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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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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