kenoslogs | [ota] maybe we'll find better days

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[ota] maybe we'll find better days

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.

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[Alice is absolutely drinking in the stories to be honest. The older fellows had been easier for her to approach given how much she used to sit and listen to her great-grandfather's stories. Horns and scales and whatnot don't even enter into her mind and before long she's made decent friends of them just sitting and talking -- and learned a lot besides too.

Once the chitchat does end though and she ends up turning around to face Matt she pauses a second before recognition floods her face.]

Oh! Matt!

[Her expression brightens immediately. They hadn't talked long and her mental image of herself in communions was always fuzzy but his wasn't at least. Her near ankle length hair sways behind her and she's dressed down in a cotton tunic belted around the waist and breeches. It had been all that was left under the gambeson and armor someone had dressed her up in at some point in her sleep.

Those who are observant enough might pick up on the glow just under her left sleeve too. At least the sleeves are long enough to mostly cover over that mark she woke up with. No one else had made mention of it anyhow.]

I assume you're looking around as well?

[ Alice is much shorter than he expected she'd be. As he draws closer, he realizes she's got to be what, a foot shorter than him? Her hair is also a lot longer, though honestly Matt can't remember if that's a change or not. ]

Yeah, [ he agrees. ] It was kind of my old stomping grounds ... as much as I had any stomping grounds in a place I'd been for like, six weeks.

[ Matt is no stranger to wearing long sleeves to cover inconvenient marks that Zenites put there. He's wearing long sleeves now, in fact. So you'd think that if anyone would notice the glow by Alice's wrist, it'd be him. But for the moment, he's preoccupied with other thoughts.

Like ... Alice seems genuinely pleased to see him, which is nice. He's pleased to see her too. He's just not sure where he stands with most of Meridian right now.

Ruefully, he says, ] How'd you sleep?

Very deeply, so I'm told.

[There's mild amusement in her tone. She's usually not one to joke around too much but after a hundred odd years of sleep she feels like she can 'let her hair down' so to speak. She has a whole lot more of it to let down too!]

Springstar was more my place but ... well, things have certainly changed there.

[Her smile goes a little rueful. She doesn't particularly like Skysong very much.]

[ Matt chuckles. There's a hint of relief in the sound, like his nerves are grateful to have someplace to go. Which they are. ]

Yeah, I stopped up there and it was ... different, for sure, [ he agrees. ] More military presence than I personally prefer in my urban areas. But the architecture is genuinely-- [ For a moment, Matt's at a loss for words as he considers what he's seen of Skysong. ] It's awe-inspiring. Nobody where I come from was anywhere close to being able to create floating cities.

[ He's about to add a warning to watch out for Aetós up there, in case Alice hasn't heard they've got a whole island to themselves. But he hesitates. ]

Can I buy you a drink or something?

[Before she even touches on replying Alice nods some.]

As long as you don't mind me taking tea or juice or some such. I don't drink liquor as a rule.

[Because she has the alcohol tolerance of a gnat and instantly passes out ... details, right? She gestures to where she already sits at the moment, the older men she had been talking to having wandered off a few moments ago to go engage in some heavier drinking.]

--Oh. Of course, not at all. [ This place doesn't strike Matt as exactly the kind for alcohol-free beverages. But if there's one thing about the Last Dance--and Old Springstar's ancient undercity, the erstwhile Kowloon--that seems to hold true across the decades, it's that anything you want can be yours, for a price.

Even tea and juice.

Once they've obtained their beverages of choice--Matt's is a fruit ale--he steers them towards an empty booth and waits to allow Alice her choice of seats. He slides into the one opposite. ] Well, uh ... cheers to waking up. Eventually.

[ He lifts his glass. ]

[She lifts hers in kind, though she quick to ask after a sip:]

Forgive me if this is too personal. You're the first other Shard-Bearer I've run into today though. What sort of state did you wake up in?

[And maybe to ease any awkwardness she adds:]

It seems like they took to calling me the Swordmaiden once most people forgot my name. There was some tradition of leaving blades as an offering in my room -- seems like it was mostly pocket knives though.

[ Matt listens curiously, both surprise and recognition coming over his face as Alice elaborates. ]

Yeah, uh ... something similar, actually. Mine seemed to be mostly astrological and plant-based. I was assuming that's because I spend most of my time at the Starwatchers' Spire and Greenwood Yards. [ With a bit of a pang, he realizes Alice probably hasn't been to either place. ] Or spent, I guess. Hope to spend again.

[ He takes a sip of ale, smiling at her. ] "The Swordmaiden" is a pretty great moniker. I suppose it's a little bittersweet to have your name forgotten, but I can't tell if people in Highstorm remembered mine or not, so.

[ That's not all Matt woke up to. Maybe not even the most important thing. Yet again, he hesitates. ]

[He is right about her never having been to either place. It doesn't seem to affect how she listens though.]

I can't say I mind much. When one dies names are often forgotten with time.

[She takes a casual drink after spouting off that rather grim line and seems to realize it once she's swallowed. She gestures a hand quickly.]

Not that everyone's name is ultimately forgotten. I'm not exactly a high status individual within Meridian though.

[After a moment of sheepishness she does ask:]

I assume the Starwatchers' Spire and Greenwood Yards were within Highstorm?

[ Matt seems to find the observation factual, rather than grim. Maybe a little melancholy, but after all, he did pledge Zenith. People who live in melancholy houses can't throw stones. So his smile as she goes on aims to reassure. ]

There's more than one way of persisting, [ he says with a gentle shrug. ] I mean, the part of me that's attached to being Matt Jamison doesn't love the thought of that name being forgotten, but the part of me that's energy--won't really die, ideally. I'll go on to nurture whatever comes next.

[ All of that depends on beating back Oblivion, of course. Matt feels sheepishly as if he's said too much. ]

But ah, yeah. Starwatcher's Spire is the observatory in Highstorm, and Greenwood is--

A lot of things. [ Matt looks wistful. Images flicker through his mind, offered to Alice through Communion: a tower of iron and stone; distant stars burning through the eye of a telescope; a domed ceiling that's etched with celestial symbols. And rows of beautifully wrought greenhouses, flush with luxuriant greenery; a gorgeous midnight meadow; a Venus flytrap of startling size (you can tell because of the goat ambling by, which only comes to about half its height); clear water that glimmers with moonlight. ] It has greenhouses, basically a nature preserve, public baths.

If you ever wanted to go ...

I know things aren't ideal. But they're really beautiful places. I'm sure if you were my guest it wouldn't be a problem.

[Alice rolls that around in her mind a moment. She's not particularly attached to being Alice Malvin anymore than she's attached to being the heir of her family. It's a role she plays and takes seriously of course.

Instead of saying as much though she takes a moment to take in the images Matt flickers through their Communion. She's not one to dwell on the beauty of things but she has to admit everything he lays out before her is very charming. Springstar had had it's good points as well but with the division and Skysong being the way it was ... well, whatever beauty Skysong took with it was ruined for her.

Her brows perk up a bit at his offer, her look mildly surprised. Then she huffs out a light breath before she smiles.]

Maybe once we've been awake a while. It seems like everyone is more than a leery of each other right now. Or Skysong is anyhow.

That's for damn sure, [ Matt sighs over his ale.

He's not totally sure whether the rejection means let's wait until later or let's wait until never. How funny: He can be at the probable end of the universe, locked in an alleged cosmic battle, and still have the same old what does it mean when a girl says moment. In any case, the answer is clear for right now. ]

Yeah, [ Matt agrees. ] Taking some time to get reoriented sounds like a good plan.

[ He'll have to do what he always does when he's not sure where he stands, which is often. Await further context. ]

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[ota] maybe we'll find better days

i just gotta say, you've really inspired me with these two old guys, haha <3

<3 i love the image of snowy scales ...

what a terrific idea, agreed

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