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WHO: Galla and various
WHERE: Around Nonah
WHEN: Throughout June
WHAT: June Catch-all
WARNINGS: None forseen; will update if needed

[Open] Nonah - Ambassador's Office

[ Anyone looking to meet with the Ambassador will have no trouble finding her holed up in her office during the week. Although she does have regular meetings with business owners or city officials, she is always certain to block out several hours each day to allow for walk-in visitors, should there be any. Visitors may find her poring over extremely boring looking documents and books, browsing some topic or another on her laptop, or slipping something in a flask into her afternoon tea if she happens to be caught on a break. Whatever the case, she is quick to turn her attention to whoever's just stepped into her office, ready with a curious smile and a welcoming gesture at one of the chairs for guests. ]

Please, have a seat. What brings you to see me today?

[Open] Nonah - Landscaping

[ When not in her office, Galla can be found in various places throughout her city. Today, she's visiting a construction site for a new homeless shelter in the city. The exterior looks nearly finished, and workers can be seen inside working on the interior of the building while Galla is out front in the partly finished courtyard. It's looking a little bare, but as the Ambassador paces through the area, vibrant greenery is springing up in her wake. Empty patches of dirt sprout lush azalea bushes with dark pink flowers, and the grass lining the walkway up to the buildings entrance blooms with an array of orchids and irises that culminate in a pair of red rose bushes. And, out in the center of the small yard, a cherry tree sapling has begun to grow into a fully mature tree as Galla makes her circuit of the yard.

When she finally finishes, she takes a seat beneath the newly grown tree to bask in her finished work. ]

[Closed] Nonah - Coffee with Chauncy

[ And then there are private meetings to be had—at least as private as a meeting can be when it's had over coffee in a public cafe. As agreed, Galla has come to meet with Chauncy for the promise of a free coffee (a barely sweetened white mocha), and a discussion about the care of the younger imPorts that are so frequently brought in by the porter. She's brought along a notepad to copy notes down in, and there is already some illegible chicken scratch jotted in the margins of the page. ]

I do want to thank you again for reaching out to me on this matter. Although we've yet to begin discussing it, I'm looking forward to hearing what ideas you have to address the issue.

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[D33 spends most of his time in Nonah as well, considering that he both lives and works there. He's passed by the construction site a couple of times, but what he's never seen is Galla's apparent landscaping abilities. He stands a little dumbfounded at the edge of the courtyard before approaching and still looking a little dumbfounded.]

Was it you who just did all of that?

[He's so distracted by it that he doesn't even greet her - but hey, it does at least look like he's been sleeping this time.]

[ She smiles up at him and nods, quite satisfied with the results of her efforts today. It's actually less than she'd prefer to do, but the real feature should be the building itself once it's finished. ]

It was. I wanted to put a personal touch on it.

[D33 nods weakly, eyes still scanning the area around him, every new plant that he just watched spring to life in front of his very eyes.]

I wasn't aware that your powers included such a thing...

[ Galla watches with a flicker of amusement in her eyes. Even at home it had always been an impressive power to others, but she'll never grow tired of people gaping at the sight of it. ]

It's a talent I've had since I was a girl, so I do not often think to mention it.

[D33 glances back at her, the interest in his eyes having faded none.]

You possessed powers before arriving in this world, then. I don't believe I knew.

[ She nods in confirmation, leaning forward with a vague, somewhat sweeping gesture. ]

My world is rife with magic. It is as normal as walking, so I suppose it seems ordinary to me. The only new boon I gained on my arrival was a replenishing supply of some medicines I carry with me.

Edited 2018-06-04 01:52 (UTC)

Is this what you tend to specialize in, then? [He gestures to the courtyard around them. He's referring to all of the foliage, of course.]

It is...an aspect of it. Part of it, rather. The true talent is healing, but when I apply it to simply lifeforms... [ She gestures at the tree she's sitting beneath. ] This is the outcome.

[D33 nods, though the idea still perplexes him. He goes to lay a hand on the tree but hesitate, glancing at Galla, almost as if silently asking her permission to touch her work. Eventually, he presses his hand against it - just as real as any other tree. Color him impressed.]

And this is a common form of magic in your world? [He's still looking at the tree, speaking softly.]

There are some magics that are similar, but mine is more powerful in some regards. No other could have grown this tree so quickly, for example. [ She pats the trunk with a fond smile. ]

The difference is the origin. Most magics are innate to a person; something they are born with. I have natural earth magic myself, but this power was granted to me by my Goddess. It is quite rare.

[Right. The "Goddess", as she calls her. One that could grant powers to Galla such as what he's seen might certainly be a goddess, but the word still puts a bad taste in his mouth. He's getting much better at keeping that from showing through, though. Galla has done nothing to wrong him so far.]

It is quite impressive, even given the scope of what other powers I've come to observe in this world. [More powers given to them by a goddess, he notes silently and resentfully.

[He turns to her, raising a brow, suddenly curious...] Do you suppose that this goddess of yours might on some occasion be ported into this world? Perhaps her power might surpass that of Lachesis, though I suppose she wouldn't be the first.

[He'll entertain the idea for the sake of conversation - truly, though, he is quite curious to know.]

[ The question gives her pause, and her brow furrows as she considers what that might mean about both her Maiden and Lachesis. Slowly, she shakes her head. ]

I do not know... My Maiden is—she is a force, but there are other gods that have been brought by the Porter...

Supposedly, yes. [His skepticism slips through despite his best efforts, but he quickly clears his throat and moves on.] I can't help but wonder if there are those with such power that Lachesis might not think to challenge herself with them.

If she were to arrive in this world, do you suppose you would take comfort in that fact, or find it as source of concern instead?

[ She shrugs the slip up off. Even in her own world, skepticism and mistrust are not unheard of. ]

It would depend on whether she felt a connection to this world as she does to our own. Without that...I do not know. I do not know if a connection to me alone would be enough to sustain her.

[D33 goes to nod, but ends up just raising his chin instead - it makes him look like he's, quite literally, looking down on Galla, but really, he's just thinking.]

I do believe I would be quite interested in meeting her, should she happen to arrive. [He means that. He'd like to see if she's the real deal - if she's real at all.]

Well...I am sure she'll make herself known if she ever does arrive, so you will have your chance in that case.

[ It would be an interesting meeting to witness, she thought, however it turned out. ]

I suppose I will keep an eye out, then. [He says this, taking a step back from Galla and bending slightly in her direction - it's almost like a polite bow, but without the commitment behind it.] A pleasure, as always, Ambassador.

And thank you, for taking the time out of your day for this.

[Chauncy, on his own, was not inherently polite. He tended to say what was on his mind, and what was on his mind was usually criticism, and not exactly the constructive type. But he knows politics, knows how to bite his tongue, and he knows how to be polite when there's something to be gained or accomplished. Like this, right now, so he's all manners and well-behaved as he sits opposite Galla with his own coffee with a shot of espresso. ]

As you're aware, we're brought here, assigned a 'house' with other imPorts with little introduction, and are essentially on our own at that point. Not ideal, by any means, but I believe adults can handle themselves well enough.

[Which is kind of a lie. He knows plenty of 'adults' who'd behave worse than a child in this situation. But that's not his concern right now.]

In my first few hours here, I was told by an imPort here, who was fifteen years old, that she's living in a house that consists of only minors- no one above the age of eighteen lives there, and they've been on their own for months. I don't know if anyone was even aware this happened, aside from government employee who obviously assigned them there, and didn't care for any sort of follow-up on that.

My idea would involve essentially, a 'Guardian' system, essentially.

I had not been aware, no. [ And it's clear she's quite displeased with the revelation. It was one thing for children to strike out on their own in their own home worlds. Being sent out on their own in a foreign world was something else entirely. Her mouth settles in a grim line, and she begins scratching notes onto her pad. ]

How do you propose the guardian system work? By volunteer, I assume?

Volunteering is the only way I can imagine this would work. Conscripting them wouldn't go over well, and probably wind up hurting more than helping.

[Not that he knows from experience. He doesn't handle special cases like this usually- he's a defense attorney, and he doesn't work pro bono at all. If someone's his client, it's an adult who's made A Series Of Mistakes.]

Someone I've been speaking to about this is Magnus Chase. He's also technically a minor, although that's... an unusual case. Either way, he was very specific about it needing to be on the younger imPort's terms- that they don't check in with their 'Guardian,' that is when the Guardian will check in with them, to emphasize the Guardian as a safety net, rather than as a prison warden.

I think this might be worthy to run a trial with. If it's successful, then we run it by the government for legal funding.

[ The name is added to her notepad in that same chicken scratch and a few illegible notes below it. Questions to ask, maybe? ]

I see. He would prefer it to be a resource available to them rather than a monitor? I can find no fault with that generally... But I do know there have been especially young children here. We may want to consider requesting volunteers to live with children below a certain age. Ideally someone that they approve of as well.

Yes, he'd prefer it that way. He's had a difficult youth, apparently grew up homeless. He doesn't trust adults, and I don't blame him for that, given what he's experienced.

His original idea was for older minors to harbor and assist younger minors, but that doesn't seem like an improvement to me from what's already happening. Another issue that we'd need to tackle is ensuring the Guardian program continued... even if those involved in it 'disappear' as that can apparently happen at random.

[He listens to Galla as she continues, and... 'especially young children'?]

... Even younger than the fifteen year olds?

It would be easy to task a few people with monitoring the contact list for imPorts. We disappear from it when we are ported out.

[ She pauses to pour some toffee colored liquid from a flask into her coffee and takes a long sip. ]

I would estimate the children I have seen to be between ten and twelve.

[He's about to lament about how young the ImPort is but-]

Wait, what was that? Just now...?

[Was that alcohol.]

I believe it is called bourbon here.

[ She isn't even the tiniest bit shameful about it. ]

We're- in public, in a non-alcoholic cafe, and you're just... putting bourbon in your mocha.

Edited 2018-06-06 04:14 (UTC)

Yes? Is this really so much more important than the care of children?

[His mouth twitches slightly, almost a grin, almost, but he keeps his expression neutral after that.]

No, it isn't.

As you were saying, I think a live-in Guardian for particularly young ImPorts is a solution for now, although I'm sure Magnus will have his doubts.

The next question is how to get this done.

[ She smiles and takes another quite satisfied sip of her drink. ]

I believe the first step will be determining how we pair volunteers and children. I don't think we will need to involve the Americans in the process at all.

It would be on the children's choice, ideally. We'd gather a list of volunteers first, and run background checks on them. A trial run might be necessary, to see if this will even work.

Perhaps this Magnus would be interested in taking part in the test. If we succeed at reassuring him, then I think that will be an excellent sign that we are on the right path.

[That's... true. It would be beneficial. He just doesn't think Magnus would open up to someone like that, but...

It's better to ask than to assume no.]

I'll see if he's interested.

Wonderful. If he refuses, then we can consider looking elsewhere for child volunteers. [ At least for this first phase. ]

The unsupervised household in Heropa would be a good place to start.

Agreed. [ She starts to make another note and pauses, glancing up at him. ] Do you happen to have the names of those children?

The young woman I spoke to was named Momo Yaoyorozu. There's another one named Bakugou, I don't know the rest of their names. They're living in the same house, Heropa number twelve.

I'm sure I'll be able to look up the rest with that information; thank you. [ Even if they ended up not having to contact the children, it couldn't hurt to keep a list of them handy. ]

Now, shall I assume you would like to be the first adult volunteer?

[And it's at this point he seems to finally realize that yes, by trying to make this a thing, he's going to need to be very involved in it. By probably being the first volunteer.]

It's probably more out of necessity than desire. I've never... raised a child before. Or even remotely guided one.

[ For a moment she pauses with a rare look of surprise. Even in her old age, it still surprises her how different some cultures can be. ]

Well. Experience with childcare is practically a given in my homeland, whether someone is a parent by blood or not. If you feel it might be too great a task for you, I can step in. Or I can offer you advice.

It would... make me less credible as an example if I needed to accept help. Advice would be fine.

[But if he's going to be a perfect example, he can't just go throwing whatever kid off onto the Ambassador.]

Advice, then. Please feel free to call on me any time you feel a need.

I will. Thank you.

[Hope Galla is ready for a field of phone calls that go along the lines of "IS MAGNUS ALLOWED TO DO THAT?"]

[There's already an appeal going out for furniture and other miscellaneous items for the new homeless centre, so Gemini's stopping by with some clothes that she no longer needs, and having taken them in and there not having been a garden outside she's more than a little shocked that there is one only a few minutes later.]

Where did all this come from?

[She asks the other occupant of the new garden, looking at all the lush new foliage in wonder.]

Edited 2018-06-06 17:16 (UTC)

[ Galla can't help chuckling and pats the tree she's leaned against in a fond gesture. ]

I decided to give the place a little help. It will make it more welcoming for those who stay here.

Wow you grew all of this that fast? Is that your imPort power?

[Gemini's very impressed, if only she could get her garden to grow like this!]

I'm sure they'll really appreciate it.

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