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[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne's gotten good enough with her Omni that the feed only wobbles a little bit when she turns it on.  That's progress!  No one's getting sea sick.  Hopefully.

She's standing on the threshold, between her building and her garden, moonlight lighting up her silhouette.  She's wearing her gold gown, clearly eager to make a good impression.  Her long hair is unbound, falling nearly to her calves in rolling waves.  It gives her the look of some kind of forest spirit (but she's not one, Maul, shut up).

Arrayed behind her is Serenity Garden.  Which would look a bit more impressive in sunlight, but Ariadne's done her best to arrange lanterns to illuminate everything.  She does, however, continually cast a concerned glance over her shoulder.  You can't trust fire, you can't turn your back on it.]

Well, it's April.  So I was planning to announce the opening of Serenity Garden to the public.  It's just meant to be a nice place where you can sit, meditate, talk with a friend, court your lover.  Just be in nature.  All are welcome, but no violence against the other guests or the trees.

...hopefully the sun will be back soon so you can enjoy seeing it in the daylight.

[But it's Trench, so that may not be a sure thing.  She can only hope.

Although, on the subject of hope:]

Also, the anniversary of my birth is at the end of the month.  Does that mean I should expect some kind of mysterious gift?  Any thoughts on what that might be?  Just so I can...prepare myself.

Comments

[demonicbeauty]

No. No more threats.

Honestly, I'm not sure we can survive as a community if we can't peacefully coexist. There are so many external threats we need to deal with. Together.

[opress]

It sounds like threats against external enemies is fine. Just not against Sleepers.

[demonicbeauty]

Well...it's a start, I suppose.

[opress]

So threatening the right opposition will always be on the table.

[spiritwalks]

Like the ozone from lightning?

[demonicbeauty]

You know what? Yes. Yes, let's go with that.

[demonicbeauty]

Exactly! And nearly identical, in some ways!

[She grins.]

[floatsaway]

[Kingdom...oh jeez.]

Ahaha, I-I am from Japan, yes! But it's not exactly a kingdom... We have an Emperor, yes, but he's not really the one who makes the rules and stuff. [Gosh, she is not smart enough to talk about this kind of stuff. Politics, government affairs...that kind of thing is absolutely taught at UA in general studies and world history, but those topics...are Ochako's weakest. She's best at math and science.] I'm pretty sure we're more of a, um...democracy these days, I-I think?

At least the Japan I'm from. I-It may be different for others in their worlds.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ok!

...anyone I should gently round up because they tend to be more the grumpy loner type?

[demonicbeauty]

Dean, I suppose?

And I’m not sure he’s grumpy, but Luke seems a bit of a “loner.”

[And she really hopes she’s using that word correctly!]

Did you know he doesn’t have a home?

[demonicbeauty]

Oh! I think I’ve heard of democracy. It’s actually quite a beautiful concept.

[Although she feels a bit skeptical about how it actually plays out in reality.]

Forgive me. I think of every country as a “kingdom,” I guess. Where I come from, most places were.

Language can be funny like that.

[ezra_of_lothal]

I still haven't met Dean. But I can fix that!

[And Ezra knows about Luke's homelessness. It's actually perfectly consistent with the other version of Luke he'd met, and completely unsurprising. Just mildly worrying.]

Yeah. [He sighs heavily.] I know. I mean, I kinda drifted for a while too, but it's not really my preference.

Or - it's not my preference when I'm not being sort of stupid, and stuck in my own head. [He shrugs awkwardly.]

[demonicbeauty]

Take it from a descendent of nomads.

There's little better than having a home.

[A pause.]

Except for bread. Bread is pretty good.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Former streetkid that he is, he's not disputing either of her statements.

Dreamily-]

Hot, fresh bread.

...Not moldy stuff out of a dumpster. [Although he has eaten plenty of that.]

[demonicbeauty]

The type that you tear open and it just...oozes with steam.

[And now she's hungry. Great.]

[ezra_of_lothal]

And on a really, really, really good day, a little bit of butter or jam.

[Happy sigh. Although now he wants some, too.]

[demonicbeauty]

[She giggles.]

All right. That's what I want for my birthday. Good company and good bread.

[opress]

Hmmm, it's so rare I win. I enjoy this feeling.

[demonicbeauty]

[She giggles.]

Don't get used to it.

[opress]

I won't.

[floatsaway]

Eh, I'm not the best to talk about that sort of thing, but...I'm pretty sure it's gone well for my world, ehehe. Nothing bad's happened other than the normal crime and stuff...

[She's not going to touch the uptick in crime since All Might's retirement, and the League of Villains thing but...yeah.]

Ehehe, I guess it just varies from person to person, and all the worlds we come from!! Where do you com from, Airy-san? What's it like? [Ochako might have an idea, but she doesn't want to assume.]

[demonicbeauty]

Oh, I'm from Valeria. Don't worry, no one's ever heard of it.

[Which is a little sad, but she's gotten used to the fact. In some ways, being the only one who can remember Valeria makes her kind of special.

And that isn't such a bad thing.

Being special.]

It's beautiful, really. I could go on and on forever, telling you about it. But let's just say that compared to most people's homes, it's a little...slower and quieter.

[floatsaway]

[Ah, yeah...nope. Ochako hasn't heard of it, and looks apologetic as she shakes her head with a sad smile to note that she, too, if none the wiser. But as Ariadne talks, Ochako can sort of get an idea of what the place may be like. A kingdom, huh...slow and quiet...that sounds really nice.]

That sort of sounds a bit like the countryside in my world - the rice fields, or older villages are so quaint when my parents and I used to visit relatives, ehehe. Where I live now, and the lifestyle I have in the big city...it's really, really busy. Sometimes it's nice just to take a break and relax on the grass or something.

S'why I wanna give Ba--eh, I-I mean...my friend that.

[demonicbeauty]

[She catches that slip, but decides to let it go with little more than a smile.]

From what I've heard about Japan, you have the most wonderful technology. I guess we would seem...maybe a little backwards.

But what we lack in technology, we make up for in magic.

[spiritwalks]

Hm! Never thought about it that way.

[Of course, "magic" is an incredibly broad term that means different things to different people. To the point where it's a near-useless distinction. But Vyng rolls with it anyway.]