2021-01-26: Under the Moonlight
- Log: Under the Moonlight
- Cast: Gwen Whitlock, Hiro
- Where: The Thames
- Date: 1/26/2021
- Summary: Gwen is recovering on the Thames, after nearly being consumed by a spark of Setanta's power. Hiro finds her and the two have a heart to heart over what had occurred in Luca that terrible day.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It seemed like Gwen had come out in one piece on the other end of it all. She was, as Hiro (and likely Ruby) had wondered and hoped, still there, after the fires had left her. Whole, even, with raw new skin showing an angry pink as the charcoal 'skin' began to flake off as she was being moved.
It was like she was reborn, a seed that sprouted, after the fires had ravaged the forest.
Things could never be as simple as that. The fires, now with no master to claim them, still smoldered in the warehouse, The true thief that stole Gwen's flame still roamed, leaving his regards with the friends he had spirited away, and the Guard was minutes away from discovering them all, wounded and likely unable to put up much resistance if they were found. Ida was still out there somewhere, her condition unknown.
Which led them all to here, as Citan suggested, either using their Gears, or Gwen's own, or other means of travel to move quickly enough. The Thames was not on the level of some cities in Aquvy, but it made up for it in there being goods, supplies, and rumors in ample supply. A weary group of Drifters bringing in a young woman in need of a place to heal and rest would be welcomed, with no questions. And Gwen, having fallen unconscious, was hardly in any state to suggest anything otherwise, if she even wanted to.
A few days later, and the stakes of Gwen's condition are better known. While her body was there, in the same state as before, her body's hair and nails were not. Her temperature was back to normal, but her strength wasn't. Her mood, subdued.
It didn't stop her from leaving and wandering the Thames, usually with the notion that she wasn't able to move all that far, if at all, before exhaustion claimed her.
But each day, she seemed to find a way to get a little further, as if restless.
This evening, she's taken to one of the highest points of the Thames accessible by stairs, sitting down to look at the sky with a thick shawl around her shoulders, wrapped tightly as if the air was bitter cold, instead of a pleasant cool of dusk. Her clothing consists of donations from the crew, including a striped bandanna to tie around her head, making her look like a wayward member of the ship's staff.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro had hardly slept, instead working odd jobs on the deck just to stay busy while Gwen recovered. One imagines he cleared out a great deal of the side quest log just from the stress of the waiting.
Still though, even after Gwen had recovered, he'd had no substantive conversations with her, not yet. He was just... around...
One might imagine it was due to awkwardness, not knowing what to say. Easy still to imagine disappointment - even if that'd be mere insecurity rather than rooted in anything real on Hiro's part.
That is until tonight. When he'd spied Gwen walking up some stairs(though he did double take a bit over what she was wearing). Quietly, he makes a trip to the galley...
BGM Change: Under the Moonlight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K8ZPxsA_gg&list=PLPDoxoGA-MPQX6G_praYBdPDpM4VEbvdR
... and just as quietly he returns. He's trying to be stealthy, so perhaps his footsteps up the steps aren't heard. Though at one point there's the faint scrape of metal on metal that might be a dead giveaway. Under the silver glow of the Silver Star in the sky, Hiro quietly offers a steaming metallic cup of tea on a metallic saucer to Gwen. "Best thing, when it's cool like this." He notes, before putting down the small tray of snacks. Mostly various left over baked goods, biscuits, jams. They're not mainland bakery good, but it's not exactly hard tack on a plate either.
"Wanna be alone?" He asks...
... trying to hide, badly perhaps, that he has a second cup of tea. Which is a dead giveaway maybe of the answer he's actually hoping for.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The good thing about the Thames is that, for the most part, it's relatively safe, compared to a city on land around the same size. Still, it's better to be careful, when out of the eyes of the crew, or other Drifters.
So when Gwen hears that scrape of metal against metal, she turns her attention down from looking at the Silver Star overhead, angling her head with a semi-cautious gaze.
Upon seeing Hiro, the courier's expression brightens softly, a hesitant tilt of her head as she waits.
... It's Hiro that needs to make the choice of where and when he wanted to talk to her. That was the decision she came to, even as a quiet dread lodged in the core of her stomach.
She accepts the offered cup of tea with a smile that almost looks like relief, cupping it between her hands, one metallic, one human. Looking at those fingers, it would be easy for someone to believe nothing had happened. A phoenix would not come back looking like it did before, old scars and all.
Her eyes note the snacks with some interest, her appetite slowly emerging over the course of last few days.
Shaking her head, she gestures with a motion of her chin to the space near her. "Nah, make yourself at home." There's a faint, shy twinkle of humor as she says this, as if she was welcoming Hiro to her humble abode.
Taking a moment to sip her tea, she steals glances at Hiro's body, trying to decipher his own condition.
She chances a question.
"Is Ruby doing okay? I mean... I guess, she'd be better able to handle it than you, but... " The cup stills in her hands, worry in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hiro. For putting you through all that."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
It's a hard thing to see Hiro's condition as covered up as he usually is. Though one might know from all the little things, the small movements that he's still hurting a bit. Burns take longer to heal than most things, especially when they're bad ones.
"I'll just put my feet up." Hiro replies, with his own kind of humor as Gwen says that. Before placing down his own saucer and steaming cup. Seemingly meaningless other than playing along. Except... then he actually looses his pack on his back, and puts it down in front of him, propping up his feet on it.
Picking up his tea, he gives Gwen this wink, as he takes a sip.
And then the serious discussion starts. Hiro doesn't sigh or anything... it's what he came here for after all. "Ruby's fine. If anything she's even more a fan of you now." Hiro gives Gwen this almost apologetic look at that, because the reason is obvious.
Ruby just really likes fire. Even if she's not always a fan of what people do with it.
Gwen's apology though is one that takes him a few moments to form the words. "You don't need to apologize. I should have seen it coming." He says, gently, and it's like his tone isn't trying to be cruel to Gwen, or hiding that he's mad or something. "You tried to tell me again, and again what was going on... and I just didn't really get it. I didn't really... understand how you felt, what you were going through."
Maybe if he had... he would have been able to do more than just try to stop her after it began.
"And you told me it was okay that I didn't." He inhales sharply... then with his chin dropped, he gives a small shake of his head before his gaze ends up down and away from Gwen. "But I think I get it a little better now. At least... more than I did."
I can't really refuse him.
There's a distinct pause, like he's parsing what to say next, before he puts on this wan smile and looks Gwen's way and... "Gwen... you've got a big heart... so I'll never tell you to stop being you. But... I do care about you, a lot. So there is something I've gotta say."
Again, another pause, as he tries to catch her eyes, and says with a certain gravity of concern, "Even if you think you're the only one who can reach out to someone... you really need to offer less of yourself so freely... because some people... I think, have never learned how to stop taking."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Just how much did she hurt Hiro? How much is he hiding underneath his clothing? Gwen wrestles these thoughts away, closing her eyes shut for a second as she mentally pushes that anxiety back.
The tea is good.
As Hiro sets off his pack and sets his feet on it, Gwen lets out a hoarse chuckle. "I guess when you bring your own foot rest, everywhere's a chair."
It would be easier for them to stay on this topic, but when the apology spills out of her, Gwen finds a certain sense of relief in breaking through that scab. "... Damn. I got her hopes up n' everything. You're gonna have to break t'her the bad news. I can't sling fireballs, n' I doubt I'll have the nerve to, anytime soon." It's offered as a spot of good news, in its own way, to Hiro.
Even if it comes with its own brand of sadness.
"... Hiro." Gwen looks up from her cup, her gaze gentle. "If I couldn't see it coming, n' if I couldn't find the words to explain things, I'd say you did a damn good job of tryin' with what you had. Tryin' to understand anything to with the Blue-eyed Assassin--" She stops herself. "Well, I should call him the Stranger.. A friend of mine, who's just as wrapped up in all this, called him this, and I guess it's as good a name as any."
A heavy sobriety drifts into her voice, like a distant call of thunder. "The more you understand, the closer you are to the Stranger's grasp. It also makes it harder to back away." She turns her attention to her cup, looking at the rippled sight of the Silver Star on its surface. "I should've realized just how easy it was for him to pull the pin, like I was a bomb. That's what he did, that day. He gave me back everything he took, and I couldn't handle it. I tried, Hiro, I really tried to reign it in, to at least get help, or something, but I was so scared." Her voice grew hushed, and quiet. "And someone pointed at me, asking why I looked so funny, and it _hurt_, like everything of me was burning, I could smell it, and there was screaming, and I smelled the flowers burning, and I wanted to put it all away, I didn't want to feel anymore, I wanted to put the flowers back.... and then, I wanted to--"
By this point, the cup in her hands is shuddering so much that the reflection of Lunar has becomed muddled.
"..." She has a big heart, he says.
".... ... ah. Yeah. You're referring to the part where I was saying I was going to reach out to the Stranger."
Something dark tightens around her heart.
"I was selfish. I thought, as long as my friends were unaffected, I'd always find my way back. I did, but I never thought I'd hurt all of you, like I did." She looks up at Hiro, tears in her eyes. "You came for me. And you suffered so much for it. I kept trying to reach you, but everything came out wrong. But you kept reaching, and you kept fighting."
Something pokes at her heart, surprising her with how fierce it comes at her, as she thinks through her words. Gratitude.
"I guess, I have another thing I have to say." She dips her head, solemnly. "Thank you, Hiro. For holding onto your own hope, while I was lost in my own despair."
She pauses, then snorts up a single giggle. "Guardians, that sounded really cool when I said it like that, eh?"
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro for what it's worth, would had planned to tell Gwen it was no worse than one of their sparring matches... that's how he tried to see it himself.
Plans change though.
"Even if you can't, it's more just knowing you had it in you I guess." Hiro quips, as if it were simply Gwen being extra angry or aggressive, rather than actually spitting off fire.
Gwen in the same time, tries to tell him that he did the best he could. And Hiro looks at her gaze out of the corner of his eyes. It's reasonable, what she's saying, but it's rather plain... that's not good enough. Not what Gwen's saying, just more that he didn't do good enough. His best isn't good enough.
Yet he doesn't say that right now, because right now... Gwen's the one that's hurting.
And if he only focuses on how he failed, then maybe he'll never understand what he wanted to all along.
"The Stranger." Hiro repeats the words, "That's a real Filgaian nickname alright." Hiro says again, as if remembering the hundreds of times he was referred to as 'stranger' whenever he came upon a new town.
Yet something darkens in his eyes as she says that... understanding brings him closer to his grasp, makes it harder to break away. "Gwen... with all due respect. That feels like the kind of talk that'll isolate you more and more within that grasp."
It's not that he's angry with her, no he's angry with him, for making Gwen feel this way. She said he wasn't manipulative, but maybe someone doesn't have to be manipulative to twist someone up inside. He felt what was putting out out there. That overwhelming desire to keep them away so she could handle it on her own.Yet then... she describes what it's like, and he quiets down. And just listens for a while, and it's somewhere near the end, when she's shaking... that he puts his arm around her, hugging her from the side. "Was it like... all those feelings you had as a kid, back in Little Twister?" He asks, softly, on the idea of someone remarking on how she looks.
There was a time when he couldn't fathom cruelty amongst children - or to children. Yet, perhaps it was something Gwen taught him, that Filgaia taught him.
The feelings children keep bottled up inside, he wonders if that was... part of it, in what he encountered in Luca.
And then... she looks up, tears in her eyes. Thanking him. Something knots up in his chest at that. Then... he decides to let himself relax. Deciding, rather than telling her 'You're welcome', that he had his own way of telling her how he feels. "Hey... Gwen." Joining his other arm, he gives her a much bigger hug with that one arm. "You know what we were all saying when you were lost like thatin despair?" Bringing a fingertip up, he thumbs away a tear off her cheek, smiling. "That you're worth it. That's what the prevailing feeling of the day was. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I wasn't willing to suffer for you - alright? And... I won't tell you that suffering was nothing..."
As he emphasizes his next phrase with absolute certainty, "... because you're not nothing Gwen Whitlock."
His hug loosens just subtly, as his hand slips up to her shoulder, and he says with a certain pure sincerity... like he was seeing Gwen back from one of her long delivery runs. "Welcome back."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... Well, I kind of stole it, so it's not the real deal." Briefly, Gwen considers the prospect of Setanta and Ruby meeting. What exactly would that look like?
Could the world survive such a blooming friendship between lonely destructive fire lord and fire baby dragon?
'That's a real Filgaian nickname alright.' Gwen gives a laugh at this, almost seeming shocked by the sound. "... Y'know, I actually tried to give him a nickname once, just to see if I could get a reaction from it." The resulting smile from that unexpected note of humor strains itself, falling to oblivion under a cold dread that grips her at the memory. "... He definitely hates not being taken seriously."
As Hiro's gaze falls on her from his side, and he says those words of warning, he is greeted by Gwen's confusion, the sharp edge of realization cutting into her.
".... Do you suppose... that's a part of it too. Isolation. It seems like, in the moments I feel really uncertain of myself, like, which part of me is me, is the times he's the closest by. The less I know of me, the more I know of him." If she could engrave that on some part of herself, maybe, she'd have a chance. But how, and what?
"Well, I mean, I really shouldn't have said..." Gwen's words fail her as Hiro brings something else up, so she instead accepts that one-armed hug, wrapping an arm around him in return.
In a way, Hiro was correct.
"... I was beginning to transform, I guess, when that happened. I guess, being pointed out just made me aware of how things were escalating, even when I was trying so hard to hide it."
As she draws herself into Hiro's hug, she sets down her tea and hugs him back, the itchy warmth of her blanket wrapping around him in turn.
".... You know, what I've noticed the most, when I woke up? How cold I felt."
If she could engrave their realization on the memory of this, the warmth of this friendship.
"... I don't feel so cold, when I think of that. I 'spose, it's alright to be a little selfish and hold onto that, eh? As I build myself back up."
As she moves back, tears shine in her eyes as she nods, with a sniff.
"With clients like this.... how could I stay away?"
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Details." Hiro tries his best to smile, "Ruby isn't one to sweat them. It'll just make her happy." Hiro notes, because although Ruby has complex feelings on just about anything... he at least knows when she'd feel simple joy.
That smile though fades away when Gwen brings up how she tried to give him a nickname, but that he hates not being taken seriously. "What'd he do?" Hiro asks, that chilly dread having been evident. He likes not immediately judging, but it's tough hearing such dread in Gwen's voice and NOT judging him all the more.
He just has trouble liking a guy who doesn't have a good sense of humor.
Then he looks equally confused as Gwen brings up those feelings of isolation, within that hug. Whatever grip he has feels a bit... more loose. It's not even conscious on his part. It's more like he just doesn't understand why she's feeling so isolated. Yet he doesn't question it. Instead he looks forward, out over Aquvy and instead tries to examine it.
"The way you describe him, it sounds like he preys on you when you're feeling vulnerable, and low... and alone." Hiro says quietly, "That doesn't mean that he isn't feeling the same way, maybe. It might be why he does it, but it still makes him a predator seeking prey."
However, his confusion seems to fade somewhat as she points out that she was hiding how things were escalating. He takes that as a form of confirmation on... why she was so isolated, and why she didn't ask for help. Though perhaps he still wonders if part of the reason is she was hoping Isiris would come instead, as someone close to those feelings...
"I guess it's because you were running so hot for a while." Hiro says, as his grip subtly increases on that hug again. Though it's hard to say if he means it as that transformation, or a function of being merged with another entity, "S'okay though Gwen. If thinking of times like that keeps you warm... then promise. Being a little selfish is more than alright by me."
As if it was his own way of saying 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Hiro finds himself smiling despite himself again. "Gets cold in those Filgaian deserts on long hauls... and you've earned the right to stay warm, Gwen."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"He didn't like it." Gwen's gaze grows distant as she gives her flat answer. "... And in that mind space, it felt like I insulted someone to their face. He didn't even need to say anything."
When Gwen pulls back from their hug, she catches that brief glimpse of confusion.
"..." OH. She's clearly not making sense. "I was just sayin', I don't feel so cold, right now. With the tea, seein' you okay, n' just hangin' out. It makes me realize I ain't alone as I felt, right then." She sips her tea a little too quickly, jerking as the hot liquid goes down her throat, but she laughs, true cheer coming to her eyes.
It helps her regain her thoughts, as they return to the topic of Isiris.
"I think it's more that it just comes out that way. He's been asking me the same question for months, and I just sidestepped it. Even in a dream, the moment I feel myself getting stretched too far, the moment I think about what's important to me, I bog him down with questions. Reasons. Violence seems to encourage him, so I try to do the things I know are myself. But every time he stretches the meaning of who I am, I wonder, if it's just little steps. Just enough, so when that moment arrives, and I feel things going out of control, I cave in. He ain't a predator- he's worse. He asks, and slowly tilts things until the natural answer becomes 'yes'."
Hiro's hug tightens, and Gwen returns in full, laughing. "You're right! I had an ember in me, so..."
She enjoys the companionship for a quiet moment, looking up at the stars as something begins to feel healed, just being here.
"... I hope Lan's going okay," she says, softly, easing back. "I've been careful 'bout who I tell this to, but it's gotten real clear that the Stranger's got plans for her. We've helped each other, even made a pact that we'd try to use this whole situation to help others. I wanted to be able to slug you-know-who a few times for ya, for instance." Zophar's name isn't one she can say lightly, now.
Gwen turns her head towards Hiro, her freckled face turned blue from the light of the night sky. "I wonder, with you talkin' 'bout loneliness... the Stranger might try to divide us so she's no longer got that bond. If things get bad... I might have to dive in and grab her out, however I can. But whenever that happens, as long as I have a path, I'll find my way back to all of you. And I'll be bringin' her with me. But!" Gwen holds up a finger. "... that's worse case scenerio, n' we'll cross that bridge if n' when we get to it."
She's earned the right to stay warm. Gwen's eyes twinkle. "I'd say you've earned the right to stay warm too. Twice over!" She gives a guilty chuckle. "... Just, the more huggy friend way, not the fighty burn way..."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
What Gwen says is something that Hiro makes an assumption to at first, then rethinks it immediately as she clarifies that flat answer. He hasn't experienced that, so he's not sure now... about whether what he thought about it still applies.
Hiro blinks though as Gwen clarifies, and then he laughs awkwardly, "Oh - hey - okay!" As if fumbling past whatever he was thinking to just accept what Gwen is saying to focus on the crux of what matters, "That makes sense. Well, I'm glad me being around is helping you out."
Sometimes he can be an astoundingly simple guy.
However then his head cants as he listens to Gwen talk about Isiris asking her the same question over and over. "I see." Hiro says quietly, as he contemplates the idea of being manipulated until the natural answer becomes...
You are a child who can't make necessary choices.
Despite himself, the fingers of a single hand play with the edge of a concealed tablet. One he doesn't often bring out, or even talk about. Just, plays with the edge, like a kid messing with a pocket knife - certain one day to be cut by it.
"I don't even know what I'd call that..." There's a glimmer of mirth in his eyes, like he's trying to find something positive in Gwen's description, "... except worse."
His other arm though remains firmly in the hug, as Gwen brings up Lan. "If I see her, I'll check in. Haven't seen her since the last time we got chased to Spira. But hey, if she's got a pact with you... I'm not that worried. She's got the best person someone could have at their back."
It's the kind of thing that would feel like an empty compliment, something to cheer someone up. Save that he says it with such earnestness that one could tell he fully believes it. Despite the fact that Gwen was a fiery feelings monster not that long ago.
"Heh... what's a few burns between people who care about each other?"
Hiro no.
"If I got mad everytime I got burned by a friend, then me and Ruby would have parted ways long ago. Besides... the very act of caring for someone..."
Hiro draws back from Gwen enough to put a little distance, keeping one hand on her shoulder, "... it's like putting your hand so close to the fire that if the wind shifts - could get burned, sure, but could stay warm even in the coldest night you've ever experienced. Maybe it's a leap of faith..."
Then he gets a twinkle in his eye as he pats her once on the shoulder, "... or maybe in your case, an act of stubborness."
As if he were imagining Gwen continually thrusting her hand near the fire, no matter how singed it got. Though the image is one that he looks upon affectionately, like it's something to admire in his eyes... even if he wishes she'd temper the impulse a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Hey, sometimes you have to give the lion a a bone or two- it doesn't lie."
Gwen manages to keep a straight face for a few seconds, at least. Then, like a crack in a dam, a snort passes through her tight lips, and she gives in, laughing that sort of laugh that can only happen from a ridiculous pun. "I swear, I didn't set it up t'be a pun, but I couldn't resist."
She barely notices the way Hiro's fingers playing along the edge of that tablet, not able to see the full context of his earlier quiet answer.
Hiro's promise to check in on Lan causes Gwen to smile, more softly this time, as she nods. "Actually, that'd help me out. I'm thinkin'- if she has people who are around her, but not like, all the time, there's less of a chance for her to fall into the Stranger's trap. But I appreciate the vote of confidence, all th' same!"
hiro no
"Augh, I wanna just keep it t'spars right now. No more burns!" She's still laughing, though, her cheeks flush from merriment. "Let's leave the fire to the expert."
But there is an analogy to be had, as Hiro demonstrates, of how quickly fire could go from warmth to pain with one whip of wind. But you still needed to lean in, and have faith.
"Being with Setanta was like that," she says idly, looking back towards the sky with a smile on her face. "After a while, all they wanted was to just listen to my stories. They hated how fragile I was in human form, but when I was a flame like them, in the dream... it was like I was leading them, instead of the other way around. But even when I forced my human form in front of them, they were hesitant, like they were afraid they'd burn me, even if they wanted to be close. The last time I saw them... I hugged them, like I would you, or any close friend. Becoming friends with them, that was the best leap of faith I've ever taken. The way they look at the world's not like ours, so I ain't sure how they'd react if they learned about what happened to me, but I think... they'd be sad. Not for all the destruction, but because I learned how to be afraid of fire, all over again. They were... so eager to just feel what's it's like to hold a hand, or to be around someone."
Would she even be able to face Setanta, again, and not feel fear?
"I'd like to see a world where Primarchs can find peace with Guardians, and be able to find their own place in it. One where they're all helping, instead of being sealed away. So, I guess, what you said... it makes sense. If I hadn't tried, I wouldn't have gotten a new friend. And maybe, I might've given them another reason to love this world."
She looks back towards Hiro. "Of course, if it weren't for you, maybe, I wouldn't consider Lunar the same way I consider Filgaia, in my heart. Two sides of the same coin."
Her eyes lid slightly, twinkling mischievously. "So maybe, you're just as stubborn. But you lucked out just as much. First with Lucia, and then, with everyone you've met since then."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro bursts out laughing at Gwen's pun, even swiping a finger across his eye before trying to recompose with a straight face and asking, "It didn't lie... on what?"
See this is what happens when you enable him.
"And I did set that one up to be a pun." He says after a slight pause, his face splitting open into a grin once more.
Before he nods then at Lan's situation, "So check up on her and support her, but don't like... hover. I think even living the life of the fugitive, can manage that one."
And if it keeps the Stranger away... well...
His fingers are still playing on the edge of the tablet, in a way that's a bit concealed until, she says that, and then he lifts up both his hands, "Okay, okay, just sparring then. No flammable combat. At all." Pause, and his eyes trail down to her arm, "Do electrical shocks count for that? Since well... Ragnell sure has caught me on fire with lightning. Just... trying to figure out the ground rules ahead of time."
Afterwards though, he's watching Gwen's reaction to his analogy... as she looks up to the sky. And his expression softens somewhat, like he's feeling a bit of quiet awe in seeing her expression. "Well, maybe you'll see that world in your lifetime... after all, you've got a perspective that maybe noone else does. A perspective that can maybe bridge the gap between your friend..." He notably doesn't say Primarchs, because now that Gwen has said that, it feels rude to refer to them as some 'other'. "... and the Guardians."
And then his face splits into a grin, "As for being stubborn, guilty. I've been really lucky though..."
Freeze... like he's registering something after the fact. His expression then visibly reddens. "Hey wait - did you say lucky to tease me about Lucia? Gwen?" He looks at least, mildly scandalized and embarrassed, "I-It's not like that you know!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Augghhh," Gwen groans, as Hiro scoops up the delicious pun set-up she had so carelessly set before him. "Never change, Hiro."
She definitely doesn't mind it, not one bit.
Especially after such a trial by fire as they both had to endure.
"Yeah, just be Hiro. I think she's been disconnected from a lot of her other connections since the Stranger entered her life. Bein' a Baskar can be hard enough, when you venture outside your home to chase your dreams." Gwen glances up towards the moon, her freckled face cast in silver.
"Ragnell don't always play by your rules, you gotta remember that." Gwen chuckles. "Y'know, from what I remember? You've really improved. You used the mess I was creatin' at the time to your advantage. Using wind, n' all. If we spar again, I may have t'take magic off the menu. You'd kick my butt otherwise."
As if Hiro didn't already know how to use his sword.
As if he didn't have hope in his heart, like he expresses now on the subject of Setanta. Gwen closes her eyes, gently nodding. "Mmn. Maybe. But I'm not holdin' the all the right cards in this game. All I can do is dare to voice my wish." Easy to do in front of Hiro, but there are many who would advise caution at best.
After all, Gwen has already been burned once for her hubris.
The twinkle in Gwen's eyes grows stronger in Hiro's embarrassment over Lucia, but she doesn't push further. Instead, she focuses on another angle entirely. ".... Regardless, I'm glad you two met. So many people would've seen her as someone dangerous, or somethin' to be coveted, a source of power instead of a person. You see her on a level of a person. I dunno what her origin is, or what she'll do once her mission is over, but I'd like to think she's grown because she's getting to experience what life's like for someone beyond things like duties and missions." She sips from her cup. "Well, I guess, we still have 'em, but it doesn't rule us. I think that'll be important for her, once she finds her mission settled."
Lucia's mission, which is clearly to just go to Pentagulia and talk to Althena, straighten some things, and then...
".... I do wonder where she comes from, though. The more I see of Filgaia, the more I wonder about what sort of place she's from. If there could be such a place where someone like Lucia could be from, on a planet like Filgaia."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Never." Hiro responds reflexively, before he thinks on it and amends, "Well, never in that way at least."
There are some things he knows he needs to change.
"I can't even imagine... the community I left was only just my family... and one of them came with me. Leaving behind... something bigger you've known your whole life..." His eyes tip up towards the sky, "... I think I'd struggle too."
Hiro gives Gwen the sideeye, "I think even I know that one by now." He says with this sort of lopsided grin. An air of slight self-deprecation on how good of a judge of character he is. But Gwen's compliments get through to him and he's grinning again, "What, you think I wouldn't agree to that? Of course I would. You only had to ask. Sparring is sparring. And sometimes you change up the rules just to challenge yourself. So if you want me to spar you no magic, then... you're on, anytime."
Hiro takes a moment to consider those words from her on Setanta, then nods back, "Well... sometimes that's how those things start I think. With just a wish... doesn't even need to be a big one. But daring to make one? And fighting for that wish... that's how change is made." A pause, before he rephrases, "I'd like to think that's how change is made."
Hiro however is thoroughly embarrased on the subject for a few moments, and is looking down to hide his face, a hand over his eyes as he recomports himself, but then... once he's gotten back control over his feelings... "I'm glad I met her too. It's... set me off on the greatest adventure of my life. And I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything. Even the bad ones." He doesn't comment upon just... what might have been otherwise, if it had been anyone other than him. He doesn't like to think about it.
Though, then Gwen does wonder aloud on where she comes from. And Hiro takes a deep breath. "Well... I don't know the answer to that, except that she must have been around on Filgaia for a very long time. Since before Althena left." Another short pause, then he glances shyly Gwen's way, "But... it's... like what you said a moment ago... about seeing her like a person. Whenever anyone asks where she came from, or who she is, or how she knows Althena... she grows so distant. So... removed from it all. Like for a short while, she has to turn off some side of her. That side I've come to know gradually over this journey."
Hiro finally makes eye contact with Gwen, his eyes showing a certain... resolve, "So while I'd like to know the answer to that too... I think I decided recently... that I don't ever want to be the reason she has to do that to herself. I can wait for her to tell me - tell us. And if those answers never come... well, I think I'd rather that, than to put her in that place again."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Of course." Judging by the way Gwen's smile scrunches her eyes, she seems to understand that Hiro meant.
Change is natural, but not *everything* has to change.
"Yeah, not everyone's from Little Twister." Gwen chuckles. "Well, I mean, not everyone's from a situation where they can be sure they can always come back."
Or insists on the illusion that that place will always be there to come back to, even with the specter of death leaving its hints.
Or, for that matter, has more than one place to look towards.
Gwen stretches out and adjusts the shawl around her shoulders. "Oh, I know you would agree to it. I just can't ignore the fact that I can't hold my few more years of experience as a reason why I'd be able to win." But that comes later. Looking at her right hand, she clenches and unclenches her hand, her face thoughtful.
"... It feels weird, how everything makes me feel outta breath. Healin' up, n' all that... I feel like everything's raw, like a pair of boots that hasn't been broken in yet."
But, looking back at the lopsided grin of Hiro's, Gwen finds one of her own, in answer. She sees him com to grips with his embarrassment over his feelings for Lucia (which she is so sure on, Hiro can't lie to her, she's shipping it!!).
And for a moment, she feels like everything is as it should have been.
"I would've taken her for someone who lived on Lunar, but that might be just my vantage point speakin'." As Hiro explains, Gwen blinks, considering his words. "... Huh... I guess I never considered that. Glad I never got a good chance t'ask her 'bout that; I'm sure I would've if I had the chance to."
Hiro's decision becomes all the more the reason for Gwen to regard the young man with admiration, nodding slowly as he speaks. "... You're a good person, Hiro. I hope, one day, she feels she can come to a decision on that. If she ever does. I'll do the same, too; I won't ask her. I'll just treat her like we've always done, where it doesn't matter. I mean, maybe *she* came from Little Twister. Kinda would make her whole mission feel a little weird if we had a red herring like that thrown in, eh?"
She grins. "That'd throw some complications in, besides."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Not everyone... but I do know someone from around those parts who's pretty swell in my book."
He also knows someone from Little Twister who impaled him on a bayonet and nearly shot him at point blank range but... hey. When you have a lot of good memories of one person, you can ignore the bad memories from another one.
Gwen however, adjusts that shawl and... Hiro just watches her. At first it feels like he's going to reflexively respond to that, but then, he waits...
And his expression softens again. "Just look at it as a little time off. Just a little... and then once you're done, everyone's going to have to sprint to catch up to you, Gwen."
Hiro though looks mildly surprised as Gwen having taken her as someone that lives on Lunar, but then he gives a chuckle, "Well... I would say that she is pretty unique for a Filgaian. Back when this started I guess we always wondered if we'd run into some village where everyone's at least a little like her... but maybe it's just her."
Maybe it's just her. The thought perhaps makes him a little sad. It would explain a lot, but he doesn't want to assume either.
Hiro rubs the back of his head, "You and everyone else... but I'm not sure you should look at it as if you dodged a bullet. I sure don't think it's a bad thing to be curious... I just don't think, it's the right thing to be when it comes to Lucia's secrets."
His hand though drops when Gwen calls him a good person, and he gets this small smile, "I try to be. It's not so difficult to be when I've got good friends like..."
Leaning over, he nudges Gwen's shoulder real lightly, "... you, to be my example. Moments like this... just prove why I think you've got such a good heart Gwen. After you hadn't explained things... I think I might have resented Setanta forever, for what happened. Now I feel like I'm cheering on the idea that you might find a way to build a better Filgaia for him too."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
<poem> "... Even Janus has his moments." Gwen's grin grows crooked, as she looks back at Hiro.
It's like Gwen had read between the lines of Hiro's words. Or would that be between the letters?
But she can't be smug for very long, as Lydia's curt statements on Gwen's involvement in Janus's first 'death' come to mind.
"Oh I know that part." Reaching a hand up as if she could touch the surface of Lunar with the fingers of her naked left hand, Gwen's hand softens. "It'll just... take a while to sink in, y'know? I have to come t'grips with what happened, n' how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or, at least..." Her hand softly drops to her side. "Make sure it doesn't happen to someone else. If I fall like that again, it might be as a failsafe, but... with the full intention of finding my way back one way or another."
The Stranger has plans for Lan, most likely. Gwen may have to bring her back, or stop her.
Gwen nods, her context unvoiced to Hiro.
".... Man, that'd be wild, huh? Maybe she just has all these sisters who look and act just like her, and the reason Lucia doesn't want to talk about it is because it's just so annoying. Can you even imagine?" A town full of Lucias, just quietly walking around like tourists coming to sightsee a coastal village.
Maybe, as Hiro said, it's just Lucia, alone.
But no longer.
Gwen seems briefly surprised as Hiro nudges her shoulder, then nods, tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "Usually, I'd just accept the compliment, but after all the pain you went through just to get t'me..." The tears begin to fall, and she pauses to wipe them as she calms back down. "I'm really happy to still hear you able t'say that, Hiro. N' that, ain't no lie either."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
As Gwen tears up, Hiro just... he puts his arms around her, and gives her the biggest hug that he can without hurting her.
"You're worth any amount of pain Gwen Whitlock. I know it's hard for you to believe it right now... but it's true. Promise you it is. And in any moment that it feels like you're not... you've got friends, family... that will always be ready to prove it to you."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
As gentle as he might be trying to be in his hug, Gwen has no such limits. Hiro will soon find himself in a friendly, full-sized hug as much as Gwen can muster. She may state she's weak, but the hug definitely shows how much strength she already has gotten back from her resting. "Don't worry, I know. I've always known that part. It's why I made sure to come back. Because that sort of bond needs t'be a two-way street, y'know? That's my proof to you that you've got the same." Eventually she lets Hiro go from her grip, her eyes still wet with tears.
"..... did we already eat all the snacks you brought? Because I think we need to maybe see if we can get s'more."