residentflorist

[and so here we are on monday, and aerith is making her way through town being nosy and peering at all of the plaques plastered on the mailboxes to get an idea of who is living where. it's in her wanderings that she finds that she's not alone, and upon seeing alfyn she offers a smile. are there words somewhere on her person? yes. is she holding her arms in a way that means they can't be seen just yet? also yes.]

Hey. It's Alfyn, isn't it? How are you doing?

[ sometimes you're just nosy! the polite way to say it is curious, but nosy is what alfyn would go for - he's doing the same thing, meandering along and going to join aerith when he spots her in her own trek from building to building. not like they have much else to do around this place, anyways. ]

That it is! Hey again, Miss Aerith. [ does he have his arms behind his back for much the same reason? you betcha. ] It's alright. Taking a break from keeping my hands busy - you scoping out where everybody wound up gravitating to?

[they can trek and be curious together, that's so nice for them.]

Uh-huh. Thought it'd be a good idea just in case we have to find each other again quickly. Where'd you end up?

Good idea. I'm up the road in the theater. The makeshift troupe there elected me as the Clown King. [ he does not seem bothered by this ] I was trying to make it more cozy, stacking the padding from the cruddy benches and cleaning up.

S'lot of work. Where'd you get to?

Oh, congratulations on your coronation! [no. honestly it's the fact that he's not bothered that means she feels free to make the joke.] How's the remodeling going? Sounds like all of us have to put in a little elbow grease to try and make these places a little more comfortable. We're staying at the church though.

["we?" yes.]

Thanks! It's an upgrade from king of the rock up the creak back home. [ yeah he is perfectly fine with this joke, grinning with the energy of a dog wagging its tail. ]

Eh, it could be worse, y'know? Which says a lot about this whole place overall. [ shrugs ] Who all's we? That place kinda gives me the creeps, but maybe it's better with a big ol' group.

[oh...country boy. wow, why does that sound kind of familiar? she's going to ignore that but it's kind of sweet.]

Might have to be our motto to get through the next several weeks, huh? "It could be worse." [keep our spirits up by reminding ourselves things aren't as bad! that will change with murder! but she gets it.] Cloud's with me, even if we got separated from Yuffie. But Marina, Lucas, Mathis and Anisphia are staying there, too. Not a bad group at all.

[she's looping back to the pyre, though she stops short upon seeing the fact it's fucking blue now? ignore that she is so full of smoke and has to stop to cough and try to clear her throat, but she immediately approaches alfyn.]

...how do you think this happened if we couldn't even leave last night?

[ the coughing and clearing of her throat, and the smell of smoke - not from the blue fire, which, uh, he looks at with trepidation but familiarity at the same time - gives him pause in his tension, and he goes from carrying his axe with him in hand to snapping it into the loop on the back of his belt. it's so he can free up his hands and rummage in his satchel.

from a makeshift cult robe pouch, he produces a few almost spade-shaped, pale green leaves and offers them to her on full autopilot. ] Licorice. Chew on 'em to help your throat.

[ anyways, the question. ]

... no idea. Nobody I've talked to has said that they were able to go anywhere, so I dunno what that means for the two of them. 'specially not with Death.

[oh. she will just take the leaves and she's busy holding them for a moment like she's not sure what to do about that.]

It's Death that I really don't understand. I didn't see any of those four before we were trapped last night, so how did they become involved? You don't think this is punishment for them trying to help us, do you?

[ this is fine, alfyn doesn't even seem to realize he's done this it's so ingrained in him. ]

Yeah. Nobody I've talked to has known where Death started, but it sounds like Aventurine was at the cabin with some other folk. Then he wound up at the theater.

Bein' punishment... wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately. I hope not. 'cause that means that what they did to hide us meetin' 'em didn't really work, or somebody figured 'em out.

But those two places are all the way on opposite ends of town. [like. how the fuck did he get there??]

I hope not either, but it's either that or...maybe someone else was involved. We still don't know how everyone's powers work, do we? What if what happened last night was because someone made it that way?

Yeah, he made a real trek across the village if that's the way it went.

[ BOOTHILL, EXPLAIN? ]

... somethin' like mind control, or influence came over 'em? I dunno about anybody else's, but we've had stuff that've made people fall in love for a little while, right?

Yeah. Bodyswaps, falsified feelings, and...changing hair colors. It all sounds so harmless, but those are the easiest ones to test. It doesn't mean all of our powers are just as harmless.

[ well! here we are, outside of the theater. not inside it, no, but outside.

there's the chopping sound of metal on wood, and following the noise brings you to... alfyn! he's taken off his green vest and folded it neatly to the side with his satchel, swinging the axe expertly and breaking down a few of the already broken benches into smaller pieces. the weapon isn't technically meant for this task, but it's all that he's got - so he does with it what he can.

some of it's been chopped into rectangular pieces, maybe a foot by two feet. as he gets a few more pieces done, he expertly swings the axe down with one hand so that it lands carefully in the dirt, bringing his other hand up to wipe the back of his wrist across his forehead.

when he notices someone's come along, he offers a crooked, if tired, smile. ]

Hey, Aerth. Just uh. Just tryin' to keep busy.

[well, she follows the noise because of course she does, and she watches him work for a few moments so she doesn't startle him or interrupt. when he stops and realizes she's there, she lifts a hand in a little wave.]

Don't blame you. I don't think many of us feel like being restless. [so she walks closer...] Are you planning to make something out of the pieces later then?

[ he nods his agreement, because he's pretty sure that all of them are restless, but points to the smaller pieces first. ]

Markers, for our departed friends. Lucas mentioned wantin' to tend to their bodies, which we probably can't do, so maybe we can do somethin' else for 'em. This is about all I can do, though. My handwritin' is terrible and I'm no cleric.

[ and then he kind of - waves his hand at the rest. ]

Mr. Daan and I were talkin' about makin' a clinic and all that, so storage for supplies. And maybe we can make a garden of our own so we don't have to keep askin' for our masked friends to let us use theirs.

[she nods quietly, listening for a moment and considering this carefully.]

Nona and I were talking about wanting to do some rites for them, too. When I asked Famine they said we're going to have to get a little creative in how we do this. So maybe this is the way to do it. [...] I have three flower crowns. I don't mind dismantling some of them to make the markers look a little nicer. Something to stand out from how the rest of this place looks.

[but a clinic also makes sense.]

Both of those sound like a really nice idea. We could use both more than most things. A lot of people still have their robes they aren't using that we can cut more bandages from, and if we collect a few small kits for wound treatments we can keep them in one spot for everyone to grab as they need things. [obviously she likes the idea of a garden, too.] You think we'll be able to make anything grow while we're here?

I still have some of the flowers from mine. Stuff I couldn't make into concoctions. Could lend 'em to the cause, if you'd like.

[ he smiles a little, something that's hopeful for their rotten futures. if they can do at least one nice thing for their deceased friends... it would be nice. ]

For growin' stuff... I dunno. This place has plants, so the soil's not dead. But maybe by makin' our own garden with some of the wood to elevate things, keep us from accidentally walkin' all over 'em, we could ask our masked friends for some actual soil. I'm only kind of - [ wobbles his hand a bit ] - at the plantin' part of things, but I know it's on your pyre page and some other people know more than I would.

It could be nice for them. Even if they may never see them, keeping them in our thoughts is going to be important for solving the problems here. [she doesn't know if there's a way to retrieve their souls, but...letting their deaths be in vain seems too sad.]

I've never really grown vegetables before, but it shouldn't be that different from flowers. As long as they have light and water and we give them a safe place to grow everything should live on its own. Plants are a lot tougher than you think, but giving them a little boost can't hurt. It could be a good project for people who want to help and keep themselves busy, too.

[ he's also wondering if there's a wait to revive them, but without access to magic he's not sure where to even begin with that. but... at least they can keep their spirits alive in this way. ]

Maybe we can just have little projects like that? I use a lot of flowers in my concoctions - yarrow's the base for my main one, honestly, so I'm gonna be usin' a lot of it - but some more food options, just something to bring life to this place...

Things to leave for Aventurine, Mr. Boothill, and Death. It might help keep us from losin' spirit.

I think that's a great idea. [she genuinely loves it, actually. it's something small but it's doable.]

Every week little by little we can try to add more things in to give people more options. Make it feel less like we're stuck and more like we're still doing something, even if we can't be with the people we've lost.

[ local country boy man stands in the funky fashionista, clearly a little overwhelmed. when he notices aerith is there, too, he looks... helplessly at her, sheepish in it despite himself. ]

Don't think I've seen so many clothes in one place before. Where do you even start with all of it..?

[ he picks at his green vest thoughtfully, shuffling closer to bump into her without even thinking about it. he's not realized that it's affection week so this is totally normal behavior. ]

[good morning! she offers him a smile as she wanders closer, reaching up to kind of physically turn him so she can get a better look.]

It's a little daunting, right? I'm kind of getting used to it, too. But maybe we can pick a color you like and go from there?

Little bit. I've changed getups based off of job stuff, before, but nothin' fancy or really... [ gestures, allowing himself to be turned easily ]

Would you be surprised if I, Alfyn Greengrass, said green?

I would be shocked, Alfyn. Completely and utterly shocked! I don't know how I'm going to get over this one. [she shakes her head, but she's very obviously teasing.] Job stuff? What kind of job stuff?

[she makes him do another lil twirl before her eyes scan the walls of the shop, moving to grab a shirt to hold up against him.]

[ it makes him laugh, so he doesn't seem to mind the teasing at all. it's nicer than the heavier things that they were talking about on sunday. ]

There's different kinds of jobs associated with our gods that you can get in Orsterra that come with specific weapons and skillsets you can learn specifically with the licenses, trainin', or a blessin'. Comes with getups a lot of the time.

[ he does his lil twirl easily, though not necessarily graceful since his dex is his dump stat. and then he t-poses so she can hold the shirt up. ]

[the t-posing helps and she checks before draping the shirt over his arm like a christmas tree to go find something else.]

I don't think we have anything like that. Do the gods decide what your jobs will be and what blessings you get? [do you simply not just pick up weapons from random places like the rest of us?]

[boy you better be resting in a cute bed in someone's animal crossing house because she's going to wander into the last place she thinks alfyn was taken to come check on him. she does have some manners though, politely observing for a few moments before speaking up.]

...mind if I join you for a little while? [she wants to also double check on how he's healing up/if things got addressed.]

[ hysterically so many people have mandated that he go to an abandoned animal crossing house so, yes, he is in one. he also doesn't want to go through more fog after what happened the LAST TIME HE DID. ]

Never mind you hangin' out with me, Aerith. [ and alfyn also seems pretty relieved to. you know. not be alone, actually. ]

[YEAH?? it's what he deserves. so she enters the room and wanders to sit right next to him, cupping his cheek to check on his face wound first before letting her gaze flicker down to his chest.]

Well that's good. I'm not interested in hanging out with you less just because you got swept away. [lightly. but it's evident she's still worried.] When did you even disappear like that?

[ YEAH. but also oh, the touch makes his chin wobble and lip quiver for a moment, because he is a giant baby and had a terrible fucking day. he tilts a little into her palm despite himself. ]

Awww, charmer. [ his heart's not fully into it, but he's a little more at ease. ] ... this mornin', I think, from what folks have said.

[baby boyyyy noooo. it's okay. aerith has kind of assumed that no one had a good time, so she keeps her hand there for as long as he wants to lean into it. some people like contact after scary things happen.

(she would know, being one of those people.)]

Do you remember everything from yesterday? [because why is this "i think."]

[ it's good to be back here, despite all of the terrible things about scawwy. alfyn is clearly reacting to it differently from pickles, finding comfort in the proximity of people, perhaps starved for it.

but he'd still take the contact even if he wasn't. ]

Yeah. It's just... I was goin' from the village to the island, first thing in the mornin'. We were together for a little after we got through the fog, then got separated, and I was alone for a real long, long time after that.

[good alfyn, let's just relax while recounting the horrors. she's not going anywhere, but she's definitely listening.]

That doesn't sound very good. [lightly, because you know. sometimes you wander into fog and get separated. she isn't sure how to feel about that.] Did you recognize where you were at all? Or was it all just inside the fog?

Just some woods from what I could tell. [ a shake of his head, running his thumb absently along the outside edge of the cut across his face. ] Could've been the trees of the village, but I don't think so. It wasn't like any back home, either, and then it all just... came to a castletown with white stone walls. I saw Tot, first, before we found the others.

But I'd never been there before, and the place was empty - the streets, anyhow. We saw folks hidin' in their houses, but I don't blame 'em. It took a bit of time for us to realize, but the guards patrolin' the streets were undead, like the ones we saw on Sunday.

[she's listening to all of this fairly calmly, but she does raise her eyebrows in mild alarm. hello? what?]

A castletown...? What...who were they even trying to guard? What were they looking for? [and WHY WERE THEY ZOMBIES.]

[hi alfyn! somewhere around the town, perhaps on their way out or returning from the door in the woods, aerith will spot him.]

Alfyn! [she bounds over to him with a cheery little wave.] Where're you headed today?

[she doesn't really get to ask much else though before the shadows close in, and there's a displeased noise from aerith before alfyn is subjected to a memory until 16:52. sorry it's a little long, you can also assume part of the memory includes cloud beating the shit out of reno.]

[at some point when the party winds down a little...she's still in the vineyard! sort of just glancing around at their set-up. she's still somewhat transparent on-sight but it doesn't look like she's going anywhere for a bit.]

They look like they're growing pretty well, wouldn't you say? [light and conversational, but she's bursting with energy. friends! seeing friends!]

Edited 2024-07-24 21:48 (UTC)

[ ue ue ue... alfyn smiles a little to see her, semi-transparent or not, even if it's a little wobbly around the edges. he's full of emotions to see all of their friends... ]

Yeah, they really are. Kinda tempted to try and take a few cuttin's of 'em over to Scawwy to keep livenin' things up.

[baby. baby boy :sob:]

Well...what's stopping us? ["us."] There's plenty available! I doubt they'd miss a few little clusters.

Not gonna lie, I've been spendin' my Sunday nights just combin' through and takin' things that we might need, anyways.

Why not get a head start..? Where d'you think they'd fit in best?

Smart. Places still leave every Monday, right? Sundays are probably the best time to stock up anyway.

[she's letting a hand come up to touch some of the grapes, and for a moment she's solid enough she can push them.]

Hm...you told me you planted a garden, didn't you? Think we could fit them in there? [also she just wants to see it.]

Alfyn

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