2021-02-10: Korok You Like a Hurricane

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==================<* Sylvaland City - Kalkuricco Borough *>===================

Kalkuricco Borough is at the very heart of Sylvaland City. It consists of ancient wooden homes, some said to predate the Day of Collapse, which are built close together on islands and peninsulas that are built into the rivers, streams, and creaks that run through the heart of the city.

Bridges are common here, linking the many small neighborhoods together. There are also a number of stores that deal in smaller trades, including a world-renowned bookstore, the Octorok's Nook. The homes are small, often taller than they are wider. Despite this, these are some of the most expensive homes in the world.

The center of the district is Sylvaland Castle, which towers over all of the city.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up5HeIWeOMI
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

The Kalkuricco Borough of Sylvaland City is famous for many reasons. The beautiful, ancient wooden homes and the natural, foresty environment...

...But, the thing that brings Yulie here today is the world-famous bookstore, the Octorok's Nook! It's cozy and pleasant, and of course there's a wide variety of books on just about any subject, fact or fiction.

Yulie stands in front of a bookshelf. There are a few other kinds of books here, but her current interest is in the cookbooks - with her target on the highest shelf. She reaches up, up, uuup... and tips it over just enough that she can reach it, drawing it out with a triumphant smile.

Today's acquisition - a book on recipes for cooking at a campfire!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied is also here, because she's on the hunt for more books for the children and p-p-perhaps also... trying to expand her own reading selection. Noeline's an incredibly bad (??) influence on her, however, because...

    Today, the Hyadean is seated in front of her wheelchair in.... the Romance section?

    Her face is steaming a little as she stares at random books, shaking her head and internally going 'no no no!' and putting it back on the shelf.

    She blinks a few times, then turns around. "Oh... Yulie?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    The bad influence in question is here as well, alternating between watching Riesenlied dither and slowly building up a small stack of books she's yet to read with the intent of purchasing a half-dozen at once.

    She seems right at home amongst the shelves, and when she's not smirking towards her partner she's positively emitting musical notes of contentment or the occasional upbeat hum as she leafs through the first couple of pages of a book to check the prose.

    She's not sticking to fiction, but it does kind of make up most of her little pile at present.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius is here also, because he is something of a force of nature that happens, it has been determined. An Awkwardness Elemental. (Awkwardness Seraph Ethius? ...nah.)
     After a recent event that has come to pass in the piers - one he was not present for but heard a whole lot of noise about besides - he's been going around the bookstores for anything regarding athletics and games. (Maybe he's just here for kindling and isn't picky? It's Ethius.)
     He looks up from where he is going over his sample reading to remember hearing at least one familiar voice and one familiar name, and a part of him wonders if there aren't at least seven Drifter figures within this bookstore, including himself, all at once. That would be...
     ...
     He considers whether or not the matter he has in mind is one he needs to safeguard, no matter how much of an overestimation he is giving this 'threat.' Upon a closer look... he's just reading about sports and games. That's not inherently dangerous knowledge unto itself.
     He holds his position and continues sneaking a read while it seems culturally acceptable to glean written word for free within the confines of the bookstore.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Oh, my," says a woman now standing beside Riesenlied and her wheelchair, looking towards her with a smile. She is not terribly familiar; blonde, with brown eyes, in a nice red dress. "That one is a little spicy, isn't it?" Actually she may be a little familiar--she looks almost exactly like Eleanor Klein, only human and a little taller. The woman reaches out and--

With a little grin, takes a book from beside it. "Hmm~!" She waves at Noeline too, though her eyes linger a little longer on her.

Eleanor herself instead steps towards the shelves from an opposite angle and spots--"Ah! Hello there," to Yulie. She is holding a small stack of books that are as yet difficult to identify from the way she's holding them. She's dressed fairly similarly to the other woman who looks like her--her sister--and doesn't have her gun at the moment. Obviously.

She notices curiously that Ethius is reading about sports and games, because she never sees him show interest in.. very much that isn't explosives. "Oho."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

The beauty of Sylvaland City is something Azoth's grown fond of in his exposure to it. Rocks are a great thing, but so are leaves and flowers. So are books, filled with data. Azoth wanders the library, pulling down random books to flip through -- though given his nature, it's possible he's reading a lot more of it than it seems -- before moving on the next subject as he grazes information.

Nothing's got his eye for an in depth review yet, until... a picture book. A picture book of little bunny rabbits on some kind of garden adventure with giant vegetables. Azoth stops over a page, staring at it with a wide eyed blink before other voices catch his attention.

Azoth peeks around the shelves, taking his little book with him. He gives a cheerful wave and starts to open his mouth before spotting Ethius. Lit up in excitement, Azoth approaches him in that way a person kind of appears next to someone in a single bounding movement. Finally, a moment to talk without a crisis of monsters or crumbling architecture...!

But Ethius is reading, so Azoth only slowly leans further and further into his field of vision, waiting for an appropriate moment without being disruptive. ...An... attempt to not be disruptive.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia steps into the Octorok's Nook clearly intent on getting some Meister Manuals to level up her ENGINEERING ability only to hear Riesenlied say the words 'Oh... Yulie?'

Who is Yulie Who cares! Lydia's eyes widen as she realizes that MOM is here and she pushes her way through the bookstore and sees--

--Riesenlied in the romance section!

Her eyes slant up towards the word ROMANCE and tears well up in Lydia's eyes. "Oh no..."

Riesenlied's face is steaming too, so it's starting to get kind of sauna-like between Riesenlied's steam and Lydia's waterfall tears.

"waaaaaaaaggghhh I hate romance it's for nerds!" Lydia says as she pulls a book free from the romance novel section and...

THROWS IT TO THE GROUND, opening up to reveal a page from 'My Metal Demon And Me' which has bare shoulders on the cover and everything.

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

A voice says Yulie's name! She turns, smiling as she spots Riesenlied.

"Oh, Miss Riesenlied... and Miss Noeline, too. It's good to see you both." She greets with a smile. "How is everyone back on the Fereshte doing?"

And there are other friends here, too!

"Miss Eleanor, Azoth, it's good to see you, too." She greets. Her gaze soon tracks to Ethius curiously, though. Books on sports and games... she didn't realise he was so interested in the subject.

"Do you like sports, Mister Ethius...?" Yulie asks curiously.

...Which is about the point that Lydia appears, in tears! Yulie blinks, and looks a little concerned. ...She seems upset... should she say something?

"Um...is something wrong...?" She asks timidly.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied grumps quietly at Noeline getting a lot of amusement out of this, though she's quietly smiling at the company inside; she doooesn't quite spot Ethius and Azoth sneaking up on him, because--

    "O-o-oh! Eleanor??" Riesenlied stammers, the book fumbling in her hands, and then, in the midst of a comical book-fumbling section, Lydia appears!

    "L-Lydia??" Riesenlied double-stammers, as she starts sobbing and throws a book to the ground, and she stares down at bare shoulder and squeals in embarrassment and--

    FLOP

    The book she's fumbling, labelled 'My Korokkle Romance', flops open ontop.

    Shall I... korok you like a hurricane?" whispers Pinecone-sempai huskily, his luscious and wide-brimmed leaves still slicked with the last droplets of the summer rain. Oh, how I'd love to photosynthesize with him right now! But the Great Deku won't approve...

    "T-they are fiiine," Riesenlied whines helplessly at Yulie, burying her hands in her face. Horns are at 100% droop level. Danger!!

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline stands placid in the midst of Ethius' worries, unmoved by the Drifters around her. Instead, she snorts at Eleanor's comment, her eyebrows raised. "Unfortunately, everything tends to be a little spicy for Riesenlied at present," Noeline comments playfully, though she does pause to pat the poor Hyadean on the head in something... ... ...

    ... well, it's kind of like sympathy.

    That bright amusement extends to Lydia's wail as well; maybe it's something to do with the amount of time she's spent looking after the Fereshte and its gaggle of orphans, but she's incredibly able to take this situation in stride. "There, there. It can't hurt you, Lydia," she starts, and trails off for a foreboding second. "--unless you let it worm its way into your heart."

    "They are going very well, now that we have properly found them again and have a way back to them at short notice. There is no place like home - and that airship is a second home to us by now."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"NOTHING IS WRONG EVERYTHING IS GREAT," Lydia says in a tone that totally sounds honest, truly. She hurriedly wipes at her eyes. "...Did you already hear...?" She asks of Noeline, surprised. Does EVERYBODY know about the breakup already??? Is everybody laughing at her???

"I think it wormed its way into my heart already." She huffs before pausing to look down at the book.

"...That's... Wow, that's really lewd, mom."

She sniffs faintly. "We never koroked... wahhhhhhh....!"

She fops down and slides down against the book case, defeated.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius looks down as he sees no small number of people regard his choices, and for a time, his endless stare gives way to a singular on-screen blink.
     "...I see there is great interest in my choice of reading material." His tone of voice has not changed any, but there may be that tiniest, nearly imperceptible but verifiable sensation of 'probable terror' as he see Azoth leaning cloooooooser, and he blinks again.
     "...Recent events have had me considering the nature of what manner of organized sport may have developed, and when," Ethius states, which sounds totally like an excuse and maybe he does have a hidden book about explosives between the pages there. (He does not.) "...As to whether I like them..."
 
     SOME TIME AGO
 
     A quiet young teenage boy sits motionlessly in a cubic room full of hard angles and strange colors. Illuminated patterns fill the space, along the wall. Some sit in front of his gaze, which does not waver. He is not sure he has blinked his eyes in some time. A level of import impressed upon him, in the simplest language, that he needs to do this.
     Light. Light from a similarly rectangular shape he does not find pleasing. A figure that has long established being non-threatening but not so much as something he can tolerate. They tap through the space with strange sounds. Anything moving on this surface, including himself, sounds so strange. He does not want to be here.
     "Ethius," speaks a male voice as he holds onto a spherical thing. "Look." Between these two words, a pause and thought. Everyone speaks to him so slow, now. Nowhere near the rich, lengthy, streaming, woven sounds of simultaneous ideas.
     "Outside." The voice says, and the boy remembers this being strange. Why outside?
     The figure holds up the sphere again, decked in black and white. "Familiar?" Another small pause. "With feet?"
     The boy stares.
     "Other colors," the one bearing the sphere says. "But... same?" They put it down on the ground and make a motion with their foot with a light tap. "This?"
     The boy strikes it with familiarity, as it travels across the length of this space he would not like to be in. It bounces off the wall, and back towards the one who brought it in.
     "Yes!" The other one says with cheer. "That. Outside?"
     The boy looks to the flat display of light. It dims, and he stands.
 
     NOW
 
     "...I would confess fondness in specific disciplines, yes," he says without looking Yulie or anyone else directly head-on as he closes the book while Lydia is yelling.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth beams at Ethius once he knows he's been seen. "Mister Ethius! I wanted to give you this." He hands over a... rock? No, not a rock precisely, but a disc shaped chunk of petrified wood with rings visible within the polished surface. There's all manner of reds and browns swirling in it, with vibrant flecks of bright blue in contrast. "It's--"

Lydia wails, and Azoth gives a digital chirp like a glitch as he shoots up straight and whirls toward the sound. "Lydia...?!" He hurries over in concern, setting the petrified wood on Ethius' reading material without further explanation. Lydia's teary eyed face sends a spike of panic through Azoth. "Are you all right? Did you get a paper cut?"

This is, presently, the most obvious reason Azoth's come up with as to why she'd be picking a fight with the romance genre. Lydia may be robotic, but her flesh may still be able to experience the pain of micro injuries.

He bends down to pick up the offending tome, only to catch Riesenlied's open choice in literature. "...Joint photosynthesis does sound pretty romantic." Pause. Never koroked...?

...Oh no what happened?!

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Ah, you know my sister!" the brown-eyed woman answers pleasantly, laughing a little at the playful comment, and then nearly drops her book at Lydia abrubtly sobbing. And--

Danielle sort of stops and watches Lydia. She immediately looks: confused and then sympathetic, in that order. She doesn't know entirely what's going on, but waterfall tears, hating romance... Yes. She understands. Especially when Lydia talks about 'already hearing'.

"That's a terrible sort of feeling," Danielle sympathizes. Then she pauses. She is of course a stranger, but... "Koroking isn't everything!" she offers, heartfelt.

Eleanor on the other hand at first is looking at Ethius, and answers, "Yes, I'm quite curious! Do you have any particular favorites? Though, that is a rather interesting topic in the first place. I wonder how much research... one... could..."

Pause. "Oh dear," she says, looking over sympathetically at Lydia. There's two of them!

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Yulie does a double-take. She realises... that isn't actually Eleanor! But her sister, apparently.

"O-oh... I'm sorry, miss. I don't believe we've met? I'm Yulie - Yulie Ahtreide." She says with a polite curtsy.

She looks back to Riesenlied, though, who seems... upset about something?

It's probably a good thing she isn't taking a very close look at those books...

But Riesenlied says the people of the Fereshte are fine, and Noeline confirms.

"I'm glad to hear that... I'm sure they're happy to know that, too." Yulie replies, and looks toward Ethius... who confirms that he does, in fact, enjoy sports!

"Oh, that's nice..." She says. He didn't seem like the type, but she's happy that he can have a hobby. "I don't... really know many, myself... Um... what's your favorite?"

But then there is Lydia, who is clearly... not alright.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Yulie murmurs apologetically. ...She doesn't know what 'koroked' means in this situation.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied looks further embarrassed at her mistake, peeking her hands out and redoubling her look -- and at Eleanor not far away. "Oh, I am sorry. Yes, I have sought her advice in Crest Sorcery more than once... my name is Riesenlied, and you are?"

    She's kind of multi-tasking here though, since a sobbing daughter is absolutely not something she can ignore, and she brings Lydia into a hug and lets out a calming 'shh', asking with a smile, "Hear what...?" A pause, since she *is* an empath and can get a subtle sense of it.

    "Oh, Lydia..."

    Azoth is there too to console her, though, and she smiles at him-- before steaming up again. She peeks over to Ethius, barely catching his conversation with Eleanor. Sports, huh...?

    "I--I was just trying to... gain more ideas to be more romantic..." she shoots a glance at Noeline like 'don't you dare!'.

    "Oh... what book w-were you looking for, Yulie?" Riesenlied haplessly tries to change the topic.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius has a pretty piece of petrified wood deposited within the book he's currently looking over, his gaze flitting between Azoth's forward kindness, Eleanor's conversational curiosity, the young Yulie opening up to the adult with the lowest CHA score as if he accidentally rolled a natural 20, and Lydia making a huge fuss about her love life as Riesenlied (who peeks over at him) and perhaps he should just be content that Noeline isn't giving him a look.
     He makes a concentrated effort not to look any of them in the eyes, taking several steps back towards a corner like he might have just been caught in a compromising position.
     "I... thank you, Mister... Azoth," he seems to be struggling to consider what sort of practiced-sounding response to use. "...There is one that sees infrequent play over in the Ignas region... one where you manipulate a ball strictly with one's feet, with... only specially designated team members set between 'goals' allowed to..." He doesn't quite finish it. The whole situation seems to fluster him. (Did he accidentally pick up a page from Yulie's script?)
     Why does he look like he's about to face a thorough, difficult interrogation...? "N-Nonetheless... the recent Al Bhed activity at the harbor had me curious about... local games that are played, now that Blitzball may be entering the public conscious in Sylvaland," which is a strange thing to be concerned about.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline is not as much of an empath as Riesenlied, but between her link with her partner and a good, solid grasp of common sense and romance subplots, it doesn't take any time at all for her to piece together Lydia's situation.

    "... I did not hear," she says as her brow furrows, though she keeps her tone light despite the sharpness of steel behind it, leaning down along with Riesenlied to console her. "I suppose I will need to have a Talk with someone."

    She can spare Ethius an approving nod at his choice of subject, at least, though personally her own curiosity is somewhere along the lines of 'but how exactly did anyone figure out blitzball'.

    Lydia's situation is what spares Riesenlied from direct teasing; she chuckles softly, trying to play off the burst of kind of ridiculous but wholehearted pride that she feels instead, and nods towards Yulie. "You should come and see the ship, at some point. I do think it would rather suit you, somehow."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"I didn't get a paper cut." Lydia says, exhaling at Azoth. "Sorry I'm just... yeah."

She blushes silver for a bit. Atl east Azoth doesn't know. "I'll talk to you later about it okay?" She tells him. "I'm--There's some stuff it'd be easier to just talk to you about when--"

She realizes maybe she's brushing up against his SECRET IDENTITY there and she really should avoid it. Danielle seems to sympathize and says Koroking isn't everything but Lydia says, "Well yeah but--"

she paues. "....Have you koroked?" She asks of Danielle. "What's it like??" Oh no...!! TURNABOUT!??!?!

She is pulled into a Riesenhug and that seems to calm her down considerably. Riesenlied is not to blame do do do do. "Yeah uh. We broke up. No big deal or anything. Sorry."

Her eyes widen w hen Noeline offers to have a talk. "Uhh but he was real cool about it...! He wasn't a jerk or anything! Gahh... I didn't even want to say... The Romance Section made me do it." Is that a defense in court??

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth hasn't explained to Ethius the significance of the gift yet...! But there is a matter of triage happening, and now he'd also be interrupting Sports and Games Talk which seems important to Ethius. Giving gifts can be very difficult.

Ivan and Lydia aren't...? But-- why? The tragedy of it isn't that Azoth doesn't have a hypothesis, it's that he has several. He'd hoped any and all of those factors wouldn't matter. Maybe it's one he hasn't thought of.

"Okay," he says to Lydia, not showing so much as a flinch at any possible identity brushing. He smiles at her weakly. "Anytime, anywhere. Whatever it is."

It is, after all, the absolute least he could do.

He places the fallen book back in its place whiling keeping that bunny book tucked under his arm. Azoth knew it would only be appropriate to buy something after stealing all that data, but is this really going to be the advanced ancient A.I.'s choice? (Yes.) Azoth, however, knows exactly zero about romance, and begins to idly flip through some of the books, putting each back when he's done, and scanning some longer than others.

There must be some tragic love in some of these, or what treatment can be performed after a break up...

When Lydia blames the romance section, he pauses and looks back at her. "Do you want me to blow it up?"

He's kidding.

...Probably. Also, intellectually curious about Danielle's answer, mostly because he hasn't confirmed what koroked is a euphemism for yet.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Poor Ethius. It's pretty rough. "I think... Yes, I'm familiar with that game," Eleanor says to Ethius thoughtfully. "Though of course I haven't really played it. I'm more a fan of watching sports than playing them."

"My name is Danielle," she says to both Yulie and Riesenlied with a smile. "Danielle Klein. Don't worry; you wouldn't be the first to mix us up." Eleanor laughs faintly at that, good-humored, though not for very long because--well. There is a crying girl here.

But Riesenlied might pick up from Eleanor some very mixed feelilngs about romance now that the subject has come up.

But Danielle--Has she koroked?? "Ah, well--I can't... alady can't discuss such things, but..." Danielle glances about. She looks over Azoth... and Yulie. And then Lydia again. "I can say that the romance section isn't all bad! Try..." She starts to reach towards a book.

Eleanor for her part suddenly steps in, "Please do not blow up a section of the bookstore, Mister Azoth." To Ethius, "I adore Blitzball," she admits. "I'd love to see it take off here, though we do lack some of the necessary equipment to play it properly..."

Then she steps over to Lydia and says, "Breakups can be very difficult, even if no one was mean about it. Sometimes especially if no one was mean about it."

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Danielle introduces herself, and Yulie smiles.

"Oh, good..." She says, relieved that Danielle isn't offended. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Danielle!"

Yulie watches Ethius carefully, noting that he seems uncomfortable... and, takes a step back.

"...I'm sorry, are we crowding you...? Please tell us if we are - it's okay to let us know." She asks apologetically. She listens, though, as he explains a game from the Ignas region. She's unfamiliar with it, not to mention Blitzball, but... "That sounds like fun..."

She looks over to Riesenlied and Noeline, then, and as Riesenlied asks what book she was looking for, she raises it so she can see. The cover is... perhaps a little stereotypical - with 'Campfire Cooking' displayed in bubbly, attention-grabbing letters, depicting a cooking pot held over a campfire.

"My friends and I do a lot of traveling outdoors, so... I want to make sure we have a lot of different options for meals we can cook with only a campfire..." Yulie explains. She's usually the one who does the cooking. She smiles, though as Noeline says she should see the ship sometime.

"...I... did enjoy the time I spent with you all. I don't want to be too much of a burden, though..." She replies, a bit hesitantly. It was nice! But maybe too nice... it made it hard to move on. "But... thank you. I'll come back soon, even if only for a time... It'd be nice to sing for everyone again."

But as for Lydia... Yulie doesn't know anything about break-ups! She doesn't know want to say... so she keeps quiet, afraid she'll say something to make it worse.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Poor Ethius seems to be having a rough time of it, and he seems unusually flustered. But when he mentions Blitzball entering Sylvaland...

    Well, perhaps Riesenlied is one of the few who can immediately intuit what about that worries him. There's a sympathetic smile as she says, "I do not think, at least, that there is a technological mismatch... Mister Ethius. Sylvaland has its own share of ball games, and the technology for it too, I believe...?"

    Noeline threatening to give someone the Talk alarms her, though, because she imagines for a moment about them becoming mothers who come down on bad boyfriends to their daughters and oh no that's a bad train of thought to go down!!

    But Lydia says it's... cool? She does smile when she says she'll tell Azoth. It's good she has others she can relate to. "I am happy to also listen, of course. I... well--"

    Oh no, she realises she's never broken up with anyone and therefore has no direct experience and if she broke up with Noeline that'd be the saddest UWAAAA---

    *pop*

    Eleanor's mixed feelings about romance float to the surface, and she glances to the elven woman with a sympathetic smile too.

    "Danielle," Riesenlied bows her head. "And, yes... separation is never pleasant, even on good terms."

    Yulie's book attracts her, though, and she claps her hands together. "Oh...! That sounds like a wonderful book... let me know if you find something nice and easy." And on the topic of coming to the ship...

    "Let us sing and play music together again sometime! I enjoyed it quite a lot..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline is definitely not radiating a feeling of 'no big deal' nor 'real cool about it' - though at least she does soften a little when Lydia suggests she was the one to initiate it, and sympathy scores her face as she pats their daughter on the back and draws in a breath. "... so long as you feel it was the right thing to do," she suggests quietly, glancing at Riesenlied with an uncertain frown.

    Part of her is still obviously wary; part of her is wondering if perhaps she should try to ferret out the reason later, to check that it isn't for any kind of self-deprecating reason that might hurt Lydia down the road. She'd like to keep what she can of their daughter's sense of humanity intact, given everything else.

    "Ah," she notes towards Yulie's choice of reading, then snorts. "I've never exactly gotten the hang of it myself, but it is one of those skills that suits a Drifter, I suppose. To be honest, I just assumed it involved wrapping absolutely everything in foil."

    She chuckles a little at talk of the Fereshte, tilting her head in a nod. "If you have things to do, that's quite alright. Believe me, we are well aware of what 'too much burden' looks like, and that wasn't it."

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia gets an offer to blow up the romance section. "It's pretty occupied right now. Maybe after hours." She says which is a terrible thing to say Lydia...!! But maybe she's just going along with the joke?? Probably?? MAYBE???

"Yeah, if he was mean about it I could've punched him or something. But I'm glad he wasn't mean about it. He's a real good guy. That's why I still..."

She siiiiighs. "It was way easier when everybody I asked out waas like 'oops no sorry' and I didn't get far at all. Maybe I should ask more people out so I get rejected more and forget about this one."

She senses Riesenlied thinking about what it'd be like to break up with Noeline and gives one of her horns a faint rub so it feels better.

"I don't really know what's the right thing to do anymore," Lydia admits. "But thanks."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "It's... it's not a matter of a mismatch, Miss Riese," Ethius seems to glean onto that topic to anchor himself back towards something resembling normal conversation for him, "I do find the way... traditions form, and pass, to be... an interest." The pauses are strange, but he's strange anyway, so this is normal? Double negative? Maybe?
     This seems to re-center him some.
     "...The enthusiasm is... a novel situation for me, yes, Miss Yulie." He does not recall the last time anyone crowded around him with such enthusiasm about an innocuous subject. It... it is an innocuous subject, isn't it? There is no reason to be so guarded, even by his standards. "I do agree, Miss Eleanor, there is an appeal to the multidimensional aspects of movement compared to the game I was discussing--"
     There's talk about blowing up the romance section, and Ethius looks to Lydia. He turns to those who were addressing him about the whole sports ball nonsense. "I apologize. One moment."
     Then, to Lydia.
     "...If my input on such matters would hold any value, Miss Lydia," Ethius remarks, if in part because lowering the volume from a bawling, inconsolable young heart made up of so many tiny little hearts that are also bawling and inconsolable unto themselves increases his chances of continuing to get away with reading books without paying for them, "...such a decision is never made lightly on anyone's part."
 
     SOME POINT IN THE PAST
 
     A translucent mannequin finds lines drawn upon it by his own hand. Difficult patterns and shapes form in blue lines in consideration to the green. His mind already races for what's to come in hours and he is already behind on the next presentation to her. This time, he thinks. If nothing else, this time. He looks over to his left forearm, a tree-like tattoo spanning the length.
     "Ethius! I'm back early. Got your message, meeting got cancelled." The voice of another young man speaks.
     His hand slips, ruining a line. He taps it a few times until the continuous line's color turns red. He closes his eyes and exhales.
     "You said you wanted to talk? Hey?" His hands draped around his shoulders. "'...Applied Anthropology,' was it?"
     "That's... that's what it's... called, yes." Ethius' tension did not lower. "You said you wouldn't be back in--"
     "Said meeting got cancelled." He laughed gently. "More body art? Noticed you've been flexing your hands, making them... limber. Bending some of them back reeeeeeeally far, yeah?"
     Ethius idly demonstrated subconsciously, stopping himself. "That's... part of the curriculum."
     "Well... we have two hours to spare, don't we? We can find a few minutes. You're tense, I'm tense, just... you know? Apply some of that?"
     It's the first time tonight that Ethius even looks at him. They're about the same age. He's of a paler skin tone than himself. He's always smiling, always open. Things got as far as they did because of that. Usually he was the one that needed to unwind, not Ethius.
     He catches that maybe, just maybe, Ethius does want to talk about something - as those who spend a fair amount of time together do.
     "...You listen to me all the time, just... going on and on," he continues as he sits down on a couch, folding his hands together, "but... you've really been talking a whole lot less."
     "Have I?" Ethius looks the other way. "...Are you counting the tongue twister--"
     "Even adding that. Hey. We have two whole extra hours tonight, why don't you--"
     Ethius sits down on the couch, but not next to him. He slouches, elbows on his knees and putting his hands together. Two whole extra hours. A lot of extra time to fill, compared to...
     "...I said I wanted to talk."
     "C'mere. You mumble." He patted the sofa. "Mumbly man."
     "..."
 
     NOW
 
     The odd man's eyes close as he considers the possibility his underhanded scheme is at a loss, what with so many eyes being on him in a context he did not anticipate.
     "I would imagine there was significant rehearsal prior to his making his decision, and even then, one would struggle to speak with confidence in such a decision."

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Danielle smiles back to both Yulie and Riesenlied, while Eleanor herself looks a little surprised to see Riesenlied seemingly read her feelings so well. She wonders how obvious she was about it. But she can't be sure. Danielle in the meantime picks up the book she was eyeing... but thinks better of offering it to Lydia after all. Instead she says, "That's a good idea! I mean, not quite the right spirit, but getting back out there is a good thing, I think."

Eleanor meanwhile looks at Yulie and brightens. "That's a lovely idea!" she says. "I'm lucky to have a baker for a friend so I don't have to do much of the cooking myself," she admits with a little laugh. It is nice to have friends. And the games...! "Hmmm, traditions... yes, that is very interesting in itself, isn't it?"

She looks to Ethius at his advice, and something hurts a little there. Eleanor smiles faintly, despite or maybe because of that. Then... she glances away. "Ah, yes, that's..."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"Yes, Miss Eleanor," Azoth relents with a pout and the tone of a scolded child. Quietly, to Lydia: "Maybe tonight." Still a joke! Right? He gives Danielle a friendly smile. "Oh, and, nice to meet you, Miss Danielle. I'm Azoth." She and Eleanor look so alike! Are they twins? He thinks to ask, but elects not to. Ivan is Azoth's portal to understanding on twins, and it may be best not to accidentally end up bringing him into the conversation.

Riesenlied and Noelle dote on Lydia a bit, and Azoth smiles warmly before returning to his reading. Maybe it didn't work out with Ivan, but a family can still be made of the unlike. A few books later and Azoth's eyes light up. There are some ideas in here. Maybe some of them will be effective? It may be fiction, but it was fiction that presumably came from those who care deeply enough about romance to conjure hypothetical relations in poetic detail.

(And just what else is he picking up on?! Not which of these acts 'koroked' refers to.)

Azoth smiles brightly at Yulie. "I bet you're friends are going to appreciate that. It'll make traveling more fun for everyone." He still doesn't know her entire deal, but he knows he'd rather her traveling than caught.

Ethius provides input, and Azoth smiles at him. "It would be hard to make a decision that could lead to seeing less of Lydia." Then he puts his book aside to hurry back over. "O-oh, that's right, the wood...!" Azoth sags his shoulders like he just sighed, but he can't actually do that, then smiles at Ethius. "I found it outside Guadosalam. I know it might look like just a rock, but... there's a whole story in there, even if some of it's been covered up by the minerals involved. We may never learn everything, but I don't want to write it off as unimportant because it doesn't show us, you know?"

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

The enthusiasm is a novel situation... Yulie nods.

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind." She says. The last thing she wants is to make anyone uncomfortable - she knows she certainly doesn't like it when it happens to her.

But, Eleanor approves of her idea, and Riesenlied likes it too, so Yulie smiles.

"Thank you... I'm glad you think so." She says, and then nods Riesenlied's way. "Yes, of course. It'd be nice to talk about it sometime. None of my friends really cook, so... I don't really have anyone to discuss it with..."

But, as Azoth says, they'll probably appreciate it. Yulie nods, with a smile...

"I hope so. I owe them a lot, so it's the least I can do..." She replies. Eleanor mentions a baker, though...

"Do you mean Ashley...?" Yulie asks, hazarding a guess. She knows they're both in ARMS, so it seems reasonable. "He's very talented... I'm a little jealous, actually."

...Of Ashley's skills, but maybe also a little having a friend that's a baker, too.

Noeline tries to assure Yulie that she wasn't a burden, and Yulie smiles... but, she looks a little nervous at the same time, too.

"Thank you... I just... everyone's so nice, I don't want to bring too much trouble onto you all..." She replies. But still, Riesenlied suggests they play music together again and Yulie nods, smiling a little. "I enjoyed it, too. It was... really quite nice..."

The topic of romance comes it. It's still not something she knows a lot about... but it's interesting to listen to, at least. And very informative...

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied does nod towards Noeline in turn, pausing for a moment as she glances back towards Lydia. "it... will take time to heal. Sometimes, the right thing to do is to just surround yourself with things and people you like. I would know," she smiles delicately, and-- uwah! Gets a little rub.

    Ethius responds that it's not about a mismatch -- and Riesenlied nods. Well, it's good that his worry didn't come from there, but...

    "The way traditions form and pass... I do have a lot of interest in that too. The way the Baskar influenced me, and I in turn..."

    A pause.

    Azoth and Ethius both have wise words for Lydia, so she focuses back on Danielle and Eleanor. "I can maybe teach you a thing or two. Between us, I am the one who usually cooks, even if it is simple home-cooked meals."

    Mom's Spaghetti is mastered on her repertoire.

    "As Noeline says... it is no trouble at all. Our doors are always open," Riesenlied smiles to Yulie.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia looks to Ethius. She's starting to regret indicating her earlier complaint to himm because now he's even more obtuse but she doesn't say t hat because she's refusing to accept defeat on that point. But she does say, "Yeah." Pause. "Probably." She pauses. "Wait... did you break up with someone?? Who were you dating??? Don't say it's classified!!"

Danielle gets so far as saying it's a good idea before Lydia decides ok it's a great idea time to just ask everybody she meets out or whatever. She doesn't actually do that though because her parents are here and she's still kind of not in the mood to do that yet. Maybe some day she will be turned on by everybody as usual she is not to blame there's too many hot people out there.

Azoth even manages to make her blush silver again. She ... doesn't say anything about OS. She does however think about her talk with Lily. Is there really no way to REALLY help him? Maybe she just needs to be patient and find an opening. Something will happen eventually. "Um. Thanks Azoth." Lydia says. "Yeah it didn't seem like it was easy for him."

But thinking about how great Ivan is is making her think of all the cute and goofy things he's done and how she'll probably not get to see most of them anymore and she wants to step the hell away from that so she shakes her head quickly to clear her head.

Riesenled tells her what helps and Lydia has a more genuine smile there.

"Yeah," She says. "Romance may be dumb but... I'm glad you're here mom."

Riesenlied is not to blame either!

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Azoth explains the gift he got Ethius. Guadosalam. The Symbologist looks to the little petrified bit of wood as Azoth discusses what it must mean. He remembers when at least one among that travel party - rightfully - pointed out that there were a lot of things wrong with his claims. He was that concerned for a place that did not recognize him. He may have been forced to concede that he did not recognize it, but... something else. In that respect, something like this should hold no further value to him. What went on was a thoughtless, dangerous mistake for no gain.
     "...The gesture is appreciated," he says about as genuinely as he can manage, even if the use of words are practiced and impassive in their choice. Saying simple things like that is easier to do than breaking up with someone, by his account.
     "...Ah. I do not fault curiosity and enthusiasm unto... itself, no," he tries to reassure Yulie as he puts away the petrified wood on his person somewhere, as if wanting to make sure he doesn't lose it despite the inherent admission it's of no particular value with the context he's received clarity on. As both he and Riese touch on matters of how traditions form and pass, a part of him thinks maybe it is for the best she picks up the baton on discussing break-ups.
     Then Lydia asks the obvious question, and Ethius goes Ethius-er, from a scale of 1.0 Ethiuses to a good... this is a 1.33 Ethiuses, which means exactly what one may believe it means.
     "...."
     See? Four dots instead of three. 1.33 Ethiuses.
     "...It must have been before we all met," he reasons, for he knows that he hadn't been in anything resembling a committed relationship for the last four years of Drifting and the one year between being conscious in Lacour's mountain range and that, "but... I do have the sense they were someone where no correct words could ever have been chosen without sorrow, frustration, or..."
     "...."
     Ethius puts the book he was checking out back.
     "...If it is all right, I would wish to refrain speaking more on that one."
     Some memories might not be worth reclaiming.