Sometimes? [dryly. she still looks a little pissed because she's so tired of this weird fucker.] He isn't someone who cares much about consequences so long as he gets the results he wants. Everything is a "fascinating discovery" to him. Something he can experiment with and push to its limits until it no longer serves him.
[ the way war also does not like hojo now. fucking weirdo. insane behavior. couldn't be them.
the shadows come in again. great! great for aerith to have a treat. ]
Aerith is standing in front of a familiar doorway in a familiar section of a familiar city. The light is dim, lit only by the green magic inside of lanterns, the sky overhead a brilliant, luminescent night.
She knocks on the door, and her hand is a deeply rich, beautiful dark purple, a few of the fingers encapsulated by silver rings. The door opens suddenly and an extremely tall, bovine-featured man with pink hair smiles in greeting at her. "Oh! Hey!" he says in a languid, cheerful tone.
She glides - it's gliding because her feet are not touching the ground - in, and a dark-skinned human woman inside with others says suspiciously, "Is this a noise complaint?"
"No," she says quickly, "it is nothing like a noise complaint. I just, ah," - and she looks around at all their faces: a green-skinned half-orc, a scruffy man who looks a lot like Gale, a small goblin woman, a blue-skinned tiefling, a giant (literally) of a woman, the pink-haired firbolg, trying to find a way around the shyness - "I..."
There is a long pause. Uncertainty. They look back at her, waiting. She has not done this in a very long time, if at all, she realizes. Be in the presence of friends and join them for something more intimate than being begged for teleportation, or being carted around a prison.
"...If you would have a guest for dinner perhaps?"
There is another pause - of shock from them, of course, of surprise. This is not like her at all. Her? Dinner? WITH THEM? Their faces quickly break from surprise to elation.
Suddenly, the blue tiefling excitedly waves at her and says, "Come on in, Essek, we invited you before! Come, come, come!"
"I had thought about it," she says to them as she moves farther in. "I hadn't really... done something like this in a while, and perhaps it is... something I should do."
She pulls out a bottle of wine and offers it out. "This is Blooming Grove's diamond plum wine."
"Ohh," says the goblin woman, "I'll decant it right away!"
"My apologies," she says afterward. Carefully, she drops from the float onto the ground - no taller than at least five-feet-six - and begins to remove her cloak and the exquisite mantle around her shoulders and neck. Strangely, all seven of them watch her eagerly as she does this - weirdo behavior - but there isn't anything beneath except exceptional, rich boy finery.
She talks with them about a few things - about being under the expectation to float, about the firbolg preparing to cook, about the strange sound of them playing music she could hear from a distance. A cat jumps into her lap, sleek and brown with familiar striped legs and face and a spotted back. It looks at her with the same sort of iridescent eyes as the sparrow, the owl, the spider, the octopus even if she hasn't seen those forms.
It's comforting somehow. Surprised, she says, "Oh, hello," and gives it a few awkward pets. Somehow, it's comforting before Caleb - that is his name, the wizard, she knows; all their names she knows actually: Beauregard, Fjord, Nott, Jester, Caduceus, Yasha - asks how the mood is here in the dynasty.
And you're just the one who lets them? [if war did not want to deal with people she's sure they'd find a way to vanish.]
I don't think there's anything wrong with people reaching out to other people and staying in touch with them. It...felt like something you weren't used to, but could really use at the time.
No, I simply do not understand taking religious relics at face value no matter what supposed divine gifts they bestow. Maybe even more so if they do bestow grand gifts.
[the way it took me at least 20 minutes to comprehend what the hell you were trying to say with faithers.]
So it was more about questioning the power behind the belief than anything. [...] Sounds a little lonely that way. Going against everyone else even when it felt like it was the right choice for you. I guess you just never had much of a chance to meet other people up until around then either?
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Sometimes? [dryly. she still looks a little pissed because she's so tired of this weird fucker.] He isn't someone who cares much about consequences so long as he gets the results he wants. Everything is a "fascinating discovery" to him. Something he can experiment with and push to its limits until it no longer serves him.
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It's good you got out.
[ the way war also does not like hojo now. fucking weirdo. insane behavior. couldn't be them.
the shadows come in again. great! great for aerith to have a treat. ]
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a lot happened here? and she's pausing for a long, full moment before she looks at war.
i have to ask, is war still a lot taller than her right now.]
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they stand pretty rigid, straight-back in the way very formal people do. and yes, they are still taller than her right now.
listen. ]
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You may as well stop floating. I don't have expectations for that here.
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[ they
very reluctantly and slowly float down to the ground. the robe is now too long, but it's fine. they are....... not much taller than five-foot-six. ]
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she just wanders a little closer and peers into their face with a little grin.]
That's better. [hehe.] ...they all seem pretty friendly. Did you have a nice dinner with them?
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thank god for the mask. standing stiffly there. ]
It was all right... They are too friendly.
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They are the ones who make it a point to keep in touch.
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I don't think there's anything wrong with people reaching out to other people and staying in touch with them. It...felt like something you weren't used to, but could really use at the time.
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I have never... been particularly inclined to have friends. Not when most of my people thought little of me because I questioned our faith.
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What made you question it? Did something change for you?
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No, I simply do not understand taking religious relics at face value no matter what supposed divine gifts they bestow. Maybe even more so if they do bestow grand gifts.
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So it was more about questioning the power behind the belief than anything. [...] Sounds a little lonely that way. Going against everyone else even when it felt like it was the right choice for you. I guess you just never had much of a chance to meet other people up until around then either?