Digitalis Old English folklore said that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence movement and stealthily stalk prey. Healing, pain, insincerity, insecurity
Well...if you're volunteering, I guess another set of hands couldn't hurt. Just to make sure we're not missing anything obvious! [she's about to say something else but uh. hm. that's...
...okay there is no universe that those are words that could mean something good, and there's a soft, equally subtle frown. she's sort of hazarded a guess that the occult and magic did something to daan's life that was Bad, but she doesn't know enough about it to even guess. so the idea of something happening to him and him apparently not having an answer doesn't feel good.
but she also figures that everybody's being put on blast and that sucks! so! let's not delve into it without permission.]
That might not be bad idea. Cloud's the tallest of all of us, and you're taller than he is. We could use you as a gauge for how much hay might be needed. We just have the pews and they're...pretty stiff.
[it's fine marina is saying concerning shit elsewhere i'm so scared of what your canon's about.]
You catch on fast! [likewise, this is said with all the pep of someone who is so glad other people are matching their energy when they really, really shouldn't. but she bounds back a few steps and turns around, already moving to face the direction of the barn. however since her hands are still behind her back this gives him a nice view of a word peering out from under her bracelets: loss.]
Some fresh air might be nice after a morning of cleaning anyway. [there is nothing fresh about the barn air, but okay aerith.]
[it's broad, affects everyone, and for aerith in particular who has seen the word already it can apply to multiple things. it's something she's thought about since they got here, and something she's going to continue thinking on for a while.
and now with the potential sacrifice looming over their heads, there's yet another reason to fear it.
nevertheless, she's walking ahead even as she turns to look over her shoulder and make sure daan is following.]
Better than nothing. Without a lot of options here we have to come up with new ways to keep things interesting, I think. [...] I've kinda gotten used to keeping myself entertained, but it's always nice to have company anyway.
I could use the excuses. It's awfully boring here. There's only nothing but the weak wine in the refectory... what I'd give for at least variety, even if it's all dusty.
[ Casual small-talk. Isn't that nice? ]
Could use new shoes too... too much to ask for a remote camp?
Oh.
Death delivered me the medical supplies I requested, by the way. Not the most robust thing I've ever seen, but it's definitely serviceable.
[again, unfortunate to report that this is actually extremely positive for her. she likes talking to people even when it's the day to day chit-chat stuff and it helps her learn more to then pinpoint things about a person.]
Weak wine pairs well with bland food. Or something like that. Can't say I really drink that much, but maybe I just haven't found much I like. [not that that's surprising. there's a lot she's still learning about.]
That fast? Considering they didn't seem like they really wanted to talk to us yesterday that's a little surprising. What were they able to send over? [like. thank god but also wild.] Maybe you should try asking for alcohol next. Won't know our limits if we don't try.
I'd like that. [the chances of that happening are slim, but it's a nice thought.] Given the leeches and now having to worry about people maybe being bitten by rats, too, ointment's good to have. And it's nice to know they'll accommodate that much.
[like it's a little easier to believe that maybe they really don't want all of them dying immediately. there's a slight laugh to that.]
I think not having running water everywhere is a pretty okay trade for at least one bottle of something nice. [but again, what does she know? she's quiet then, leading them onward to the bar before she decides to go back to something casual, but maybe also a little less.] A friend of ours owned a bar back home. I'd never been when it was open, but I heard it was pretty popular.
[well guess it's up to me now to ask for frivolous bullshit. wow we traded. but anyway her expression softens a little at that because cloud you big, dumb softie.]
That's right. Seventh Heaven. [she does not know how much cloud might've said, but she will add a little context.] ...the bar was destroyed a little while ago, along with most of Sector 7. But once it's rebuilt I'm sure business will boom again.
Right. All together there were eight of us. Or...nine, I guess, if you count Cid. He's a pilot who was helping us travel. But it wasn't always that many. Cloud, Tifa and Barret all knew each other first.
That's true. [by now they've entered the barn, so let's check out the hay.]
Well, like I mentioned Cloud, Tifa and Barret knew each other first. Cloud and Tifa were friends when they were kids. They're from the same village, but Cloud left to join the army when he was a teenager. After he quit, he picked up work as a mercenary and that's how he ended up in Midgar where we all met. Barret's the leader of a group called Avalanche. They're people who're working together to help protect the planet and fight against a company called Shinra. They're an electric company that's using the planet's lifeforce for energy, but because of how much is being used the planet's suffering.
Cloud was hired to help Barret with a job because Tifa asked him to. [she thinks on this, pausing a little to push on a bale of hay to check for its comfort.] The first time we met, he said he was involved in some dangerous things. But that didn't really matter, I think. Especially when the next time I met him he came crashing through my roof at the church and landed right in my flowerbed. But he's an ex-SOLDIER and knows how to fight, so I made him my bodyguard.
[aerith could defend herself, but cloud as a bodyguard really did benefit her at that moment. she pauses as if she's thinking about how much, exactly, she wants to tell him. she'd said it was a long story, but perhaps she'll skip a few details here for now.]
Red, Yuffie, Cait and Vincent are all people we met on our travels. Red is someone we rescued and brought with us on our way out of Midgar, and the other three were in other places. But we all had the same goal to take down Shinra. [...] And to stop Sephiroth from destroying the planet.
[ Another teen soldier. Too many of those lately, he thinks. Far too many... but he listens along quiet as they work, Daan picking together parts of hay that are softer and less likely to poke. ]
The materia.
[ Said like a suggestion, when she says Shinra is using the planet's lifeforce. He remembers she said they were energy sources, sometimes naturally formed. ]
Close. [a gentle correction, but she does seem a little happy that he remembers that much.] More like what the materia is made from. It's called mako. Shinra found a way to use the lifestream to generate electricity. They built these machines called reactors that are used to extract the lifestream from the planet to create the energy fuel to power the world. When Cloud and I met, one of the reactors had just been destroyed.
[she thinks daan is smart enough to put two and two together to get that avalanche was going around destroying these things. but...she shakes her head.]
Shinra's a big threat, but they're not the biggest threat. Sephiroth is even bigger than that. [...] He was a SOLDIER once, too. But something happened five years ago to change everything. Now he wants to destroy the planet...he says it's to claim his birthright. "A dominion that shall encompass worlds unbound by fate and histories unwritten."
[she says this like she does not believe it's possible, and also like she's mad. because she is. fuck you, sephiroth.]
He wants to destroy the planet and start over as something like a god. [she'll just lay it out really simple because sephiroth is a pain in her ass, actually. daan is a nice man, he does not need the full elaborate details right now.]
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[ He shifts a little on his feet. Black ink spells out YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHY subtly over the line of his collar, snaking around his throat. ]
The church didn't have beds, did it... maybe you could borrow some hay from the barn.
[ Wrap it in a robe... could make something half-decent. ]
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...okay there is no universe that those are words that could mean something good, and there's a soft, equally subtle frown. she's sort of hazarded a guess that the occult and magic did something to daan's life that was Bad, but she doesn't know enough about it to even guess. so the idea of something happening to him and him apparently not having an answer doesn't feel good.
but she also figures that everybody's being put on blast and that sucks! so! let's not delve into it without permission.]
That might not be bad idea. Cloud's the tallest of all of us, and you're taller than he is. We could use you as a gauge for how much hay might be needed. We just have the pews and they're...pretty stiff.
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So... I'm a coat hanger?
[ He delivers it with the dry wittiness of a butler who knows their master well enough to crack a joke. ]
Not that that's a no, of course.
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You catch on fast! [likewise, this is said with all the pep of someone who is so glad other people are matching their energy when they really, really shouldn't. but she bounds back a few steps and turns around, already moving to face the direction of the barn. however since her hands are still behind her back this gives him a nice view of a word peering out from under her bracelets: loss.]
Some fresh air might be nice after a morning of cleaning anyway. [there is nothing fresh about the barn air, but okay aerith.]
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That's very fair, he thinks. There's not a single person in the world that's not experienced loss. Even if they're like flowers and sunshine.
He draws his eyesight away from her wrists and up to her. ]
I wouldn't call barn air "fresh", but it is a change of pace. An interesting one.
[ Following. ]
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and now with the potential sacrifice looming over their heads, there's yet another reason to fear it.
nevertheless, she's walking ahead even as she turns to look over her shoulder and make sure daan is following.]
Better than nothing. Without a lot of options here we have to come up with new ways to keep things interesting, I think. [...] I've kinda gotten used to keeping myself entertained, but it's always nice to have company anyway.
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I could use the excuses. It's awfully boring here. There's only nothing but the weak wine in the refectory... what I'd give for at least variety, even if it's all dusty.
[ Casual small-talk. Isn't that nice? ]
Could use new shoes too... too much to ask for a remote camp?
Oh.
Death delivered me the medical supplies I requested, by the way. Not the most robust thing I've ever seen, but it's definitely serviceable.
Quicker than I thought.
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Weak wine pairs well with bland food. Or something like that. Can't say I really drink that much, but maybe I just haven't found much I like. [not that that's surprising. there's a lot she's still learning about.]
That fast? Considering they didn't seem like they really wanted to talk to us yesterday that's a little surprising. What were they able to send over? [like. thank god but also wild.] Maybe you should try asking for alcohol next. Won't know our limits if we don't try.
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[ He does think pairing expensive wine with what they've got at the refectory would be a massive waste but at least the wine alone would be fine. ]
It contained bandages, ointment, and a few plasters. And then there's the extra we made, of course. It could be better, but it's not too bad.
I'll keep it in mind, but I also understand fine alcohol would be a luxury right now.
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[like it's a little easier to believe that maybe they really don't want all of them dying immediately. there's a slight laugh to that.]
I think not having running water everywhere is a pretty okay trade for at least one bottle of something nice. [but again, what does she know? she's quiet then, leading them onward to the bar before she decides to go back to something casual, but maybe also a little less.] A friend of ours owned a bar back home. I'd never been when it was open, but I heard it was pretty popular.
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[ Playing too practical of a character to ask for little funny things... so sad. I exhausted all of that last game. ]
...
Your friend mentioned that, actually. Why he can't drink -- because he promised a drink at a bar.
I presume it's the self-same one?
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That's right. Seventh Heaven. [she does not know how much cloud might've said, but she will add a little context.] ...the bar was destroyed a little while ago, along with most of Sector 7. But once it's rebuilt I'm sure business will boom again.
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...I'm sure it will.
People have a way of making sure the things they enjoy preservere.
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Yeah. There's a lot we still need to take care of before then, but...after that, they'll find a way to come back stronger. Tifa's strong.
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[ Sounds like they've got quite the squad. ]
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[ Eight... feat your local grandpa Cid, he's got one foot in the grave. ]
How did you all meet? If you don't mind me asking.
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It's a little bit of a long story, I guess. Do you mind that?
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[ Even if work is gauging and gathering hay. ]
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That's true. [by now they've entered the barn, so let's check out the hay.]
Well, like I mentioned Cloud, Tifa and Barret knew each other first. Cloud and Tifa were friends when they were kids. They're from the same village, but Cloud left to join the army when he was a teenager. After he quit, he picked up work as a mercenary and that's how he ended up in Midgar where we all met. Barret's the leader of a group called Avalanche. They're people who're working together to help protect the planet and fight against a company called Shinra. They're an electric company that's using the planet's lifeforce for energy, but because of how much is being used the planet's suffering.
Cloud was hired to help Barret with a job because Tifa asked him to. [she thinks on this, pausing a little to push on a bale of hay to check for its comfort.] The first time we met, he said he was involved in some dangerous things. But that didn't really matter, I think. Especially when the next time I met him he came crashing through my roof at the church and landed right in my flowerbed. But he's an ex-SOLDIER and knows how to fight, so I made him my bodyguard.
[aerith could defend herself, but cloud as a bodyguard really did benefit her at that moment. she pauses as if she's thinking about how much, exactly, she wants to tell him. she'd said it was a long story, but perhaps she'll skip a few details here for now.]
Red, Yuffie, Cait and Vincent are all people we met on our travels. Red is someone we rescued and brought with us on our way out of Midgar, and the other three were in other places. But we all had the same goal to take down Shinra. [...] And to stop Sephiroth from destroying the planet.
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[ Another teen soldier. Too many of those lately, he thinks. Far too many... but he listens along quiet as they work, Daan picking together parts of hay that are softer and less likely to poke. ]
The materia.
[ Said like a suggestion, when she says Shinra is using the planet's lifeforce. He remembers she said they were energy sources, sometimes naturally formed. ]
I presume that's the person in charge at Shinra.
[ No. Somehow there are more problems. ]
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[she thinks daan is smart enough to put two and two together to get that avalanche was going around destroying these things. but...she shakes her head.]
Shinra's a big threat, but they're not the biggest threat. Sephiroth is even bigger than that. [...] He was a SOLDIER once, too. But something happened five years ago to change everything. Now he wants to destroy the planet...he says it's to claim his birthright. "A dominion that shall encompass worlds unbound by fate and histories unwritten."
[she says this like she does not believe it's possible, and also like she's mad. because she is. fuck you, sephiroth.]
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This all sounded so grounded in reality until she explained Sephiroth. Girl, what? ]
...
A dominion that'll...? I'm afraid I don't follow.
[ Sephiroth you fruity-ass bitch. ]
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...That's really intense.
[ WHAT ELSE IS HE SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT!! He's just a dude in the grand scheme of things, he's not from a fantasy RPG. ]
An active threat right now? Are you all going to be okay?
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