2022-02-24: The Birth of Pailu. Luaine?
- Log: The Birth of Pailu. Luaine?
- Cast: Paine, Lulu
- Where: Aphel Aura - Residential District
- Date: February 24, 2022
- Summary: Paine asks Lulu on a date.
====================<* Aphel Aura - Residential District *>===================== Shevat is a nation both ancient and strange, and perhaps no part shows this better than its capital and only city, Aphel Aura. Parts of it have weathered the ages better than others, and as a result the ring-shaped city of Aphel Aura features elements from either end of the technological spectrum. Consisting of a series of towers connected by stone bridges, at a glance the primary marvel of Aphel Aura is that it is floating in the sky, but there are also power lights and floating platforms, generally providing access upwards along the towers. On the outer parts of Shevat, plantlife is a given: the city has trees where they'll grow, smaller plantlife living in crevices, and moss living just about anywhere it can grow. Inside, living and working space is cramped but hardly uncomfortable: while the ages have taken their toll, many comforts are available to the residents of Shevat: heating, running water, lighting. Some residents even have access to Shevat's computer systems. Rooms tend to be circular, sometimes subdivided into wedges to make better use of space. The bottoms of a few towers serve as aquifers for the city. Most of the remaining tower bottoms are used for storage, but there is one tower that is an exception: this tower, visitors may be surprised to discover, is not used by anyone or for anything. The rubble and debris in this room remains exactly as it had been left over five hundred years ago, during the great war. This alone has been left as a memorial and reminder of that war. BGM: Xenogears - Shevat - the Wind is Calling -
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Shevat hangs high in the sky over Filgaia, the ground below distant, underneath fluffy clouds. To Spirans it is not entirely unfamiliar; a constant war that wears away at a place is reminiscient in a way of the constant rebuilding Spira must do. Lulu, at last, recognizes certain signs... like the way that while their technology is as impressive as the Temple in Bevelle, it is... aged. The moss and plantlife growing everywhere is only part of it.
But she hasn't come here to muse about architectural archaeology. She is here for business, and so business she has been doing. Now, she sits in a lounge in a circluar room, the window outside showing a lovely view of open sky, higher than most birds fly. She holds a number of books on the table beside her, and a number of notebooks in which she's been writing; there is a doll on the seat beside her, Mog.
She is dressed in her usual; her drink has long since been emptied, a glass sitting on the table ahead instead of by the books.
And she is, of course, still working, and still taking notes, as the day stretches on into evening. Naturally.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Most parts of Spira are not very mossy, though there are exceptions. Certainly it is rare for a building to last long enough to decay so nobly as those of Shevat. As she walks, Paine pauses on a cobblestone bridge to touch the half-wall beside her, and stroke a fuzzy blob of moss with her thumb idly.
Is she feeling meditative today? Or is she just procrastinating?
"Aah, those two," she complains aloud, about a certain pair of cousins. "They got me all worried."
Flicking the moss out of the crease of old mortar it was growing in with her fingernail, Paine sets off more decisively down the bridge. She was just thrown off her game, she decides, by the unusually long enforced delay. She has, by necessity, tended to ask out women the day she meets them, or not long after. But this ought to be /easier/ than that, right? She wouldn't say she knows Lulu well, given how reticent she is, but they are mutually familiar to one another. Two grim and pallid rooks flanking a precious queen.
Paine's military boots clonk along carelessly across the floor as she enters the lounge. Her cloak had been drawn tight against the breezes, so far above the ground, but she loosens it as she goes until her arms can swing freely. When she reaches the table Lulu is sitting at, she seats herself as well--on the table, next to Lulu's books, facing the black mage.
"Hm," she says, picking up Lulu's glass. "I notice a problem here."
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Not entirely unfamiliar, but definitely not the same. Lulu has had that feeling about a lot of places in the last couple of years.
Lulu is unaware of certain worries--unaware of a number of things, actually, unusually for her. She has been quite single-minded on the trip up here through that vast tower, then at the city itself, its libraries...
But the similarities between Lulu and Paine have not stopped existing. ...Nor, for that matter, have a few certain differences. Case in point:
Lulu looks up from her notebook, lowering the pen with a lift of her eyebrow as she looks up at first Paine's knees, then the rest of her and finally her face from where she started at the page. She slowly tilts her head for a moment, as if considering what this problem might be, or perhaps what she's going to do to someone who decided to sit on her table.
"Do you?" she wonders, and there are a few things to notice here. One is that she's in a good enough mood to entertain the question. The other... is that she's either focused or overfocused enough not to immediately get what the answer might be.
Either way, her perfect makeup rather obscures whether she might be tired of all this work. And her perfect expression obscures just what else she might think of Paine's... approach.
Except that she hasn't told her to go away.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Paine's red eyeball is briefly gigantic, as she puts the glass over one eye and looks at Lulu through it, like a monocle. "Have you been here all day? Things that stand still around here seem to grow moss."
Tilting her head, she moves out of line with the glass, a red smear of iris sliding to the side before disappearing.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu, for her part, is unblinking as she waits for an answer... Well, at first. She looks through the glass at Paine, noting that giant red eyeball in there, and her own raised eyebrow keeps pace. Then there is the question, and her expression settles as she glances to the side--and notices the sky's difference. "...Hm. I suppose I have."
It is much later than it was when she sat down. The stack of books, if one could see in a timelapse, has slowly turned upside down.
She looks back to Paine again. "...But no moss that I can tell."
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Glancing down along her own arm, to where her fingers are splayed next to one of the open books, Paine skims a few words here and there. "Ether..."
Looking back at Lulu, Paine shakes her head, thoughtful. "Most people on a journey like this would consider training time over. There aren't a lot of soldiers who run shooting drills on campaign. But you never stop learning, do you?"
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
"Ether. It's a form of magic that comes primarily from the nation of Solaris--it resembles our magic, to a point, but it's also completely different. ...Not in a way that we can use, but I thought its structures might inspire some new spells."
Lulu thinks about it for a moment... and then sets down her pen, folding her hands on the notebook.
"...Hm. I suppose some would. But I'm not good enough, yet. It would be... imprudent, to stop." ...Nevermind that she likes learning.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
"It's great," Paine says. There is nothing flirtatious in the tone. It sounds satisfied, approving. "Not that I'm going to let you keep at it any longer tonight. But I like that about you."
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Approving. That's certainly an approach to take with Lulu; most people don't really try to approve or disapprove of what she has to say, at least not to her face. That would be dangerous. And yet...
"Oh really?" Lulu asks, and the black mage finds herself leaning just a fraction of an inch closer, sitting up straighter in some interest at this prospect.
"Aren't you?"
She files away that other part.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
Paine sets the glass down with a soft clink, and grasps the edge of the table with her fingertips. She can see she has an attentive audience. She can see she got away with a bit of effrontery, with a woman who countenances it from almost no one. Her heart quickens slightly.
Shaking her head no, Paine confirms her stated resolution. "You need a break. If I have to, I'll just invite some of the others over here... Rikku, Wakka, that type especially... and see if even you have the concentration to keep at it. But that wouldn't be my first choice."
Resting her elbows on her knees, Paine brings herself a little closer to Lulu's eye level. The more playful confidence of a moment ago does not vanish, but it does transmute, into what is perhaps its truer state. A simple, honest gaze.
"I'd rather go on a date with you, Lulu. You know I like you."
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Clink. Lulu continues to extend... patience? Is it patience, or is it something else? It's hard to tell what she's thinking. She is not the blushing type, as a rule.
But Paine has a resolution. And Lulu watches her as she indicates how far she's willing to go. "Hm," she replies. Rikku and Wakka... Yes, there's that type. There's something almost playful in her expression in return, a contrarian streak--she could certainly keep concentrating with either of them around. However...
That particular transmutation...
"...Not bad," she declares after a few moments, nodding along as if to some unseen rubric of hers. "But you didn't quite ask, so..."
Lulu folds the pen down onto the page and extends her other hand, towards Paine, palm-down.
"You'll just have to be more direct when we go."
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
There is a moment of uncertainty, there. It would be agony for most, and Paine is not exactly exempt. But though you might not know it by observing her out of combat, she lives for moments like this. Life or death, doom or glory, date or dump. The stakes are high.
Not bad, Lulu says... Paine blinks once, and awaits the dark lady with a challenging gaze.
And in return, she is given a challenge.
Pleased, her red eyes alight, Paine hums. "You," she accuses, beguiled. Setting her feet back on the ground, she turns her own hand over. There is no sense of hesitation or ceremony, and yet the way she lifts her palm up to Lulu's is attentive, deliberate. There is a moment's pause, just before their hands meet, where Paine seems to take the span of a breath to appreciate her fortune. Then, taking Lulu's hand, she helps the black mage rise from her chair.
"Do you need to put the books back?" she asks. "Before we find someplace for me to ask you."
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu has observed Paine enough in combat that she might well know. ...Or maybe she doesn't, and she likes making a prospective date squirm a little. It could be both.
A challenge for a challenge, and Lulu does not smile openly, but her expression takes on an amused cast as Paine accuses her. She makes no denial; the accusation is quite true.
It is possible to be attentive and deliberate without hesitation. Lulu is aware of this. She expects nothing less, and Paine can keep up, or not, at her option. For now, it seems her option is 'yes'.
Lulu stands, a bit of tension in her hand as she uses the muscles to let Paine pull her up. The question...
"No," she says, and it is remarkably unaffected by the moment, offhanded. "They're expected back tomorrow. It can wait."
Maybe not offhanded. Maybe expectant.
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
"We'll leave them, then," Paine agrees readily. "You need to eat."
She lifts Lulu's hand a little. "Do I get to hang onto this?" she inquires. "Maybe even the whole arm? Or not yet?"
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
It's Lulu's room until she's done with it, so they'll be safe enough here, unless certain people decide to go rifling through them. Which probably won't happen.
"Hmmm. I do, that's true."
A little more directness seems to work. Lulu, for her part, lets her hand be lifted, and perhaps surprisingly doesn't make a show of considering the question this time. "The arm is good. We're a little old for just holding hands, I think."
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
"And here I was about to take you out for a milkshake with two straws," Paine drolls. "I'll have to improvise."
Obligingly, Paine takes Lulu's arm. Where with Lulu's hand, the moment of appreciation came just before, this time Paine seems to take it afterwards, pausing to silently mark the moment.
"If I'm not too distracted," she compliments, before they amble for the door.
When Paine opens the door, the dim of evening is beginning to lose even its rich purples; the orange is long gone. Paine gives Lulu a look ('See?') regarding her overwork, before proceeding outside with her.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
"Hmmm..." Lulu does make a show of considering the milkshake, on the other hand. "They do have those here." They have freezers and everything! Shevat is nice.
But she imagines she can make for a bit of distraction regardless, and she accepts a moment's pause. She hasn't taken someone's arm in a good while herself...
And not one like Paine's, for that matter.
Lulu shakes her head at that 'look'. It's fine. Super fine. But she steps out with Paine, and looks up to the sky--not that she has to look 'up' to see the sky here on these platforms.
"So did you have somewhere in mind?" There are a lot of places near the central platform, of course. "...Or did you not quite get that far this time?"
<Pose Tracker> Paine has posed.
"I do," she says serenely. "...but it's not a place to eat. I was worried about that part, actually. The place I had in mind for dinner is not open this late, and it's important that I impress you on our first date. But," she points out drily. "We're not actually on a date yet. So all the pressure is gone."
When Paine does find a promising place, she gets a side-eye from the maitre d'. Spira's islander culture is so different; you have to climb considerably higher up its social ladder before you begin to hit dress codes. But here in the sky, far from the surf and dust, standards can be set and met. It is difficult to tell if Paine is simply unaware that her tattered cloak and highwayman headband have the maitre d's disapproval, or if she knows and does not care; both possibilities fit well to different parts of her personality. But the purpose of a dress code, of course, is to make sure the clientele reflect well upon the establishment, and Paine is presented as a package deal with Lulu. Lulu gets the feeling, from his assessing glance, that this man would let her bring a leashed bandersnatch in here. An attractive but questionably dressed white-haired woman is not a dealbreaker.
"Right this way," he invites.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.
Lulu is very amused by that particular bit of technicality. "Of course," she replies, drily, and steps along with her down the pathway, until they do reach such a place. The maitre d' can side-eye. Lulu happens to give him a glance. She is aware that Paine does not 'fit' in her current attire, and she definitely does not care. But she doesn't need to be unpleasant about it; she doesn't even need to give the ghost of an argument, after that glance at her.
Sadly, she does not have a leash.
But Lulu, in her usual perfectly tailored attire, does fit in.
And she also waits for Paine to lead the way behind the man inviting them, rather than going off and pulling her by the arm.
"Changed your mind?" she wonders. This does indeed seem like a place to eat.