2017-08-02: Ice Cream and Golems

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<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

As much as it might make people at its feet scatter in confusion and awe, Big Shal's procession down the streets of Lacour is not exactly a destructive one, nor even particularly fast. The golem isn't exactly a full-size Gear, standing only about two-and-a-half-Lunies tall, and as such it isn't as if it's about to accidentally stomp on anyone; in fact, it moves carefully, ensuring that it doesn't bump into stalls or overhangs and occasionally stopping to cautiously move branches of nearby trees out of the way so that they don't catch any of the riders perched on its scaffolding.

In a show of trust, the pink-haired mechanic has actually relinquished control of the golem to Dean - in as much as she ever has any beyond asking Big Shal politely - and she and Lunata are instead accompanying the golem on the Little Dipper, a vehicle that looks for all the world like a scooter.

You know, if scooters floated unnaturally in the air on a bed of white-glowing panels of metal.

Shalune's control over the vehicle is rather better than Lunata's at present; she nimbly drifts to one side to avoid a flagpole on the side of one of the hotels, then ducks under the next before drawing back alongside Dean, pride written on her face. "Ehehe. So what d'you think?" she asks of the kid, before throwing a bright and pleased smile at Lunata for good measure, obviously pleased for the innocent scene. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The Lunie is a height unit of measure that is precisely 5 feet and 2 inches, or otherwise, 157.48 centimetres, which are both units of measurement that don't exist on Filgaia. It is roughly 1.527556 sharls, however, since that is a unit of measurement.

Lunata perks up as she holds onto Shalune's shoulder and giggles to say, "Wow, it looks great! Big Shal looks so happy too..." and Lunata herself is also happy to be on Little Dipper, of course. Perhaps even moreso than Big Shal, the way it scoots about rather than lumbers. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

Even in Lacour -- which has become a bit of a hub for Drifters lately what with the ongoing tournament and everything, which just means that general weirdness is the new normal these days -- the mini-golem gets stares, mixtures of awe, confusion, and awed confusion.

But while Dean is having the best day of his life, his friends aren't there.

This is because Avril and Rebecca are getting ice cream.

Rebecca makes an irritated noise. "...Where is he already? If he doesn't hurry, it's going to sell out!"

She, naturally, already has her own cone.

"Perhaps we should go and look for him?" Avril asks.

"But if we do that, someone will take the table!" The quite hard-won table, particularly for a city mid-tournament. "--Hey, why don't you go look for him? I'll stay here just in case he turns up. Ugh, of all the times to go missing..."

And that, then, is the background for Avril's current mission: find Dean and bring him back before the stand runs out of ice cream.

It admittedly takes her about ten minutes to find where he's gone, enabled largely by the fact that he's riding a golem right now.

So suddenly, Avril is here, towards the front of the crowd that's gathered. Craning her head, Avril stares up at the golem as it slowly trundles close to her. "Oh, Dean, there you are. You certainly look you're having fun," she says, a slight but no-less-pleased smile on her lips.

In her right hand she holds an ice cream cone. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

"YEAAAAAAAH!! WOOHOOOOOOO!! GO, BIG SHAAAAAAAAL!!"

And so on and so forth. Dean Stark, simple country boy from simple country village Capo Bronco, is having the time of his *life*. As much as he loves golems, he's never actually seen one up close before, and now not only has he seen a whole and working one, he got to *ride* it?? BEST. DAY. EVER. Big Shal might be smaller and slower than your average Gear, meaning the trip down Lacour's streets wasn't even that heart-pounding, but that doesn't matter to him in the slightest. It's a rush all the same.

Shalune and Lunata, meanwhile, are floating alongside Big Shal by way of airscooter (hoverboard?). Shalune asks him what he thinks; he rounds on her, all bright-eyed smiles, and gushes, "It's GREAT!! Big Shal is so sturdy! She's so cool!!" He beams at Lunata when she weighs in. "Right?? Who wouldn't be having fun right now?! Right, Big Shal?"

Whatever Big Shal has to say about the situation, Dean gets promptly distracted (again)--this time by the sight of his friend cutting throw the crowds. He's already lit up, but whatever reaches of his soul that weren't already glowing luminously light up some more at the sight of her. "Oh hey, Avril!" he calls, waving to her. "Yeah, I'm having a great time!! Shalune and Lunata here introduced me to Big Shal here and Big Shal was nice enough to give me a ride!" He points down at the blonde, looking over at the hoverLunies. "That's my friend, Avril! She's really--" He pauses. He turns and peers down at the thing in her hand. "...Is that ice cream??" 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Shalune's smile is bright, but at the same time ever so slightly dented with a bashful sort of embarrassment for Big Shal's sake, the mechanic rubbing at her hair again with another of those sheepish grins. "A-awww... um, you wouldn't know to look at it, but she's kinda not very sturdy at all," she admits, feeling like keeping the truth hidden would be a disservice to a smile that bright. "I mean, you can't see it, but the pot keeps repairing all her bits over and over, otherwise the friction just sort of starts shaking her all up whenever she tries to run..." If she feels a little awkward, maybe it's that she doesn't quite know how to deal with a torrent of compliments from someone she doesn't yet know well - but she bobs pleasantly regardless, at least thankful for the warm reception.

"Oh--" she blurts towards the girl at her back as she suddenly weaves above an awning, rocking her weight; she perks up a little, glancing back to show Lunata the way she sets her feet apart and shifts the bulk of her body to coax the craft to climb. "--like this, see? This is what I was talkin' about when you were trying to fly it. It's like a horse rearing up or something, y'know?"

The brief climb nearly makes her miss Avril's appearance at the side of the road - but even if she hadn't spotted the odd girl in green, the way that Big Shal stops would certainly have drawn her attention in that direction. You can't call it abrupt because the golem isn't going fast enough for an adjective like that, but it does pause in its walk through town. Big Shal has nothing to say about the situation - it doesn't have anything to say at all until Shalune manages to figure out how voice boxes work, and even then it would somehow dispel the magic - but it does seem to study the girl silently--

--and then tilt its head in a bow? 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata laughs in turn at Dean's excited shouting, nodding as she thinks back to how Shalune was around the first machines she found when they were smaller. Those seem like almost more innocent days, save for the fact that... actually, despite everything that's happened, these days still feel pretty innocent too, actually. Maybe that's just the Lunie touch. "Hey, don't say that about Big Shal! She might be a bit fragile, but she's tough in her own way!" she pats Shalune on the head.

She blinks and-- perks just for a moment, as she waves and says, "Oh, Miss Avril!" A pause. "Oh, Dean, you know her??" A longer pause. "Ice cream! We should get some of our own sometime, Lunie!" Yes, Lunata has a very Dean-like progression of thoughts when it comes to dessert. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

"Lunata, this is a surprise." Her gaze glides up and down the approaching golem, plus the two floating girls, as if this were mildly interesting and not... a display of technology that most people in Lacour don't see on a regular basis. "Then, you two are friends as well?" She tilts her head slightly to one side, apparently meaning Shalune and Lunata in this grouping here.

The golem slowly, slowly, slowly...

Comes to a stop in front of her.

And then as if in respect, bows its head.

Ever-so-slightly, Avril's blue eyes widen, smile vanishing from her lips.

That, just now...

Many things seem at least vaguely familiar -- as she's been places, met people once in her previous life -- but this action right now is... startlingly familiar.

And yet, the moment she attempts to probe 'why' she does nothing but glide against the surface of an impenetrable wall. Whatever she's forgotten, this provides no clue to it save the sense that somehow, she recognizes something about this experience.

"..."

It's at some length that a more sober Avril answers Dean's question. "...Yes, this is ice cream. Rebecca and I were buying some, but she was worried they might sell out before you found us. So I came to find you."

It's starting to melt, actually. She might want to eat that. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

"Oh, huh. Really?" Dean says to Shal, expression knitting itself into puzzlement. "But even if she falls apart a lot, doesn't the repair-o-pot fixing her up make up for that? I don't know a lot about engineering." He brightens when Lunata weighs in and nods emphatically. "Yeah! Either way, that's still really great! I've never even heard of a golem that can fix itself!" (Dean you've barely even heard of Veruni, that's not an accomplishment.) "Maybe that's Big Shal's Special Ability?!"

Meanwhile, of course Big Shal bows her head in greeting to Avril. She's a good golem, after all! Not that there's any such thing as a bad golem. Still! But--Lunata knows her already? "Yeah! We met back near my hometown!" Dean says. "We're on a quest together! I'm helping her find Johnny Appleseed!" To Avril, when she asks her question, Dean gives a simple, "Yup!" Never mind that they met maybe an hour or two ago at most? They're golem pals. That alone means Lunata (and of course Shalune) has found in Dean a friend for life.

But... why is Avril staring at Big Shal like that? Dean stands up on his tip-toes, frowning down at her in concern. "Avril? You okay?" A pause. "Oh! Did you want a ride too? I'm sure it'd be okay, you just gotta ask Big Shal if she minds!" But never mind that--there is *ice cream*, and it is *melting*. In fact, the prospect that there is ice cream to be eaten, while there are still golem rides to be had, twists Dean's mouth into a distinct D: shape. "Really?! Oh man! Ice cream sounds so good...! B-but I'm not done riding Big Shal! And you still have to have a turn! But... but if they sell out... but golems...!" He's going to be like this for a while. Someone should probably kick him or something so his internal systems can reboot. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

Perhaps Shalune is still hearing Riesenlied's words at the back of her head, and how they might relate to her enthusiasm over Big Shal - or perhaps she's just amazed that here's someone at least as pumped up about golems as she is, perhaps even moreso. Either way, she emits a 'wah' as she gets patted on the head by Lunata, perking up a little before grinning from behind her hair.

"Well-- of course Big Shal's tough!" she puffs up, somehow managing to do so in the direction of Dean and Lunata both. "She's saved me a ton of times, and Lunie too, so of course she is! Though, if you ask me, her special ability's just bein' Big Shal. I didn't have to program her or anything," she adds, all the more surprising given the very human way in which the golem acts.

She does make sure the waitress is watching as she guides the scooter down towards the ground; her descent is slow and careful, not least because she's peering over the handlebars at the odd girl in the midst of it. "Oh, um-- yeah!" she replies to Avril's question, even if it wasn't strictly meant for her; the fact that Avril recognizes Lunata counts for a lot in her book, and she perks up pleasantly.

"My name's Shalune - I've been a friend of Lunie's for ages," she admits, glancing back at her before indicating the bowing Golem. "And this's Big Shal! I more-or-less built her myself, or at least fixed her up a ton. Ehehe, I'm pretty sure she'd be happy to give you a ride," she adds as she hops off the Little Dipper, leaving the vehicle hanging a couple of feet off the ground.

Immediately, she reaches up to help Lunata down in turn, glancing across at the mechanical figure straightening back up with abject curiosity. "Um, she must like you... I've never really seen her do that much when meeting someone," she comments, but shakes it away - especially as the waitress lights up at the thought of dessert. "Ooh... that sounds good, but if they're already selling out..." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata doesn't actually know how a Golem works or what 'programming' is, it's all magic to her. Which is probably ironic, given the way she actually knows magic but not technology, but hey, the field you don't know, right? She steps down gently as she holds onto Shalune's hand to hop down. "We just met -- Mister Dean got really excited when he saw Big Shal, and one thing led to another, and... hehe--"

A pause, as she stares at Dean and gasps. "Oh no! Um-- um-- why don't we just have fun with Big Shal, and I think Aunt Hilda can probably make some ice cream for you! Or... maybe some other kind of dessert, I don't know what she's serving today...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

"Yes. Dean has been very important in our search for Johnny Appleseed." Which has so far... turned up apple wine. And a man-eating temple.

Dean makes friends quickly -- this is a fact that Avril already knows, given that they themselves essentially became friends after she quite literally dropped out of the sky near his hometown. So she nods, as if this is quite normal and fine when he says that they're his new friends. "Is that so," Avril comments mildly, peering up at Shalune -- and Lunata, who she of course recognizes. "He's rather fond of golems," she explains to Lunata, a slight smile once again reappearing, and as if this weren't already patently obvious.

Come to think of it, had Shalune been present at that match as well...?

"Oh? Yes, I'm fine, actually... I thought for a moment I remembered something, but..." She trails off, and shakes her head. But it was of no use.

"A ride..." She apparently considers this, her lips tilting in a slight frown. "I would not mind trying, if it is alright. Do you think Rebecca might be interested as well?" she asks Dean, before addressing the actual owner of the golem: "It's nice to meet you, Shalune. I have to say, I have not had the opportunity to see many golems." Sadly, they missed the exhibition in Adlehyde. "Is this the usual form for a golem?" she asks, peering at Big Shal a little more closely than before. "Dean has told me some things about golems. I thought that they were larger, somehow."

Mostly, the things that Dean has told her about golems are...

Quite possibly questionable, honestly.

"I would not mind a ride, however," she adds, at a short distance.

"Dean?" She leans forward a touch, staring up at him as her brow creases in a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Are you alright?"

Her gaze then slides down towards the (melting, slowly) cone in her hand.

Ah. A solution.

"Here," Avril says, offering him up the cone. It had been hers, but that means it's fine to give to someone else. "Why don't you take this? That way, you will be able to do both," she points out, then adds as an aside, "It appears to be melting, by the way." 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

"Just being Big Shal, huh..." Dean mulls over this concept thoughtfully. His ultimate conclusion is: "But... she's already Big Shal! So she should have a Special Ability on top of that! I mean, other golems have, like, laser fists or fly through the air and stuff! Big Shal's great, but you gotta have something you can brag about!" He nods firmly. "And I think auto-repair's an awesome ability to brag about!" Not to mention that Shalune didn't have to PROGRAM HER OR ANYTHING?? Dean perhaps does not appreciate just how amazing that really is. At least he's enthusiastically pro-Big Shal either way?

So much so that he gets caught in a feedback loop of WHAT FUN THING TO DO FIRST. Fortunately, Lunata comes to his rescue, suggesting that they can get ice cream later at Hilda's. The concept makes him brighten back up, despite the fact that Lunata specifies she can't guarantee what dessert Aunt Hilda is actually making today. "Oh cool! Then let's keep having fun with Big Shal! Rebecca can catch up when she's finished her ice cream!" After all, Avril found them just fine on her own, and how could Rebecca fail to understand how awesome it is to have a chance to ride a golem?? She'll understand, he's sure! (This may be Dean's golem mania talking.)

So he can say with confidence to Avril, "Yeah, I bet she would! If she's got her ice cream already, though, I'm sure she can join us once she finishes! She can find us the same way you did!" With Avril agreeing that she would indeed like a ride, Dean pats Big Shal with a "thanks for the ride!" and hops off her back. It's a long drop, but he makes it easily, as if falling from long heights is a thing he can do as long as it isn't into a dark abyss or something. He stands up and dusts himself off, looking up to see Avril looking at him in concern. "Yeah, I'm okay now! I was just, you know... too many cool stuff!" He blinks at her offer, though, and waves a hand. "No way, that's *your* ice cream! I can't just take it from you! You waited in line for it and everything!" Presumably. "Why don't you eat it real quick, and then you can go for a ride? And we can go to Aunt Hilda's later for dinner!"

But--huh! So Big Shal doesn't usually bow like that when meeting someone, huh? Well that just goes to show how awesome Avril is! ...or so Dean might usually assume, except for once something clicks in his golem-filled head as he looks from Shalune to Big Shal to Avril. Avril said she thought she remembered something, and usually if you greet someone like Big Shal did, it's because it's someone you already know, probably. So: "Hey, Avril? D'you think you mighta known Big Shal?" he wonders. "Before Shalune found her and fixed her up, I mean!"

He doesn't stop to think if this actually makes any sense. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

"It's good to meet you too!" Shalune greets first and foremost, glancing at Lunata with a bright smile before hugging onto the white-haired girl's shoulders as she addresses Avril. "Ehehe, did Lunie tell you about the Saloon, or the CaraKin? We're basically gonna be travelling and working there, though I do a bunch of repair work on the side, too." While she missed the arena match herself, she's willing to take Lunata's trust on as her own, knowing that the waitress would at least be a little more discerning than she is when it comes to snap decisions.

"And trust me, Aunt Hilda's food is nearly as good as Lunie's!" the pink-haired girl adds, puffed up with pride. Wow, look at that bias go. Someone might get lectured later. "So if she says there's gonna be desert, you can usually rely on it being one heck of a dessert, y'know? Trust me, it'll totally make up for anythin' you miss now!"

Avril's question is an interesting one, and Shalune's eyebrows go up for a moment before she scratches at her cheek. "Aah... well, to be honest, I haven't met a lot of golems, y'know? I've picked up a ton on how to repair them, but I've only ever been around Big Shal and then-- um, and then another one," she amends, having already been caught out once for just blurting the name out. "But you might be right - the other one's somethin' like four times bigger, and I think it's got Big Shal ju~ust a little jealous." She's grinning now, at least, and pats the golem on its foot as it turns to look down at her.

The question of whether Big Shal might know Avril is even more interesting, though, and Shalune scratches under the line of her bobble hat in thought. "H-hmm..." she sounds out, because meeting the golem's impassive but well-meaning face certainly isn't about to give her any answers any time soon. "Maybe... I never really thought about what Big Shal was doing before I fixed her up, y'know? She always seemed happy to come along-- I'm not forcing you or anything, right?" she suddenly entreats the golem, honestly sounding a little worried. "You've not got stuff you're meant to be doin' elsewhere?"

She squints all of a sudden, surprised as the golem's response is to pat both her and Lunata on the head simultaneously, and then offer Avril a palm - apparently, to step onto? 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata step aside as she smiles when Dean starts to work through his loop, nodding as she says, "Aunt Hilda's really nice, so for a friend, I'm sure she'll whip you up something that you'll really like." The offer of ice cream between Dean and Avril is incredibly cute, though, though from what she knows of Dean, she isn't surprised that he declined her offer of ice cream. She looks at Big Shal with some curiosity as she bows and-- furrows her brow.

"It could be true..." she muses to herself. A pause, as she looks to Shalune. "Lunie? You sound-- a bit more worried than usual, about Big Shal." She yelps just a little bit as the golem pats her on the head, but can't help but giggle at it in turn.

"Please go ahead, Miss Avril! Big Shal is real gentle!" 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

"She mentioned a Saloon, I think..." Or inferred one, at least -- despite her condition and the types of questions she asks, Avril isn't stupid, just lacking the sort of context most people have for everyday things. "Oh, are you? Where are you traveling to?"

She nods, once, at Dean's assessment of the current situation. "Rebecca isn't far from here. It won't take long to go and find her," Avril adds, attaching a few more facts to support Dean's decision for the rest of the day here. "Or for her to find us." The commotion is likely to provide her with all the direction she'll need.

Rebecca may be sitting and waiting there for a while first, though...

Avril regards Shalune curiously, tilting her head to one side. "You have not? I see. I had wondered. I met a girl with an unusual arm who said that golems were quite large." She pauses, crinkling her forehead as she zeroes in on a part of Shalune's cut-off statement. "Another one? Where is this one?"

All the talk about 'Lolithia' and a golem with the same name has had her intrigued.

Dean meanwhile hops on down, prompting Avril to take a step backwards. He's not the only one to seem taken aback by this chain of events, though, once she offers him her cone. Avril herself blinks when Dean insists that it's her ice cream, and that she should eat it since she worked for it (...sort of), as if this were an unexpected variable to an equation. "I had thought... Do you really not want it?" She stares at Dean intently, as if attempting to peer into his heart. "..." She mulls over this in apparent silence for several elogated minutes and then--

"I understand. I'll try to eat it quickly." Especially since, yes, it's really going to melt over her hand at this rate.

She stares at her cone carefully, and then...

"...Oh, it's sweeter than I thought," Avril remarks, upon licking her cone, mild surprise sketched across her face. Has she... not eaten ice cream before?

Seems that way. Or at least, she doesn't have any memories of that, either.

She's definitely hurrying, though -- and just in time. It's dripping onto the road.

Avril, as it happens, is also immune to ice cream headache. Or would have to be, given she doesn't cringe at all despite her pace.

"...It could be possible," she says at last, having finished off the last of the cone and thus able to speak to the question of whether she knows Big Shal or not. "I don't remember anything, so I really cannot say. I suppose anything could be possible." She pauses, as if to think this over carefully. "Hmm. Dean, what sort of person do you think I was like?"

She'll wait for his answer of course, but then...

Then and only then, she approaches Big Shal's open palm. "Thank you, Big Shal."

And before she steps aboard, she glances at Shalune. "Though... I do not think she minds coming with you at all, Shalune. ...It's a feeling I have, somehow." 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

Now that Shalune's bragging about Aunt Hilda's cooking and Avril's about to have her turn on Big Shal, Dean's *definitely* okay with...! Wait, technically speaking isn't he getting neither golems *nor* ice cream at this rate? Eh, he's happy, so it's all good. "That sounds great!" he says to Shalune and Lunata--mostly to Lunata, to whom he nods. "I already can't wait to try her cooking! I hope Rebecca hasn't already had dinner; it'd be shame if she missed out!"

But then Shalune talks about this other golem she's encountered. "Wow! Four *times* bigger?" he says, boggling first at Shalune and then at Big Shal. He pats her foot too at the concept that she might be jealous. "Don't worry, Big Shal! You might be small, but you've got lots of heart! Anyone could see that!" He's right, too; Big Shal has a lot of personality, all of it (that he's seen so far) kind.

"Well, it's not that I don't want ice cream? It's just that that's *your* ice cream! I can't just take it from you!" he insists. "Don't worry, I'll get some of my own from Aunt Hilda's!" He smiles at Avril when she at last eats her ice cream lickety-split. "It'd be a shame to let it go to waste, after all!" he says, nodding once. As for Rebecca: "It's okay! I'm sure she'll find us right after she finishes her own ice cream!" And probably yell at him for a while for wandering off. Dean isn't thinking of that, though.

It seems like his question is making some cogwheels turn, though. Dean frowns in thought himself at Lunata and Shalune, then blinks in surprise at Avril. "What were you like before? Huh. I dunno." He smiles. "But you're a really nice person now, so I'm sure you were just as nice before you lost your memories!"

Dean Stark: excellent judge of character. 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

At the very least, Shalune - after she's done squinting at the way that Big Shal's slow ruffle accidentally tugs her bobble hat right off - offers Lunata a softer sort of smile and a hug at her arm. The motion is very brief, and perhaps a little more private than Shalune would normally intend. "... um-- someone asked me some pretty good questions, and I'm thinkin' about them. I'll tell you later, okay? I promise," she adds fervently--

--before Dean's energy and Lunata's cheer both buoy her back up in an instant, her eyebrows going up as she watches Big Shal accept the unusual amnesiac into its hands. Rather than raise her up to the scaffolding attached to the Golem's back, Big Shal seems content to simply keep her hands cradled together, offering a ride that could almost be described as 'ceremonial' were it not for the way that Big Shal rather lumbers forwards in a comfortably goofy fashion.

On top of that, Avril's comment about Big Shal seems to give her some reassurance, as she picks at pink hair with a brighter smile. "... yeah. I mean-- I've done my best to make sure I never order Big Shal around, y'know? I only ever ask her to do things, so if she wasn't happy with somethin', I'm pretty sure she'd tell me! --actually, it's more like she stops me from doing things," she adds with a bit more of a giggle, and then a rather theatrical and fake pout. "I mean, I'm sure I coulda taken some of those trinkets in the ruins without gettin' the place too mad at me."

She does wobble slightly as discussion about Diablo continues, her eyes wide as she tries to figure out how to dodge the question - and just can't, because she's Shalune and Shalune doesn't have a pinch of dishonesty in her. "Um. The other one's kind of supposed to be a bit secret," she bobbles, suddenly unsure if she's given too much away. "Someone helped us very much, and I said I'd try to get it working... but that means they want to keep it private too, y'know? M-maybe once it's done!" she adds, not wanting to dishearten either of these two at all.

The CaraKin is a safer topic, though, and as the group start to move off down the street she's begun to natter happily in a long stream of thought. "Aw, we don't know where we're gonna be going - we're just travelling, you know? Seein' if we can put a smile on everyone's faces, poking into ruins, just-- seeing what there is to do! Lunie's gonna handle cooking, I'll handle repairs, Jay's got potions an' all the common sense..." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata is sure that Avril's immunity to brain freeze is just an endearing character trait and not at all a piece of foreshadowing, she's sure! "Hehe, ice cream is nice -- Aunt Hilda likes doing an ice cream-like dessert called halava? It's really tasty, I think you'd like it too!" She watches Avril rise up to climb onto Big Shal, before putting her hands behind her back. "Dean's right, I just can't imagine you being cruel at all, you know? It's just-- something in the way you move and speak...?"

She doesn't think she's speaking out of any kind of rational thought, but still.

She nods at Shalune as she gives her a look that says 'later, then', before she nods in turn to Shalune. "Travelling with friends... that's what you and Avril and Rebecca are doing too, right Dean? The road's a lot less harsh and cruel when you're giving it your all with friends." 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

Eventually, Dean, there will be more golem and probably some ice cream. Just neither at this precise moment in time, though.

"Alright, if you're certain, Dean." It would seem to her that the easiest solution would be to simply give up her own to him. But somehow, this isn't acceptable to him.

...Because he's kind? Maybe that's what she's missing here. He wouldn't want someone else to lose so he could gain.

"Hmmm." Avril... considers the commentary from Lunata and Dean, lifting a hand to her chin. "Perhaps so. I suppose it would make sense that I am now as I was then." And how would she ever tell the difference at this point?

For all that Avril can be blunt and ask after the things that... can be a little bit awkward at the least, she seems to understand this time what Shalune says (and means) when she says that the mysterious golem is a secret. It's private work, for someone else. Avril nods, solemnly. "This is personal then. I see." She at least remembers the comments made after she asked after -- a little too decisively -- a certain Golem Crusher's past.

"It's because you're friends, is it not?" is her last comment before she climbs onto the hand. "Friends support and look out for one another. That's what I've learned from Dean and Rebecca."

There's something oddly nostalgiac about being carried in a golem's hand.

...Maybe it was because she was found in a golem's hand?

Regardless, as Big Shal trundles along -- and as the passersby and onlookers probably wonder if golem rides are a thing now -- Avril finds the pace to be quite comfortable, really.

She's oblivious to however it might look. The moment itself is enough. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

"Oh, is this a secret? Never mind then," Dean says to Shalune, although he probably wasn't the one she was talking to. He actually isn't sure who she's talking to, but he's right here so he may as well answer. "I don't want to make you break your promises or anything! Promises are important." Firm nod! And with that, like Lunata, he'll let the topic drop.

He nods again to Lunata, this time in agreement. "Yeah--I was gonna go on a journey no matter what, but the going's been tougher than I thought it was gonna be! It's only been as easy as it's been 'cuz I've had my friends with me!" He smiles widely, this time at Avril. It probably *would* be easier for him to accept her ice cream, especially since she's offering it freely and is about to get a golem ride besides. But... well, thinking criticially is not one of Dean's strong suits. It's hers, therefore he can't just take it from her, and that's that. And anyway, the important thing is that they're friends. And friendship, as Avril eloquently observes, is... "And a lot more fun, too!"

But-- "Halava...? I've never heard of it before. I'll definitely have to try some!"

Either way, Avril gets to have her turn in the golem's hands--held forward, which looks really neat?? Dean will run alongside Big Shal as she walks around with Avril like an overenthusiastic puppy determined to get underfoot, too. Soon enough, Rebecca will come looking for them, and then she'll have her chance to ride Big Shal, and then they can all have dinner at Aunt Hilda's, and it'll be *great*--so great that Rebecca will only yell at Dean for his thoughtlessness for a few minutes!

...One can dream, anyway.

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