PLAYER EVENT ★ HELIOLOGY

[ricksybusiness]

INTRODUCTION. It's difficult to tell time without the presence of a sun or moon. There are no stars. The world is in constant blackness, the heavens barely visible from below and the only light artificial. It's been like this for months. Suddenly, those who expressed interest in observing the sun (or lack thereof) will all at once receive a text message on their ALASTAIR jewellery from 82736775: Get your shit and go look at the sky. Now's the time. If you need me, I'm around. It's time to get to work. OBSERVATION. Find the highest point you can and point the telescopes at the sky. Should be easy, right? Be mindful that there are still guards patrolling the city, looking for escaped prisoners, and some citizens would be very happy to tip them off to your presence. There are still animals in the forests to contend with, and there are still nosey citizens who may ask you too many questions. There are also your fellow ALASTAIR agents, who may not be very willing to share the spot they already staked out before you just showed up. People and animals aren't all you need to look out for, either. Seven hours after the observation starts, there is a lightning storm. It lasts for 30 minutes, bolts of electricity arcing across the sky. It might be a good idea to scurry down someplace lower when this happens -- you know what they say about lightning and height. 82736775 doesn't contact anyone after the initial text, so observers are free to give up whenever they decide they've been sitting out in the freezing dark for long enough. [ note: even if you didn't sign up, feel free to tag in! your character won't have a telescope but that doesn't mean they can't mingle. ]

[ previously: ic info | ooc info ]
[ direct questions here! ]

Comments

[winces]

Oh gosh, [ olivia breathes, looking shocked. ] I can't even imagine...

[ she, in turn, has spent a good portion of her life out under the sky, stars and all; commuting from region to region, spending nights in tents and caravans where only a bit of cloth separated her from the expanse of the universe.

she think she'd feel so unbearably lonely if all she ever saw was black. ]

...I hope you get to enjoy these lights for a little while longer, then. [ a pause, and she glances up, taking in a deep breath of the air. it hangs heavy, damp. ]

The rain will be coming soon, though.

[digophelia]

Ah, rain -- that is an all too familiar sight, I'm afraid.

[ She hopes so, too, and possibly is a little too calm around the loud noises and the bright bursts in the sky. It's still a nice change of pace of the darkness that's clung over the Chantes. ]

Where I come from, that seems like it all it ever does, sometimes. There's nothing but rain.

[winces]

Rain it's all bad, [ she murmurs after a moment.

olivia steps forward then, slowly lifting a hand to gently rest over alice's shoulder. after a moment, as if to make sure she's allowed to do so, she gives it a tentative squeeze. ]

It's a wonderful stage for dancing.

[digophelia]

[ While it's not the full intent of Olivia, Alice still, unfortunately flinches with the lightest of touches. She immediately turns around looks up at Olivia. Poor Alice, she's still smaller than most women. ]

How does it make a wonderful stage for dancing?

*isn't.......

[winces]

[ olivia isn't offended by the flinch, but she does feel instantly guilty for it. she adjusts her hold on the other, keeping it more of a presence along the girl's shoulder than any actual grip or weight. ]

Give it a moment, [ she instructs gently, keeping her eyes turned skyward. ]

You'll see.

it's all good!

[digophelia]

[ Alice glances at the sky, back to Olivia, and back to the sky once more, hoping for a better explanation. ]

What am I looking for?

<3

[winces]

[ patience, alice, patience...! olivia doesn't actually answer, so it's fortunate that it's only a few more minutes before a roaring thunder rolls across the sky, causing it to open up and the downpour to immediately start.

they get caught in it, of course, being one of the few who didn't think to scramble for shelter when the lightning already began. but olivia doesn't seem to mind, tipping her face up towards the sky to let the raindrops fall over and wash down her cheeks. she takes in a deep breath, breathing it all in. ]

Listen, [ she says quietly, letting the sound of raindrops drown out her voice. ] Do you hear the music too? [ pitter patter pitter patter, a symphony of nature. ]

[digophelia]

[ How could she miss such a simple thing? Alice stops altogether, listening to the sound of the raindrops and the thunder. She pulls her blanket tighter and throws up her hood as a result, not wanting to have any raindrops hit her hair. ]

Oh.

[ Oh is probably the least bit eloquent thing Alice can say right now, as the sound of thunder falls in after the soft raindrops. It's enough to make her shiver. ]

I do hear it, I promise that I do.

[winces]

[ olivia has spent a long time out in nature, many nights with only the wind and the rain to lull her to sleep. nature's music is one she's grown intimate with when the fires of her camp have died down and everyone has turned in to rest, leaving her with her thoughts and her imagination. with no musician to accompany her, she's constructed some of her best dances using just the sounds of the world around her. like now, letting the wind and the rain and the thunder reverberate in her chest and in her cells, pulling her body into a gentle sway that soon grows into something more.

with one last squeeze to alice's shoulder, she draws away, walking further into the clearing, unafraid of the rain that falls down all around them. a simple song has risen to her lips, her gentle humming a soft harmony amidst all the other sounds. eyes closed and lips smiling her hands stretch out at her sides, the golden chains around her hips adding more to the melody as she spins and twirls on her toes. ]

[digophelia]

[ It's easy for Alice to get distracted once she's lost in her thoughts. Thunder and rain aren't an uncommon thing where she comes from. It is what she told Gintoki -- it rains quite a bit in London. It's not an unusual sight, though with the burst of lights and the cool breeze drifting through the air that has Alice pulling her bundle tighter, it was a more meaningful rain shower.

Alice wasn't restricted as she was before, bound to the orphanage due to poverty. Even as Alice enjoyed the honest freedom, she still wondered about the children. It takes Alice a moment or so to notice Olivia isn't by her side, her eyes dropping down to Olivia, watching her. She shivers, notice her choice of attire. ]

Aren't you cold...?

[winces]

[ she's freezing, if she had to be honest, but she doesn't feel like stopping either. how long has it been since she's last danced in the rain, this peaceful and free?

just a few more minutes, she thinks, as goosebumps dot all along her arms and legs. a few more minutes, and she can shift back into reality. ]

Doing what you love warms you like nothing else, [ she intones somewhat carelessly, kicking up some rain that had puddled around her, adding another note to the melody. ]

[digophelia]

[ Maybe she's a little jealous of Olivia's comfort level to dance like that, especially in the cold. Doing what she loves... Alice officially cannot say what she loves to do. None of her pass times seem meaningful to her, except caring for the native children here. Maybe that counts. ]

I suppose that's true, then it doesn't bother one as much, does it?

[winces]

No, not nearly.

[ or maybe olivia's just used to compartmentalizing these kind of things. given her usual attire, she's had enough experience simply "toughing it out."

she turns to alice then, pausing briefly in her dance to smile warmly at the girl. ]

Would you care to dance with me?

[digophelia]

Oh, I couldn't possibly-

[ She stands there looking around her for an answer. Alice clearly unsure, wringing her hands and fidgeting with her blanket. ]

I don't know how to dance.

[winces]

[ olivia laughs gently, a warm note amidst all this rain. ]

Of course you do, [ she assures the younger girl. carefully, she reaches over to touch her fingertips along alice's pale hands. the wringing is a gesture she's intimately familiar with. ] Everyone does.

All you have to do is listen. [ her free hand comes up again, indicating the falling rain and low, rumbling thunder. ] Then move. [ after a few moments, she begins to sway, moving in time to the natural melody. ]

[digophelia]

Oh, goodness.

[ As long as Alice sees her hands, she isn't as prone to flinching. It's not often she grows flustered, and it only really happens around Sion. A soon as she starts to sway, it takes a lot for Alice not to grip her hands out of nearly panicking. She's normally not this shy. ]

I envy you, in a way.

[ She really wishes she was that confident to dance like that. Instantaneously, Alice thinks of her older sister, playing "Ring Around the Rosie" as a little girl and how confident Alice was back then. Had it really felt that foreign? She does what she can to mimic her, completely stiff movements as Alice ducks behind her hair. ]

[winces]

[ she does well enough for someone whose shyness can be debilitating — olivia definitely knows a thing or two about that. the older woman takes care to keep her movements easy and gentle, with years of learning and teaching dance to tell her how much is enough to push without asking for too much. ]

Envy? [ she echoes, and somehow she can make even the curious tilt of her head seem like part of the routine. ] Me?

[digophelia]

[ She can't help but think of the days she spent with her older sister playing in the gardens and out in the front of their house, around the creeks. Lizzie and Alice would be frolicking out in the front like this -- though, Alice was a much more lively girl back then. She didn't have the crushing lack of self-confidence and worth that weighed on her shoulders. ]

Well, yes.

[ She could relate to Olivia's feelings, to a degree. It was easier to focus on her, sort of. But Alice kept her head low, hair covering part of her face. She doesn't say she's nearly as pretty as Olivia (in her opinion) or bright as she is. ]

You're focused and composed. You can move without any restraints or worries.

[ She wishes she could be just as normal. ]

But I sound ridiculous, don't mind me.

[winces]

[ suddenly, the swaying stops. there's nothing particularly graceful about it — abrupt and almost crude, like a physical record scratch to an otherwise beautiful sonata.

there is a look on olivia's face that suggests she can't quite believe what she's hearing, and something the streaks of rain that fall over her cheeks only seem to highlight this disbelief. there is an odd quirk to the corner of her lips, but it seems a far cry from an actual smile.

she feels a bit like laughing, but she knows doing so would only make her sound cruel.

if only, alice. if only.

for while it's true that in dancing, she is in her element, and is quite possibly the only time she ever feels anything close to confident. she is still nothing at all like this grand picture alice paints her to be, whole and colorful.

very gently, she brings alice's hands up in the air between them, pressing them close together as if in prayer. in truth, she merely wishes to hold them close, so that when she leans in and down to rest her forehead over the other girls' their hands rest almost perfectly over their chests. ]

Skill and technique... those are great things to have in a performer, [ she concedes. ] But a careless dance is just steps in a pattern. A dance full of emotion, though... even if they aren't necessarily the happiest kinds... That's the most beautiful dance of all.

[ she actually does laugh now, soft and short and somewhat helpless. ]

I can only move like this now, because in every other situation I'm always frozen.

[digophelia]

[ Alice takes this interaction in stride, as much possible, still finding it difficult to not flinch any time she's touched. It's a slow process, something that will take a while to undo those dark years. Truth be told, she hates it, she hates it anytime anyone touches her.

But she doesn't have the heart to shove or punch Olivia off of her. She means well, Alice can admit to this. She still can't help but stiffen, each time, hiding behind her long dark hair.

Olivia's laugh is anything but cruel, if anything, Alice feels like the cruel one, her lips pressed into a line. She disagree,s of course. ]

It still takes courage to dance, when there are some out there who would be very frightened to do it, even if no one was watching.

[ Like her, of course. Modesty isn't an issue, Alice just doesn't think she's that great, at anything. ]

There's nothing wrong with being frozen in some situations; sometimes they're greater than what we expected.

[winces]

[ there's certainly a fine line between modesty and lack of self-worth. olivia knows a thing or two about that, for sure.

but though she wants to help, she also realizes it may not be her place to. alice isn't looking to her for anything of the sort — why, from the straightforward way she's speaking, she's likely just stating what she believes to be are facts. nothing more, nothing less. much like olivia's own words, fueled by her lack of self-esteem, though not nearly as riddled with emotion.

drawing back, olivia lets their hands lower till they hang low between them. like a tether. ]

Do you feel frozen now, Alice?

[digophelia]

I have forgotten the last time I have not felt frozen.

[ Alice confesses easily; her empathy and in addition to speaking to another woman makes her comfortable to confess this much. At least this conversation has stopped Alice from being self-conscious about the movements on her body. Her eyes are locked onto Olivia's, with a solemn expression on her face. Gently, she adds- ]

Which is why I would like you to believe me when I say there's nothing wrong with that feeling.

[ Ironic, given the guilt and shame Alice puts herself through, she lowers her head before turning back up to her. ]

But I don't shine bright as you do.

[winces]

[ olivia pauses at that, alice's words striking a distant chord within her.

vaguely, she can hear his voice, low and rumbling but as gentle as an evening wind...

could it be, that everyone is someone else's sun? ]

...A very kind man once told me something, Alice. I think, if he were here, he would say the same thing to you.

[ very gently, she gives the girl's hands a squeeze. ]

People should appreciate what they have because it is equally as beautiful as the sun— even if it doesn't shine as bright and radiant. It is still marvelous and important.

Maybe you don't shine like me... but know that no one shines like you, either.

[digophelia]

Maybe.

[ She wonders to herself if, by chance, she would know who that person is. Certainly, it could sound like a few she knows. Nonetheless- ]

I feel as if I told you to have more faith in yourself that I would be more of a hypocrite than I care to admit.

[ Olivia didn't seemed to be plagued by madness, not like her. She wasn't limited by her fears and regrets... that Alice knew of, anyway. Even so, Alice thought very highly of her, just in part of her disposition.

It reminds her a little of her older sister, Alice realizes. Holding hands like this takes her back to her older sister, encouraging Alice at every turn and guiding her through, until the last days of her life. Struck with that thought, Alice withdrew her hands gently, and went back to huddling in her blanket. ]

You remind me of someone. Someone who deserved so much more than what she had.

[winces]

[ when alice draws her hands away, olivia doesn't fight it. instead, she draws her own hands back, letting them hang limp at her sides while her expression takes on something softer, sadder. she thinks back to the time those words she'd uttered had been first said to her, how quickly her spirits had been lifted and turned around. she knows, of course, that she is not nearly as good at this as gintoki, but she had hoped, quite earnestly, that the words would have had some effect on the young girl... admittedly, olivia isn't too sure what else she had left to offer.

still, she doesn't turn or step away, instead letting alice reclaim her space herself. ]

I'm sorry.

[ for stepping out of line. for not doing enough. for igniting a memory that clearly pained her. for that someone's unfortunate fate. ]