IC Inbox for Empatheias

[nofarplaneyet]

Messenger Bird/Voice/Image/Action

*If you want to harass an old man, feel free. Expect dry humor in return if you're trying to be smart.*

Comments

[farseen]

[Such subtle differences were easily noticed to his skilled eyes, and invited his curiosity. Shin-Ah waded through the mid-week crowd toward Auron and, upon arriving at the bar proper, bobbed his head in greeting.

It had been a while, and he was glad to see that Auron was okay. ]

[nofarplaneyet]

Hello, Shin-ah. You and your friends get through this crystal theft all right?

[He has no doubt that even by not saying anything, Shin-ah can tell he looks different. Auron couldn't quite tell, but Cloud had noted the additional gray and the slow attitude adjustment.]

[farseen]

No problems.

[None that were worth mentioning, anyway. They had fared well enough, and that was all that mattered.

Auron, on the other hand, did seem more careworn. Older. More experienced.

Shin-Ah took his place across from Auron and canted his head in curiosity. Surely there had to be something here that he didn't yet know about.]

You?

[nofarplaneyet]

Had a little interesting experience. Didn't have anything to do with the crystal being stolen. Just...facing things I hadn't for a while.

[farseen]

Hm...

[He nodded, listening, and started spooning sugar into his tea while he waited for Auron to elaborate.

The man seemed... lighter, somehow.]

[nofarplaneyet]

I lost people important to me a long time ago and I'd never really let that go. It's hard sometimes.

But I'm trying now.

[farseen]

[He lowered his gaze, slowly nodding in understanding.]

Feelings like that.... are hard to let go.

Sometimes they're all you have left of those who aren't here.

[nofarplaneyet]

Yeah. But if gets to the point that you can't do everything you need to for the people here, you kind of have to.

[farseen]

[He nodded once more, and sipped at his tea while he listened to Auron speak.]

For your friends... and yourself.

[nofarplaneyet]

[He can't really get into the specifics much because it's still a little raw. Plus he didn't want to wreck the entire restaurant because there's a good chance he could if he let himself think about hatred and despair.]

I'm trying. Guess that's all I can do.

Heard your brother is getting married.

[farseen]

[Another time, then. Later, when things have died down some.

For now, Shin-Ah just nods.]

Mm. Zeno and Kaya. They've known eachother for a long time.

[And they would never properly live together in Kouka. Not with how Zeno's life is.]

[nofarplaneyet]

I get the feeling your brother might be a little older than he looks. Guess it must be from those dragon powers.

I did offer to officiate at his wedding. Might as well make use of my new license.

[farseen]

Zeno is Zeno.

[And Zeno is much, much older than he looks.]

That sounds... nice. Very nice.

[Faintly, he sparkles at the thought of all of his friends getting along and working together over the wedding. It was a fantastic image he hadn't dared to hope for.]

[nofarplaneyet]

I guess this means you'll be doing something too for the wedding. I wonder if it'll be different than Snow and Serah's wedding...

[farseen]

[He had understood that on some level, but hearing it like this...]

...

I've never seen a wedding before.

[Or ever been invited to participate in one. The notion made him feel almost shy.]

[nofarplaneyet]

Oh yeah? Well, I don't know they work in your world, but do you want me to tell you about the wedding I did a few weeks ago?

[farseen]

[A nod, vigorous enough to shake off a few sparkles, was his reply. He'd love hearing about the sort of weddings people did in this country!]

[nofarplaneyet]

So you have the man and the woman walk up an aisle and they're dressed for the occasion. The man has a friend and so does the woman. These friends are a part of the wedding party. Later on they give speeches about the couple.

Then what I did was give a speech and say some things to remind them of what they're doing and then they say vows to each other and in front of everyone watching to witness them getting married.

[farseen]

.....It's cute.

[Shin-Ah said, as if envisioning it for himself with those words. He could almost picture how things would go, though he didn't have a full grasp of how glitzy and glamorous some weddings could be.]

It's all cute. People are cute.

[nofarplaneyet]

[It's such an earnest and unusual response that Auron chuckles a little bit.]

I suppose in some respects it is. People also dress up and there's a lot of good food. The one I went to even had fireworks.

[farseen]

[It was such an unusual concept for him that he simply had no idea how to react.]

Weddings... are amazing.

[nofarplaneyet]

That's a great way to sum it up. So I guess we'll have to do what we can to make Zeno's wedding amazing too.