04 ❀

[princessia]

Who: Elize Lutus and YOU maybe?
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: FS Starlight, at the parks!
When: February 14-20ish?

[VIDEO]

[ The broadcast opens up to show a young girl with fluffy blonde hair, only about eleven or twelve years of age. She's sitting down, out in the park. She has a notebook, a stash of pens, her mage staff, and her doll next to her. ]

...I'm Elize Lutus. Hello. I've been here for about ten months now? I think. If anyone needs help with anything, let me know. I'll do my best.

[ That's mainly directed towards many of the newcomers to the fleet. Then there's an awkward pause. That's not the reason why she's making a video broadcast in the first place. For someone as shy as Elize, she normally dislikes recording herself for the entire public to see. ]

Um... so, I've been learning a lot about other worlds. And Jove has been teaching me how to write in the common tongue! She taught me some Elvish words too. Like falon. That means friend.

[ The reason she decided to record herself is to show off what she has been learning, her achievements, like a proud child. She opens up her notebook, holding it open to the screen. It's lines of sentences written in the common tongue, recognizable to those who come from Thedas. (It looks a bit like this.) Some lines are written in practiced repetition. They're extremely basic sentences like "my name is...", "how are you?", simple greetings, etc.

Everything is written in sparkly, pink gel pen ink that she bought from the station. It's written neatly too, with no smudging. She made sure the ink dried! ]

When I get better, I'm hoping to write a letter entirely in common tongue.

[ She flips the notebook over to look at her own writing. Her shoulders slump in disappointment and her proud expression begins to falter, like there's a moment of disbelief that the letter she writes might not reach. She then looks back up, putting on a brave smile even though her cheeks are red with embarrassment. She'll get this letter delivered, somehow. ]

If... anyone wants to hang out or something, I'm at the park. Or, we can just chat over the communicator. That's fine too.

[ACTION]

[ And as she mentioned in the broadcast, Elize will be in the park. She's laying down on her stomach, being diligent and practicing writing down sentences repeatedly in her notebook. ]

Comments

video;

[stefanged]

From what I can see, you're doing pretty good already.

[Not that he has much room to judge. He's far from familiar with Thedas's common tongue.]

If you're still at the park, I'm gonna head over in a few. The photos from our ["impromptu modeling job"] thing came out, so I wanted to show you in-person.

video;

[princessia]

The... photos?

[ It takes her a moment to understand what he's talking about. She learned of the term only recently and there isn't anything like photos in Rieze Maxia. There's paintings, but no photos. But she quickly realizes what he's referring to. ]

Oh, the pictures! I'll be at the park for awhile. Let's look at them together.

video => action;

[stefanged]

Great. I'll be there as soon as I can.

[He gives her a wave before he cuts off the feed. As he promised, he's over in the park a few minutes later, with a couple of magazines and a manila envelope in his hands. Waving at her, he then holds out the folder like it contains valuable treasure.]

Hey. Just like I promised.

[princessia]

[ When he arrives, she's still laying down in the grass, but she quickly scrambles to her feet upon hearing his voice. She dusts tidbits of grass off from her hands and dress, then reaches out to take the folder just as carefully as he handed it to her. ]

Thank you. [ She cants her head, seeing the magazines. ] What are those books?

[stefanged]

They're magazines. They're like, little books that're published every month about a certain topic. I think these're mostly fashion, but they can be on anything. Books, movies, TV, lifestyle... you name it, there's a magazine for it.

[He sits down beside her, before opening one of said magazines. They're high fashion magazines, though Stefan and Elize's photos appear in various advertisements. He grins once he finds it, holding it out like it's a valuable treasure.]

And usually, they've got things called ads. Which we happened to model for.

[princessia]

[ TV and movies are things she's only vaguely familiar with from being on the fleet. But she thinks she understands what he means.

She knows when she did the modeling shots, she was very nervous and embarrassed at first. It took her awhile to feel comfortable with it. It might have taken her longer if Stefan wasn't with her. As he flips through to show the photos, she's surprised with how good they look. ]

So, everyone on the station with this book gets to see us? [ The thought of it makes her cheeks flush red. ] We're popular, Stefan!

[stefanged]

We sure are. [The attention makes him nervous too - girls stare at him all the time and that was before this modeling gig - but when it's just him and Elize, he can revel in the 15 minutes of fame.

Thankfully, he's so made up that he might not be recognizable without that gel and sunglasses.] I don't know if everyone saw it, but if they picked up a magazine or looked around the station, they might've seen our posters somewhere.

[princessia]

[ Everyone is a bit of an over exaggeration, but knowing that anyone can see their photos just by picking up a book or looking up at a poster in the station is still exciting. ]

It's kind of embarrassing. [ But she loves how the photos came out. ] I hope the people that see the pictures like how we look.

[ Just as much as she does, which is a lot. ]

[stefanged]

I hope so too. It was a lot of fun doing it with you.

[Truthfully, if Elize hadn't been there, he might've walked out on the shoot. It wasn't anywhere his scene. The lights, the make-up, the (weird) wardrobe, the awkward poses...

But he's so, so glad he stuck it out. The photos were more than worth it.]

You can keep these, by the way. I don't think there's a frame store here, or I would've tried to get some.

[princessia]

[ The same could be said for Elize. She would have ran away if he weren't with her. ]

I can...?

[ She asks in a near whisper of awe, holding the photos carefully as she looks at each one closely. ]

Maybe we can find frames at another station, when we take off again. I'll keep an eye out.

[stefanged]

Uh-huh. I thought they'd look pretty in your office, right next to all your other drawings.

[That, and Stefan had copies of most of them. He also might've bargained with the photographers for said extra copies. Who said compulsion doesn't work?]

Maybe, or at least the wood for said frames. Let me know if you do.

[princessia]

I will.

[ She can't stop smiling as she sets the photos down on her lap. Being on this particular station might have the most fun she has had in awhile, especially since she had spent most of her time sulking in the past month. ]

I hope the next station we go to will be just as fun.

[stefanged]

Knowing you? Even if it's not, you'll make it that much more enjoyable.

[He may not know Elize super well - after all, he once talked to her stuffed animal as if it were sentient - but he's got a feeling that she can make anything more enjoyable.]

It's a big galaxy out there. I just hope it's not "backwater" the next time around.

[princessia]

Oh? [ A giggle. ] I'll do my best!

[ With all the different planets and stations they have been to, she believes there's still a possibility that they might wind up on some "backwater" place. Although she hopes for somewhere "fun", it honestly doesn't matter to her as long as she has company. Many of her friends have went away, but there were still people like Stefan that made sure she never felt lonely. ]

What kind of place are you hoping for, Stefan?

[stefanged]

Hm... I guess somewhere warm, with lots of parks like the station. And books, the kind you can buy and keep versus downloading on your device.

[He hasn't given it a lot of thought, beyond wanting a place with decent technology. The tropical planet was fun, and so was the ice planet and the wild western moon, but he wants to see a proper masjid again.]

You said you wanted somewhere "fun," right? What kind of fun? Petting zoos? Bouncy houses? Or more street fair-type stuff?

[princessia]

Bouncy houses? People really live in a house like that?

[ What is that even?

Everything else he did name though does sound like a lot of fun to her. She'd never been to a street fair and a petting zoo would have all sorts of cute animals. Maybe something cute and pink like a rappig. ]

[stefanged]

I'd hope not.

[Maybe he should clarify....]

At birthday parties back home, they'd rent out these inflatable structures, usually in the shape of a castle. Once it was all filled with air, you could bounce in them, like a trampoline. They're called all sorts of things. Bouncy houses, moonwalks... Idea's the same, though.

[princessia]

Um... okay?

[ With the sound of her uncertain tone, it's not enough clarification for her. It just sounds bizarre. ]

I... don't think we have those in Rieze Maxia.

[stefanged]

[There's a lot of stuff Rieze Maxia doesn't have, he's starting to realize.] Don't worry about it. If we see one, I'll point it out.

What uh, what kind of fun stuff does Rieze Maxia have?

[princessia]

Uh...

[ Shopping? Shopping with Driselle and Milla was fun. Though it sounds like something she doesn't feel like she could name out loud since it doesn't seem as unique as bouncy houses. ]

...Tournaments!

[stefanged]

Oh.

[Not even remotely what he expected. Though he's not sure what he expected to begin with.]

What kind of tournaments?

[princessia]

Fighting against monsters and other participants!

[ Out of all the fun things a little princess-like girl could name, she picks... coliseum fights. She's tougher than she looks and honestly, she gets a bit of an adrenaline rush when fighting alongside a trustworthy team. ]

[stefanged]

[Y'Allah. He stares at her for what feels like eternity before his expression softens.]

Wow, Elize. You must be really strong to take on all those monsters.