tabularasa_rp | (open) and i had a dream about my old school

[It's not unusual for Cole to wander the forest when he's not off exploring the harder to reach corners of this place, so the addition of a new building in the middle of it is easy to notice. Though it looks like someone else noticed it first. Aerith. The way she rushes toward it, he wonders if it's a place she knows.]

[He follows in a few moments after her, looking around and up himself. It reminds him of a Chantry building with its tall ceiling and pretty windows, though those don't usually have so many chairs, or cakes.]

This place is yours?

[ Aerith turns to look back at Cole as he speaks, smiling back at him as she gets to her feet again. ]

Mm-hmm. But with a few changes... [ She gestures to the tables and to the cakes, shrugging lightly. ] Not sure where all this stuff came from, but I don't mind. And the flowers don't, either!

[ Gods, is she excited to be back with them. Even though she's separated from the Planet here, Aerith knows for certain that these flowers are...the same. ]

Well? What do you think?

[It's always nice when someone is clear about what they're feeling. Guessing how people feel without hearing it himself is hard. As for her question, maybe it's not exactly what she was going for when she asked, but:]

It's good, that you're happy here.

Aww, thank you. You're really sweet, you know that?

[ She smiles brightly, not bothering to hide how pleased she is having the church here as a comfort. ]

Well, you're welcome to hang out here as much as you want. What's mine is yours!

[He doesn't respond to being called sweet. Of course he'd be happy that she's happy, though he didn't personally do anything in this case, so he's not sure why she's saying something like that...]

[Regardless,]

I am...? Thank you.

[Knowing he's welcome here even though it's hers is nice. He moves further inside, to where he can get a better view of where the flowers are growing beneath the broken floorboards.]

It seems nice, here. I didn't know flowers could grow inside.

[She said they didn't mind the changes, either...]

Can you hear them?

[He's met others here who are spirits or unusual like him, and while signs point to all of them being devoid of their usual senses here, it can't hurt to check if it's the same for everyone.]

They don't, usually. But they grow really well here. [ She shrugs, as if to say "not sure why." ] There's usually a few holes up there - [ and she points up to the roof, which is securely boarded up ] where the sun peeps through. That helps.

[ The question...makes her blink. It's not something someone's really asked her before in earnest, and something deeper than her usual levity seems to creep into her expression, even as her smile fades a little. ]

Back home, yeah. These aren't the same, though. [ Her smile twinges with a bit of sadness as she gazes down at the blooms. ] They're still beautiful, and alive, but I can't talk to them the same way.

[ The Planet isn't here, after all. She's cut off from the whispers she's heard her whole life. ]

[He looks up briefly at the patched hole. Since there isn't a hole now, maybe that part came from someone else too. It must look enough like the place she remembers for her to call it hers, though.]

[He wonders if she's something like him, if she can hear things like that. He moves just inside the hole, careful not to step on any flowers, and crouches down to look at them more closely.]

Yes. There are no songs or whispers here. Everything is silent.

Aww, it's not completely silent, right? We have each other's company. Plus, I can still talk to the flowers, even if these don't talk back.

[ He's...different than most people. Maybe a little more like her than she'd thought. ]

Do you hear things, too? Things that other people don't hear?

[Company, yes. It's good that she's not alone here, and now this place and these flowers are here for her too, even if she can't talk to them.]

Yes.

[Not that he counts himself among people, though he's not sure it's like that for her. She seems like a person. Maybe she's a mage? Or something different, from a world he doesn't know anything about.]

I don't usually talk to flowers, though. I'll listen, but they don't like to answer.

[Or they just can't. They're bound in a single shape after all, like he is.]

They can be shy. [ Interesting. Aerith blinks curiously at Cole, chancing a cautious smile. ] Who do you talk to instead?

[ "What" do you talk to probably would make more sense, but she's a little more sensitive to these things than most people. ]

[He touches one of the flowers, just lightly feeling along the texture of the petals. That's a good question.]

I listen, mostly. Flowers, and trees and streams, they don't use words, usually. But the songs flow through them, swelling and sighing. Sometimes they share the whispers of what came before.

I talk to people sometimes, but listening is easier. Or, it was, when I could hear more.

[ Hmm. Aerith can sometimes speak enigmatically - with Cloud, especially - but nothing like this. She listens intently as Cole speaks, brows knit somewhat in thought. ]

That...kinda sounds like what I hear from them. They don't talk like people, or anything. It's...hard to describe.

[ As he's surely found. ]

I can't have the same, um - "conversations" with people, but that's okay. People don't have the same connection to the Lifestream that the plants do. It's tough, huh? Trying to figure out how to talk about this stuff.

[It is hard, especially in a way that people can understand. It sounds like she knows what it's like, though. Whether it's exactly the same or not.]

I don't know what that is. But no one here knows about the Fade. Everything's the same, but different, too.

[Most (if not all) people here at least look like they're humans, and they understand many of the same concepts. But they don't always know that there are races other than humans, or that magic even exists. He's not sure what to make of it.]

It can be hard, to use the right words. I have to talk more now, to know what people have to say.

[It's a hard life, having to actually talk to people.]

I've never heard of the Fade, but I bet we're talking about something similar. And - if not? I get the feeling.

[ She doesn't feel isolated, exactly, but Aerith has always had distance between herself and others, being the last of the Cetra. Maybe Cole is...alone like that, too. ]

"Now?" Have you started trying to talk to them a bit more than you did before? ...To be honest, though...it can be hard to use the right words in most situations. They're tricky!

[She could be right, or maybe not. It's hard to tell. It would be nice though, in some way, to know that there is some other world out there that has something like the Fade.]

[He straightens back up to his feet, but doesn't lift his head.]

Yes. [To all of that.] I can't hear what hurts, so I have to ask. But people don't always say what they're feeling, and words can hurt without meaning to.

Well, sure. That's part of being a person, isn't it?

[ People are hard to figure out, usually. Even if you have a bit of a special read on them, as Cole seems to. ]

You just have to tell them as much, that's all. Just say that, if they're not going to be straight with you, that you'll just take them at their word! People usually are a little more open after that. They might be coy at first, but they don't want you to misunderstand their intentions, usually. Unless they're a bad guy, or something.

[ Most people want to be understood, deep down, but can have a hard time admitting it. ]

(open) and i had a dream about my old school

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