[ota] maybe we'll find better days

[a_noble_flame]

WHO: Alice & anyone else!
WHAT: April 2024 Catchall
WHERE: Skysong, Old Springstar and various places around those two.
WHEN: All of April
WARNINGS: Will mark in thread headers as necessary!



Prompts in comments. Feel free to hit me up here if you'd like to do anything with Alice this month. PMs, Plurk (goodluckstarfighter) and Discord (goodluckstarfighter) are all open for plotting.

Comments

THE LAST DANCE;

[kaientai]

[ Not everyone has fond stories of the past. This tavern looks and feels like any other Alice has encountered so far, but it's hard to miss the way the warmth goes out of the room as soon as she starts asking questions about Skysong. It's a mixed bag when it comes to opinions about Downtown Kowloon, but everyone speaks of the city in the sky like a despised personal nemesis.

No one rushes to share their personal history, but there are plenty of grievances to air without needing to. A few mention things in passing, though — one was banished, others are children of people who had been banished decades back and had their lives ruined. Another's family has always lived in Old Springstar, but they hate the sky dwellers for deciding they weren't worthy and leaving them to die.

Ryouma had been doing his best not to be noticed as he drank alone in the corner, but this was the first time he'd seen another bearer since he woke up. He can tell she's a bearer because she's asking the same I've Been Asleep for a Century and Don't Know What's Happening questions that he's been asking.

He has (thankfully) found a shirt since he'd woken up, but the gaudy pirate aesthetic persists. Someone has lovingly braided his now calf-length hair and woven little trinkets into it that sometimes make noise, so he feels a bit like a cat with a bell on. It was longer before, so this was the compromise for mobility. Having to conform to someone else's ideal image grates on him terribly, but Ryouma is forced to play along, at least until he gets his bearings in this changed world. It's complicated.

Ryouma sits there smoking his cigarette and nursing his liquor for a while longer before getting up and sliding into an unoccupied seat beside Alice. This seems to convince everyone else drinking in their immediate vicinity to leave or find another seat further away. ]

... Of course.

[ He sighs and drops his glass onto the bar, which summons the bartender with great haste to refill it. ]

And please get the lady whatever she likes, alright?

[ It's free! That's normal. Otherwise, he doesn't say anything else until the bartender finishes up and goes off to do another task. ]

So! Where'd you end up?

[a_noble_flame]

[Alice isn't fond of ruining the atmosphere but she's definitely thankful for those who start talking without hesitation. The general attitude to Skysong fits what she thought it might, a reminder of the attitudes of near everyone in District Zero when discussing the military or government as a whole. No one spoke of any of them with warmth and more personal history than not. It's just the same here, everyone with a tale that leaves her feeling heavy hearted.

Eventually she settles in her seat just in time for Ryouma to come scooting over. She supposes her own dull outfit, the linen tunic that had been under the gambeson and armor belted at her waist alongside the brown breeches and boots, doesn't draw near as much intrigue as this man's clothing. Yet besides his words his get up tells her all she needs to know. Had whoever was looking after both of them decided on some mental image and ran with it?

Alice glances to the bartender, assuring them just water was fine before she looks back to Ryouma in momentary surprise. Then she laughs a little even if it sounds tired.]

In the Seat of the Tribune. It was where new Shard-Bearers were staying back then.

[Having to add 'back then' is so strange.]