[She's excited for him, on the edge of her seat and grinning widely, imagining how happy the two will be to be reunited.]
Yes! He is here.
[Then she hears his question, and all Aara's elation slowly dwindles away. She stares at her journal blankly, realizing she wasn't very good at this sort of thing after all.]
He's...
I don't know where he is.
I'm sorry! I can search for him! I can leave right now and tell him you're here. Or we could both search for him.
But he is here.
[Now Aara feels sad and disappointed in herself, curling up in a small ball on her chair as she waits uneasily for a response.]
[There's a pause, as Asuka considers her question. Then, derisively...]
Yeah, I guess sometimes they could be. But they were weird.
[They all lived above ground! That was -weird!- Asuka's willing to accept that many worlds lived that way, but that didn't make it any less odd to him.]
...Weird? I suppose... traveling to another world would seem unusual.
I promised Hito I would watch out for his friends. Help him be reunited if I found anyone by the names he mentioned. I found you, yes, but... I am not doing a very good on my part at reuniting him with you.
[Debate. Does he tell her...? ...of course he tells her, this is Asuka we're talking about. It's easy for him to talk about it, but Aara might hear a distinct note of distaste in his voice.]
Back where I came from, everybody lived belowground--it's impossible to stay above for more than a day or so. Everywhere I've been since leaving Desuya... they've been above. It's weird.
[Even if he -is- beginning to admit--if only to himself--that maybe, just maybe, Desuya was the odd world instead.]
But you know, you've already helped me and Hito, just by telling me he's here. Now that I know he's here, it won't be hard to find him.
If you're that worried about it, we can try and find him together, how about that?
[Aara considers this.] I think I could see the merit in living both above ground and below. I would miss the warmth of the sun, and nature in all its brilliancy if I stayed below ground too often. Maybe to sleep.
I am glad there is that, at least.
Oh! Yes. I believe that will do. [Aara is a bit nervous. She hasn't left her small room yet, but she desperately yearns to, and she is getting rather hungry.]
Oh, it's warm all right--it's too warm, and the suns are always out, so there's no chance for it to ever cool down. Add that to the sandstorms, and living underground is the only real choice there was, for us.
Anyways, I'm about to leave here to find Hito. I found him in this thing already, so it's just a matter of tracking him down outside. How about I come find you, and then we'll go find him?
Ah. That does sound quite dreadful. I do not blame your clan for living that way.
Oh! Yes! I mean, yes, that would do very well, thank you. Shall I meet you outside as well? [She is nervous, meeting new people, but also hesitantly excited.]
He is going to be so happy you're here!
[And now Aara has a bit more hope that someone she knows will appear--or something.]
Reply
So he's here, then. That's good.
[She might be able to hear the grin in his voice.]
Any idea where I can find him?
Reply
Yes! He is here.
[Then she hears his question, and all Aara's elation slowly dwindles away. She stares at her journal blankly, realizing she wasn't very good at this sort of thing after all.]
He's...
I don't know where he is.
I'm sorry! I can search for him! I can leave right now and tell him you're here. Or we could both search for him.
But he is here.
[Now Aara feels sad and disappointed in herself, curling up in a small ball on her chair as she waits uneasily for a response.]
Reply
Hey, it's all right. I didn't expect you to know where he was. Don't worry about it, okay?
I'll find him. I've run into him twice before now, on entirely different worlds--finding him here should be nothing compared to that.
It's not your fault you don't know where he is, nobody appointed you to be his caretaker.
Reply
[Her attention piques at that] You've traveled to other worlds? What were they like? Were they very beautiful?
I promised. [Apparently that's a big deal for her.]
Reply
[There's a pause, as Asuka considers her question. Then, derisively...]
Yeah, I guess sometimes they could be. But they were weird.
[They all lived above ground! That was -weird!- Asuka's willing to accept that many worlds lived that way, but that didn't make it any less odd to him.]
What did you promise?
Reply
I promised Hito I would watch out for his friends. Help him be reunited if I found anyone by the names he mentioned. I found you, yes, but... I am not doing a very good on my part at reuniting him with you.
Reply
[Debate. Does he tell her...? ...of course he tells her, this is Asuka we're talking about. It's easy for him to talk about it, but Aara might hear a distinct note of distaste in his voice.]
Back where I came from, everybody lived belowground--it's impossible to stay above for more than a day or so. Everywhere I've been since leaving Desuya... they've been above. It's weird.
[Even if he -is- beginning to admit--if only to himself--that maybe, just maybe, Desuya was the odd world instead.]
But you know, you've already helped me and Hito, just by telling me he's here. Now that I know he's here, it won't be hard to find him.
If you're that worried about it, we can try and find him together, how about that?
Reply
[Aara considers this.] I think I could see the merit in living both above ground and below. I would miss the warmth of the sun, and nature in all its brilliancy if I stayed below ground too often. Maybe to sleep.
I am glad there is that, at least.
Oh! Yes. I believe that will do. [Aara is a bit nervous. She hasn't left her small room yet, but she desperately yearns to, and she is getting rather hungry.]
Reply
Oh, it's warm all right--it's too warm, and the suns are always out, so there's no chance for it to ever cool down. Add that to the sandstorms, and living underground is the only real choice there was, for us.
Anyways, I'm about to leave here to find Hito. I found him in this thing already, so it's just a matter of tracking him down outside. How about I come find you, and then we'll go find him?
Reply
Oh! Yes! I mean, yes, that would do very well, thank you. Shall I meet you outside as well? [She is nervous, meeting new people, but also hesitantly excited.]
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment