OPEN ● the night breeze carries something sweet

[23wishes]

WHO: Aerith and friends and YOU!
WHERE: Pretty much everywhere but mostly Nonah
WHEN: All through August!
WHAT: A big catch-all for Aerith and co.
WARNINGS: None yet; will update if this changes


1. All Porter cities!

[If anyone knew Aerith from her own home world, this would be a familiar sight. Aerith is standing around on a street corner with a basket on her arm, filled to the brim with flowers. It's August, so this month's selection includes gerbera daisies, irises, and her usual lilies and roses. She's stopping locals, mostly, who are more than happy to pay a bit extra to buy a flower from an actual import, and such a pretty one, at that. She'd made a point to dress extra cute today just for this.

Aerith will stop you on the street, too, and ask in her sweetest voice:]

Excuse me, would you like to buy a flower?

[Be careful, though. Despite all her frippery, she'll be charging people individually by how nice they are to her... and maybe using a bit of her own power of soul reading to be sure.]

2. Nonah

[A lousy hole-in-the-wall takeout restaurant in one of Nonah's less thriving neighborhoods isn't the place someone would expect to see Aerith. And yet, here she is. It's one of her usual hangouts, in fact. The restaurant is your typical greasy spoon, selling your usual selection of good ol' American traditional foods like overstuffed hamburgers, greasy fries, hot dogs, and sad attempts at salads. She loves it.

She takes her order of a burger, fries, and lemonade in its brown paper bag across the street to an even grittier looking area: a half-empty lot filled with gravel and dirt that may have once long ago been an attempt at starting a park. Now, instead, it's essentially a trash dump.

But something weird is going on here. Aerith sits down on a small concrete ledge, and somehow, it looks like she belongs there... It might have something to do with the grass and wildflowers that have bloomed only around where she's sitting. Weird, huh?]

3. Anything else?

[If none of these are hitting you, come up with something else and I'll roll with it. Aerith spends a lot of time in her garden outside Nonah 06 and sometimes she just goes out wandering porter cities alone. Or hit me up on plurk at MahouShoujo or PM me if you want a specific starter!]

Comments

Closed to Komasan!

[23wishes]

[The long awaited project has begun!! Two houses, joined into one! The massive yard-turned-flower field of Aerith and Komasan's dreams!

Hardware stores and grocery stores have started putting their plants on sale so Aerith got a great deal on a ton of flats. Sure, it's a little late in the season to be planting, but she's confident her magic can keep everything strong and pretty through at least the start of winter.

She's all ready to start the work, in her rattiest pair of secondhand overalls for when she inevitably gets covered in dirt. She just needs her partner.]

[monge]

[Is it weird that Komasan decided to wear clothes despite normally being naked all the time? Donning the sunhat he normally sports for bug catching and wearing a ridiculous pair of oversized gardening gloves not designed for his paws, Komasan toddles out of N5 carrying a small tray.

Really, his balance is amazing, he doesn't drop a single thing his entire journey over to Aerith.]

I made lemonade, zura~!

[Resting ever so neatly on his tray are two glasses and a small pitcher. Seriously, he didn't drop any of it, and why wouldn't he? This is important. Now they can really get started.]

[23wishes]

[Yes. It is weird. But he's Komasan, and so some weirdness is expected of him. But also he looks adorable.]

Thank you, Komasan!

[She's VERY QUICKLY taking the pitcher and glasses from him to move them to her small patio table before his luck can run out. But she'll take a sip, of course, because look at all that hard work he did!]

Alright! Are you ready? We've got a lot of work to do.

[And if they had any sense they'd be having other people do this for them.]

First, let's decide how big we want the garden to be. Then we're gonna have to dig everything up!

Closed to Kogami!

[23wishes]

[It's a special night. After their fight last month, Aerith and Kogami had been spending less time together, even thought they made up shortly after it. Residual awkwardness lingered between them. But tonight was going to be different! It's their first real date since the gala! She's excited! Tentatively, anyway. And it's so late at night, too, that she can't help but wonder what they'll be doing...

Night or not, she's out in her garden waiting for him to show up instead of staying inside. The nights are finally getting cool so she can enjoy it as she waits.]

[psychofailed]

[She'll hear him before she sees him--and not just in the supernatural feeling his soul sense. Because there's the sound of an engine in the distance that slowly gets closer and closer, and lo and behold, it comes to a stop right in front of her, that motorcycle helmet coming off to reveal a familiar face.]

Hey.

[23wishes]

[........

That's new.

Aerith's mouth hangs open for a long moment. That noise was him? He has a motorcycle? He reminds her of Cloud more and more all the time.

She hops up from the place on the grass where she was sitting and runs over to Kogami to greet him with a kiss on his cheek.]

I didn't know you were a biker.

Option 1 De Chima - August 3rd

[dirtyredneck]

[Daryl was nominally aware of where everyone on the street near him was while he walked. It was habit, tracking the movement, making sure no obvious threats got too close. He'd noticed the flower girl, too. Hadn't marked her as an 'obvious' threat, but had recognized her from their conversation a couple days before. He'd stopped and found a wall to lean against and watch her. Curious about her.

He'd stayed there for a good half hour, just taking in how she acted and interacted with the people passing by. From what he could tell off that, she seemed to be genuinely a nice person. All smiles even when people weren't looking.

Eventually the staring of locals towards him and the whispering got him to straighten up and head over. The person she was currently asking if they wanted to by a flower was shaking their head no, being polite about it. So Daryl stepped in between them and reached out to take one of lilies from the basket and give it a good sniff as he answered:]

Sure. How much?

[23wishes]

[Aerith's far from being blind to her surroundings. A life growing up in Midgar, essentially next door to the red light district as a cute, young girl taught her some things, after all. Once she noticed Daryl wasn't leaving after a few moments, she kept a cautious eye on him. Just in case. She's alone, after all.

But then, finally, he approaches her and she recognizes him from the network - Rick's friend - and then it all makes sense. Rick had told her the sort of world he was from, in not so many details; it was a terrible mess like hers. That sort of environment breeds suspicion in people. Look at her, after all.

She meets his eyes with a friendly smile anyway.]

Hmm. A dollar. I think we know each other, after all.

[dirtyredneck]

[He met her eyes and stared for a long moment, then snorted like he thought she'd just said something very stupid. Talking once didn't mean 'knowing' each other, not to him.]

Whatever.

[Daryl put the lily back and reached out to take one of the daisies instead, other hand digging cash out of his front pocket. He took a quick sniff of it, nose crinkling as he pulled back from it. He forgot how bad they smelled that close. Pretty to look at, though. Simple.

He handed over a few crumpled bills, then lifted the daisy up.]

Three of these.

1. Maurtia Falls

[blahblahboom]

[ Maurtia Falls is a pretty gloomy place, really. The locals tend to keep to themselves, Rita keeps to herself (unless she needs to make a Point about something) and that works out pretty well for all parties. Especially parties that don't particularly enjoy having their butts whooped by short teenagers with even shorter tempers.

It's not a place Rita associates with flowers or friendly overtures so when a lady asks her to buy a flower, it takes a few seconds longer than usual to comprehend the flower being held out to her. She stares blankly at the flower and then at the woman.

Rita carefully adjusts her bag full of books and eyes the woman a little suspiciously. Was she an import too? Probably. She didn't seem like one of the natives]

...flowers aren't my thing...

[23wishes]

[All of those are just reasons why Maurtia Falls is a second home for Aerith.

She politely waits for the other imPort to answer, then smiles anyway, even though she's been turned down. She'll still try to make a sale, after all.]

Are you sure? No friends or family you'd like to surprise?

[blahblahboom]

Not unless you can get me one that says "stop trying to mess with my experiments you clean freak."

[But uh, she has a feeling someone will yell at her for being rude so she shrugs lightly]

The only fri--person I know that likes flowers isn't here anyway.

Heropa | August 6

[dirtyredneck]

[She'd told him what house she was in, so Daryl showed up - on foot - about mid-day. Gave a couple hard knocks on her door. Waited.

He was dressed much the same as the first time she'd seen him in person. Dark jeans worn at the knees, dark button up shirt with sleeves cut off, black leather vest with the wings on the back that were in desperate need of a good cleaning. Crossbow slung over his shoulder and several knives in obvious view on his belt.

By the time she came out, he was pacing across the bottom of the steps.]

[23wishes]

[Nonah 06 is a weird place. The most noticeable thing is Aerith's sprawling garden out front, then also poking out from the back, and if Daryl will look, he'll see that it and neighboring house Nonah 05 share one large backyard that looks a lot like an open field. Also, there's a 15 foot tall bright green robot gazelle chilling out nearby.

She comes down soon after he knocks, also dressed similarly, because she's practical and in her mind, any dress goes with a good pair of combat boots.]

You're here already? I didn't expect you so soon! [Or kind of at all. She can't really figure out if Daryl dislikes her or not.] You can come inside if you want.

[The inside is just as ridiculously plant-filled as the outside.]

[dirtyredneck]

[He supposed that was fair. He hadn't really given a good time frame. He'd noticed the strange way the yards were laid out, and the Alterram. Guess that meant one of the people in the house managed to win two fights and decided to keep it during the swear-in. Daryl hadn't. He'd gone out of his way not to fight. Thought it was stupid.

At her invitation, he hesitated.]

You need much time to get ready to go?

1, De Chima

[protects_the_small]

[Kel was in between jobs at the moment, and using the time to lounge about in the park and read. The familiar voice gets her to look up from her book, and she grins as she gets up and shoulders through the small crowd.]

Certainly, would you accept coffee in trade?

[23wishes]

[She knew it was Kel, of course, but she can't resist a chance to tease her friend.]

I guess that sounds fair. Come on, then.

[She's due for a break, anyway. By now, Aerith knows the way to their typical cafe from here, so she'll lead them off.]

You will need to pick a flower though.

[protects_the_small]

[Kel grins and glances over the offerings, and points at a a camillia in a corner of the basket]

That will do. How has business been?

1 - Maurtia Falls

[thefatherssins]

Aerith-san! [Masaoka smiles at her, giving a brief wave with his right hand before he walks up.] Is this your job?

[23wishes]

Mr. Masaoka! It's been ages!

[Well, more like a month. She gives a much more excited wave and runs a bit to meet him.]

This is it, yeah. I had a job when I first got here, but they got tired of me never registering. It's fine, though. I like this more. It's how I got by back home.

Somewhere in the vicinity of Nonah 006

[renamaer]

[Since Estelle had spent most of her life living in a castle and now - well, before ending up here, at any rate - lived in a village whose defining feature was an ever-flowering tree, she wasn't quite used to the slightly more urban environment she'd suddenly found herself in. She adapted quickly, but she did miss seeing flowers and plants as more than an afterthought, scattered along carefully manicured uniform green lawns, or confined to isolated islands or pots along the streets. So she definitely notices the first time she takes a slightly different route home from work in an attempt to try something new and comes upon a profusion of riotous color, the scents almost heady in the evening air.

She breathes in deeply and sighs contentedly. This wasn't a park, but a residential area, wasn't it? So was one of the inhabitants here responsible for such a lovely garden?

She's in a hurry that day, but she finds herself walking by more and more often, at various times of the day when her schedule allows, hoping to catch the gardener outside at some point. But after a few days with no luck, she's determined; if they didn't happen to be outside, she was going to knock on the door and ask.]

[23wishes]

[The knock on the door is timed well with Aerith stepping out into the yard, and she nearly steps out right into Estelle, thanks to her arms being full of stacked baskets and a watering can. It teeters unsteadily when she stops on a dime.]

Oh! Hello!

[She sets the mess of stuff down on the stoop and smiles apologetically at the other girl.]

I'm so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going.

[Then, after a pause:]

Were you looking for someone?

[ooc: hi! i'm super sorry for letting this tag sit so long. real life happened a lot.]

[renamaer]

[[OOC: No worries, I'm fine with threading for as long as you want to!]]

Ah-! [Okay it looks like nothing is going to fall over, what a relief.] S-sorry about that, I didn't mean to get in your way.

I suppose I am. [Looking out at the yard, and then at all the gardening supplies:] I think I might have found her though. Are you the one responsible for the lovely garden here?

Selling flowers at Nonah!

[andtherevolution]

[Utena walks down the street, her hands stuffed in her jean shorts, lost in her own thoughts. She barely notices Aerith at all - at least, not until she hears her voice.]

Who, me? I...

[She stops midsentence, and her eyes light up with recognition]

Hey! You're...

[She pauses, and she scratches the back of her head as she offers Aerith a sheepish smile]

I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got your name.

[She's seen her around the neighborhood, mostly on the way to work or to the Porter, but they never really made a proper introduction]

[23wishes]

Yes, you. I don't see anyone else around, after all.

[Aerith also pauses after that, trying to place the girl. Hasn't she seen her around Nonah lately? She must be one of the new arrivals. She would've noticed hair like that if she'd been in the neighborhood longer.]

Oh! I know you. I'm Aerith Gainsborough, of Nonah 06.

[ooc: i'm sorry about letting this tag sit in my inbox so long! real life got stressful. i totally get it if you don't want to continue it this late.]