me safe, but it's not going to be 'whoops I have life threatening levels of backlash and you need to guide me down in ten minutes or I die' or something? Not that that kind of flexibility to guide isn't valuable, it absolutely is, just. I myself am one of the most predictable espers in the guild, backlash accumulation wise."

“I’d say roughly an 85% cotton blend, based on xow itchy they are. I can tell you for sure once I get a little bit more backlash.

“And my standards are practical. There’s just not that much to be done about it, unless I’m going to be guiding someone in a sensory-deprivation chamber. I don’t even know if that’s possible. But it’s fine, I’ve been doing this for years.”

"Huh. That's a neat application of backlash, kudos for being able to tell. I'll requisition some 100% cotton sheets, then." She pulls up a comm screen and does so. No teleportation delivery, she's not sure the sheets the system has would do for this, so. Ordinary people running ordinary errands it is.

"Well, practically speaking, Russian standards literally led to you fleeing the country. In the interest of Korea not catching their dipshit disease and losing you to, I dunno, Japan, let's raise them just a scootch."

The sarcastic smile is evident in his voice. “I did already. Eighty-five percent at an 800 thread count are what I xad in the den.”

Perhaps he is just tired from some combination working in a second language all day and being stressed out of his mind—certainly the cortisol ache in the shoulder and joints suggests as much, but he was still taken aback some by his own snark just now. Ha Si-yeon had done a number on him earlier with his stapler nonsense. He considers apologizing, but that feels strangely unwelcome. Certainly the banter seems to be entertaining her, and she had complained about being bored before. Maybe it’s fine.

"... Okay, even your raised standards are kind of sad, but I'm still going to support you in them. Just, you know. You can also aim higher than this."

Then the second part of that registers.

"... 'Den'? Why was it a 'den.' ... Did they keep you in a basement. Please tell me they didn't actually keep you in a basement."

"Oh, no, it, uh... just the running joke." She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would find the 'Snegurochka's little dog' jokes very funny, so he elects to skip over those. "And that was just so there weren't any windows for people to see us naked. We weren't, like, down there all the time."

"Is there just no one way glass in Russia? Because this is really not even a hard problem."

"The building was built in the 60's, I think." Actually, the foundation is from 1947, but a major renovation happened in 1967! He knows this because his basement den happened to contain the old foundation stone, but that seems like an unhelpful level of detail!

"Curtains were invented in," and she does need to look this up with the power of the internet, but she's a damn fast typer, "3100 BC. So. Boo to them either way."

“Yeah, I don’t really know why we couldn’t do curtains. Maybe they were worried we’d forget to close them one day? Wxo knows. I mean, either way—oh, were you expecting someone?”

An authoritative knock had interrupted them.

“Ah, wait just a moment. I can get it for you.” He hops out of the bed, pulls the sheet over Minseo, and then starts dives into his pants.

"Probably our delivery," says Minseo, who can cooperate with her ~womanly modesty~ being preserved or whatever. "Guess they must have had the right kind of sheets already, that was fast."

In fairness, he would have protected her manly modesty or agender modesty just as reflexively! No surprise nudity was a general rule in his former position.

He opens the door and talks to the courier outside in the softest possible voice. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that!” and similar protestations waft back into the room, at some length, but eventually he has no choice but to accept the prior delivery. “Well, thank you very much!” he finally says, closing the door and padding back into the room. The sound of tearing plastic indicates that he’s attacking the packaging.

Probably this means changing sheets on the bed! This is a task Minseo is technically capable of while blind, but for work efficiency purposes it is probably not the wisest division of labor. Also, she's lazy. Best she feels like doing is moving to the couch.

"Was there something besides the sheets?" she wonders, because she heard polite protestations, and she doesn't think he'd make those over sheets.

“Mmmf!” He has to take a moment to finish chewing and swallowing. When he speaks again, it sounds slightly choked up. “Nothing important, just a snack. Would you like me to replace the sheets now? I see that you’ve moved.” 

"I figured you'd want to swap them sooner rather than later, because backlash accommodation? But you're my guide, not my manservant, so it's really up to you."

An unrequested snack delivery is a little nonstandard. Usually if they're feeding them it'd be with a full meal, and it'd be both of them. From his voice, it sounds like it's a personal favorite? And it's very Si-yeon to pointedly set up a delivery of something Dasol requested off handedly. So that's likely what's going on. Good on Si-yeon, and good on the support staff for making it happen.

She sends a little 'Thank you for taking care of my new hoobae guide! He really appreciated it' note to the delivery staff, and otherwise does not comment or act like this was weird at all. Because it wasn't.

That was unacceptably impulsive of him. Then again, the spice on his tongue wasn’t going to matter for Minseo, given her no-wet-and-sticky-activities rule. Otherwise he would need something fatty to absorb the oils—but! Anyway!

“I’m putting this down here, on the white, square side table with nothing else on it, while I change the sheets,” he narrates as he gets to work. “Would you like to tell me about your hobbies while I do this? What do you do while blind?” She’d given him a summary earlier, but it’s always worth knowing more!

"Thanks for the heads up for where stuff is, I appreciate it," she says, of his narration.

"Sure. It's not really a hobby I guess, but I end up braiding my hair a lot? Kind of a take-it-with-me stim option, I guess. And there's always reading and arguing with people on the internet about how they suck. I've been trying to set up some games that I can still play while entirely blind, but even for MMOs I need to autofollow someone and get callouts for major mechanics, sound cues are really not enough. I've still been top percentage in DPS while literally blind, it's just anything reactionary or movement based that I kinda suck at, unless I literally know the fight inside and out."

“Interesting! I’ve never played an MMO, but they seem cool.” He redoes the sheets with military precision as they talk. “I don’t really know anything about them except EVE, which didn’t seem quite like my thing. Which ones do you play?”

"Final Fantasy XIV. I've tried some others, but I like the complicated raids and the ability to just be all jobs on the same character, so I don't have to be stuck in newbie Hell each time I want to try something out. WoW - er, World of Warcraft, sorry, isn't bad, but it's like, I dunno, it seems to hate its newbies in this toxic way I can't get behind? I hear the raiding is pretty good once you get there, but I haven't gone guild hunting in it because who has the time, so I only saw the easy stuff, and the world's lore is so broken I just do not give a single shit about any of those over dramatic assholes."

This is the most animated she's been talking about a subject since he's met her.

“Perhaps you can introduce me to it. I have a really old laptop, so I will have to check if I can even run it. Nonetheless, it would be a fun way to maybe pass some time together! Oh, bed’s done, too!”

"How old of a laptop are we talking? Proooobably you can run it with the lowest graphics, but the spaghetti code of Square Enix is vast and labyrinthine, so it might be a risk of toastering your setup..."

She will, accordingly, begin relocating onto the bed!

...Oh, right. "Well, actually, I had to leave it in my hometown, now that I think about it. So I guess I'm in the market for a new one? Once my first check clears, anyway. It feels irresponsible to spend my savings down until I know the money's steady."

He waits politely for her to get into bed before following her, quietly narrating his actions between conversation.

"Hmm. But then you could go and accidentally buy a shitty one," she observes, snuggling up. "And that would just be tragic. Nope. Fuck that, I'm getting you a custom one."

She says it so casually. But she's already typing in the air, apparently set on literally just getting him a laptop.

"What specs do you need in a dream laptop, and do you have size requirements."

Oh no. Which is more terrifying, being bribed by the A-ranker with toys or being asked for on-demand computer opinions? He had barely needed email since he was eighteen—it's not like his parents wanted to know that much about his work life, given... everything. "You know, I really hadn't considered it! Probably something portable enough to carry to a partner's silo, right? And, uh... it'd be good if it had a really good fan? So I could play backlashed without burning myself?"

"Portable, good temperature regulation, not completely shit." Minseo nods sagely, like these are all very reasonable demands. Because they are. "Might need to get you a laptop cooling rest with your backlash. Any style or color opinions for the case?"

Type type type type, into the commscreen. Everyone should have a personal computer, this is just obvious to her. Like how everyone should have access to oxygen. Like that.

So far so good. Phew. Okay, colors! "Ah... Black or whatever would be fine. Is there some meaning to color choices around here or is it just... a color I like?"

"Just a color you like. Black's easy, though. I'll show you a picture before buying in case you hate it, usually I have my commscreen skip pictures when I'm backlashing."

"My favorite color's red but I think that would look a little silly as a laptop color. Maybe if it's matte and dark."

Where is he getting this opinion form? He doesn't recall having opinions. When was the last time he'd even used the Korean word for 'matte?' What is this woman doing causing him to have opinions? And... why?

"Red's fine. There also might be black and red if red by itself is too much? But you're going to need to be my eyes for this. Best I'll get is some basic color descriptions, with no specification if it's bright or muted or anything, which has turned out badly when my eyes are working in the morning."

She sets her screen to the kind that shows pictures, turns it so he can look at it in the snuggles, and then: they can totally pick out a laptop for him. She has strong hardware opinions, but her case opinions are approximately 'something that does not look like it'll be a fiery laptop deathtrap,' and otherwise pretty blank. He can just get whatever appeals to him.

"Is the little alien supposed to be cute? I feel like it's kind of cute." Another one! He's just making them up at this point! At least sunbae seems to be taking all these random opinions well, though. This must be one of those odd little cultural barriers. He should maybe try this in conversations with other people, like Ha Si-yeon-sunb—wait.

What... time is it?

Oh no. He should probably say something.

"The red-and-black is so dramatic and morbid. The cherry color on this fourth one is better," he says instead.

"You're going to have to tell me which in the lineup that is by number, I absolutely cannot tell which one is which from the shitty blindness text blurbs," she says, drily. "This one the cherry one? Because if you like it, it's got good ratings on not being a fire hazard, which is always nice."

"Ah, sorry for being unclear! I don't think—oh, I see, it comes in a few colors and defaults to black. Yes! That one, but the uh... third color option."

The problem with this scenario is that he cannot see a time readout on Minseo's screen. And he hasn't figured out how to summon a clock on his super-futuristic holo-thing with just gestures. So really, he's stuck forever.

At least if he's not going to tell anyone what predicament he's in!

"It's fine, I mostly blame the really shitty descriptions websites have. We're lucky I even have any to go off of, sometimes sites just have nothing but gibberish for descriptions."

"With a little practice I can help, maybe." Helping is good! Much better than opinions, which he of course only has under duress.

"Mhm. That'd be appreciated if I need to replace any clothes during the confluence, I do most of my shopping online, but I'm good for now. Thanks, though." Tap tap tap, and order for custom build placed in to this one place she knows, with this case that will be sent to them and these specific specs!

"How do you want your laptop delivered, by the way? Should I just go through Quasar?"

He had been so bowled over by the offer that he had forgotten how to resist, for a moment. When was the last time he'd been a recipient of a bribe, rather than having one demanded of him?

But this is Korea. You're supposed to fight this kind of thing in Korea! "Oh! You don't need to do that! If you just pass me the name I can order it myself!" he says quickly. Luckily, he's already deeply uncomfortable with accepting a gift from a superior, so this part is easy.

"I know I don't need to? But I have stupid money, no reason not to, and think everyone should have a computer. Money should not be sat on like some kind of dragon, I don't get a high score for reaching a billion. Also, too late, I've already ordered it, I'm just asking for how to get it to you most conveniently."

"Ahhhh no, that's so much money, though! I cannot possibly accept it!" Man, Korea is great. He feels so at home here, refusing people's offers of generosity! "Cancel the order and I can get it myself. I don't have a permanent address yet, anyway!"

"It's really not a large sum, for me? And yeah, I figured you wouldn't, that's why I want you to have a laptop? So you can have a little home you take with you."

"Aww." It slips out before he can suppress it. "That's really sweet."

"Yep. I'd also want to fix it if you were like... obviously clothed in rags or starving or whatever, too. This is just that, but for tech."

"<Oh, shit, right, my clothes!>"

"Eh?"

"...Nothing, sorry. I just remembered that I was supposed to go shopping. Nothing to worry about."

"... You have like, three sets of clothes, don't you. That is what is going on. 'Kay, this is solvable, you're going to need to be my eyes but I know all the online shopping options and can prioritize good fabrics."

"Please, sunbae, this is really too much. You already bought me a computer just now! I cannot possibly accept all this." He can't even give a thank-you hug or the like because he's the little spoon! He is so small and useless.

Nevermind that he actually does need help with this. Fuck.

"Could you just... tell me, uh, some fashionable stores for men? Places that would sell like... I don't know... how Ha Si-yeon-sunbae might dress on a day off? For example?"

Wait no. Ha Si-yeon dresses like a day off during business hours. What would he even—

"Day off in like... formal kind of way? date kind of way? casual sweats? Is this general wear, or for something specific?"

Too late, Dasol, the nosy little queer has smelled blood weakness a person who needs a thing.

"Not a date." At least he assumes it definitely cannot be a date, because... not a date. Obviously not a date. "Uh, like. Dinner with... a work friend?" Crap she's going to put two and two together with this much context. "I mean, like, nice but not so nice that people think you're there to work?"

The nuances of what are and are not dates are lost on Minseo. She decides that this is close enough to being a datelike event that she should probably just treat it as dressing for a date.

"Yeah that's doable. Is there a time limit you need these by...?"

"... 20:00-but-if-you-need-me-here-for-tonight-I-can-totally-work-around-that-don't-worry-sunbae-I-just-didn't-realize-I-might-have-a-viable-match-so-soon-I-can-totally-cancel-and-I-am-sure-he'll-understand—"

This guy is such a disaster. It's kind of fascinating. Like looking at a car wreck, or a 4D dungeon, but without the headache of trying to map it for other people.

Never let it be said she doesn't like interesting problems, though.

She checks the time. 16:36, so... three hours and change. For a date outfit, that probably needs to be washed before being worn, considering his sensory stuff. Okay, shopping on hard mode. Her silo does actually have a washing machine.

"Nah, we've got this. Okay, up you get, time to get your measurements." She has a comm screen thing for this! Usually it's used for dungeon mapping, but it can do curves, and if you think Minseo is not the type of person to immediately leverage a technological thing for her own benefit, you do not know her very well.

“We do? Oh!” We do. Mapping is sunbae’s thing. She said so!

She nudged him slightly when she said “up,” and so of course he leapt out of the bed like he’d been burned, and now he’s just standing there. Naked. And—thankfully not hard due to the stress of the shopping! He sighs quietly in relief. “Do I need to put my arms up or something?”

"Shouldn't need to. I'm gonna give you access to this on your own commscreen, that way you can put your measuring points yourself for some awkward places, and places I won't be able to find by blindly fumbling around." Awkward places being the inseam; look, it wouldn't be awkward with most people she knows, but with the recovering arguable sex slave, it files under the awkward category for her. Just as a personal thing.

Regardless, she has apprenticed under Ji-woo-unnie, unstoppable esper terror of international medicine, so: these measurements are happening, and they are happening with impressive speed and efficiency. Dasol's cooperation during this would be appreciated, but is not necessary.

"All right, so the easiest semi-formalish look is black shirt of some kind, then a fancy-ish jacket and matching pants in a tasteful color. Are your esper eyes a notable color? Because it'd be easiest to just match with that," she says, after the flurry of measurements has ended and there is a tidy list of everything.

“They’re um… not notable, no. Sort of a darkish blue?” He doesn’t really look in mirrors all that often but that’s usually how people describe them.

"Darkish blue! Let's match your eyes, then. You need 100% cotton specifically, right? Or can silks and satins and wools work okay, too?"

“Oh, for my backlash? Well, uh. I don’t know! I’ve never really worn silk other than ties, which don’t touch the skin. I… think it might be okay? I could try touching some backlashed a bit to see.”

"... They literally never gave you silk to test with??!?? That's some epic incompetence right there, holy shit. Sorry, not relevant to our mission of clothing you in three hours, just personally offensive. Cotton only it is, experimenting with different fabrics can come later." Tap tap tap why don't more places let you search things by fabric type??? Whatever, one of her sites does let her do so, she'll stick with that.

"Preference for black shirt type? Button up, turtleneck, v neck, or something else?" she asks, absently, as she narrows down search results.

They didn't, no, but how often do you really wear silk in a day-to-day context? It's not like it came up very often back in the compound in Russia. He knew his cottons and his polyesters and that coarse wools were the devil's own hair-shirts, and that was generally good enough! "What is, um... fashionable, here? I mean, I guess a button up seems safe, though I don't think Ha Si-yeon would wear one if he could help it...."

"Mmm... with the jacket look I am going for, the shirt would be a bit more close fitting, to balance it out? And otherwise it's a personal preference thing. I guess it matters if you want to accessorize with a necklace, there are I think different necklaces that work with different shirt styles. If you were wearing a shirt without a jacket, oversized is usually the fashion, I think? But I'm not very into the fashion scene, sorry."

“Well, I have my baptismal cross, and a gold cross my mother got me when she went to Ireland when I was like, seven, but given how concerned he was that I might be religious, maybe that’s not a great choice. I’ll have to get a different one.”

"Ehhhhh we're on enough of a time crunch I'm just not going to worry about it," she shrugs. She doubts Si-yeon is going to care, and it's kind of clear who his not-date date is with.

Does that mean yes-necklace or no-necklace? Well, he’d feel bad asking at this point, after she said not to worry about it. However, that does leave him with… remarkably little to follow up with. He stands politely, waiting for further commentary from the person doing the searches.

"Got a button down shirt that says it's black and 100% Egyptian cotton," pronounces Minseo, after a silence. "Confirm that it's the color it says it is for me, please? Then we'll delve into the weeds of trying to match your eye color."

It is indeed black, just as the description says.

“Thankfully, ‘black’ is a pretty hard thing to be too wrong about, I guess. It looks nice. I have cufflinks, even.”

"Cool. The pants and jacket will need to properly match - actually I should probably go for an actual suit, that'd be easier to find matching in cotton..."

This last part is said to herself, as she goes back to typing. There's a long pause, then a smug little "Ha!" upon her apparent success.

"Okay, got a place! But the descriptions on this site are kinda garbage, so I will just need you to pick something out that looks about the right color."

This time, the prices are right below the suit selection, and, to put it lightly: these are some expensive suits.

“Oh these look lovely! You did a great job!” Unfortunately, Dasol is used to ruble prices, so it takes until well after he’s picked a color for him to look up a conversion rate and— “wait, sunbae, those were—did you see the prices?” His gasp was probably loud enough to be heard down the hall. “That’s—all my clothes put together!”

"Yeah? Your clothing situation is pretty tragic," she says, as she wrangles the complicated same day pickup options to get these both to him in the next hour. Suits aren't conventionally washable, so it'd just be the shirt that needs it, then. "This is all buyable in like, two hours of professional guiding for an S-rank sensor in a confluence, you're good."

“You haven’t even seen my wardrobe.”

 Is that insensitive? Probably a little. Probably a lot, actually! But so is blindly snarking about clothes she’d neither seen nor touched, and she seems to prefer a snappier dynamic like Sasha rather than deference like Yulya. Very well. He can work with both, when prompted.

"Well, if they're all worth less than two hours worth of guiding, I'm not missing much."

Hmmm, okay, so she needs to rent a personal drone delivery for this one, the suit place doesn't do delivery. She might need to make some kind of phone call to tell them to please put the suit in a box and hand it to the drone, but hopefully not. Phone calls are, after all, barbaric (and she doesn't have Ji-woo to do it for her).

The shirt doesn't have this problem, and is accordingly in transit.

"How would you even do a delivery on a suit? Don't they have to do tailoring and adjustments and everything?" Certainly at that price point they do, goodness. They could afford a small flotilla of tailors shipped straight from Spain, probably. "I don't know Seoul well. Is the shop close by? I could run out—" he cuts himself off. What is he saying? He can't run out when he's supposed to be here, guiding. "I mean. I could always, get adjustments later by returning the shop, I am sure. Today should be fine."

"So it won't be properly tailored? You'd have a standing credit to go get it properly tailored later, as part of the package, but the fashion look I'm going for is open jacket anyway? So it's not a huge deal if things are a little off in the jacket department. If the pants are too far off we might have a problem, but belts also exist, so. They might be able to do same day tailoring at, uh, like five o clock, but it's the end of the workday and I'd feel bad asking that of them, even with esper money."

Tap tap at the window, drone delivery is here.

"That'll be the shirt, could you open the window and bring in the box, please? I've managed it on my own while backlashed before but Ji-woo-unnie yelled at me for letting my fingers too close to spinning blades while blind."

Dasol’s leg thunks with a dull, meaty noise against the side table where he had covertly gone to get another bite of morkovcha, and he curses under his breath. He felt like a zoo animal for a moment, with one of those signs advising against tapping the glass lest you unnecessarily stress him. “Yes, sunbae, right away.”

Korean delivery drones a weirdly cute! This one has little rounded kitten-ear protrusions and a smiley face. He accepts the package and thanks the machine out of an abundance of caution before closing the window. “Oh, you got me a set of them! That was thoughtful. I’ll have plenty for reporting to work in.”

"It seemed dumb to get you just one when I don't expect you have a lot of shirts? And there was a sale. They're all black though, sorry, I didn't know if their colors would be terrible or not. You okay?"

“Okay?” Does he not seem okay? Surely he is doing a perfect impression of okay-itude. “Yes, I’m fine. Do I not seem fine? I guess I’m a little nervous about preparing for dinner on short notice, but that’s really my fault for procrastinating.”

Mostly she meant about how he bumped into some furniture in a way she could hear, but emotional okayness is also pretty reasonable to report on.

"Legit," she says sagely. "Don't worry. We got this."

He sighs loudly and sits heavily on the bed, tearing at the packaging in his hands. “Yeah. Everything is under control. Thank you, sunbae. I would really be in a snowdrift without a compass without all this help.” He pets the fabric with the back of his hand, feeling how it prickles along his skin. “Yep, that’s pure cotton. Well, starchy cotton. But you can’t do better in a button-down really! I guess I should check it for fit. Can I use your bathroom? For the mirror?”

"Yep! Actually that's where the washer dryer is, you should have time to put them through the wash if you want. Uh, detergent is in the cabinet above it."

That’s a great idea! He hums happily as he sets a nice cold cycle going. It won’t require much to get them in wearable shape. “Alright, we’re all set for the moment! Sorry for the delay. We can return to guiding now, if you like.”

 He really is sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully the relief in his voice at having this dealt with won’t totally undermine that.

"It's cool. Shit happens, glad I could help you out. Got the suit delivery squared away, too, it'll be here in a bit. Medical cuddles until you need to bounce works fine for me."

The turn of phrase makes him chuckle. “Medical cuddles coming up! Still want, er, bigger spoon?”

"Hmmmmm, nah I can be little spoon this time, it'll be hilarious if you say you were dressed by a blind woman for more of your clothes. Let's do more clothes shopping, with less of a time crunch!"

“Hey! I helped!” Soup spoon is a much more efficient position to get into as the sighted party. “Alright, what’s the next brilliant sartorial choice we’re making?” She’s made blind jokes now a few times so he’s probably in safe territory. “Show me your non-vision.”

She snorts. "You did, but it's so much funnier if we tell people my way! I figure you need like - practical stuff? Socks, underwear, pants and shorts and shirts for everyday. Maybe pajamas? I dunno what your usual sleeping situation is like. I don't really have a vision this time - any more than my confluence usual anyway - it just kinda seems like the sort of thing you need?"

“I’m actually doing alright on the essentials. I packed knowing I’d be here to stay, at least a while. My outerwear is more the issue: I only had clothes that were anonymous in Russia, but I think they might stick out as obviously foreign around here. Korea uses color and cut very… differently that my hometown or even Vladivostok. There’s also a lot more formalwear here.”

"Hm! Okay. Do you have a vibe you're going for?"

That candelabra from Beauty and the Beast. "No, I don't really... I'd like to seem open and comforting? But professional?" Be! Our! Guest!

"Professional but open and comforting. Hmmm. I think I can do that. You'll probably want a lot of business casual looking jackets, paired with nice but not too nice shirts? So you can easily do a thing where you can drop the professional pretty easily to be one-on-one open and comforting. Layering's going to be your friend. That'll need to be paired with tighter pants for visual balance reasons, probably..."

Does he want to have a good portion of a wardrobe set up by the time he has to go? Because this is how he gets a wardrobe set up before he has to depart. All in 100% cotton (though she does still think he should try out satin and silk at some point), and all arriving at Quasar in the next week.

Dasol is watching from deep within the back of his own mind. She didn't mention an impulsivity backlash, and she seemed happy enough. Was he obliged to stop this because it was reckless spending, or to gently encourage it because it's relatively harmless and good enrichment for real espers? It is difficult to say, and the lawyers had not really gone into the finer points of Korean esper-care doctrine. In Russia, he'd be expected to meekly put up with being dressed like a doll, though, so he figures after a while, he probably ought to go with that. "Oh," he offers after a moment. "Those look nice." And not horribly expensive, so he wouldn't feel too guilty about them after.

"Really overwhelming me with your enthusiasm, there," she says, drily. "You know you don't need to humor me with stuff, right?"

Don’t say of course I do, sunbae. Guide duties! She clearly doesn’t like that. “Of course not, sunbae. I just am still getting used to local fashion. There’s no model in the image, just the shirt, so I’m a little unsure how it will look. But I think it probably nice?”

"Probably! Though you are taking fashion advice from a blind woman who mostly doesn't follow fashion trends personally. ...Da-eun would probably be better, actually, she has a whole husband and everything."

“Are half-husbands popular in Korea? Does one cut them in two or enter a timeshare?”

Snort. "Timeshare, probably, but I really wouldn't know. Probably some espers have arrangements that shake out to it."

“Maybe every husband is unit length, but some part of the husband is just projected onto the imaginary axis. Negative husband being of course a husband with depression.”

"I think some people would argue strongly against negative husbands being a thing at all, especially associating them with depression," says Minseo, a little wryly.

“I’ve definitely met husbands who were generally negative. Though the idea that they cancel out when multiplied does defy logic.”

"Yeah, I just think the correlation with someone being a negative person and with being a negative unit of husband is a false correlation. Lots of people are negative without being husbands at all."

"Sure, but they wouldn't show up in the set of husbands, anyway. That's like noting that the point -2+4i doesn't show up on a unit circle. Still has a negative component, but definitionally isn't included in our set."

"Hmmmmm I think this has gotten too math heavy for me, I dropped out of school when I awakened like a terrible delinquent."

"Yeah. Same. I just had a book of Martin Gardner puzzles for when I was bored at the compound."

"Legit." She reaches a hand back to give him a pat on the head. It's a little bit fumbly, but she does have a general idea of where his head is to manage it blind. "So I'm taking all that as a 'no thank you for more meddling in my life.' Which: also legit. I'll give you some space there."

“No, no, I appreciate the help. I certainly have no idea what I’m doing. I just—it’s hard to have strong opinions when you have no idea about stuff unless you’re a political commentator. ‘That looks nice to me who knows nothing,’ is just honesty, not a complaint.”

"Fair, just. Trying to shake opinions out of you is kind of tough, and I'd rather err on the side of caution?"

“I’m just not very opinionated!” It’s true! In the old Soviet sense of we will make it be true.

"Yeah." It's just really hard to tell if that is genuine 'no opinion,' or 'opinion has been forcibly burned out of him.'

"So my plan was to poke legal tomorrow for official partnership contract and getting your pay and work hours sorted and whatnot? Make it all tidy and predictable."

"Oh! That's great! Yeah!" Sweet, go-along-with-it was the right answer! He's so happy! He's going to get a partner contract! On his first try! It would be uncouth to do a little jig, so he does not. But there is a jig in his heart.

"Cool. It's mostly going to be protection clauses and 'Do not do more than this per day' kind of stuff, because that's the direction I'm worried about you from."

“But I’m the guide. Xow would I make you do more than a certain amount in a day?”

"Other way around," snorts Minseo. "We want you to be okay, too."

“Oh. Xa! Well, I’ll be fine. I won’t be busy in the future with dinner plans or anything.”

"It's fine for you to have dinner plans, man, I really do primarily want co-sleeping."

“Well, sure. But you’re already blind for the day and it’s not even evening yet. Don’t you want to get started earlier than bedtime? To maximize your vision?”

"Yyyyyes, but - okay, you seem to be more reassured about your general - obvious value and having a place and useful things to do? And not being thrown in the garbage or some shit? Such that I can say," okay, try to be as reassuring as possible! She pats his arm around her, in what is probably a reassuring manner, "that I do in fact have another guiding partner." And then before he can go Oh no, competition or whatever:

"But co-sleeping with her kinda sucks, for us both, and during confluences it can get a little - we're friends but we also map dungeons together, so we get kind of sick of each other? Plus I tend to be worse off in the backlash department than she is, during a confluence, and she's got a husband and kids. So. You being here right now actually means she got to spend time with her family instead of helping me out."

A working esper with a family? That was the height of irresponsibility in Russia. But this isn’t Russia. “I see. You xave a working partner during the day and I’m going to cover the overnight.” He says it as neutrally as possible, mostly because he’s quite conflicted about this revelation. On the one hand, that makes him much more disposable, but on the other: “That means I am assisting two espers at once, really.” And there will be room in his schedule for more.

Minseo relaxes a little. "Yeah. You are." She pats his arm again, reassuringly. "Thanks."

“So, when you do want to send her home? Dinnertime so she can feed the family?”

"Going forward? Uh, probably, though her husband's the cook between them. I guess we should all be in a room together and talk about this at some point, what works best for all of us."

Oh, that would make a lot of sense. His loyal Communist forebears would be so disappointed in him for assuming—well, his loyal Communist forebears are the reason he assumed, so. Whatever. “That seems like a great idea. I can’t wait to meet her.” A true fact, actually, rather than mere nicety.

"She's excited to meet you too. I've actually talked about her already, she's Kim Da-eun, that shielder I mentioned. 's why we end up mapping a lot of dungeons together. But having a meeting will be a tomorrow thing, at the earliest."

“Ah. I’m sure she is busy—or back at xer xome already? Will you need me through the evening, after all? I really can try to reschedule.”

"Nah, I'm good. The plan had been for her to co-sleep with me tonight anyway, I was just trying to free myself from the horror that is her hair." Minseo says this with complete gravitas, as if speaking of a great cosmic horror from beyond the veil of reality. ... Like Cthulhu, not like dungeons. The scarier cosmic horror from beyond the veil of reality.

She pulls up a commscreen to check Da-eun's status. "Yeah, she's good for tonight, be free." And has already sent her two "did the bad Russian man hurt you????" messages. She gives a little sigh, and starts typing out reassurances. "She even prefers it, to get the chance to make sure I'm okay."

“That you’re… okay? Why would she think—did she think I did something!?”

"No, she's just... actually, imagine if you were a shield esper. Who was constantly paired with a sensor who goes blind and relatedly insensate. Such that you considered it your, like, personal job to keep that sensor safe and alive, for the good of humanity against dungeons or whatever. How normal would you be about her meeting the idea of you?"

“Well, not speaking from any particular experience, I’d probably be planning contingencies for an attempted murder and then frequently pinging them coded emoji for check-ins while I waited for the all-clear, which I wouldn’t believe anyway.”

"Yeah, that's about where she's at. With the understanding that I would find frequent emoji check-ins irritating and wouldn't cooperate with that in the slightest."

They're going to get along so well, aren't they.

“Which xas not stopped xer, but xas slowed xer. I can leave for a bit, if you like, so you can call and reassure xer.”

Snort!

"Oh, that would not reassure her at all, I hate phone calls. If I called her, she'd think I am being held hostage. Seeing me in person or bust, baby. Like I said, your dinner plans are actually very helpful."

“Understandable caution on xer part. Well, nothing for your partner to do but suffer and xope, then. It won’t be too much longer, at least.”

"Pretty much! She will probably have some tips for your situation, though. Which might be nice."

“My situation? Oh, you mean—being in Korea. Now. Yeah, I guess I could use all the advice I can get.”