[open] a comfort of frailties in me

[pinwheels]

Who: Rinoa Heartilly + you?
What: catch-all for August!
Where: different places around the Void
When: during August, or the equivalent thereof
Content Warnings: n/a! will update if anything comes up


I ☆ Merlaut Apartments

[ Having spent as much time out near Mortis Lake as she has, it's no surprise that Rinoa is quick to recognize the different silhouette of the cliffs when it appears, the apartment building standing tall against the sky with its many, gleaming windows reflecting the light. At first, she thinks it's probably a hotel, but closer inspection leaves her sighing in relief. Without the fees that a hotel would incur, she can probably set up some kind of home base here. It's not like she needs somewhere to sleep, exactly - that need seems to have disappeared along with all her loved ones when she came to this place. But having somewhere she can at least rest between explorations or whatever else she's doing here? It's good.

It seems she's not the only one with that idea, either. She sees many of the others, friends and strangers alike, flitting through hallways and between rooms.

Rinoa chooses a room on the third floor and opens the door to the worst mess she's ever seen in her life. (And she's been in Seifer's dorm room.) It's with a sigh, and then a smile, that she gathers the creature at her feet into her arms, laughing when it delivers a gentle headbutt to her nose. ]

This is gonna take lots of work, Felix. Are you up for it?

[ Of course, the four-legged, feathered creature isn't likely to be a whole lot of help, but it's nice to feel like she has a partner again. ]

II ☆ Wall Market

[ Even plunged into darkness, this place feels like the seedy side of Deling City, and Rinoa doesn't think she's particularly fond of it. Weirder still, it's tucked into a cave in the depths of the mountain, a cave that she's pretty sure she wasn't there when she first came through the place. It's strange, how this world just seems happy to rearrange itself at a whim, dropping in new places and creatures for them to find. And really, this new place seems like there could be a lot of different things to it. It's just that most of the buildings are empty and those that aren't are hard to maneuver through when the dark of the cave presses in.

She's been in here for a little while now but it seems her eyes can't adjust any further, and she's still not able to see clearly enough to make out the finer details. What she wouldn't do to be able to cast Fire...

Something catches her eye, and Rinoa turns to see... a Moomba? No, not a Moomba. But something very similar. It has a Moomba's overall build, its large paws, and it stands on two legs as it watches her. But the end of its tail looks more like a brush than a flame, even appearing to have paint at its tip.

If there's anyone around, she'll look at them now with a small frown. ]

They're kind of like something from my home.

III ☆ Wildcard

[ This is basically Rinoa's catch-all post for August! She was a little quiet her first couple of weeks here on account of me being busy, although in-character she probably spent at least some of her time waiting around and hoping Squall showed up. Two weeks in, she's realizing that she's gonna need to relearn some of her independence from her friends and loved ones, and just have faith that he'll come to find her when he can.

She'll be spending the month trying to make her new little apartment look nice and otherwise exploring the island with Felix, so feel free to hit her with anything at all, prompt-wise! You can reach me via PM here, or at denouements if you wanna hash it out first, or you can just throw it at me! ]

Comments

[bachagain]

[ mmm, that's a lot. leo's often the type to get lost in the details, but this is important. he can clumsily pull himself together when it counts. edea was a good sorceress, who made schools to kill a bad sorceress, and then got possessed by a bad sorceress? that's... jeez.

dictatorships are about the easiest thing to grasp in that story of hers, so... leo nods. ]

Mm. [ those're in lots of worlds, apparently. yikes. ] You said your dad's a member of one of those, right? Then, is that the one your old man's the military general of? The one you're fighting? Ah, wait, don't answer that if it's gonna mess up how you're explaining things...

[pinwheels]

[ To the contrary, Leo's just given her the perfect way to get to the next part of the story, when just a moment ago she wasn't entirely sure. After all, it's one thing to give him all the background information so he's not confused later, and another thing to find a bridge to her own part in the tale. So in response to his question, she nods, a wry smile on her lips. ]

Yeah, the very same. At the time, I didn't know anything about Sorceresses or anything, really— [ she was a runaway socialite, after all ] —I just knew I wanted to do something to stop Galbadia. This guy I dated once, he was also in training at the Garden, so I'd heard that they could be hired for anything, and I ended up speaking to the Headmaster, Edea's husband, and getting some of his old students to come and help us out.

[ Her fingers fiddle through the rings, her smile becoming something wistful. ]

One of them was Squall. He's the same guy who Edea had that whole vision about, I guess. This part of it's kind of a long story but we ended up going up against her directly. Their order was to assassinate her, but she defeated us. That's when the general had us arrested.

[bachagain]

[ he-- thinks he's still following. there's a hint of something at the word "assassinate", as if he's not expecting that... which, honestly, he wasn't. not coming from rinoa, anyway.

there's lots of different worlds here though, so. and ensemble stars being ensemble stars, he's not entirely unfamiliar with dirtier things like that. he still won't linger on it much. one thing he wants to ask about squall, when her gestures change right before mentioning him... but he won't, yet. there's still more to the story, and he should... maybe not get derailed halfway through. ]

And that's when the Roombas showed up!

[ he remembered! ]

[pinwheels]

[ Despite where the story is going, Rinoa can't help but laugh at Leo's interjection. ]

The moombas, yes. The general pulled some strings to get me out, but they helped the others. When we got out, though, we found out that Edea ordered missile strikes on the Gardens as... you know, punishment. The whole thing basically started a war between Galbadia and Balamb, which...

[ And here's where her memory gets fuzzy. ]

We fought against Edea and her knight, Seifer. But, um. I don't remember what happened after that, for a little while. So I'll do my best to explain what Squall told me later, okay?

[ She lets go of the necklace, reaching for a piece of the sushi and popping it between her lips. This is where the story gets most complicated, and she wasn't even awake to experience it. ]