unnecessaryflourishes | (no subject)

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[The forests of Rak'tika are never particularly loud, by most standards. Oh, there are the various noises of the creatures living there, but the vast majority of the inhabitants tend to not stray too far from their relative villages and - provided one knows where to go to avoid the usual paths - it's a perfect suitable place to take a nap. As such, it should perhaps come as no surprise that's exactly what he's done. Simply settled in against the trunk of a suitable tree and let himself drift away.

As such, he is quite unaware of the fact that between one moment and the next he's not the only individual from another world present in the forest. Instead, he sleeps on, quite unaware of anything else going on.]

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How does something like that just happen? Planets don't just mostly die like that without something horrible happening.

[She's not going to like this answer, she knows she won't. Aerith is already having to shove the loss of Gaia into a box in a dark corner of her mind where she shoves all her hurts to deal with later. Much later. The sort of later that borders on Never which she knows isn't healthy but how else is she supposed to make sense of the world?

A flicker of a frown crosses her features and she presses a hand to her forehead. Blinding light, like a wave crashing against the shore but too large, too much, cresting higher than the highest buildings, ready to wash everything away before it goes solid.

A wall of glittering, blinding crystal that leaves shimmering clouds to choke the skies.

The shudder grips her before she can stop it and her hand falls, her gaze distant even as she blinks owlishly at him.]

Well how was I supposed to know? It's not like you told me otherwise, silly! But if you're not from here then where did you come from? I'd ask how but somehow I feel like it's a little obvious with how easy you make everything look. But really, you look like you haven't had a proper sleep in ages. Have you?

[Worry creeps into her gaze as she comes fully back to herself, studying his face with a surprisingly intense look. Peering up at him, she takes in the slope of his shoulders and the sharp shadows of his features. There's something almost uncanny in the way she meets his gaze, then.]

When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep and a good meal? Do you even remember anymore?

["Something horrible" is about right. True, the world might not have gotten to the state it had been in prior to the Flood of Light without intervention, but that doesn't change that it had been occurrence of nigh-catastrophic proportions all the same.]

You do realize I wasn't present to witness it personally?

[He'd had better things to do with his time, even accounting for the difference in how fast time moves between the shards.]

But as I understand it, the local heroes did a little too well in eliminating the forces of darkness. Thus did Light rise ascendent, resulting in what you see before you.

[Or feel, maybe, given that the Ocular doesn't exactly have windows.]

And you didn't ask. Although where I happen to be from is... irrelevant. Not here; that's all that matters.

[Given that she barely knows about the idea of shards, much less the Source, the last thing he wants to do is to have to explain the Sundering. Fortunately she offers a reasonable enough topic for him to turn his attention too, for that he very nearly feels the urge to squirm under the uncanniness of that gaze.]

And whyever should I not remember? It's hardly the sort of thing one simply forgets.

[And whatever else he may be, he's not forgetful. Although he might grant that he has forgotten the feeling of getting a decent night's sleep, somewhere along the way.]

Well, in my defense I can't be sure of anything since I just woke up here and you're the only person I've met. Aside from the magical forest guardian. The cute, squeaky one.

[But his next statement catches her off-guard, brows furrowing again as her hand lifts, knuckles touching her lips as she thinks. They did too well? If that's what doing too well looked like, then...what did that say about Gaia? Somehow it feels like what's happened here is connected to her Planet, why else would she be yanked along? But on the other hand, what happened to everyone back home?

Her eyebrows arch again, and she's back to staring up at him.]

Okay, so you answered one question, but it sure sounds like it wasn't recently. Aren't you a little old to be needing someone to keep an eye on you and make sure you get proper rest? And this is coming from the girl who just woke up in a lake.

[What indeed? Of course, that too is a question he doesn't mean to answer unless she asks - to say nothing of the fact that it hadn't been light that had consumed the Seventh - but that is something that is loosely connected to what's happened to the First.]

You said it yourself. Who can sleep, with this excess of Light polluting the skies?

[It's another non-answer. Or at least, not a direct answer to his being too old to need someone to keep an eye on him. But it is a truth, and it's not as if she hasn't already commented on the presence of the Light being enough to give someone a headache.]

Are you always like this when people try to talk to you?

[There's a finger prodding at his side, a persistent jabbing that will not relent until he does.]

You can talk for ages and still not give a straight answer! It feels like you just enjoy being frustrating.

[When she sighs it's heavy, her nose wrinkling as she thinks.]

Or is it because I ask too many questions? I suppose that's fair, I guess I did just bother you because you were the first person I saw.

[The prodding has him shifting away again, in something that's not - quite - a flinch. It's not uncomfortable, not physically. But it's been entirely too long since anyone has cared to look so closely at him. To get so close, and he's long since forgotten what it's like to have someone so thoroughly inclined to let him fall into his usual habits.

Like, for instance, not giving a straight answer. Which it should be noted is still not his immediate response.]

Forgive me. I've forgotten what it's like to speak to someone with such a genuine interest.

[The apology is - mostly - genuine. But there's still something in his voice that makes it ring just that little bit off. Like it's something that's almost forced, regardless of how true it is. Still, he does at least continue on. And better still, the almost-forced tone is gone from his voice.]

Besides, it's not as if I didn't choose to answer. Although I'll admit that, yes, I wasn't expecting quite so many questions.

[Even if he probably should have, between her being an echo of one of his oldest friends and newly arrived to the First besides.]

You mean people aren't usually when you talk to them? Well that's not very nice! Even so, if I'm bothering you it's probably better if you just say so, being honest is better than not, right?

[Not that she can really talk, but that was then, and she'd had her reasons. Still, the poking stops, and the wrinkles along the bridge of her nose smooth out as she smiles bright enough that it lights up her eyes.]

I'll try not to totally overwhelm you with them, next time. It's just that this place is so interesting, and the company's pretty fascinating too.

You would be surprised how often people seem to think me capable of nothing but plotting nefarious schemes, these days. Or otherwise find reason to mistrust my every word.

[And in fairness, they wouldn't be wrong. He is an inveterate schemer, and has been actively working to nefarious ends for centuries besides. But that doesn't mean that he's any less capable of offering genuine advice and assistance all the same.]

Still, the restraint is... appreciated.

[That he's still willing to answer the questions is probably a good sign. Especially when he could have just as easily brought her to the Crystarium and then disappeared off into the darkness again. But that she's willing to make an attempt to not overwhelm him either is still something he's not going to complain about in the slightest.]

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