Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky [OPEN]

[taiyounoyou]

Who: Masaki and literally anyone
When: Early September, wibbly-wobbly time
Where: Aube 1st floor, Aube roof, Training hall
What: Masaki arrives on campus, does a bit of stalking, buys way too much cake, and practices her archery like a good hunter.
Warnings: None, I think! Will add headings if needed.


A. Arrival... 1 & 2
[1]
A young woman in her mid-twenties with short reddish-brown hair stands in the hallway of Aube's first floor. She's arrived at Daybreak with nothing more than a large rolling suitcase being tugged along behind her. All of her clothes and worldly possessions are in there--at least the ones that she really wanted to bring. It's not much, but she doesn't look put out by that. She's bright and cheerful as the morning sun, greeting everyone she comes across with an enthusiastic "Good morning!" whether they live there or not. She might not have asked to come here, but she's going to make the best of it no matter what.

[2]
Arriving at her assigned room, Msaki finds that someone has clearly already been here. Aside from the standard issue furnishing, there's a few large boxes deposited in the middle of the floor. Curiously, Masaki approaches them and picks the biggest one to open. The box yields an ungodly amount of packing peanuts and styrofoam and... the breastplate of a suit of armor. Her expression quickly changes to mortified, and she shoves the antique looking thing back into the box and closes it.

She is absolutely not wearing that. Nope, no way, no how.

...But neither can she just dump it. Her clan would kill her. So her only choice is to start pushing all the boxes into the corner of the room--and maybe stacking them rather precariously. Maybe she'll make a tower and put fourteen potted plants on top of it and never touch it again.


B. Stakeout
It's late. Some nebulous time in the evening. The sun has gone down, but Masaki is up on the roof with a jacket, a pair of binoculars, and a bag of chips. It's a little chilly up here when the peak of summer has started to ebb away, but she's a woman on a mission... And that mission has her binoculars pointed towards... the Lumiere dorm? What the heck is she watching with those? And why? It's definitely a little weird.


C. Cake, Cake, Cake
It should be a crime to visit France and not try all the desserts and pastries that the country has to offer. That's the kind of thing that interpol should be cracking down on, honestly. Which is why Masaki is being a good citizen... and returning to Aube's first floor commons area with a bag of Soliel goodies. There's an assortment of tiny cakes that she starts pulling out and arranging in rows on the counter. Is she planning on sharing these? Because there sure is a lot of them. More than would be healthy for one person to eat... But for the moment, she seems to be just staring at all of them with the utmost deliberation.

And then she takes her phone out and starts taking pictures.


D. Nose to the Grindstone
Masaki is at a school, which means she should probably keep up with her lessons--the kind of lessons that the Quincy would be interested in hearing about. It only takes a little trial and error to figure out where the training hall it--a little but of getting lost in the Citadel, but it's no big deal. She's an adult that's very capable of asking for directions, and mostly capable of following them.

Once she's sure that she's in the right place, Masaki gets to work. There's a few targets on the far wall that she's aiming at, and she faces those with a sort of seriousness that's been absent for most of her arrival at Daybreak. She goes over the basics. Posture. Stance. There's a bright glow as a longbow made of radiance forms in her hand. She holds it up, putting her other hand to the empty string and drawing back--as an arrow of that same radiance forms with the motion. Deep breath in--and exhale. Her fingers release the arrow and the bolt of radiance flies with alarming speed at the targets, making a small explosion against the far wall.

She stops only a moment to appraise the result, and then fixes to fire another shot at a different target.


[I'll match whichever format you want to use, prose or brackets!]

Comments

[unpocoloco]

He snorts and gives her a wry look. But as she predicts, he doesn't argue the point. He blinks in surprise then.

"Oh! Yeah, sure. I believe you." She doesn't seem like the sort who would want to fry him upon after her reaction the first time. He holds his bow out for her to see-- a scrapped together inelegant thing, covered in runes to make it lighter and useable.

"It's not a normal bow though. I can't build muscle or anything like that. I had someone build me this so I could use it anyway. I used to-- ha-- I would kind of just take my arm off and fire it with suspenders. My aim got pretty good like that, but it's not entirely the same as a real bow and arrow, obviously. It's hard not to worry about hitting the wrong thing." Or a person.

[taiyounoyou]

She takes a moment to look the bow over. It's... Well, it's not the level of craftsmanship and rune work that the Quincy clan commissions, but it's clearly well made. Someone put a lot of thought into this. She looks a little impressed.

And then he mentions shooting his arm like and arrow, and she looks both excited and dismayed. "What?! That sounds so cool! I should have asked about that before you changed back!"

[unpocoloco]

She actually looks impressed, which pleases him. Peter worked so hard on that. He misses the boy-- though it's much safer this way with him back home-- and this remains the best reminder.

He grins then. "Hang on, hang on."

A third full shift would be much, and would leave him exposed out here but a partial could work. He lets his power light, focusing the energy around his arm, and it dissolves Fingers go to bone and the one sleeve is looser than it was a second ago. He pushes the sleeve back and pulls. The arm comes off just like that. Still grinning, he shoves aside his jacket to show his suspenders. Old fashioned, sure, but since he learned this trick in the Outlands it's become too useful for him to just discard them. Plus, it keeps his clothing together in a pinch with sudden shifts. He positions his arm with his remaining hand, pulling back. His stance really isn't bad at all. He's evidently done this a lot. And then he fires.

There is arm goes, flung across the range. As it soars, his hand opens, just in time to grasp the target's edge. A slight swing for momentum and it flips up to land atop of it all and wave back at her.

[taiyounoyou]

He's too good to her. Masaki barely knows him, and she's already sure of that much. Even though he's already gone through the effort to change back, he still expends the energy to show her his trick. She couldn't be more grateful.

Or more delighted.

Her eyes light up at the way he just pops his arm off like it's no big deal. And then the thing with the suspenders? Classic. And his form is so good, she wants to compliment him right then and there, but she's too enraptured with watching this display.

She steps back to give him some room, her eyes fixes on him and his arm arrow. When he fires, she follows the trajectory of the arm all the way to the target. It grabs on, doing it's little flip, and her grin only grows wider.

All at once, she's clapping enthusiastically, turning that grin back at Héctor. "That was so amazing! And so good! Your form was great, and your arm made such a good arrow!" She laughs a little at how silly that sounds. "How long did you practice to get it right?"

[unpocoloco]

She encourages him, really. So rarely does he get to show off his favorite tricks these days. She breaks into applause and his grin grows even wider. Both he and his arm perform a bow respectively before he limps over to retrieve the detached limb. He spins it in his hand and jams it back into its socket, moving it a bit to make sure it's set right before he works his power to make himself whole again.

"Thank you!" he says, laughing too. He hobbles back and once again picks up his dropped bow.

"I'm not sure actually. It was hard to mark time in the Outlands. I noticed mis primos and I could come apart but it still took a bit of force until more time passed. Once my bones started loosening up, I tried separating them on purpose, seeing what I could control. My Tío one time wanted me to give him a hand, so I threw my arm at him for a joke." He laughs at the memory. And the aftermath of it. "One day during an attack on our group I just popped it off and shot it like an arrow. And it helped! So after that, I started practicing as regularly as I did taking myself apart or playing the guitar. It's only gotten me into trouble once, but it gave the time that was needed."

[taiyounoyou]

He finishes with a flourish that tells Masaki all she needs to know about his willingness to perform. She's going to remember that for the future. If she wants something with a bit of flair, this is clearly the guy to talk to.

The idea of just tossing your arm at someone for a joke sounds wild. She can't stop smiling. "That's so resourceful--and I bet that makes for a lot of fun practical jokes." There's something in her voice that tips a little more mischievous. She might already be thinking about ways that could be used for less altruistic means... Nothing harmful, of course! But not necessarily helpful, either.

"Have you ever tried anything like that? Tapping on things or making distracting noises? Or using it change things around behind someone's back while you're talking to them?"

[unpocoloco]

It's fun, seeing someone so delighted by his tales and antics. He nods-- he likes to think he's resourceful, yes. Then he grins wider. Ah, the jokes. She is a fun one, isn't she? She's also given herself away. He'll be keeping an eye on this one.

He laughs, "Tragically, not as much as I'd like," He admits. "Keeping a low profile doesn't make for easing pranking with skeletonisms." He shakes his head and tuts. But then straightens, beaming.

"I've snuck into the kitchens when they were locked up though. And a few other places. My head comes off as well as anything else so I could watch concerts over fences or toss myself through a window. But you do make some very good points." He strokes his chin, considering them.

[taiyounoyou]

"Wait you snuck into the kitchens?" That seems to catch her attention more than anything else. Forget pranks--for now. This is even better!

"How did you do that?" she asks, an intensity in her expression. She follows up with the question that is obviously more pressing to her in this moment than either of the two that she asked before. "Can you sneak me in, too?"

Let her be an accomplice to kitchen capers, Skeleton Friend. It's her only wish.

[unpocoloco]

Oh dear, he knows that look. He was hungry and broke once too. Just a brief time. He laughs a little.

"Sure, I could help you." He glances around. "We could go now if you want." He's sure the chefs will have called in for a break before the early shift begins.

"I was looking after a couple of kids who needed it before. There's a window around the side of the kitchens, you see, mostly for venting out just in case, I imagine. It's too high up to reach normally but I just have to take off an arm and hold it up with the other. After that it just takes a bit of a boost to swing up and in." He pauses. "There's a drop on the other side but I can reassemble pretty quick."

[taiyounoyou]

Well, she's not broke, but she sure is hungry. It probably has something to do with all of this Radiance burning inside of her--and maybe with the silent warfare that's being waged, too. Either way, she requires a lot of food. She could probably just ask for seconds, but... This is more fun.

"Now would be great! I'm not doing anything else." Especially since practicing her archery right now would mean burning him more. It would seem tonight's training session is over as quickly as it began.

"It doesn't really matter how high up this window is. Heights don't bother me." She'd probably climb a skyscraper for food, if she needed to.

[unpocoloco]

Why do things the normal sensible way when you could get the same stuff with crimes?

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" He starts on way, waving for her to move along with him. On his way, he picks up a cane leaning to the side.

"Maybe you're fine, but if you fall, you might break something. I'm too light as a skeleton to really bust anything up. I'm just gonna hop in and unlock the door for you from the inside! You'll be able to walk right in, easy as anything."

Sure, she won't be able to get in on her own, but the window's too small for someone not thin as bones anyway.

[taiyounoyou]

She falls in step with him, and with nothing for her to carry about with her, she hurriedly grabs the door to open it for him. It's the least she can do to help, since he's apparently going to be doing all the infiltrating.

"I guess that works. So long as it gets me in!" She's already imagining all the delicious treats she'll find, and she can't help but wonder what brings him to perform a caper like this. "What are you planning on grabbing? Do skeletons, uh... Need to eat?"

[unpocoloco]

Simple pleasures. He nods. He can appreciate that. Having the door tended for him helps too. If he had a hand free, he might have waved it at the question. Instead, he shakes his head.

"I don't eat anymore. It doesn't really do good for me, kind of just makes me sick. Only really really small things, stuff that doesn't rot. Certain drinks are okay." He doesn't seem put out by this. It is, by now, just a fact for him and not worth mourning.

"Last time was just for those kids I mentioned. Had a fae spell on campus and everyone's younger selves came out to play. Took along a girl in the dorm and my younger self to raid the kitchen a bit. I have the kid's memories still. The food is pretty nice here. All fresh fruits."

[taiyounoyou]

Oh. That sounds so depressing. "I don't know what I would do if I couldn't eat," she mutters, looking truly distraught by the idea. "I'd probably die." There's a beat of silence, and then, "I mean--a second time."

But she doesn't dwell on that too long. He seems like he's mostly adjusted to this after all. And he mentions running around with his younger self, and she looks at him again with a little awe. "So you snuck into the kitchens with a little you? How old was the younger one?"

What kind of terrible role model was he being to his younger self?

[unpocoloco]

He laughs at that. She's right on board with morbid humor it seems.

"Once food betrays you enough times the habit is easier to knock," He says. He tilts his head then, considering. "I'm not sure how old, actually. Things got a little fuzzy as the spell wore down. Not teenage but not too young... around twelve? Ten? Somewhere there."

Masaki can rest assured Teto found trouble, enabled or not.

[taiyounoyou]

"Oh, so it was less like an older self and more like a bad uncle? The kind that tells you getting into trouble is okay--but only when your parents aren't listening."

Masaki grins cheekily at him, knowing well enough that probably wasn't what he was going for. But it sounds awfully plausible here! Especially since he's about to help her sneak into the kitchens!

"Who was the other kid? Was it someone you know?"

[unpocoloco]

He straightens, jaw working. Influence wasn't even something he'd thought about.

Finally, he splutters, "I'll have you know, I was already like that before I ... got... there. This made so much more sense in my head." He frowns then huffs. "Well my daughter is un angelita, so ha!"

It's not a lie if he doesn't know better.

His voice goes more serious but still warm. "The other kid was Puella. Just a normal kid, not a spellborn one. One of the younger ones but she's unstoppable, she is. We-- they, my younger self and her, made up a fort together in Aube when he was around. Hence the kitchen raid. Every good camping experience calls for snacks."

[taiyounoyou]

She can't help it. She laughs. Already like that before he got there, huh? She could almost see that. What a menace.

"Oh, I'm sad I missed that! I love camping." She grins wide. That sounds like so much fun. Maybe she convince some of the Aube residents to do it again... Like this Puella girl? She sounds really cute.

"But--you have a daughter? What's she like?"

[unpocoloco]

He grins back. She doesn't scoff a child's fun as some would. He appreciates that.

But only Coco could make his smile bloom so bright as it does then. His chest swells with it, and then--

"Ay, but she's the most wonderful thing in the world of course!" He says. "Kind and smart and beautiful, just like her Mamá. A ton of energy all the time so she can dance through day and night! Loves the bugs in her garden as much as the birds. This great wit. I got to see her recently! She just had her quinceñera! Here, look, I have pictures!" Technology is great, he loves technology. He leans his cane on his legs and loops his arm through the bow so he can dig out his phone. In no time he's pulling up pictures.

"This is her!" He says with utmost pride and renewed joy. "And, here, this was her in her dress. A couple more of her. Oh! That's Peter, he's staying at our home, he must have borrowed my phone when I set it down... I don't know what he's doing there.... Oh! This is the dance. The dance for she and I specifically. A few photos of those looks like. Ay Dios, I'm crying in half of these, I apologize, this is a terrible impression..." He laughs nervously and swipes along more. Then reaches and old scanned copy of something older. The same girl at four years old. He casts an achingly fond smile on it and then shuts the phone off, tucking it away. "... She's wonderful, truly. She's looked after her Mamá all these years, my brave niñita. In her way, she looked after me. I'm so proud of her. I wouldn't be here without her."

[taiyounoyou]

Oh. That's a lot of complicated feelings to juggle all at once. She's happy, of course. Absolutely delighted for him as he gushes about his daughter and shares all of his photos. He's beaming with joy, and that kind of happiness is intensely contagious. She's smiling just as much as him as he starts swiping through the photos.

But the sight of him dancing with his daughter winds her in a way she doesn't expect. It's the look on his daughter's face--the look oof adoration that she turns up towards him. It's an all too familiar one for Masaki, having looked up to her own parents much the same way. It's the whole world held in a single gaze, as everything else fades into the background.

"No, no, it's fine!" She forced a laugh as he starts to apologize for all the weepy pictures. She fixes that same bright smile in place, waving away his concerns with one hand. There's a painful tightness in her chest that doesn't ease, even when he keeps swiping.

"Don't apologize for that, it's really sweet, and she sounds like such a good daughter. You must really love her a lot."

[unpocoloco]

He doesn't notice Coco looking at him like he's the world. But only because he's looking at her just the same. In the photo and at the photo now. He doesn't notice the strain in Masaki's smile for that very same reason. Not at first.

With the phone tucked back away, he takes up the cane again and moves the bow off his shoulder. Still a little more ways to go to the kitchens.

"I do. I really do." Most decent fathers do. But all the same. "I wasn't kidding. When I died, all I thought about was reaching her. It's not for sure but it's the working theory for why and how I rose back up. I've missed her so much. I miss her now."

And he'll miss her more everyday. It's only then that he looks over and sees that trace of something not quite right. He frowns. "Are you okay?"

[taiyounoyou]

When he died... She can almost forget about that part. Almost. She can't help but wonder if his daughter knows. If she had to weather the thought of him being gone. Somehow, she doesn't think so. If it were her, there wouldn't be a single picture where she's not clinging for dear life.

Are you okay?

"What?" The question catches her off guard, jolting her with a moment of panic. Did she let something slip? She didn't think so... But she's more determined to fix that smile in place, dialing that chipperness in her voice up a little higher. "Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be? We're about to raid the kitchens for snacks--that's going to be the highlight of my day!"

[unpocoloco]

She looks scared, like he's caught her in a trap, for just two seconds before she pulls that smile back. He looks uncertain but tries to match her.

"Well... if you say so. I'm glad I can make your day that much brighter if that's the case."

He's got questions, but after that, he decides to be a little more careful with what he asks. Just in case.

[taiyounoyou]

"You have! It's nice meeting new people who understand what's important in life...and in death. Pilfering food from the kitchen brings us all together." She jokes about it and about his state of being, but there's a real sense of gratefulness there as well. She appreciates how much fun she's having with him, even as she tries to suppress those other feelings in the background. He's kind and funny, and she likes the silliness of all of this.

And if she just keeps this up, she's sure those other feelings will pass. They always do, eventually.

"You said the fruit was really good, right? Maybe I should make a fruit salad when we get there. That sounds so tasty~"

[unpocoloco]

In death. It's true, but his laugh is wry anyway. It's not exactly a traditional perspective after all. He wants to smile and laugh along with all this. But something sits wrong and he can't quite name it. It's easier to avoid her gaze when it seems like she's avoiding his.

"Yeah, it was. That's what I remember from my younger self anyway. I'm sure everything else is just as good though. I was just craving things from home at the time. They didn't have any chapulines, but they had mangos."

He's trying to move along. Really. He's doing his best. But finally, it slips. He at least keeps his gaze off her. It'll ease off both their embarrassment he hopes.

"You know, it can be rough out here on this side of things. And sometimes just in the world in general. We get a lot of people come out of stuff like that. So, you know, you don't have to tell me, but if I can help or avoid hurting you at all, I want to. If that's true for you, just let me know what I need to be more careful with. Okay?"