test post || lili

[coastal]

[ A ; oh the weather outside is frightful ]

[There's a cake girl in the rain. It's not pouring just yet, but it can't be denied that there's a steady fall of precipitation.

But given the fact that Lili is from the lands of the Water Tribe, she actually doesn't seem to be too bothered by this. She's walking along at a casual pace, observing her surroundings cooly, and otherwise not seeming to care enough to pick up her pace and run to find shelter.

If you're carrying around an umbrella, she might give a bit of a judgmental glance. Tourist.

That said, a bad attitude isn't going to be much help to her in about 0.7 seconds when a carriage comes rushing by and isn't it funny how a puddle can suddenly becOME A TIDAL WAVE.]

Ah....!!

[There is now a surprised, soaked, dripping wet girl in the rain.

You should laugh at her for judging your umbrella.]

[ B ; excuse me? ]

Could I bother you for a moment?

[WHAT'S THAT -- oh it's just a tap on your shoulder. Well regardless, your quiet time is being ruined! Or maybe it really is just a demure girl asking for the time or something.]

Have you seen two women around here? One of them has short, black hair and is rather quiet and strict whereas the other.... I suppose you could call her flighty? They're my attendants.

["It's quite a problem. They seem to have lost me."

She pauses. And then she adds-]

By the by, would you happen to know anything about narcotics being sold around this area?

[What.]

[ C ; who let the dogs out ]

Eeeek!

[Today Lili is playing the role of one (1) Damsel in Distress.

Or perhaps one (1) Cat Stuck in a Tree.

Both?

As is, it appears as though she has become the prey of some rather aggressive dogs with her bodyguards nowhere to be seen. That's a bit of a problem. She's not on too high of a branch but apparently she really couldn't find any other choice besides climbing up a tree in order to get away. (It wasn't graceful. She nearly fell a couple of times just trying to get up.)

But now that she's up there, she seems to have found her bravado again, if only to bark right back--]

Heel! Sit! Ugh, how poorly trained are you?!

[Someone help her pride.]

Comments

[discard]

[Yes.......... yes she does look like a money tbh. He slowly arches an eyebrow at her.]

I expect you to climb down. Do you not possess any sense at all? If you were able to climb up, then you must be able to climb down as well.

[THIS IS JUST COMMON SENSE. He sighs, exasperated, and turns again on his heel to go with a flick of his hair.]

But jump if you want. I don't care.

[1/2]

[coastal]

[She's 98% sure she made it up from some mix of adrenaline and fear. Her arms are shaky at the thought of having to manage the same feat back down.

Or maybe it's just when she looks down and seriously considers the height. Honestly any agile or athletic person would probably be able to jump down easily, but this is Lili that we're talking about. It's a lot of bark with very little bite.

She very nearly lets him walk away but she realizes that she's still very much alone and was stuck in the tree for a while before he got there, no other passerbys so she eventually calls out-]

Wait!

Wait just a moment!

[coastal]

[Internally, she screams.

How could this happen to her.

Her pride lies in a pile of shards.]

[discard]

[... Ugh.

He's not really sure what possesses him to wait. It's probably the tone, really--even if he hates to admit it, there are some things that his journey with Stahn changed in him, and... she sounds distraught. It's not like he really cares, but if she's going to keep screaming about it, he supposes he may as well do something.

He sighs.

And turns back, slowly approaching the tree again with the sourest expression imaginable.]

I suppose you want me to help you, then.

[1/2]

[coastal]

[actually.

she was going to ask him to stay and at least call for a medic if she fell and broke something

deliver her last words.

maybe send him to go straight to ayura and tetora so they'll smack him around--]

[coastal]

[ahem.

She sits at the edge of the branch now and... honestly doesn't look sold.]

A change of heart? That's a surprise.

[dammit lili don't look a gift horse in the mouth]

[discard]

It was irritating listening to your panicked shrieking.

[IMMEDIATELY. Ah. Ah yes. That sure is Leon being Leon.]

If it will get you to shut up and leave me alone, I will help you.

[It's almost like he's being nice except no, he's being a dick.]

[coastal]

[She'll show you shrieking, you snobby little--]

Do you ever actually plan on doing so or are you going to keep talking about it for your own ego?

[discard]

If you expect me to climb up and fetch you, you are wrong.

[Hmph!!]

Jump.

[He's serious.]

[coastal]

[ . . . . ]

If your plan was always for me to hit the ground, did you come back just to be especially mean about it?

[GUESS WHOSE FAITH IS REAL LOW HERE.]

[discard]

You can either jump and allow me to catch you, or come up with a solution on your own.

[So there. Despite the pink cloak and frilly purple sleeves, he really is surprisingly strong.

But. Yeah. I wouldn't have faith either, Lili, it's okay.]

If so, I'll stop wasting my time here.

[coastal]

[ . . . . Jumping is terrifying. Her hands are shaking at the thought. Perhaps if she climbed down, she could at least lessen the distance between her and the ground. If she fell from here, it would surely hurt. She'd have to explain it to her father and face being locked up in her room for long past her recovery time.

But it sounds like regardless, her options are limited. If there is another person present (that she honestly doesn't want to trust at all but can't think of a better idea) then at least she won't have to drag herself to an infirmary.

Probably.

So she swallows quietly and puts on her brave face. Lifting her chin and mustering up all the authority she can (which is honestly still quite a lot):]

If you drop me, there will be serious repercussions. I warn you now.

[discard]

[Yeah... Leon just arches an eyebrow at that, offering up a--]

Hmph.

[--in response.

Good times!! You have no authority over him, Lili!!!]

If you are going to jump, get on with it. If you are too frightened, tell me so so I can leave.

[1/2]

[coastal]

[The point here is that Lili means what she says entirely. And even if she didn't decide to pursue her threat (unlikely), Ayura and Tetora would do the job for her.

But she's just going to respond with a more emphatic--]

Hmph!

[Take that. And she moves to flip her hair over her shoulder, just for effect-]

[coastal]

[- and it gets caught on a neighboring branch.

Oh god.]

Eek!

[discard]

[You have got to be kidding him. He's just. He's just staring, because he's not even sure what to make of this.

... .... ....]

Are you trying to waste my time on purpose, or are you this incompetent?

[coastal]

[She's not sure what to make of this either.]

I assure you it's never happened befor--

[And she was trying to move forward, leaning without noticing, and it just tugs on her hair more.]

Ah!

[discard]

[.............................................]

I am going to leave.

[IF YOU DON'T FIGURE THIS OUT IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS--]

[1/2]

[coastal]

Augh -- please don't...!!

[Continuing with Lili's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. She had to say "please" to this loser.

She's reaching carefully behind her to try to pull her hair out of the snags out of the tree, even if she has to wince a bit to do so. Guh.

Eventually she gets tired of that and just gives it a nice good tug--]

[coastal]

[-- which frees her hair just fine.

And also throws her off balance and

here she is, falling. that wasn't even a proper jump.]

Aaahhh...!!

[1/2]

[discard]

[GUH.

He wasn't expecting that either, but he can't exactly stand by and watch her kill herself because she couldn't manage a proper jump.]

[discard]

[So he's lunging into action a moment later, rushing forward. They're both lucky that he's quick on his feet, because he's able to get himself under her just in time, though catching her does knock him to one knee with a quiet "oof". Strong as he is, he's still not that big.

But hey, nobody died today.

That's pretty great.]

[1/2]

[coastal]

[Living's always pretty nice.

That said, she's rather... well, dizzy. Going from fairly high up to suddenly so close to the ground with such a sudden stop -- it's given her whiplash. It's her own natural tendency to avoid touching... literally anyone.... that's kept her from clinging onto him for dear life.

Instead, her hands are tightly coiled up and whenever she finds her voice, even she has to find some sort of gratitude.]

You... didn't drop me.

[Observation.

That's good.

"Thank you" was supposed to be in there somewhere.]

[coastal]

[And because even she can admit that she made that so much harder than it needed to be at the end, she automatically covers her face in both hands.

Shame.

And in a very, very small voice and a little mumbled:]

M'sorry.

[discard]

[Thankfully for this Moment, they both have a natural aversion to touching people--which is why as soon as she's settled, he's putting her on the ground. He doesn't drop her, no, but he also isn't waiting for her to regain her feet.

And then he stands, brushing himself off and fixing his hair, if only to give his hands something to do.]

... It doesn't matter.

[Don't... apologize, it makes him feel awkward and strange.]

I said that I would catch you, and I did. It isn't as though it was trouble for me to do so.