[open] i love the clear season

[soulstoker]

Characters: Leia Rolando & YOU
Date: throughout March
Location: various
Situation: various
Warnings/Rating: Most likely none?! I'll edit it if necessary.

—wood sector

[It's a nice, peaceful spring day here in Tu Vishan, and the Wood Sector is no exception to that. If you happen to be passing through the area, there's nothing particularly out of place or strange, at least no more so than usual. Except, well, a random shoe isn't really supposed to seemingly drop out of the sky and land on the ground, or maybe even your head, are they? Alas, that is exactly what just happened. Hope it didn't hurt if it landed on you...]

Oh, shoot! [Says a voice from way, way, way up high in one of the many trees in the Wood Sector. If you look up, you'll see one (1) Leia Rolando looking down and missing a shoe, although that might be hard to tell when she's so high up.] Sorry about that! Are you alright? It didn't hit you or anything did it?

[Leia why don't you just go down instead of shouting from a tree... Granted how she even got all the way up there might be a good question to start with too...]

—water sector

[You have to work to make a living, right? Even when you're whisked off to completely different worlds without permission... But that's exactly what Leia's doing, advertising some local produce in the Water Sector market.]

Fresh sea prunes, get your fresh sea prunes! Step right up and try this delicious delicacy! [Except you can see the sea prunes in a stand right behind her and those don't look good at all. They're wrinkly, kind of damp looking, and the color is none too appetizing. If she sees you looking though, even if it's from sheer horror, she'll be flashing a bright grin, waving you over.]

Hey, you over there! Why not give these a shot and see how you like them?

[She's already taking a few from the stand and putting them in a bowl to offer them as a sample. Is this it, is this going to be the end of an innocent bystander's taste buds...?!]

—all around

[It turns out that there's a problem with working open stalls with exposed food though. Flying around the area today is one of those giant birds that seem to have come with the arrival of spring. While that in particular isn't too out of the ordinary, the fact that it has a plastic bag obviously filled with food probably is. Why is it even flying around everywhere instead of just landing in one area? Well...

There might be one girl chasing it the entire time, too.]

Get back here you stupid bird!! [And theeeere she is, panting and with her bo staff in hand. Just how long has she been chasing this bird? Why is she actually getting this worked up over a single bag of groceries in the first place? The world may never know.] You better put that down before I make you part of dinner too!

[Despite making a skilled swing at the bird with her staff, it just flaps its wings lightly and avoids the hit, almost as if it's mocking Leia. Someone tell her to just give it a break already before she hurts herself... Or someone else honestly, is she even watching where she's swinging that thing!!]

Comments

[soulstoker]

It's a long way to look, but that's definitely a familiar face and voice. Waving her hand, Leia calls out to him. "Heeeeey Armin! I thought it'd be fun to climb up here!"

That's... pretty much her entire reasoning, yeah. But hey, when you're living in the Wood Sector, you might as well get to know the area, even if for most people that wouldn't include places way up high like this.

"I kinda need my shoe back though, yeah! Do you want me to climb down?" Since, well, she might have fun with this kind of thing, but she wouldn't expect everyone to want to climb all this. Or be able to.

[strategisch]

Because... it would be fun? Armin can't help but smile. It reminds him of something he'd do as a child, playing soldier with Eren. Sure Leia was quite a bit older than they were, but her playful spirit is contagious nonetheless.

"You're very good at climbing to get that high up! I wouldn't want to make you have to do that all over again," he says, tucking her shoe into his bag. The motion reveals his 3DMG hidden underneath his Kedanese style cloak, "Do you mind if I join you instead?"

[soulstoker]

That's... What is that he's wearing underneath his cloak? Leia has no idea what it is, and she can't help but be a little curious about it. Well, she can always just ask him, right? Once he gets up there with her and all.

"Yeah, feel free! I'll just wait here."

[strategisch]

"Alright! Please stay still for a moment!"

He didn't want to accidentally hit her with his harpoons, so it was important. Armin takes the triggers out from their holsters under his arms, aims, and in one well-trained motion uses his gear to ascend to the branch Leia is on. The trees here are incredibly sturdy, so it's safe for them both.

"There," he says, and retrieves her boot out of his bag, "here you go. Tie it tightly this time."

[soulstoker]

"Wow," she practically whispers, voice quiet in the face of what was an amazing sight to her. Taking back her shoe though, the rest of her excitement catches back up to her, and she practically yells, "That was amazing! How did you do that? What's that thing you're wearing? How does it work?"

She'll tie her boot back on in a minute, right now Leia just wants to know about this thing she's never seen in her life before.

[strategisch]

Armin blinks against her onslaught of enthusiasm; usually people are curious about his gear, but he's never met someone this impressed before!

"It's my three dimensional maneuver gear," he explains, once he's sure he hasn't been made deaf. He takes off his coat to reveal the complex harness he's wearing underneath, along with the sheathes at his sides and the engine on his back, "a device from my homeworld. It allows me to move in the air using cables and jets, like you just saw."

[soulstoker]

Alas, this is what happens when you're dealing with someone as easily excitable as Leia.

"Three dimensional maneuver gear," she repeats, sounding both curious and amused. It sounds like some pretty fancy stuff to her, but given what he said it does, it's pretty much exactly that. She's practically ogling the engine. "Your world's technology is really cool! I wish I had something that could let me travel like that back home. It'd sure beat walking everywhere."

[strategisch]

"I'm afraid it's nearly all we have in the way of 'technology'" he replies, smiling ruefully, "and it's used as a weapon of war. It takes several years of military training to use properly, so I don't think it could be a mode of transportation for the public, but..."

"I won't deny, it is pretty cool."

[soulstoker]

"It'd be a shame if it wasn't cool with how it looks!" Years of military training though, huh? There goes any small hopes she might've had of maybe trying it out... Thought maybe that's something she should keep to herself.

"But a weapon of war... Well, I guess that's how a lot of innovations start out."

[strategisch]

"When we first started training, everyone jealously watched our upperclassmen, already using the gear," he remembers with a certain amount of fondness, "from afar, the acrobatics were very impressive. We all wanted to fly with those wings."

Armin sits down on the branch with the ease of someone who has no fear of heights.

"It's true. But living in a world that's constantly in conflict keeps innovation from happening as well. Living here has taught me that."

[soulstoker]

"Wings, huh... That's what it must be like, to go through the air so easily like that." You'd think the idea would be not quite as amazing after having actually flown in the sky on a giant animal, but somehow it still is to her.

"Really? I'm guessing that there's a lot here that you haven't seen back home before."

[strategisch]

"How about everything?" he replies with a laugh. "I was absolutely hopeless when I first came here. There was so much that I didn't know. Even after all these months, there's still a lot that I don't understand." Mainly, concepts like Living and Death and Dreaming. "I just go along with it to save myself the trouble."

[soulstoker]

"Haha, same here!" It's actually a little comforting to hear considering so many people seemed to be in touch with technology here. "Even after being around here for months, I feel like I'm still getting the hang of those console things."

[strategisch]

"It's amazing technology, far from what my world will be capable of for a long time. But I'm thoroughly impressed by what humanity can do when they have the resources. It gives me a little bit of hope."

[soulstoker]

She nods, smiling brightly. "Yeah! Compared to here, my world's pretty behind too, but given enough resources and time I'm sure we could catch up. We're all human after all, so there's no reason we wouldn't be able to, right?"

[strategisch]

He sighs wistfully.

"I want to live to see it. The day when my world is as wonderful as this one, and full of people as happy as you."

[soulstoker]

"Well there's no reason you can't, right?" Then again, it's not like she's from a completely safe world. Who's to say Armin's is even all that safe? Her smile becomes a bit more hesitant. "... Right?"

[strategisch]

"It's a hope of mine, so I'll do everything in my power to see it come to fruition."

[soulstoker]

"... Well, I really hope you do too." Before it can falter completely, Leia brings back her smile in full force. "You seem like a good guy, so you definitely deserve to live in a wonderful world with happy people!"

[strategisch]

"...Thank you, Leia," he replies, lowly, but he looks up at her with a shockingly genuine smile, "I don't think I've ever heard someone say something so simple and true to me before."

[soulstoker]

"Aw, it's nothing really. I'm just not really the type to think things over a lot, but I guess that means I don't make them complicated at least." As far as she's concerned, that's pretty much the honest truth. She's pretty straightforward, she knows, and calling her simple-minded wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

[strategisch]

"I over-complicate nearly everything, so it's rather refreshing to hear."

[soulstoker]

She laughs. "Is that right? I guess it's a good thing we met then. We can balance each other out!"