#open; mutuals

[shockwavepulsar]

“Oh, you’re still awake! Do you need help finishing up your duties for the day? I’m worried you’re not getting enough sleep.” 

[albhedian]

“AuuuoOOOH!!!” Rikku whined, patting the various pockets and pouches that adorned her clothing. “There’s no WAY!” Turning her attention to the ground, she began searching for the item, looking for a glint of light between the blades of grass. It couldn’t have gotten far, she just pilfered it from her last battle. “I was gonna get some major gil with that baby!”

[shockwavepulsar]

Her eyes are laser-focused, cue stick nestled between her thumb and the knuckle of her index finger. She waits, judges the power with which to hit the cue ball, rears back, and pushes forward to make contact. With a satisfying clack, Quistis stands up and watches as the cue knocks into another ball, and that one into another, sending them off towards separate pockets. One after the other, they drop, a muffled clunk as they hit the lining of the holes, and begin their travel to the ball chamber. But it isn’t over yet; the cue ball is still on the move, still inching ever closer to— “No, come on. Easy, easy!” Her urging is futile. The white ball tips, then descends into darkness. With an exasperated groan, Quistis pounds the heel of her stick on the ground and sets her hand firmly on her hip. She blows a strand of hair from her face with an annoyed puff and retreats to allow her opponent room to shoot. “You’re lucky I scratched. That doesn’t happen often.”

[shockwavepulsar]

“No—it’s not going to happen. I have told you since before the moment it even developed into a thought, I am NOT going to run the Kissing Booth at the festival this year!” And there’s no amount of pretty pleases, batting of eyelashes, bribes of rare Winhill tea or new Triple Triad cards that will change her mind.  “I don’t know where you heard that rumor, but it is unequivocally false and I will not have you or anyone else entertain it. I’ve signed up—graciously, might I add, considering how I didn’t want to do it at all—to run one of the food stalls. If my position has switched without my knowledge, a certain perky, bubbly friend of mine is going to lose that pep in her step.”

[shockwavepulsar]

“I’m pretty sure I understand, now. Glitter makes everything better.” She’s talking about art, of course, as she’s sent a cadet out to Balamb Town to grab her three more packs of the stuff to slather all over the kids’ faces to hopefully distract from the fact that the butterflies she keeps painting on their cheeks look absolutely horrible. Glitter and swirls are the only things saving her at this point. “Please tell me you want to be a clown or something. I have a guide for that, at least.”

[albhedian]

“Ah-Ah!” Riku wagged her finger, a mysteriously knowing smile forming on her lips. “Tuh'd tu ed!“ “Take it from me, you definitely don’t want to open that treasure chest. It sure looks like it’s full of goodies, but you’ll be sorry!” Although it was hard for her to tell at first, Rikku had grown accustomed to the differences between mimics and actual chests left behind by travelers. The subtleties were very easy to miss and even with her level of skill, Rikku sometimes got herself into quite the pickle for not trusting her intuition. “The gold on the real thing is a bit more dull. See how the details shine? That’s definitely a fiend!”

[shockwavepulsar]

“The line for the Ferris wheel looks kind of long; I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in time before my break is over.” [Ah well, maybe later, I suppose.] “Is there anything else you’d like to do instead?”

[shockwavepulsar]

“Oh—set those down on the desk, will you?” She was distracted. A couple of folders from the top of the stack she held in one arm nearly slipped down and out of her grip. She was sure she had it, but turning too quickly allowed the momentum to pull the papers just slightly out of her range of balance. A quick gesture and a little wiggle later, and she coaxed the papers back into the folder as she made her way to her destination: the file cabinet.

“The Balamb Network team is working on transferring the files to a more secure server, but we have to have some sort of backup if anything goes wrong. I’m confident in their abilities, but, well...you know how technology can be. As soon as a stressed out teenager spills a cup of coffee, it’s over.”