2017-12-28: Reality of the Imaginary
- Log: Reality of the Imaginary
- Cast: Gwen Whitlock, Seraph Ragnell, Xantia
- Where: Gunsmoke Desert
- Date: December 28, 2017
- Summary: Xantia, under many mistaken impressions, approaches Gwen to learn more about her 'Imaginary Friend', Ragnell. An attempt to see what she presently cannot has unexpected results.
============================<* Gunsmoke Desert *>============================= The Gunsmoke Desert occupies the northwestern portion of Ignas. This desert is different from Aveh's. Instead of rolling dunes of sand, it has dry and cracked ground, and the mountains that rim it also intrude into the interior, forming stunning rock formations that can look as beautiful as they look impossible. The settlements here are hard-pressed to survive, consisting of countless small towns. The lucky few are connected by railways to the Seed Cities scattered about the Gunsmoke. Many are lost to the sands, which cover them and a tremendous concentration of ruins from Filgaia's past. This makes these badlands the heart of Drifter activity in Ignas. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_CxmE0AkA
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
If there's one thing Gwen missed in her brief time spent 'laying low', it was the true spirit of the Drifter life: going from town to town with no ultimate goal (aside from delivering packages, but that's besides the point), the blue sky overhead, the golden dust of the dunes below, and just you and your horse, making progress across the hot expanse of the Badlands. Or the cold expanse, if it's nighttime, which is a dangerous time to travel.
Which is why Gwen, Gulliver, and the third member of their party, Wagon, are now all stopping at an oasis. While the sun is still in the sky, it's beginning to dip into the embrace of the horizon, the blues of the sky beginning to shift to tones of yellow and pink. It's the hour a smart traveler uses to find a place to camp, or risk being caught in the middle of the Badlands during a dark night.
It's still hot as blue blazes, which is why Gwen is just dipping her bare feet into the pool of water, her back being allowed to fall against the cool pebbled ground. Gulliver, meanwhile, is doing what Gulliver does best: drinking. And then eating, but maybe switching from one to the next as his mood strikes him. "Ahhh... Got here in plenty of time. What'd ya think we'll do for dinner tonight, Gulliver? Some jerky, or maybe make it fancy with some of those canned veggies we got? Maybe some cornbread, or... gosh..." Her stomach begins to growl. "Maybe there's some stuff around here I can forage for too..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"I'm all for cornbread."
That would be Ragnell's husky drawl, emanating from the wagon. She pokes her head out a moment later, first taking a moment to admire the sunset in the distance, then looking at Gwen and Gulliver as they drink at the oasis. Too bad Ragnell's a Lightning Seraph, but it's not likely that she'd conjure up a drink even if she were a Water Seraph anyway. More importantly, when did she hitch a ride?!
"So when d'we eat, anyway? I'm starvin'," Ragnell continues, and never mind the fact that she doesn't actually need to eat. She doesn't seem even slightly inclined to explain her presence.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
It's right around that time when a familiar voice pipes up from distressingly close proximity. "How about rabbit? Or snake?" Xantia's smiling face pops up directly above Gwen, giving a small wave with her left hand. "Hi, Gwen!" At least she's gotten more used to using an actual name instead of going with 'Letter Lady'.
Now Xantia tends to be all over the place, literally and figuratively, so it's probably not too much of a shocker to randomly run into her, usually. But to show up here, at the same oasis, at the same time? What are the odds?
At least the timing of her arrival makes sense, she was heading to the most sensible place for having dinner. And in fact brought said dinner. In her right hand, she's holding a jackrabbit by the ears, while around her neck is her other suggestion, a rather large snake which may have been trying to constrict her before being forcibly stopped and just sort of left hanging there.
Leaving the mystery hanging for just long enough, she does clarify her presence, unlike Ragnell, who she of course doesn't notice at all. "I'm glad I caught up, I was looking for you!" Because now everything makes sense. Asking random strangers if they saw Gwen passing by, and upon getting a vague confirmation, venturing out into the desert to head into the same direction? Perfectly sensible.
Letting herself drop down in the sand nearby, she further explains, "I wanted to ask you more about your imaginary friend! You think I can imagine one too?" This is just getting more sensible by the second.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Ragnell wouldn't be the first person to hitchhike on Gwen's wagon without Gwen herself knowing. She shares that honor with the esteemed Mr. Baldergate, aka Basherdash, aka Masherdash, and so on. Still, it doesn't make the announcement of her presence any less startling for Gwen. With a splash of water, the courier bolts upright at the very first instance of there being any sort of intellgent reply. Because horses don't talk.
And Gulliver doesn't like cornbread. Or, that's what he'd likely say, given that his stomach is the one that dislikes cornbread. The night Gwen found that out was a long one.
"Oh, hey, Ragnell." Gwen relaxes again, flopping back onto the dirt. "Should've told me you were there. Dinner's... whenever I get around to it." Did Ragnell hear Gwen's long conversations with Gulliver? Just how many times has Ragnell hitched a ride, anyway? Can't she fly? GWEN WILL SAVE THESE FOR LATER.
Because Xantia's here too. Gwen's looking back at her wagon, squinting, before realizing that Xantia's voice is coming from *another* direction. "-o-oh! Didn't know you were here either, Xantia!" Blue-grey eyes take note of the deadness of each animal being offered up before she nods. "Well, since we got three people here now, yeah, that'd be great. Can ya handle the skinnin' and all that? Ain't sure I can look into a cute animal's eyes today if I gotta cook em' to-"
Xantia's been wandering the desert, for her? Gwen just stares at the other redhead, blinking in confusion. "Well, heck, y'could've just left a message! If it wasn't somethin' urgent, that is." Maybe Xantia has pressing news? Something secret, maybe, that she couldn't risk taking a message down via the Memory Cube.
'I wanted to ask you more about your imaginary friend! You think I can imagine one too?' Nope, Xantia came her with a question Gwen can't even answer. "Er, uh. Well, uh, not... really? Ragnell's just Ragnell. She's just like you or me, 'cept some people can see her n' some can't." A pause. "And she can do lightning and stuff, and fly. I think. Ragnell, you can fly, right? Or hover, or... y'know, I really didn't think about it much."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Ehhh, I woulda, but... I had important nappin' business to attend to," Ragnell replies, shrugging. In other words, she would've, but she didn't, because she's a jerk. She blinks when Xantia bounds up with cute dead animals in tow, then hops out of the back of the wagon to get a better look at her bounty. "Ooh, I'm all for rabbit. Snake've got all them little bones, they're a pain t'eat. Although snakeskin makes for *great* gloves after you're done eatin'. Mmm! Decisions, decisions."
But then, huh. Xantia starts asking about imaginary friends and if she can get one too. Ragnell raises an eyebrow at her, then smirks at Gwen. "Well?" And then she answers, and... "What in blazes made you think I could fly? Have you ever seen me fly before, Gwen?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia always handles matters in order of importance, so naturally, the matter of dinner has to be settled first. She looks a bit confused at Gwen's question regarding the food she brought. "You don't want to eat all of them?" Oh dear, she's a barbarian, isn't she. Thankfully she doesn't press the matter, shrugging a bit before she adds, "Well, if you're sure. And have a knife I can use." It may not make a whole lot of sense to her, but she does know how to skin animals, mostly from watching others.
The 'imaginary friend' in question being around isn't that much of a surprise - she figures you can just imagine them into existence anywhere - but the important detail here is clearly, "Oh, imaginary friends eat too? I thought they just gave you food!" It must be pretty clear why this matter was so urgent to her by now. This makes her look at the animals she brought in thought. "This was already not much for two people..." Definitely not when one of them is Xantia. "Think we'll need more food?"
Did she just sneak a glance at Gulliver? Uh-oh.
So far, the explanation regarding imaginary friends that she receives is fairly simple, one would think. And yet, she already looks lost, blinking blankly, then looking straight at Ragnell by following Gwen's gaze, but showing no indication that she's seeing anything there. She frowns. "Why's that? I want to see her too, why can't I?" Without even a pause for an answer, she hops right onto her next thought, "Hey, what does she look like? Maybe if I know that, I'll be able to imagine her too!" Logic!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Snake's good if you cook it just right," Gwen agrees with _thin air_, as far as Xantia's concerned. Gwen realizes this, and turns to her. "Oh, uh, Ragnell says she's undecided, but I think she's leanin' towards rabbit." Gwen snaps her head back to the invisible friend, continuing yet another vague conversation. "Eheh, yeah..." She bashfully rubs the side of her head through her hair. "I think I just got a little mixed up. I mean, it's not even a year n' I'm learning about Seraphs, n' that Metal Demons still exist, n' that people can use magic in weird ways, and Guardians, n'..." Her eyes slowly begin to cross, and she flops back into the dirt. "Xantia, I dunno how you handle startin' your learnin' from square one! If I didn't know any better I would just assume you know as well as I do."
It made more sense in Gwen's head.
"Well, yeah, but sharin' food is one of the first rules of bein' a Drifter!" Gwen raises a finger as she says this, swiveling around to sit cross-legged, then quickly unrolling the cuffs of her jeans to fully cover her briefly exposed shins. If Xantia was quick enough, she may have seen hints of a scar on Gwen's left leg, but soon enough, Gwen's vanity has prevailed. Besides, Gwen's more concerned about how Xantia's eying Gulliver. "Nah, nah, Gulliver's not for eating!" The courier crosses her upper arms in front of her. "He's my partner. Besides, I got food. N' if we forage around here, we'll probably see something edible too. Just don't take too much." She gets up, dusting off the back and front of her jeans and wiggling her toes. "Lessee here. Oh yeah, we definitely got some edibles here." She steps on over to a mound of plants and digs carefully, extracting some roots. "Ragnell, could ya grab a knife and peel those?"
Oh, right. Yes, Xantia can't see Ragnell. "Well, the reason I can see Ragnell was, uh, kinda an accident...? Like, I was real weak when she tried to prank me, n' my ARM wasn't able to keep up with her shock n' overloaded. When I came to, I could see her." There's a long, thoughtful pause. "... Don't even think about tryin' that, by the way. Either of you."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell laughs at Xantia's puzzled question. "Well, hell, they're not gettin' any deader. May as well eat 'em both!" Though it's true that what they've got is not a ton. Ragnell decides to see how serious Xantia gets about devouring Gulliver before offering to opt out of dinner. She chuckles again when Xantia stares through her literally, and for funsies snaps her gloved fingers in front of Xantia's face a few times. Naturally, it'll get no reaction.
"Man, what's she think 'imaginary friends' are, anyway?" she wonders, amused. "This *has* been a good year for learnin' new things, though, huh." She's learned all sorts of interesting things here and there herself. Not least of which is the fact that the Blue Star's still inhabited! Either way, she's in a good mood, so when Gwen makes her request, she picks up a root and unsheathes the survival knife on her thigh. "Sure thing," she drawls as she starts to peel. To Xantia, it will look like the root is peeling itself as it floats in midair. Spooky. Or possibly magical.
"Man, good times," she says cheerfully of Gwen's story. "I'm glad you didn't die back then, Gwen. You're way more interestin' alive." ...Does she feel even a *little* bad about nearly killing her? "Anyway, I'd be doin' that to Xantia, not you, an' if she wants me to zap her, who're you to say boo?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
This is so weird. Xantia is only catching half of a conversation, and is just sort of supposed to imagine that the rest is happening? ...Actually yes, it does make sense for imaginary friends to work that way, now that she thinks about it. But how can she imagine the same things Gwen does? It's such a mystery. A mystery which might be easier to grasp if she ever started thinking of Seraphs as just invisible people, but somehow that notion just doesn't seem to be getting through her skull.
Even so, she isn't going crosseyed over it like Gwen is, and she slowly shrugs to the notion of learning things from square one. "I guess it's easier when it's all you ever do." She seems calm about it, but then again, Xantia doesn't sound that calm very often, so who even knows how she really feels about that.
While unconcerned over matters like vanity, the matter of eating Gulliver quickly puts her on the defensive. "No no, I know Gulliver's not meant to be food!" Only to probably ruin any goodwill by adding, "...but, you know, if there wasn't anything else to eat..." Does anybody else actually think the way she does?
Hm, she was blinking awfully quickly there for a moment. Exactly in time to Ragnell snapping her fingers, too. Coincidence...? It must be. After all, this girl has the Resonance of your average rock.
Xantia, putting her own food aside for the moment - but keeping a close eye on it at all times, make no mistake - leaps to her feet and follows Gwen, noting, "Oh, plants..." No real judgement there, it just obviously isn't what she first thinks of when it comes to food. She'd still eat them, of course. She'd eat anything.
And then she openly stares open-mouthed, at the plant that peels itself. Well, that makes it easy to know where to look, at least. But why, even when she knows what must be really happening there, can she still not actually see it?
Now, that story that Gwen tells next... that clearly catches Xantia's interest. And Gwen correctly guesses what she was immediately considering, prompting the protest, "Aw, why not? If I just have to be shocked, that's easy! It's not like I don't set myself on electricity all the time!" Questionable verbiage aside, she demonstrates by causing her body to spontaneously emit electricity, sparks dancing across her body, seeming to neither cost effort nor cause discomfort. "See? It's easy, it's fine!"
But is it really going to help? Xantia tries her best, at least, narrowing her eyes at where Ragnell should be standing. This shouldn't make any difference, one would think. Then again... those with magic sense wouldn't have sensed any magic within her until a second ago, and yet now here she is, exuding it in spades. If she can do that, then maybe...?
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The calm delivery of Xantia's comment causes Gwen to pause a moment, her eyebrows crinkling together. It was one thing to only really notice the world once she became a teenager, but at least Gwen knew there was an outside world. She knew she was a child, once. She knew she had parents, even.
Well, these dour emotions just won't do. "Well, we'll just learn so fast that our brains won't know the difference!" she resolves. "And besides, you got swell people like Avril. She doesn't know about her past either." Didn't someone else say something similar to that as well? "That's the great thing about Drifters. We all know somebody who knows somebody so nobody's all that unusual.
Even the very exercise of 'what if' brings Gwen to do the same x gesture. "Nope! Nope. Never gonna happen. Because if anyone crosses that line, who *knows* where they'll stop! Dirt, rocks, maybe even *people*." The courier hears the disappointment in Xantia's voice and turns around, a half-smile on her lips. "Yeah, just plants. You already brought some meat. Besides, I got jerky. Tons of it! Gotta recharge somehow. Maybe I can make a stew? The bones could maybe make for some broth." Moving towards the wagon, she peeks inside, soon taking out a small pot.
That's when Ragnell reveals that she's the most considerate friend ever. Gwen thumbs up, dipping the pot into the water. "I'm glad that I'm alive too." She intentionally pauses before adding, "N' you're a great friend too! Glad y'shocked me so I could have the benefit of your company. But yeah, I meant you shockin' Xantia. As in don't do it. What if her heart gives out?"
The flare-up of magic passes by Gwen's rudimentary senses, but she definitely feels the crackle of electricity, her own ARM pulsing slightly in response. "W-well, like, it's different with me, y'know?" Wait. How *does* Xantia do that anyhow? "You're probably usin'... magic, right? Or some sort of ARM that allows you to do that, maybe? I mean, if mine does there's gotta be others like it too, right?" Xantia's electric burst was spontaneous. Gwen's ARM reacts quickly, but not *this* quickly.
"Look, I just don't want anybody to get hurt, okay?" An uneasy nervousness to the pale redhead as she starts to assemble dried out debris from the edges of the oasis to put in a pile. "Let's at least get some water boilin' first!" Never have saner words been spoken.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Huh. Ragnell didn't expect Xantia to blink when she snapped her fingers. Coincidence? To test it, she waves her hand back and forth, first in a single simple motion, then with increasingly complicated patterns, for several seconds. Do Xantia's eyes follow her fingers...? Anyway Seraphim are a bit more complicated than 'invisible people' so it's just as well that Xantia's having a bit of trouble here.
As for Xantia's magic... Well, Ragnell was watching when she first awakened to her powers during the Lacour Tournament of Arms, so she's not surprised by this display. Instead, she chuckles at Gwen. "I know what you meant. I was just fuckin' with ya. I doubt it's the shockin' that makes it happen, anyway. With you, it happened 'cuz your ARM's attached to your heart--your very lifeblood. My sacred lightning touched the core of your bein' an' gave you Resonance. ...or somethin'. That's my best guess, anyway." She shrugs. "So just settin' this girl on lightning... won't really do much. You can tell 'er I said that."
Still, though, that magic of Xantia's... that's the Solarian magic, isn't it. It's got that same feel to it as Elly and the Elements, anyway. Ragnell gives Xantia a considering look. "You say she doesn't know her past, Gwen? How far back's she happen to remember?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Ragnell's further tests don't seem to elicit any reaction, at first. Until Xantia suddenly waves her hand in front of her face as if shooing away an insect, unknowingly passing right through Ragnell's hand. Was there actually an insect there, or...?
Xantia does know Avril, and many other amnesiacs besides. It makes her feel a little better to know that it's apparently not something uncommon and she's just weird and unusual. There's plenty of other weird and unusual things about her already. So she agrees readily enough, "Yeah! I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who make me look completely normal!" Well, let's not overboard now.
The matter of Gulliver is dropped without further comment, undoubtedly to much equine relief. Because Xantia is far more focused now on the notion of, "What?! Of course not, who'd ever eat people, that's... that's just wrong!" She may or may not be ruling out dirt and rocks. Who even knows with her. At least there's some lines even she won't cross where it comes to food.
Xantia's little magic light show - which is all it really is unless someone were to get too close - certainly looks fancy, but it doesn't seem to be doing much for her efforts to see Ragnell, no matter how intently she stares. She even starts to make a low growling noise, because that's just what happens naturally when you concentrate really hard. Until she lets out a deep sigh, and hangs her head a bit, literally losing her spark as the electricity fizzles out.
Her head still lowered, she shrugs, admitting, "I don't know. I know I'm doing it, it's not my ARM. I guess it's probably some kind of magic, I mean, it looks like it." It's exactly what Ragnell thinks it is, but she doesn't have a name for it, nor has she noticed any similarity with others. Like many things she does, it's something she just... does.
Another sigh, and Xantia sits herself back down, knees hugged against her chest. So much sadness that she couldn't get that to work. "I only remember things from about a year ago. Nothing before I woke up in the Baskar Colony. But I know where in the desert they found me now, maybe if I go there I'll remember something."
...wait, she answered that before Gwen actually asked her anything...
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
To her heart. Her very lifeblood. The words seem to snag at some corner of Gwen's mind, causing her to frown slightly as she arranges the pile of dead brush. An ARM, made of a Metal Dragon fossil, is touching that. She's avoided thinking about it, but wouldn't this be a grand example of how it's changed her into something else? In this case, from a human being without resonance to one that does. It could be something very scary, in a way.
It's just that it's a positive example. "I think you hit the nail on the head there, Ragnell." Setting up a tripod and hanging a pot from the hook, Gwen places a palm on each of her knees as she crosses her legs. "She said it was because my ARM's connected to, er." She could trust Xantia, right? "My heart. It's why I got it installed in the first place. She tried shockin' me, and usually, that ain't enough to do that. But that time was different. Her sacred lightnin' got a fast track to the core of my being. Somethin' like that. It was a million to one chance. Unless your lightning produces a reaction to hers or somethin', but..." Taking off her right glove, Gwen presses index and ring finger against the debris and concentrates, her ARM slowly gearing to life. While it's quick, it's not the same speed Xantia's able to conjure her lightning, nor, perhaps, Ragnell.
An ARM, at its core, isn't a thing of pure magic.
A fire begins when Gwen presses a few sparks of electric energy against the drybrush, and nature soon takes over. "I'll need some more kindling. We'll need it to keep warm, too, once the sun sets." Seeing Xantia's sadness, Gwen points a finger to the jackrabbit. "You'll feel better after we eat, I promise! Just focus on gettin' them ready. I'll show you how to do this, so you'll know this skill too. It makes veggies taste amazinnggg. Not like meat, but somethin' just as good!" Maybe, if she keeps talking about food, Xantia may get distracted enough to lay these matters aside. At least for now.
Listening to Xantia, Gwen nods as she begins putting more vegetables in, along with some spices. "Yeah, maybe we just need to-" Her eyes widen. Could Xantia have... "Hey. Xantia." A wide grin spreads on her face. "Hey, if you could describe Ragnell, what do you think she'd look like? Let's try that idea. Like, visualizin'. Maybe you just need to paint a picture of her."
It's a trick, to a certain degree. If Xantia simply thinks she can't see Ragnell, maybe it's a matter of convincing her that she can. And, if she describes Ragnell to a T, maybe, there's something more to all of this.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Hmmm. Ragnell tilts her head at Xantia thoughtfully when she at first seems to see nothing, then swats at her hands as if to brush off a fly. Her eyebrows rise further when Xantia answers her question without Gwen translating it first. "Hmmm... Reactin' instinctually...?" She taps her chin. Too bad those Solarians are all untrustworthy bastards. Sure, she likes Seraphita, but she's literally a dumb bunny. Loop her in on it and she may as well invite Elly over for a friendly chat about this mystery rogue maybe-Solarian.
Either way, she finishes up peeling that root, then picks up another and starts in on that. She makes short work of it, too. Ragnell likes to cook, after all, so she's used to this kind of cooking grunt work. "In any case," she continues, "for most humans, Resonance is a thing where ya have it or ya don't. But some people can train up to *get* Resonance, an' I think Xantia's one of 'em. So just tell 'er to keep at it, try hangin' out with Sorey an' his crew some more, an' she'll get it sooner or later. There's only so many of us Seraphim on this planet anyway, so honestly, it's not *that* big a deal."
But then Gwen suggests visualization to Xantia, and Ragnell raises her eyebrows. She snorts, smile growing. "Oh, this oughtta be good." Peel peel peel! At least Xantia's got something she can focus around...
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
An ARM connected to directly to her heart. That would be heavy stuff, to most people. But Xantia doesn't seem to think it a big deal one way or the other, just nodding in sort-of understanding at how it happened for Gwen. "I see... so for you it was just luck that it happened, huh?" It's... one way to put it.
She's really got her mind set on this now. To a degree that even talk of food doesn't make her seem to feel much better. That's how you know it's serious. Still, she nods, and goes over to the animals she brought... only to turn when Gwen speaks of visualization.
"...huh? You mean, just sort of guess what she looks like? How could I do that? All I know from what you've been saying is that she's a girl." As she's saying this, it feels as if something suddenly hits her like a ton of bricks, causing her to bring a hand to the side of her head. "She's a girl, but... doesn't look like a girl...?"
Why? Why did she just have that thought? She's never seen Ragnell before... has she? Now even she's not sure anymore. It feels like she has such a clear picture in her mind. Where is it coming from?
Xantia's eyes fly wide open. That's right... at that time...
"W-what's that? That's not water, what is that?! We... we can't jump! Somebody, think of something else!"
"Calm down, Xantia...! Focus on my vision... on our vision."
Xantia was too out of sorts to realize it at the time. But it was then, when Riesenlied shared her vision, for a brief moment... didn't it look like someone else was there? The only thing she consciously realized back then was that she was suddenly biting down on some really tasty chocolate. But, now that she thinks back to that moment... she saw her. She definitely saw her.
"Red eyes... silver and gold hair... tanned skin..."
Xantia's eyes shoot towards where Ragnell is standing. She isn't seeing anybody right now. But... she still feels sure that she's looking in the right direction. Maybe she can't do it right now, but suddenly she feels certain: "I think... this is something I can learn."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Yep! Pure luck, and I lucked out." Gwen is quick to laugh. "Ragnell can be a trickster, but she means well! I'm glad I know 'er." Again, Gwen listens to Ragnell, making sure to indicate with her body language for Xantia's sake. "Yeah, but it ain't Seraphs that this vision worked the best with. It's Malevolence. It wasn't too long after that that there was that attack on Port Tinmey. If I didn't have that sight, I would've just seen a buncha animals. And when we found that cavern, my vision helped people out."
That smile dips. "It comes with its costs, though, Xantia. Be real sure. Sometimes ignorance really *is* bliss." There were times people like Rudy, with his lack of sight, was the only thing keeping Gwen from tumbling into the abyss. Is it really better to see it?
'She's a girl, but... doesn't look like a girl...?' That's when Gwen sits up. While Xantia could have come to that conclusion just by guessing, that, coupled with confused tone of her words, seems to lend some 'proof' to Gwen's theory.
"See? You're learning! You'll have another buddy in no time." She slings an arm around Xantia's shoulders. "Now let's get that stew done! We gotta get you better acquainted with Ragnell!" It may seem like a sudden turn, considering her words from earlier, but one thing is certain...
Xantia may develop this sight, whether she wants to or not.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Awww, you're a right sweetheart, Gwen," Ragnell drawls, smiling crookedly at the courier. "You probably even mean that, too." She falls silent as Gwen goes on to warn Xantia about the costs of being able to see the unseen, still peeling those roots. And then Xantia describes her...
"Hehhh." Ragnell sits up in interest, peering at Xantia from under the brim of her hat. "Well, ain't that somethin'... Mm, mm, mm. She'll have another buddy in no time, indeed." She grins toothily. Like a wolf. Or a shark. "I wonder what she'll learn next?"
But for now: stew. These veggies won't peel themselves! ...will they?? (Ha! Seraphim humor.)