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[onlythans]

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[astraphilia]

hmm

[ there are some things Reno wants to say: that it's not always obvious, at the beginning, what shape something will take once it's grown into itself. that perfect is the enemy of good, and that while Thancred might have his flaws as a parent Reno isn't convinced those flaws are enough to make him worse than a lifetime alone.

but what does he know about family? he can't even remember his father's name, nor his mother's face. he barely remembers the name he had before he became Reno. what right does he have to speak on this at all? ]

I think I saw her. is it weird for you, her being here?

[onlythans]

[Again, he's quiet for what feels like a long time — not from lack of knowing what to say, but lack of certainty that words will even express the gravity of it.

In the end, all he can do is try. Which is...more than he did for Ryne, sometimes, back when it all first began.]

i didn't think i was ever going to see her again

i told you about the shards, aye
reflections of the shattered star that are each their own worlds themselves

travel between the shards isn't possible save in one very unusual case
and she was born on the first
and i was born on the source

i'd not seen her in a year or mayhap a few moons more before this
i shouldn't want her in a place this perilous but i can't regret it
not for a single moment

[astraphilia]

[ no one has ever mattered enough to Reno that to lose them would hurt him. still, through Thancred's messages he thinks he understands a little of the weight of it. ]

then I'm glad she's here, even if this place is fucked up. better here with you than somewhere else alone, no?

[onlythans]

well
mayhap not alone

she's a fair few cities' worth of friends
and the makings of a girlfriend unless i miss my guess

something about sharing lipsticks and going out for coffee biscuits, i've heard

[astraphilia]

[ come oooon my guy Reno is trying to be sweet and reassuring here ]

does sharing lipstick and going out for coffee biscuits make you girlfriends? I never knew, maybe cause the last time I wore lipstick was when I was like nineteen

[onlythans]

why were you wearing lipstick when you were nineteen?
or at all really

the stuff tastes horrible

[astraphilia]

crossdressed for a job lol

I'll have you know I was an extremely cute girl, fishnets and all, but I agree the lipstick tasted terrible

I bet I have a picture on my phone from home if you want to see

[onlythans]

or if for some reason you don't
i suppose you could always recreate the effect

oh twould't be precisely the same i concede

but you're probably cuter now than you were when you were nineteen regardless

[astraphilia]

I think you just want to see me in sexy little stockings ;)

[onlythans]

and so what if i do?

a very merry starlight to me

[astraphilia]

then I would love to make your dreams come true

what's your favorite color?

[onlythans]

your eyes

but if we're assuming that those don't count
and ruling out black and white as proper colors

then a red-orange, i suppose
the color the sky turns at sunrise over the water's horizon

[astraphilia]

you incorrigible flirt! 😳 I'll see what I can do then, just for you

remind me what Starlight is?

[onlythans]

tis a winter holiday of sorts that originated in ishgard
i don't expect that to mean much to you, the bit about ishgard, but

suffice to say
all the history aside

it's a holiday about kindness to children
and appreciating the others around you
there's generally a feast and some exchanging of gifts involved
and a tree

[astraphilia]

true, Ishgard means nothing to me, but a holiday doesn't sound too bad

this one doesn't have a monster that comes around to eat and/or punish bad children does it?

[ maybe Reno read that post Alucard made about the Krampus ]

[onlythans]

i see you've been talking to that alucard fellow too

no, none of that
just gift-giving and merriment

and kindness to children in particular

[astraphilia]

what kind of gifts?

[onlythans]

well
let me think a bit

the trade guilds generally observe by making toys
although garments aren't unheard of

warm winter coats in particular are often a staple

[astraphilia]

okay, pretending I'm not in a trade guild ;) what would YOU want for the holidays?

[onlythans]

[It's a pertinent question, isn't it? What would he want, for a holiday or otherwise, if he could get it? It's difficult, when the things he wants most aren't ones that come tidy in a box. He wants people, he wants outcomes. What would he do if he were a gillionaire, after all?]

something i could wear, i think
something small like a charm or a ribbon or a pretty stone

the sort of thing i could keep
like a memory on a chain

[astraphilia]

something you can wear... okay, noted

[ Reno's got his work cut out for him. he's not sure he's ever really thought about gifts before; they didn't celebrate anything like this in Midgar, and even if they did, he wouldn't have had anyone to give gifts to. ]

do you think it's gonna snow here?

[onlythans]

gods i hope so

we used to get snow in sharlayan often
never deep or sticking much but we had flurries a lot of the time

did it snow in midgar, then?

[astraphilia]

sometimes, yeah. same as Sharlayan, mostly flurries or those real fat snowflakes that float around but melt as soon as they touch anything

and mostly above the plate, obviously. couldn't get down to the lower city unless it was a real bad storm and blew in from the side

the last time I saw real snow, I mean deep snow that stuck, was up in the Northern Crater and that shit fucking sucked. eager to replace those shitty memories with much less violent ones

[onlythans]

the empire on my star
the one that reminds me somewhat of your midgar?
they're located in the snow

not by their own choice
they started as refugees from a warmer clime and merely made the best of it in the inhospitable lands they were exiled to

not that it absolves anything of course
but still

what happened in the northern crater?

[astraphilia]

what happened to make it, or what happened to me?