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featherdown[There is a silver-haired girl kneeling in the gardens, wearing a sunhat, and gently patting down the soil. It's impossible to hear her from afar, but the movements of her lips suggest she's speaking... to the plants and earth, it seems, as there's really no one else there for her to be speaking to.
Care to give her company?]
Care to give her company?]
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Date: 2013-06-08 07:39 pm (UTC)Instead, this potentially unwelcome, heavy-booted, and not exactly graceful-stepping garden intruder has chosen to focus on the things actually growing along those neatly cultivated rows. Some still only have flowers blooming on them, and a few of the common, wilder plants he recognizes (some berries, some herbs - though he couldn't name the latter individually on pain of death no matter how many times Tifa has tried to explain them to him beyond "edible" and "not"). But the ones already heavy with their fairly respectable crop of (fruit? vegetables?) ... stuff are giving him trouble.
He thinks he once or twice saw his mother cutting up some of these when he was a kid, and he might've once mistaken those for Razor Weeds at a market, but most of it's just a foggy impression of recognition, if anything, that floats to the surface of his (very, deeply serious) thoughts as he picks his way semi-carefully up through the patch.
Skirting away from the diligent gardener in the middle, naturally (though not so far that his shadow doesn't cross her line of sight). She seems busy.
Or maybe he's just waiting for her conversation to come to a natural close. ]
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Date: 2013-06-08 07:51 pm (UTC)Excuse me... [Was she seeking permission of her newly planted seeds or trying to get his attention? Her voice is so quiet that it's hard to judge. However, she does stand and turn to face him, before speaking again:] You look troubled. Can I help you with something? [Very quiet, very serious. The tone's as commanding as her expression, which is kind of funny coming from a dainty little girl hardly five feet tall who was just shooting the breeze with foliage.]
You're a new face... you're not a student here, are you? I'd remember hair like that if I'd seen it before. [It'd come across as mocking if it weren't all so monotonous and matter-of-fact.]
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Date: 2013-06-08 08:15 pm (UTC)Something mildly sheepish does bloom in his expression as he takes a half-step back, hand dragging through his hair as he shakes his head. No, not a student (though he still looks nearly young enough for it). No, not particularly troubled. ]
Just looking. [ A pause, and then, with a cursory glance around: ] Is this a school?
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Date: 2013-06-08 08:29 pm (UTC)No, this is the garden. It's on school grounds, though. [Simply stated, before she points in another direction.] Look, over there— that's the school itself.
... it looks like a school and functions similarly to one, but all the students are dead. This place is part of the afterlife... anyone who is not the soul of a dead child, is an NPC. So it follows, all adults you see her, staff and teachers included, are NPCs. [Oh, good, gaming terminology. That's what we need here!] You're not in uniform, so I'm not sure what you're doing here. [Temporal fluke?]
[She looks back at the garden.] In addition to being a member of the gardening club, I am also Student Council President. If you have any questions... I will do my best to answer them.
[Kanade, that was a dreadful explanation, of course, he'll have questions!]
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Date: 2013-06-08 08:55 pm (UTC)[ Or he isn't, now, or he won't be for long - this type of thing, maybe it's happened before a little too often. ] And I'm not an NPC.
[ Whatever that is. He can only shrug, and stick to the assumption.
The shock in his expression is limited (and more, maybe, at the thought of a school full of dead kids, which isn't high up there on the scale of things that are generally acceptable); there's more confusion warranted by an explanation like that.
But, knowing he won't be here forever, that the time to drift back to where he does belong or somewhere else entirely, he keeps his questions to just the truly important stuff. ]
Yeah, [ he says, nodding and pointing to something particularly odd-looking that's reddish and growing a row away from the one he's standing in. ] What's this?
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Date: 2013-06-08 09:21 pm (UTC)The turnip is a root vegetable... commonly used in cooking. They taste bad raw, but the taste is much better cooked. Would you like one? [She has no idea how he got here or how far this place is from home, but if he had turnips with him, it'd be much better than setting out with nothing to eat, right?]
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Date: 2013-06-08 10:09 pm (UTC)As for her offer, though, he simply shakes his head again and opens his hands in one more noncommittal shrug. ] Can't cook.
[ And he's got an idea that taking things back with him won't be an easy possibility, if he's to find himself inclined at all. ]
Which ones can you eat raw?
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Date: 2013-06-09 07:48 am (UTC)[She plucks one out, dangling it in the air. There's a long, axial root extending from it that she examines before whispering something a bit strange:] Guard Skill: Hand Sonic.
[There's a flash of blue-white light and binary code which then forms the body of two, long thick blades extending from under her sleeves, affixed to her wrists. She looks at them and decides they're not fit for the job.] Guard Skill: Hand Sonic — Version 2.
[The blades lengthen and thin out, coming to a spear-head-like point. She then unceremoniously chops off the root before walking over to him with the carrot.] Here's one. [Be careful with those!]
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Date: 2013-06-09 03:47 pm (UTC)Still, he accepts the offering as graciously as possible after her slightly startling display. He's never seen anyone do quite that - but it's mostly the showy flash of light that unsettles him. Unusual body modifications aren't that uncommon, in his experience.
Looking the carrot studiously over, he dusts a little more dirt off of it - then takes a bite off the end and chews thoughtfully. It's not that bad. His mouth is still half full as he speaks. ] How'd you do that?
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Date: 2013-06-09 04:27 pm (UTC)[She blinks, watching him eat it.] ... it would have been best to wash it first. I can get you water, if you need it... [She looks back at a watering can she's left further behind.
Before she answers his question, the blades glow and disintegrate into rapidly vanishing code yet again. She watches him for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to answer.]
... you're only passing through... [Then, he won't tell, right? She looks him in the eye.] You won't tell anyone else... right?
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Date: 2013-06-09 04:35 pm (UTC)Her next question merits actually swallowing his food, clearly, so he digs up the remnants of the good manners his mother taught him only about a thousand years ago and nods as he finishes his latest bite. ]
Got no reason to.
[ Like the rest of him, it's a little rough, but essentially well-meant. Why would he tell? She's the only one he's spoken to, here, and she's been nice enough, so far. ]
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Date: 2013-06-09 05:33 pm (UTC)I need it for self-defense, because some of the students like to shoot me. [A statement delivered, of course, in the exact same manner as the turnip and carrot facts.]
... to where have you been on your travels? [She's answered his question and now seeks to redirect the conversation back to the newcomer.]
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Date: 2013-06-09 06:40 pm (UTC)Luckily he doesn't know enough to question it further - and probably wouldn't want to, either way, after that explanation. Tacitly accepting the weird parts of life (which are normal, really, by now) is a lot easier than interrogating them when they don't need to be.
The other bit, though - about the other students - that bothers him even more than shows (and it does, leaking through his muted neutrality all at once instead of by increments). ]
I'm sorry, [ he says, quick and quiet and easy to brush off or ignore. Not acknowledging it at all just feels wrong, but he doesn't intend to prod at any sore spots, either.
Casting another glance around the garden, he turns the remaining half of carrot over in his hand idly and eyes the rows of recognizable and unrecognizable vegetation. ] Lots of places. Seen most of the world, I guess.
Our world, anyway.
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Date: 2013-06-09 06:54 pm (UTC)[His answer draws up a wide-eyed look of wonder and keen interest, while subtle, is much more expressive than what preceded it.] ... what's the world like? Can you tell me a story, about a place you've been to?
Only if you have the time, of course.
[But, she starts glancing around at the vegetables, looking for what's ripened, as if hoping to bribe him into telling her stories with more food.]
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Date: 2013-06-09 07:32 pm (UTC)But he'll probably talk, regardless. He's not really a chatty guy (never will be), but he's gotten used to telling stories, of a sort, over the past year or so. ]
Sure. (Why not?) What... Kind of place do you want to know about?
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Date: 2013-06-09 08:08 pm (UTC)You could tell me about your favourite place... you have one, right?
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:00 pm (UTC)[ He's got a few least favorites, but actually picking someplace he liked better than the rest is harder than he would've thought. He thinks for a moment, instead, what kind of place would you tell a kid about?
That answer is a little easier to come across, as he finds a spot to sit with his new collection of vegetables. ]
How about the Gold Saucer? Where I'm from, there's a huge amusement park in the middle of the desert. That's the place.
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:16 pm (UTC)Really, in the middle of a desert... what kind of rides does it have?
Have you ever ridden any?
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:19 pm (UTC)In any case. ]
There's a roller coaster, and a gondola that circles the whole place. When the fireworks go off, it's hard to see the view, though.
Mostly what they have is arcade games. Racing and fighting, too.
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:42 pm (UTC)I think I'd like the arcade... I was good at video games.
But, do they get lots of customers if it's in the middle of a desert? [She thinks it'd be out of reach for most people, unless they live in the desert, of course.]
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:48 pm (UTC)[ Even if that town's pretty much the literal shitheap - but he won't say that, because that's a pretty crummy thing to say.
He lifts a shoulder, again. The gesture is more like punctuation or an involuntary tick, now. ]
The coaster's okay. Not really my style. There's a shooting game you play on it, too, though. That's better.
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Date: 2013-06-10 03:56 pm (UTC)... so, you like guns.
[That gaze turns icy again. Seems like you've said the wrong thing even without meaning to, Cloud!]
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Date: 2013-06-10 04:01 pm (UTC)[ If he'd been thinking about it, he would have realized that was a pretty cruel thing to say - given the situation she described, before. But a little plastic ray gun that shoots nothing but harmless lasers at holograms doesn't strike him as anything similar.
When things go sour, he doesn't seem to notice, still eating with the same casual air as he looks more at the garden than her. ]
But I get... Motion sick, kind of. It's just a dumb kiddy game, but it gives you something to focus on.
[... so, what's his opinion of crazy-spicy food?]
Date: 2013-06-10 04:14 pm (UTC)She follows his gaze, because she'd rather avoid looking at him for now.]
... really? I had a weak heart, so I couldn't really go on many rides. [Her expression would be neutral again if he looks at her again, because by the time she answers, as she's no longer bothered by it, it seems.]
It's good to be focused in general... that way, you won't be dragged down by all the little things that you would become overly-invested in otherwise.
[She watches him and his vegetables.] You know, I gave you those for your travels... while you're here, I can get you a better meal. Something hot. You can eat raw potatoes and carrots on the road, while you're here... you might as well have something good.
given the food in Midgar is probably low-grade radioactive, probably neutral
Date: 2013-06-10 10:44 pm (UTC)Oh yeah. She's dead.
That does get another sidelong glance out of him, silent and considering. It sounds too ordinary an ailment for her (already, he's decided, that's the case), but don't kids her age (and younger) die of ordinary causes all the time?
He wonders briefly if they all come here, or to similar places, too - but the thought dismisses itself as politely and swiftly as the rest of his deeper concerns about here. The where's not his, after all. Just a pit stop for the afternoon.
He shakes his head as the reverie breaks. ]
You don't have to. This stuff's fine.
[Good! Because then, he might be the only person aside from herself that can stomach this meal!]
Date: 2013-06-11 03:09 am (UTC)[This seems to be one of the only things she's not passive about. That tone is practically demanding. Apparently, food is very serious business to her.
She fishes out two meal tickets and holds them out.]
I already have two meal tickets for Mapo Tofu, so it's okay.
I was going to eat with the Student Council Vice President, but he said he wasn't feeling well because he caught the stomach flu, so he passed on the offer... which is a rather surprising anomaly, admittedly, because nobody can get sick in this world.
[As convenient and patently unbelievable as all of that sounds, there is nothing in her manner of speaking that suggests she realizes he was just trying to weasel out of it. Who's worse, the one who came up with the unbelievable lie or the one who readily believed it?]
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Date: 2013-06-26 04:33 am (UTC)Nobody would've been polite enough to make up an excuse for avoiding him, back then. ]
Fine. I'll come back for these. [ And he sets aside his collection of vegetables, dusting off his hands in the process, because carrying them around with no pack to stuff them all into is not a fun prospect. (He doesn't juggle well.) ]
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Date: 2013-06-26 01:09 pm (UTC)... you won't leave without the vegetables, right? [Now, she's trying to gauge the length of his stay, because his very presence here does not follow the usual rules governing this world. Maybe instead of lingering regrets, the only things keeping him here are potatoes and carrots? It was silly, but the best she could come up with so far.]
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Date: 2013-06-26 05:01 pm (UTC)He only stops with the tourist-style goggling when she addresses him, again. ]
No. [ Not if he can help it, at least. He doesn't know the rules of this place any more than he does the rules of his temporary stay, and it's just as likely he'll disappear without warning as it must've been that he appeared at all.
But he's planning to make an attempt, just the same. ]
...I didn't catch your name. [ And if she's buying him lunch, it's probably prudent to know. ]
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Date: 2013-06-26 05:31 pm (UTC)When he asks her name, she stops walking, looking surprised at the question.]
It's Tachibana.
... I don't think you told me yours either.
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Date: 2013-06-26 05:41 pm (UTC)[ It's significantly less of a mouthful. ]
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Date: 2013-06-26 06:02 pm (UTC)[She carries on to exchange the tickets for hot meals. Two plates full of cubes of tofu, doused in a thick red sauce that's two different kinds of spicy.
The cafeteria is nearly empty, Cloud and Kanade being the only ones there, aside from staff (all adults, probably NPCs, they don't give the newcomer a second glance). The only other things that might attract attention in the place was a series of brightly coloured posters plastered to the wall, advertising a live concert for something called "GIRLS DEAD MONSTER," presumably, as the name's emblazoned across the top of the posters in bright pink.]