{ 001 | Action }

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

Choice A - Fisherman's Horizon
[For someone who isn't exactly used to setting foot in a town and having people actually stroll by - sometimes waving or offering a smile, other times a crotchety old glare and a mutter about "kids these days" - this place is rather unsettling for a kid who'd almost, bitter as it was, gotten accustomed to pretty much the whole of humanity running screaming in terror. Whether it be away or toward, with crudely brandished makeshift weapons.

Hope clasps a hand over his tummy, exhaling slowly before continuing his trek toward the Inn as he'd been directed. Now that it's finally sinking in that this is a safe place, at least in comparison to what he's endured over the past few days, most of the unconscious fight-or-flight reactions are kept at bay.

And thus he's busy craning his neck this way and that, trying to take everything in. One thing that catches his eye in particular is the huge circular panel and everything that surrounds it. So much, in fact, that he's too busy twisting his head around to try and get a better look at it as he walks. Most likely bumping into other fellow students on their stay here or the town's citizens as he does so.

He can be caught on his way to the inn or heading toward the Garden a bit later, changed into his student uniform and looking every bit confused and bewildered as before.]


Choice B - Balamb Garden
[The next term won't be starting for a little while, Hope was told, so he's entirely free until then. After making it to the F.H. Inn, he'd spent some time sitting on his bed staring at the class roster—only to discover some very familiar names, one more bemusing than the others.

Therefore! First order of business? Finding the others. It's just a matter of finding the right classrooms.

Willing his heart to stay where it belongs (that's in his chest and not leaping out of his palate the way it's been threatening), hesitant footsteps carry him away from the large directory panel he'd been staring at and toward where he might find one of those very places. He only gets halfway up the stairs before pausing again, lifting up the wrinkled sheet in his hands and staring down at all the names, course numbers, and corresponding rooms. It's starting to all blur together, making his head spin. Hope squeezes his eyes shut with a frustrated sigh, then practically leaps up the rest of the stairs leading to the elevator.

It's entirely hit-or-miss for him, but he'll be hitting up the Farron, Villiers and Katzroy courses first thing - and in that order. Other cadets might see him weaving his way through random little crowds of fellow students, probably getting smacked into due to his tiny (therefore near-invisible) height and knocked around a few times; or he'll be nervously waiting outside one of the classrooms, attempting to find a way to peer inside. He can't summon up the courage to just barge on in there, as much as he'd like to.]

Comments

BREAKS HIATUS FOR HOPEY DOPE

[brightens]

[ There really wasn't much Vanille liked more than being let out of class early, especially when it was about to be lunch period. She could take her time walking to the Inn to switch out her books instead of carrying all of them with her all day long, take her time eating her food... It was definitely a bigger treat than teachers probably ever realized. Particularly when their dorms were so far away, and they had to spend so much more time traveling.

The walk was definitely something she relished, though. Fisherman's Horizon had this nice homey feel to it that really put her at ease.

Walking down the hallway in, somehow, an even more cheerful manner than usual, she spots a familiar head of fluffy white and— she can't help herself, darting over to him, almost completely abandoning her plans for a nice, calm walk. ]

Hooooooooope!

wuuuubububu ;w;

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[He'd been lost in his thoughts, but his name being called - and in a voice that leaves no doubt as to its owner - jerks him out of his own daze. Hope blinks, eyes widening for an instant before they settle on Vanille's ever-sunny expression.]

Oh... h-hey. [He swallows thickly, relief settling over him in an instant.] So they brought you here too, huh...

/ ' u')/

[brightens]

[ By the time he's turned around, she's already closed in on him, leaned in to give him a little squeeze, and then pulled back, hands resting on his shoulders. ]

Huh? What do you mean 'brought me?' I walked here from the inn, just like everyone else, silly! [ Don't say weird stuff, Hope! ]

Say, shouldn't you be in class? If you're skipping out, you might want to go somewhere less obvious, yeah? If Seifer catches you out here, you'll be in big trouble! Unless... You got let out early, too? Are you waiting on someone to get out to go to lunch together?

B; hoo-boy.....

[subjected]

[ Claire doesn't follow her students out immediately once class ends- with the inherent weirdness present since so many people started developing unusual abilities...? Yeah, no. Her own malady is plenty stressful all on its own, and so as the last of the students filter out, she keeps to herself, busily messing with one of the sets of heavy blinds on the windows instead. Irritated, she presses it back insistently, contemplating using staples or something to make sure it stops letting in even the faintest hint of sunlight.

If nothing else, it's a blessing she managed to get the school to agree to those blinds in the first place though, as well as classroom lighting closer to what she can tolerate at length. However, she's still dressed a lot warmer than you'd think someone without a dress code would choose to during the summer. Even her legs are covered across the length present between boots and skirt, in addition to the long sleeves, gloves... and elbow-length, hooded cloak. All dark colors. Her pale pink hair makes quite a contrast, cropped at a layered angle above her shoulders.

... Think carefully, Hope. Does this really look like the woman you want? ]

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Hope waits for all the students to file out before slipping past the threshold; he'd caught a few glimpses of the woman from where he waited patiently and although she didn't entirely look like his comrade-in-arms... there was something about her stern face and the hue of her hair that told him to wait.

Not to mention the whole issue with her name being written on the schedule like that - a name he wouldn't have even known hours ago if it weren't for that ill-natured illusion that called her out before his arrival here. If she'd kept that aspect of herself so carefully guarded, why would she leave it lying in plain sight?

Or is this all a coincidence?

Drawing in a deep breath, Hope takes a few steps toward her. The way she seems practically covered head to foot seems strange and bewildering as well, and he doesn't even think to conceal his own concentrated expression as he approaches.]

Um... [He stops a few feet from where she's adjusting the window blinds, chewing his lip a little as he peers up into her face.] ...Lightning...?

[subjected]

[ Claire's pretty used to people hanging back or deliberately seeking her out in the times after class-- and unfortunately, in her eyes, she's gotten used to people looking for her double even though she's done everything she can to keep the differences obvious. She represses an annoyed sigh as she finally gives up on the blinds for now. ]

She's--

[ All that, but what she really wasn't expecting was to see Hope Estheim talking to her, from only a short distance away. She stares at him blankly, as if he was a chocobo that suddenly chose to reveal it could talk. After all, the boy had done a pretty good job avoiding her so far, and her him, after that first encounter a few months beforehand. A good explanation for why she didn't recognize his voice at first, but something that makes this quite baffling when it's taken into consideration.

Her eyes narrow to go with the frown that quickly spreads across her face, gaze falling downward from his face to study the boy in entirety. ]

Why are you here?

A:

[nobleidealist.livejournal.com]

Dad's clothes are a lot better than these..

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Even indoors he wasn't really watching where he was going; not until the stranger's voice shakes him out of his reverie, anyway.]

Huh? Aah—! [Hope manages to stop before smacking into the guy head-on, thankfully. His gaze automatically flies between the room number and the stranger, and he can feel himself automatically bristling.]

Who are you?

[Oh, right. The letter said he'd be sharing a room... he forgot. As soon as the blurted out question leaves him Hope winces a little and ducks his head, somewhat embarrassed.]

[nobleidealist.livejournal.com]

W-Whoa!

Uh..I'm leaving my room? I mean my name's Lloyd. Lloyd Irving.

[adewdropbright.livejournal.com]

[ By now Aerith's discovered some semblance of control over the spontaneously growing plants. Mostly, it's that her power seems to want to make everything prettier, and if she focuses on plants that are already there, they become healthier--sometimes dramatically so, but it's still less conspicuous than flowers springing up between the cobblestones.

So she's focusing on a hanging pot of wisteria (and it is looking radiant *shot*) while Hope is focusing on the panel. This isn't a recipe for disaster, no sir. It is, however, the reason they bump into each other, and Aerith's concentration is broken as she's thrown off-balance, her head turning to Hope. ]

Oh--oops!

[ There's a small bed of petunias spontaneously popping up around them; a nice way to break a fall. Of course, their sudden appearance might cause that fall... ]

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Apparently his luck with bumping into strange people shows no signs of improving. Jerking in surprise, mouth opened to issue a sheepish apology, Hope's foot will instead be slipping over one of those very petunias.

And so he'll be tumbling down into that bed of flowers with a little yelp of surprise, hands automatically reaching to grasp at whatever he can. This results in little fingers twisting around several of the blooms, beheading some and yanking a few others out of the ground entirely.

He quickly scrambles to his feet again, embarrassed and annoyed all at once.]

... sorry.

[Hope winces in spite of himself, and rubs his palms together to try and clean them off, sending pollen and mangled bits of petals in the air.

This makes him sneeze.]

[adewdropbright.livejournal.com]

[ There's a small frown of dismay as the flowers are beheaded and otherwise decimate, but she is more worried about the boy. ] Gesundheit. It's all right, I wasn't looking. [ And, well, the flowers that got in his way are hers, but she's not admitting that. She has no idea if he's a native or not.

...Maybe what he thinks about those will give her a hint. ] Are you okay? At least the flowers broke your fall. [ Drawing attention to them to take away attention from herself and the fact that she's doing strange magic. :|b ]

B: VILLIERS class!

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[Just in time to hear a familiar voice over the general hubbub as class ends!]

Looking good today, guys. I know you all have plenty of other things to study and learn, but don't forget to take time out to clear your mind and get your bodies working!

[He waves his students out, though he's not following immediately; he generally puts in the time and effort to tidy up just a little between classes, after all.]

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Yep, definitely Snow's voice. He can't think of anyone else's who carries like that.

Hope sighs to himself a little, idly dusting off his uniform and wandering in as the exiting crowd of cadets gradually thins out. He's a little apprehensive—okay, maybe a bit more than just "a little"—after the day he's had so far. Silently praying to himself that this isn't going to end up another meeting with an unsettling feeling in his stomach the way finding "Lightning" did, he hurries the rest of the way over to where Snow's towering form is.]

So... they really did make you into a teacher at this place. [Trying to smile.]

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[Give him a moment. His mental gears just shifted without a clutch.]

[The training dummy he'd been hefting drops to the ground as he turns to look at Hope. But hadn't he...]

[Yeah. He had. Time Compression had done it again. Still...]

Instructor Villers. Who'd've thought, huh?

[This isn't the first time he's done this. But it doesn't get any easier.]

B!

[focusedfate.livejournal.com]

[Well, that's someone Cid hadn't expected to be seeing in the hallways.

Having had Hope in one of his courses this quarter, he had received notification of his apparent disappearance from the Garden--swallowed by time compression, so it seemed. As such, he finds it rather odd that this individual is standing some distance away, looking for... something or another. Cid's heard of people leaving and returning, but so quickly? Surely Hope's absence in his class hadn't just been a poor joke on the headmaster's part...

He closes the distance between them, speaking just as he draws up to the other's side.]

Hope?

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Cid Raines's name on that roster had been the only other name to draw his attention beyond that of his comrades, and that had been shocking in its own right, so his presence doesn't startle him as much as it would have otherwise. Neither does his approach; Hope already heard the sound of his footsteps.

It is rather jarring to be addressed so directly by him, however. Hope blinks up at him in surprise, momentarily stunned, and every bit of it shows in his voice.]

... Raines.

[focusedfate.livejournal.com]

[So it hadn't been a joke then.

While not nearly as volatile as his first meeting with the Hope he originally encountered here at the Garden, this sort of reaction suggests that their differences have not yet been settled; no apologies have been said on his part. Cid sighs quietly, and when he speaks again, his tone, while already formal, becomes even more so.]

I apologize for startling you--it was not my intention. [A pause.] Have you just arrived?

A :D

[yellowzippers.livejournal.com]

[Selphie is excited to see him as she stops the boy running around the town.]

BOOYAAAAAKA! Y'know that teddy bear you gave me is sure happy on my pillow. I renamed him Puddles! Doesn't that sound cute?

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

Aah... [Honestly, he has no clue whatsoever how to react to that. So he'll just be stopping and staring at the strange girl, an odd look on his face.] What?

... I-I'm sorry, I think you have me mixed up with someone else.

[yellowzippers.livejournal.com]

But you are that cute little boy from the carnival! I recognize your hair!

B

[burntglory.livejournal.com]

[Since Seifer doesn't have any classes- traitors or people under house arrest are too classy for school and classes- he's freely roaming around doing his 'job' as Head of the DC. Not like he cares but that's besides the point. So here he comes from down the hall and spots Hope standing outside a classroom.]

Y'know... there's a rule against loiterin'.

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

[Hope was trying to peer inside to catch a glimpse of one of his friends, but upon Seifer's approach he pulls away from the door, a touch startled.]

Oh... I-I wasn't loitering. They, um. They said I don't have classes yet because the term's almost over...

A! excuse my lateness 8D

[bahamutgal.livejournal.com]

Gettin' some air from all those exams, are you?

NEVER TOO LATE. :D

[contempsi.livejournal.com]

Aah...! [He'd been spaced out, the way he's been through most of his wanderings in this place, and so Fang's voice startles him to attention. At least he'd managed to not actually run into her...

Hope shakes his head a little.]

What... what exams?