open ⚡ so i struggle to stand.

[sparkstrikes]

Who: Lightning Farron & YOU
When: Throughout Aguril
Where: Wherever the threads happen
What: August catch-all, quests & general prompts
Warnings: N/A

𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝-𝚖𝚎-𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚜 🗲 𝚌𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚠𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 🗲 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚙𝚛 🗲 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜

Comments

⚡ forget-me-nots

[sparkstrikes]

[A job's a job, needed to pay the bills, and this one is no exception. The posting for the forget-me-not seeds seemed like an easy enough task to make a quick buck, so she sets off with other fellow Mirrorbound into the Wilde with only minor protests—something about being fine on her own—to harvest them. She did read the posting in its entirety this time, thank you very much, but she isn't expecting to find this thick a bushel of thorns when she finds her spot to pick them.]

Right...

[Well, best get to work. Except between being on her knees, standing up, kneeling over them, and flat on her stomach, there isn't any way that is more effective than the other to reach beneath the thorns. She has a few near misses as she slides her arm against the dirt to reach for her first, but if they're going to gather more than one, how long are they going to be here!?

Grunting beneath her breath, she sits up and tosses her only seed into a small burlap satchel.]

So who says we can't just cut this bush apart? [To whoever is nearest her.

She brought her sword, why can't she use it!?]

[electrod]

[ The damn seeds are their passport to Dorchacht, and that's a city Reno has been kind of interested in. With how travel is structured (read, restricted because apparently everything outside wants to murder and infect you. Case in point the paralytic plant) ]

I don't remember them saying anything against doing that. [ Okay, that's a lie, they did say that trying to cut it as an easy road for getting scratched if you're not good what you're doing. But hey, she looks like she knows what's she doing. ] Gonna make sure it doesn't fall all over the damn flowers.

[ Because then they'd have to take it off and— yeah, back to the "easy road to getting paralyzed" ]

If they're so valuable why is no one growing the fucking thing, eh. [ He's just bitching ]

[sparkstrikes]

[At that, Lightning returns to her feet and draws her sword, flicking the blade out like she's ready to start cutting... but she doesn't do anything with herself quite yet. The thorned branches are thick—one wrong move and she'd be toast.

She exhales, sharp, like she's psyching herself up.]

You mean growing 'em somewhere that isn't out here? Maybe then they could pick the stupid seeds themselves.

The pay is good, and they were warned about what it can do if they get pricked or scratched, but he's got a point.

She'll happily bitch right alongside him.]

[thevanguard]

[ Yata isn't having much better luck.

That and trying to reach under the bush meant that his antlers kept getting tangled with the branches. Which made the whole bush move. And the thorns with it. It only made the whole thing riskier, in his opinion.

Which is why he's standing back and eyeing the damn thing with a scowl. Although her suggestion has his expression brightening considerably. ]

Can we?!

[sparkstrikes]

[He's probably already been barked at by Lightning to get back, and to "quit shaking the damn bush" because she's had a few near close calls herself trying to reach for them.

Tightening the satchel's cord, she puts it away into her pocket, stands up, and pulls out her gunblade, sword scraping as the blade extends.]

Dunno. No one said we couldn't. You think it's a good idea?

[Her gaze briefly moves up to the antlers on his head.]

Might be safer than you getting tangled up in there and me having to get you out.

⚡ cavern cowboys

[sparkstrikes]

[Well, it isn't every day that you're asked to round up a bunch of worm-centipede-things for a group of underground dwellers, but there's a first time for everything. After being instructed to herd them back like a bunch of cows and warned about the infected nomads running rampant through the tunnels, she sets off on her own with a flashlight in one hand and her gunblade in the other. How effective it'll be in fending off the infected, she'll have to see, but it's better than nothing.

Who knows, maybe the gunshots will scare them off.

For now, she remains silent, her usual heavy footsteps softened by her careful strides, not wanting to draw attention to herself in the event that something unknown lurks around these corners.

Which, in hindsight may not be the greatest idea, because when she hears the sound of shuffling or someone else's steps that aren't hers, she goes into full alert mode, cocking her gun and raising it where one tunnel meets another, only to find someone—you!?—appearing on the other end of the barrel, illuminated when she lifts her flashlight.]

[omnicrafter]

Augh!

[Irhya squints and shields her eyes from the light, hoping the yelp of discomfort will give its owner the hint to move it aside. She doesn't even notice the gun until her eyes adjust enough to see again, but once she does, she hesitates from what she was about to say.]

...Well. Guess we spooked each other, huh.

[She has no distance weapons on her, so she's boned if she decides to shoot. Not that she's about to say that.]

[sparkstrikes]

[It takes a few more seconds after the yelp for Lightning to register that this isn't a nomad, a wormipede, or something else unexpectedly lurking underground, and with a sharp sigh of relief, she lowers it to her side.]

Yeah, sorry. Can never be too careful around here.

[With an apologetic look, she runs her fingers through her hair and peers around the corner Irhya had just come from with the flashlight, before shining it in her face again. (Sorry.) Her eyes narrow, and familiarity sets itself in her expression once her eyes adjust.]

... We've met before, haven't we?

[shadowsthedawn]

[Riku doesn't bother trying to lighten his footsteps, confident that he's ready to face whatever the tunnels have for him, whether they be wormipedes or Cwyld-infected nomads.

He's kneeling down next to one of the walls, collecting handfuls of the glowing algae growing across it, when a bright light illuminates his form. The glint of his Keyblade catches the light from its place strapped to his back.

With one arm raised across his eyes to avoid being blinded, he shifts to face the new arrival.]

Could you maybe lower that? [He means the flashlight, not quite able to see well enough to notice the barrel of her gunblade.]

[sparkstrikes]

[Her first instinct upon seeing an innocent person at the other end of her gun is to lower the weapon, so she does just that, leaving the flashlight held up. She does move it, at least—enough that it isn't shining in his eyes but rather, on his hands and the algae he's gathering.]

Sorry. Never been down here, so don't really know what to expect when I hear something.

[If he had been a nomad, she could've easily been attacked if she hadn't kept her gunblade drawn.]

What're you doing?

⚡ lady in the lake; current cr only

[sparkstrikes]

[High-risk or not, ghosts mean little to Lightning. Growing up, she only ever believed in them as a kid, and would be frightened around campfires at school when the boys would tell their stories, only to go home and share it with Serah in the same way. She would scare her little sister so much some nights that she would drop her marshmallows, or later climb into Lightning's bed to stay safe.

She knows better now than to believe in those spooky fables, even if she has been warned that she'll be going up against one for a pearl. Hell, she's just doing this for the money. Her lip twitches when the pristine lake comes into view, and although a shiver makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, she walks with as much confidence as she always does.]

Ghost tales are just things parents tell their kids to stop 'em from doing something stupid.

[The statement comes out of nowhere, but it's an attempt to fill the weird void of silence that seems to linger in the air.]

⚡ patisserie pr

[sparkstrikes]

[A part-time job wouldn't be so bad, would it? A constant stream of income might be more beneficial in the long-run, and at least then, she could save up enough for her own decent-sized place. A little extra never hurt anyone, regardless of what it's for, so she offers a hand at Karen's Patisserie after reading the posting.

She's a pretty decent cook and baker, having grown up alone with Serah and being the primary caregiver, and thanks to the internet recipe books, she has no troubles with putting together simple pastries, cakes, and other baked treats. In fact, somewhere deep, deep down, she kind of enjoys it. However, the kitchen is not where she ends up, and she isn't sure if her new position on her first day is better or worse, after hearing the horrors of unruly and unsupervised kids in the back.

Rather than being hidden away from customers, Karen thought it would be prudent to put her "pretty looks" to better use—you guessed it!—handing out fliers out front. She's given a "cute" apron that she only haphazardly wears draped around her neck with the front flapping about in the wind, and there's a hat on the ground next to her feet that she refuses to put on.

Anyone who comes to the door will have a flier shoved in their face.]

Just take it.

[moneytwin]

[ It's late afternoon, and simple chance that has Vex'ahlia rounding the corner where the bakery resides when she finds a flier presented unceremoniously into her face. This catches her on the hop, not quite running into the apron-clad Lightning, though her bulky travel companion collides hard with her legs, and gives a confused grumble; why have we stopped? ]

Eh? No thanks, I'm not looking-- Oh!

[ She knows you. And you look less than pleased to be barking here on the street. Certainly not a job Vex would have pictured Lightning doing when they first met.

A brow arches. ]

Fancy meeting you here.

[sparkstrikes]

[This is what she was afraid of when she was shuffled outside by Karen herself—people she knew running into her. "You'll wow the people, I'm sure of it!" and "Think of all the customers you'll draw in if you just smiled a little!" were her words of reassurance and while certainly not ill placed, being told to smile because it makes her prettier doesn't sit well with Lightning.

She lowers the flier that's been shoved into Vex's face and darts her gaze away to eye the bear behind her, as she feels her face turning a shade similar to her hair.]

Yeah. Didn't think I'd be out here either.

[Lightning flaps the paper around.]

You want it or not?

[This is embarrassing!!!]

[recklessbelief]

[Akko lets out a very undignified squeak at having a flier suddenly appear in her face like that. Before she can really think, her legs do the work and launch her back a few feet with a single jump. Thankfully, instinct doesn't totally kick in so she doesn't end up still as a statue or just a blur trying to get away from the threat of a papercut. So, Akko lets out a breath, doubling over for a moment with a hand over her heart. She spends a second or two trying to slow it back down with some deep breaths.]

You gotta be more careful with that! [Akko raises her face.] If you do that to the wrong Puca, they won't be able to move, you know...

[sparkstrikes]

[This sequence of sudden movements startles even Lightning, not having expected that her shoving a flier so unceremoniously into someone else's face would elicit such a reaction (what was she expecting???) that even she hops back a step, bumping into another customer behind her who's just trying to get past and inside. He grumbles something at her, and she grumbles right back—excellent customer service!]

It's just a flier. Not like I was raising a sword at you.

[She has no idea what it means to be a Puca, besides that they have cute, tuggable ears...]

[lostinshadows]

[He jerks back when a flier is suddenly shoved in his face, startled for a moment while his ears almost seems to stand up on his head from the abruptness of it.

He ends up taking the flier and raises a brow.]

One way of forcing fliers onto people I guess.

[He's just. Going to try to sound like he isn't too surprised. Yup.]

[sparkstrikes]

[Lightning bites her tongue at his comment, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. Her lips curl up into what can easily be distinguished as a forced smile before it drops again.

At least he took the damn thing...]

Today only, Karen's got a sale on all croissants—sweet, savoury, or regular, so take your pick. Fifty percent off. Don't miss it!

[Wonderful sales pitch she has going on, and with so much enthusiasm, too. Except her voice is dry as a bone.]

[al_bhed]

[Out of the bakery strides Rikku with a tray of tiny pieces of cake with toothpicks sticking out of them. Unlike Lightning, her apron is properly tied on and frilled, and her hat sits firmly atop her head. The girl is still trying out different part time jobs around town, and this job is a less unpleasant than cutting up toads and less tiring than pounding dough.

The only downside is the self-control she has to practice. Free samples are for the customers, after all. If she wants to actually get paid, she can't eat them all. Sure, she's snuck a few over the course of her employment as a reward for a job well done, but overall she's been behaving herself.

She sees Lightning and sighs.]

You're not going to get anyone to come into the bakery that way, you know. You have to be nice about it!

[sparkstrikes]

[Lightning is surprised, if not completely embarrassed, at Rikku spotting her and straightens out the front of her apron with her palm when she comes marching out the door looking neat and proper in her outfit. She was hoping that no one would see her like this, but that's a pipe dream when two out of three of her roommates also took interest in the job posting.

She was supposed to be in the BACK!!!!]

I am being nice, [she protests evenly, adjusting the stack of fliers in her hands.] I'm handing out the fliers.

[Lightning fixes Rikku with a pointed stare.

.......

That's it. That's her argument.]

[cointosser]

[With having spent far too much time all but trapped in Yennefer's cottage with her and Geralt, Jaskier grasps the first moment he can take to go off on his own while they fight again, or fuck, or, honestly, both. His arm is now a bit more professionally bandaged instead of wrapped in bits of cut up cloak, held up in a sling. Unfortunately, the injury has put him out of work for the time until he could find a more satisfying healer.

It's not the worst thing to happen. He'd much rather lose use of an arm for a week instead of his throat tearing itself apart again.

Normally a flier nearly thrown at him wouldn't so much throw him for a loop, except the jerk backwards makes his arm shift, leaving him wincing.] Oww. Careful, would yo -- [Oh, hold up.] Thunder? No. That's not right. Give me a moment. [He doesn't allow even a full moment. The wonderful woman who introduced him to coffee when he was definitely only slightly drunk.] Lightning!

[He takes the flier with his uninjured arm without looking at it. He's much more interested in taking her in, though he wonders if she knows the correct way to wear an apron.] I must say, the apron suits. Matches your hair. Which I failed to mention is a very lovely color, you know, like... like a sun-ripened peach.

[That's right: Jaskier is sober, and probably even worse than before.]

[sparkstrikes]

[For the love of Etro... it's this guy.

At first, Lightning can't tell if he's slightly inebriated, same as the first time they met, because when he gets her name wrong, she has half a mind to recall her discount flier and tell him to shoo, but then he manages to recover and takes the paper anyway, so... there goes that.

She absolutely does know how to wear an apron but isn't bothering to tie it at the waist out of pure spite for Karen. She's come out a couple of times and tried to tie it herself, getting huffy and upset with Lightning about how she chooses to sport it, which only worked to make things worse. And now... now Jaskier is bringing attention to it, and... her hair colour, what???

She shuffles on her feet, embarrassed as her face starts to turn a shade similar to her hair or, in his words, a sun-ripened peach.]

The apron is stupid. Why would anyone wanna eat a croissant with a face on it?

[They are very happy croissants decorating the apron!]

[confectionerie]

[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ann has been set to the same task for the same reason. It's better that she's not in the kitchen, really. For all she loves baked goods, she doesn't know much about actually making them, and she knows her strengths. If she can get paid to look cute and hand out fliers, then she can't complain.

However, her coworker doesn't seem quite as enthused about the post, while the man she'd just shoved the flier at turns to leave with a disgruntled grumble. Ann calls after him, waving as cheerfully as she can: ]

We hope to see back soon! Take care!

[ And then she turns to Lightning, her expression a tad sheepish. ]

You know, I think he was really interested! Maybe if we start by telling them the specials...

[ Not so gruff, Lightning!!! ]

⚡ wildcards

[sparkstrikes]

( None of these work for you? Slam dunk something below, or feel free to reach out to me via PM or @ crystariums if you'd like to plot something specific! Lightning isn't hard to spot, and she'll be out and about around the city, and also being put to work at the front counter at Karen's Patisserie, much to her chagrin... )

💥 team zero

[apocryphas]

[ After all the things Mordred had heard about a certain group of people, including from Lightning, she had since then been trying to encounter them. If they're truly as bad as the stories make them out to be, then they had to be eliminated without question. Father would do the same, she thinks, and it's a king's duty to crush evil.

Ideally, she had hoped to use herself as bait, being the reckless warrior that she is, but that idiot rabbit boy had to fall into their trap instead. Now it's become a rescue operation, but it's all the same to her in the end.

Following the scent of Sora, Mordred knows that she's close to finding his kidnappers. Time to get them before they get too far!

Except when she turns a corner in her search, she finds none other than Lightning instead. She recognises that pink hair from behind, at least, and wastes no time in drawing her blade... seemingly aimed at Lightning for now. ]

Where are they?