☈ strike #10 (video / action)

[thestormishere]

[ It's really just the icing on the cake that, after everything's that happened to Lightning here- trapped away from her home, failing her Focus by force, conscripted to fight in a war she has little stake in, turning Cie'th on the battlefield of all things... she's finally returned to Luceti, not a week following her eventual death like what's

Comments

[Video]

[consultmybooks]

Miss, I really don't think that's a very wise idea!

[Video]

[thestormishere]

[ Not listening.

... Or is she? The page ripping suddenly just-- stops, and movement suggests that the journal's abruptly fallen off of her lap. The sound of her apparently-labored breathing continues, however, and a moment later, what can be seen of her seems to show the young woman slowly putting her hands over her face. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles sighs in relief. He doesn't know what sort of damage the journals can take, or how the Malnosso might react to the destruction of their "loan" to the villagers.

White sundress? Guess he wasn't the last New Feather in the village by a long shot.]

I know it might not seem like it now, but the journals can be very helpful. Probably best that you hold on to it.

...are you all right?

[Video]

[thestormishere]

[ No answer at first, except for a very slight shift. Then, for just a moment, what might have been a glare is leveled at the journal from behind her fingers. ]

I'm not-- I'm sorry...

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

[That's...a worrying response.]

Nothing you should apologize to me for.

[Video]

[thestormishere]

[ But no she's got everything to apologize for! Or... that's how it seems to her right now. She just groans in protest at him as she keeps her hands half over her face. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

...you probably shouldn't stay outside. Not in this weather.

Do you know where you are? [What with the rain and Lightning's attempt on the journal, Giles hasn't gotten a good look at where she was.]

Re: [Video]

[thestormishere]

Playground. [ The reply is automatic- even with how upset she is, it's not enough to screw up her perception of location. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

Good. You're in the village, at the very least.

The next question, then, is can you get home?

Re: [Video]

[thestormishere]

[ Probably. Eventually. Lightning doesn't have an answer for him, though. Just a quiet sigh alongside the gentle patter of rain. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

...I have an umbrella.

Re: [Video]

[thestormishere]

... Good for you...? [ Her voice is quiet, devoid of the sarcasm that the words alone would imply. It's a bit too much trouble for her to work out exactly why he might be telling her that, though. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles realizes his mistake about a second after Lightning does.]

I can bring it by the playground, is what I meant.

Re: [Video]

[thestormishere]

[ ... Oh. ]

Hmn... [ Okay, so even when at her best Lightning isn't exactly a conversationalist, but lacking there is also explicit refusal. Her eyes just go to the assaulted journal, then down again. ]

Re: [Video]

[consultmybooks]

[Considering the state Lightning seems to be in? A lack of explicit refusal is as good as a "yes".

Giles closes the journal, grabs his umbrella from the umbrella stand, and heads out into the rain. His goal is the playground.]

[thestormishere]

[ And that's where Lightning will be alright, sitting where you could say there would be grass if the village wasn't coming right out of winter and the ground here wasn't so trampled. Her arms are wrapped around herself but, even if she's cold, her head isn't down. She looks almost like she's thinking, and is bound to notice when he nears... if unlikely to do much about it. ]