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[ She had thought that turning the conversation away from a memory— that she could never replace, mind, with catching a vesper of her own— to a possible new memory with a different fish would be better.

From his reaction, this probably was the wrong decision. Or maybe she’s reading too much into it. Carefully, ]

Bismarck...?

Edited 2020-04-17 03:01 (UTC)

Yeah, he's a whale.

[Said with an entirely straight face.]

[ She whips her head around, twisting her body to look at him. Is he— it seems like he’s completely serious.

The shock in her voice is apparent, ]

You want to go fishing.... for a whale?

That's enough of a challenge, right?

[The serious expression lasts just long enough for her to react - and keep buying it - until he smiles faintly and ducks his head.]

Just kidding. He's revered as a god of the sea in Accordo- a blessing for anglers of open waters. Hooking that guy would probably curse my line for life.

[Both figuratively his family and literally his fishing line. He pulls in another catch, more of an oversized guppy than anything, but a fish is a fish so into the bucket it goes.]

I would like to see him again, though. He was so cool.

[ Thank goodness he’s not serious about fishing a deity— ]

You... saw him before! [ Why is she surprised? She shouldn’t be surprised! He’s already been marked by multiple gods.

Pyra shakes her head, smiling regardless of her surprise, and looks back out to her side of the lake. ] Well? You can’t just say that and not tell me how he looked. Was he coated in barnacles?

I didn't see any barnacles, but he was covered in these big, sweeping white runes that looked like waves. He was huge- bigger than a sailing ship, with a giant spiral horn on his nose.

[He taps his nose, finger spiraling outwards to demonstrate how far (comparatively) it stretched.]

He's not a real god of the sea- that's Leviathan. But he's ancient enough to have earned himself a legend, and the story goes that if you cast a line where he guides you, you'll run out of space to put 'em before you run out of fish to catch.

[ While she cannot picture the runes themselves, she can imagine it would be a sight to see. ] Do his blessings work with virtual fishing? Because I might just need one myself!

[Prompto has a photo, probably. He has photos of everything, somewhere.]

Sorry, his blessings don't transfer. You'll just have to get there with blood, sweat, and tears like the rest of us.

[ Oh! Another bite!

She begins reeling hers in. ] Oh, admittedly I do have an advantage.

[ She leans against him, her back to his. This time, she doesn't wait for him to guess. ] --Of having the best fishing teacher there could possibly be.

Hmm. A little generous, but I'll take it.

[Whether he agrees or not, he doesn't argue, and he doesn't sound surprised either. It's Pyra, of course she'd think that.]

[ What other fisherman would know tricks like turning the reel to the side as one brings the fish back in? That sort of thing comes with expertise! She believes he's earned his spot! ]

Hm. There's more where that came from.

[ Don't test her. ]

[He will noooooot. He will instead change the subject, thank you.]

Know any good lakes or rivers for this sort of thing on your world?

[ She rolls back her shoulders. ]

Not that I know of. [ She’s not a fisherwoman! However— ] Speaking of whales... [ She pauses, shifting again as her fingers adjust tightly upon the fishing rod. ] One of our continents appears as a whale...

Edited (Too wordy for her tbh) 2020-04-18 14:34 (UTC)

Appears as? Like the continent is one?

[His eyes are wide as he glances at her, almost hopeful. That sounds so cool.]

[ Had they been facing each other, she would have simply nodded. Instead she must verbalize it, although her tone is quieter. ]

Uraya. She flies above the Cloud-Sea... Did I never mention this before?

[ Hah. ]

I remember you said they were... Titans, right? Divine living continents? But not much more detail than that.

That's right. ....And there is one that is a whale, with the Urayans living within her. [ He may hear her sigh, as if steadying herself. ] I don't think anyone has been foolish enough to try to fish her for sport.

[ Amazing. She's actually talking about her world. It hurts-- ] Within her are these great, freshwater springs, and nearly all plantlife there is luminescent.

[ --But she's gotten better at it, and it helps at the same time. She knows it helps him, too, to keep the focus off of him. So, she continues talking. ] Uraya has one of the most unique biomes of all the great continents, constantly bathed in a twilight painted by her flora.

[ It helps that Uraya still lives. ]

[His head tilts as she speaks, brushing up against her hair from behind, quietly curious. He's listening to her tone, trying to gauge how safe this is on her end as much as his.]

Twilight... by flora.

[Bioluminescence... he's seen it, a few times; Galdin Quay had several fish that lit up with a blue glow when he fished at night. It was always comforting, a reminder of his magic or the warm, safe runes of a haven. This continent of hers sounds much prettier than the darkness he's used to.]

It sounds amazing. Have you been there?

Mmhm.

[ A quiet affirmation, a pause, and she continues as if she's testing something, like the handle of a door, creaking it open for the first time in so long.

Rivers, he had asked about rivers. This reminds her-- ] ...There are rivers too. They cut through valleys inside. The storms within her would blow blossoms throughout all of her thorax, and the lighted petals would stream downhill.

[ If she closes her eyes, she can imagine it.

If she closes her eyes, she can stop her vision from blurring. ]

As they flow through her rivers, it looks as if... Noct, the water looks as if it's on fire. Or-- like it's caught the sunset without a sun present.

[ It's magical. ]

[....

He tilts his head back so that it bumps lightly against hers, rather than simply brushing. He can hear it. It's subtle, but he can hear it.]

Sounds like... the kind of place you have to see to believe. You must've looked right at home there.

[A pause, and his voice lowers, soft and laced with concern.]

You don't have to say more if it hurts.

[The last thing he wants is for her to cause herself pain just so he can avoid his own.]

No, it's.. fine. [ She insists this gently, with a shake of her head. She is smiling. It's bittersweet, and it's actually not as hard as she expected. Months ago, she'd have never managed to tell this much without side-stepping the entire topic. Tears can be shed in private, but perhaps they won't be as much, this time. Her homeworld isn't the topic in particular that crushes her these days, anyway.

That, and it's a process. Moving forward is a process, and speaking of Uraya reminds her more of what she wishes to preserve in her homeworld. Juniberries, sylleblossoms, irises, and gladioluses. She wonders if and when Urayan cherry blossoms will find their way to this world, or if they would even survive in this alien environment. ]

It's... strange, but it's nice, telling someone about her.

[ "Right at home." She guesses what he alludes to, what with glowing herself, but Uraya had never been a home. She can't even think of the continents as her children. They are their own beings. She just doesn't want to see them die.

Saying that it's fine might not be able to convince him that it is, so she offers proof that this doesn't effect her as much as he might think. Drawing a breath, she says carefully: ] Perhaps one day I could show you, too.

[Strange, but nice... sounds familiar, and that familiarity is what relaxes him somewhat. More than a few times when talking about his home or his past, he's felt the same way. If she can admit to having any trouble at all, even if she still shares it- that's progress, isn't it? She's not simply changing the subject or throwing the question back at him. That means a lot.]

Show me? Like that time we shared memories?

[He very carefully does not mention which memory; he knows she'll know, and those topics are not safe for either of them right now. It does remind him about Ophion in King's Knight- they have yet to face it there, and he hasn't figured out where the item was buried... now that he's back, he should start searching for it again. He has the time for it, and the surprise might be nice for both of them.]

[ It's almost as if they're going through the same thing.

When he mentions memories, she of course thinks back to the time they had shared their own together. His memory had been something sweet, again to do with fishing. His Shield had been there. Her own had been about saying goodbye. This makes her think of a goodbye never given, a time she had walked up that same path with...

No one said it would be easy to maintain feelings one ought not have in the first place, but she cherishes them all the same, just as she loves those here. His love had helped him push forward. So, too, does Pyra's. Both ultimately head towards peace for their world... and themselves, for a future that both would protect but neither would see for themselves.

That, and memories, are far more difficult to think about than speaking of her world bittersweetly. ]

Mm... something like--

[ Oh. A hit. A big one.

Pyra stops herself just at the edge of the boat, struggling against the force that threatens to pull her in ] Er--

[ Fighting to stand upright, she heaves and manages only to pull back by an inch or two, gasping out. Surprisingly, the fishing rod bends but doesn't break. ] What...?!

[ A fish breaks out of the water in a dramatic splash, stopping in a mid-air glitch before it crashes back into the water. The impact sends a small tidal wave their way, violently rocking the boat, which at this point has her crashing back into him. ]

Whoa!

[He'd turned at the noise, so when she falls back against him he catches her at the shoulders, holding her on her feet. The glitch is a pretty clear sign of that happening again, so with an exasperated sigh he reaches down to grab his rod and yank the line in, holding it up like some sort of defensive measure.]

Uh, brace yourself for a fight. They still haven't fixed this part yet, seriously...

[That's all the warning he has time to offer before the fish launches up out of the water and lands on the other end of the boat, "standing" on its back fin, slapping the rest defiantly at them. Pyra's hook is even still stuck in its mouth.]

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