drnaa (3) - spring is in the air

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

[There hasn't been snow on the ground in almost a month, and the weather is getting just a bit warmer each day. Drones have been babbling that today marks the beginning of Spring, which means that all of the winter weather crap is behind them. While the almost-robotic way the weather shifts between seasons creeps Rikku out a bit, she has to admit that the change is more than welcome.

Today, she can be found outside doing one of the following things:]

A: Front lawn of 1767 Beaver Street
[Rikku is sitting cross-legged in the midst of some scrap metal and electrical parts that she's helped herself to from both her own house and various other places around town. Drones don't really need this stuff, right?

She isn't paying much attention to passers-by, instead concentrating on her tinkering. Currently, she's taking things apart and trying to put them back together. That way, she knows how they work when she inevitably uses them to build something larger.]

B: Mayfield High School
[Class is for suckers, and more often than not it bores Rikku to tears. As such, she's brazenly cutting class and sitting on the football bleachers with the food she's packed for lunch. She even waves to people as they walk by and offers to share her lunch.]

C: John Doe Park
[Rikku is barefoot and her pants are rolled up past her knees. There's water all over the place as she flails, and she's screaming/whining about the temperature. Stepping into cold water elicits a certain reaction when you're not really expecting it.

She's just learned the hard way that it's still a bit too early in the season for wading in the pond.]

Comments

[last_to_kneel]

[He shrugs it off.]

It's not common, I guess. That's not really somethin' worth dwellin' on. It's not that much of a downer. I don't have anyone tellin' me what to do, where to go, who I have t' be, what I should wear. I'm free t' live my own life.

[It's the world that has the problem with him that's put him aside as an outcast that really bugs him. He takes another bite of the apple half.]

I'm not. Why should you be?

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

If you're okay with it, I guess I don't have any right to say anything. Not everyone's the same, you know?

It's just that I can't imagine not having a family. That's all. I wouldn't be anywhere close to what I am without mine.

[last_to_kneel]

[He lowers his head. This is the second time that this important piece of solid upbringing slaps him the face. The reality; he isn't okay with it. Not. One. Bit.]

You're lucky.

[He doesn't say anything else as he finishes off the apple in two more bites and flicks the core away. He points to it.]

That's me.

[His eyes glare at the reality and the weight of his own words.]

Ever since I arrived her, that's been thrown in my face one piece at a time. Even the abused ones, the neglected ones, at least they had someone waitin' for them at home. My home wasn't there. I was given up an' lost in the system long before I could speak. I was left to a system that failed all because they couldn't gain a profit from me.

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

[Rikku's gaze follows the discarded apple core and she listens quietly, frowning the entire time. Back in Spira there are orphans everywhere, but to just be given up like he was?]

That's awful.

[More silence. She feels like she should say something, but she isn't entirely sure what. After turning her own nearly-finished apple piece in her hands, she notices the seeds.]

Even something that's been tossed aside can still grow. Against the odds, you know? Maybe it's harder, but it's possible.

And even if you don't have a family, you can still have friends to help you through the hard times. I can't speak for back home, but I'm willing to do that for you here. If you want.

[Smile.]

[last_to_kneel]

[He looks at the seeds as Rikku speaks and something clicks in his head. To grow...he has physically grown up but he hasn't really mentally broken the barriers in his mind that allows him to grow from within. He gives a soft smile.]

You're an optimistic one. Yeah, growin' against the odds an' livin' against them's what's kept me alive back home. Even after losin' everything I still survived. Maybe it wasn't the best laid plan but it's a start.

Ya know, I think that's really what this "second chance" stuff's all 'bout isn't it? To see where we stand in the schema. Glad I met ya.

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

Where I come from, you kind of have to be optimistic. It's better than being depressed all the time.

I won't pry on all the details, but I think second chances are important. And learning to survive no matter what your environment is important, too. If I've learned anything in my life, I know that.

[She returns the smile.]

You seem like a strong person, and I'm glad I met you, too.

[last_to_kneel]

[He laughs and it's not mocking but rather a light-hearted one.]

Have ya known any depressed generals winnin' any wars? Sure I had been given a shitty life before but what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

That's the spirit!

[Yeah, Rikku's decided that she likes this guy so far.]

If we just give up because things get hard, we won't get anywhere. It's true at home and it's really true here.

[last_to_kneel]

[He laughs lightly again.]

I never lost it t' begin with. Sure, it's weighty but yeah, it's easily brushed off with me. So, what's it like where you're from?

[Despite not being an entirely good guy back home, he does have his principles.]

[yvnyet_uv_mekrdhehk]

[She takes a few moments to really think about her answer.]

Right now? Things are kind of really complicated.

Until recently, followers of Yevon ruled Spira. They were really strict, didn't allow people to use machina--machines, I forget that's what they're called here--or even to disagree with them, all because it was decided a long time ago that technology and bad behavior are things we need to atone for. My people, the Al Bhed, don't agree with Yevon, and we've... we've had to deal with a lot because of it.

[That's not a topic she wants to get too into. The destruction of Home is still fairly fresh in her mind.]

And then there's Sin. Sin's this giant monster that would appear and destroy everything in its path. Summoners would stop it for a little while with the Final Summoning, but it would always come back.

But now? I don't know. Yevon's collapsed as far as I know, Sin's gone for good thanks to my cousin Yunie and all of her guardians, and we were just starting reconstruction when I woke up here.

[last_to_kneel]

[He listens, leaning back against the bleachers. He nods, puts the connections together and gets a picture about it in his mind. The mechanic in him fits those pieces together to create a strong, comparable foundation. The historian in him puts together the same picture only from his world.]

Sounds like this Yevon's a cult. Much like Doma is in my world. Sadly, an' I've got no reason t' lie about it, I belonged to a group just like that. Difference is, we weren't out puttin' a stop to technology. We were puttin' a stop to human advancement through genocide and financial ruin.

It almost worked. Your Sin sounds a lot like Leviathan. It wasn't just some creature. It was somethin' that everyone feared an' I helped wake it up.

[He sighs and leans forward.]

Your Al'Bhed...they sound a lot like Australians. Tough in a fight, hard t' knock down in spirit an' they take no crap from anyone. When I found out I was bein' used, I began t' hate what I did an' I wanted t' fix that. If I couldn't stop him, I could still hurt him.