![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
[OPEN] Infinite in distance and unbound by death
Who: Jaune Arc & You
When: IC: 7/18 - 19
Where: Various
What: Jaune can't even die properly and now he's out and about - strangely better than ever.
Rating/Warning: None!
ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ.
ᴠɪᴠɪᴅ.
ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ.
sᴀɴᴄᴛᴜᴀʀʏ.
ᴄʜᴜʀᴄʜ.
When: IC: 7/18 - 19
Where: Various
What: Jaune can't even die properly and now he's out and about - strangely better than ever.
Rating/Warning: None!
ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ.
[ The last thing Jaune remembers is coughing up blood, his insides slowly rotting away while his weird immune system (read: Aura) tried fighting against it. Whatever Clarke gave him to drink also seemed to change him slightly, but that effect seems to have worn off by now.
Now, three days after apparently dying in one of the most painful ways, Jaune can be seen walking around the hospital. A strange sense of deja vu hits him as he recalls being bound to a hospital after his previous interlude experience, too. That time, he didn't die, though, and recovery was a little slower, which... makes this all the more strange. How does recovering from death make him feel better than ever?
In fact, should anyone decide to visit him, expecting to find him bedridden or hooked up on some IV, then they're in for a surprise. Jaune is walking around in his hospital garbs, greeting some of the staff members he recognizes and helping patients who are worse off than him.
You may find him doing various things as he waits to be discharged, from doing wheelies in a wheelchair that wasn't meant for him, cursing at the vending machine because it doesn't serve patients for free, or telling jokes to a group of patients who are probably high on painkillers. ]
...I looked at his burger, and then I said-- I said, man, you're gonna need a bigger mouth!
[ The audience laughs. ] I love these guys...
[ Alternatively, if your character is also hospital-bound, they could be sharing a room! ]
ᴠɪᴠɪᴅ.
[ Hospital shenanigans outside, Jaune isn't left unaffected as he appears on the surface. He's always been okay with the concept of dying-- or rather, he always knew what he signed up for. If there ever comes a day in which he needs to give up his life for the people he wants to protect, then that's just what a Huntsman is supposed to do. Which is why it bothers him so much that he got killed the way he did. It felt pointless. Why did his Aura, which is supposed to be a manifestation of his own soul, not fight back hard enough?
Could it be that he just didn't train hard enough? He's aware that he skipped more Aura lessons with Pyrrha than he should have, focusing on improving his swordplay instead. Now that she's gone, he needs to practice every department more than ever. Skill, Aura, leadership, teamwork... and what better place to do all that than in a game of ViViD?
So if your character is up for some gaming, they'll find themselves randomly paired with Jaune, who seems more focused and determined than usual. ]
Hey.
[ (If you choose this prompt, I'll try and write a unique scenario for every thread!) ]
ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ.
[ Look, training isn't just about getting stronger physically! Education is important, too, which is why Jaune is quick to return to school so soon after his recovery. LEARNING IS IMPORTANT.
Haha, just kidding. It's only half a day later and he's involved in a food fight inside the cafeteria. Even though he normally doesn't do well in these, it's nice to be reminded of home a little.
Jaune flips one of the tables and jumps behind it like a barricade. There's a slushy dripping across the side of his face as he counts his "ammo" (just random food particles). Your character can either be hiding with him or firing from the other side. ]
Alright! I got seven nuggets!! [ He... eats one of them mid-sentence. ] --Six nuggets. And a carton of chocolate milk. Augh, where's the mashed potato?! I need it, I need it now!
sᴀɴᴄᴛᴜᴀʀʏ.
[ Normally Jaune doesn't spend too much time in the sanctuary, the place can get a little too tinfoil-hatty for a guy who naively takes everything at face value. More than that, he sometimes starts feeling strangely ill if he hangs out in it longer than necessary. It's probably just him, though.
He also figures there's going to be another mass gathering here in the coming days, assuming there were other people who got kidnapped as well. If not, then he needs to at least tell some of his friends about what happened. What if he randomly dies again without sharing everything he knows?!
This all sounds well and urgent, but if you happen to see Jaune in the sanctuary, he'll just be... mopping the floor and cleaning the walls. What? It's therapeutic! ]
More pizza leftovers... I wonder if we can order McCeres for the next group meeting... n-not that I, y'know, dislike pizza or anything. ... Also, why am I talking to myself.
ᴄʜᴜʀᴄʜ.
[ Jaune isn't religious by any means, and the building itself isn't dedicated to any particular god. What he does like about this place is the sense of community, as well as the idea of keeping faith and hope strong.
Jaune wonders if he started a trend here or if it's just normal thing that happens, but ever since he put up a small photo of a missing Pyrrha on the walls, others have been doing the same. Eventually it became a memorial wall for those who have fallen or gone missing from Cerealia, with Jaune even updating Pyrrha's status from Missing to... well, resting in peace. Around her picture are the names of his other friends carved: Sousei, Tenka, Peko, Zack, and many more. Rapunzel is the latest addition, and there was also Weiss' name, but it's been crossed out. Twice. ]
It looks like this place still isn't done with me yet, huh. Man, this is gonna get confusing...
[ Quietly, he wonders if anyone would even add him to this little shrine if he doesn't come back someday. It's not like he talks about this special place with anyone. ]
no subject
... I was afraid you might have been caught up in all of that. Are you--
[ Okay? Only that seems like a dumb thing to ask at a time like this. Wilting, she hesitates. Perhaps what she really means is, ]
Will you be okay?
[ She doesn't mean physically, obviously. ]
no subject
[ His initial answer is quick, but it is a question he's been asking himself for a while, one he still has no answer for. ]
It just felt... meaningless. All the training in the world can't prepare you for it.
no subject
I'm sorry. I can't imagine--....
[ Well, she's technically died before - twice, no less, but neither occasion is something she remembers or was able to experience fully, and it's surely nothing like things are here. Regardless, she lapses into silence for fear of causing him to remember something he'd probably rather not, which is surely the last thing he needs. Mutely, she shakes her head to clear it. Then, ]
With time, maybe the memory will fade. [ To an extent. Some of them stick worse than others. ] But I guess-- all death is sort of meaningless here, isn't it?
[ Considering its impermanence. ]
no subject
[ All these names Jaune has up on the wall, they're much better people and deserve to be here more than him, he thinks. ]
--wait, I'm doing the moping thing, aren't I? S-Sorry.
no subject
[ Except even as she thinks that, she's shaking her head at him, a frown pulling at her lips. ]
You don't have to apologize to me. And you don't have to pretend not be sad, either.
[ Not that she would encourage him to be, exactly, it's just, ]
It's alright, you know. To feel whatever you're feeling, I mean. I don't think dying is something that you're supposed to be okay with right away.
no subject
[ He offers a weak smile, turning his attention away from the memorial wall. ]
Do you remember that time we met up at your workplace? Heh, that was actually my second day back in Cerealia. I got to spend some time at home, you see... [ Oh, this could get confusing if she's not aware that this is also a thing that happens. Jaune pauses for that reason, giving Namine a chance to respond. ]
no subject
[ Fortunately for both of them, she's aware of the concept - although she's never heard it phrased in quite such a way. Having seen it more from the perspective of those left behind and those who didn't wish to go, it's struck her more commonly as a negative thing than a 'getting to spend time at home' one. ]
Yes, I remember. [ Because it was actually quite memorable for her, considering what was discussed. There are not many people who have openly bestowed the title of 'friend' upon her, even now. ] Is that why you seemed so--
[ It occurs to her that 'down' might be the wrong word to use. She pauses, hovering in indecision for a moment, then tries, ]
... different.
[ The tone, given her delay, loses some of the question toward the end. ]
no subject
My friend... in the photo over there, she passed away in that time. When I got back here, I thought it was gonna be hard to reconnect with all my friends. [ Probably because they knew he had Pyrrha in his life, some who have even met her at some point here. He couldn't hide his grief from them. ]
--a-anyway, when we had that talk, that was the moment I remembered that treasuring friends is important. [ And how sad it is to be without them, like he had seen in Namine. ] I guess what I'm trying to say is... you're good at it! Talking, and being friends with people. Kinda like now.
no subject
[ For her to notice, that is, but that doesn't happen to be a very high bar, given how closely she tends to watch people. Turning at his words, she searches the faces and names, and although she doesn't know for certain which one he means, it still lends a certain solemnity to the explanation. Surely, if it effected him so profoundly, he means she passed away in his world - permanently, in other words. ]
[ When she looks back at him, it's with sad eyes and consolation waiting on her tongue, but then he continues and she lapses back into silence. At first, she almost doesn't realize that he's talking about the conversation they had, but she recognizes it along the way and it's enough to have her looking puzzled before he even gets to the point. That has her head jerking back slightly, expression quickly growing confused. ]
[ At a time like this, when he's recently back from the dead and talking about someone he lost, he... says something to encourage her? ]
[ It's so unexpected that for a second or two, she can only look at him. And then her thoughts catch up with her and she shakes her head, lips pressing together in what would, were the circumstances different, probably be a wry smile. ]
I'm starting to think... you're the one who's good at being friends with people. [ There's plenty of evidence to back that up, after all. He's been good to her, and it strikes her as unlikely that he isn't that way with other people, too. ] What could I possibly have done to remind you of that?
no subject
[ And he's got plenty of people who trust in him. Not everyone, but enough to keep him strong. ]
no subject
I see. That makes sense.
[ A beat. ]
I've never liked-- being that way, either. [ Alone, afraid - yeah. They're unfortunately familiar states of being. (Really, her biggest regret is that it wasn't something nicer that reminded him.) As she thinks a moment, though, she realizes something and blinks, straightening a little. ] Is that why you decided to be friends with me?
[ Out of sympathy? ]
no subject
...M-Maybe I just wanted a discount for the coffee you're serving! [ He didn't have a coffee that day. ]
no subject
[ ... She says even though she can't read between the brackets, because apparently she also can't resist pointing out the flaws in someone's logic when they're that glaring. ]
But I'm not sure how that's supposed to be better.
[ And actually, although she could probably read into that 'all there is to it,' she finds herself right on the verge of smiling, instead, a subtly amused quirk at the corners of her mouth. Though his answer might not have provided much in the way of proof, it did make it just that much harder to imagine him attempting to befriend her for a Bad Reason, whatever kind of Bad that happened to be. ]
no subject
[ If she picked up on the coffee thing, Jaune trusts that Namine will understand his sense of humour, too. ]
no subject
Not about coffee, I guess. [ A beat. There's a quiet hesitance to her words, but there's more of a jovial tone lurking in them than before. ] I might stick to regular motives, if I were you. They're much less complicated. But... if you really want cheap coffee, I could treat you, some time. It's hard to get cheaper than free.
[ That's what they say, right? ]
no subject
no subject
If only...! [ She echoes it quietly, jokingly sympathetic. There's a soft laugh under her additional, ] Right. And since we're already friends - I guess it would only be right to offer you a milkshake instead, if that's your preference. [ They'd have to go somewhere else for it, but-- ] The truth is, I don't drink coffee either.
[ Although she probably looks like she could use it. ]
no subject
[ He can't imagine Ruby drinking it either. Little does he know... ]
no subject
[ It's blasphemy, probably, considering she works there. Even so, she says it with a hint of a smile. ]
But I don't mind the smell. [ Which is a good thing, because it's been kind of hard to get rid of entirely. ] Sure, girls drink it. I've seen plenty of girls who look my age in the shop. [ Er, her biological age, anyway. She's pretty sure people who are her actual age don't drink it unless their parents are irresponsible, or something. ]