Roleplay

@dragonfly

It was a late afternoon in midwinter, and the sun already threatened to set on the seaside town of Gilderion. It wasn't a town known for getting any amount of snowfall, but the air was chilly regardless. Fortunately for Luneth, he'd never minded the cold, and though he was grateful for his winter coat at the moment to help hold in at least some body heat, he didn't bother to close it in the front. It flapped in the breeze a little bit as he left the school building at a brisk walk. His soft, raven-black hair fluttered with the speed of his movement, and his deep black eyes were fixed on his destination: the post just outside the grounds at which were moored several student vehicles. He located his own with ease, a green bicycle he had modded himself just last year with a propeller and a collapsible gliding rig, and once he had unlocked and unchained it from the post, he slung one leg over the vehicle and waited.

He'd noticed over the past few months that Solara's last class of the day this year tended to run late. He resisted the temptation to check his pocketwatch, as he knew that looking at it wouldn't tell him anything useful. She'd get there when she got there, and he prided himself on being a patient young man.

"Well, if it isn't the Loon himself."

He turned to the voice nearby and quickly wished he hadn't. A few other students who didn't walk as quickly as he did had reached him by this point, and as usual, they were taking advantage of the fact that he was alone. It was a pack of four other youths, their faces either wary or sneering as they eyed him in passing. He forced himself to look away and bite his lips closed from the inside so he wouldn't respond to their quips.

"Isn't he always out here? Always waiting for the freaky white girl?"

"Solara? Yeah, they're attached at the hip. I think fate brought them together just so they could cancel each other out."

"Ha! I bet every time they try to stare lovingly into each other's eyes, something on the other side of the world implodes."

"Hey, Loon!"

Luneth felt a small pebble hit him in the shoulder. His grip on the handlebars tightened as he continued to look anywhere but the direction of his assailants. Don't give in, he told himself. Don't give them the pleasure of a response.

"Oy, we're talking to you, Loon! Where's your girlfriend?"

His brow furrowed and his teeth clenched, but he did not turn. He wouldn't answer. He would resist the temptation. They wouldn't beat him.

"Nah, don't bother, he just tunes the rest of the world out. I think she's all he can see."

"Ha ha! Love goggles, am I right?"

"Oho, Lovestruck Loon! I'd like to see that."

"Loon and Solara, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-"

"No, no, you're doing it wrong! It goes like this. 'Loon and Solara, sitting in a tree! S-P-A-C-I-N-G!'"

It was all he could do not to growl as the verbal barrage continued. There was a slight cracking noise as his palms skidded over the handlebars. Don't do it. Let them get bored of you. Let it go. He would wait here for Solara to meet him, and he would say nothing.


((Feel free to take command of minor characters like the bullies when it's your turn. I'll leave it up to you whether Solara has a vehicle of her own or not; I figured Luneth would ride with her if she did and give her rides if she didn't.))

((@dragonfly It may be nitpicking, but I just realized something. I went and assumed that this world would recognize the winter solstice as New Year's Day, pretty close to what our world does, but considering the nature of the Ayo Cyuse, it may make more sense for it to be on one of the equinoxes, when night and day are the same length. Otherwise we'd have to think about the logic of the Ayo Cyuse sun-moon flip more carefully. For instance, would winter and summer switch places in the calendar? Anyway, let me know what you think would be best, and I'll edit my post accordingly if need be.))

FiliaFlammae (Hmm I don't know..... I think that everything is fine at the moment, and about the summer and winter switch, I am thinking that the Ayo Cyuse changed it from the opposite of, well you know, real life to how it is in real life, if that makes any sense. Everything else.... I think you should decide. One, because it is sort of confusing me at the moment, and two well.... I don't know. At the moment my mind will not comprehend the questions that you asked XD)

Solara had spent an extra minute than need be on the last of her school work, and she was hurriedly stuffing her backpack with the last of her stuff. Finally after the last notebook had been thrust in and the backpack had been zipped up she was quickly making her way towards where her bike was, and also where she was to meet up with Luneth. As she came into view of Luneth she saw what was going on, and with a quick check she made sure that she was smiling, walking slowly and deliberately towards her bike, and paying no attention whatsoever to the rude comments made by the rude boys. Boys will be boys, she thought as the bullies caught sight of her and started berating her with awful comments,"Oh, here comes Loon's blind date," they sneered mockingly. Turning her gaze upon them she replied, her voice betraying nothing but cheer,"Good day to you too gentlemen." With that she swung herself on her simple white bike, and motioning for Luneth to follow, Solara started off down the route they always took.

((@dragonfly No worries, we'll leave it as is. I'm well aware of my tendency to overthink things like this. XD))

As usual, Solara was much better at dealing with teasing than Luneth was. Grateful for his friend's arrival, he kicked his bike into motion and fell into place behind her. After they'd made the first turn at the end of the block and were well out of earshot, he pumped his legs harder a few times to catch up, pulling up on her right shoulder so that they'd be close enough to converse.

"I envy you," he said as he slowed to match her pace. "You've always been so much better with people than I have." He chuckled in self-deprecation, feeling much more comfortable now that it was just the two of them. "But I guess I should be grateful we round each other out, yes?"

@FiliaFlammae

Solara grinned broadly as Luneth began to talk,"Well it was just the way I was born," she said, as if it wasn't a big deal, which to her it wasn't. After a few minutes of thinking over his question she said,"I guess so." she grinned, enjoying the wind blowing through her hair and the cold air numbing her fingers. All was well. Then a thought occurred to her,"So, do you want to hang out or should we go on home?" she asked, and as she waited for his reply she thought of what they might do if they decided to hang out. Maybe get food, she was pretty hungry.

@dragonfly

Luneth perked up, pleased but surprised by Solara's suggestion. "Oh, sure! Um... Well, I'd figured we'd have plenty of time tomorrow, what with school being out for New Year's, but I certainly won't turn down hanging out for a while. Start our birthdays a bit early." He laughed. "If I may confess, I haven't gotten anything for you yet. We could window shop for a while downtown if you like. Maybe get something to eat when we're done, take it to the park? Can't say I'm hungry quite yet, but I imagine I'll get there within the hour."

What sounded most pleasant to him was just that: a leisurely walk through town and a peaceful meal outside to finish it off away from any crowds. He liked to be alone with his thoughts. Since meeting Solara several years ago, though, he'd been just as comfortable sharing his thoughts with her. Sometimes he wondered if the two of them had always been meant to find each other and become best friends. Especially considering the dreams...

Either today or tomorrow, he wanted to talk about his latest of the dreams. They'd been growing so frequent that he couldn't dismiss them anymore, and if Solara had been noticing the same, they'd have some serious food for thought.

@FiliaFlammae

"Well, that sounds like a great plan," said Solara joyfully,"but just to let you know, I already got you something."Changing her course she set off for downtown as she thought of the wonderful time they were going to have. Thoughts nagged at the back of her mind, but she was to busy thinking of what Luneth was going to get her to notice. As they rounded a corner a while later she saw the shops that signaled that they were where they needed to be,"Ok, which one?" she asked excitedly as she slowed down to allow him to lead the way.

@dragonfly

Luneth shook his head, smiling weakly in defeat. "And here I'd hoped you'd forgotten too so I wouldn't feel like an incompetent friend. Well, a guy can dream."

They slowed as they approached the merchant district. After a block or so of coasting, he eased to a stop and slipped off his bike. There was a mooring post nearby, and he chained up his bike here with the ease of much practice. When he straightened up, he scanned the shops before him, as if scouting out his options, but in actuality he already had a store in mind.

He and Solara had been best friends for nearly five years by now, and for the previous four birthdays, his gifts to her had varied from entertaining to pragmatic. He wasn't sure what girls typically wanted as gifts, but he'd made his best guesses, and over time it had become a matter of buying gifts for Solara, not buying gifts for a girl. First had been the diary. Then had come the jigsaw puzzle that looked like a cat. Then the 15-puzzle, then the elegant fountain pen. But for her fifteenth birthday...he wasn't entirely sure why, but it felt appropriate to take his gift-hunting in a different direction. They would walk by a bakery, a confectionary, and a tinkerer's before they reached his intended destination: a jeweler's.

"Let's browse together," he said. "You can comment on whatever you like, but when I make my decision, you're going to have to close your eyes, all right? It's only fair that you don't get to see your gift until tomorrow."

@FiliaFlammae

Solara giggled,"You're being silly, you are not incompetent," she said as she chained up her bike beside Luneth's. As she waited for Luneth to decide on the shops she remembered her dreams. Pushing the thoughts aside she told herself that she was to happy at the moment to bother with them. She nodded her agreement as Luneth talked,"Then lets go," she said excitedly, eager to be off.

@dragonfly

As cool as Luneth's demeanor normally was, Solara's good mood proved infectious, and even though his eyes were black as pools of ink, they somehow seemed to light up as an honest smile graced his face. He turned towards the storefronts and began to amble along. Both the bakery and the confectionary displayed some fine looking treats in their windows, but he didn't want the primary element of his gift to be a consumable. He could've entered the tinkerer's shop and spent an hour inside looking at all the gadgets and fine machinery, but he'd noticed that Solara had a taste for simplicity, so he resisted the urge to meander inside. Besides, if he were to get her something intricate, it would be a blow to his pride if he didn't try to make it himself first.

The window of the jeweler's shop was Luneth's true target. As he glanced over the items in the window, he tried to think of what would suit Solara best. He certainly didn't want to get her anything gaudy. A pendant of some sort would be the most straightforward option, but none of the ones in the window jumped out at him. He'd need to take a look inside.

He walked one store further - it was a tea shop - and pretended to peruse it for a moment and then look back the way they'd come before he turned to Solara. "All right, I've picked my store," he said. "I might be a while, so do you want to wait here and close your eyes, or should we meet up at the café?"