estoria | [open] coping mechanisms

Who: Simon Blackquill (

shacklebreaker), Taka, and you!
When: 21st December/early hours of 22nd
Where: Various
What: The Twisted Samurai spends the day alone for some personal reflection.
Rating/Warning: AA5 spoilers. Mentions of death/implied suicide. Drankin.

i. AFTERNOON - CERES GARDENS

[Blackquill's brought his hawk to the gardens to give him some exercise. At the moment he's throwing scraps of meat for Taka to snatch out of midair, making the bird work for his food. If Taka catches it successfully -- which he does without fail, every time -- the hawk is whistled back and rewarded with another treat.

It's not a training session, but rather, a way to get Taka to stretch his wings. The hawk is already well-trained enough that Blackquill doesn't even need a hood or jesses for his bird. The last thing he's interested in is tying his faithful companion down when Taka can fly free, and it gives him a calming sense of peace to watch him soar and dive through the air.

Once Taka has eaten his fill, Blackquill can be found strolling through the gardens. His hawk is hidden in the trees, although anyone observant might notice the bird never strays too far away.]

ii. LATE EVENING THROUGH TO 1AM - NOVUS/REPLEA

[Given today's date, there's morbid appropriateness in stowing away for the evening in what the locals knew as the 'entrance to the underworld'. The bar might be considered seedy to some, filled with criminals and rebel activity as it was, but after seven years on death row, Blackquill is more comfortable with this brand of drinking company than anything else.

Not that he's interested in socialising. He's too wrapped up in his own thoughts for that, nursing a drink at the bar and trying to numb the dull pain that has hung over him all day.

He'd spent seven years in a cell. Seven years, waiting for his own willing demise. For seven years of sleepless nights, confinement and isolation, the past replaying over and over in his mind, he'd marched, slowly but resolutely, towards the end.

Then, at the very last moment, she'd reached out and snatched him from the jaws of death.

Were all those years worth it? Yes, if it was to serve the one more important to him than life itself. But now after all that pain, here they were, in Cerealia. Their world had been destroyed, and they owed their existences here to data. The more he thinks about it, the more he feels he'd failed her. And that her struggles, too, had been for nothing...

But such thoughts are enough to drive a man to madness. Better not to think on it. He downs the last of his beer, and slams down a hand on the bartop for another.

Tonight is going to be a long night.]

iii. EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING - APARTMENTS

[It's almost 2am when Blackquill returns to the apartment complex. He'd hoped to slip in unnoticed, but as he fumbles to find his room key, the plastic snowman Athena had put outside her room a few days prior bursts into song. Yet again.]

Curse you, you noisy thing-- [He mutters under his breath, rifling through his pockets with more urgency. He'll try and get into his room before anyone on the floor is woken up...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The hawk is perched on Blackquill's outstretched forearm as she approaches, swallowing large scraps of meat whole. When Blackquill notices they've been joined by a third party, however, he pauses in feeding his companion to look at the girl clutching a camera. Had she been following Taka this whole time?]

He does indeed... Taka is none other than my trusty cohort. [As Blackquill speaks, the hawk finishes wolfing down the last strip of meat, then fixes Leia with a fierce stare.] Were you looking to get a picture of him?

[Okay. His voice is a little scary, but it's otherwise a fairly welcoming response. Leia slowly approaches them, making her way out into the clearing so that she can see the both of them better.

At first, she's taken in by Simon's hair, which is long and appears in two different colors. Then there's what looks like bags under his eyes... but her attention wanders back to Taka before long.]

Do you think he'd mind?

[Simon's not actively trying to make himself intimidating, at least, which is a change from the norm. To her question, he shakes his head.]

As long as you don't use the flash, or you're like to accomplish nothing but to spook him away. [Normally he wouldn't be so accomodating to a stranger, least of all on a day like today, but anyone who shares his appreciation for birds can't be half bad.] Would you prefer I hold him still, or would you like a photo of him in flight?

[Decisions, decisions!

Leia's appreciation isn't as specific as all that, but... it's not like he has to know. She smiles eagerly.]

His wings are so gorgeous... it'd be a shame if I didn't get a good shot of him in the air. He looks so calm and peaceful there on your shoulder though that it's hard to resist...

This is hard!

Hmph... If you're indecisive, mayhap he will oblige you a picture of both. Will you, Taka?

[Blackquill is now giving the bird scritches around the feathers on his neck, and Taka seems content to stay in place for the time being while she gets her camera ready.]

[Leia waits for a bit, as if the bird might answer any second... though she quickly realizes that's her chance, and she holds up her camera to take a few shots of both of them. Luckily, her flash is already off, so no problems there.]

Thank you.

[aaand she lowers her camera again, since he looks too comfortable to be taking off anytime soon.]

You were at Athena's, weren't you? Now I remember. [though they never talked until now.]

[Blackquill stops petting Taka while she takes the pictures, and to her question, he nods.]

Yes, for a short time. Athena and I hail from the same world.

[He's also omitting a lot of details, but a simple explanation is best.]

[Leia gives a nod of understanding. After all, she can't expect everyone to be so willing to divulge their life story, like she might.]

I'm Leia. She and I jog together almost every morning, and now we're pretty good friends.

[She's working on it, anyway.]

It's... nice to meet you.

[It's around then it hits her that she learned the hawk's name before she even learned of his.]

I see. She's trying to rope other unfortunate souls into her fitness regimen, is she?

[She'd asked him to join too, but he'd declined. He already puts in more than enough hours at the gym keeping his sword skills sharp.]

...I am Simon Blackquill.

[At that, she laughs, feeling a bit easier around him now that she knows his name.]

You and Mr. Edgeworth make it sound so horrible.

I actually volunteered. [Plot twist?]

But it is horrible. Rising so early in the morning to run around with a shrieking gaggle of schoolgirls... I can think of no worse start to the day.

[...Leaving aside the fact Athena is neither a schoolgirl, nor does she shriek...]

[Leia doesn't shriek either...?! But okay, she can see his point.]

Yeah, the waking up in the morning part of it isn't so fun. Sometimes I oversleep...

But I always have fun with her when I don't.

I'll give her credit where it is due... She has a way of bringing people together.

[And she likes to make sure they're having fun, too. It's just one of the many things he's still learning about Athena, as compared to the girl he once knew.]

Mhm!

[Leia agrees all too cheerily. She's quiet as she thinks about it, because she strives to be the same way. As a nurse, and even now, as a journalist--she wants her work to bring people together, rather than set people apart the way most political pieces do.

It's... not easy, trying to please an audience.]

[After a moment, she realizes she's been staring, at Taka in particular. Neither seem to mind, though it does feel hypnotic, so she feels compelled to snap herself out of it.

Gotta be alert.]

Hey. Do you think it'd be safe for me to feed him?

As long as he doesn't develop an appetite for the fingers of little photographers...

[As reassuring as ever. Maybe he's going soft, though, or maybe it's because he's unused to people being anything other than frightened of both him and Taka, but he doesn't mind that she wants to feed the hawk. So he offers her a scrap of meat to give to the bird.]

Hold the food in the middle of your palm face-up, and keep very still. Taka will take it from you with no fuss.

...Okay. Here goes.

[Leia reaches out to grab the meat when Simon offers it, switching the way she holds it as soon as it's instructed. She looks it over for a moment under Taka's watchful eye, regarding her fingers in particular with concern.

Then finally, she outstretches her arm towards him before she can change her mind.

Time to wait.]

[open] coping mechanisms

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