[ Closed ] Now they always say, congratulations

[starseeing]

Characters: Ophilia and the Disciple
Campaign: Hollow Christmas Carol, Act 1
Format: [like dis]
Closed
Summary: Sub Quest thing

[ It won't be long before Ophilia finds something to do in this realm to pass the time between the acts, and searching for set pieces seems exactly like something with which she can help out.

Unfortunately it seems she's been having difficulty even with managing that task just on the outskirts of the village. For even with hours passing the time from early afternoon to evening, she still hasn't found anything! Instead what she happens to stumble upon-- or rather, who she happens to stumble upon, is none other than the Disciple himself. ]

...Oh! [ She spots him easily despite the early shadows of evening cast from the bare tree above him. And as someone who is always the type of person to greet another she knows (or even doesn't know), Ophilia makes her way over to him, the crunch of her footsteps upon the frost-covered leaves making her presence known. ] Good evening, Sir Disciple. Are you out searching for set pieces as well?

[ It's a bit chilly out already, and she draws the cloak she wears closer about her shoulders as she smiles at him peasantly. ]

Comments

[chippedsoul]

Hm? [Dammit he was trying very hard to be as inconspicuous as possible. Here he thought no one would bother him, now that he was not assign for anymore roles that require him to deal with people.]

Yes, I am. I managed to find a few. [He pats the wagon he had been standing beside. There was a tarp covering what one could assume were the set pieces.]

[starseeing]

[ her eyes widen when she sees the wagon and tarp. So that's probably why she had been unable to find any-- because he did! ] Amazing... This will surely help out this story!

[ She approaches, speaking quietly. ] It must have taken you quite some time to find all of these things. Have you been out all morning? Your dedication is truly admirable, Sir Disciple!

[ Bother bother bother bother ]

[chippedsoul]

[How does one keep up with her?] I had nothing better to do. Besides, the sooner we finish this, the closer we are to going back.

[He grabs the handles so he could start moving the wagon to the designated location, slowly.]

[starseeing]

[ Her canon involves seven other party members all probably wondering the same thing. ] You want to leave already? [ She thinks he's meaning this story and town, not, say, this realm as a whole. ] I think it's lovely here.

[ Yep, even the village that looks like it has pieces missing from it. ] It doesn't remind me of home, but it does have a... homey feel to it, no?

[ Look at her, completely not bothered by how stoic he is. ]

[chippedsoul]

I need to go back home. [Answering all her questions in one sentence.]

[starseeing]

[ ....But maybe this might help?

Casually, as they walk back towards the village: ] Care to tell me about your home, Sir Disciple? [ Speaking about it might ease some homesickness. Not that she suspects that it is just homesickness he's feeling, but it still might help! ]

[chippedsoul]

...It's foggy. [And that's about all he has to say on that. He doesn't really think about that kind of stuff, having been moved around a lot and even then, London wasn't really his home. There really isn't anywhere he would call "home".]

We need to set these up over there. [He points to the big "DECORATIONS HERE" sign in a barren lot ahead of them. Parts of the mansion had already been formed thanks to others who have found pieces as well. It wasn't much, but there was something of a kitchen, the ground floor and a grand staircase.]

[starseeing]

[ Oof, on this episode of trying-to-get-the-Disciple-to-talk-more, she has spectacularly failed. ] Foggy, I see...

[ But she won't give up! She'll reach into the wagon he's pushing for one of the decorations. It's a wreath! ] It sounds quite enchanting, honestly. Especially fog in the early morning, when one sees how the light of dawn pierces through the blanket like chariots.

[chippedsoul]

That fog is usually mixed with smog. It's anything but enchanting. [He makes sure the tarp stays fasten while Ophilia gets the decorations, just in case they end up floating away again. ]

[starseeing]

Ah, so the smithies in your world are up even at dawn? [ She looks at him, curious. ] How industrious! What a world you must live in...

[ Nope, still not giving in to his pessimism.

She puts the wreath in place... and it will become the garland adoring the grand staircase, complete with lights and bows. ]

[chippedsoul]

[Well, she's not wrong to assume that. He watches as the garland forms out of thin air, intrigued by the magic unfolding.] So that's how that works...I think I've gathered enough that we'll come close to finishing this.

[He pulls out the next decoration for Ophilia to take, a snowglobe.]

[starseeing]

[ And she will place the snowglobe where the decorations lie. This time the snowman within it pops up to the side of the door, and the confetti-like sparkles that had been within the globe are now gently falling around them, glittering gently like stars. Ophilia outstretches her hands in amazement, catching one of the sparkles in her hands before it vanishes in a wink of light. ] ...Amazing. [ She whispers, withdrawing her arms back to herself.

Then she turns to the Disciple excitedly. ] You-- you try it, too!

[chippedsoul]

[He glances at the wagon. It would go faster if he wasn't watching the tarp. He reaches and pulls out a present from the pile. Just as he was turning to make his way to the mansion, the present suddenly bursts open.] -Hm?!

[A white puff of smoke comes out of the present, forming a cloud over them. There were suddenly voices coming from the cloud and then a distorted image. Shadowy figures, laughing and barely in focus. It seem like the image was through someone's perspective.

"Look at this Oriental, thinking he's one of us?"
"Da, he can hardly lift that crate."
"I give him three days before he's crying to go back."

They laugh and laugh, the image shakes as whomever they were watching from starts moving. It looked like they were on some sort of ship. It changes abruptly to them staring at the ground.

"Put your back into it, Oriental!" Apparently someone's idea of encouragement is to give him a little "push". It didn't seem to phase the individual though, as they stop looking at the ground and continues on walking. The laughter and jeers can still be heard behind them. As they pass one of the windows, a reflection can be seen before the vision ends. The Disciple had dropped the present onto the ground, glaring at it as if it had attacked him directly.]

[starseeing]

[ Of course, anything that appears seemingly like magic from a present is going to catch her attention. Her gaze follows the cloud of smoke that emerges from it, swirling like the fumes from a shaman's pipe before images begin to form. It's hazy at first, but then she begins to make out silhouettes that belong to the voices.

As she hears the initial charged and rude comments, she gets the feeling that either she's looking at a memory or a dream of some sort, although she can't be certain. Is it perhaps a vision from one of their Aspects? Regardless of what it is, she feels the men's laughter sting as if it had been directed towards her, and the push at the end makes her frown. They way they're treating the this person is deplorable...

And then the perspective passes the window, revealing to whom the vision belonged, and she puts the pieces together. ]

...Sir Disciple. [ She says quietly, still looking towards the smoke as it disperses. ] That was-- [ A bit of worry craws up the back of her neck, and now she looks towards him in concern. ]

How terribly they treated you...

[chippedsoul]

[He lets out some air that he had been holding in, still staring down at the present. Carefully, he collects it from the ground, the box now empty of smoke, empty of it's tricks. He was numb to those memories by now, but having it be seen by someone else, that's put him on edge. So he says nothing, dumping the box back into the wagon and putting his focus on getting these decorations up.]

We're not finished yet. [Stockings. He checks the contents to be sure there's nothing hidden in them before proceeding to add it to the partially built mansion. They turn into a fireplace in the living area.]

[starseeing]

[ ...There he goes again, doing that. She knows exactly what it is, too: trying to push it all away. And while she knows that he is strong enough, she can't help but recall the image of his reflection in the memory. He looked so worn then, so beaten, and so... lost.

While the Disciple may not be in a deckhand's torn garb and bandages anymore, she wonders if he still feels lost. Of course she wants to help. ] ...It must have been difficult for you.

I'm sorry. [ Her hand goes to the edge of the wagon as if to support herself, but doesn't reach in to take any more decorations herself. When Ophilia feels for another person or sees them in pain, it isn't a temporary or brief sort of thing. Even if he's trying to ignore it, she can't simply forget what she's seen, and it effects her enough that she finds herself blinking back a budding mist in her eyes. ]

[chippedsoul]

[He barely catches what she's even saying, focused on the task at hand. It's when he comes back to the wagon that he sees her leaned up against the wagon.]

...What are you getting upset over? [He's over it. Why is she getting worked up over something not even about her? He sighs, picking out another decoration.] Go take a break. I can finish up here.

[starseeing]

[ It's hard to pinpoint any one thing she's upset over, because there were many troubling implications in that memory. They referred to him as Oriental-- whatever that means-- but it sounds like some sort of slur, a way to mark him as different. That he had been away from his home. Then there is how haggard he appeared, as if being aboard that ship had truly taken its toll.

Yet he had seemed as if he wanted to be there and not return back to where he had first come from. He had a purpose on that ship, or perhaps a purpose in wherever the ship had been taking him, and no matter how difficult the journey was, he may have been determined to see it through. ] I... [ Oop, yep, there are few tears now. Embarrassed, Ophilia brings a hand to her cheek and brushes some of them away.

But she doesn't leave him, not yet. ] I'm upset because... you didn't-- you shouldn't have had to go through that. What we just saw.

[chippedsoul]

. . . [He merely shrug.] I forced my way onto that ship. As long as I worked, they couldn't really do anything to me. [That makes it less awful, right? The captain saw he was a diligent worker and he's the only one he needed to impress.]

[starseeing]

But that gives them no right to be so--... so rude to you. [ She tells him in return flatly. She can feel sorry for him, but she can also feel angry for him. Leave the Disciple alone!

Or maybe that's the problem itself. That he had no one else there with him to help him through it. ]

You seemed so alone...

[chippedsoul]

I wasn't there to make friends. [As they went back and forth, his tone was cold and to the point, as if the subject was nothing more than an annoyance. He doesn't understand why this person he barely knew would get so worked up over this. He drops another decoration, forming the second floor now. ] Are you going to help with these decorations or keep moping?

[starseeing]

[ She looks up at his question, first to the wagon and then to him. She'll reach in to take another decoration out from underneath the tarp. This time it's a star ornament. For now, she holds it in her hands, hesitant. ]

...Is that what you think about here, too? As in, not here to make friends.

[chippedsoul]

Of course. [He gives her a look, like that was the most obvious response. His answer came immediately and without any hesitance.] I have things to do back home, so the sooner this place is saved, the sooner I can go back. [He walks back over to the wagon to grab the last decoration. Just a toy doll. He looks over the mansion once more. It still had a ways to go, but at least it looked more like a building now.]

[starseeing]

[ Ophilia knows the purpose of being here is not to make friends but to help restore this world. Still, it's as if he has something against making them in the first place.

She's met others like him before, on her travels, and while she knows those type of people exist, it always breaks her heart to hear it. To know that there are those who have been hurt, betrayed, or otherwise harmed in some way to block their hearts from making new bonds.

So despite the seriousness of the conversation, she actually finds herself smiling to herself a bit. Those people had been stubborn, too, but eventually they had warmed, and little by little the walls around their hearts had softened. Maybe his is a little more secure than most. But--... she can only hope that he, too, will let others in. ] Be that as it may... forming friendships isn't something you cannot exactly control, is it?

[ Ophilia releases the star ornament from her hand, and instead of it falling it begins to float towards the house. ] Like keeping water from spilling out between cupped hands. [ The star bursts within the ballroom of the manse, and now it's as if the piece finally has charm to it, glittering and soft and comforting, just the sort of ambiance one would expect after coming home from a very long time away. ] It simply happens, I think. [ No matter how long it may take. ] --Perhaps, already happened for you.

After all, you can say you've made at least one friend here. [ Her, if he gets the implication. One-sided. But it still counts, because she will be friend to him even if he doesn't feel the same way! ]

[chippedsoul]

[He sighs, shaking his head. This girl. She's caught in her own fantasies to face the facts in front of her.] I want nothing to do with you. We're just working towards the same goal, that's all.

[He tosses the doll into mansion, which transforms into a large Christmas tree, situating itself in the center of the ballroom area. How festive! Now that they were out of decorations, the Disciple starts heading off in a direction, with every intention of finding more, and to put some distance between him and this weird woman.]

[starseeing]

[ There he goes again. Well, this time she's not discouraged. Even if it will not be her that he ultimately extends his own friendship to, she will be happy for when that day comes when he does find a friend here!

It is only a matter of time. Time... and patience. But she believes it will be so. ]