Open - Egret and Fiddlesticks catchall

[enthunder]

Who: Lightning and YOU
Where: 1. Dining Car | 2. Dressing Car | 3. Gym Car | 4. Wildcard
When: Egret + Fiddlesticks (backdating fine, she was on autopilot for most of Egret)
What: 1. colouring books and chill | 2. light fails at makeup | 3. know what this train needs? a 10' magical robot | 4. wildcard
Warnings: N/A

1. colouring books and chill
[ The long table of the dining car is often cluttered with half-finished projects, bowls of snacks, forgotten mugs of coffee... And, sometimes, Light, and whatever she's picked to occupy her free time today. It took her a few months to realise that training and sleeping and training some more was a stupid use of her time - or rather, a few months and a day where she's pretty sure she passed out on more than one person, even if everyone involved is either too polite or too intimidated to mention it.

The point is, she still feels a little silly tucked against the table, her 'colouring book for adults' quote unquote open to a meadow of unfamiliar wildflowers. It's not something she's done since... she doesn't actually remember when she had the time to do something as pointless as colouring. When she was four, maybe, before her parents would let her help with Serah and she had nothing better to do.

So it's with some self-consciousness that she squints down at the pencils that came with it, trying to work out which colour she should start with. ]

2. light fails at makeup
This month was apparently the month for catching up with things that she never had the time or the motivation to look into before now, because when Lightning woke up and, stretching, remembered that the gym was booked up today for some kind of informal (but deeply meaningful) sports tournament involving webshooters, she only cast around for a minute or so before the unassuming tote bag caught her eye.

She'd bought it as an experiment, really. Thea and Misa had reminded her that it was probably going to come up sooner or later; they couldn't rely on missions having a convenient 'kill 'em all' section for Red team every time. Eventually, they were going to have something with a social aspect. Plus, the fact that it was something she didn't know how to do rankled a bit.

Easy to fix, though.

Or, easy in theory. Fifteen minutes later, she and a spider were perfectly amiably ignoring each other on opposite sides of the dressing carriage, and she had a layer of red nail varnish drying on one hand. One nail was already smudged, and her SCA now had a fetching smear of red along one corner.

"How long's this meant to take?"

3. know what this train needs? a 10' magical robot
[ She's picked a relatively quiet time of day for this, and the furthest section of the gym. See, watching the shades gather in the sky made her realise, amongst other things, that she'd let herself get complacent. The missions were challenging, but she didn't think she'd ever felt inadequate, or ill-equipped. Until that moment, that is, when suddenly having the service of a mystical being gifted unto her by the goddess Etro would have been useful.

The thing is, Lightning genuinely isn't sure how the Eidolons work, theologically and physically speaking. A l'Cie has a crisis of faith, and the goddess sends them from the world beyond, right? But, is the world beyond a real place, or just a hokey explanation for a phenomenon fueled by fal'Cie smoke and mirrors? Does the Eidolon live within the l'Cie? The glowing crystal rose that glimmers and sparks in her hand, that until seconds ago was a nebulous feeling of warmth in her chest, indicates yes. (A small part of her, cynical and afraid, wonders how much it will hurt, if she calls and he doesn't answer.)

(That part is crushed down remorselessly.)

Nothing for it. She's cleared the area, warned people that she's going to try something and she'll answer questions afterwards. The crystal goes spinning into the air, and as it begins to fall back down, she jumps up and smashes it with one blow of her knife. No shards fall - they explode outwards into a blinding circle of pink magic. By grace of Etro, let thunder herald your arrival. Come forth, sunderer of falsehood, spins around one petal-like section, and, A name in blood, a pact of truth. Odin shall rise, his bond eternal and unyielding spins widdershins against it. ]

Come forth, Odin!

[ There's a moment of stillness, as she catches her breath and stomps down further on the fear, and then the circle is a flower, spiralling upwards, and the end of the gym car is suddenly filled with both deep pink rose petals, and a robot, armour still gleaming with the residual power of the summoning. He drops to one knee, knightly, and still towers over Lightning.

She exhales, shakily, and gives the 'all clear' signal to the rest of the carriage. And brushes the petals out of her hair. ]

Long time, no see, big guy.

4. wildcard

Comments

[enthunder]

"Try dressing, it's normally in a cage there."

It wasn't her bird, but she figured it probably got pretty boring just sitting in a cage with only a giant spider for company. Which reminded her. In a more amused tone, "If you do, take snacks, or it'll get stroppy."

[longforgottenpromise]

"I will." He would remember snacks. He wondered who the bird belonged to. Not Lightning, that was clear.

His eyes flicked back to the crate, and he picked up a piece of carrot, holding it to the slats at the front to see if the jerboa would come closer.

Perhaps not, it seemed wary of him.

[enthunder]

She watched him for a while, vaguely trying to scrape up what little pet knowledge she remembered. Chocobos were really the only thing she knew, and that was from Sazh regaling them with chick care snippets in the evenings.

"Keep it up. After a while, they... forget to be scared, I think."

[longforgottenpromise]

"Forget..." He guesses it sort of worked like that. Trust. Feeling comfortable with a person so that the fear was not the first thing that came to mind when you were confronted with them.

He let the Jerboa sniff at the carrot. "Food helps, I think."

[enthunder]

"Usually does," she agrees. "What is it, anyway?"

[longforgottenpromise]

"A jerboa. A bouncing mouse." He smiled as he peered in the crate again to check if he was eating the carrot. "He is called Gyōkō."

[enthunder]

Weird name for a pet, but who was she to judge? If she focused just right, the name slipped into comprehension, luck, or something like it. Huh. Okay, that wasn't bad.

"Not seen one of those before. Normally people back home just got cats or dogs. Or chocobos." She leaned sideways, to get a better look at Gyōkō through the crate slats. It had just started tugging at the carrot.

[longforgottenpromise]

"What's a chocobo?" He looked up at her, questioning the strange word before he looked back into the crate and smiled to see that Gyōkō was tugging on the carrot.

It seemed that carrot was a success then.

[enthunder]

Whether it would eat it or just wanted to gnaw on something, they'd find out in due time.

"They're big birds- people tame'em for riding or hauling." She picked up a yellow pencil, and quickly sketched out a chocobo. "The chicks are tiny, so they're popular with kids."

[longforgottenpromise]

"Ah." He looked at the picture, smiling. It looked a little like a chicken, but large enough to ride. Tamed like a kijyuu, perhaps.

"Tiny? And they grow large enough to ride? Do they fly?"

He often keeps his questions to himself, but animals always caught his curiosity, especially one he had never heard of before.

[enthunder]

"The chicks do. When they get bigger their wings aren't big enough. But they can jump up cliffs, or over ravines. They're fast runners."

She could at least see that she'd caught his interest, and his smile was gratifying. She hadn't seen him smile much, when she was out and about. She decided to forge ahead with Chocobos 101.

"They get... well, domesticated ones only get so high." She added in a little stick figure person in blue pencil to indicate size. And then another in red. "Wild ones get much bigger. Uh, those're both meant to be the same person."

[longforgottenpromise]

He nodded along, interested, looking down at the picture again to better imagine the creature. She leaned over to watch her draw the two stick figures and nodded when she explained they were the same person.

"Does something about taming them make them smaller? Or is the type of food they eat whilst in the wild?"

He's not sure if there is a similar difference between youjyuu and kijyuu. He would have to ask Lord Gyousou about it later.

[enthunder]

She once more sends a thought of thanks to Sazh for fireside talks. She'd never participated, but she'd listened along happily enough, while Vanille and Hope debated the merits of each type of bird. The chick chirping with its own suggestions all the while.

"They're from different places. Cocoon's all city, there's no space for wild herds. They've been bred for centuries to be smaller and cuter. Gran Pulse is all plains and mountains, wide open spaces. Everything that lives there is bigger."

She remembered their first encounter with one of the huge adamantortoises with a wince. "A lot bigger. So... the Chocobos got bigger too."

[longforgottenpromise]

"Ah." He nodded looking back at the picture. So it was a question of breading and environment rather than the taming itself.

"I understand. They sound fascinating." A sound make his head twist, Gyōkō was gnawing at the carrot and he smiled.

"Do... sorry did you have a chocobo?"

[enthunder]

She watched the mouse attack the carrot, keeping quiet a small noise of triumph. Looked like he'd found something it liked.

"After we saved a wild herd from some monsters, they'd let us ride 'em around if we asked... but they weren't really ours. Sazh had--" she paused, "Sazh is my friend, another l'Cie. He bought a chick for his son, but it ended up travelling around with us."

She made a small sphere with her hands, as if cupping a small bird. Remembered a fact that Taiki might like. "It rode around in his hair."

[longforgottenpromise]

He listened, his eyes on her now, drawn away from the jerboa as she told her story. It was very good of her and her friends to have saved a wild herd. He nodded at her explanation that the wild animals weren't really hers, but rather creatures that allowed them to ride sometimes.

He smiled at the image. "It must have liked him a lot." To sit still in his hair.

[enthunder]

"A whole lot," she agreed, expression warmly nostalgic - or, at least, what passed for warmly nostalgic for Lightning.

The jerboa sneezed, and she glanced at it before resting her chin on one propped hand.

"So... Is the mouse from your homeworld?"

[longforgottenpromise]

Sneezing jerboa are adorable and he turned to check on it, petting it's head carefully.

"Yes... I think they have them on my world and they live on earth as well, in desert areas."

Lord Gyousou had mentioned them being similar to creatures found near the yellow sea.