#|| starter

[elatedrails]

Starter for @frostwnd ( Kafka )

It took immense meticulous planning to pull this off.

For the first time in a while, the script did not require Kafka’s presence. Her time had been her own, and for the most part, she had been revisiting planets she had grown fond of over the course of her travels. However, with each step taken on each planet she visited, there was a nagging feeling in her heart. At first, she did her best to ignore it. After all, others had their part to play, and the person on her mind the most was busy with their own affairs.

Eventually, it got to be too much and so, with the Astral Express stationed, she sneaks aboard and makes herself at home in Stelle’s room.

Sending her a text anonymously, she asks if the trailblazer misses her, before announcing a gift would be waiting for her when she wishes to retrieve it most. In the meantime, Kafka strolls through the room, going through all the collectibles and games she had. A whole life in one room, and only a life she could be part of from a distance. Despite the cool face she puts on, it saddens her that she won’t be able to see Stelle grow directly. It was part of the deal, and while she makes do with what she has, the grey-haired woman had always been in the centre of her heart space.

When she hears footsteps at the door, a smile forms on her face. When the door opens, she turns to face the individual she hoped to see most.

“Did you miss me?” Kafka asks, voice gravely as she takes a few steps toward the apple of her eye. “I figured you could use the company. I can only stay for tonight, so make it worth your while.”

[elatedrails]

Starter for @eternallyserpentinebutterfly ( Columbina )

The moon was shining down upon the land of Nod-Krai, with the stars serving as decoration between the navy and green that painted itself across the sky tonight. The moon goddess’s feet touch upon the surface of the ground, walking toward the vast sea before her, singing to her heart’s content. It was a lullaby she had heard from her birth, and one that she grew to love every time she sang it.

On this particular night, she struggled to fall asleep. No matter how much she tossed and turned, sleep did not want to greet her. To lull into the safety of darkness and have her dreams guide the way had been all that she wanted. But it never came. The rustling of bedsheets could be heard as she got up, opting to come out into the fresh air to measure just how tired she was. In her own headspace, her voice carried out into the night, only to stop when she hears a twig snap. She turns around with immediacy, feeling a tad bit threatened, only to see a woman with brown hair a bit further along. With her curiosity piqued, she walks over to the woman.

“I’m sorry, did my singing wake you?” Her voice is gentle, eyes closed with her veil over them as normal. She was sure the sight was strange to most who didn’t know her reasoning behind it. “I can quieten down if that is what you prefer. Sandrone used to also hate it when I sang at night; sleep was a very important thing to her.”

[elatedrails]

Starter for @svpernovae ( Raiden Ei and Columbina )

Listening to the endless tales of the traveller of Teyvat firsthand had been a rather thrilling experience for the moon goddess. Dangers arising, only for the people to come together and to ward off the terrors that threatened their land, loopholes extending the battles that needed to be faced and won all the same had only increased her wish to travel to another nation to a much greater degree than the initial timetable she had given herself. She had originally planned to give Nod-Krai a few more months of her protection before leaving to explore the world she had once perceived as “rejecting her”, but the itch to breathe in new, vast lands had landed her a much needed conversation with her newfound travel companion, Sandrone.

Naturally, bickering ensued, with both parties determined to figure out what the other wanted out of this travel time. Alas, the result was found in a dice roll. “If the dice lands on a six, we are going to that nation first,” she recounted Sandrone saying, and that six dice roll came when Inazuma’s name had been spoken aloud.

Walking along the long stretch of paths, the moon goddess basked in the beauty of the Sakura trees. They were entirely ethereal, as was the architecture and the culture behind a nation that had been stuck in time for far longer than it ever should have been. But Columbina was not one to judge; the archon of this nation had worked hard to protect the people from then on, meaning duty had been cast back into the right hands. Change was imperative even for the planet, with some having more trouble handing it than others. That’s all she thought about when it came down to remembering the story from this place.

Through the legend of Inazuma retold by the traveller, Columbina had learned that the archon was particularly fond of Dango Milk. After going through a few vendors, she had managed to find the right individual and grab a few bottles, making her first significant stop to Tenshukaku. In her hands rested a bouquet of white lily flowers, placed only at the gate. Rosalyne had died here, which had been a point of contention between Sandrone and Columbina before their initial decision. It was not particularly easy, and part of her had hoped she could gain some sort of understanding behind the reasoning as to why she had to die from the Raiden Shogun herself. Guards had prevented her from moving any further along, repeatedly saying that the public weren’t permitted to enter.

“..I’m only here with an offering for the Shogun herself,” Columbina quietly responds. “I’m sure she wouldn’t say no to Dango Milk.” After a few moments of squabbling with the Shogun’s men, she had eventually convinced one to go inside and at least inform the higher power of her arrival. Perhaps this would be the start to something that held complicated affairs.

[elatedrails]

Starter for @astrxlfinale ( Lucy )

Fiery embers flicker against the black canvas of the sky, adorned by small, bejewelled stares of the stars. Loud chatter comes from around the fire, debates seeping through and turning into gradual retellings of embarrassing stories, meaningful moments and wishful thinking of how the future could look like for them. The Sons of Calydon faction only grew with laughter, with one standing mid-conversation to use the restroom. Walking toward the nearest restroom, a sigh passes through Lucy’s lips, her hand pushing a door open enough for her body to pass through in a single slip through the crack. She splashes her face with water, taking about forever to wash off the makeup she had put on that morning, drying off with a towel before coming back out. The group had seen her in all manner of different ways, so not presenting the way she normally did hadn’t been something she cared to be anxious about. With the nighttime looming over them, it would be hard to tell anyways, she reasoned.

Stepping back outside, the blonde is presented with a clearer picture of everybody together: Caesar and Burnice huddling together, laughing hysterically at something that was once said, while Piper kicks herself back on a deck chair, on the verge of passing out to the sound of the joyous moment. But then she notices Lighter, slightly to the back and opts to bother him rather than sit back down with the others just yet. She wondered if he saw what she did just now; the beauty of their togetherness outside of official affairs. It was moments like these that always brought the Sons together the most, reinforced whenever disaster struck. That need to protect one’s own was above all else in each of them, and that love continued to exist so sweetly in the most rowdy of interactions.

“Aren’t you joining in tonight?” Lucy’s voice rings out, standing just off to the side of him, keeping her gaze to the same direction he was facing. Conversations like these were difficult for her still, and she wondered how Caesar was able to do it so effortlessly. “You don’t need to be so on guard every night.. they’d appreciate your company.” Her words become stiff the more she talks, and the back of her mind plays the sound of a creaking door: maybe she’s just destined to be awkward forever. Moving a hand to her right hip, she clears her throat into her left hand, gloves removed from her earlier activities showcasing her prettily manicured nails.

“I have a favour to ask. Piper’s doing some work to my bike, so I won’t have a way to get around New Eridu on my own. Could you.. take me tomorrow? I’ll treat you to a good meal at Cheesetopia for your efforts.” Negotiations like these were much more her style, because it meant that bribery could hide away the nerves plaguing her body for asking. “If not, don’t worry about it. I’ll see if Burnice is free. I’m sure she won’t mind if I share a few jars of Nitro-Fuel with her.”

[elatedrails]

Starter for @crimsontwins ( Columbina )

After spending a few days in Natlan, Columbina’s trip had been cut short. Sandrone was back, and there was no way she was going to miss out on reuniting with a dear friend of her’s. Begrudgingly, it meant leaving her girlfriend behind. Natlan’s soliders were scarcely permitted time to vacation, it seemed, and not even a goddess was going to argue with an archon over vacation time.. yet. Time spent alongside the friend she had feared she’d never get to see ever again was blissful, and she found herself particularly drawn to tabletop troupe. She hoped she would be able to play again someday, with everyone close to her heart this time.

After a few weeks back in Nod-Krai, the goddess had grown tired of life without her beloved, so off she went, back to Natlan. Only, there was no letter from her end to state she would be coming back. After reading a few romance novels, Columbina persisted in recreating a few of the scenes, and it was relatively common for a lover that had gone away to surprise their partner by coming to visit. Only, she had intentions for staying for a few weeks this time.

Contact with Mavuika guided her to a training grounds, one where shields were propped up off against wooden barriers and swords lay flat and forgotten against the ground; bows and arrows sticking up from dirt intermingling with the cries of soldiers winning and losing against one another. Remaining hidden from the moving soldiers, it didn’t take long for her to find the redhead she was after, sitting off to the sidelines with only a stare of every move she made. The intimacy of this particular match drew out nausea from Columbina’s stomach. Perhaps she deserved to feel like this to some degree, running off to see her friend the way she had—but this? The blatant fire in his eyes as he stared down at HER girlfriend? It just wouldn’t do.

As he charges toward the beauty on the battlefield, he seemingly trips over a rock, which in turn motivates the instigator to stand and make herself known, joining the two in the middle of the field. “That was rather.. stupid of you,” she declares, turning her head toward Sera after degrading the performance she had just witnessed. “I came here to see you. You fight exceptionally well.. but maybe, avoid training with people who can’t keep up.”

[dragonofthestone]

Timaeus had never cared for crowds however he could hardly turn his nose up at the opportunity that came during peak times at the train station and it was nice to take a little time away from the nest.

As much as he loved it, as much as he called it home.. he'd started to notice there were times where after awhile it grew stifling, a part of him that long for more than to be held in but one place. The last thing he wanted was to feel trapped. To end up like the titular bird in a gilded cage.

Besides with such nice weather meant the people would be in a better mood and a better chance for more tips.

So with guitar in hand he set himself up a little ways from the platforms exit, close enough to catch the crowd of coming and going people but for the most part out of the way so as not to cause trouble. Sitting on the ground also allowed him to slide his coat down a little wherein it would still cover up his tail but would rest more comfortably on the ground.

As he played Tim hadn't taken notice of the slight shift in his jacket allowing the smallest tip of his tail to poke out not quite enough to be immediately noticeable but wasn't enough to stop what happened next...

As a man paused next to him a sharp pain jolted through halting his playing. His fingers curled gripping the neck of the guitar a little tighter, sucking in a (what he hoped) was a silent breath between gritted teeth and could only hope the stranger wouldn't be long.

@flamesignite

[lil-kissy]

@eyesofahawk

She'd been at the Orphanage/Group home for as long as she could remember, memories of a time before foggy at best.

So many years. So many potential adoptions and so many disappointments had left her more than a little disenchanted with the idea and lost much hope as she watched those around her go to loving homes rarely returning. Kids that got so many prospective parents visiting and talking with them till they got the right match yet none for her.

Having all but given up she stayed away often choosing to stay up in her room then mingle with the other kids or meat any of the interested parents. No one ever came for her. With some encouragement one of the workers had got her to come outside, being such a nice day.

Quietly she played on her own in the shade with only a worn, hand stitched plush rabbit that had seen better days, while the other kids eagerly introduced themselves to awaiting and interested prospective parents that had come to visit and meet them. Silvery-white hair had been pulled back into a braid in some attempt to tame her long locks.

--

A worker cheerily welcomed Hughes in, it wasn't often they got an actual military officer around in a non official capacity. Asking him a variety of questions as well as answering any of his own to help make the best match between parent and child.

"By the sounds of it I think you and your family might make a great fit for almost any of these kids." The woman smiled before humming thoughtfully, "And it looks like some of them are already quite eager to meet you, how about I leave you to get acquainted a little bit? Unless you have any further questions?"