2017-07-08: Red Haired Girl With Ice Cream
- Log: Red Haired Girl With Ice Cream
- Cast: Elhaym van Houten, Fei Fong Wong
- Where: Lacour - Market
- Date: 2017-07-08
- Summary: Elly and Fei have some cute moments.
=========================<* Lacour - Arms Coliseum *>========================= Situated immediately adjacent to Lacour Castle, the Arms Coliseum is a temple to the pursuit of perfection in physical prowess. Built more than three centuries ago by King Etienne I, the Coliseum is laid over with ancient Symbols that blunt weapons and protect combatants on the brink of death, allowing competitors to fight to the best of their ability without fear of killing their opponents. The Coliseum is the site of the annual Lacour Tournament of Arms, a competition that fuels the spirit of martial artists and weapons merchants both. The Tournament is a spectacle that draws visitors and competitors from across Filgaia, and is the major event on the continent while it is running. A series of smaller tournaments are organized throughout the year; entering as a combatant is free of charge, but spectators pay a nominal fee that nonetheless provides a significant boost to Lacour's coffers. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s8YkgEYlvY
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly...
Is in Lacour only briefly. She had to stay overnight because of some details that Fei probably is specifically prevented from knowing due to military secrecy.
She dressed up differently, on the off chance that people would spot her out from Adelhyde. Her hair is worn up, wrapped in colored ribbons. She put on enough perfume that it is going to cause Loren problems for the next week. She has a pair of riding breeches and a laced-up top on. She does not look at all like Miss Elly from Adelhyde from behind, or even, really, from the front, unless you look at her face dead on...
... But, you know, you can always tell when you really know someone. Right now she's walking down a street.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Well it's not like Fei knows why 90 percent of the things that happen in this world happen so not knowing why Elly is in Lacour is hardly unusual especially since they're not exactly on the same side on the war. Of course, that might not really matter to Fei in the first place.
He recently 'blacked out' while in battle against the Metal Demons and he's been feeling fairly down about that especially since, for a time, he wasn't sure if his friend Lily Keil was even ALIVE afterwards. Luckily, he's received a host of good news as of late. Lily is alive, the demons were kicked out of the mines and he was able to pass on some important info to Bart. Maybe he can do a heist soon.
Other than that he's been lurking around Lacour. Recently, Lunata was in some sort of 'suicide off' with someone in their tournament battle and Fei left because it was getting too intense for him. He makes his way through Lacour towards the inn through the marketplace and he sees Elly.
But the method of dress is so unusual that he has to do a full on triple take.
IS it her? Normally he'd be confident, but he's not so sure on his sanity right now. He has a replacement sketchbook under his arm.
Guess he's going to have to employ elite spy work here.
He approaches Elly, looking away and super nonchalant. As he gets near he says, "Hey Elly," casually. "Do you wear your hair up often?"
SUPER SPYWORK. Will Elly fall for the TRAP??
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
ULTRA SUCCESS
Elly jumps up hard enough that she actually loses one of her shoes, which were pretty open slipper-types to begin with. Whirling around she looks at Fei with wide blue eyes, completely astonished as she ends up staggering to the side due to this shoe-loss, the upstyled hair whacking the brick wall.
The ribbons unlace slightly.
Her hair obeys gravity and falls partway loose, into her face.
"Fei," she says, finally, even as she feels a sick desire to smile - which she actually indulges. It looks like it took a little effort, although she is uneased enough that doesn't break into laughter.
"-- N, no I don't," she finally answers, before raising her hand up to cover her mouth.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
ULTRA SUCCESS!
Fei Fong Wong is relieved on numerous levels, including that he isn't 'just seeing things'. He says, "I was worried. The last time I saw you was Adelhyde." Oh. Yeah. Uh. That would probably be cause to worry, wouldn't it? "But hey!" He grins. "You're okay. That's great!" He pauses for a moment, noticing that something seems off. "You--are okay, right? Aw, geeze, maybe I shouldn't have assumed..." He rubs at his forehead with his index and middle finger as if still working off a headache. He catches up that maybe he was a little TOO spy and adds, "Sorry if I startled you. It's been kind of--wild--the past few weeks." He ducks down to help Elly with the shoe she lost for want of something quasi-helpful to do with his hands.
"Are you busy right now?" He asks, setting down his sketchbook for a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"No - no, I'm fine," Elly says, and this time she does laugh. "Um - ah - perhaps we shouldn't... stand in the road..." Elly seems to be giving up on the hairstyle, unwrapping the ribbon and shaking it out. She looks, then, for her shoe--
Of course then Fei picks up the shoe. Slipper moment??
Somewhat.
Elly seems to appreciate the help, based on her smile.
"Not... very... I'm honestly shocked to see you here. Are you, ah, here to watch the tournament?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei laughs a bit awkwardly as Elly says that. He doesn't blame her in the slightest. "Well, the Yggdrassil Crew were helping out with an excavation and the Metal Demons attacked. Some poor kid ended up bonded to some sort of super-gear. I'm pretty, uh, concerned about it. She left for Lacour in some sort of trance for a while so some of us followed her into the city and she signed up for the tournament so I ended up signing up too to look after her." He frowns. "But I think it's a bit above my head. It was so sudden..."
He trails off. "Anyway, I stepped away because I needed to cool off, but I'll probably suggest to her to, uh, maybe not sell shards of her soul or whatever that was to help her win a tournament."
He pauses. "I was worried at first," He adds. "But honestly, everyone in the tournament is really strong so it's kind of different than fighting on a battlefield, I think." Besides he has to get used to it, he has like 3 canon fighting tournaments in his game. "I guess you're just passing through?" He adds. He hasn't seen her watching other matches yet so he assumes she's here on other business.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Well, Elly thinks to herself, the Captain of that Pirate organization must not talk much about operational security. She blinks a couple of times. "Oh - Goodness. So you're looking for her? ... I wish I could help you more, but..."
Elly glances to the side as she pulls herself fully upright and tosses her hair out so it rests more neatly. "... It's probably better if you find her yourself." A beat passes. "What? Shards of her souls?"
She nods at the question. But then she says, "It's good... that I ran into you, actually. Um. Despite everything. Can we..."
She looks over towards a small place which, improbably, is offering FIZZY SODAS and... ICE-CREAM? But how?! (Symbology is how.)
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei hasn't gotten any talks about operational security actually. It's been hinted that maybe he shouldn't invite people onto the boat without asking Bart first. That's about it and, let's be real, halfway through disk 1 and he probably won't even do that. He nods to Elly's summation. "I think? I wasn't really sure what was going on. That's why I kind of started walking to clear my head." He had a feeling he'd either put his foot in his mouth or say something he'd regret if he talked to Lunata right after the match. And to be fair, he probably would have. And he still might!
He looks towards The Lacour Fountain when Elly directs his attention that-a-way. He is briefly confused. Ice Cream? What is it? How does it exist here? But he remembers after a moment. "--Yeah! Sure. Let's do it." Ice cream is probably fairly 'cool' after all.
He starts walking on over that-a-way. He seems to be doing better. He gabs as he walks, "I haven't been to this place before. Do they have places like this where you're from?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Inside the place is, surprisingly enough, pretty empty. There are glass fronted cases but they look pretty empty. A sign on the counter says:
L@@K for SWEET TREATS and COOL PHOSPHATES at the LACOUR COLISEUM!
The @'s are actually cute googly eyes.
There is a guy in a white shirt sitting on a stool and dozing in the heat, towards the corner. He isn't awake enough to notice the destroyers of civilization coming in.
"... Something like that," Elly says. "And in Bledavik they have all sorts of ways to get around the weather. It's really clever... but you know what's very strange? It actually gets incredibly chilly at night..."
"Anyway," Elly says, looking away from Fei, "It's... actually kind of a stroke of good luck that I ran into you..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Civilization Destroyer Fei says, "Phosphate? Like the acid? Huh. That's new." Fei doesn't seem to know exactly how the term is being used here so he'll probably aim for something a bit more traditional. He doesn't exactly go out and get NORMAL ice cream either all that often since 'money' is something he's only recently had to deal with and, no, he doesn't have much of that. Gear Frame Upgrades are expensive!
"Oh, haha, Bledavik, yeah." Ha ha ha not working for the secret prince of Aveh nope. "But...really? In the desert, even? That IS weird."
He stalls as they get close to the dozing gentleman. He looks back to Elly. Is she--going to ask him to go back to being arrested? He doesn't think he can do that again. For one, prison did kind of suck and for another, Bart would probably break him out again.
"What's the matter?" He asks, sensing it's not about the ice cream.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"It's because all the heat escapes at night," Elly explains. "I mean, it's a little more complicated than that... but that's the basic theory. All that rock from the mountain holds it a little longer..."
Anyway, Elly is not attempting to arrest Fei, it seems. She's actually rummaging in a hip bag that had not been incredibly obvious up til now. "Anyway, um - if you want a drink then we can ask, but I didn't..."
Her hand rests on something. She looks up now, her hair still somewhat messy from its recent release. "I didn't want to delay this any more. Before you were... ...um..."
"Before everything, recently," Elly starts over, glancing away. "You remember that you asked me to hold on to something for you, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I'll probably just get the ice cream," Fei says. "I did enough drinking over the past week." He rubs at his forehead briefly, still remembering the god-awful migraines he had to nurse afterwards, but Elly has information about Bledavik! Fei has never actually been to Bledavik.
He says, "Huh." at that. "You know your stuff." He isn't about to poke the salesperson while Elly seems to have something important to say, though, so he turns himself around so he can face Elly properly without having to leave the 'line'.
At first it doesn't seem like he knows what Elly's talking about but he quickly remembers. "Ah! The sketchbook!" Now it's his time to start glancing away awkwardly! "Did you really keep it?" He didn't think he'd ever get it back so he had to get a new one. Of course he would have had to get a new one by now anyway just from page count but that's neither here nor there. "Actually uh, I guess--I should probably apologize for not, uh, staying in the--you know. I hope it didn't cause you trouble."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly laughs a little at Fei's passing praise.
The line is the two of them so at least it's easy.
"... Yes," Elly says, drawing it out. It looks... slightly more battered but it hasn't had any blood or tequila spilled on it. "And..."
Elly takes a deep breath. "No," she says, "it didn't cause me trouble. I don't... Is it alright if we don't talk about that right now?" Her eyes meet Fei's, then turn away again. Inwardly she feels a curl of guilt, but she pushes through it. "I do have something to confess, though, about it."
- Got 'Sketchbook 1' back!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong says, "Oh--sorry," to Elly. He takes the sketchbook back.
- Sketchbook 1 - Full of sketches! Some are kind of embarrassing though. Thank God Elly didn't look through it!
"We don't have to talk about it, but if you've got something to confess, I'll hear you out. Oh but--"
He gestures to the menu. "What's your favorite ice cream? I'm going to try..." He takes a long look over. "The coconut one sounds interesting. I wonder if they use the milk or something..."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh - just that I hope you wouldn't be angry that I flipped, um, to a couple of pages," Elly says. "I also tried to draw a little on one of the blank pages, towards the back..."
- Elly totally looked through it.
Elly laughs, weakly. "... No," she says. "I suppose I owe you for, um. For. What you did..."
Then she looks at the range of ice cream. "Oh! I don't know - what do you think would be good?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
- oh god..!!
Fei says, "Ah, well... it's a bit embarrassing, but I don't mind!" If he said he minded he'd feel like an asshole so there's no way he's going to do that. Besides it's not like it's Bart taking a look! "I mean, I know I'm not, uh, professional or anything I just have been doing them to get by between digs." He starts going through the pages and grimaces at his older work. He's definitely gotten more practice since then, he thinks. It's kind of startling to take a look afterwards.
"Owe me?" He is perplexed, he's not sure what Elly is referring to but maybe he shouldn't worry about it too much. Instead of fretting, he looks back towards the menu and considers what Elly would like.
"Well I'm getting coconut but you might like the maple walnut or the butter pecan if you want one that's really sweet. It sounds pretty sweet, anyway." He kind of leans in as he says it, perhaps in an attempt to subtly wake up the vendor.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
It's actually hard to spot exactly where Elly tried to draw, but there are a few places here and there where spaces Fei might vaguely remember have been filled in. Elly is not drawing stick figures but her still life attempts are weird. Distorted, but not in an unpleasant or ugly way.
"Well... I mean... you were in S - In that Gear, weren't you?" Elly says, before the menu is examined and Elly is given a choice between Hoobloo Wagglethorp and Butter Myonomer. (Elly doesn't know shit about trees.)
"Sweet sounds nice," Elly says - "Can they get a little of both - oh!"
Because the guy behind the counter just leapt to his feet, hands raised up! There are blue script marks on the inside of his arms, and there is a momentary tension in the air--
Which actually lowers the temperature by like five degrees. Nice!
He relaxes. "Oh. Uh... It's the heat, sorry about that. Welcome to our shop, can I make you one of our refreshing cold fizzes?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"The people here are really friendly, they'll probably be okay with it." Fei reasons. They might charge more.
Elly mentions the fairgrounds. Fei was trying not to think about it, exactly, because it was a particularly stressful time but now that he's forced to think about it, he does. He remembers the demons, the fire, the Storm Fist, the... grossnados. Fei's fingers on his right hand curl slightly inward. Cowrynt. White Knight Leo. Althena. They're not just people out to stop Gebler. He could understsand THAT even if he's not especially happy with how they struck at Elly...but to hear Hiro speak of it, they're harassing another girl with a ridiculous bounty and slandering her with this nonsense of her being 'The Destroyer'. Yes, Fei hasn't met Lucia before but, well, to be honest--it does feel pretty legit that a religion would do this all the same. Particularly with how they preach.
"Corwynt." Fei murmurs quietly to himself. "The Storm Fist and his master White Knight Leo."
It was an incredibly chaotic scene but Fei remembers those hyper-attuned moments perfectly.
"...I went a little wild, I guess. I didn't like how he was treating you." He looks away. "I couldn't really stand it." He might have siad more but then the guy WAKES UP and Fei jolts slightly.
"Oh!" He says. "Yeah, yeah yeah." He clears his throat lightly. "I was hoping to get a coconut ice cream and--" Oh she might be here incognito like he is so he holds back from using Elly. "--And we were wondering, can she get a mix of the butter pecan and the walnut maple?"
Whew, close one!!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's cheeks color and she looks aside, saying with a sort of quiet but heart-feltness, "Oh... Nobody.."
She picks the thought up, skipping a few words. Maybe she can't bring herself to say them. "... Thank you..."
Elly doesn't chime in when Fei introduces the topic, but she's taken a few breaths and recovered by the time the clerk comprehends Fei.
"Oh... Uh... Sure, like... a double? Or just a half and half? I think... yeah, that's 2G extra... Do you want cones or bowls?"
This man is not just a symbologist... he may also be a herbalist.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei isn't going to make Elly say anything. "Um, sorry about your ribbons by the way. It must have taken a while to fix up like that--"
But then the clerk asks him a question. "Oh! Half and half, I think." He looks to Elly. "Half and half? I was going to do a cone." Cones are scientifically proven to be more fun than cups, however--they are also more precarious!! "Cones. That's uh, the extra gella's fine." Wow only two extra gella, he thinks, that's actually a pretty good deal! He presumes. Because the economy isn't super defined. But compared to the cost of gear maintenance and meals, it's actually coming off as pretty reasonable to him.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh - well, I can fix it up later," Elly says with a laugh. "It's actually kind of fun to do."
Then Elly considers... and says, "I'll do a cone too, then." Score one for Fei.
The ice cream man starts to do his thing. As this goes on, Elly says, "... So... You were participating in the tournament? I hope it's going well. I don't really have the stomach for watching them or I'd try to cheer you on..."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
SCORE.
Fei Fong Wong pays the man which is fine because he's feeling confident in his next match! Also because he's learned that if he just runs into a ruin and have an awful time he can make some money so he doesn't have to fret too much on conserving cash.
"It's better than the battlefield," He says. "But I've had to walk out a few times when it got to be too much myself." Then why do you keep going to the matches, Fei?? He doesn't answer that imaginary query there. Sometimes Fei puts himself in distressing situations even though he should know better perhaps because maybe he doesn't actually know better.
"I lost my match against this guy named Fargo. Was close!" He says. "I asked him if he recognized the style I used but he said he didn't." He shakes his head. "To be honest I was surprised he lost his second match. I did do well in my second one though." Guess not everybody in the tournament is ridiculously strong, he thinks. "But uh--yeah, it's okay. You don't have to. I'm not exactly swinging for the top."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
That's right, Fei! You can make money through suffering. In fact, money IS suffering. Someone's suffering...
The ice cream is passed forwards, and Elly holds it carefully. The ice cream man explains helpfully, "You should start licking it," and Elly seems to hesitate to do so for a moment.
It's definitely cold, though. "Oh - It does seem like it's concentrating the strongest techniques," Elly says, "but I mean... nothing can be perfect, right? Even if you develop, I don't... I don't really know, the strongest kicks, then you could still be beaten by someone with a weapon, or who can jump well, right?"
The ice cream threatens to drip onto her hand and so Elly actually does lean her head in to lick it. This gives her her first taste of maple walnut: "! Oh, you weren't kidding, it's really sweet... Then you just entered it for the sake of Lunata?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei takes one of his own. "huh?" He asks. "Oh, right. Huh. You don't just bite it." He pauses. "Though I suppose you could." His would be easier to just lick through since it doesn't have filling, just the ice cream! He licks the side of it. It's a QTE event and he has to reload the save at least once but he manages to neither knock the ice cream over or have it drip all over his clothes. Some does get on his hand though. He endures this.
Elly PRESSES the matter of his true reasons for entering the tournament. Truth is, Fei isn't entirely sure so it's hard to be wholly honest about it. He says, thoughtfully, "I guess... I thought it'd be nice if I got better at control.... But I just sort of ended up swept in it regardless."
He nods to Elly and says, "That's true though." He smiles. It's not even brief. It lingers. When Elly says 'it's really sweet', there's a spark somehow. "The coconut's not bad either. You want to sit down or walk?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Which do you want to do?" Elly asks.
Then she licks along the cone again. Her own, of course; she is not that forward. This happens a couple of times, but she's threatening to erode the base and get ice cream on the front of her blouse.
"... I don't know if I have a lot to say... I've never really had conversations like this before... um... Do you want my opinion of the, uhm, the stuff that I looked at?" She isn't even trying to arrest him again! Maybe she's on vacation or something.
Fei Fong Wong's last pose:
Fei takes one of his own. "huh?" He asks. "Oh, right. Huh. You don't just bite it." He pauses. "Though I suppose you could." His would be easier to just lick through since it doesn't have filling, just the ice cream! He licks the side of it. It's a QTE event and he has to reload the save at least once but he manages to neither knock the ice cream over or have it drip all over his clothes. Some does get on his hand though. He endures this.
Elly PRESSES the matter of his true reasons for entering the tournament. Truth is, Fei isn't entirely sure so it's hard to be wholly honest about it. He says, thoughtfully, "I guess... I thought it'd be nice if I got better at control.... But I just sort of ended up swept in it regardless."
He nods to Elly and says, "That's true though." He smiles. It's not even brief. It lingers. When Elly says 'it's really sweet', there's a spark somehow. "The coconut's not bad either. You want to sit down or walk?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
What does he want to do?
Elly, please. Please, stay with us--we're almost through with this. We'll finish Mother yet. Guardians, just....just stay with us!
Fei rubs at his forehead. Red, he thinks, then he discards that thought. What he wants is for her to not bleed to death in front of him. "I want to stop them, the metal demons, before they do something like Adelhyde again. They'll do something worse if they can manage it."
He pauses, realizing it was a different sort of question. "Oh uh--" He reddens. "I mean, yeah, let's walk. You can get a look around town. You don't normally get to spend much time here, right? Right."
He pushes the door open, trying to banish that memory out of his mind but like most traumatic memories, it's hard to ignore. Sometimes the littlest things set those off.
"The stuff--Oh! Uh, the art? Yeah, sure!" He's beat red by this point. "It needs a lot of work, I know, but I've been practicing--I had, uh, more time so--"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly licks her ice cream cone. "Sure," she says. Then, murmuring, "This other one's good too..."
Ah good she's licking the other side. This is probably a relief. Taking a deep breath as they exit the shop, Elly reaches up to push some of her hair out of the way where the breeze would hit it. She looks off into the distance and says, "I suppose there's always room to improve... but you shouldn't be hard on yourself. You're very talented..."
Elly seems to be considering matters as she takes a couple more licks of the cone.
"Your nature drawings were really amazing... For a moment I thought you'd... ah, used something to just get that picture of a nutfinch onto the page. Was it - was it one that you found, or trapped? You really had a thorough look at it. Um, hm..."
"I was really puzzled by that page that you used as a, what do you call it, a color tester? Until I figured out why there were just all those dots and strips there. I suppose you didn't use the sketchbook to work with paints..."
Lick, lick. Her lips purse. Actually they are kind of miscolored now thanks to ICE CREAM. She may have to get out a hanky shortly.
"But, um. I admit I was a little..."
Her cheeks color. "I was surprised at the... The studies. So many of them were just so vivid..." Those people are dead now, Elly thinks, with one notable exception (other than Fei himself), so perhaps I shouldn't linger here. The shadow over her face moves on, like a cloud moving past a field.
"And... well... I really..."
She half-covers her mouth again. "I liked how you drew my hair -- but that one with the little arrows - did, did you really watch that closely?? I hardly ever thought about how it moves when I jump up and down, you know??"
She's letting her guard down. This is different; what a shift in three or four or five encounters! It might seem strange, except perhaps it's the exact opposite.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I've considered trying crafts. I mean I did a little bit, made a felt hat for this stuffed fox. It took me forever, though, since it was my first time." Maybe he doesn't have a strong self preservation instinct, because there is the clear backdrop behind everything and one day their respective forces are bound to clash, but it's hard to care about that right now. Bart said he couldn't turn away from the world if he saw someone in danger, but that doesn't mean he has to give the world everything, does it? It's okay to be a little selfish. There's a faint glimmer of someone speaking in such a vein long ago but it's gone almost as soon as he starts thinking of it.
Fei doesn't mention that his nature drawings are probably good because he had to do a loooot of camping before he could afford rooms at inns or more accurately, the Yggdrasill and sometimes an inn. "Early on while I hadn't quite figured out hunting yet, I got a worm out from the ground and put it in a small trap. It captured the nutfinch but it was really too small to eat but I got a lot look at it so I thought I'd sketch it and maybe sell it butnever found a buyer." Fei explains. "Fei Fong Wong spent a lot of time on his Elly sketch. He never felt he could get it quite right. I uh, I got REALLY good at wolves." He shudders a bit. The wolves. He'll never forget the wolves. Hopefully fate will never make him eat a wolf again.
He quietly offers Elly a napkin. Fei doesn't want to talk about how they're all dead so instead he says, "I didn't do much art of the people I met, back when I lived in Lahan. I've only started doing it since reaching Adelhyde so--I think I have a clear memory of them, but it might not be exactly right. Oh uh--Dan's pretty spot on." He flips the book open to the Dan page. "That's Dan! I wonder what he's up to. He uh, he is not fond of me..." He doesn't want to get further into it so he banks back a bit and adds, "But he's actually a pretty decent martial artist. He can do some basic chi manipulation too."
He looks back to Elly, relieved when the conversation turns.
"Ah I know it's not--" He begins, but Elly's complimenting it. "--Oh. Haha, well, actually I'm not sure I ever got it quite right. I did my best though." He flips to that page to remind himself, but he doesn't really need the reminder. It burns in his mind.
He just wanted to keep painting forever.
Drawing, that is, Fei corrects himself.
"It was before I was working on dynamism--so, ah, it is as close I could make it." Fei manages. It's hard for Fei to drop his guard but he's relaxing it gradually as he talks about the art.
"I'm uh, I'm glad you like it. How I did the hair."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly takes the napkin and presses it to her lips, with a quiet, "Thank you."
After a moment, she says, "Oh - I thought these were... Oh my goodness, you must do so much drawing!" If he filled up a sketchbook that quickly anyway, even if the nutfinch was in fact later on. She then looks down at
shit
Elly blanches at the sight of Dan but the details aren't immediately clear.
don't tell him don't tell him they're using him for intelligence don't tell him, Elly thinks, and then she says, "Oh - yes, he's got a - I mean, he's got a fierce expression. I think I saw an old statue once with the same kind of face." She then takes a couple of licks off the cone as she muses.
Dynamism. His art's still improving. "... You're just not satisfied with it? That's - You're already so talented... But you're not giving up or resting on things, even with your life as difficult as it is?"
Some part of Elly feels guilty here. Dirty. This is worse than the worst that Kahm had even implied she should do.
But, she tells herself, father protected my real mother. I can do the same for him. That man in green will just use him up for his agenda, whatever it may be.
"What's really astonished me is that you did that without - I mean, you were doing it all from memory. I suppose everyone else, you were able to study them closely, but we were only running around in a dark forest."
A bench looms ahead of them. Nobody's using it other than a stray finch. (Not the same one. PROBABLY.)
"I can't stay for long," Elly says, "but if you want, I could sit for a little while. I hope that doesn't sound forward of me..."
Of course she is now well on her way to polishing off the ice cream cone and seems to be getting into the rhythm of eating them, which means soon she'll be kind of slurping on the top, so it's really a question of how one defines 'forward'.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
To be honest, Elly's reaction to Dan is pretty much most people's first reaction to Dan. Fei doesn't think twice about it. Naturally, he also has even less of a clue that Elly is considering turning him into a butler. Fei does know a butler now. He could take lessons in butlering.
He's taking time with his cone. Maybe thinks once it's gone, it'll be back to the old sourness of life. Or he's just a bit too flustered to properly focus on eating quickly. He had less ice cream than Elly, so he's not that far behind, but he takes his time.
'Well Elly, I saw you dying in front of me several times since then in my head, so I actually know how you look like pretty well!'
It's not something Fei says because he doesn't want Elly to know he's that fucked up. Maybe he isn't a psychopath but he definitely has some kind of mental disorder, he's sure of it. Cecilia confirmed that what he saw wasn't like her visions. At least, that's how he understood her quick little answer.
"I saw them every day for three years. It was a small town," Fei says. "Everybody knew everybody. I wouldn't say there was no trouble," There was the incident with Barney the Pig after all. "But it wasn't anything like I've run into now. I guess it couldn't last forever. They--"
He trails off. He thinks about Hiro's words. "Hiro said there was something called 'Malevolence' infesting the ruins. More than that, but someone--nggh--got ahold of the villagers for some experiments afterwards. Tortured, killed. I don't know the details. Maybe Hiro didn't know them either."
He sighs lightly, staring ahead and looking at Lacour on fire. It isn't, but he still sees the flames as if it were. He expects it so strongly.
"You made a strong impression." Fei quips to get away from that and to answer Elly's other comment. It's true, of course, but he doesn't go into detail on his feelings. He's just not sure HOW, even disregarding consideration as to whether it's a good idea or not. "I did see you other times, too." He backpedals, a bit.
He shakes his head, "Not at all. I--kind of figured you wouldn't be here long. I'm glad you brought my sketchbook back, though." He smiles, sitting down on a public bench. His foot taps lightly since he hasn't quite fully chilled out yet but he turns back and adds, "Do you want it?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's cheeks color, even as she settles down on the bench.
"... I..."
Her eyes close for a moment. There is a sense of a decision being made.
"... I've encountered some... of those people, who were experimented upon. They were taken to safety. I didn't recognize any faces from the portraits you drew."
And with that Elly exhales with great force. (Inwardly she feels moderately disgusting. It was bait. But perhaps she can make it up to him later.) She crosses her legs at the ankles as she settles back, giving the ice cream cone its first good slurp and getting BOTH FLAVORS AT ONCE. The taste is nice. Maple Walnut and Butter Pecan, she thinks. It's nice.
She looks back to Fei. "... The sketchbook? But it's yours. I didn't want to keep it... I - I just enjoyed looking at your work when I had an odd moment here or there, and it was just good luck I ran into you," she says, and this at least has no mendacity or prevarication in it.
"I was wondering if you wanted to draw me now that I could sit still for five minutes!" Elly says with a smile then. "But I understand if you're not in the mood. I'm just... Glad I ran into you again..."
With that she trails off, looking away into the crowd. The ice cream diminishes, perilously.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong wrinkles his nose faintly. This seems to suggest that maybe Hiro might have been mistaken? Or maybe Elly and Hiro simply both found different groups of people who were tortured and slain. Gosh, he thinks a moment later, which one of these things are the worst scenario? That the village of Lahan suffered more? Or that villages being torn asunder horribly by--whatever!--is such a frequent occurance that folks are having a hard time keeping track of which settlement was eradicated when. Luckily, you can only lose SAN so much from one event or creature so Fei is just kind of accustomed to hearing about awful things about Lahan or other associated villages. "Well," He says. "That's a relief," He says. "That they're safe now." Look even if they're in a distopia where they have to eat human flesh and get thrown into a pit if they misbehave, it's still better than being tortured or eaten by monsters or whatever.
"I meant your sketch," Fei clarifies. He's probably going to draw another one and maybe she'll keep drawing herself if she has a reminder. That'd be nice, he thinks, she seems to be quite good at critiquing at least. She might turn out to be pretty good if she works on it. "I mean if I--"
Oh, Elly is actually asking him to draw him again. If he says no, he realizes, she'll leave when she's done with the ice cream, maybe with some small chatter first. But if he draws her, she'll stick around a bit. The feeling, there, is familiar, but sad.
Not entirely a bad sad, though. It's a kind of sadness that makes Fei feel a little less empty. He wants to say 'let's be cowards and run. We don't have to fight. There are other villages. It can be a simple and enjoyable life. We can run to the end of the world where seekers of power will never think to look. Who says we have to be the brave ones?'
But it's just a dream. Reality is much more complicated. Elly has family, doesn't she? She must have.
He says, "You know," instead. "That idea isn't half bad. If you still want one, you can pick out either you'd like."
He rummages through his bag, setting aside the old sketchpad to take out the new one. He is about halfway through that one. He must have been doing a lot of sketches. (He did. And didn't even get paid for them). He draws out the pencils he knows he'll need without even having to look at them. "But I'm warning you, I'm including the cone and you know--"
He trails off, but then pushes himself forward. "I'm glad too."
Despite all those sad thoughts, he actually feels quite the opposite.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"O-oh," Elly says, raising her hand to her mouth. She misread him.
Am I really going to be able to do this?! she thinks to herself. But...
"Well... If you're really alright with me taking one home with me," Elly says.
That could work, she thinks; it's an example of his skill. The idea that people will think it is vain if they find pictures of her drawn by random lambs is not something that will occur to her for a while - until, of course, it's too late.
"Oh - well, that's fine," Elly says as she raises the ice cream to her mouth. "I have to finish it anyway, or it'll melt. Will that get in the way?"
Either way, though - she sits and she looks off into the crowd and she smiles seven times exactly throughout Fei's process.
And from there she'll take her sketch and she'll walk off into nothing and maybe she'll never be seen again.
(Oh, no: this isn't over yet in the slightest.)