when I loaf'd on the grass [open]
Characters: Sei Satou (pleasethesoul), Miku Hinasaki? (tattoosandropes), and anyone else!
Setting/Location: District 1, outside an inn
Date & Time: Day 0, late morning-ish
Summary: Sei's offered to lend Miku her books, so Sei is just sitting and greeting people who walk by while she waits. Come and say hi!
( under the paling stars of the morning )
Setting/Location: District 1, outside an inn
Date & Time: Day 0, late morning-ish
Summary: Sei's offered to lend Miku her books, so Sei is just sitting and greeting people who walk by while she waits. Come and say hi!
( under the paling stars of the morning )
The natives echoed back what Cid had announced in different variations and that was that. None of the people who were here with her seemed to be able to find their way out of a paperbag so she really wasn't counting on someone finding a way out of here before she did, but still.
Her gunblade sheath bounced against the back of her leg as the other weapons and assorted items jumped around in her leg pack. She made for a pretty threatening figure and it was easy to see how quickly others got the message when they parted as she navigated her way around, keen on avoiding any conflicts.
She grit her teeth as she approached the inn, ready to take a small break before reattempting her interrogations.
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Yet everyone could agree that sometimes Sei just didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.
So when she spotted Lightning striding towards the inn, she couldn't help cocking her head to the side and watching the woman's approach. Sei knew that people were upset and confused, and she'd certainly talked to people who were worrying way too much, but this woman was taking all of that to a whole new level. Impressive, in its own way, the same way that one could enjoy Sachiko's outrage.
Maybe it was that mental comparison to her friend that compelled Sei to open her mouth and ask, "Where's the fire?"
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She held the dark gaze for a couple seconds too long before relenting, forcing herself to calm down and to relax. Not entirely, of course, in case the stranger was someone threatening but she seemed altogether too ordinary to pose any real threat. Still, you didn't get as far as Lightning did in the GuardianCorps just to let your guard down when someone flashed you a smile.
"There is none. Might be better if there was though, cause maybe then something worth knowing would spill out of the dark."
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She spoke easily, still lounging against the rail. She was fairly practiced at radiating a "who, me?" sort of aura, and that sharp glare from before made Sei think that would serve her well here. Still, that look had only strengthened her mental image of Lightning-as-Sachiko, and Sei couldn't resist pushing it a bit with this stranger. "Besides, they'd be much too busy actually putting out the fire to stop and confess to any conspiracies. So," she said with an air of finality, "since there's no fire and it wouldn't be a good idea to start one, you can take it easy, right?"
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She kept her posture, spine straight and shoulders square, hand lingering near her own weapons as she held her ground. She'd been on the defensive all day, warily watching strangers and talking to as many natives as possible and if it was wearing thin on her, she tried not to let it show.
It was pretty clear that Sei was a chatty one, and Lightning let her eyes wander off to the inn behind her as she continued speaking, only to snap her gaze back when she finished. Already Lightning had created a vague characterization of her from their conversation so far, light-hearted, humorous, probably thick-headed too.
"Take it easy? Hardly. Nothing's going to happen by just standing around and waiting."
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She nodded to Lightning's hand, near the handle of something in what looked like a sheath. Looked like a fairly small sheath at that, but why someone would be carrying something like that around in the first play eluded her. Guess there really were people from all over. "Then what are you planning to do?" Her tone is mild. "Try and get there yourself?"
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She left it at that, her mind straying to Snow before swerving away. Just thinking about that big oaf was enough to further frustrate her--and she was only grateful for the fact that he hadn't meandered over here with her. Hopefully he was back with the others, keeping an eye on Hope. Or being an idiot.
"Exactly. I don't have time for this and too many people are getting comfortable."
She raised a brow at Sei then, making a point by spotlighting her relaxed posture and comfortable behavior. Lightning wasn't trying to point any fingers, it just made it easier to prove her point.
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She didn't know who this person was or what she was capable of, but going it alone sounded like a recipe for disaster. But it was easy to tell that the woman would take her advice seriously at all, and she'd rather not antagonize her needlessly. She was a bit like Sachiko and Youko combined - all restless need to act and with the attitude of an offended cat. She needed someone like Yumi around to balance her out. So what exactly should she appeal to?
"So I ask again, where's the fire? You're risking quite a lot if you just go on ahead."
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She kept her words sharp, attempting to bring some sense into Sei about the situation. Everyone was way too optimistic and believing of the words that were being fed to them, and Lightning had about enough of it.
Lightning uncrossed her arms, letting one hand rest comfortably on her hip as she raised her head up at the other woman, assessing her with more scrutiny this time around.
"Like I said. If I don't do it, I doubt anyone will. And I'm not about to remain idle, we've got enough people here doing that already."
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She leaned forward a bit; Lightning's partially succeeded - Sei certainly looked a bit more serious right now. "Look at it from the other side," she said. That seemed to be this woman's problem - only focused on her own goals, her own desires. No wonder she seemed so pissed off at everything. "MOst people have three options. They can stay right here," she slapped the step she was sitting on for emphasis, "they can fight their way forward through a land nobody seems to know with who knows what waiting out there - seems to me most people aren't equipped for that. Unless you think one of the high schoolers I've run into around here can make it through that."
She leaned back again. "Or finally, we can take the caravan which knows where it's going and have a certain amount of safety in numbers." She shrugged, smiling. "Besides, I figure that if they wanted to harm us, they would've just killed us all when first showed up. Someone left this by me before I woke up," she flashed her Junogam. "Why go to the bother? Why go to the whole bother of organizing this whole thing just to shove us off a cliff or whatever?"
"So, I take my chances that we didn't wind up in a land filled with people who are perfectly content to massacre all of us." She raised an eyebrow at Lightning, smile masking how serious she considers this next question. "You're planning on going out there alone, I assume?"
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She raised an eyebrow, keeping her voice level as she provided a counter-argument. Apparently Sei was a bit more smarter than she let on, and plenty articulate. It was hard to tell from her lax, unperturbed behavior from earlier but Lightning took the change in stride, welcoming the discussion as a reprieve from all the one-way, dead-end conversations she's had all day.
"And I'm not going 'out there' until I know what I'm facing."
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But this was going pretty well, actually. The woman certainly hadn't changed her viewpoint any, but she hadn't just blown Sei off either. "But you haven't found that out, right?" Sei pointed out. "So why don't you go on the caravan at first and see for yourself?" She figured she didn't need to spell out that plan, now that the woman was listening.
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She paused as she wondered if it was worth telling Sei what she had seen and experienced. Anything outside of the city was completely possible to navigate through and the adversaries she'd seen were too much to take alone, especially with her limited powers.
"By the time you have reason to doubt, it might be too late to do anything about it. It's never a good idea to be so trusting."
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Something stirred at the back of her mind, but slipped away before solidifying into a real thought.
Sei didn't pay it much mind, because she was distracted by what Lightning had said. What in the world had happened to her that she thought that way? But danger signals were starting to sound - this was getting too intense too quickly for her comfort. She made herself lean back, let a bit of her smile return. "Is that in general or are you actually concerned for me?"
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"Hardly. I couldn't care less about what you did, so long as you didn't interfere in my plans."
She didn't mind not talking about her doubts in the security of the caravan, though if they were just going to throw back comments like this, she'd probably leave a bit sooner. After all, she was restless, and if she could only parry teases for so long before she became impatient.
"Though it seems I'm in the minority here. Everyone else looks content in just...waiting."
The last words end in a deadpan voice, perhaps with a tinge of disappointment or irritation. It's hard to tell though, and Lightning doesn't pursue that line of thinking any further.
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She used it to reevaluate the person in front of her, because that half-formed thought is back. She had to give it time to develop. "Everyone I've talked to wants to go home," she replied. "But yes, I think most of us are content in waiting if we know we're going to get home eventually." There was a slight pause, and then Sei took her shot in the dark. "Then again, most of us aren't returning to a war."
It could be an idle comment, a random example. But the woman in front of her seemed to be wearing military insignia and was obviously armed. It would explain her posture, and possibly some of her outlook. It could even explain why she was in such a hurry to return, though the thought twisted Sei's stomach. Wouldn't someone want a break from that? If Sei was right, then good. And if she was wrong, so be it, even if she lost some credibility. The woman could - and definitely would - make up her own mind without Sei's input. And it didn't matter to Sei what the woman thought of her.
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