etraya | UN: Aerith

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UN: Aerith » Video

[Aerith could text and maybe she ordinarily would, but given that this is her very first time making use of Etraya's network, she decides she would rather own all of her words and let them be attached to a face.

So on she pops making a peace sign with her right hand just outside the Louvre in the Jardin des Tuileries.]

Helllooooo!

I've been here for a little bit, but this is the first time I'm giving a real hello. I'm Aerith, but I might have told you my name was 'Ree' or 'Ri' or some other variation of it. I sold flowers back home and maybe I might want to do that here, too? I'm not sure yet. It's nice to meet you!

A bit ago I was one of the people who came from Pollux and had been living with the fae for a few months, if you can believe it. I haven't exactly reunited with everyone who I had met while I was there, but I'd like to if you decided to come back with everyone else.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who was worried about me not making my way back. As you can see, I'm in one piece and one hundred percent here!

[She opts for not making any commentary on any of the dreams she had and the various people she might have reached out to in said dreams even before they found her on Pollux. That may just have to remain another one of those unspoken secrets that Aerith seems to carry.

She moves her video to show the gardens off.]

If you like flowers, you should come visit the Louvre. They aren't mine, but the very nice man who curates the museum is letting me help take care of them! Please come by and say 'hello;' they'd like that very much!

[When the camera moves back onto her, she lifts a finger.]

With that out of the way—I'm actually looking for someone. Back on Pollux there was a very nice man named Jean-Napoleon who said he was going to show me some more gardens here. I'm officially stating that I'm hunting you down and I would like to collect on this invitation!

And of course, I'd be very thankful for anyone who can point me in his direction!

[But also, you know, please come to the gardens—and her church—and say 'hi' to the flowers.]

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[She had an actual reply, really, but there's just a sputter of airy laughter! This is the best thing she's heard in a minute.]

[Capital-D delighted:]

Just in case there’s more than one: what did he look like?

[Aerith is happy to be of service! Prepare thyself for a future of more!]

[Sciel, no, Maelle just stopped giggling now she's laughing again!!!]

Is there another one??

[Aerith hasn't even considered this.]

Well. First he was this antlered beast. He was very, very grand. And then he turned into a guy. Red hair? He still had the antlers. Green eyes, I think? I'm pretty sure he's not normally a beast, though. And he probably doesn't really have antlers all the time.

The one I know is seldom a stag, but he does make a fine one. Would you describe him as handsome? [ A beat, a laugh. ] Don’t answer that, I shouldn’t tease him.

Oh, uhm. [Really? Because—] I don't mind. I thought he made a very handsome beast. And I thought he was nice to look at still when he wasn't a beast. He was very, very sweet! [She's helping.]

Do you know him? [She thinks back to Sciel's conservation efforts.] He was telling me about a friend of his who knew a lot about plants. Was he talking about you, maybe?

[Sciel is killing her, but she supposes she should eventually say what she came here to say--]

I think you're talking about my father.

[Father, big brother, guardian, whatever. You think he's haaaaandsome!!!]

He has a daughter?

[She really tries to disguise this, but fails miserably. He definitely didn't look... old enough (???) to have a daughter?]

I had no idea. To be fair, we mostly talked about plants. [Okay. Let's be real here.] Welllll. I talked a lot about plants and he was very, very nice and listened to me.

Adopted.

[Maelle, you brat. She's actually glad to not be the subject of conversation, so plant talk? Wonderful!]

He's a very good listener, yeah. I bet he genuinely enjoyed it. You're going to make his day, letting him show you things.

Oh!

[She will, without a doubt, be asking him about his adopted daughter the next time she sees him.]

I was a little worried I might have talked too much. I was able to get him to open up a little, but I didn't want to press too hard. Your father, adopted or not, seems like a very wonderful guy. The gardens he was talking about—he called them the hanging gardens. When he found out how much I liked flowers, he thought I'd appreciate seeing them. And I think the museum's curator talked about them, too.

I wouldn't worry about talking too much with him. He's used to it.

[He lives with some people that love to yap like they get paid for it. And as much as Maelle loves to tease Gustave, she'll never deny anyone who sees him for what he is.]

He's the best, actually. [Not that she's biased or anything. She's glad this is audio only, because her expression stills at mention of this "curator," but she doesn't ask. Nothing good to be found there, surely.] It's a beautiful place. If you like flowers, you'll love the ones there.

That’s me, unless he’s moonlighting with some other farmer! We worked together forever ago and I’ve kept him as a friend ever since.

But yes, very very sweet.

[He's the best actually. Just hearing it makes Aerith feel incredibly warm. How wonderful that he has someone like this here for him. With him.]

I'll look forward to seeing it then. I'm not sure I've ever met a plant I didn't like, but truthfully, there are a lot more plants here than I really ever saw back home. [At least, definitely not in Midgar.] It's hard for me not to be a little in awe of how many there seem to be here.

I had no idea. [But how could she have known? They hadn't exchanged names and they had to be careful about what they did say due to all of the rules.] He doesn't strike me as the sort to go replacing anyone and I'm a pretty good judge of character. He was definitely talking about you.

Does that mean the work I saw you doing, the conservation, did that come from the farming?

You’re correct about him! He’d never replace anyone, he’s a stickler for his people.

And yes! Sort of, anyway. A big part of farming was expanding what we could grow, and how much, which is important because you never know when a crop will fail or collapse. Diversity is survival, you know? So whenever our Outdome teams recovered plant samples from the mainland, we’d do our best to get it flourishing on our island.

[A plant nerd. She seems sweet--no wonder she and Gustave got along.]

The gardens he'll show you are from home. One of the best spots in the city.

If he doesn't decide to pay attention soon, I'll tell him he's being summoned. He's doing something or other at his work bench.

I'll come look at them when I'm taking a break from my work at the museum.

[ He'd been fiddling with the wrist joint of his metal hand, lost in the work, and he hadn't heard Maelle's snickering until it was too late.

It's almost impossible to find a place in this apartment for a private video call, so he already looks a little harried and resigned when the image flickers through. (There's always a strong chance Maelle will simply appear over his shoulder to insert herself into the conversation.)

The man in the video is no longer the red-haired fae from the forest, but his features might look familiar anyway. His hair is brown and so is his beard and mustache; his eyes are a mild human shade of mossy green. No antlers poke their way through the waves of his hair, but the warmth of his smile is still the same. Just an ordinary man. ]

Hi. I was wondering if you made it back here with us.

It's nice to meet you for real, Aerith.

[The voice she hears is a mixture of bemusement and despondance.]

Ah, this is your plan? To introduce me to everybody on this network?

Diversity is survival.

[Not that Midgar's leading authorities would know that. Or they simply don't care.]

That sounds complicated, but it also sounds very rewarding. I would've enjoyed doing something like that back home. If you end up doing anything else like that here, would you mind if I joined you for it? I feel like I could learn a lot from you and I'd like that. Of course, I understand if you'd want your own space, too.

Oh, you don't need to do that. I don't want to bother him if he's busy. I just wanted to know if anyone knew who he was. Since we couldn't give our real names on Pollux, 'Jean-Napoleon' was all I had to go on. And I had a feeling he didn't have any antlers normally.

[Probably, but who is she to judge, really.]

But so I don't talk your ear off about flowers, you should tell me something about yourself. Something you like? Otherwise, I'll feel bad for dominating the conversation.

[Score.]

I didn't know you did work at the museum. What kinds of things are you doing? Do you help tend to the pieces?

Yes. I met the previous curator through Cloud.

[ ~~Cloud almost killed her in a fit of insanity.~~ ]

We helped move some things into the museum. When she left this world, I agreed to continue assisting under Mr. Dessendre's direction. Mostly, I see to the inventory and do whatever else he requires.

[He doesn't... look exactly the same as he did back on Pollux, but she doubts she does either. But he looks enough like the man she met in that clearing (well beast-into-man) that she has no reason to suspect otherwise. Taking a moment to examine his appearance, his expression, and not knowing at all what might be going on behind the scenes, she offers him a sympathetic look.

Was there a better way to do this? Maybe by going to every single person in Etraya who looks remotely like him and asking if they were 'Jean-Napoleon.']

Oh, were you worried? [She can't resist teasing him a little.] You shouldn't. I'm actually very good at talking myself out of trouble. Not... that I intentionally get into trouble.

It's nice to meet you for real, Jean-Napoleon.

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UN: Aerith » Video

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