[ action ] ϟ [ 05 ]

[subjected]

[ While SeeD exams are very interesting and all, truthfully, it's hard to say that Claire really cares that much about them when in they're in the process of taking place. For her, today isn't that much different than any other day. Just more time to try and find something to do while school isn't currently in session, right?

To those who saw the instructor during the duration of the... phenomenon recently, she certainly looks different now- her hooded cape is gone, and even though it might be slowly growing cooler outside, after so long wearing the amount of clothing that had been required to protect her during the day, she's very glad things are back to normal.

For more reasons than one, of course... but for now and most obviously to an outsider's eye, she definitely seems determined to soak up all of the sunlight now that she can again, given her practically trademarked short skirt and a high-collared - but sleeveless - top in neutral colors. Most of the morning, she can be found at the quad, flipping through a number of books as if she's looking for something...

Eventually, though, she leaves the school entirely. Considering she's bringing along the bronze-colored gunblade she bought in this world, it looks like she's probably off to fight monsters outside of those found in the training center. And yet she doesn't go far, and now there's a pink-haired fighter sitting on top of an old fence left behind years before, half lost in thought and cutting up what looks a lot like a large taproot of some kind with a long knife.

Why? Take a guess.

Apparently, Claire has managed to find a sight even natives of this world might be surprised to witness- at least here in Balamb. Before long, a large and very yellow something steps tentatively out of the nearby trees, and after a few seconds of consideration, comes just close enough to take a bit of vegetable out of the attentive woman's outstretched hand.

Random wild chocobo, anyone? Just don't make any sudden moves... ]

Comments

[spareglasses]

[He offers her a smile in return for her inquisitive look. Yukio really doesn't have any ulterior motives, aside from possibly just wanting to meet a new acquaintance. At his age, he doesn't exactly fit in with the rest of the instructors, but at the same time, his SeeD status makes it a little awkward for him to spend time with those of his age as well.

That said, he probably could've made some better choices as to whom to approach.

In any case, maybe she'll feel more at ease about him just sitting there if he tries to start up a conversation again? That chocobo seems to have become fond enough of her to not run away, so...]

Did you find those gysahl greens yourself? Or did you buy them?

[subjected]

[ He's probably assuming that smiling will put her at ease, huh? Not really so, with a woman as suspicious as Claire, though. Her expression remains pretty unchanged, even as she idly pushes the bird's beak away from her pack. ]

Bought them.

[ It had... taken her a while to find out where it was possible to do so, especially in a place where it's apparently not all that likely to see the creatures they're commonly fed to, but she'd managed it in the end. Her gaze drifts. ]

[spareglasses]

It must've taken some time to find them. Are they expensive?

[That said, if he ever does get his hands on one? Chances are more likely that he won't use it to feed a chocobo. As adorable as the yellow birds are, he rather doubts his chances of running into one. Yukio likely would've chopped the thing into bits and pieces in his search for medicinal purposes by the point he ever ran into one of the birds.

...That or it would have simply rotted away.]

[subjected]

Not really.

[ And so her reticence continues, as she continues battling the bird for the right to search her clothing and things. Honestly, she... hadn't been expecting a wild animal to be so, you know, friendly, and she's a touch taken aback by its forwardness. Like this, it's not so different from the strictly-tame ones back where she comes from...

Being quizzed on the hows of obtaining gysahl greens isn't really in her interest, however. Looking to change the topic, she pushes down the urge to frown more as she looks over at Yukio again. ]

Are you a cadet?

[spareglasses]

[Ah, that... question.]

Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Yukio Okumura--an instructor for status effects and diseases as well as the battlefield medicine internship.

[He gives her another smile, but there's something weary about it this time, like he's been mistaken for a cadet or student one too many times. Admittedly, he's used to this sort of treatment now, but it doesn't make it any less tiring.]

[subjected]

[ He's an instructor? Claire's expression doesn't change, but she's silent for several seconds afterward, pale eyes trained firmly on the young man. As fresh as she is herself, she still finds an admission like that slightly jarring. At the same time, her loyalty to Balamb Garden is... probably not as strong as it should be, so her worrying about whether or not those in charge really know what they're doing is also not all that powerful.

Plus, even she can sense the taxed tone there. Therefore, she decides to let it go. ]

... We've managed to miss each other so far, then. I'm Claire Farron. I teach Military Movement and Advanced Firearms and Projectiles.

[ Maybe you've heard of her? ]

[spareglasses]

[The name does ring a bell. When picking out classes to teach, Yukio had at one point wanted to try his hand at one of the firearms courses--only to find them all filled at the time. And one of those names? A certain Claire Farron.]

I think I remember your name from the instructor roster a while back.

[And while he's no stranger to seeing a pink-haired individual on campus, it does help make her easier to remember.]

It's nice to put a face to the name though.