ESTELLE, imouto no vesperia

[malewife]

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[malewife]

... Krampus. The demon that is supposed to scare kids who misbehave during Christmas season.

[ Squints... ]

[mustbepurged]

You know about him?

[malewife]

He's part of folklore where I'm from. Usually, his story is told to children to scare them into obedience.

[mustbepurged]

Right... Some of the people there said that, too. There were a lot of books about "Christmas" at the lodge, but when I tried to find stories about Krampus in particular, I wasn't very successful...

In the end, I never actually met him directly.

[malewife]

I wouldn't be surprised if he wished to keep the element of surprise.

[ Joonghyuk looks back to the photos, then at the brochures. ]

You fear something less when you know it.

[mustbepurged]

You might be right.

[She seems a little reassured by that? Knowing that maybe he was so elusive because he wasn't as scary as he wanted them to think...]

Is anything here familiar for you? -- Um, it's... Yoo Joonghyuk, right? What should I call you?

[malewife]

[ That is not what he meant, but she can take it as that. ]

My full name, any iteration using "mister" or "sir", or "Joonghyuk-ssi." [ help ] There are a handful that are familiar... Each week we went to a different location, sometimes different worlds.

[ He picks up Cittàgazze, Krankaz, and Otamo. ]

[mustbepurged]

[She nods! Then she looks at the brochures, and there's a look of recognition in her eyes.]

Wait, I've heard of that one... [She's looking at Cittàgazze.] Kaeya told me about it.

[And her gaze turns to Niah.] Does that mean your companion here is...?

[malewife]

[ Him thinking he has been hearing about Kaeya from a lot of people. ]

He's my daemon.

[ Niah tilts his head. ]

[mustbepurged]

[She gives Niah a smile!]

... Oh, and if you were there... Did you know Yuri?

[malewife]

Yuri Lowell. Yes, I did.

[ Hm. ]

He's a friend of yours?

[mustbepurged]

Yes! From home -- we traveled together for some time. He's one of my closest friends!

[malewife]

[ ... ]

Do you want to hear some stories about him? During his time in my round.

[mustbepurged]

[Her eyes light up immediately.]

You don't mind?

[malewife]

... Sometimes stories is what keeps us company.

[ He's thinking. ]

With the angels, our form of staff were the Watchers and we gained favor through tasks. I had asked him to help me.

[ He coughs, but he covers his mouth. ]

We set up a booth.

[mustbepurged]

What kind of booth?

[malewife]

[ help ]

A booth where we assigned people Twink, Twunk, or Bear.

[mustbepurged]

What are... twinks? Twunks?

[She thinks she knows what a bear is

but she doesn't.]

[malewife]

[ oh god he regrets telling her this story about yuri ]

As examples, Sebastian Debeste is a twink and Cloud Strife is a twunk.

[mustbepurged]

Which one are you?

[malewife]

Yuri Lowell was also unfamiliar with the terms, so I had to write him a rubric.

[ MOVES ON ]

[mustbepurged]

[ what? ... ]

It sounds like it was fun, anyway!

[malewife]

... He seemed to enjoy himself and kept insisting to assign me as well. I couldn't escape.

Was he always that stubborn?

[mustbepurged]

Absolutely, yes.

-- Wait, so you did get assigned something!

[malewife]

[ HER BEING LIKE YES!! ABSOLUTELY! Like it's a good thing is so funny.

oh no the assignment. ]

... Yes. I told him he could after he did twenty assessments.