What preparations have you made for a possible zombie apocalypse

Roleplay blog for my OC Cepheus Baskerville // Multifandom // Crossover // Currently RPing for FF 15 ALL DRAWINGS BELONG TO ME UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Mads scurried about the kitchen and prepared another place setting for Cephy before bringing the tea. She was soon joined by Aarjav who slipped in seamlessly with the controlled chaos like he’s done it a thousand times before. Mads gave him a soft, motherly glare but allowed his help. She was grateful her son wanted to help out, even if it bruised her pride as a mother sometimes.

“I made chamomile, I hope you don’t mind!” Mads called out cheerfully before setting the teacup down in front of Cephy. 

Once Mads had everything together, she sit herself down with a great sigh. Now that she had the time to calm down, her thick accent smoothed out into her usual, more neutral one.

“So, Aarjav, sweetheart, want to tell me why our guest came home with you at this late hour? Not that I’m mad at you, Cephy dear, this is just sudden.” Mads made sure to blind Cephy with a bright smile when addressing her at the end. 

“Ah sorry mummy. It’s just…” Aarjav’s eyes flicked in Cephy’s direction before he sighed, “…She said she was from London.” 

Porcelain clattered noisily when Mads set her tea down with more force than she should have. Her eyes were wide and searching as she appraised Cephy in a new light. Hope warred with wariness in her breast.

“Ah… where from, exactly?” Mads’s tone was still polite, but it had an edge to it now. 

Depending which part exactly Cephy was from, she might be a threat. Several villages out in the countryside have been claimed by the unseelie and they’ve taken to sending the people out to other regions as spies. Cephy looked like she had her wits about her, but it always helped to make sure.

[to-each-future]

The way Mads looked at her as Aarjav mentioned she was from London (which wasn’t enitrely true but details) made her shrink a little back in her seat.

Sure, she didn’t mean any harm, and mads looked like she was the sweetest person on earth, but the few adventures she had here and there made her a bit wary of people when they asked her from where she was.

it was a bit like the thing were you are not supposed to tell anyone your name because otherwise they full have full control over you.

Flashing her a thankful albeit timid smile, Oswin blew over the hot chamomile tea before taking a sip, the heat warming her inside up. It felt good to know she had a roof over head and was not out hunting something that was nicknamed Deadeye.

“Weeeell, I’m not really from London… I was there before I ended up here and there…. but I’m originally from Germany.”

[weapons-grade-spork]

Mads nodded slowly and let out a small sigh. She pursed her lips in thought before saying,

“Germany, hm? That’s lovely. A lot of folks moved there after… well after.” 

Aarjav’s eyes flickered between his mother and Cephy. They were dodging each other’s questions. leaving as much information about each other as possible unsaid. He sighed and spooned some rice onto his plate before saying, 

“She’s from a different London, mum. Not ours. A whole other world entirely from ours. Apparently the Doctor is real there.” He grinned at the thought, “That’s why I took her with me on the hunt. I thought I could question her about what’s been happening in the seelie court, but, well, she doesn’t know anything.”

Mads’ eyes twinkled in excitement. Her suspicions laid to rest at her son’s words. Instead, she switched her attention to her favorite TV show. 

“The Doctor is real??” She squealed. 

[to-each-future]

Cephy shrunk a little bit further into the chair as she cupped the tea, careful not to spill anything. 

Seelie court? The word sounded familiar but nothing she could really do anything with. Hearing Aarjav using the word other London though confirmed her theory they were from different universe/dimensions/whatever kids call it these days.  “I mean, yeah, I suppose? As real as a person can be? I don’t know where he is though.”  This trip is getting weirder and weirder with each passing second. 

“Okay so, who are you people? And if you are from Earth, what are you doing here?”

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Mads scurried about the kitchen and prepared another place setting for Cephy before bringing the tea. She was soon joined by Aarjav who slipped in seamlessly with the controlled chaos like he’s done it a thousand times before. Mads gave him a soft, motherly glare but allowed his help. She was grateful her son wanted to help out, even if it bruised her pride as a mother sometimes.

“I made chamomile, I hope you don’t mind!” Mads called out cheerfully before setting the teacup down in front of Cephy. 

Once Mads had everything together, she sit herself down with a great sigh. Now that she had the time to calm down, her thick accent smoothed out into her usual, more neutral one.

“So, Aarjav, sweetheart, want to tell me why our guest came home with you at this late hour? Not that I’m mad at you, Cephy dear, this is just sudden.” Mads made sure to blind Cephy with a bright smile when addressing her at the end. 

“Ah sorry mummy. It’s just…” Aarjav’s eyes flicked in Cephy’s direction before he sighed, “…She said she was from London.” 

Porcelain clattered noisily when Mads set her tea down with more force than she should have. Her eyes were wide and searching as she appraised Cephy in a new light. Hope warred with wariness in her breast.

“Ah… where from, exactly?” Mads’s tone was still polite, but it had an edge to it now. 

Depending which part exactly Cephy was from, she might be a threat. Several villages out in the countryside have been claimed by the unseelie and they’ve taken to sending the people out to other regions as spies. Cephy looked like she had her wits about her, but it always helped to make sure.

[to-each-future]

The way Mads looked at her as Aarjav mentioned she was from London (which wasn’t enitrely true but details) made her shrink a little back in her seat.

Sure, she didn’t mean any harm, and mads looked like she was the sweetest person on earth, but the few adventures she had here and there made her a bit wary of people when they asked her from where she was.

it was a bit like the thing were you are not supposed to tell anyone your name because otherwise they full have full control over you.

Flashing her a thankful albeit timid smile, Oswin blew over the hot chamomile tea before taking a sip, the heat warming her inside up. It felt good to know she had a roof over head and was not out hunting something that was nicknamed Deadeye.

“Weeeell, I’m not really from London… I was there before I ended up here and there…. but I’m originally from Germany.”

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav was impressed and very grateful for Cephy’s bold action. Cephy grabbed him by the sleeve without hesitation and started running off. Aarjav had no choice but to bend down to her level and start running too. While he was certain he could outrun Cephy at any time, Aarjav was still surprised by her speed.

He was also surprised by her hasty retreat. Aarjav was sure she would’ve let Gladio tear him a new one for a while longer at least. Not that he was complaining.

Aarjav blinked and frowned curiously when Cephy mentioned ‘the golden lights.’ Aarjav knew Cephy had to have some sort of magical ability to travel through dimensions, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Aarjav could see much more than the golden lights; it was only one part of the grand tapestry that made up a person’s aura. The golden light had more to do with people close to death or those whose power drew from the spiritual realm. When people speak of the light at the end of a tunnel, they were probably seeing these lights.

“I can.” Aarjav answered carefully, “What do you see when you look at me, Cephy?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy stopped without a warning and whipped aorund to face Aarjav. “Well, thing is never seen those lights before. They appeared when the fight with Deadeye started. Got stronger when the other… dudes were involved too. Now it’s just a little bit.”

Realizing that the sun was beginning to set and it was getting chillier at the same time, she started walking around. The idea of still being inside the forest while dark did not sit well on her, plus after today’s adventure she learned that this world had many strange dangerous creatures, she didn’t want to know what was lurking in the dark here. 

The girl had so many questions running through her head. Why did he take her to the hunt when she had the job already all the time? How did he get here from London? And from the previous talked it was obvious he was not from the same universe as her? What did he mean with Doctor Who TV show? If the Doctor’s adventure was all just a show, does that mean the Cephy in Aarjav’s universe was just an actress? 

The walk back provided to uneventful and they didn’t encounter any more of the Voretooth creatures, and the sky turned dark by the time they reached the Chocobo outpost. Cephy couldn’t help but notice how Aarjav just seemed to be a tiny bit more tense when they walked back home. 

“Who were those guys back there anyway? Are all people able to summon weapons out of thin air?”

[actual-flower-girl]

“Just so you know, those dudes are the crown Prince of Lucis and his retainers. They’re pretty chill for the most part, but it’s for the best if you knew.” Aarjav informed her with a playful smirk, “And I think those lights are a by-product of their magic. Though I can’t be sure. The royal family are the only ones who can use magic in this world for some reason.”

Aarjav tensed the closer they got to the chocobo post. He was way past curfew and if his mother was still awake he was in for it, big time. He peeked around cautiously when he got to the camper and then turned to face Cephy. 

“As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.” Aarjav told her. 

“Tell me what, exactly?” Mads cut in sharply. 

Aarjav squeaked and rounded to face his mother in fear. Madhushri was a tiny woman, but just then she was the portrait of parental rage. Though Mads was wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe and flannel pajamas, her domestic dishevelment at this late hour only proved how pissed off she really was. It was the outfit parents wore when they planned to wait up for their kids just to give them a lecture. Her stance was wide, her arms were crossed over her puffed out chest, and her eyes locked onto Aarjav from over her nose. The evil eye was in full force and Aarjav was struck with the fear of god. 

Aarjav was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. He looked to Cephy, then to Mads, then laughed nervously. 

“Hello, mummy! I uh, I brought home a friend?” He answered lamely. 

That was the wrong thing to say. Aarjav flinched when Madhushri’s eyes blew wide open in scandalized parental shock. 

“A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?”

Ooh. She was flipflopping between English and Hindi. Aarjav was in so much trouble. 

[to-each-future]

Crown prince of Lucis? One of them was a prince?

Cephy scrunched her nose as she tried to picture what she had in mind of a prince versus who she met today, and then decided that it doesn’t really matter. Chances of bumping into them again was probably slim to nothing. They helped out in the hunt, Deadeye is dead and, she got her job and the chocobo can kwek around freely again.

And magic? The royal family can use magic? Actual proper magic? During the time she traveled with the Doctor, whenever they stumbled upon something that remotely screamed fairy tale or magic and hocus pocus, sooner or later she learned that most cases alien technology was involved.

Stumbling around in the dark, Cephy tried her best to focus on Aarjav’s blue jacket so she had something she could track with her eyes to not get lost in the woods. It was hard to tell what time it was without a functioning phone and watch, but it must have been late. However soon the smell of what Cephy liked to call ‘fresh country air’ (really it was the smell of horse shit) hit her nose, meaning they were close civilization. It did not go unnoticed to her that Aarjav began to walk slower, like he was trying to avoid something terrible. The way he turned his head around to scout the area confirmed it.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Aarjav then let Cephy to the camper. “As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.”

Too tired to give him a proper reply, Cephy hummed in response and turned to look at the camper. It was the standard camper that was scattered around all Lucis, and luckily it came with a shower and clean water. If only she had some spare clothes, she thought to herself.

However, Cephy hesitated with opening the door. The lights were on and multiple voices were shouting inside, meaning the camper is currently occupied.

Just her effing luck.

At the same time, a tiny woman wearing a bright pink bathrobe stormed out of the house and straight toward Aarjav and Cephy. She look like the picture book description of angry mom. The chocobo caretaker visibly stiffened next to her and the pink-haired girl swore she has never seen someone so scared before.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Hoping to lighten the situation up, Aarjav gestured to Cephy. “I uh, I home a friend?”

The red flags were raised.

““A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?

Biting her lower lip, she couldn’t place what language Aarjav’s mom was speaking, but judging by the accent her guess would be somewhere from South Asia?

Leaning slightly over to Aarjav, Cephy whispered to him: “Way to go and make me sound like I’m a hooker.”

Deciding that this was a mother-son situation and there wasn’t much she can do to help him (after all, he did take her on a hunt just to interrogate her about London), Cephy turned on her own heel and opened the camping van door. It was late, she smelled and had cuts on her arm, all she wanted was to take a shower and then sleep until the next solar eclipse and if that meant having to share a van with a bunch of strangers, then so be it.

Only it wasn’t a bunch of strangers in the van. It were the four guys from before. All the talking ceased the moment she opened the door and popped her head in.

Awkward silence.

Cephy closed the door again and decided she’d rather face an angry mom now.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav could not believe Cephy was about to just leave him there. (He actually could, it’s not like he was particularly nice to her so far if he was honest) His mother was seconds away from getting her slipper out and smacking him with it and Cephy just went to the camper like nothing was happening! Was there no mercy in the world? 

She came back seconds later, but still. 

“Aarjav, you will tell me what you were up to this instant okay? I thought–” Mads’s voice cracked and Aarjav immediately felt guilt swallow him whole, “–I thought you were gone. You do all these dangerous things just like your father and you’re just a boy! I worry you’ll drive off on that motorcycle and just… not come back…” 

The anger was gone. Madhushri deflated instantly and her intimidating aura disappeared. Her amber eyes were wet with the beginnings of tears and it took everything in her not to start crying. 

Aarjav felt like a real twat. He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes in shame. He knew how much his mother worried; how could she not when he was the only familiar person in this world? Arago sent them here to be safe from the unseelie plaguing Europe, but this world had far worse things at night. Daemons would’ve ripped Mads to shreds if he wasn’t there to protect her. Worse than the daemons, was the crushing loneliness and the uncertainty. 

Dad didn’t have a clue when the war would be over. He kept in touch as much as he could, but time flowed differently here. It could be months or even years before they hear from him again. They might never go home. As much as he promised otherwise, Arago might not be enough to win the war. He might be too late even if he did. 

If Aarjav died here, his mother would be all alone. She’d spend the rest of her life waiting to hear back from Arago without any way to know for sure she would. 

“Mama…” Aarjav sighed, “…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off like that.”

[to-each-future]

Her demeanor changed. Aarjav’s mom was still angry, but now there was something in her eyes glistening under the moonlight, and Cephy hoped it was not tears. She was bad at handling tears. She was generally bad at handling other people’s emotion.

Some talk about him being like his father but he was still a boy.

Cephy get it why she’d go crazy. Eos did not scream exactly save space and all the hush talks about not going out at night because there are daemons (?). She knew that her own mother left suddenly for one last big adventure while she was nine months pregnant with Cephy without telling anyone about it. It resulted with Cephy being born on Pluto (but the official birth certificate said Vienna).

Her mother died giving birth to her.

Did her grandparents noticed that Cephy has been gone for some time now? Probably not, as the phone call she made today with her neighbor proved that he thought she was still studying for her exam tomorrow (or some time in the future). It definitely felt like she has been gone for at least a week though.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, she’ll work it out once she is back. It was better no one knew she was gone.

Letting her eyes wander around, Cephy tried to look at anything but Aarjav and his crying mother. The camper van door opened behind her, and out stepped the guy with glasses with a first aid-kit in his hand.

“I believe the potion we gave you today did not work, and you still seem to have some cuts to take care of.” He pointed at her arm, British accent lacing his voice.

“Sure, thanks.” Cephy said and then moved with him to the chair and table in front of the camping van.

Noticing him looking questioningly at the mother-son duo, Cephy simply shrugged her shoulder and decided that what was happening as none of their business.

“I believe we have not been properly introduced yet. My name is Ignis.”

“I’m Cephy. And that guy being scolded over there is Aarjav.” She pointed with her thumb at said person, and proceed to open the first-aid kit, taking out the antiseptic and poured it onto a pad, beginning to clean her wound. Areas that she could not reach herself, Ignis helped her with it.

Mid-putting on bandaids, Cephy peaked up when she heard Aarjav apologizing to his mother.

Hm, maybe she should put some nice words in for him, after all he did get her a job.

After the emotional moments is over that is.

[actual-flower-girl]

“We’ve been acquainted.” Ignis informed Cephy with an amused turn of his lips, “His hospitality has saved us quite a few cold nights in a Haven. I suspect it’s the same for you, as well.” 

Madhushri heaved a great sigh and figured this conversation could wait until later. She turned to face her guests and her demeanor instantly brightened. 

“It’s no problem at all, Ignis! Your help in the kitchen is payment enough.” She told him while patting him on the arm. Her thick Indian accent smoothed away with her lifted mood. With a bashful flush across her cheeks, Madhushri addressed Cephy directly. 

“I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier! My son is stupid in the head sometimes, but that’s no excuse to be rude. I’m Madhushri, but you can call me Mads.” Mads smiled and stuck out her hand as a greeting. 

“Mummy,” Aarjav said cautiously, “I told Cephy she could start working here as a waitress. She’s got nowhere to go and we needed the extra hands, right?”

Madhushri shot Aarjav an unimpressed look, but nodded. Aarjav raised his hands in defeat and chuckled nervously. He sighed gratefully when it seemed like he wasn’t in trouble after all. 

“We do, yes. And you’ve talked with Aarjav already?” Madhushri asked Cephy, “I hope he didn’t ask you too many questions. My son has a tendency to interrogate more than interview new employees.” Mads shot Aarjav another dry look. 

Aarjav’s eyes shot wide open in a panic and he tried to signal to Cephy not to say anything about the interview. If his mother knew he’d dragged Cephy into the woods to fight Deadeye she’d kill him!

[to-each-future]

The very alarming look almost made Cephy want to tell his mother what her darling son was up to. But for now she decided to be merciful and not to make an enemy of someone who actually knows how to kick ass. 

So instead she put on her sweet-as-an-sour-apple smile: “Oh no, not at all. We actually got to know each other a bit better. Surprisingly a lot of things in common.” 

And then the tiredness hit her real bad. 

She really needed some sleep. But she also really didn’t want to share a caravan with four strangers, who all also happened to be guys. 

Nu uh, not a chance.

But Mads was a mom and a woman, so maybe if she asks her for help she’d take pity on her?

“Uhm, I’m sorry to bother you with this ma’am,” Cephy started, looking at Mads, who still had a cheerful smile on her face “Would you mind if I crash your couch for the night? It’s just, I really don’t want to sleep in a caravan full of strangers…” 

Ignis, who was still standing on the side, pushed his glasses up and nodded in understanding. “I should rest too. We have been asked to check on a Chocobo tomorrow, a good night’s rest is important.” But before he turned in for the night, he stared at Cephy’s band-aid covered arms for a bit longer than necessary. “I would like to check up on your arm tomorrow.”

She blinked. “That’s very… nice? But not necessary? Is there something wrong with me?” A slight moment of panic.

“That’s what I would like to know.”

And with that, Ignis bid his goodnight and went back into the caravan. 

Slightly confused, Cephy turned her head to Aarjav. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me? It’s just some scratches, nothing that needs to be healed by a potion or something…” 

Then it dawned on her. The potion didn’t work on her before. There is something wrong with her. 

[actual-flower-girl]

Madhushri blinked twice and then looked from Cephy, to Ignis, to the other boys who had begun eavesdropping from behind the caravan door. Immediately she gasped in realization. 

“Oh! Yes, of course! Come come, the house is just over here! Who even let you in there with four strangers?” Madhushri fretted like mothers tend to do. 

Aarjav sighed and sagged in relief. Thank goodness Cephy understood him that time. He turned to Ignis, who looked back at him with a delicately raised eyebrow, and grinned. 

“Mother worries.” He explained simply with a shrug. 

Ignis sighed and adjusted his glasses. He gave Aarjav an unimpressed look over his glasses and said, 

“It may be none of my business, but you should take care to keep your mother informed of your whereabouts. You… never know what could happen these days.” Ignis looked back to where Noct was still peeping out from the caravan door and frowned thoughtfully. 

Aarjav understood where Ignis was coming from. He’d heard all sorts of stories from all kinds of passerbys and refugees. Stories where families were ripped apart by war and death and the emigration process itself were sadly common. The recent attack on Insomnia must have hit those four particularly hard. And Ignis was right: Aarjav hated to worry his mother if he could help it. He’d definitely do better in the future. 

“Ah you’re right of course.” Aarjav sighed in defeat, “I’ll apologize tomorrow. You should get some sleep, though, Iggy. Mom’s not the only one who worries, you know.” Aarjav said pointedly. 

That man worked way too hard. 

“Anyway, I should head in before Mum leaves the tea on too long.” Aarjav waved and started jogging toward the house. 

[to-each-future]

Cephy’s shoulders sacked in relief at the prospect of sleeping under a proper roof tonight. As much as the whole idea of bigger-on-the-inside-TARDIS-with-infinite-rooms was cool, there is nothing like having a real bed in a real home. Plus Aarjav’s mom seems like a nice lady. Tad bit over-worried for her kid, but which parent isn’t?

Oh yeah, hers.

Ignis then chided Aarjav too. “It may be none of my business, but you should take care to keep your mother informed of your whereabouts. You… never know what could happen these days.”

That sentence made Cephy snort loudly, which earned her some confused looks from Ignis, Aarjav and the Prince Noctis, who decided to pop out his head to see what was going on outside.

Honestly, as long as Cephy did not lose a limb, she can just get home and pretend like nothing bad ever happened. Then again, she couldn’t really think of anyone that would genuinely worry for her.

That thought made her a bit sad, but she then shook it off. Now’s now the time to feel sorry for herself, she needed to find the Doctor.

Madhushri (“Oh please, call me Mads!”) gently pushed Cephy toward the house, saying the tea has been brewing for too long and left any longer it might not taste well.

Cephy awkwardly turned her head around and waved Ignis and Noctis goodbye, who was then joined by the big guy (Gladio seems to be his name), who probably also popped out his head to check what was happening outside. Upon seeing Cephy retreating, he flashed her a smile and waved her goodnight.

[szynkaaa]

look at my OC kicking ass in ffxv comrades

[szynkaaa]

I have been playing both ffxv comrades and pokemon at the same time so my mind went to ‘what if, ffxv comrades x pokemon crossover’????? like the Glaives make pacts with legendaries and there are pokemon roaming around too but ofc they are infected by the starscourge and needs to be hunted down etc.

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav was impressed and very grateful for Cephy’s bold action. Cephy grabbed him by the sleeve without hesitation and started running off. Aarjav had no choice but to bend down to her level and start running too. While he was certain he could outrun Cephy at any time, Aarjav was still surprised by her speed.

He was also surprised by her hasty retreat. Aarjav was sure she would’ve let Gladio tear him a new one for a while longer at least. Not that he was complaining.

Aarjav blinked and frowned curiously when Cephy mentioned ‘the golden lights.’ Aarjav knew Cephy had to have some sort of magical ability to travel through dimensions, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Aarjav could see much more than the golden lights; it was only one part of the grand tapestry that made up a person’s aura. The golden light had more to do with people close to death or those whose power drew from the spiritual realm. When people speak of the light at the end of a tunnel, they were probably seeing these lights.

“I can.” Aarjav answered carefully, “What do you see when you look at me, Cephy?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy stopped without a warning and whipped aorund to face Aarjav. “Well, thing is never seen those lights before. They appeared when the fight with Deadeye started. Got stronger when the other… dudes were involved too. Now it’s just a little bit.”

Realizing that the sun was beginning to set and it was getting chillier at the same time, she started walking around. The idea of still being inside the forest while dark did not sit well on her, plus after today’s adventure she learned that this world had many strange dangerous creatures, she didn’t want to know what was lurking in the dark here. 

The girl had so many questions running through her head. Why did he take her to the hunt when she had the job already all the time? How did he get here from London? And from the previous talked it was obvious he was not from the same universe as her? What did he mean with Doctor Who TV show? If the Doctor’s adventure was all just a show, does that mean the Cephy in Aarjav’s universe was just an actress? 

The walk back provided to uneventful and they didn’t encounter any more of the Voretooth creatures, and the sky turned dark by the time they reached the Chocobo outpost. Cephy couldn’t help but notice how Aarjav just seemed to be a tiny bit more tense when they walked back home. 

“Who were those guys back there anyway? Are all people able to summon weapons out of thin air?”

[actual-flower-girl]

“Just so you know, those dudes are the crown Prince of Lucis and his retainers. They’re pretty chill for the most part, but it’s for the best if you knew.” Aarjav informed her with a playful smirk, “And I think those lights are a by-product of their magic. Though I can’t be sure. The royal family are the only ones who can use magic in this world for some reason.”

Aarjav tensed the closer they got to the chocobo post. He was way past curfew and if his mother was still awake he was in for it, big time. He peeked around cautiously when he got to the camper and then turned to face Cephy. 

“As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.” Aarjav told her. 

“Tell me what, exactly?” Mads cut in sharply. 

Aarjav squeaked and rounded to face his mother in fear. Madhushri was a tiny woman, but just then she was the portrait of parental rage. Though Mads was wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe and flannel pajamas, her domestic dishevelment at this late hour only proved how pissed off she really was. It was the outfit parents wore when they planned to wait up for their kids just to give them a lecture. Her stance was wide, her arms were crossed over her puffed out chest, and her eyes locked onto Aarjav from over her nose. The evil eye was in full force and Aarjav was struck with the fear of god. 

Aarjav was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. He looked to Cephy, then to Mads, then laughed nervously. 

“Hello, mummy! I uh, I brought home a friend?” He answered lamely. 

That was the wrong thing to say. Aarjav flinched when Madhushri’s eyes blew wide open in scandalized parental shock. 

“A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?”

Ooh. She was flipflopping between English and Hindi. Aarjav was in so much trouble. 

[to-each-future]

Crown prince of Lucis? One of them was a prince?

Cephy scrunched her nose as she tried to picture what she had in mind of a prince versus who she met today, and then decided that it doesn’t really matter. Chances of bumping into them again was probably slim to nothing. They helped out in the hunt, Deadeye is dead and, she got her job and the chocobo can kwek around freely again.

And magic? The royal family can use magic? Actual proper magic? During the time she traveled with the Doctor, whenever they stumbled upon something that remotely screamed fairy tale or magic and hocus pocus, sooner or later she learned that most cases alien technology was involved.

Stumbling around in the dark, Cephy tried her best to focus on Aarjav’s blue jacket so she had something she could track with her eyes to not get lost in the woods. It was hard to tell what time it was without a functioning phone and watch, but it must have been late. However soon the smell of what Cephy liked to call ‘fresh country air’ (really it was the smell of horse shit) hit her nose, meaning they were close civilization. It did not go unnoticed to her that Aarjav began to walk slower, like he was trying to avoid something terrible. The way he turned his head around to scout the area confirmed it.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Aarjav then let Cephy to the camper. “As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.”

Too tired to give him a proper reply, Cephy hummed in response and turned to look at the camper. It was the standard camper that was scattered around all Lucis, and luckily it came with a shower and clean water. If only she had some spare clothes, she thought to herself.

However, Cephy hesitated with opening the door. The lights were on and multiple voices were shouting inside, meaning the camper is currently occupied.

Just her effing luck.

At the same time, a tiny woman wearing a bright pink bathrobe stormed out of the house and straight toward Aarjav and Cephy. She look like the picture book description of angry mom. The chocobo caretaker visibly stiffened next to her and the pink-haired girl swore she has never seen someone so scared before.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Hoping to lighten the situation up, Aarjav gestured to Cephy. “I uh, I home a friend?”

The red flags were raised.

““A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?

Biting her lower lip, she couldn’t place what language Aarjav’s mom was speaking, but judging by the accent her guess would be somewhere from South Asia?

Leaning slightly over to Aarjav, Cephy whispered to him: “Way to go and make me sound like I’m a hooker.”

Deciding that this was a mother-son situation and there wasn’t much she can do to help him (after all, he did take her on a hunt just to interrogate her about London), Cephy turned on her own heel and opened the camping van door. It was late, she smelled and had cuts on her arm, all she wanted was to take a shower and then sleep until the next solar eclipse and if that meant having to share a van with a bunch of strangers, then so be it.

Only it wasn’t a bunch of strangers in the van. It were the four guys from before. All the talking ceased the moment she opened the door and popped her head in.

Awkward silence.

Cephy closed the door again and decided she’d rather face an angry mom now.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav could not believe Cephy was about to just leave him there. (He actually could, it’s not like he was particularly nice to her so far if he was honest) His mother was seconds away from getting her slipper out and smacking him with it and Cephy just went to the camper like nothing was happening! Was there no mercy in the world? 

She came back seconds later, but still. 

“Aarjav, you will tell me what you were up to this instant okay? I thought–” Mads’s voice cracked and Aarjav immediately felt guilt swallow him whole, “–I thought you were gone. You do all these dangerous things just like your father and you’re just a boy! I worry you’ll drive off on that motorcycle and just… not come back…” 

The anger was gone. Madhushri deflated instantly and her intimidating aura disappeared. Her amber eyes were wet with the beginnings of tears and it took everything in her not to start crying. 

Aarjav felt like a real twat. He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes in shame. He knew how much his mother worried; how could she not when he was the only familiar person in this world? Arago sent them here to be safe from the unseelie plaguing Europe, but this world had far worse things at night. Daemons would’ve ripped Mads to shreds if he wasn’t there to protect her. Worse than the daemons, was the crushing loneliness and the uncertainty. 

Dad didn’t have a clue when the war would be over. He kept in touch as much as he could, but time flowed differently here. It could be months or even years before they hear from him again. They might never go home. As much as he promised otherwise, Arago might not be enough to win the war. He might be too late even if he did. 

If Aarjav died here, his mother would be all alone. She’d spend the rest of her life waiting to hear back from Arago without any way to know for sure she would. 

“Mama…” Aarjav sighed, “…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off like that.”

[to-each-future]

Her demeanor changed. Aarjav’s mom was still angry, but now there was something in her eyes glistening under the moonlight, and Cephy hoped it was not tears. She was bad at handling tears. She was generally bad at handling other people’s emotion.

Some talk about him being like his father but he was still a boy.

Cephy get it why she’d go crazy. Eos did not scream exactly save space and all the hush talks about not going out at night because there are daemons (?). She knew that her own mother left suddenly for one last big adventure while she was nine months pregnant with Cephy without telling anyone about it. It resulted with Cephy being born on Pluto (but the official birth certificate said Vienna).

Her mother died giving birth to her.

Did her grandparents noticed that Cephy has been gone for some time now? Probably not, as the phone call she made today with her neighbor proved that he thought she was still studying for her exam tomorrow (or some time in the future). It definitely felt like she has been gone for at least a week though.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, she’ll work it out once she is back. It was better no one knew she was gone.

Letting her eyes wander around, Cephy tried to look at anything but Aarjav and his crying mother. The camper van door opened behind her, and out stepped the guy with glasses with a first aid-kit in his hand.

“I believe the potion we gave you today did not work, and you still seem to have some cuts to take care of.” He pointed at her arm, British accent lacing his voice.

“Sure, thanks.” Cephy said and then moved with him to the chair and table in front of the camping van.

Noticing him looking questioningly at the mother-son duo, Cephy simply shrugged her shoulder and decided that what was happening as none of their business.

“I believe we have not been properly introduced yet. My name is Ignis.”

“I’m Cephy. And that guy being scolded over there is Aarjav.” She pointed with her thumb at said person, and proceed to open the first-aid kit, taking out the antiseptic and poured it onto a pad, beginning to clean her wound. Areas that she could not reach herself, Ignis helped her with it.

Mid-putting on bandaids, Cephy peaked up when she heard Aarjav apologizing to his mother.

Hm, maybe she should put some nice words in for him, after all he did get her a job.

After the emotional moments is over that is.

[actual-flower-girl]

“We’ve been acquainted.” Ignis informed Cephy with an amused turn of his lips, “His hospitality has saved us quite a few cold nights in a Haven. I suspect it’s the same for you, as well.” 

Madhushri heaved a great sigh and figured this conversation could wait until later. She turned to face her guests and her demeanor instantly brightened. 

“It’s no problem at all, Ignis! Your help in the kitchen is payment enough.” She told him while patting him on the arm. Her thick Indian accent smoothed away with her lifted mood. With a bashful flush across her cheeks, Madhushri addressed Cephy directly. 

“I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier! My son is stupid in the head sometimes, but that’s no excuse to be rude. I’m Madhushri, but you can call me Mads.” Mads smiled and stuck out her hand as a greeting. 

“Mummy,” Aarjav said cautiously, “I told Cephy she could start working here as a waitress. She’s got nowhere to go and we needed the extra hands, right?”

Madhushri shot Aarjav an unimpressed look, but nodded. Aarjav raised his hands in defeat and chuckled nervously. He sighed gratefully when it seemed like he wasn’t in trouble after all. 

“We do, yes. And you’ve talked with Aarjav already?” Madhushri asked Cephy, “I hope he didn’t ask you too many questions. My son has a tendency to interrogate more than interview new employees.” Mads shot Aarjav another dry look. 

Aarjav’s eyes shot wide open in a panic and he tried to signal to Cephy not to say anything about the interview. If his mother knew he’d dragged Cephy into the woods to fight Deadeye she’d kill him!

[to-each-future]

The very alarming look almost made Cephy want to tell his mother what her darling son was up to. But for now she decided to be merciful and not to make an enemy of someone who actually knows how to kick ass. 

So instead she put on her sweet-as-an-sour-apple smile: “Oh no, not at all. We actually got to know each other a bit better. Surprisingly a lot of things in common.” 

And then the tiredness hit her real bad. 

She really needed some sleep. But she also really didn’t want to share a caravan with four strangers, who all also happened to be guys. 

Nu uh, not a chance.

But Mads was a mom and a woman, so maybe if she asks her for help she’d take pity on her?

“Uhm, I’m sorry to bother you with this ma’am,” Cephy started, looking at Mads, who still had a cheerful smile on her face “Would you mind if I crash your couch for the night? It’s just, I really don’t want to sleep in a caravan full of strangers...” 

Ignis, who was still standing on the side, pushed his glasses up and nodded in understanding. “I should rest too. We have been asked to check on a Chocobo tomorrow, a good night’s rest is important.” But before he turned in for the night, he stared at Cephy’s band-aid covered arms for a bit longer than necessary. “I would like to check up on your arm tomorrow.”

She blinked. “That’s very... nice? But not necessary? Is there something wrong with me?” A slight moment of panic.

“That’s what I would like to know.”

And with that, Ignis bid his goodnight and went back into the caravan. 

Slightly confused, Cephy turned her head to Aarjav. “Do you think there’s something wrong with me? It’s just some scratches, nothing that needs to be healed by a potion or something...” 

Then it dawned on her. The potion didn’t work on her before. There is something wrong with her. 

[szynkaaa]

I think I’ve been sitting on this piece for a week now lol

Arjav Stringer belongs to @weapons-grade-spork

[szynkaaa]

Aarjav Stringer belongs to @weapons-grade-spork

I’m trying out a new coloring style, so far I really like it

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav was impressed and very grateful for Cephy’s bold action. Cephy grabbed him by the sleeve without hesitation and started running off. Aarjav had no choice but to bend down to her level and start running too. While he was certain he could outrun Cephy at any time, Aarjav was still surprised by her speed.

He was also surprised by her hasty retreat. Aarjav was sure she would’ve let Gladio tear him a new one for a while longer at least. Not that he was complaining.

Aarjav blinked and frowned curiously when Cephy mentioned ‘the golden lights.’ Aarjav knew Cephy had to have some sort of magical ability to travel through dimensions, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Aarjav could see much more than the golden lights; it was only one part of the grand tapestry that made up a person’s aura. The golden light had more to do with people close to death or those whose power drew from the spiritual realm. When people speak of the light at the end of a tunnel, they were probably seeing these lights.

“I can.” Aarjav answered carefully, “What do you see when you look at me, Cephy?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy stopped without a warning and whipped aorund to face Aarjav. “Well, thing is never seen those lights before. They appeared when the fight with Deadeye started. Got stronger when the other… dudes were involved too. Now it’s just a little bit.”

Realizing that the sun was beginning to set and it was getting chillier at the same time, she started walking around. The idea of still being inside the forest while dark did not sit well on her, plus after today’s adventure she learned that this world had many strange dangerous creatures, she didn’t want to know what was lurking in the dark here. 

The girl had so many questions running through her head. Why did he take her to the hunt when she had the job already all the time? How did he get here from London? And from the previous talked it was obvious he was not from the same universe as her? What did he mean with Doctor Who TV show? If the Doctor’s adventure was all just a show, does that mean the Cephy in Aarjav’s universe was just an actress? 

The walk back provided to uneventful and they didn’t encounter any more of the Voretooth creatures, and the sky turned dark by the time they reached the Chocobo outpost. Cephy couldn’t help but notice how Aarjav just seemed to be a tiny bit more tense when they walked back home. 

“Who were those guys back there anyway? Are all people able to summon weapons out of thin air?”

[actual-flower-girl]

“Just so you know, those dudes are the crown Prince of Lucis and his retainers. They’re pretty chill for the most part, but it’s for the best if you knew.” Aarjav informed her with a playful smirk, “And I think those lights are a by-product of their magic. Though I can’t be sure. The royal family are the only ones who can use magic in this world for some reason.”

Aarjav tensed the closer they got to the chocobo post. He was way past curfew and if his mother was still awake he was in for it, big time. He peeked around cautiously when he got to the camper and then turned to face Cephy. 

“As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.” Aarjav told her. 

“Tell me what, exactly?” Mads cut in sharply. 

Aarjav squeaked and rounded to face his mother in fear. Madhushri was a tiny woman, but just then she was the portrait of parental rage. Though Mads was wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe and flannel pajamas, her domestic dishevelment at this late hour only proved how pissed off she really was. It was the outfit parents wore when they planned to wait up for their kids just to give them a lecture. Her stance was wide, her arms were crossed over her puffed out chest, and her eyes locked onto Aarjav from over her nose. The evil eye was in full force and Aarjav was struck with the fear of god. 

Aarjav was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. He looked to Cephy, then to Mads, then laughed nervously. 

“Hello, mummy! I uh, I brought home a friend?” He answered lamely. 

That was the wrong thing to say. Aarjav flinched when Madhushri’s eyes blew wide open in scandalized parental shock. 

“A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?”

Ooh. She was flipflopping between English and Hindi. Aarjav was in so much trouble. 

[to-each-future]

Crown prince of Lucis? One of them was a prince?

Cephy scrunched her nose as she tried to picture what she had in mind of a prince versus who she met today, and then decided that it doesn’t really matter. Chances of bumping into them again was probably slim to nothing. They helped out in the hunt, Deadeye is dead and, she got her job and the chocobo can kwek around freely again.

And magic? The royal family can use magic? Actual proper magic? During the time she traveled with the Doctor, whenever they stumbled upon something that remotely screamed fairy tale or magic and hocus pocus, sooner or later she learned that most cases alien technology was involved.

Stumbling around in the dark, Cephy tried her best to focus on Aarjav’s blue jacket so she had something she could track with her eyes to not get lost in the woods. It was hard to tell what time it was without a functioning phone and watch, but it must have been late. However soon the smell of what Cephy liked to call ‘fresh country air’ (really it was the smell of horse shit) hit her nose, meaning they were close civilization. It did not go unnoticed to her that Aarjav began to walk slower, like he was trying to avoid something terrible. The way he turned his head around to scout the area confirmed it.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Aarjav then let Cephy to the camper. “As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.”

Too tired to give him a proper reply, Cephy hummed in response and turned to look at the camper. It was the standard camper that was scattered around all Lucis, and luckily it came with a shower and clean water. If only she had some spare clothes, she thought to herself.

However, Cephy hesitated with opening the door. The lights were on and multiple voices were shouting inside, meaning the camper is currently occupied.

Just her effing luck.

At the same time, a tiny woman wearing a bright pink bathrobe stormed out of the house and straight toward Aarjav and Cephy. She look like the picture book description of angry mom. The chocobo caretaker visibly stiffened next to her and the pink-haired girl swore she has never seen someone so scared before.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Hoping to lighten the situation up, Aarjav gestured to Cephy. “I uh, I home a friend?”

The red flags were raised.

““A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?

Biting her lower lip, she couldn’t place what language Aarjav’s mom was speaking, but judging by the accent her guess would be somewhere from South Asia?

Leaning slightly over to Aarjav, Cephy whispered to him: “Way to go and make me sound like I’m a hooker.”

Deciding that this was a mother-son situation and there wasn’t much she can do to help him (after all, he did take her on a hunt just to interrogate her about London), Cephy turned on her own heel and opened the camping van door. It was late, she smelled and had cuts on her arm, all she wanted was to take a shower and then sleep until the next solar eclipse and if that meant having to share a van with a bunch of strangers, then so be it.

Only it wasn’t a bunch of strangers in the van. It were the four guys from before. All the talking ceased the moment she opened the door and popped her head in.

Awkward silence.

Cephy closed the door again and decided she’d rather face an angry mom now.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav could not believe Cephy was about to just leave him there. (He actually could, it’s not like he was particularly nice to her so far if he was honest) His mother was seconds away from getting her slipper out and smacking him with it and Cephy just went to the camper like nothing was happening! Was there no mercy in the world? 

She came back seconds later, but still. 

“Aarjav, you will tell me what you were up to this instant okay? I thought–” Mads’s voice cracked and Aarjav immediately felt guilt swallow him whole, “–I thought you were gone. You do all these dangerous things just like your father and you’re just a boy! I worry you’ll drive off on that motorcycle and just… not come back…” 

The anger was gone. Madhushri deflated instantly and her intimidating aura disappeared. Her amber eyes were wet with the beginnings of tears and it took everything in her not to start crying. 

Aarjav felt like a real twat. He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes in shame. He knew how much his mother worried; how could she not when he was the only familiar person in this world? Arago sent them here to be safe from the unseelie plaguing Europe, but this world had far worse things at night. Daemons would’ve ripped Mads to shreds if he wasn’t there to protect her. Worse than the daemons, was the crushing loneliness and the uncertainty. 

Dad didn’t have a clue when the war would be over. He kept in touch as much as he could, but time flowed differently here. It could be months or even years before they hear from him again. They might never go home. As much as he promised otherwise, Arago might not be enough to win the war. He might be too late even if he did. 

If Aarjav died here, his mother would be all alone. She’d spend the rest of her life waiting to hear back from Arago without any way to know for sure she would. 

“Mama…” Aarjav sighed, “…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off like that.”

[to-each-future]

Her demeanor changed. Aarjav’s mom was still angry, but now there was something in her eyes glistening under the moonlight, and Cephy hoped it was not tears. She was bad at handling tears. She was generally bad at handling other people’s emotion.

Some talk about him being like his father but he was still a boy.

Cephy get it why she’d go crazy. Eos did not scream exactly save space and all the hush talks about not going out at night because there are daemons (?). She knew that her own mother left suddenly for one last big adventure while she was nine months pregnant with Cephy without telling anyone about it. It resulted with Cephy being born on Pluto (but the official birth certificate said Vienna).

Her mother died giving birth to her.

Did her grandparents noticed that Cephy has been gone for some time now? Probably not, as the phone call she made today with her neighbor proved that he thought she was still studying for her exam tomorrow (or some time in the future). It definitely felt like she has been gone for at least a week though.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, she’ll work it out once she is back. It was better no one knew she was gone.

Letting her eyes wander around, Cephy tried to look at anything but Aarjav and his crying mother. The camper van door opened behind her, and out stepped the guy with glasses with a first aid-kit in his hand.

“I believe the potion we gave you today did not work, and you still seem to have some cuts to take care of.” He pointed at her arm, British accent lacing his voice.

“Sure, thanks.” Cephy said and then moved with him to the chair and table in front of the camping van.

Noticing him looking questioningly at the mother-son duo, Cephy simply shrugged her shoulder and decided that what was happening as none of their business.

“I believe we have not been properly introduced yet. My name is Ignis.”

“I’m Cephy. And that guy being scolded over there is Aarjav.” She pointed with her thumb at said person, and proceed to open the first-aid kit, taking out the antiseptic and poured it onto a pad, beginning to clean her wound. Areas that she could not reach herself, Ignis helped her with it.

Mid-putting on bandaids, Cephy peaked up when she heard Aarjav apologizing to his mother.

Hm, maybe she should put some nice words in for him, after all he did get her a job.

After the emotional moments is over that is.

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav was impressed and very grateful for Cephy’s bold action. Cephy grabbed him by the sleeve without hesitation and started running off. Aarjav had no choice but to bend down to her level and start running too. While he was certain he could outrun Cephy at any time, Aarjav was still surprised by her speed.

He was also surprised by her hasty retreat. Aarjav was sure she would’ve let Gladio tear him a new one for a while longer at least. Not that he was complaining.

Aarjav blinked and frowned curiously when Cephy mentioned ‘the golden lights.’ Aarjav knew Cephy had to have some sort of magical ability to travel through dimensions, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Aarjav could see much more than the golden lights; it was only one part of the grand tapestry that made up a person’s aura. The golden light had more to do with people close to death or those whose power drew from the spiritual realm. When people speak of the light at the end of a tunnel, they were probably seeing these lights.

“I can.” Aarjav answered carefully, “What do you see when you look at me, Cephy?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy stopped without a warning and whipped aorund to face Aarjav. “Well, thing is never seen those lights before. They appeared when the fight with Deadeye started. Got stronger when the other… dudes were involved too. Now it’s just a little bit.”

Realizing that the sun was beginning to set and it was getting chillier at the same time, she started walking around. The idea of still being inside the forest while dark did not sit well on her, plus after today’s adventure she learned that this world had many strange dangerous creatures, she didn’t want to know what was lurking in the dark here. 

The girl had so many questions running through her head. Why did he take her to the hunt when she had the job already all the time? How did he get here from London? And from the previous talked it was obvious he was not from the same universe as her? What did he mean with Doctor Who TV show? If the Doctor’s adventure was all just a show, does that mean the Cephy in Aarjav’s universe was just an actress? 

The walk back provided to uneventful and they didn’t encounter any more of the Voretooth creatures, and the sky turned dark by the time they reached the Chocobo outpost. Cephy couldn’t help but notice how Aarjav just seemed to be a tiny bit more tense when they walked back home. 

“Who were those guys back there anyway? Are all people able to summon weapons out of thin air?”

[actual-flower-girl]

“Just so you know, those dudes are the crown Prince of Lucis and his retainers. They’re pretty chill for the most part, but it’s for the best if you knew.” Aarjav informed her with a playful smirk, “And I think those lights are a by-product of their magic. Though I can’t be sure. The royal family are the only ones who can use magic in this world for some reason.”

Aarjav tensed the closer they got to the chocobo post. He was way past curfew and if his mother was still awake he was in for it, big time. He peeked around cautiously when he got to the camper and then turned to face Cephy. 

“As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.” Aarjav told her. 

“Tell me what, exactly?” Mads cut in sharply. 

Aarjav squeaked and rounded to face his mother in fear. Madhushri was a tiny woman, but just then she was the portrait of parental rage. Though Mads was wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe and flannel pajamas, her domestic dishevelment at this late hour only proved how pissed off she really was. It was the outfit parents wore when they planned to wait up for their kids just to give them a lecture. Her stance was wide, her arms were crossed over her puffed out chest, and her eyes locked onto Aarjav from over her nose. The evil eye was in full force and Aarjav was struck with the fear of god. 

Aarjav was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. He looked to Cephy, then to Mads, then laughed nervously. 

“Hello, mummy! I uh, I brought home a friend?” He answered lamely. 

That was the wrong thing to say. Aarjav flinched when Madhushri’s eyes blew wide open in scandalized parental shock. 

“A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?”

Ooh. She was flipflopping between English and Hindi. Aarjav was in so much trouble. 

[to-each-future]

Crown prince of Lucis? One of them was a prince?

Cephy scrunched her nose as she tried to picture what she had in mind of a prince versus who she met today, and then decided that it doesn’t really matter. Chances of bumping into them again was probably slim to nothing. They helped out in the hunt, Deadeye is dead and, she got her job and the chocobo can kwek around freely again.

And magic? The royal family can use magic? Actual proper magic? During the time she traveled with the Doctor, whenever they stumbled upon something that remotely screamed fairy tale or magic and hocus pocus, sooner or later she learned that most cases alien technology was involved.

Stumbling around in the dark, Cephy tried her best to focus on Aarjav’s blue jacket so she had something she could track with her eyes to not get lost in the woods. It was hard to tell what time it was without a functioning phone and watch, but it must have been late. However soon the smell of what Cephy liked to call ‘fresh country air’ (really it was the smell of horse shit) hit her nose, meaning they were close civilization. It did not go unnoticed to her that Aarjav began to walk slower, like he was trying to avoid something terrible. The way he turned his head around to scout the area confirmed it.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Aarjav then let Cephy to the camper. “As promised, your room. Come to the main house in the morning for breakfast; I’ll have explained everything to mum by then.”

Too tired to give him a proper reply, Cephy hummed in response and turned to look at the camper. It was the standard camper that was scattered around all Lucis, and luckily it came with a shower and clean water. If only she had some spare clothes, she thought to herself.

However, Cephy hesitated with opening the door. The lights were on and multiple voices were shouting inside, meaning the camper is currently occupied.

Just her effing luck.

At the same time, a tiny woman wearing a bright pink bathrobe stormed out of the house and straight toward Aarjav and Cephy. She look like the picture book description of angry mom. The chocobo caretaker visibly stiffened next to her and the pink-haired girl swore she has never seen someone so scared before.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Hoping to lighten the situation up, Aarjav gestured to Cephy. “I uh, I home a friend?”

The red flags were raised.

““A friend? At this hour? He mere bete, tum yah tumhaaree maan ko kyon karate ho? Do you know how worried I was? You say you were going off to fight Deadeye and then you come home late at night with a girl? Sharm kee baat hai, okay?

Biting her lower lip, she couldn’t place what language Aarjav’s mom was speaking, but judging by the accent her guess would be somewhere from South Asia?

Leaning slightly over to Aarjav, Cephy whispered to him: “Way to go and make me sound like I’m a hooker.”

Deciding that this was a mother-son situation and there wasn’t much she can do to help him (after all, he did take her on a hunt just to interrogate her about London), Cephy turned on her own heel and opened the camping van door. It was late, she smelled and had cuts on her arm, all she wanted was to take a shower and then sleep until the next solar eclipse and if that meant having to share a van with a bunch of strangers, then so be it.

Only it wasn’t a bunch of strangers in the van. It were the four guys from before. All the talking ceased the moment she opened the door and popped her head in.

Awkward silence.

Cephy closed the door again and decided she’d rather face an angry mom now.

[szynkaaa]

apparently it’s sunshine boy’s birthday today???? 

Aarjav stringer belongs to @weapons-grade-spork, the hot pink mess in the left corner belongs to me

[szynkaaa]

Had a red dress like that once

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav was impressed and very grateful for Cephy’s bold action. Cephy grabbed him by the sleeve without hesitation and started running off. Aarjav had no choice but to bend down to her level and start running too. While he was certain he could outrun Cephy at any time, Aarjav was still surprised by her speed.

He was also surprised by her hasty retreat. Aarjav was sure she would’ve let Gladio tear him a new one for a while longer at least. Not that he was complaining.

Aarjav blinked and frowned curiously when Cephy mentioned ‘the golden lights.’ Aarjav knew Cephy had to have some sort of magical ability to travel through dimensions, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Aarjav could see much more than the golden lights; it was only one part of the grand tapestry that made up a person’s aura. The golden light had more to do with people close to death or those whose power drew from the spiritual realm. When people speak of the light at the end of a tunnel, they were probably seeing these lights.

“I can.” Aarjav answered carefully, “What do you see when you look at me, Cephy?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy stopped without a warning and whipped aorund to face Aarjav. “Well, thing is never seen those lights before. They appeared when the fight with Deadeye started. Got stronger when the other... dudes were involved too. Now it’s just a little bit.”

Realizing that the sun was beginning to set and it was getting chillier at the same time, she started walking around. The idea of still being inside the forest while dark did not sit well on her, plus after today’s adventure she learned that this world had many strange dangerous creatures, she didn’t want to know what was lurking in the dark here. 

The girl had so many questions running through her head. Why did he take her to the hunt when she had the job already all the time? How did he get here from London? And from the previous talked it was obvious he was not from the same universe as her? What did he mean with Doctor Who TV show? If the Doctor’s adventure was all just a show, does that mean the Cephy in Aarjav’s universe was just an actress? 

The walk back provided to uneventful and they didn’t encounter any more of the Voretooth creatures, and the sky turned dark by the time they reached the Chocobo outpost. Cephy couldn’t help but notice how Aarjav just seemed to be a tiny bit more tense when they walked back home. 

“Who were those guys back there anyway? Are all people able to summon weapons out of thin air?”

[to-each-future]

Aarjav hummed softly as he groomed the chocobos. It was a quiet day at the ranch so he didn't expect a customer to walk up behind him, but Cephy did. He blinked down at her and smiled like he was supposed to and said his usual greeting. "Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you with anything?"

[First Meeting] with Aarjav Stringer / @actual-flower-girl

oOoOoOo

Hands in the jeans pocket and shirt sleeves rolled up,Cephy strolled down. It was a particularly sunny and warm day, and theblue-eyed girl was starting to regret putting on a long shirt. Then again, itwasn’t like she had anything else with her besides her dead phone, a sonic screwdriver and somecash. The white shirt was a bad choice to being with; she knew she was aclumsy, which was very evident by the stains on the shirt.

Running her hands through her pink dyed hair, Cephytook in her surrounding: It was a humbly sized ranch, breeding and raising andgrooming chocobos.

Or stupid dodo’s as Cephy has dubbed them in her head.

With nothing better to do, she decided that it wastime to overcome her fear of riding creatures that were considerably muchtaller than her (her first horse-riding experience was not the best). Shedoubted that the squawking birds were any worse, but she was not taking anyrash chances.

With a new resolve, Cephy took in a deep breath,puffed out her chest slightly and raised her head, marching down the road toapproach a tall and dark-skinned guy feeding a chocobo chick.

Hearing her approaching, said person turned around andflashed her a kind smile – Cephy was sure that bright smile could turn anydaemons away.

“Welcome to the Chocobo post! Can I help you withanything?” he asked, his curly dark hair dancing with the light breeze.

Another thing that Cephy noticed is that she had tocrank up her neck to meet him in the eyes, but thank God he was making it a biteasier but bending down slightly.

Hm, good question. What would be a good answer tothat? Yes, hi hey! My name is Cephy and Iam human just like you, except I’m from planet Earth in the Sol system, foundin Local Cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m just killing time here until myfriend picks me up so I can finally go home and get my exam over with.

“Hi! I’m shit scared of chocobos but I want to getover that fear because riding oversized dodo’s seems like a fun thing to killtime.” Is what she blurted out instead, and prayed the ground would just openup and swallow her.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav blinked, taken aback by the Cephy’s candid response. Then he laughed. 

The chocobo he’d been grooming squawked at the sudden noise and fluffed her feathers a bit. Aarjav shook his head in amusement and ran his fingers through Minni’s feathers to calm the startled bird. She flattened her feathers with a peaceful kweh and nuzzled into him. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just not every day I get such an honest answer out of people. Don’t mind Minny here, she’s a bit of a brat. Don’t worry, though! I’ll make sure to find the sweetest bird for you.” Aarjav assured Cephy with a calming, confident air to him.

“I’m Aarjav, by the way. Nice to meet you…?” He trailed off, realizing he didn’t know how to address his newest customer. 

[to-each-future]

Mentally preparing herself to get a weird look from the guy and him slowly backing away, Cephy did not expect him to blink and then let out a heartfelt laugh. She let out a relieved sigh and began to loosen up more. With everything that has happened to her and what she learned about Eos, it was nice to a see an optimistic person.

Throwing one last suspicious look at ‘Minny’ (Hope I get to name my own bird, Cephy thought to herself), her attention turned back to the tall man as he introduced himself.

“I’m Aarjav, by the way. Nice to meet…?”

Clicking her tongue, Cephy briefly wondered if she really should introduce herself by her real name, but soon dismissed that thought. She was stranded on a planet that had some weird magic stuff going around; what if using your real name gives someone the power to control you?

Fake name is it then. If the guy is trustworthy enough, she’ll then tell him her real name.

“It’s uh, Hannah. Hannah Montana.” Cephy could feel the fakeness of her tight smile through her whole body, so she shot a quick question to not give the guy a chance to ponder about her name too much. “Soooo, how much is a beginner’s course and when do we start?”

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav cocked his eyebrow at ‘Hannah Montana.’ Even without the sight, he would be able to spot that obvious lie a mile away. But if the lady wanted to stay anonymous, who was he to deny her? She was probably a refugee from Gallahd or something, anyway. You tend to see a lot of them around these parts. 

His disbelieving look once more became a warm smile as he told her, 

“Next time you should probably say it a little more confidently, miss. It’s none of my business who you are, but I’d hate to see you get caught in a lie by the wrong person.” 

He hummed and considered her other question for a while. 

“175gil for a week’s worth of one-on-one lessons. If you need a place to stay, I can throw in a spot in the caravan for another 300gil. You’ll have my undivided attention and my most patient birds at your disposal. I guarantee you’ll know how to saddle up in no time!” He offered with a thumb’s up and a bright grin.

[to-each-future]

Cephy was officially the worst human being on Eart… on Eos and the chocobo care taker has to be the nicest person in the universe. She did not even deserve to lick his shoe clean

Sheepishly smiling at Aarjav, Cephy hummed to herself and did the math quickly in her head. 175 gil for a week was no bad, but she wasn’t sure if she can afford to pay 300 gil a night to stay at the caravan. All she knew was that she had 1000 gil more or less at her disposal, but that soon will run out if she isn’t careful enough with her spending. Being on your own on an unfamiliar planet was the worst, she decided. Praying that her friend is looking for her and hopefully will find her soon, Cephy turned her attention back to Aarjav – who was still patiently waiting for her answer with a sunshine smile that put every toothpaste commercial to shame.

“175 gil sounds like a steal. I’m not sure if I can afford the caravan every night though unless your café here also happens to be looking for a new waitress.”

Waitressing, that was something she can do and good at, thanks to the bar she worked as a pianist. Sometimes they required Cephy to fill in for someone, so she can deal with annoying customers should the need arise. Even if the pay at the chocobo post café wouldn’t be the best, at least she’d earn some money to survive on.

Worst case scenario she picks up fighting and goes on hunts, which however was something Cephy wants to avoid.

Either way, if she was to start having one-to-one lesson with Aarjav, some sort of trust should be established.

“I’m sorry about lying. My name’s Cephy. Short for Cepheus. And no, I don’t know what my father was thinking when he named me.” Flashing the tall guy another smile – one that was sincere this time – the pink-haired girl comically raised her hand to her forehead and looked around. “So which bird has to suffer with me for a whole week?”

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav could see Cephy was telling the truth about her name this time. Her colors were bright and unhindered by murky hues of deceit. Cephy’s aura was beautiful and oddly reminded him of home. Aarjav found himself wondering how things were in London since he and his mother had to leave. Eos was a great world, but it wasn’t home. Aarjav blinked back to the present and considered Cephy’s situation.

Aarjav hummed understandingly. If Cephy was a refugee like he suspected, she’d need all the gil she could get. 

“There’s also a haven not far from here, but you’ll probably end up sharing with other guests at some point. Havens are the safest place to be at night, but not much for privacy, unfortunately.” Aarjav offered, “And I know I wouldn’t be adverse to you working here, but I’d have to run it by mum first. We are hiring, though, so you might get lucky. In the meantime you could take up hunting, but that might be a bit much. You got experience?” 

[to-each-future]

Hearing the word haven Cephy had to crease her eyebrows in distaste. As much as she prided herself with being able to fall asleep essentially anywhere, camping out in the wilderness where creatures such as daemons roamed at night was not how she’d like to spend her time alone. Sharing the caravan from time to time with strangers did not sound ideal either, but it was better than nothing. And should anyone try to lay a finger on her, she didn’t spend the past few years adventuring through time and space kicking and screaming around for nothing.

She doubted that putting saving the universe on a regular basis on her CV counts as hunting experience, and something else tells her that all those cough illegal cough hunting trips and shooting range practice her father used to take her as a little girl would amount her too much. There was something else inside her she could use as a weapon, but given she tried to hide and ignore that power as much as possible and didn’t know it’s full potential (nor did she care to find out about it), it was a big no.

“I’m not scared to follow something to its hideout, or face a creature,” Cephy explained, remembering her first rule of adventuring – always be brave.”But I don’t have the resolve to kill.”Rule number two: Always be ready to run.”I hope that answers your question.”

Seeing the thoughtful gaze of Aarjav, there was something else that Cephy quickly remembered. “Ah, I uh, I don’t any sort of legal documents with me, in case your mom is going to need that…” She winced, another lie to protect who she was. Although in her defense it was a white lie this time. She had her driver’s license and ID card with her; they were just not valid on Eos.

She was essentially a ghost here.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav’s smile was passive the longer he listened. Cephy’s answers were defensive and trying not to give too much away. Her aura was growing murky again as she tried to cover up the truth. Her eyes flitted about like she was looking for the right thing to say. Not to mention the lack of any identification on hand. Even a refugee would have something on them to make it easier to find work. 

“I was half-joking about the hunting, you know.” Aarjav began cautiously, “You don’t have the build of a hunter. You’re more suited for running, I’d say.” 

Aarjav’s smile brightened disarmingly as he laughed, “Then again I’ve been surprised before! Besides, I might need some help on the next hunt I’m going on.” 

Aarjav’s face became pensive as he recalled the bounty for Dead Eye the Behemoth resting in his pack. His grip on the soft brush tightened and Minny gave him a concerned coo in response. Dead Eye was a menace. If the hunters couldn’t take him down soon, then there might not be anymore chocobos to ride at all. 

“Dead Eye’s a nasty one. If I don’t take him down, no one else will. I’ve gotta protect the chocobos. Can’t exactly run a chocobo ranch without any chocobos, right?” Aarjav’s smile was more subdued this time with morbid humor. 

He looked Cephy up and down; appraising her. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair to ruffle it up. 

“Consider this the interview, then. You come with me to Dead Eye’s lair, and if we come back alive then you’re hired. Deal?” Aarjav offered before he held out his hand

[to-each-future]

The sudden change in the atmosphere did not escape Cephy. She blinked at what Aarjav said, noting that his smile was more strained this time.

She had no idea what a behemoth was. It sounded… well, it sounded like a creature she probably would never get to see if she had decided to stay at home the morning before a very important exam.

And yet here she was now. Homeless, without her backpack and the TARDIS, looking for a job and place to stay.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she furrowed her brows and thought about Aarjav’s proposal. It certainly was the weirdest job interview ever. How does helping out on a hunt proof that she was a good waitress? She couldn’t help but think there was more to it. Letting her eyes wander around, she did notice that all the Chocobos were sitting in their stalls, even though it was a nice beautiful day. They all looked very restless, like they wanted to bust out and go for a wild run and be free, but for the safety they had to be locked in.

Cephy didn’t like that at all. As someone who moved around a lot as a kid and was always very enthusiastic about going to new places, she felt for the oversized dodo-like birds.

The name Deadeye made her hesitant though. If that behemoth has been giving many hunters trouble to the point that nice boy had to wants it down himself, just how dangerous was the creature? She needed a job though. And a place to stay. And how to learn how to ride those damn birds because going everything by feet is a pain in the ass.

Spotting the big bow and the very sharp arrows leaning against the fence, Cephy gave herself a visibly confidence-boost nod and shook Aarjav’s hand.

“I’m in. Lead the way, partner.” She said and patted for the borrowed sonic screwdriver in her jean pocket. You never know when you’ll need it.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav nodded, happy with Cephy’s determination to see this through. He felt kinda bad for making her ‘interview’ so difficult, but he was honestly curious about Cephy. Something about her didn’t fit and the training drilled into Aarjav’s head since he was a child wouldn’t let him leave it alone. He wanted to know what it was about Cephy that made him homesick when nothing else about Eos felt so familiar. It was selfish of him, but Aarjav couldn’t back down now that Cephy had agreed to his terms, could he?

“Right then, give me a moment to pack some more supplies and we’ll get to it. I wasn’t exactly expecting to have a partner on this trip.” Aarjav huffed in amusement as he set to work, “I’m glad of it, though. Two heads are better than one, as they say!” 

Aarjav laid out the essentials and started sorting them. Busywork kept his mind occupied just enough to calm his nerves as he explained the details of their hunt. 

“Deadeye’s lair’s not far from here, but it’s still a bit of a trek since there’s no direct paths to it. We might run into a few voretooths on the way there, as well. Annoying little bastards, but that’s how it is.” Aarjav hummed thoughtfully as he weighted the pack in his hand. 

“There that should do it! We’re all set to head out. Last chance if you wanna back out. I won’t hold it against you.” Aarjav offered one last time. 

[to-each-future]

It was selfish of Cephy, but she couldn’t back down now that she agreed to his terms, could she?

As Aarjav went ahead to pack his things, Cephy took out the sonic screwdriver and pressed the button quickly a few times. It buzzed and the tip glowed, meaning so far it was working. Looking around, she tried to spot something she could try the screwdriver on, but then decided against the idea. Who knows what she’ll destroy if she does it.

The chocobo caretaker had his items laid out in front of him, a thoughtful look on his gaze as he seemed to be calculating something in his mind. Times like this Cephy wished she would have taken her adventure backpack with her: It contained her most essential on-the-go items, such as an energy bar, paper and pen, power bank for her phone, a first aid-kit. Oh, and the acupuncture needles of course. She missed stabbing needles into people.

It was supposed to be just a short trip to a space station 300 years in the future to distract her from her semester exam, and if the space station as supposed to be colonized by humans, then there was no need for her adventure backpack, right?

“Deadeye’s lair’s not far from here, but it’s still a bit of a trek since there’s no direct paths to it. We might run into a few voretooths on the way there, as well.”

Vo-voretooths? Cephy had no idea what those things were, but it sounded nasty and not nice. Is she gonna die? Is that how she is going to die?

“Annoying little bastards, but that’s how it is.”

Little. Little sounds good. Maybe the thing only reached her knees and she could kick them and throw stick and stones at them. She can do it. Totally. Absolutely. She has faced Weeping Angels before, the Cyberman and the Daleks. How bad can a behemoth and voretooths really be?

Done packing, Aarjav weighed his things in his hand and let out a satisfied hum.

“There that should do it! We’re all set to head out.”

“Huh, we really are, are we?” Cephy replied back, an uncomfortable feeling settling down in her stomach.

“Last chance if you wanna back out. I won’t hold it against you.” Aarjav offered one last time, flashing Cephy a gentle and understanding smile.

Cephy pressed her lips into a thin line and run a hand through her hair. It was slightly greasy and a tangled mess, and she hoped that if she makes it out alive, she could take a shower. A part of her was telling her she should back out and let a pro handle this. The Doctor wasn’t here, she wouldn’t know what to do. But the other part – the one that was constantly drilled into her head as a kid by her father – don’t rely too much on the others, always be independent.

And also, backing out goes against her own adventuring rule.

Always be brave.

“Nah, I’m not backing out.” Cephy reassured to Aarjav one last time, throwing up the sonic screwdriver up as it twirled in the air, but failing to catch it.

She really needed to practice her ‘cool idling move’.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav wanted to coo over Cephy and tell her she was adorable after she tried and failed to catch the screwdriver in her hand. Another thing that didn’t fit about Cephy: she was making references to old shows from his world. First Hannah Montanna and now the Sonic Screwdriver from Doctor Who. He was getting nostalgic. 

“Right.” He covered his giggle with a cough and shouldered his pack, “This way then!” He said.

Aarjav was right about the Voretooths. They came out of the crags and caves like rats. They were a lot bigger than rats, though; faster too. Aarjav was faster, of course. He flipped and dodged their initial leaps with the grace of a ballerina before taking his bow out and shooting them in one fluid motion. 

Contrary to what Hollywood films would have you believe, Aarjav didn’t notch his arrow on the left side of the bow. It required too many motions to steady the arrow, was too time consuming. He wasn’t shooting at stationary targets, after all; he needed to be quick to the draw. Instead, he swiftly notched and aimed from the right side of the bow while in motion. That was also why his quiver rested on his hip instead of on his back. It would suck if he lost all his arrows while running around the battlefield. 

After he downed the last Voretooth, Aarjav sighed through his nose and turned to face Cephy. He smiled encouragingly at her and asked, 

“You alright back there?” 

[to-each-future]

Cephy wanted to punch past-her in the face. If the TARDIS was still there where she originally had left it, she would take it to go exactly back when Aarjav asked her one last time if she was sure she wanted to tag along and then punch herself in the face while describing in details what a voretooth exactly is.

It looked like someone crossbred a tiger with an ornithopod dinosaur because they thought it would be a cool idea but mother nature had to proof why it was a bad idea: And evidently the breeder forgot to feed his creature so it starved down to the bones then the voretooth escaped and mated with another weird creature and now they are roaming around in the forest, defending their territories and attacking poor innocent wanderer.

Like Aarjav and Cephy.

Aarjav’s bow wasn’t there for show. He knew how to use it and he was fast and deadly with it. Cephy couldn’t even follow his movements with her own eyes. In fact, he was so fast that the moment the voretooths (or was it voreteeth?) sprung out of the bushes, the chocobo caretaker readied his bow and began to shoot at everything that was moving. Hollywood may prepare some fancy shooting arrow scenes, but this here was the real deal.

Cephy couldn’t help but get the feeling that Aarjav knew she was a dead weight on this trip, and yet he allowed to come along. A horrible thought crossed her mind. What if the whole nice guy was just a façade and he uses this interview as an excuse to lure lost girls away and then brutally murder them?

Sometimes Cephy hater her mind for instantly jumping into the worst worst case scenario.

“You alright back there?” Aarjav asked as he finished off the last voretooth, looking at her with genuine concern in his eyes.

No way that guy was a serial-killer.

“Hm.” Cephy hummed as she looked at the arrows sticking out of the now dead vortooth. “I don’t wanna live on this planet anymore.” She deadpanned, tripping around the dead creatures, pass Aarjav and kept following the trail of broken tree branches and flatly stomped grass.

Whatever a behemoth / Deadeye was, it was huge. And if it was anything like a vortooth – or worse – she really should start adding the final touches to her will.

Looking ahead, Cephy spotted that the trail of destruction went in what looked to be a nature made fortress of boulders. Clicking her tongue, she quickly whipped around to face Aarjav again. “Okay, if I die – and I really hope I won’t because there’s it’s a really small universe and there’s still so much I want to do – but if I do, I want you to cremate my body and mix it with glitter. Blast that into space while Thanks For the Memories by Fall Out Boy is playing in the background. Thank you.”

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav threw back his head and laughed at Cephy’s colorful mental image. He almost felt bad for dragging her along like this, knowing for sure that Cephy wasn’t even from Eos. That thought sobered him up.

He shouldered his bow and started picking up the arrows scattered around. He’d need them later. As he worked, he considered the dead weight he’d insisted on carrying on this hunt and pursed his lips. He gave Cephy a hard look from under his bangs before saying, 

“Fall Out Boy isn’t from this universe. Who are you, really? And don’t say Hannah Montanna.”

He huffed as he thought of a way to lighten the sudden turn in the conversation. 

“If you don’t know how to fight, you should’ve said something. This isn’t like fanfiction where you drop into another universe ready and able to take on creatures bigger than you are. No offense, Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way” He smiled, “Though I guess it’s too late now. If I let you go back the way you came, you’d just get eaten by Voretooths.” 

[to-each-future]

The saying She wears her heart on a sleeve has never been truer in this moment. Cephy was sure that her face must have turned into the same shade as an over ripped tomato. If she was drinking tea out of a fancy porcelain cup, she would have either spitted out the tea or choked on it. The latter part didn’t sound bad; she could choke and die on it, that way wouldn’t have to face the truth that she got caught right handed here.

Then again, she also did a half-assed job with blending in. Really, in the end it was her own fault.

She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Then opened it again, and closed it again (is that what people mean with goldfish look?).

Quick thinking was needed here. Aarjav knew of the terribly written The Immortal, and he said ‘not from this universe’. Which implies that he was… something else too? Regaining her composure, Cephy took in a deep breath, squared her shoulders and crossed her arms and looked around for something to stand on. Spotting a rock, she quickly stepped around the chocobo care taker and stood on the rock, now almost the same height as Aarjav.

“I said I don’t have what it takes to take a life. Do you see me carrying any weapon? Also I’m starting to wish this was a Mary-Sue fanfiction where my prince charming finds me and we fall in love and then set into the sunset to find the Fountain of Youth.” That was a lie, her third rule of adventuring is to not fall in love. And living forever only sounded good in theory but is probably shit in practice.

Putting her hands on her hips, she puffed out her chest a little bit, stood straighter (Aarjav was still a bit taller than her by a few inches despite her standing on a rock) and then poked Aarjav’s forehead with her finger. “What about you, Mr. Fall-Out-Boy-isn’t-from-this-universe? Seems to me we both have something to hide here. I’ll lay down my cards if you do the same.”

She was being unfair her, she knew that. It was one of her flaws that cause many fights with people around her; she sometimes had the tendency to try to turn the table around in confrontations and her terrible stubbornness of not wanting to admit being wrong did not help at all.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav stares neutrally at Cephy as she accuses him from atop a rock. He regards her for a moment, then says,

“I wasn’t hiding anything from you just now. I’m pretty sure I made it clear I’m in the same boat as you.” 

Aarjav pokes Cephy’s forehead and watched her tumble backward from her terrible balance. He allowed himself a small chuckle before getting serious again. 

“You have no balance. Your stance is wide open and you look around far too much. You’re easily distracted and your first instinct is to flinch instead of fight. It’s obvious you’re a civilian. You’ll just get in the way if I let you fight Deadeye with me.” He explained, “I suppose you could say I lured you out here. If you run off before you answer my questions, the Voretooths will get you before you find anyone. Even if you did, no one will believe you. My mum and I are respected members of society here and you’re… well… you’re new here.”

Aarjav had the good grace to look guilty even as he said that. He scratched his cheek sheepishly as he said, 

“I’m sorry about that, by the way. I just need to know.” His eyes were wide with brittle hope when he asked, “Do you know what’s happening in London? Is everyone okay? Have we won the war yet?”

[to-each-future]

Cephy saw Aarjav lifting his finger to poke her back and wanted to swat his hand away but wasn’t fast enough. It wasn‘t even a hard poke, it was just a light playful poke, but enough to make her stumble and lose her balance. Not wanting to tumble down onto the floor and risk getting her only-shirt more dirt, she jumped down and landed next to Aarjav. He chuckled at her, but then turned serious again.

You‘ll just get in the way if I let you fight Deadeye with me.

She hated to admit it, but those words stung deeply. Maybe he didn‘t mean to hurt her feelings, and maybe it was an issue Cephy herself had to overcome with me, but she hated to have to rely on other people. Her grandfather always gently scolded her for being reckless a lot of times. Jump head first into something without thinking about the consequences. Speak before thinking. Always feeling there was something she had to prove.

And for brief second, Cephy felt like she was transported back into her childhood, where she was being pushed back onto the floor by her father, the smell of alcohol hanging strongly in the air. Bloody hell Cepheus, is there anyone more useless than you?!

In a sense, every decision that she has made in life so far was to prove that she was not useless and did not need to depend on other people. Of course, she could just listen to her grandfather‘s advice and just not care about what her father thinks and said to her, but unfortunately things in life aren‘t that easy.

There wasn’t anything wrong with what Aarjav said to her; after all, he was stating the facts and the reality of their current situation. But it did make Cephy feel slightly better that Aarjav didn‘t sound so stern when he said everything to her. The sheepish cheek scratching made her feel a bit better.

“I don’t fight - at least not physically - because I don’t like violence and I’m a college student who makes her earning by playing the piano in a bar.” Holding both her hands up high and moving all ten fingers, she continued. “I like to keep my hands safe and soft.”

“I’m sorry about that, by the way—“

“Is alright, I’m used to it.” Cephy shrugged it off, her gaze avoiding his.

“— Do you know what’s happening in London? Is everyone okay? Have we won the war yet?”

At the word war, Cephy looked back at him again, staring at him for a few seconds, pondering about the question. Something about Aarjav changed that told her he was forced to leave his home but yearned to go back there again. For a split second, her mind wandered back to the Doctor.

Aarjav was from planet Earth too. But he seemed to have been living here for quite a while now. Maybe he was from the future and they used a spaceship to escape to another planet and settled down here? Cephy didn’t believe in fate, but she did think that meeting Aarjav must have been one big lucky coincidence, and she could feel she was one step closer to finding the Doctor.

“Uhm, if with war, you mean the invasion of the Zygons, we managed to stop the ceasefire and everything’s alright now. There is no winner in that situation… Also the Brexit happened, if that tells you anything.” Flashing him an awkward grinned, Cephy hoped that that answered his question. Seeing as Aarjav was still taking in what she revealed, the pink-haired girl took a deep breath and run her hand through her hair.

“Okay, before we go in and die together, I think we should start over. Hi, my name is Cephy Baskerville. I live in Vienna, it’s the capital of Austria, a country on planet Earth in the Sol system found in the Milky Way galaxy. Nice to meet you, fellow Earthling.”

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav cocked his head to the side. He blinked curiously and regarded Cephy with confused, silver eyes. 

“Zy…gons? What, you mean like in Doctor Who?” He asked incredulously, “I meant the war with the unseelie court. Even normal humans knew about them by the time dad sent mum and me away!”

Aarjav was trying to keep a level head while trying to understand what Cephy meant. It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that Cephy might not have left London at the same time he did. Hell, she might not even be from the same dimension! Arago, his dad, didn’t have a lot of time to explain the ins and outs of dimensional travel before he sent him to Eos, but Aarjav knew enough to figure out there were probably multiple versions of just London, nevermind other worlds. 

Still, Zygons? Everyone grew up watching Doctor Who. Cephy’s offhand remark could just be another reference. She was definitely a fan, if the sonic screwdriver she carried around was any indication. 

When Cephy shoved her hand out to shake and reintroduced herself, Aarjav had to laugh. He liked Cephy’s sense of humor! He clasped her hand firmly in his and gave it a good shake; all in good humor. 

“Well Cephy Baskerville, fellow earthling, I’m Aarjav Stringer from London England, a tiny island country on planet earth in the solar system, found in the Milky Way galaxy. And I’d really like to know what’s happening there if you happen to know?” He introduced himself with a flare. 

[to-each-future]

Cephy squinted her eyes when Aarjav dropped his smile, a hint of desperation in his voice as he repeated what she said to him.

Doctor Who? So perhaps he did know the Doctor? It was a common question that people asked whenever the Doctor introduced himself. But Cephy couldn’t comprehend what Aarjav meant with ‘the war with the unseelie court’. She wasn’t well-versed with folklores and other magical creatures, but she did watch enough Shadowhunter and read other fantasy books to know that it might have something to do with fae.

The pink-haired girl did flinch slightly when Aarjav said ‘normal human’ though. Was he a wizard and she the Muggle here in this case? Or was the tall guy implying Cephy herself wasn’t a normal human? Unconsciously, Cephy moved both of her hands behind her back, as if she was trying to hide something.

At least the re-introduction went well, until Aarjav asked her again what was happening in London, which meant he didn’t believe her the first time. Feeling the sonic screwdriver in her back pocket, she briefly debated if she should use it to proof that what she said before was not a lie. But in order to do that she needed her phone and unfortunately the battery was dead. Maybe Aarjav was nice enough to let her tinker on his phone?

“Okay, basically in June 2016 Great Britain held a referendum where a bit more than half of the British population voted for Great Britain to leave the EU. The Zygon invasion was uh… “ Cephy trailed off, not sure how she should explain that 20 million shape-shifting, slime-spitting aliens were living among humanity on Earth, disguised as their supposedly dead spouses. “You know what, all that matter is we made peace again.”

Pointing at the Chocobo keychain dangling out of Aarjav’s pocket (she wanted one too), Cephy inquired: “Can I borrow your phone real quick? Just want to say goodbye to K-2SO, my corgi before y’know, I die here.”

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav’s confused frown deepened when Cephy explained what happened. The hope shining in his eyes dimmed when he realized his first assumption was correct; Cephy wasn’t from his world. He sighed deeply and let his shoulders slump in defeat before laughing a little at the situation. 

“I think I see what’s happening here. You and I are from two very different places.” Aarjav scratched the back of his head with a smile too tight to be real, “The things you’re talking about? They happened in an episode of Doctor Who. It’s a TV show where I’m from. I assumed the sonic screwdriver you’re carrying around was a prop or a bit of fan merch, but if you’re asking me to see my phone to say goodbye to your dog… well.” 

Aarjav held it out to her with a sheepish not-smile and said, “It’s only fair I let you talk to your dog after I dragged you out here for nothing.”

Aarjav took a quick look around the gorge and frowned again. 

“Though I’d suggest you be quick about it. We’ve been here too long already. More Voretooths could show up at any time; not to mention we’re almost at Deadeye’s lair.” He reminded Cephy, “Don’t worry, I won’t make you fight him. Just stick with me until we get there and I’ll make sure you find somewhere safe to hang back until I’m done.” 

Aarjav elected not to let on how hard that would be. It was his fault anyway that he brought an unarmed civilian with him on a particularly dangerous hunt. He could deal with the consequences of his own bad judgement calls. He hoped he could, anyway. 

[to-each-future]

Funny.

Cephy has spent many sleepless nights up reading binge-reading all hundred chapters of a well-written self-insert fanfiction of her favorite video game/TV show/movie, often daydreaming how it’d be to have her own adventure if she miraculously landed in a fictional universe. (There was that one time where she and the Doctor were stuck in a horror movie but that’s a story for another time)

Well, according to that guy, the Doctor’s adventure was a TV show in his world. Does that make her a fictional character in his world? For a brief second Cephy debated if she should ask Aarjav for any spoilers, but then decided against it. No need to create unnecessary fixed points now.

Flashing him a thankful smile, Cephy took the phone off from his hand, grimacing slightly at the cracked screen. Ought to happen if Aarjav goes on hunts regularly. Or a chocobo decides to step or peck it. It looked like every other smartphone existing out in her world, except she didn’t recognize the brand logo. Fishing out the sonic screwdriver out of her pocket, she managed to twirl it without dropping it. The slightly amused smile on Aarjav’s face did not escape her and Cephy smirked to herself, knowing that he was thinking the screwdriver was a merch.

Cephy pointed the green end at the phone, taking a deep breath and then clicked the button.

BZZZZZZ - Aarjav’s phone screen lit up a few times in blue static. Quickly swiping the screen to the side to unlock it, her eyes wandered over the different icons and spotted the the green phone button. It took her a bit to remember her neighbors phone number (he was dogsitting K-2), but thank God he picked up only after two rings.

“Hi Stephen! It’s me, Cephy! Listen I uh, I’m kinda in a situation here and - what? Oh yeah yeah, studying is going great. Exam is tomorrow at 10.00AM - Yeah, yeah, I got. No, no, I don’t think it’s a good idea - okay great. Right yes yes. Send me a photo of Kaytoo please - Oh my god, just get a new phone. Coolio, bye.”

Sighing out in relief, Cephy waited for the dog photo and smiled when it came through.

Well, learned something new:

She managed to sonic his phone

Even though it felt like couple of days, it seemed like time back home has not moved much. Which is good, otherwise people might think she is missing, and that is the last thing she needs.

She managed to sonic his phone

Even though it felt like couple of days, it seemed like time back home has not moved much. Which is good, otherwise people might think she is missing, and that is the last thing she needs.

“Thanks again. Sorry, had to sonic your phone to make interdimensional calls. Anyone you need to call?”

Handing him the phone back, Cephy then tied her hair back into a ponytail so it wouldn’t be much in her face later and raised her head high, marching into Deadeye’s lair.

“Let’s rock’n’roll, baby.”

[actual-flower-girl]

“interdimensional calls, huh?” Aarjav tasted the words in his mouth as he considered what he could do with that. 

Aarjav could call home; see how everyone’s holding up. His dad would probably love to hear from him; it might even get him to stop worrying about him long enough to focus on the long-term. Arago was a good man, but he cared too much about too many things at once to keep track of them all, sometimes.

Uncle Oz might want to be brought up to speed too, but Aarjav also didn’t want to disrupt anything important. Oz had too much at stake to make any mistakes, and worrying about whether or not Aarjav could communicate throughout dimensions might do more harm than good.

He didn’t want to be a bother.

“…Maybe later. We have something else to do first.” Aarjav said as he pocketed his phone. 

Aarjav’s smile curled into a predatory grin as he followed Cephy into Deadeye’s lair. The thrill of a hunt never failed to make Aarjav’s blood sing. Out here it was simple: kill or be killed. You had to be smart about the choices you make lest the hunter become the hunted. Aarjav was a master at outsmarting his quarry, the common beasts and daemons of Eos were child’s play next to the unseelie court. 

A behemoth would kill you and eat you, but the fae would talk circles around you while they do it. They’d make you give up everything important to you while making it seem like it was your idea, then they’d tell you it was fair. It was tricky business, but Aarjav was better off for it. In dealing with the faeries and their courts, he naturally became clever and quick on his feet. Both would serve him well here. 

“Here we go…!” Aarjav whispered as Deadeye finally came into view. 

[to-each-future]

There was a shift in the atmosphere, barely noticeable, but it was there. If Cephy didn’t spend so much time adventuring with the Doctor she wasn’t sure if she would have noticed it, but with time she learned how to read certain situations.

Something about Aarjav changed. He was still wearing a smile when they carefully made their way through the bushes and rocks, but something about his whole body and his eyes changed. Before, he was a chocobo caretaker. Friendly and cheerful. Now he was the hunter and Deadeye was his prey.

A shiver went down Cephy’s spine and she tried her best to follow Aarjav. Whole weight on one foot, hovering over the over, and then slowly bringing it to the ground, carefully not to step on any stones or twigs or metal scraps (it was something she learned from a space Indiana Jones on one of her adventures). Aarjav’s movement flowed well with his environment, and Cephy wish she could sit somewhere high and just watch him move, trying to memorize his techniques. However, for now she needed to make sure she was keeping up with him.

Her gaze traveled to the arrows and bows strapped on his back and waist. Cephy assumed he was very well trained with his weapon. Times likes this she wished she was some sort of badass sword fighter and could easily take down twenty enemies at once. Her eyes trailed down to her left palm and gathered it into a shaky fist. The cut she received on her last adventure has healed, and she left out a shaky breath.

Perhaps in another life she’d know why her blood wasn’t normal.

Now there was a behemoth to hunt down.

A loud roar echoed through the space and Cephy quickly took cover behind a boulder. Shutting her eyes down tightly, she felt the presence of Aarjav joining next to her and they waited for the roaring sound to go away. Loud footsteps came closer and closer, the ground shaking slightly under the weight. Whatever a behemoth was, it had to be huge. Cephy told herself that it couldn’t be worse than that one time she landed in the middle of a T-rex nest and all the babies were asleep but the mom came back from her hunt with dinner, at which point she sure thought she was gonna be dinner too.

A loud growl, and the beast had to be right behind the boulder, passing by. Cephy held her breath and only started to breathe when she was sure Deadeye was a good distance away. Then she carefully peeked over the boulder. The surrounding was foggy and it was hard to make anything out, but she did spot something resembling a tail wiggling back and forth with each step.

If they didn’t move fast, they might lose Deadeye out of their sight.

“Okay, so what’s the pla-” before she could finish her sentence, a pair of hands grabbed by the shoulders and pushed her against the boulder, grip gentle and yet firm holding her there. Cephy was about to get angry and shout at Aarjav for being an asshole when she realized she wasn’t looking at Aarjav at all. Just happened to be another guy who was the same height as him, but appearance wise very differently.

She liked the eagle tattoo sprawled across his chest.

Lifting up one finger, she pointed at the buff guy and spilled out the first thing that came into her mind: “Ya know, usually I let the guy take me out on at least five dates before they can push me against a hard surface.” And then quickly realizing what she said, she bit down on her lip, thinking now would be a good time to get swallowed alive by the behemoth.

Tattoo guy let an amused smirk pass over his face before it turned serious again. “What are you doing here? This is no place for a civilian.”

Cephy let her eyes wander around a bit before deciding to settle for the truth: “Job interview, me an-”

“NOCT!” someone shouted.

It could be Aarjav, it could be not. But whoever it was, they were in danger and Cephy was not gonna stand here around and do nothing. The brief moment of distraction was enough for her to use all her strength to push tattoo guy away from her and then bolt around the boulder to the source of the scream, the stranger following her close by.

And there was Deadeye. A big monstrosity, the whole body looked like it was just made out of muscles, claws sharp enough to cut through metals. It had one broken horn, but that didn’t mean it was less dangerous.

Aarjav ought to be somewhere there, already fighting the behemoth

“Well, shit.” Cephy cursed under her breath.

[actual-flower-girl]

“Well aren’t you a beauty…” Aarjav murmured as he finally got a full view of Deadeye the Behemoth. His blood was pumping with excitement and nerves as it always did when on the hunt. Aarjav had been to this area earlier in the week to scope it out for potential choke points to exploit, but this is the first time he’d actually seen Deadeye. Aarjav certainly had his work cut out for him; honestly the only real way he was going to corner this beast was to get it all the way back in it’s lair. 

It was not to be. Something startled the behemoth enough for it to go on high alert. A bright blue light zipped past him; zooming to and fro as it weaved its way closer to Deadeye. 

“What the bloody hell?” Aarjav cursed, slipping into a cockney accent without realizing, “Oi! Warn a bloke when you’re about to charge in like that!” 

Aarjav cursed again and notched an arrow. It was do or die now. Before he took aim, he breathed in deep through his nose, and heaved a sigh through his mouth. When he opened his eyes, his posture relaxed, his grip was steady, and his eyes were blazing gold with magic. 

He could see. Every breath Deadeye took, every beat of its massive heart, and the way its aura pulsed outward with sheer power was within Aarjav’s sight. It was ridiculously easy to tell which way Deadeye would move once you could see the irritated shudders of its aura. The blue light continued flitting around like an annoying fly, but now Aarjav could see the person traveling within it. 

“…Noct?” He murmured incredulously. 

He’d met him and his friends earlier that day. From what he could tell, they were just passing by on their way to Lestallum. But even then, Aarjav could see a massive power resting within him. A light brighter than the sun was sleeping inside Noctis, and some of it filtered out into the world like crystal prisms. It was beautiful, and… strangely familiar. 

Aarjav gritted his teeth and let his arrow fly true. It struck the side of Deadeye’s neck just as Noctis appeared to slash at the flank. Deadeye didn’t take kindly to its little pests. It swiveled around too quickly for Noctis to dodge and he went flying back to crash into the ground. 

“NOCT!” Aarjav called out just as someone else did the same. 

Ah. At least he brought back up. 

[to-each-future]

There was a metallic smell in the air. It wasn’t blood though, because Cephy knew the smell all too well. She couldn’t really put into the words how it smelled, but it only get stronger the closer she was to the behemoth. Seeing a ledge coming up, she slowed down and put her hands on both her knees, her heart beating fast, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Seriously, why is there always so much running involved in adventures?

It didn’t take long for tattoo guy to catch up on her, the frown on his face telling her that he was not happy he had to chase after her.

“You stay here!” He shouted and summoned his weapon before taking a leap and jumping down to join Aarjav in bringing down Deadeye.

Cephy couldn’t believe her eyes on what she just saw. Weapon, summoned out of thin air. A big ass giant sword summoned out of fucking thin air. Peering down onto the ledge, she spotted the big behemoth howling loudly, a broken arrow struck in his neck. That must have been Aarjav’s doing. Wondering how he planned to take down this beast by himself, Cephy was glad to see he wasn’t alone; after all tattoo guy just jumped down to take down Deadeye.

Then something weird appeared in her vision.

Gold freckles floating around tattoo guy’s weapon. But it seemed like he wasn’t the only one down there: Three more guys - all dressed in black - had their weapons sheathed, doing their best to bring down the beast that was terrorizing the yellow dodo bird named after chocolates. A greater amount of gold freckles were floating around one particular guy though. With his sword, he was able to move very quickly from one spot and throw his sword into a high tree and hang down from there, then with another swift motion he was moving toward the behemoth, striking it with his sword.

It wasn’t enough though. With its sharp claws and long tails, Deadeye managed to deflect most of the attack so far. But then the blonde spiky-haired guy missed his shot with his pistol, hitting one of the many barrels that were scattered around the place. It exploded instantly, the behemoth catching fire as the beast screamed in agony. However the fire didn’t lasted long.

It was enough for Cephy to hatch a plan. A very risky plan. But she trusted the four guys were experience fighter and would know what to do in an improve situation.

Quickly looking around for a sharp object, she found some old bottles lying around. With one quick mash against a rock, it shattered into many pieces, sharp enough for Cephy to use it form a small cut on her left palm, enough to draw out a bit of blood. Then she stared at the cut, her mind imagining sharp dagger. The blood flew out in drops out of the cut, forming into a dagger.

Good, Cephy thought to herself, she had something she can use to throw now.

Left hand, she had the blood dagger, and on the other hand the sonic screwdriver, which she will need to sonic the containers and make them explode.

Now she just needed to warn the guys.

“AARJAV!” Cephy shouted as loud as she can as she held up both objects high for him to see, “LEFT EYE! CONTAINER! SONIC SCREWDRIVER!”.

The message was - or should be easy - to understand: She was gonna use the blood dagger to blind Deadeye’s other eye, and while it can’t see anymore sonic a container to make it explode and weaken the behemoth more. Hopefully everything will go to plan and no one will get injured too much.

[actual-flower-girl]

Aarjav’s eyes darted to Cephy and locked onto her blood-tinged aura. So she could use magic… just not the same as his. More importantly, Cephy had a plan. 

Aarjav grinned and gave her a thumbs up to signal that he heard her. He turned back to the others and relayed the message to them. Hopefully they weren’t the type to get pissy about being “one-upped” by someone outside their group. 

“Let’s step back for now. The lady’s gonna blind the other eye for us.” He suggested before dragging Noctis and Prompto back by the back of their collars. They were the most likely to ask questions and waste time, but if the other two were smart, they’d follow suit. 

“All you, Cephy!” Aarjav called out cheerfully as he notched another arrow and aimed it at Deadeye’s left eye. It wouldn’t hurt to have an extra shot at such a small target, after all.

[to-each-future]

The floating gold freckles were distracting her. She didn’t know what they were and why they were there, but for some reason she couldn’t shake off the feeling it had something to do with her eyes; after there all gold specks were swimming in her blue orbs too.

Ah whatever, she’ll have to deal with that later. There was a more important matter in the hand now.

Aarjav looked up toward her and then a huge grin split over his face, giving her a thumb up while he was still holding the arrow. Cephy returned the grin and then turned back to look at Deadeye. From the corner of her eye, she saw Aarjav turning around to say something to the other four and then dragged two of them away by their collar. The other two seemed to be smart enough to understand what was going to happen soon.

“All you, Cephy!” Aarjav then signaled to her.

Twirling the blood dagger between her index and middle finger to get it into position with her thumb, Cephy put her leg foot forward, her sight set on Deadeye’s yet-good eye. But not for long anymore. In her mind, the blood dagger in her hand was an acupuncture needle, the eye the spot she was supposed to stab the needle quickly. Granted, it wasn’t the same situation, but the visualisation always helped her at dart games, so why should it be any more different here?

With one strong swift swing, the dagger was out of her hand and flying toward its target. Aarjav send out an arrow at the same time, both objects hitting its target.

Success. Deadeye howled in pain (Cephy briefly wondered if the dissolved blood turn corrosive but decided to worry about it later). Now that the behemoth was blind on both eyes, it began to swing its tail around wildly, hitting everything that was in the way. Thankfully the guys were far enough to not get hit. Time for part two.

Aiming the sonic screwdriver at the first container, Cephy pressed the button and then moved the device to the other two containers. One by one they exploded around Deadeye, the behemoth catching fire.

It should be weakened enough to let the guys finish him.

[actual-flower-girl]

The boys whooped in victory behind Aarjav as both targets hit their mark. Aarjav knew it was too soon to celebrate, however, so he kept his eyes firmly on the rampaging, blinded behemoth below. 

Cephy’s screwdriver lit up and an aura appeared around it and the oil barrel right in front of Deadeye. The color of heat and untamed fire enveloped the oil and caused it to explode. Even that wasn’t enough to bring down the beast, but it was enough to weaken it. 

“Now’s our chance!” Aarjav cried out with the authority of a soldier in the heat of battle, “Aim for the neck and let’s take it out quickly!” 

The others nodded and Noct’s Armiger flared to life. It was the first time Aarjav had seen it in action, but he’d heard about the legendary power of the Lucian royal family. He thought it might’ve been an offshoot of teleportation magic that lets their arsenal come and go as it pleases, but now that he’s seen it up close, Aarjav knows better. It’s light. Tiny rays of sunshine woven together to form a solid, magical hologram. Noct’s warping ability became even more impressive knowing that he turned into pure light traveling at light speed to blink in and out of the fight as he saw fit. It was amazing. Aarjav might even compare it to his dad’s power in terms of raw magical might. The power of gods and kings was at Noct’s fingertips, and this was just a taste. 

Noctis wasn’t alone in his assault, of course. Gladio and Ignis accompanied him on the ground. Ignis vaulted Gladio up onto Deadeye’s neck with his spear so he could deliver a devastating blow. He then followed trough with a swift volley of daggers to make a path for Noct to warp to. 

Prompto and Aarjav stayed back to provide aerial support. Aarjav’s arrows found their mark in the gash Gladio made on Deadeye’s neck. Prompto’s bullets were packed with magical dispersal pellets. Fire erupted from Deadeye’s bloody wound and tore it open beyond repair. Deadeye the Behemoth was dead; it was only a matter of time before the beast figured it out. 

“It’s over.” Aarjav sighed before holstering his bow and turning his back. 

“Wha–But it’s still moving!” Prompto cried out before shooting Aarjav a few fleeting, panicked looks.

“Not for long. You blew out its jugular with those explosive rounds. Nice work!” Aarjav grinned proudly and gave Prompto a thumbs up. 

As if on cue, Deadeye shuddered, hacked up a wad of blood, and fell over dead. Prompto gawped at the sight in awe. 

“Dude. That was disgusting.” He ended up saying with a scrunched up nose. 

Aarjav laughed and patted Prompto on the back. They shared a moment of camaraderie before heading down to meet with the others. Noct and Gladio were grinning like loons as if they couldn’t believe what they’d done. Ignis was airing out his jacket as if unbothered by the effort it took to bring Deadeye down.

“Awh man did you see that! That was awesome! We took down a Behemoth!” Noct cheered and high fived Prompto. 

“It was a close call, but we did it.” Gladio huffed fondly before slapping Noctis hard on the back. Noct almost pitched forward to faceplant onto the ground, but Prompto caught him before he fell. 

“It wouldn’t have gone nearly so well, if it weren’t for the help we received. Thank you again, Aarjav, your timing is impeccable.” Ignis reminded them while shooting Aarjav a grateful look, “As well as your companion. I don’t believe we’ve met her yet.” 

[to-each-future]

The behemoth took its last breath before it finally collapsed onto the ground, shaking the surrounding. The battle Cephy witnessed was so unreal, something straight out of a well-choreographed fantasy action movie. There was a lot of summoning different kind of weapons, teleporting back and forth in a quick flash of blue and Aarjav putting even Legolas to shame.

Even though Cephy stayed at her safe high spot during the whole ordeal, she did not leave the battle without unscatched; the explosion she caused different spare parts flew around all direction, leaving an ugly scratch on her right cheek and few minor cuts on her arm. They would heal by themselves given some time, but the stinging sensation was still uncomfortable.

Seeing the guys patting themselves on the shoulder and chatting up with Aarjav, Cephy suppose it was time to go down and join them.

“I don’t believe we’ve met her yet.” one of the guys said, pushing his glasses up so it sat better on his nose.

“Speak of the devil and she shall appear.” Cephy said, stopping in front of the group. She had to blink couple of times, and even shook her head. The floating gold speckles seemed to have gotten stronger, especially around Aarjav and the guy with black spiky hair. Maybe she should ask Aarjav about it later, perhaps this will all just a part of mother nature. “Does anyone happen to carry a first-aid kit? I got some nasty scratches and cuts and would like to take care of them now before they get worse.” pointing at her right cheek and holding up her arm, she showed them what she meant.

“N-no, but we do have some potions left you could use.” The blonde guy spoke up, fishing out a green flask out of his pocket and handing to Cephy.

Hesitantly, she took it and inspected it in her hand. The pink-haired girl has played enough video games to know what the function of potions were: You use them to restore your HP. She just didn’t think it something that actually existed in real life. Then again, it was a small universe and full of surprises, something she should know better by now.

“Do I… just drink it?” She asked, just to be safe.

The blonde guy was about to open his mouth to say something, but he was quickly interrupted by the tattoo guy. Taking out his own flask of potion, he hold up and looked at Cephy, flashing her a smile. “This is how you do it.” Crunch, he broke the flask in his hand. The glass shard disappeared into green sparkles flying in the air.

Double-chinning at this, Cephy followed his instruction. The glass was surprisingly easy to break and it did not give her more cuts, as she thought it would. A tingling sensation coursed through her body as the potion evaporated off into green sparkles, and then she waited and stared at the cuts on her arm to slowly mend itself.

Nothing happened, the stinging feeling was still there.

Confused, she turned around to look at Aarjav, but he didn’t offer her any explanation.

“This should normally work.” The tattoo guy said out loud, thoughtfully staring at Cephy.

Whatever. She could survive few cuts.

“Sooooo,” Cephy drawled out, putting both her arms behind her head, “did I get the job?”

[actual-flower-girl]

“So did I get the job?” pierced through Aarjav’s mind and filled him with awkward guilt. He laughed lightheartedly and scratched the side of his face. His mother was gonna kill him.

“Oh yeah.” He said casually, “You had the job the whole time.“

Ignis quirked a brow in his direction questioningly. Noctis looked bored but something in his aura perked up like he was interested. Prompto was staring openly with wide, expressive eyes asking a question his mouth hadn’t opened up to answer yet. Gladio beat him to it.

“Oh yeah, you said this was an interview. What kinda job?” He asked. 

Aarjav’s smile didn’t waver when he answered, 

“Waitress.” 

The boys all looked aghast and formed a protective ring around Cephy. Gladio in particular glowered at Aarjav with thinly veiled disappointment. Aarjav felt like an asshole just about then. 

“You dragged a lady this far out here to hunt a behemoth for a waitressing job?”  Gladio growled protectively, “What kinda man are you?

[to-each-future]

As much as Cephy wanted to punch Aarjav in the face for risking her life on the hunt for Deadeye, she didn’t like the way the tattoo guy was instantly on Aarjav’s face. Plus she could stand up to herself. 

Quickly stepping in between the two tall guys, she put her hands up to notion him to calm down. “Look, nothing happened, okay? Besides it’s not like Aarjav is the first guy to drag me out of bed in the middle of the night and throw me face-first into danger...” Noticing how tattoo guy’s face expression darkened only more, Cephy trailed off and then decided they should just book it. 

"Well, fancy meeting you lot. Goodbye!” Grabbing Aarjav by his sleeve, she quickly dragged him away from the group, not wanting to deal with any more new people and chit chats. She needed a bath really badly, and some food. She wasn’t sure if it was just her mind playing trick on her, but whenever she used her power, Cephy felt like she could eat five whole pizzas and still have room for desserts. 

As they walked away further away, Cephy also noticed that the floating gold speckles lessened, and decided to speak up about it. “Do you also see those floating golden lights or did I die?”

[escriia]

bleeding moon / night addict.

[mygod-mytourniquet-deactivated2]

@to-each-future

A loud crash nearby caught Hana’s attention, and she immediately scanned her surroundings for the cause, finding a large, blue box in an alleyway guarded by two sakura trees. Years of being in the Shinsengumi have taught the young brunette to trust her instincts, and as she examined the foreign object, did just that. Despite not knowing what it was, Hana knew for certain that her superiors back at headquarters might have some idea.

Doubling back the same way that she came, the young teen returned to Shinsengumi HQ with a report that puzzled the older men. However, in her haste to tell someone about the strange box, Hana completely overlooked a girl with bright red-and-purple hair who crawled out from beneath the odd contraption.

[to-each-future]

It happened again.

Cephy was left alone in the TARDIS as the Doctor put on his space suit to do a surrounding check outside. Something must have messed around with the TARDIS, because not long after the Doctor stepped out of the blue box, it began to dematerlize to somewhere else.

With only Cephy inside.

And then the TARDIS landed. To be more precisely, it landed in Edo-period Japan, during the time where the Shinsegumi was active (Cephy only knew that because she quickly did a surrounding check via the monitor inside the time machine).

The first thing Cephy did was trying to go back and get the Doctor, but for some reason, the TARDIS didn’t budge from its spot. The girl remembered that once the Doctor told her the TARDIS doesn’t always take them to where they want to go, but where they need to be. Does this mean there was something happening here that required her? Was it a good idea to leave the safety of the blue box and wander around all alone?

The short answer, probably not. Long answer is that Cephy always wanted to go to Japan, and being the slight history buff she was with a keen interest for the samurai system and see how Kyoto looked like, there really wasn’t much holding here back. A quick one hour walk around the block has never hurt anybody.

Stopping briefly at the wardrobe, the pink haired woman looked around for a kimono but quickly realized that without a help, she won’t be able to put it on by her own, so instead she opted to wear the kimono like a bathrobe over her skinny jeans and t-shirt and tied the knot.

Time to explore Kyoto now and then find a way to get back to the Doctor.

[szynkaaa]

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