testrun_box | for trans

1.

Presea found herself, for the first time in a long while, feeling uncertain about her life and her future. She was completely grateful to Stacy, once things had been explained, and in fact she occasionally paused as she wandered the corridors to pat the wall affectionately. It was reassuring to know that their vessel was alive -- it was something like the giant flying fish of her homeworld, although she'd never heard of anyone riding inside one of them.

She had been uncharacteristically quiet since she had woken, trying to take everything in. And then, instead of immediately seeking company or making friends, she'd gone wandering, alone with her thoughts and the soft pulse of the ship. She hadn't met anyone yet that she could admit this to, but she just wasn't quite sure how much help she was going to be towards the missions ahead. She was fairly competent with weapons, but the people here seemed to use all kind of weaponry she'd never seen before. Did they need a blacksmith? Did they have one already?

She was not too old to adapt to another trade, if she had to, but it made her wonder why she had been chosen, among all of the people she had known on Cephiro. She would never offer the Knights' service without their permission, but wouldn't they be more qualified? Or Cail Lantis, or Guru Clef?

She was here. There had to be a reason for it, and she would find out why. It was with this mixture of worry and determination that she walked the halls, lost in thought.

2.

Presea was perhaps a little frustrated. More than a little frustrated. It had been a bad week, and this individual was not helping.

"I promise you," she said, eyes dark, "that if you touch me again, there will be punishment." She leaned back, resting her hands on her hips, feet planted. The scowl on her face didn't last very long, however. As she continued speaking, her gaze went dreamy, amused.

"What should I do? I could hang you up by your toes! I could record your singing in the shower and show the whole ship! I could boil you in oil!"

By this point, she had reached a frightening grin. "Just try me."

3.

Presea was happy. She was practically glowing, in fact. There was nothing better to her than the opportunity to do what she was good at, and she was going to take it. She could practically feel the press of her circlet against her forehead again, the way that sweat collected around it in the heat of the forge.

She hummed to herself as she lifted the weapon she was repairing, holding it out in a basic attack stance. She sighted down the sword to check the balance, and made a couple of nice practice swings. Despite the heaviness of the blade, she wielded it with ease, if not comfort. This was a bigger sword than she preferred, but she wasn't fixing it for herself, after all.

"There! Good as new," she said, beaming.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Clef and Presea were different in this respect, especially lately. He seldom took walks anymore, as much as he had once loved them. When he was concerned, he just sat still in one of three or four locations and silently hoped for the floor beneath him to swallow him up.

Unfortunately for him, those locations were scattered throughout the ship and he often needed to alternate between them. So he did walk quite a bit, in the end. And that was how he happened upon Presea this particular time.

"Pharle."

She stopped when she saw Clef, paused so suddenly that one might have thought her feet had abruptly rooted to the floor. Her first thought was, absurdly, that he'd become even shorter -- but no, it was the weight of the world on him again, like he always insisted it should be. He was probably carrying Cephiro on that back, and who knew what else besides. He looked old.

"Clef!" she said, voice full of worry, and she made her feet work again, hastening through the last few steps between them and then stopping again, body language uncertain.

He gasped at her sudden movement towards him, and then looked up (up, up) at her.

"Hi," he offered, unable to keep from smiling a little. She warmed him just a little, even when she didn't mean to. Especially then.

His second thought was, Do I really look that bad? He was showered, dressed, fed-- well, as fed as one got on the ship. The truth was that he hadn't eaten for a while, but there was very little really worth eating.

"You're here!" she said in amazement. "Oh, Guru Clef -- Cephiro -- " --Was gone, completely gone, all they'd worked for, and somehow that just hadn't sunk in until this moment. Her voice trembled, and her knees. "Are you all right?"

Oh. Oh.

Clef had always thought - hoped, really - that if Presea was in the pods, and she awoke, then he would be there with her when she found out what had happened to Cephiro. He hadn't been - perhaps that one thing had been too much to ask of the universe.

"Yes, I'm fine." He stepped closer and reached out to take her hands, suddenly very concerned. "What about you?"

She squeezed his hands like a lifeline, her dismay obvious. "How could it be? After everything -- and it's all gone. And they didn't rescue everyone! I'm sure they would if they could have, but..." A shaky breath. She had all rights to her feelings, certainly, but becoming hysterical wouldn't help her feel better in the end. "It's just a bit much." She met his eyes with a sad expression.

He looked up at her, equally saddened. The things she was saying were all thoughts he had had over the past several months. But now that someone else was expressing them, he couldn't really feel them. He felt like he should apologize, instead, for things not being better.

"I know," he said, looking down at their hands.

There he was, being all stoic as usual. But what else had she expected? He was determined to be strong against all odds, and normally succeeded; he rarely shared his vulnerabilities with anyone (and that provoked a memory of a promise he had made, to make sure that the Pillar would know the type of job she was taking, and the weary look on his face then. It felt so long ago now).

She took her hands back. "Thank you," she said, because the touch had helped. It was good to have something that was real. "I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad that we're here together," Clef replied after a moment, a gentle smile forming on his face. Presea was his closest friend and favorite person, and he needed her as much as she needed him.

"I missed you," he admitted, looking up at her again. The things he had seen and done since awakening on Stacy had blown so many holes in his armor that it didn't seem to matter so much when he discarded pieces of it. Every time he did he felt a little younger. Though it wasn't always a comfortable thing, he was glad he could at least say this now. "Very, very much."

A lump rose in her throat and she wasn't sure what to say. 'I should have been here,' came to mind, but that was a bit silly; she couldn't have controlled that. And obviously she hadn't missed him back because she'd been sleeping.

"I'm here now," she answered, and managed a smile. "Like old times." She paused. "I bet your office is a mess again," she said.

"I don't have one here," he replied, cocking his head to one side. "... Yet. Maybe I should."

He clapped his hands together. "I have a room, though! With, um, an extra bed. It's not--... We could put a partition--"

Oh! This was unexpected. Well, she hadn't even begun to think about where she would stay (her books, all gone! Her well-stocked, worn-in forge, too...). She was glad for the offer, though, and the relief must have showed on her face.

"Thank you," she said warmly. "I'd like that."

"It's not a problem," he replied, smiling as he lead the way. "Most people don't feel comfortable sleeping in the crew quarters, so I'll understand if you want to find somewhere else..."

"Oh? Why not?" She followed alongside him, matching their steps with the ease of long habit. Perhaps the quarters were cramped, or too close to others? She had no idea. She was going to have to explore the ship more thoroughly once she'd had a chance to settle in a little.

"The beds are made out of flesh," he replied, patting the (also flesh) wall for emphasis. "Most people seem to be uncomfortable with that for whatever reason."

Well, that was, admittedly, a bit unusual. It sounded nice and warm to Presea, though, so she just shook her head.

"Perhaps their cultures don't encourage a lot of contact with animals," she suggested politely.

Lina's face was just as scarily amused, and she wagged a finger at the blonde girl. "For one thing, you couldn't catch me. For another thing, I happen to have a wonderful singing voice!"

There was a popping noise as Lina cracked her knuckles, grinning right back at Presea. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than if you think you'll intimidate Lina Inverse!"

Presea had been annoyed, yes. But only honestly for a moment. No one ever argued with her punishments. This was thrilling!

"I'll paint your skin blue!" she said, crossing her arms and staring down at the other girl. "Or tie you to the back of a fish!" (Fish got very big where Presea was from.) "Or drop you into a cage full of knives!"

for trans_9

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2 - late as hell, but finally getting to this!

:D