melodiesoflife | Event || The Festival Of Light

"Aye Aye, captain." Lydia saluted, more than willing to travel. And of COURSE she understood his taste--she shared it. Maybe not always 'imposing', but she definitely understood that too.

Lydia held up her camera again, lens whirring as she adjusted. Moving around, before directing him. "Can you stand up, leave your front hand kind of on the crate but move your back one out like you're surveying the landscape? Looking for trouble and alert?" Seemed like that would be a cool pose as she crouched down and positioned the camera to see how it'd look.

If Ales didn't trust her, he would have thought Lydia was humoring him. Captain. A fitting title for someone with lofty goals as himself.

He followed her instructions, standing on the second highest level of the crate pile so that he had enough to rest his hand on. He faced away from the house the boxes were piled against, with the wall of the building stretching behind him. If Lydia composed the gram right, one side of the photo would have bricks and wood while the other presented the false illusion of open sky.

"Right here." He erased that smile, though with some difficulty. This wasn't a truly serious situation, and he had a tendency to default to happiness when nothing was happening. It helped to keep people off-guard.

Lydia absolutely meant it as affectionately as she called him Mr. Magician. She'd happily travel with Ales after this, and was glad they were friends. No stranger to adventure, and adventures were best shared with good friends.

Lydia moved a bit with her camera, checking angles and then smiling behind her beloved toy when she got the right shot. A false illusion of sky, and slightly under him to make him look taller--it was perfect! "Right there! Perfect!" She confirmed, snapping one shot, and then another in quick succession. He warranted 2 photos of her precious film, in her eyes.

Especially as she'd gotten one shot of him smiling, and one without. Lowering the camera, she grinned. Offering him a thumbs-up. "Want a copy once I develop these?"

Ales sat down, satisfied with the brief photo-op, and slid over the edge of the crate he was stand on. "Yes, yes, that'd be excellent. Take your time." The battle was more important for the time being.

Each crate, he slid over in silence. There wasn't much he felt like talking about, even with one of the only two people he considered friends, three if he included those he could talk about his childhood with. Two or three, it wasn't a lot. Without an outlet, Ales heavily considered grabbing a WEAPON and ending the Calamity right then and there, but that was a rash, and therfore, terrible decision. He wished he had some of the power from home.

Once he returned to the street, his happy mood was no more.

Lydia resecured her camera, and it was not hard at all to notice Ales's mood drop. Her own grin fell, and she reached out to him, one hand on his shoulder. "Can I do anything?" She didn't want to ask what was wrong--there was a lot 'wrong' on this world.

That was a difficult question for him to answer. He would tell her to follow his instructions and save the world if he had a plan. He would tell her to become self-motivating like the Lydia from the future, but he didn't know for what goal. They had to fight Palitutu and move on from there, and he hated the lack of a thought-out plan.

"Find something to do when Palitutu arrives. Helping with evacuations, joining the fight, whatever. I'd feel better knowing I'm not the only one taking the time to prepare." There, he did it. He told others about his feelings, just like he learned from talking with the psychiatrist in Aqures Ixen. It was better and bottling up those feelings and getting more and more upset with each passing day.

"...I have experiences with being the only one to do something about saving the world."

"I don't think you're alone here, trying to do that." Lydia encouraged, but she could tell this weighed heavily on him. Assuming he'll let her, she'll lean in and hug her friend. "I...I'm not a fighter. But you're right, that doesn't mean I shouldn't prepare somehow." She'd start her brain moving for ideas she COULD do.

Evacuation might not be a good option, but she could look into that and helping organize what she could right?

Ales didn't react when Lydia moved in for the hug. Once her arms were actually around him, he jerked at the realization. No one ever hugged him. He and Betilla were friends, but their interactions were borderline professional. She patted him on the head, giggles as a nymph is wont to do, but no hugs. Ales wasn't used to this.

His eyes darted to the side while Lydia held him, wondering what was going to happen next.

Lydia is a hugger, and Ales is one of her closer friends who isn't in a Crystalized limbo that's neither dead or alive. If he seems alright with it, she'll tighten the hug a bit. Genuine emotion and friendship in it, holding it for several heartbeats before she'll pull back.

"I know it's not a promise you can necessarily keep, but please try to be safe Ales? I'm really tired of losing friends." There's a sad smile, but it's clear Lydia cares a lot for him.

What was he supposed to do in a tight hug? Stand there? Hug back with his puny arms? There's no squeaks of protests while Lydia is still there, but he's definitely confused when it's over.

"O-of course. I try not to die in general." Unless it's a sacrifice for the greater good, like last year. Who knows, maybe he'll have to do that again.

He's supposed to hug her back--he'd done it before, or had that just been in the bad-vision of the future? Lydia is a bit hurt and confused that he doesn't seem to realize, but she'll shrug it off. "I know. But I can still say it."

Future him was weird. He hugged Lydia like it was a gesture he was used to, and experiencing it first-hand is different from watching yourself give a hug. Honestly, what was up with that?

His eyes dart downward. "What, are you worried about me?" His tone tries to be snarky, but his tight mouth betrays that. No one sounded that genuinely concerned since...since Betilla. And he abandoned her.

Lydia's head tilted, as she didn't understand why this was a surprise. Wasn't it obvious? They were friends--and Lydia didn't actually have many of those she was close to who weren't in Crystal Stasis left. "Well...yeah." It's an awkward smile, but she means every part of it.

"Ales, you're one of the people here I'm closest to who's not in that Crystal purgatory." There's a deep breath, and she clasps her hands behind her back or she'll fidget more. "That was--that was what set me off in the vision. Losing those I'm close to. You, and Sephiroth, and Nanami? You're the 3 people I'm closest to, and I'm trying hard to continue to make friends--but I worry about all of you."

That wasn't helping. Three people? That's more than the two he cared about on Crystallis, and only one in the Glade of Dreams. Ales never really bothered with getting closer to others after being bullied throughout school and watching the management of his hometown be an utter failure.

Ales stuffs his hands into his pockets, still unsure. "I guess I can say the same about you." Even he can't believe it. "There's not a lot of people that's true for."

Maybe, but she's used to more friends than that--and she still misses her best friend. Beetlejuice has always been there for her, once he came into her life. Before that it had been very lonely and sad.

"Ales," She is genuinely touched, but Lydia also knows it's not easy for him. "You've never been anything less than a friend to me. And even in the vision...it...hurt. You were the one I regretted would get hurt the most, but I was so convinced ending everything would be the best course." Okay, now she's bringing her arms around and crossing them in front of her for comfort.

The wording helped Ales relax. She wasn't disappointed in his action, or she might not have known about his invasion of Mysidia. Either way, she was most upset about killing him. Upset about killing him.

...Upset that he would die.

That doesn't make sense.

"Why?

"You're my friend." Lydia responded, kind of puzzled. She knew Ales had not been happy at his home, but did that mean he'd had no friends, ever? Didn't he have friends here in Crystallis besides her?

He was her friend, so of course she'd be upset if he got killed.

"Well, I guess so..." He couldn't think of a way to reply with a counterargument. There used to be people in his life that cared about him in such a way, but they've all lost faith in him. There was no way Betilla and Rayman and his idiot friends would ever trust the Teensie that help them captive or sent goons and robots after them. He arrived in Crystallis expecting to be socially remote forever.

Would he be upset if Lydia died, though? The answer for most everyone else was "no", save for disappointment if someone useful like Sephiroth or Deadpool did, permanently or not. Lydia could come back, and that was no reason to feel bad.

Ales appeared as if he was about to say something, but stopped himself.

He didn't know the answer to his own question.

Lydia was happy to wait patiently, still smiling. She'd had to help BJ understand the idea of friends, and he still often didn't seem to fully get it either. Or want to admit it.

It didn't change that she knew--Beetlejuice was her friend. This also didn't change, that Ales was her friend too. Even if he didn't tell her so, she could tell.

This was getting awkward. Ales normally wasn't so silent that both parties had to stand waiting for the other. When times like this called, he either hid in his hat or continued pattering about a tangentially related topic. The latter would have to do.

"But despite the dangers the upcoming battle poses, that doesn't mean we have to hold back. Where would society be if we never took risks? Why, we'd be living in caves, or possibly dead as the times moved on without us! Listen, progress is not made when you sit back and relax, and neither will saving the world."

If that was his answer to endangering himself, it was far too complex.

"Do not worry, Lydia! I, the Magician renowned in the Glade of Dreams, have never entered a danger zone unprepared!"

Lydia recognized his tactic; Beetlejuice did the same thing when things got to mushy as well. It was alright with Lydia though, as she understood and got it. Not everyone was open with their feelings, especially when they'd been hurt before and weren't used to letting someone be their friend. It would have to do, especially his latter statement.

She'd never expected him not to go--only asked that he be safe.

"I have faith in you, Mr. Magician, but I'll still worry.

Event || The Festival Of Light

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