(Untitled)

[piercedly]

Characters: Valeria and Allelujah Haptism
When: January 7, shortly after eleven or so at night
Location: Animak Fountain Square → Animak Inn
Summary: Allelujah goes to save Valeria from the cold escort a lost and very confused Valeria to the inn, where they talk about... things. MBEL.
Warnings: None at the moment

Comments

[piercedly]

Simulation or not, Valeria wasn't about to let her guard drop to any sort of unreasonable point. The cold was distracting, but not so much that she couldn't peep out of her shirt and jacket to observe her surroundings and keep her hands close, despite their iron grip on said jacket's lengthy sleeves, to probable openings in the fast-held fabric for ease of access to the knives hidden in their fold. She was wary despite, if not because of, her confusion and regarded the approaching man for a long moment with her dark eyes. At length, she concluded he was no threat. When he addressed her, she relaxed and pulled her jacket more tightly around her.

"Th-that'd be me," she said, attempting a cheeky smile. "You catch on q-quick, don't you, Allelujah?"

Val didn't much care that she looked utterly ridiculous peeping out at him from her jacket and shirt like a speckled owl. How she managed to refrain from throwing herself into him and clinging for dear life to perceived body heat, she didn't know either and didn't want to think on it because the idea seemed better and better with every passing minute.

[silvered_hymn]

"Well, it wasn't too hard to figure out which one you were," he responded with a little smile. "The inn's nearby. Let's go before you freeze."

Normally, Allelujah wasn't much one for physical touch (especially with a complete stranger), but the poor girl looked like she really was turning into a popsicle. "Here, come on..." And he put an arm around her shoulder, drawing her in as they began to walk towards their destination.

[piercedly]

Valeria fell in step with Allelujah as they began to walk, leaning into him without the slightest sign of hesitation. She was a people-person, yes, and thought little of invading people's personal space most of the time, but she had made her decision about the man, that he wasn't a threat. At the very least, she had the upper-hand, being armed, and as far as she could tell, he wasn't carrying or the least bit hostile. That, and he was warm. Shiva, he was warm and she was in no state to complain.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him. He was tall. Considerably, in comparison to her, but she didn't mind so much, burrowing closer to him to ward off the still present cold.

[silvered_hymn]

"Don't mention it. Getting a coat should be one of the first things on your to-do list," he said. Thinking it over, he realized she had no money--maybe he'd get her one. Late Christmas present?

Luckily, the inn was only a few minutes walk away, so it wasn't long until they entered the warmth that the building provided. "Here we go. Much better."

[piercedly]

Detaching herself from the tall man, the Turk shook herself, depositing some of the snow she had accumulated in her hair and on her person on the mat before the door. Taking a few steps forward, she breathed in deep and took the warmth of the atmosphere in her lungs, then exhaled and turned to face Allelujah.

"I'll say," she said, and with a nod, paused, looking around. "You're sure the innkeeper won't mind if I stay for a few days?"

[silvered_hymn]

He shook his head. "He shouldn't. This is where we stayed when we first got here, until we moved to a farm on the outskirts on this place. I'll warn you, though...the people in this town, and the other as well, don't often give us the greatest of attitudes. To them, we're outsiders--well, of course we are," he said with a little laugh. "But, they don't entirely trust us. So don't be surprised if they're a little cold to you."

[piercedly]

"Cold?" Val lifted a hand to her hip and leaned forward slightly, grinning. "I can handle cold people. I've met my fair share." A particular Wutaian came to mind as she straightened and glanced at the door. "It's the weather I can't stand," she said and shivered, looking back at him.

Her hands found each other and intertwined before her. Dark eyes drifted downward to rest upon the floor. A farm...? She quirked her brow at that and looked back up at Allelujah, tilting her head.

"A real farm? I guess I shouldn't keep you then," she murmured, looking down again as she spoke, "if it's on the outskirts of town and all. Sorry about that. I hope you didn't have to walk too far to find me..."

Apologizing to a simulation that wasn't one of her superiors. There was a first. She shook the thought and offered him a smile instead of a scowl.

[silvered_hymn]

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not all that far, and I was planning on coming to town anyway to do some grocery shopping. I hope they have sweet potatoes around even in a season like that..." Allelujah trailed off, shaking his head.

That could be saved for later, both the thoughts and said shopping.

"So." He looked around again, eventually gesturing to the tavern area connected to the main lobby. "Shall we? We can get something to drink, sit, talk, and warm up."

[piercedly]

Valeria literally hopped in the direction to which Allelujah had gestured, glancing over her shoulder at him with a grin. Drinks definitely sounded good. Something to warm her throat and hands, that was the ticket! Weary though she may have been from her adventure thus far, a seat and the promise of good company and conversation made it too tempting to resist and gave her a much needed charge that put the spring back in her step.

"Let's!"

And with that, she waited for Allelujah to catch up and headed to the tavern area to claim a table in the scarcely crowded room. She slid into a chair and beamed up at her company, almost as though she had forgotten she was a stranger in a strange land, that the inn was not one of Midgar's and she was not visiting someone staying at it, but was to stay at it herself.

"So, what do they have?" she asked, peering up at Allelujah.

[silvered_hymn]

He took a seat across from her, glad to feel the warmth setting in. "Uhh...an assortment of things. Water, juices, beers, wines, ciders...they might serve liquor here as well, though I don't really drink anything alcoholic much." Even though he had just hit the drinking age a little under a year ago, it wasn't much his thing, though he'd have a beer or two if Lockon dragged him off to do so.

"Just let me know what you might want and I'll go get it for us."

[piercedly]

She perked up at the mention of cider. Sigh-dur. The word had a ring to it. It always had. There was something about the way it was spoken that made it stand out in a sentence, not to mention a list of options to choose from. She stuck her tongue out at the mention of liquor and straightened in the chair.

"Cider sounds good! Do they have apple?" Val asked.

It might not be hot and the apples might not be Banoran, but a good mug of apple cider always hit the spot.

[silvered_hymn]

"They do. That's actually what I usually get here. Two mugs of hot apple cider then, coming right up..." Allelujah gave her another smile before standing up and pushing his chair back, making his way over to the bar to place the order. A drink like that was perfect for a cold winter day. After paying for the drinks, he made his way back to the table and sat down, placing Val's mug in front of her.

"And here we go. It's on me, so don't worry about it." His hand gripped the handle of his own mug, and he raised it a little. "Here's to surviving in this strange place, I guess?"

[piercedly]

"If you're sure." Valeria reached for the mug set before her and raised it in turn, offering Allelujah a warm smile. "To survival in this strange place and finding the way home soon, too."

With that, she lifted her mug to her lips and took a sip off the hot cider, mindful of its temperature. The aroma carried by the steam rising from the mug was as hot and sweet as its contents. She placed it on the table again and took a moment to suck in a little air to cool her mouth.

"Tha's some really good cider!" She managed. "Hot, too!"

[silvered_hymn]

He took a sip of his own cider, grateful for the feeling of heat it provided. "It really is. I make it a point almost every time to stop in here when I come into town for shopping."

Allelujah was silent for a little while as he nursed his drink, trying to figure out where would be a good place to continue the conversation.

Oh, of course.

"So what kind of world are you from?" he asked, putting his mug aside for the time being. "I'd ask you what country, but if magic exists where you come from, then I doubt you even come from Earth..."

[piercedly]

It was a funny question, one she mulled over for a good few minutes. What kind of world was Gaia anyway? There was more than one. That seemed to be the indication, anyway, and while the idea of being on another world was hard to believe, the idea of there being other worlds with intelligent life wasn't so farfetch'd. hat kind of worlds were there?

"I've never heard of any 'Earth' unless you count the ground under your feet," she began. "My world," she paused, namely because the words sounded strange, "is called Gaia. It's pretty diverse as far as planets go, I guess, but I wouldn't know since we haven't done a lot in the way of space exploration. Shin-Ra lost interest after the failed launch."

She sipped her cider again, looking up at the ceiling idly as she placed the mug atop the table again. "The capital is Midgar, the city I mentioned before. People in Kalm, a village and neighbor of Midgar, call it the Floating City." She paused. "These days we don't really classify things in terms of countries, but continents. Shin-Ra governs the world, you see. Only the little island nation of Wutai would really classify as a country, I guess. It's pretty distant, so it keeps its culture, but it's mostly into the tourism business these days, or so I hear."

[silvered_hymn]

"I see. An entire planet has one capital? And one singular government, too... That's unheard of where I come from. The world still has dozens of countries with their own leaders, but ultimately they're split up into three power blocs. The AEU, Union, and HRL. AEU standing for Advanced European Union and HRL standing for Human Reform League. They don't always get along that well, though there are times..."

He trailed off, shaking his head before taking another sip of his drink. "Anyway, it's much more broken into pieces than your world seems to be. And we don't have magic. Science, yes, but not magic. Our space programs have been operating for three and a half centuries now, though, and though we haven't reached out into space that far, we do have some colonies, and the orbital elevators."