isleofavalon | [Catch-All] Making Home

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[Catch-All] Making Home

🧙 WHO: Aerith Gainsborough, You
⚔️️ WHAT: Catch-All
🕒 WHEN: March
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot, Everywhere We Need to Be
⚠️ WARNINGS: None, Will react accordingly.

01. It's Bunny Season

[Aerith has spent no shortage of time trying to get acquainted with the locals of Camelot and form positive relationships with them. It might not be the Midgar slums, but it's something similar in the way of a community. If she's going to be here for some time, then it stands to reason she ought to try to make it somewhat like home.

Hunting down a royal angora rabbit seems like the perfect way to go about that. At the quest board, she's loosely woven her hands together. And then she decides to get to work and make her rounds to the various bunny cafes.

There's no shortage of them.]

Oh, aren't you cute. A little pudgy, though. [She says with a grin, lifting a bunny as she's searching for particular traits of Sir Fuzzlerton the Cad. But the truth is, she doesn't know very much about rabbits and isn't wholly certain of what she's looking for.]

I can't tell if you look like a Sir Fuzzlerton or not.

[So she decides to hold up said bunny to the nearest cafe patron or visitor. Or possibly another person searching for the same rabbit.] Does this look like a Sir Fuzzlerton to you?

02. Harvest Moon: An Age of Camelot

[Aerith lifts a hand and draws wrist across her forehead as she looses a soft sigh. Being able to help with the fields is another thing that makes her think of home and the flowers that she tends there. She's been happy enough to lose herself in it, too, humming as she works in the soil.

Eventually she makes her way for the hay and the horses to lend a hand there as well. All in all, it's a constructive use of her time. Much better than doing nothing at all and a great way of keeping her from overthinking her situation.]

Hey. [She addresses the nearest to her as she points to a bale of hay.] Do you think you could help me move this? I want to bring it closer to the horses, so they can eat, but I don't think I can carry it on my own.

[Yes, she's already tried and probably looked pretty funny doing so. Bales of hay look deceptively light. Aerith has underestimated their true power.]

03. Flower Crowns

Hm...

[Aerith thumbs at her chin thoughtfully, the hint of a frown playing into her features. She's heard it repeatedly. Many of the merchants and locals of the town have voiced their inability to get to the flowers they would ordinarily use. It's springtime and the outskirts are no short of lovely, but Camelot itself looks a little plain without the variety of colour.

But dragons... That's probably not something a silver tongue can talk through. Basically, she knows she can't do it on her own. She'll need some help, so maybe she can convince an innocent (or not-so-inncoent bystander).

There's only one way to find out. Maybe you're shopping. Maybe you're training. Maybe you're just taking in the sights. Wherever you might be, there's an Aerith popping up ~~like a daisy~~ at your side with a smile.]

Hi there! Do you think I could borrow you for a little?

[And by a little, she has no idea if it genuinely is a little. For all she knows, this could be an all-day endeavour.]

04.Smoothies Like Jagger

[After keeping herself so occupied with the going-on's in Camelot, Aerith is overjoyed to see smoothie vendors in no short supply. Maybe it's intentional in the face of the coming equinox. It certainly seems like everyone has been keeping busy.

With a grateful exchange of the smoothie peddler she's stopped by, she becomes one Strawberry-Rose smoothie richer and takes a long moment to indulge.

It hits the spot.]

Ohhh, that's great! I hope these aren't a temporary thing. I could use a few more, honestly. Maybe I can get my hands on the recipe.

[If not for her to make it, then maybe she can find someone else to do so.]

[OOC: If the above don't strike your fancy, please feel free to PP me at

ofthesky, or send me a PM. I'm happy to write closed starts for those who may be interested.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm just glad he's back home and safe. I haven't decided with the reward money yet, but I'm sure I'll figure something.

[Colette says, giving a shrug. Just relieved that things worked out. That they were able to help. She follows Aerith as they start to turn around and head back after returning the rabbit in having that confirmed, and being told about where to get the reward. She stretches, giving a sigh as they walk.]

What about you? More plants for your shop?

[It's a good question. One that Aerith isn't really sure how to answer right off to bat. Well, not necessarily true. She has a particular direction she wants to go. Tifa...

Thumbing at her chin, Aerith settles her gaze back onto Colette as she regains some feeling in her arms from lugging the furrylicious rabbit across Camelot proper.]

Hm. Someone I know from home wants to open a bar here, so I want to help her do that. I told her that any money I made from the shop and anything extra I made would go to her bar. I want her to feel comfortable too, and I want her to have something that makes her feel like she belongs. She was a bartender back home and I think her having something like that here will make it not seem so daunting.

Maybe after that—more plants!

Oh, that's a nice idea! To help your friend. I guess I'm still figuring what I want to do here besides school exactly. But I'm sure I'll figure something! I hope your friend is able to open her bar! And I'll definitely come see your new plants!

[She says as they turn and head back in the direction of the main area of Camelot, away from such well to do housing. Colette's definitely more used to the simpler accommodations and life, given how she was raised back home, how sheltered she was given her role as the Chosen.]

[Colette brings up an interesting point. It can be hard to find what to do with the oodles of free time they end up with. Camelot, undoubtedly, has its very interesting moments, but there's also down time and sometimes there might not always be a balance between the two.]

Hm...
I hope she does, too. And of course you're welcome at the shop anytime you'd like. I keep trying to make improvements, and I keep trying not to overdo said improvements.

[As she eyes Colette with a distinct fondness, she gently clears her throat.] If it's not too nosy to ask, what did you do with your free time back home? I'm not sure how much free time a 'Chosen' gets, but I'm sure you did more than study or work.

Mm, sometimes there is a balance in improving and not.....overdoing it. But ah, I had school, and my lessons on things to help on my Journey. Like learning the Angelic Language. Otherwise, I'd usually spend time with Lloyd and Genis. Or playing with Noishe and the other dogs! I liked baking and cooking, but I'm not as good as Genis is.

[Her free time was more limited to the others. For obvious reasons in her having more lessons in comparison and all. To try support her that she would succeed in her Journey. But she did still spend plenty of time playing with her friends. And well, Genis has his reasons in being a better cook considering he certainly couldn't rely on Raine to do so......]

Baking and cooking, hm? That friend of mine, the bartender, I think she does some of that, too. I should make sure the two of you meet at some point.

[Tapping along her chin, she continues thoughtfully.] Are there actual schools here? I haven't checked myself, so it didn't even occur to me that we might need something like that. The kids where I came from had a school in the orphanage, and when they weren't in class, they used to run around and do errands for the locals. I guess it's not too different from how things are here.

[Her attention moves back onto Colette before she finds her voice once more.] Is being the Chosen kind of like being a priestess?

I'm not a professional or anything, but. I do okay with it. But ah, I think there are. School, here. It's a little different to classes back home with the Professor though. Back home, we learned to read and write, history and stuff. But here it's more classes focused on magic.

[Which. Makes sense given this setting. She's just not so used to it, given she had separate classes in being tutored on stuff regarding her Journey, learning the Angelic Language and such outside of school lessons.]

I guess it is, sort of? I was supposed to go on my Journey once I reached sixteen. I mean. I did, but. Things got complicated with me succeeding with that, once Lloyd and the others found out what it really meant for me.

[Lloyd had refused to accept it. The idea of sacrificing Colette for the rest of Sylvarant. She is still processing that from Kratos explaining what happened to her, if in a bare basics sort of way in not overwhelming her too much.]

I guess that's to be expected—classes about magic, I mean. But I'm sure they have books on magic too. Seems like reading and writing could be just as useful where magic is concerned.

[It occurs to her that not everyone might know how to read and write. It's very presumptuous to assume otherwise, after all. Even the orphans back home learn that at the orphanage...

Her attention turns as Colette continues and she raises an eyebrow.]

What it really means for you? [There's a weighted pause. Aerith feels like she knows where this could be going. Possibly. Or Colette is just using some incredibly ominous wording.] Am I allowed to ask about that? You don't have to tell me. I'm just curious and I admit that I sometimes like to pry.

It's. Well. It's kind of complicated. But I'll try explain. It's just, my whole life was spent preparing for my Journey of Regeneration. Being the Chosen. The one to go on the journey to restore the supply of Mana for Sylvarant, to help the crops grow, to help the people prosper. There's five seals, I had to go to. Each of them, it was like I was slowly losing more of my humanity in becoming an Angel.

[Preparing her body as a vessel for Martel. Only she didn't know that at the time. It isn't like Aerith would be the first or only one to ask, given Colette does mention the Angel thing and all occasionally.]

I couldn't eat in losing my sense of taste, I couldn't sleep or talk. I couldn't feel anything. I got my wings. My senses were so heightened it sometimes hurt. It's....taken some adjusting, getting used to things here without all of that. The Final Seal, I was supposed to give up my 'heart and memories'.

[Aerith listens attentively. What Colette describes sounds like... a pilgrimage. Her information on her own people is limited, but she wouldn't be surprised if they underwent similar things in their own way. The whole concept of helping the planet grow and helping people... It's something Aerith can empathise with. That seems to be the purpose of the Cetra. Maybe the Chosen and the Cetra are not so distant from one another in terms of ideas and concepts.

At least, up until Colette gets to the rest. The lack of taste. Of sleep. Of speech. Of feeling. If anything, it sounds like she was little more than a sacrifice. That's such a sharp and harsh way of putting it, however. As such, Aerith declines from addressing it like so.]

Supposed to. [It's a very intentional word usage, she notices.] It seems you didn't. At least not yet. Is... that right? [Aerith treads carefully, unsure where Colette's line of comfort might be. No amount of her curiosity is worth upsetting another, after all. She never wants to push that hard.]

Not yet. That Final Seal was the last I remember. But, Lloyd apparently didn't accept what was supposed to happen. He found another way. A way for Sylvarant not to suffer and for me to live. According to Kratos.

[She hasn't made it a secret. Besides, there's also Kratos and Emil around so either of them could mention things from back home to others. Colette might not be specifically going around talking to anyone and everyone about the supposed end result of her Journey in relation to her sacrificing herself, but she has mentioned it. So she doesn't mind when Aerith asks. And she does reassure the other, expression softening in mentioning Lloyd, before she gives a small smile.]

[He found another way.

Aerith spends more time hanging on that information than she likely should. Finding another way. Can she do the same in her own situation? She wonders... It sure doesn't feel like it, but it's not as though there's anyone she could ask. At least, no one that she knows of. No one she trusts enough to ask. Ironic, considering what an open individual she is.

How can she stand in a city full of people she would welcome into her life and still feel so... isolated?]

I'm relieved to hear that. This Lloyd of yours sounds pretty amazing. All of your friends do, actually. Are any of them here with you?

[Colette is oblivious of course on Aerith's situation for the most part. But that doesn't make the bonding any less significant. She gives a nod, hands clasping in front of her chest.]

He is! We've been friends pretty much since I can remember. I....still didn't expect he would go that far. Maybe part of me did have a feeling though, since I didn't initially want him to come with us. But ah, Kratos, the one that joined for the Journey as my bodyguard, he's here. And Emil too, a friend I apparently meet later. At least, I know I'll see Lloyd and the others back home even if they don't show up here.

[Since she could remember? Perhaps that meant it was since Colette was very little. So Lloyd was like... an older brother, perhaps? Aerith listens attentively, unable to help forming judgement based on Colette's input alone, yet it was all very positive. Surely if Colette knew someone, it could only mean they were someone upstanding. She just couldn't picture anything otherwise.

She nods along slowly. Good. Colette has people from her home world here. People to look out for her if she needs it. It wouldn't be hard for someone like her to make friends, but at the same time, being in a place unfamiliar without something tying her to where she comes from would be, at the very least, a little lonely.]

I'm very happy that you have friends from your world here, even if one of them is someone you haven't exactly met yet. I know you'll make a lot of friends here. I assume you already have, actually, but nothing beats the comforts of home.

I am! Everyone except those two, everyone is a new friend!

[And, well. It's Colette and considering she considers a ninja assassin sent to kill her as a friend? Yeah. Most everyone is like a bff with her. Including Lloyd, but it isn't like she has felt up to telling him how she feels. Yet. Given her role as the Chosen and her assuming on her fate. But now she knows they figure things out. Maybe once she gets back home, or once he gets here. She might manage.

Not that she is really focusing on that though. Colette seems content enough considering the situation and all, anyway.]

Everyone is a new friend...

[Aerith feels warm just hearing that. It sounds like something she'd say, too. She'd certainly like to think just about everyone she's met in Camelot as a friend.]

I feel much the same way. I hope I can introduce you to my friends here, too. So you can make even more. Any friend of mine, Colette, is a friend of yours.

[And she can say that with the fullest confidence.]

I'm not sure if you know mine I've met yet, but. We can exchange names, a list? Arrange something sometime if you wanted.

[Colette's never going to turn down that offer of more friends. Even if she herself has plenty and makes new ones all the time with how generally cheerful and optimistic and friendly she is. So she likes the idea of getting to meet Aerith's friends, if any might not be ones she herself knows yet.]

Exchange names?

[Aerith can't help laughing a little.] Don't you think that sounds a little professional? Exchanging a list of our friends... [But she's incredibly charmed. That's no surprise. Colette oozes charisma. Seemingly effortlessly.]

I wonder if we can plan a little get together... Like a party, maybe? [...Maybe something for all of Camelot? That sounds like a huge undertaking, but not out of the realm of possibility.]

Professional? I don't know. I just figured. We won't know each other's friends unless we tell each other?

[Someone is not the most used to the idea of parties. At least where Colette herself is concerned in being the center of it. Arranging anything or having anything arranged for her. It's probably pretty well obvious Colette is rather sheltered and new in this regard, in being here where such gatherings would be a lot more common.]

You think so?

That's true, but I feel like knowing you, that kind of list could be very lengthy!

[Which is a compliment. Seems like it'd be a crime to not like Colette, so it's very easy to imagine she must be friends with just about near everyone in Camelot. If there's any truth to such a guess, that would, indeed, be a very long list.

The gears are transparently turning in her head. A party... It definitely seems like a good idea. But where to have it. When to have it. Should it be indoors or outdoors. There are a lot of things to consider and it might be worth asking the entirety of Camelot's network. At least those who use it.]

I think it's worth the consideration. [She admits with a gentle smile.] It feels like it could be a good way to meet new people, too. I think we'll need some time to really figure out details, though. I don't normally throw parties, but my friend, Tifa? I think she has a few times in the past. She might be worth asking. Besides, I think you'd love her. She's amazing.

I haven't exactly counted or anything....but that might be fun.

[She hasn't really got experience in organizing that sort of thing exactly. Colette does think it would be fun for some sort of mingling. Meeting new friends. She is a generally social person for the most part. If still with her issues with her self-esteem.]

Let me discuss it with Tifa.

[And once Aerith gets an idea in mind, it just never seems to go away, so even if she doesn't do it immediately, one way or another, it will happen. The stars need to align just so.

After a thought, Aerith reaches for her phone.]

Want to trade usernames? This way you can contact me whenever you want without having to go through the network's media entries.

Ah, sure! I'm just 'colette' if that's what you mean.

[On the phone. She gestures to it with the AOL. The network. She didn't have this stuff back home and all so of course it is still something to adjust to and all. She isn't hiding her username or anything, has no clue on hacking or any reason she might want to be more anonymous or anything.]

Oh, that's simple, isn't it.

[Aerith grins. She probably could have used her name and it would have been easy to find her. Perhaps she doesn't want to be easy to find, though. It doesn't take her any time to find Colette at all, and she taps in a friend add.]

'Pinkmemory.' That's me. There. Now we can talk whenever we want. Hopefully with fewer hunts for bunnies.

It is. I probably could have come up with something else but. My name is fine. And if my friends show up and I somehow miss them at the lake, it'll be easier for them to find me that way.

[Colette glances down at her phone when it goes off at the other adding her. Maybe she should have been more wary but. Well. This is the girl who bffs the assassin sent to kill her so. It isn't like Colette really considered that certain people back home might be a good idea to avoid.]

Pinkmemory. Alright then!

[Catch-All] Making Home

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