2021-02-09: A Small Moment
- Log: A Small Moment
- Cast: Seraph Lanval, Layna Manydays, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: Sylvaland City - Market Borough
- Date: February 09, 2021
- Summary: A small moment is shared as some of the Al Bhed play Blitzball in the Sylvaland City Harbor.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"BLITZBALLLLLLLLLLL~"
There is, not far from here, a number of Al Bhed who have personally made the journey over here to Filgaia. Spira is in a sad state, but they have themselves an incredible scientific breakthrough that they are going to milk for all it is freakin' worth while they can, and also because Cid's not breathing down their neck and they can make whatever excuses they want to.
There are now a bunch of people who do not speak the local language very well (or at all), welcoming themselves into the water of the piers, and just having themselves a whole lot of fun without much care about what anyone else thinks. It's wild, it's silly, and it's probably going to cause problems with the local law enforcement... but for these people, this is a reprieve from so much going on. Blitzball is Spira's pastime. No one gets to play Blitzball in Spira.
Sylvaland is going to just have to deal with a bunch of rambunctious men and women from afar having fun. (They invite others to come play too, if they want, in so much they just want to get in the water and throw a ball around.)
Seraph Lanval, Oracle of Schturdark and the Mirthful Wellspring, is all about that. He's currently lying down in proximity to sheer unbridled spontaneous joy near some crates, and aside from some of the worries of authorities it does seem like all involved are just getting into the energy of it?
It may be one of the most positive meetings between worlds in recent memories.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Sylvaland City is a nice, quiet place with a lovely atmosphere. It's perfect for the person who just want to relax and enjoy themselves, do a little shopping... but today, this quiet is a broken by a certain cry.
Blitzball.
At one point, however, the shot goes wide! It flies straight at a random passerby!
...Who catches it expertly, right before it can smack her in the face! Layna Manydays stands there, Blitzball in hand, and spins it idly on her finger as she looks to the Al Bhed... and then, gives them an approving grin.
"Blitzball." Layna agrees, nodding sagely. While she can get the general gist of Al Bhed she can't speak it herself... but there's one word that crosses any language barrier. And with that she tosses the Blitzball back in to the one who threw it, before wading in herself!
If there's anyone who can appreciate the wild, the silly, and the likely to break laws and get in trouble with law enforcement it's Layna Manydays.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Seated on the edge of the pier here is a particular young lady who looks just a touch out of place for the goings-on: clad in what appears to be some sort of formal (regal? she certainly sits as if she were instead perched on a throne) attire, she watches the goings-on with muted enjoyment, a soft smile on her lips.
With all that has been going on, how long has it been since she has last had a moment like this? She may not wade in herself, but--
"Oh--"
The shot has gone wide! It flies up onto the pier, and threatens to strike--
...no one, it seems. It's handily caught!
After which Layna Manydays wades into the fray herself. Standing after a moment, one might think that Avril was thinking about following suit.
But instead she stands there a moment more, the wind playing with her long silver hair.
"Layna!" she calls out then. "It has been a long time!"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Ha ha ha!" Lanval cheers as Layna catches the ball and goes in to join the fun! Sure, the water of Filgaia isn't as crisp, clean, or clear - on average - but Sylvaland's about the best anyone can hope for, and... there's a powerful spirit of water, right there, taking a nice contemplative sip of his gourd. For all the damage the world's water has to it, there's always a taste of something like this. He's the sort of fellow who knows how to zero in on the good, however small. (This... has bad implications on some fronts but never you mind.)
"Avriiiiil~" Lanval's voice trails. "I caught ya shmilin'~! Ha ha ha!"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
There's a certain joy in sharing in a game with others, and Layna soon proves that she knows what she's doing. Layna sends a grin Lanval's way at that cheer before resuming play. But, before long someone calls out to Layna, so she signals to the rest of the players to go on without her for now before swimming over to the side of the pier, closer to the source.
"Ahoy there, Avril! Aye, that it has, that it has." Layna replies, offering her a grin. She glances Lanval's way for a moment as he comments on her smile before looking back to Avril herself. "How are you and your pals doing?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Oh? Lanval, is that you?" Avril pauses, smiling (helplessly) again when he calls her out on that very act. "Yes, it does seem that you have caught me. I suppose that I cannot help it. Everyone looks as if they are having so much fun. It is... pleasant, to watch them."
Layna calls back to her as well. "We are well, thank you very much, Layna. I feel that is all that I can ask for under these circumstances. As for your own companions...?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Mmmmmph," Lanval grunts as he sits himself up as Layna returns back over to the pier. Avril smiled again! It's a good look. He can think of a lot of people who'd do good with a good smile, or two. (...actually no just one, one at a time per face, thanks)
"Ya know, in shome way, people're gonna go find a way ta make life work, I find." So Lanval finds, maybe he should look for whoever the owner of those words are. There could be a reward posted for them. "...Ain't alwaysh the mosht, uh, wholeshome though. But the purshuit of somethin' happy," he gestures broadly to the game going on in front of them. "Could watch it fer yeeeeeeeeearsh, ha ha ha!"
They'll only be there for a few hours, but what an enchanted few hours it is!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
In the distance, Layna hears another call. She turns away for the briefest moment, giving a quick thumbs-up. In response, the Blitzball is hurled her way. She catches it and, without allowing it to lose momentum, spins alongside it with a flourish and hurls it back to the thrower to appreciative cheers before returning her attention back to Avril and Lanval.
"Glad to hear." Layna replies with a grin as Avril says they're all doing well. "As for us, we're doing pretty well for ourselves, too. Been doing a lot of treasure hunting, following Talise's leads. It's a mighty fine job, aye?"
She looks toward Lanval for confirmation for that, and chuckles at his words.
"Not a bad saying there, lad." She replies. "Well, here's hoping you've got many years of it ahead indeed!"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes... that is quite true," the young woman remarks, watching the ball as it spins and flies through the air. "Is it not said that it is the journey rather than the destination? Pursuing something, especially if it should make you happy in its pursuit... I believe that is worthwhile."
Lanval may not be the only one to feel as if he could stand here and watch for years--
Even if it will turn out in practicality to only be a few hours. Even if there is no way in which she could watch something play out for years and years.
Right?
"I am glad to hear all of you are well, then. Have you found anything interesting? Dean has spoken to me often of his own treasures, and Rebecca as well." She pauses, though.
"My 'treasures' however... they are not physical objects."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
'Here's hoping you've got many years of it ahead indeed!' Layna replies, and Lanval keeps that goofy smile going. It does touch upon a difficult reality, for a moment, but... they're here now! It's great. He has another sip of the gourd. "...'ll make shure yer a part of ash many of 'em ash we can." He'll leave the discussion about what cool treasures they've found to Layna, on that front.
"Mmm, ya 'bout got the right of it, yep~" He sits back up a bit more as Avril recounts the importance of the journey. Still, one eye opens half-lidded as she mentions the nature of her treasures.
"...Mmmm... ish it all right if I take a guessh on that?" Beat. "I like guesshin' gamesh..."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, that's the truth indeed!" Layna says with a grin, as Avril speaks on the journey versus the destination. "Sure, getting there's good... but all the effort put in getting there makes it all the better."
Avril asks about their treasures and Lanval leaves it to hers, so Layna nods.
"Aye, that we have - we've been finding a lot of old coins and pottery from Glenwood. Strange, that, considering we've been finding it in Spira. And Talise thinks we're onto something big." Layna replies with a nod. She listens intently, though, as Avril speaks of her own treasures. Layna grins.
"Well, it might be strange to hear it from someone like me... but sometimes, that's the best kind, aye?" She says. She glances to Lanval for a moment, then back to Avril.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Really? In Spira? Now that is strange. I had been under the impression that..." She pauses, frowning as if in thought. "Hmm, I wonder if it may be that others managed a trip to Spira before now? I had heard that there were times when Sin was not active. Nevertheless... it is still quite fascinating. I wonder however old they might be?"
Lifting a hand to her chin, Avril appears to consider for a moment Lanval's offer.
"Very well," she says, at length. "Let us see if you are able to guess whatever my treasures might be. Layna, would you care to make a guess as well?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"It'sh true! I wash there!" Lanval adds to Layna's find. Beat. "Er. I mean, uh, when we found it. Not like I wash, uh. Around!" An important clarification, given how many years his kind can accumulate. He looks on eagerly as Avril considers whether or not to take him up on the *GUESSING GAME*. This may have been a trap to put her into a poorly-designed, irritatingly-interfaced minigame!! Suffer! Cower before SIDE CONTENT.
...okay it's not
Lanval puts his own fingers to his chin, parting beard hairs as he stares up into the skies above. "Okay~! 'm thinkin'... now, I heard the inshide quotesh! I got a good ear for 'em, sho it musht be... figurative, manner of shpeakin', ish iiiiiit..."
dot
dot
dot
"Yer dear friendsh?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Right? That's what makes it so interesting. They've been in the sea, mind you, so it could be just be general drift... but, it's still quite the mystery, aye?" Layna says with a grin, as Avril comments. She nods to confirm that Lanval was there when they found it. As for how old they are Layna frowns pensively for a moment, thinking back. "Uh... not sure, actually. You'd probably have to ask Talise for that, she'd know. She knows way more about history than I do."
And then, Avril asks if she wants to join in on the guessing game, too!
"Well, I can hardly turn down a challenge..." Layna says consideringly, once again frowning pensively. "Is it-"
Lanval gives his answer, and Layna laughs.
"That's what I was going to say! But then again, I guess 'friends' might count as physical objects... though if you make the answer 'friendship', maybe that counts..." She says consideringly.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Oh, were you? I believe you both. There have been strange things found in Spira," she says, reflecting back on the shrines -- both shrines -- that they traversed upon both exits from that land. "Hmm... carried by the currents... I wonder."
And then a small game is proposed--
Avril awaits the answer from both of them, crossing her hands before herself. And once they have both spoken:
"Yes. You are both right. My friendship with Dean and Rebecca is something I treasure dearly."
But.
"...There is another treasure which I have. My memories," she says, gesturing outwards at the scene about them all. The people horsing around. The waves, the sky. Avril smiles slightly. "Perhaps it may be a result of losing my memories. But... times like these are the most dear to me. Everyday moments like these. They are something my heart desires, and so, I treasure them."
She glances then, at the both of them. "I hope that was not too much. Nevertheless, it is how I feel. Moments like these must be treasured," Avril finishes, gazing off at the horizon.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"BLITZBAAAAAAAAALL," the cry is heard from the water. Even though the environment is imperfect, the visitors from the other world make due just so they can have this good, fun moment together. A shrill cry of joy to paint the picturesque scene before them, followed by a streak of blitzball-colored blitzball (...one has read correctly) flies towards the three of them.
Lanval stretches out where he currently sits, parrying the ball upwards with seemingly no effort (or acknowledgement), lying back as Avril treasures these moments. It comes back down, rolls down an extended arm, and gently comes to a stop somewhere near Avril's feet.
"Ya got that right," Lanval says, "momentsh like thish... treashured. Blitzball, though..."
His eyes light up. "Tossh 'em!!"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Blitzball! Layna watches as the ball flies through the air, grinning as Lanval parries it effortlessly. She looks toward Avril, then. They're right - but she has another treasure, too. Layna listens intently... and then, smiles genuinely.
"Nah, that wasn't too much at all." Layna replies with a reassuring shake of her head. "Sounds like you've found some mighty fine treasures indeed - and when it comes to treasure, I know my stuff. Here's hopin' you can collect many more, aye?"
And with that she grins and laughs at Lanval's comment before, with a wave, pushing off to join the players once more.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
The ball comes rolling right at her feet.
Avril pauses but a moment before crouching to pick it up, and then, just as prompted--
"Here!"
She throws it, back for the Al Bhed players.