expiationlogs | [open] verdant moon catchall

Who: Marianne & you
Where: Aldrip
What: August catchall
Warnings: None

i. a clean break

[ If you live at the inn, Marianne can be found going in and out of her room with a broom tidying. Having decided that she should cease shutting herself away so much, it feels like the right time to sort out the mess her room had become.

After an hour spent clanking around and moving things, her room does not look any cleaner despite her efforts. In fact, it's messier than before. How? Her real curse may be her inability to organize anything. So, she's resorted to boxing up the items she wants to part with and moving it out into the hall, with apologies to anyone who has to step around her pile. ]

Sorry about the mess. I'm doing a bit of tidying. If you'd like any of this, please, help yourself.

[ She gestures to the box of goods she's planning to rehome. There are jugs, pressed flowers, candles, books... ]

ii. uncanny admiration

[ Despite being fond of gardens, Marianne has largely avoided the botanical gardens where the statues of the Chosen are on display. She finds her own image carved in marble too embarrassing, too shameful for someone who had brought the town ruin not too long ago. With her newfound determination (and feeling plagued by it long enough), she arranges for her statue to be taken down and dismantled.

The next day, she thinks she can finally stroll the garden in peace...that is, until she sees an incredibly detailed carving of herself erected in a new location, again engraved with the words Savior of Aldrip. Oh, how those words make her hide her face in her hands. ]

It's back? I don't understand how.

iii. (don't) stop to smell the flowers

[ Marianne feels most at peace in the Aldrip meadows, though she still feels guilty whenever she comes across a strip of devastated land. She's taken to helping the fairies with their work to restore nature, bringing them seeds and whatever they request. This afternoon, however, she has trouble keeping her eyes open. The flower's sweet scent, the gentle breeze, the calmness all lull her to close her eyes and lay down in the grass. Once she's drifted off, birds gather around her still form, and one plucks at her hairband as she sleeps. ]

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I always bring them seeds whenever I visit this meadow, so we're old friends by now.

[ She says so sincerely. She's the strange girl who comes to the meadows to feed and speak to the birds. They're good listeners, and they've helped her through many troubled times since she arrived. The birds kept her company as a child when she had no one else to confide in. Lately, she hasn't been visiting them for that reason though. Maybe because animals aren't her only friends now.

As her yawn (and the aroma) spreads to the young man, Marianne frowns tiredly and blinks to keep her eyes open. While it is perfect weather for a nap, and she knows that flowers have calming properties when brewed in tea, this is a bit unnatural...oh, could it be the powers of something at work? ]

Maybe we should take a walk to clear our heads.

[Yep, she's totally a bird girl. He knows that some people like to sit around and toss bread crumbs to ducks and everything, so guess that's the same principle. He doesn't really get it or see the appeal in being friends with birds, but he'll remember that if he sees her surrounded next time. Not much can be done now and she's not angry, so there's that at least.

And he's also just... really sleepy. Hard to self-reflect and crap when you're like ten seconds away from collapsing to the ground and snoozing.]

Huh? Oh, sure. [He really wants to nap, but if she wants to take a walk with him, cool.] Maybe that'll wake me up, don't wanna waste my day just sleeping anyway. And if a walk doesn't do it, maybe I'll just eat something really spicy and that'll keep me up.

O-oh, hopefully you won't need to go that far...

[ Unless he likes eating spice? She's too drowsy to parse whether he's joking or he's serious, but something tells her that they need to start moving. Marianne stands and brushes off stray strands of grass clinging to the front of her dress. Then she begins to lead the way out of the flowerbed, though with no particular destination in mind. ]

Were you headed anywhere before this?

[Scott buries his hands inside the pockets of his jacket as he starts walking as well, keeping pace next to her and trying to be at least semi-decent company. He's still not in the greatest of moods, but he doesn't want to snap at some random girl he just met.]

Not really, no. [He gives a little shrug.] Just didn't want to stay at the inn and stare at the ceiling today. Nice being out, I guess, although it also reminds me how there's not much to do in this crappy village.

Um, then let's not head back just yet...

[ Instead of turning them towards town, she steers them towards the gently sloping hills. A bit of a hike should wake them back up, right?

Marianne's never thought the village lacked things to do, but she's also from the ye old days that life in Aldrip isn't a big change of pace. Between taking care of the horses, her shifts at the clinic, and the dozens of animals around town she had taken to feeding, her schedule is packed each day. ]

What sort of things do you prefer to do?

[He follows along without complaint, well, not too much complaining, other than his continual grumbling about this place being boring and everything. Scott, at least, thinks he's being relatively reasonable with his bitching. Sorry Marianne, for being stuck with this.]

Normal crap? Like going to the mall, watching movies, playing at the arcade.

[In all out honesty, he's glad that things are at least calm right now, especially after coming back from the desert. He doesn't want to think about all the crap that happened there. Maybe if he can pretend that everything's normal, he doesn't have to act like that he might've killed some guys that used to be people.] Eating a bunch of junk food.

None of that interests you?

We don't have movies or arcades where I'm from. I would read books or look after animals in my spare time.

[ Which is not much different from what she does here. His life sounds completely different from hers, and she can't begin to fathom what was normal to him. It's starting to make sense why he's discontent in Aldrip. It would be like if she were in a world without horses. Devastating. ]

So...I guess I don't know what I'm missing out on?

[ She doesn't know what an arcade is. Could she be an arcade person? ]

[Scott can almost feel himself wheezing at that particular admittance. No movies or arcades?? How does she even live-- oh right, she just mentioned books and caring for animals. He can't imagine doing that everyday for fun and crap, especially not in his spare time. Maybe if it's a really good book series? But he'd totally miss movies and everything still.

Although, if she's never experienced it... guess she can't miss it. Damn.

He folds his hands behind his neck as he walks, clearly a little more at ease now as he lightly teases her.]

I think it might be better if I didn't tell you. [Although, he's going to tell her stuff anyway--] Oh, I know, do you guys have plays and everything? Movies are sort of like that, except with better effects.

Now that makes me even more curious.

[ When he puts it like that, she can't help but wonder. Not that she's dissatisfied with life in Fodlan in any way. Marianne's a girl with simple comforts. A book, a ride with her horse, and a stroll in the gardens with friends are enough to make her day. ]

We do have plays. There are theater houses, and sometimes performing troupes will come to town. [ Very old-fashioned. ] What kind of effects?

[Okay, that's about what he expected. He's definitely getting a sense of the time period she's from and that's cool. He's thinkin' medieval times or something along those lines.]

They're starting these effects called 'computer-generated,' and uhh...

[Explaining computers is a whole other thing, so he makes a small noncommittal noise as he thinks about the best way to talk about this.] So imagine the play, right? Then there are these images that exist near the actors or on stage, looking kind of real and everything, except they're not actually there. They're used to enhance the movie... play, and yeah. It's neat.

[ Marianne's heard the word computer in passing. She associates it with the same strange technology as refrigerators, "electronic" devices that she still has trouble wrapping her head around, but whose function she has come to appreciate while living in Aldrip. She tries to picture what he describes in her head with limited succeess. ]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow. By effects...do you mean like spells?

[ Because that was how plays were enhanced back in Fodlan. Fire magic and wind magic could elevate a performance to new levels and draw the audience in. ]

[He taps a finger against his chin. He guesses.]

Uhh, sure, yeah! Kind of like magic.

[His own frame of reference harkens to those of magic shows, complete with a top hat and everything. Of course, he knows that she's probably referring to actual magic and it's a little harder to imagine someone casting a water spell in the middle of a play, but he'll just go along with it-- it's kind of like a practical effect anyway.]

Just really advanced magic. If you know any illusionary spells, that probably is the best comparison. Creating something that isn't actually there.

The mages in your world must be talented. Illusory spells are among the most arcane magic.

[ Her steps slow as she ponders what he describes. She's envisioning a troupe of dark mages in the theater's wings working their illusions. Something tells her it's not quite what she imagines, but it's how her mind fills the gap for now. ]

Should I ever get the chance, I'd like to watch one of these movies.

[open] verdant moon catchall

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