zenderael_rl | Lera and Jamie: Walk and Talk

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Lera and Jamie: Walk and Talk

Who: Lera and Jamie
When: Monday evening
Where: A park in Fall City
Before/After: N/A
Warnings: Probably nothing?

Lera still had a headache after work.

Her company had a lot of requests pouring in after the rest of Bastan appeared in the city. There was a need to update every map they had made of the affected region, especially with changes in elevation and the like. As exciting as top soils were, top soils could get old after a ten hour day and the promise of another tomorrow. She knew it would be a long day; they had to report to work early to go near the castle and take more measurements.

She wanted to clear her head after work, which a walk was good for. It was warm, too, which she liked; it was not that common in Fall City. It meant she could wear a T-shirt and skirt and not be shivering.

She walked through the park, hands shoved in her pockets, purse over a shoulder, and sighed. It still ached back behind her eyes, even if getting outside (without measuring equipment) was nice.

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Jamie didn't like it when it was warm. He hadn't liked it in Arizona, which was a practical desert, and he didn't like it here. It meant his hoodie was a bit hot. He was, however, used to it. At the moment, he was decked out in his hoodie, baggy jeans, gloves, boots, and basically everything that would spell "uncomfortably warm".

He'd told Siegmund he was going out for groceries - which was true - but what he hadn't said was that he was interested in getting a breath of fresh air, before he did. The park was relaxing, even though the heat was somewhat uncomfortable.

Jamie was, at the moment, talking a small walk himself. He'd been trying to rebel a bit, lately - when he was in school most of the athletics he tried bellyflopped due to risk of overexposure. But, at the moment? Jamie was fine. He wasn't entirely comfortable, walking on the leg that he was well aware should be broken, but he was forcing himself to go along with his schedule. However, his gait was currently definitely favoring his other leg. Sure, his leg was healed. But it was strange to walk on it as though nothing was wrong. (This was also why he was stopping on park benches a bit more regularly then he'd have done, normally.)

Lera might see him anywhere, really - he was an interesting sight to see. Sitting, walking, or just simply bumping into her via the powers of not paying enough attention.

Lera was still walking when she bumped into Jamie. It was nearly a quite literal thing, as she was looking at her phone and checking her e-mail. She looked up at the last minute and saw Jamie -- and thanks to his slower gait, she stopped quickly -- and laughed reflexively out of nervousness.

"Oh, gosh, sorry!" she said. "I was about to bowl you over, there, huh?"

She looked around for a second and took a step out of the way. She had no jacket on, and her pistol was in her pursue, but she had bought a sword. Her short, double-edged blade, not unlike Marlene's, was buckled to her waist. A little practice made Lera better with it and she decided it sent a nice, clear message she wanted sent.

Especially after the bombings.

The 'nearly' was something Jamie could be thankful for. The bombings - especially after he learned the why - had put him a bit on edge. The other's nervous laugh surprised him, but much less then being bumped into would have. He looked up at her, slowly enough it wouldn't knock his hood back, but fast enough it wasn't awkward. Red eyes looked up at her surprisedly, before he settled into his own awkward stance.

"A-ah, it's fine..." He raised his hands awkwardly, although he wasn't about to move on just yet.

This may or may not be because it hadn't crossed his mind. He'd noticed her sword, and that held his curiousity for a moment - where had she gotten it? Could he use one effectively? (lol no) Should he get one anyway? However, these thoughts really effectively amounted to him sort of standing there, eying her sword. It wasn't a scared look, but it wasn't so much interested as startled and curious.

Jamie, you're only making this awkward. Stahp.

On the one hand, this was a little cool. Jamie was looking at her sword, which was akin to him nerding out over something she has wanted to have since she was a little girl (and stopped wanting to have once she saw it would be impractical, then guiltily allowed herself to enjoy having now that it was practical).

On the other hand, he was staring at her sword and people were not supposed to stare. It was getting awkward.

Lera cleared her throat.

"You never see a sword before?" she asked. "I'm not even from Zen, I just decided I should carry one around." She sounded marginally defensive. "If the merges grow in scale, you see, it will disrupt ammunition networks. So, ah, having a sword is practical. Very practical!"

Yes, nerding. Technically, Jamie was nerding! However, he'd had bad experiences with bladed objects - although this wasn't exactly a knife. He'd wanted a weapon right up until he was on the receiving end of one. It is tough. In any case, her reaction to his stare got a jump out of him - was his look annoying her? Aaaaa, was it? Maybe it had made it awkward except she sounded annoyed aaa.

"I- No, I haven't," He repsonded, answering literally, although then she continued and wow defensive wow that wasn't his intention! "I understand how practical it is--! D-don't worry about that..." Awkwardly trying to defend himself in his own way. "...A-ah." He hadn't known that about ammunition, but he caught on quickly - a sword didn't need bullets. He looked at her and drew a blank.

"Um. Where'd you get it?..." He didn't know any sword places around here. And it did sound useful.

Maybe he should get a survival knife, or something, for emergencies...

~~It'd just get stuffed in his sock drawer and never used, though.~~

"They sell them in Bastantown," Lera said. She tapped her finger against the the hilt of her sword. It still looked strange, especially compared to her much more modern clothing, she thought. She would need to work on clothing that matched her new sword.

Then, she felt briefly guilty. That was frivolous. She shook her head, before looking back at them.

"A friend recommended the shop to me, though," she said. "I'm not... really that familiar with where to get a good sword, but I took her advice. She knows a lot more about swords, anyways."

"O-oh." Now he felt stupid - of course they were sold in Bastantown. That was obvious. It should've been obvious. He had noticed the strange designs, and it was obvious from his body language he felt awkward for even asking.

"O-oh?" He wasn't about to ask who her friend was, because there's no way he'd know that person, and even less of a chance they'd like him very much. So he refrained, but looked up at Lera. "That's cool." It was said without much positive inflection, rather negative. Jamie wasn't a guy for saying his part, in a conversation. However, he was listening! He was good at listening!

It was up to her if she wanted to take that second oh in context and talk about her friend, after all. Jamie hadn't meant it that way, but hey oops.

Not the most talkative, this one.

"Yeah, she is," Lera said. "A spellsword from Zen. It was a little surreal getting instructions in how to hold and use a sword from someone from a place I used to think was fictional, but..." She flashed a smile at Jamie, hands coming away from her hips. "Pretty cool."

She extended a hand out towards him. "Lera Savinkov."

Definitely not. Jamie is not someone for talking. Ferrus can ramble. Jamie cannot.

It is a sad fact of life.

"F-from Zenderael?" He asked, curious. "That does sound cool..." Not that he'd ever be able to manage holding a sword, ever. Probably. He'd do gym stuff, but... that meant STRIPPING and NOT WEARING COVERING CLOTHING and ick ick ick ick. Walking was much more fun. In his opinion.

That hand got a second's hesitation before he tenatively met it with his own. "...Jamie Howard. I-it's nice to meet you."

"You too." Lera shook his hand firmly, smiling at him. It had some measured politeness to it, largely from practice. She tilted her head to the side.

"You just out for a walk?" she asked. "It's getting to be nicer weather. It's not raining, at least. Finally."

The firm shake was met with a fairly weak one. "...Yeah. I-I wanted a breath of fresh air." He might've smiled at that note about the weather. It was a nice topic.

"...It's nice, although it'd be better if it wasn't so hot." Opinions about the weather were safe opinions. People wouldn't get mad at him over his preference for heat/cold, would they?

"Yeah, the cooler weather is nice too..."

Lera was not inclined to tell an albino about the warm weather being nice. She smiled again at him. "You know much about Zenderael?" She tilted her head again. "It's gotten kinda all over the place..."

Jamie had taken pains to not exactly look albino, but there was no doubt his eyes gave him away. Damn you, eyes! If they'd been purple, like natural albinos, it would've worked a hell of a lot better then... this!

"O-oh, yeah! I do!" This was a bit of enjoyment at having practical Zenderael knowledge bubble, although at the same time his brain was moving too quickly to realize she might ask his online handle. And that was something he never wanted to be asked for. "I-I've been playing for a long time..." He lost a bit of enthusiasm, as he continued - "It's really hard to believe what's going on, these days." Not an opinion, but statement of fact. At least, to Jamie.

Edited 2012-11-23 18:45 (UTC)

Lera nodded her head at that, cheerfully, and then looked up. She raised an eyebrow. "You too?" she asked, uncertain for just a moment. It felt a little weird to discuss the game like that, after the world had started merging together, and the problems became quite a bit more real. "What server?"

Then, she volunteered, "I'm on Everea."

An RP server, of course. He was probably not there, she reasoned -- it was not exactly likely to meet someone who was on the same server as she was. Stranger things had happened, though...

Jamie blinked at her uncertainty. He could at least read that discomfort, and it transmitted to him, as well. The other's question didn't catch him off guard, but it wasn't the question he'd realized would be the most practical to ask. It was appreciated - she probably wasn't on his server, anyway.

This was, of course, what he thought right up until she said his server. The shock and feeling he should reciprocate overwrote his worry at her finding out who he was online--

"...M-me, too."

Stranger things had happened, but it was still a strange coincidence.

"Small world, huh?" Lera had to laugh at that. She felt more at ease, then, because this was a fellow Zen roleplayer. That meant he had something in common with her -- even if the world as they knew it was practically ending. It was the little things, sometimes. "I wonder if we've ever met before. Who do you you play?"

The other's laughter surprised him, and that definitely showed. Still, he smiled. "...Yeah, I guess it is." He did note that she was also an RPer though - was that good or bad? He couldn't tell. In any case, her question was met with a bit of anxiety. Did it really matter, now? Still. "Um. Could you tell me who you play, first? If you don't mind." He looked nervous about telling who he played, and with little reason. Still, cuff kneading was a go.

Edited 2012-11-23 23:18 (UTC)

"Sure?" A little defensive, Lera thought. No matter, though, because she had nothing to hide. Even if she felt momentarily guilty thinking of her alt. "Acher Ostendramm," she said. "He's a paladin."

Ah.

Fuck.

Something Jamie hadn't planned for was that, now that she'd said the alt's name, he couldn't bring himself to just run off. Even though he recognized that name. He seemed to freeze when she mentioned Acher's name, before awkwardly kneading his sleeves. Defensive was his middle name right now. He would pause, for a moment - "I... play Ferrus. The alchemist." Really, Jamie and Ferrus were visually similar to the t - even if there were multiple Ferruses (Ferri?), Jamie definitely fit the bill as Ferrus's player.

Even though both himself and Ferrus were quite a bit more confident, online. Could she tell? Probably.

Lera squinted. The similarity was there, of course, but she never quite matched up the in-game avatar with the person in front of her. Her mouth opened, then closed, and she flashed a smile at him.

"Oh, wow," she said. "That's awesome! Yeah, I know you, obviously. I didn't--I mean, I never realized you lived in Fall City. It's a really small world!"

That smile flashed actually surprised Jamie. He hadn't missed the surprise on her face before it, but hey. Smiles! He felt slightly better about saying it, if only for that smile. Whether it was because it was nice to have that accepted without a fuss, or because he liked to make people smile - who could say. It was still uncomfortable, for him, but that elation wasn't lost. "I-I guess so." A small smile of his own - mildly tinged with discomfort, but Lera was pleasantly disarming. "I-I had no idea you lived here, either..." Much less close enough they could meet randomly in a park.

Edited 2012-11-24 04:28 (UTC)

"It is a pretty big city, I guess," Lera said. "And there's a few other players here, too..."

And X-DAV had offices here. It was not that weird, she supposed, but it was still a hell of a coincidence. She scratched at the back of her head, before she looked up at him. Her expression fell a little -- though not at anything Jamie said, this time.

"Is Ferrus real?" she asked. "Acher isn't, yet."

Jamie had opinions on this, but expressing them was outside of his reach. In the meantime, however, she'll just get a soft noise of affirmation. This was a fuckload of coincidences and Jamie didn't like it. He noticed her face falling, but he wasn't sure at what. She'd smiled at his reveal he was Ferrus. Had he done something wrong? (No.)

"F-ferrus isn't real yet, no." He gripped his hoodie cuffs tightly, "I-I'm... I don't know what he'll do, when he does become..." He wants Ferrus to continue as normal, but... Ferrus wouldn't, and he knows it. Uuugh.

"Yeah..." Lera trailed off, before she summoned some resolution up. "I don't know with Acher, either." She looked at him -- couldn't he volunteer more? They worked together well in game. But he seemed so nervous. It gave her a brief pang of uncertainty and even a little bit of annoyance.

"Tell me if he does, okay?" she asked. "And vice versa. If you--I mean, we could help the other out and know a little bit more, if that happens, you know?"

Jamie never intended to annoy or bother anyone.

Really, that was the problem.

He'd probably be apologizing online, if she caught him before tomorrow. However, Jamie didn't remotely seem surprised that Acher was played by a lady - just that he'd found the person who played Acher in general. A nice surprise? Possibly.

Her request got him nodding at her, fiddling with his cuffs a bit. "I-I will. H-helping each other out is a good plan." He paused. "D'you... think it'd be a good idea, to direct them to each other when they go real? If they do, um, close to the same time, I mean..." He sounded unsure - he knew Ferrus might not react well to that. Or not properly open up to Acher to reveal that something was actually wrong. But it was worth asking - would Acher even bother?

Lera inwardly winced. She recalled the things that Alex and Akhi told her, the hard lessons she learned. Maybe it was wrong.

She nodded, though.

"Yeah. I'm going to leave a letter for Acher--I'll tell him to contact Ferrus," she said. She had to finish that letter tonight, while everything was new and fresh from her conversation the day before. "Plus... other things."

She kept her expression level, revealing little. There was still some annoyance in her mind and some worry. She knew better than to admit to them too readily.

Ah, Acher would head for Ferrus when he went real.

Maybe.

That was good. Ferrus should be real, by then, and if he's not then Ferrus'll get Acher's mail whenever he goes real, right? "A-ah, thanks. I'll... get Ferrus to contact Acher, too." Though he wasn't sure if he could even get Ferrus to open up to Acher. He recognized the letter as a good idea, but...

dear Christ, did it have to be so hard? There was no way he'd finish it before the end of the week, and he wasn't even sure when Ferrus would go real...!

He wasn't about to inquire about the other things. It wasn't really his place - and Jamie was someone who couldn't force a worry or annoyance out of someone else. It'd just reinforce that feeling, wouldn't it? Not make them feel better.

Uuuugh.

"We have some time," Lera said, taking a guess at what might have bothered Jamie. "It seems like--like it happens randomly, usually. So try to get one ready, but..."

She rubbed the palm of her hand against her face, uncertainly.

"It probably won't happen for both at the same time and it could even be months apart," she observed. Unless the world falling apart sped everything like that up, Lera reasoned, which was possible. Why frighten Jamie with it, though? "So it's a long-term investment. It could be sooner, but it's just hard to know."

Of course, if it could be sooner, it needed to be done as soon as possible, really. That went unstated.

She hit the nail in terms of what was bothering Jamie right on the head. And still, at the same time, she sort of made it worse. Right now, he wasn't even sure if Ferrus had anyone - or even if he'd feel like he needed anyone, when the time came. Ferrus...

The other's observation of them possibly awakening months apart has him looking slightly crestfallen, and no less worried for Ferrus, but... knowing a letter exists (or will exist?) that'll get Acher to make a token effort (Jamie had yet to process how bad people's character/player dynamics were, at times) is something.

"R-right."

That was taken for granted. Still, Jamie needed to get that letter done.

And he also looked as worried as ever.

"It'll be okay."

Lera sounded more confident than she was. The conversation with Alex and Akhi stuck in her mind, giving her doubts, but she wanted to hide those. Jamie seemed far from secure in that knowledge. She reached a hand out and clapped him on the shoulder -- though not too hard -- and nodded her head, before she pulled her arm back.

"Whatever happens, happens, you know? All we can do is prepare as best we can!" she said. She sighed, glancing at the sun. It was getting lower. "Anyways, I better get headed home. Talk to you online, yeah?"

There we go. Comforted.

The other's confidence - even if it was faked - bolstered her assurance, and he didn't recoil with surprise from that shoulderclap. (Which was good. He didn't /want/ to, it was just an avoided impulse.)

"I-I guess." He might've been smiling, but the other's note she needed to be getting home was met with a nod. "Um, alright. ...Talk to you o-online."

Well, Lera, expect to find a nervous Jamie online tonight! He'll let her leave, before heading home, himself. Meeting people he knows from online in quick succession is a bit startling, even if Siegmund doesn't know him, per se...

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Lera and Jamie: Walk and Talk

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