thestormishere | ☈ strike #17 (action / video)

☈ strike #17 (action / video)

Action; House 41; morning and onwards of the 22nd.

[ The calendar used in Luceti might be noticeably different than that of Cocoon's, but the way Lightning-- or rather, her friends seem to figure, since her previous birthday was roughly a month before her arrival last November... a Saturday in 'October' seems about as good a time as any to acknowledge somehow making it to twenty-two years of age.

She's really not looking for an outright party or anything, but after some stubbornness-filled discussion, the woman's reluctantly agreed to... well, what she'd likely do anyway: focusing on just having a relatively good day in general. That may or may not include humoring her housemates by dragging them around town to just Do Stuff too, though. Maybe indulge in just a little bit of the sort of food she tends to refrain from? Who knows.

After rolling out of bed and showering, it doesn't take her long to gather up Baldr and start looking into obtaining breakfast, studiously trying to put herself in a good mood. In other words, not thinking about how awful a year before now (and the events directly following it) turned out to be...

Of course, the problem is... coincidence is a tricky thing in a place like Luceti. Is she ever allowed to forget about anything for very long here? ]

Video/Action; plaza center/fountain; late afternoon of the 23rd.

Your moon... looks strange today.

[ Your moon because it's certainly not her moon, a sentiment that's quite obvious from the odd, tense quality to the woman's tone of voice. All things considered, with her homeworld's unknown status, her floating land's distinctly moonlike appearance as it hangs over the planet below, and most importantly, since it's pretty damn hard to forget the day after her twenty-first birthday being the one where she lost her sister and became 'fated' to tear Cocoon down out of the sky... she's understandably pretty tuned into any celestial objects' condition. Especially since it's currently the day following the one that, as a l'Cie, she never expected to reach.

As such, there's a looong pause, apparently thoughtful as she looks up at the sky. And then, randomly: ]

... How are you supposed to 'get over' something in the past, when it's still tainting what's supposed to be good?

[ -- Wait, no no no, asking that kind of thing? Not something she normally does at all, particularly over the journal or in front of strangers. Naturally, now it's too late, however. She aims a frowning Look towards her journal, then at anyone who might have heard from where she's sitting on the fountain. Her voice turns quiet and dry as she shakes her head, a hint of dark sarcasm sneaking in. ]

Why do I get the feeling something bad's about to happen anyway?

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To match you, silly.

[ Awkwardness needs to be thrown away. It's a birthday!! ...Well, as they decided. ]

Mm. I remember when I got here, it was so-o-o cold! ...The sundress didn't help. I have a coat from last year, but I never did find a scarf cute enough.

[ Stop insisting that everything be cute, Aerith. She looks down at her boots, rocking on her feet. Strangely enough, she's practical with her footwear at least--and she wears the heck out of them. It's showing a bit. ] Besides, these guys are starting to be squeakers. So we really do have to go!

[ Psh! Lightning scoffs quietly as she straightens and her pup shakes his head vigorously, pawing at his face after her tousling. Her hand finds her hip as she considers the problem of insufficient New Feather dress herself and then her own wardrobe left over from last year, but... well, safe to say that even someone like her cycles through clothing pretty quickly, being from somewhere as generally privileged like Cocoon.

At least by now she pretty much has kind of a mental filter for conversations with Aerith, so all the cute this and cute that doesn't really faze her. The boots do get a small, thoughtful frown. ]

Won't do you much good if they don't fit very well any more.

[ Aaaand she steps back towards her room, though the way she keeps looking over her shoulder's probably enough to indicate she's alright with being followed for the moment. ]

It's not the fit, my feet definitely aren't growing! [ Now Hope's, on the other hand--she wouldn't be surprised if he needed new boots soon. ] But they have put a lot of steps on these things.

[ Folloooowing, Aerith is used to this. ] You need to get something?

If they're wearing out, then the fit's probably off too.

[ Stubborn! For all that she's always in a miniskirt and everything, she definitely knows the value of footwear that fits and fits well. You can't go running all over the place in something that isn't going to properly take care of your feet! ]

Just a second.

[ She turns once she's through the doorway to her room, to her... uh... belts. Yep. FF character through and through. ]

...You've got quite the collection going here. I think it's as big as the blanket one!

[ might. be mildly teasing. also Aerith must not be much of a FF character ~~though she DOES have that one belt in KH...~~ ]

Don't make fun of my blankets, Aerith.

[ Look at her face! She will tear you apart, girl!! She needs those blankets. She needs them to stay warm in this weird primitive land where everything is freaking cold half the time and too hot the other half!

Or you know, yeah, even she knows it's kind of ridiculous. At least she'll be prepared in case the village needs an emergency blanket fort? ]

[ ...emergency blanket fort sounds like a viable coping strategy for the moon apocalypse coming up. ]

Well, I can say I'll always know who to ask if I need a blanket. [ ...not that she's likely to know she needs it because lol, hot and cold. Still, it's the thought? ]

Oh! We can stop by the bakery for a treat, too.

[ ... Yes. Yes it does. If only they knew.

She rolls her eyes and then nods slightly at the blanket and bakery comments respectively, rearranging her current beltage with well-practiced ease. Looping a watch around her wrist is apparently all she has left to do before tailing Aerith back out of her room and shutting everyone out of it once more. ]

No eclairs.

[ Finally she's learned the name of that particular 'treat' in the meantime since Aerith's birthday! Not impressed here, either. Imagine that.

... Is it apparent yet she's trying to keep her mind off other things? ]

And I like eclairs, but since it's your birthday--all right. No eclairs.

[ was she trying to not think about it being her birthday ]

And no singing.

[ Now she's just being a spoil-sport. ]

Birthday girl, not birthday tyrant!

No singing.

[ Doesn't even look back as she reaches the front door! It's her birthday, she can do what she wants! Including being a tyrant, yes. Grr. Sing at her and just see what happens.

(Spoilers: nothing happens. She'd probably just make a face.) ]

Are you really that bothered?

[ Although she doesn't sound annoyed. Or convinced Light's really focused on the singing.

(Spoilers: faces will be made.) ]

[ At last Lightning finally pauses and turns her face towards Aerith, and yet although her expression is vexed, it's... also lacking in actual anger. It's not really about silly things like being embarrassed when people sing at her, no.

But are they really going to turn on the angst before they make it outside? ]

[ Aerith--clucks her tongue.

Hooks her arm under Light's.

Attempts to make with the out-the-doorin's. ]

You'll see. This is going to be a fun day.

[ ...well, they'll at least get through the actual celebrating without disaster. ]

But there has to be a song.

[ -- For once Lightning allows the gesture, unresisting as Aerith pulls her along, save for the few seconds it takes to turn just enough to shut the door in poor little Baldr's hairy face. When it comes down to it, she doesn't want to go and fall into a bad mood either, so even though she sulks half-heartedly and pretends to drag her feet, it's secretly a relief as well. ]

No chance of bribes, either...?

I'll hear offers, but I'm not making promises. What would you even bribe me with?

[ ... Oatmeal? No no no, that's a terrible bribe, regardless of Lightning's learned experience in making an awesome serving of the stuff. Her true skills are a little useless here too, unless Aerith wants someone assassinated...

She frowns as she considers, then deflects with: ]

What would it take?

Maybe we should just get it over with. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to~

[ ...She may be the first non-biologically-related person to dare try swinging on Lightning's arm. ]

[ AERITH, WHY? AERITH, WHY?? DX

Lightning makes a face.

She also attempts to dislodge the other woman from her extremities, which is at least a little more than the earlier prediction, if not very positive. ]

[ Clinging, CLINGING--okay that's enough, no making Light use full force; Aerith lets go and ~spins~ away, crunching through fallen leaves. ]

--birthday dear Liiiight, happy birthday to you!

[ BEAMING over at Light. :DDD! ]

[ Oh, how tempting it is to set fire to those leaves and... but no, Lightning's not that mean. Her expression is flat as she raises a hand to her jaw, elbow resting in the palm of the other. ]

Do you feel better now?

[ She giggles and nods. ]

I think we can skip birthday pinches.

[ why yes, there ARE worse traditions. (not that she'd ever stood a chance of doing those...) ]

[ Sigh. Although at least, yes, it's over now. Hopefully. Hopefully her assumption that Hope wouldn't dare in favor of saving his teenage pride, and that Zack wouldn't dare in favor of keeping his ribcage relatively bruise-free, holds true.

She rolls her eyes a bit, crossing her arms as she keeps walking. They left the house for a reason. C'mon, woman. ]

[ Coming along! They're not too far from the plaza in their house, so it doesn't take long to reach the stores. ]

So what are you thinking of getting?

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