bewilding | 02 º text / action ; violet city

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02 º text / action ; violet city

[ suddenly, on your pokégear screen... there is just one question of vital importance: ]

Hello. I hope you don't mind answering a bit of a question for me.

What do you think of maid outfits? If it helps, you can give me a ranking from 1-10. One being the worst, of course.

[ those looking for judith might find her at the pokécenter, sitting close to the window and sipping on a hot drink. there's a wailmer rolling around at her heels. she's petting it occasionally, flipping through an article of... outfits. feel free to talk to her. ]

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Spend much time high up, Judith?

[he notices and it makes him glad. After all, he did similar things back home. But he does follow her gaze to the sprout tower-

and is entranced.]

Excellent.

I used to spend a lot of my time flying.

[ and her feet were on the ground after joining brave vesperia, but that is a story for a day that is not sprout tower climbing.

so excuse her as she looks to the nearest available roof. she'll rock on her heels a bit before doing a bit of a running start and....

jumping across the gap between the two roofs! her landing is steady on the other side, even with her heels. a bit of a turn to look at ieyasu, and then: ]

I can't say I've ever done it like this, though.

Ah...!

[he watches for a moment before laughing and mimicking the action easily enough]

Well, in a crowded town, you come to accept that streets aren't always the best method. ... and I personally find this to be more fun, too.

[and that's exactly why he's already running off to the next rooftop]

[ oh, ieyasu. fortunately judith isn't one to let herself fall back, so she's running to catch up with him before responding. ]

I can't disagree with that. [ and this time she'll try to one-up ieyasu, picking up her speed a bit to jump to the next rooftop before he does. is this reckless? completely. but judith is finding it very, very liberating. is this a race? yes, she is making this a race. ]

[...! He's bewildered for a moment because wait Judith, weren't they supposed to be doing this together?

But then he realizes that it's turning into a race... and that awakens the competitive samurai spirit.

So as he's running and jumping past her-]

Especially if it turns into a bit of sport, wouldn't you say?

[ samurai spirit, fall to krityan spirit.

she increases her steps a bit more, pushing a bit more to surpass him, just a bit, because really his back is the last thing she wants to see. no offense, ieyasu. she is so focused on reaching sprout tower first that she can't even formulate a response to his teasing.

this is serious business. ]

[bring it on.

It's just a sad fact that Ieyasu isn't built for speed as much as some... but that just motivates him to put more power into his leaps. At any rate, he's going out of his way to make sure he is the victor.]

[ unfortunately, judith isn't quite so advanced that she can catch up to SAMURAI SPIRIT. of course, she is trying, but she is just a smidgen behind. ]

Impressive-- [ she manages to say while jumping, while she's an inch away from being side-by-side with ieyasu. ]

[... Judith is very good at making Ieyasu second-guess himself and he's sadly learning that the hard way. He could keep his lead and win and be able to claim that he was able to best Judith in a roof-hopping race, but he doesn't seem to see much point in it now that he really thinks about it.

So he hesitates for a fraction of a second in his next step, letting her catch up that inch and settling for a neck in neck race-

or in his head, running alongside her with a laugh.]

Experience!

That helps.

[ ah, ieyasu, that small moment of hesitation will cost you the race. judith is one to seize opportunities, and she'll take it by maybe nudging the slightest millimetre extra when she's catching up that inch... until she sprints forward suddenly!

experience this, you samurai. o9 ]

Ah--

[... suppose this is what his sentimentality gets him. Her sudden burst of speed leaves him surprised for a moment before he laughs and follows after and though he starts catching up slowly but surely, that doesn't do much for a race.

So even as they eventually come to arrive by sprout tower, Judith has firmly claimed the lead.]

I suppose I was asking for that.

[ and she'll stop with that, jumping off the final rooftop and unto the floor. the impact is a little harder than she's used to, but it's still nothing she can't handle. she's brushing some imaginary dust off her clothes before turning to look at him. ]

Sorry. We can call it a tie, this time. [ she did pull a trick, after all, but it was just a friendly race. even if her competitive nature said otherwise. ] Next time, no handicaps. [ which is her way of saying she'd like you to take her seriously, ieyasu. ]

[He follows after and lands similarly, wondering why it is exactly that this world has weakened him so. He's slightly irritated for just a moment before she captures his attention again.

In the end, he grins.]

Ah, well- it wasn't really meant to be a handicap... I'm sorry if you took it that way! But for certain, we'll race for real next time.

[a sheepish rub of the back of his neck. Is it really so odd that he just likes the idea of 'running alongside each other in a friendly way' more than a race?]

[ she chuckles. ]

I'm just teasing. [ and then a nod. ] Next time. Or we can just run. [ hopefully they won't fall off, but she doesn't think that was a problem. with a final reassuring smile to him, she looks up at the big, scary sprout tower. now... ]

Hm. Should we go inside? Or . . . [ should they try climbing it from the outside. ]

[... excellent question. He tilts his head.]

Well, we've already gone through with my suggestion! It's your choice now, Judith.

It is a bit tall . . . [ could they even make that far, she wonders. looking up at it sure isn't making it shrink. ] We could always try.

There's certainly no harm in trying!

[guess who still hasn't really accepted the fact that he's not half as powerful as he used to be]

My thoughts exactly. [ this one's kind of being testing limits too. well, this won't end badly at all. she walks around the tower for a bit before walking to a tree near one of the available ledges.

a long, long climb was ahead of them. ]

Will this work? [ a gesture towards the tree. ]

[he looks up to it and nods!]

I certainly don't see why it wouldn't. Ladies first, as they say!

I suppose I did let you go first last time. [ so she'll be going up that tree now, and onto the first ledge of the sprout tower with a little bit more difficulty. yep, this is more awkward than climbing simple rooftops.

her heels aren't very good on the older shingles, but she manages to catch some sort of footing before glancing down at ieyasu. this might be a bad idea.

aw, hell, bad ideas are the best ideas. ]

[all geniuses are slightly insane, as they say. climbing sprout tower from the outside sounds insane enough.

He's a bit worried admittedly and half the reason he'd rather she go first is that he's able to catch her in case of a misstep, but she when she seems to catch her balance, he breathes a sigh of relief.

It takes him a moment to think about it... but then he realizes thinking doesn't do much in this situation and instead he just acts. Climbing the tree is simple, catching that first ledge is a bit harder... but he manages it and swings up.]

... oddly enough, this is actually one of the few things in this town that reminds me of home.

[ and of course he doesn't disappoint her. she walks carefully on the ledge to find a way to get to the second one, tossing an interested glance in ieyasu's direction. ]

Does your world have buildings like this one? [ it isn't like anything she's seen before in terms of design. ]

[he follows after shortly, back to his little quiet goal of making sure that Judith doesn't fall.

but at the question he smiles]

Yes! Similar in structure and the way it was built. It's a lot more familiar than those strange floors and lighted ceilings in town.

Your home sounds very beautiful. [ truth be told, judith did like the design of the sprout tower more than the design of the building in town. higher up, less... modern-looking. everything had a tendency to get less and less visually appealing as they got more advanced.

oh, look, there is a little bit of footing they could use to get to the next ledge... time to try that out. ]

Well... when it's not being affected by war?

It's beauty is unrivaled, if I may say so.

[a bit of a chuckle, coupled with a goofy grin. He loves his home and everything and everyone in it.

But as that footing becomes clear... well, he still waits for Judith to have the first try at it. He's set to catch her if need be.]