[OPEN] there's a pain i’ll carry with me.

[23wishes]

WHO: Aerith and ANYONE.
WHERE: Nonah/N6
WHEN: All through April
WHAT: A catch-all for the new girl
WARNINGS: Don't step on the flowers None yet


a:

[Having spare money is a new thing for Aerith. For most of her life, her and her mother just got by, with her mother's work as a maid and her selling flowers. But now, she has a real job, with a real weekly salary; there were no opportunities for those in the slums under the plate. It's strange, of course, being comfortable financially, but she seems to be dealing.

Right now, she's wandering all over the retail district in downtown Nonah. She can afford to have a little fun. She already has one or two big bags in her hand, and she's showing no signs of stopping. She's only paused to look in the window of a little boutique, and put her bags down for a moment...

Okay, maybe she's stopping. Having been ported here with just the clothes on her back and placed in a bare bones bedroom, Aerith had a lot of things to get. The heavy bags are getting tiring to hold. Come give her a hand?]

b:

[It's a nice, sunny day in Nonah and Aerith's out front Nonah 06, planning her flower beds. Depending on how early or late in the month this is, she could be doing anything from sectioning out the area with a lot of spray paint, to digging up the squares in the grass, hauling around wood and rocks, or just tending the plants.

Aerith's really small, actually, and there's loads of work to be done. Maybe she could use some help. Maybe you don't like seeing a pretty girl get all sweaty doing work. Or maybe you just want to bring her some iced tea. Who knows.]

c: WILDCARD

do whatever you want! honestly, she's up for it all.
HMU at MahouShoujo if you want.

Comments

[23wishes]

[Aerith watches the spectacle with an amused smile on her face. She won't laugh at the poor little baby, but it's pretty funny anyway. Maybe she's a little jealous, she realizes. Motherhood isn't an opportunity she's going to have.]

You know, you're really lucky.

[23wishes]

... It's complicated.

[She turns away from him with a swish of her skirt, arms crossed behind her back.]

I don't know how I feel about it yet. But I do know I should be back home.

[rassera]

[Kaneda's eyes practically light up, crouching down near a plot.]


Strawberries. Think you can grow strawberries?

[23wishes]

[She taps her chin, thinking it over for a second, then smiles up over her shoulder at Kaneda.]

I don't see why not.

[glowsferatu]

Oh, I could never let myself forget. She's the happy ending I never thought I'd get.

[ She grabs a few more weeds, starting to make a pile between them. ]

You know, the two of us are the last of our respective species, as well.

[23wishes]

[Well, that's unexpected. Aerith puts down the bunch of weeds in her hand and turns to Kanaya.]

I'm so sorry...

[glowsferatu]

[ She shakes her head. ]

You don't need to be. I'm always afraid to really talk about it, that it will just be seen as a play for sympathy. [ Sympathy is just one of those things for her, she's better at giving than receiving. ] When it's just...one of those things we have to survive through, all three of us.

I'm good at surviving. Helping others survive, I think that's a goal worth putting more effort into.

[23wishes]

At least you know I won't think so.

[She reaches out slowly to hold Kanaya's shoulder. She agrees with everything she said, but this isn't something Aerith's ever had the opportunity to chat so casually about. It had been a secret for good reasons, and even when it wasn't, it was just awkward and difficult to explain it to humans.]

... Will she look like you when she's grown?

[glowsferatu]

[ She gives her a smile, small but warm, and a nod. ] Thank you, Aerith.

[ She glances back at Ashiah behind her, who seems to have satisfied herself with her shallow pit. One day, she might like to have a proper cavern, but she has a long time before she'll need it for pupating or brooding. ]

Not quite. I looked something like she did when I was her age, but it isn't hard to tell trolls from mother grubs, even in the larval stages. Once she's full grown, she'll have her wings to spread.

[ She laughs again, continuing to weed. ] And by then, she'll be far too big to live comfortably in the city.

[rassera]

[A soft 'yes!' escapes his lips as he stands up, obviously pleased with that answer.]

Oh...and I guess some vegetables too. That's what goes in gardens, right?

[23wishes]

Those too~

[She does some quick reading on strawberries on her phone.]

I'm going to have to hurry though. Strawberries should be planted already. What are you gonna make with them?

[rassera]

Maybe you can find some already planted--

[Kaneda.]

I mean...at the plant store! That you can BUY!

[23wishes]

Is THAT what you meant...

[She's smirking. Ignore that.]

Yeah, I'll have to. Thanks for the suggestion. I bet they'll be a big hit.

[And make her lots of cash.]

[23wishes]

[Okay, her jaw might have dropped a bit there. That's just a tiny bit scary.]

What will you do then?

[hisheartsdesire]

[He nods at her answer. ImPorts are abducted into this world whether they want to be or not, regardless of their circumstances at home.]

I can understand your feelings, I think. About wanting to be back home, that is. [He sighs.] But, since we're here now... I hope the government didn't assign you too much nonsense.

[23wishes]

Not really. It's nothing I can't handle.

[She's already back on her way down the street, but it's in a slow way that's inviting Toby to follow her.]

How about you?

[hisheartsdesire]

[Still holding her bags from earlier, he accepts her unspoken invitation and follows as she continues down the street.]

Oh, there was plenty of nonsense when I arrived. I wouldn't even know where to begin. [He sighs.] It was some months before I settled down proper, when I moved to another Porter city to be with someone, and got a new job.

[Shaking his head,] The first job I had here seemed like such a joke!

[23wishes]

[Oh good~ She'll walk slow so he can catch right up to her.]

What was your first job here?

[hisheartsdesire]

[Jogging a few steps to catch up, he soon is walking beside her.]

A Vegemite model. Which... doesn't mean anything if you don't know what that is, but it's a rank sort of yeast paste. If it smells the way it tastes, then it must be disgusting. [A chuckle, and then quick recovery.] But I can't taste it, and I don't even have an image or reflection because I'm a vampire.

[23wishes]

A vampire?

[There were stories about those where she was from. Just stories, though. Gaia may have had dragons and massive underwater monsters, but vampires were purely myth.

There seems to be no end to the kind of people this world collects.]

Is that why you're talking to me? Are you going to suck my blood~?

[glowsferatu]

I imagine I'll buy a house in the countryside, a roomy bit of property to give her space to fly as much as she wants to. Help her dig up a proper burrow for when she doesn't.

[ She looks back at Ashiah, still playing in her little pit. It might be good to build her a sandbox or something, just so they don't have to worry about her digging up the yard. ]

Of course, that will all take money, but I have time to start saving. We still have a few years before her size will be any issue.

[23wishes]

Mm.

[She smiles over at the little baby grub, happily playing like any other toddler would. Aerith will just need a little time to adjust to that, like she took to Nanaki. Then it'll be nice to have a kid in the house. It's just what this world needed to be a little more home-y.]

Thank you for helping me so much.

[radioclub_jp]

Haha, I guess.

[Or we could just, y'know, dream about them........... :} Anyway, she motions at Aerith's bags.]

Do you want a hand with those?

[23wishes]

I'd love a hand!

[Politely, she'll hand Paprika the smaller, lighter one, and skip back on her way.]

Keep your eyes open for a secondhand shop! Or a discount store, or... something!

[glowsferatu]

[ She gives Aerith a smile, fanged but soft. ]

Thank nothing of it. It's...a weird situation to be thrown into, that's something those of us who've been here a while need to keep in mind. We need to help each other out.

[ She runs her fingers through the dirt, breaking it up, and feeling out any errant roots. ]

Besides, I enjoy working with flowers. It's been too long. Have you thought about what sort of border you want to place?