#celestialprayer

[heartbinders]

❝ Donald! Goofy! Tarzan! Check this out! ❞

Jumps for a series of vines. Immediately slips on the last one.

[wifeysaremylifey]

Red hadn't know for sure if it was going to be effective, since the will to act that way surged from empathic instinct, but the acceptance seemed to be punctuated by a lightness of the other girl's demeanor. And that'd definitely be enough for the maker. Wrapping the hand around hers, she was about to head in the direction she had pointed out prior, when Zena spoke up again.

"Hm...? Oh!" She looked down at herself. No glaring bruises, but she definitely seemed to be in the habit of patching herself up, as suggested by a band-aid on her leg that might have been there for weeks, and some scattered scratches on her lower legs which were likely a result of running long distances through tough terrain without wearing pants.

"That sounds super convenient! Proper healing magic is really handy... If I have to handle things alone, I usually just chow down on whatever Sweet Stuff I've got on my pockets and live off of the sugar rush!"

She said that as if it was very much a normal thing.

"Before meeting you, I did get in a couple fights. Easy-peasy for someone like me, of course! But I suppose I'm not topped up either... I'd be thankful for healing, but you don't need to overdo it or anything!"

"Besides, helping lovely damsels is just the right thing to do! I don't need to be paid back in order to do it!"

She would keep the grip on Zena's hand looser than she had before, just in case she decided the wanted to do it anyway. But if she gives any indication that she'll wait instead, Red will resume the trip back.

As Zena took the time she needed to maintain her composure, keep her thoughts in a row, she heard the woman's words. To the city... the city. So there was a populated area not too far away. Perhaps the rocks weren't ideal for her current clothings' sandals, but - well, she'd made do in worse.

" - Ah? " Zena is a tad surprised as RED's movements focus away from their intent to find their destination and move back to her - though following the exclamation, the girl's movement slowing down noticeably helps her get her bearings back quite quickly.

" Your... hand...? " And in this moment, Zena finds herself back in reality. Away from at least the immediate pain, her mind moves back toward the other woman. The words seemed eased from their prior excitement, the rush and enthusiasm she had seemed so eager to provide initially replaced with a more welcoming tone. Had she been so obvious? Perhaps unsurprising, given her circumstances...

" ... Alright. " All the same, it makes her heart clear. RED had that glimpse of the cries of her heart - and with no context, offered a hand forward. It was relieving to feel assured that, at least, she was among good company, if perhaps only for this brief time. This in mind, she accepts RED's hand, placing her's in it in kind. " I thank you for your generosity. Truly. "

She is willing to leave it at that, unless RED might wish to converse on the way to town... but as a thought crosses her mind, she adds an additional statement.

" - Ah - but if I may ask before we proceed... you claimed to be an adventurer, yes? You spoke of monsters the may lie around us... have you any wounds? " Her grip her remaining hand holds on her yet-unneeded-here staff shifts, anticipating the possibility that it may yet find use this day. " I... hold some degree of healing magic. I do not know how much mana I hold at this moment, but if I might use it to pay your kindness forward with a healing, I would gladly do so. "

[wifeysaremylifey]

Well, golly gee, here we go!

Comfort food(s): Very unfortunately, it is a dessert which I can never have with any degree of frequency: tiramisu. I don't think anything really comes close that is easy to make, and I just have that, like, once every several months? But if I do need a comfort item for consumption in general, it's always the next one.  

Comfort drink(s): Coca-cola, original flavor. Been very addicted to it for the majority of my life, 25 years at least. I'm able to control my intake properly now, but it was remarkably bad in my more depressive teenage years when I was downing multiple bottles a day. To this day, there's nothing else that just serves as an instant shot of happiness to me, and I find that to be really unfortunate.

Comfort movie(s): I don't think I have one, I very rarely watch movies willingly. And when I do, I don't watch them more than once. I imagine I had one as a child, since I know I watched stuff several times then, but it's been forgotten now.

Comfort show(s): ... Do those old Looney Tunes shorts count? If not, then- Yu-Gi-Oh GX is probably the closest one to it. It is pretty silly early but also fun- and kind of existential and sad towards the end. And I happen to like a mix of those.

Comfort clothing: Big coats. Yes, even in warmer days.

Comfort song(s): Now this one has too many to count, I have different playlists that fit certain moods. But I'll break it down. So far as regular music goes, I like electro swing in general, but specifically for comfort I listen to Swingrowers a lot. Also sea shanties have that effect on me too, it's easy for them to get me to sing and feel better afterwards. An album I tend to come back to is The Green Knight, by Heather Dale. And in it, The Maiden and the Selkie is my favorite song, since it's kind of a chant and a fairy tale in one and I kind of love that. Other than that, game music has always been with me, and the original soundtracks of both Ragnarok Online and Chrono Cross will probably follow me forever and be big sources of comfort. Out of those, even if CC is a bit old, the soundtrack is worth a listen to this day, if you're ever curious.

Comfort book(s): I think I mentioned in a previous meme that Alice in Wonderland and the Sherlock Holmes novels are favorites of mine. They're also definitely comfort books and I both read it and heard their audiobooks dozens of times each- not as much Through the Looking-Glass, but it's catching up nowadays, Other than that, the Andrew Lang compilations of fairy-tales are books I read back to several times.

Comfort game(s): Hmm, I have to think about it a bit, since the games I find most worthwhile to play tend to make me actively uncomfortable and I kind of appreciate that. The clearest example in my mind is Pokémon. I just do a lot in that series, from replaying with small restrictions to active marked shiny hunting. Other than that, I do enjoy games where you have a contained gameplay loop that you can repeat several times, especially if they're co-op. Stuff like Payday 2 and Deep Rock Galactic. Lastly, if I've invested enough time in a gacha game, it tends to become a comfort game- potentially because of the whole habit-setting that they all covertly do, but still. Honkai: Star Rail is the main one I play currently.

tagged by: Someone who's called me out for not finishing Dragalia Lost *cough* @celestialprayer*cough* tagging: @iceiclehorned, @divinityunleashed, @puzzledmemories, @dragonknightsworn, @mysticallities, and whoever sees it and happens to want to do this (and potentially didn't finish Dragalia Lost either, don't let me be the only one to carry the burden--)

[wifeysaremylifey]

"..."

She wasn't sure what it had been. Though Zena didn't speak much, she still looked reasonably composed, if a bit confused, ever since meeting her. But now, something seemed to weigh on her heavily. Red herself wasn't particularly apt on recognizing mental distress, but she was martial enough to know that the tenseness of the muscles and the heavy sigh spoke of some incredible effort being made, unseen and unreachable.

Though the maker could think about that, she'd really rather not. Her empathy, however high, didn't end divining a problem, and careless words were an easy way to get into a wrong route. She much rather take some form of physical action. And she at least received a clear answer as to what action should be taken.

"Absolutely! Then let's go all the way back to the city! It's got everything you might need, and it ain't far, so! Might as well~!"

She'd turn towards the rocky area she had pointed out previously, gauging from where to take the descent with the least amount of hassle.

"... Oh! Right!"

Before she even took a step towards the right way, she half-turned towards Zena. Rather deliberately, slower than her recent sharp movements and quick questioning, she outstretched her hand, palm up, and held it in place.

"Hold my hand."

She still didn't know what to say. But words were never the only vessel for empathy.

'Virtua Forest'? 'Planeptune'? Such names had not even vague familiarity to her. No such names throughout any version of her world she'd visited had ever come up in all that time. Perhaps it was no jump in logic to assume she was somewhere else entirely... harrowing a thought as that was.

" ... Mm? " She makes note of RED's rather generous offer - not wanting to interrupt, she hears her offer through. She listens, hearing speak of monsters, and... flowers? 'Gamers'? Horse... birds? All the same, she listens regardless... until asked about home.

" ... My... "... home. Gracious, even she couldn't tell if she didn't wish to discuss it or if she couldn't. Home - what she could once describe as her wonderful home, the kingdom she shared with her brother... her father... her other siblings, visiting readily... she couldn't describe in any way anymore, could she? Her last glimpse of it was anyone's; being forced to claim his life, in the hopes of giving her world another chance, and then... then...

... No. Not just yet. This young woman was speaking to her now. Offering aid, asking her where she was supposed to go with the intent of bringing her there, currently speaking nothing of a reward... this wasn't the time to finally let it all catch up to her. Not now. Not yet.

" ... I'm... sorry. " She muscles through giving an answer, a clear effort of pushing back an emotional outburst after quite the noteworthy silence. Were she to answer RED's question proper, she knew that every bit of wall she'd built for herself to persevere would collapse outright. And the last thing she wished to present was an emotional collapse to a cheerful stranger. A breath - a very heavy one, at that - before adding, " I-I... for now, I need only a place to rest. Could I ask you guide me there? "

Wherever it was.

[wifeysaremylifey]

Red waited with bated breath. It felt normal enough for the other to be re-orienting herself when she displayed all signals that Red's interjection had caught her off-guard. But when the answer came, it was different from what she expected.

"Oh! Of course, I at least know that much," she went on to say, putting a hand to her hips and looking off into the distant trees. "This is Virtua Forest, and we're a bit west of Planeptune's main city! You can definitely see where it is if you walk towards that rocky area over there."

Red wasn't a stranger to just jump in head-first onto places and turn out in locations she'd never been to before (or even in a different dimension that one time), but it never bothered her to be far away from home when she knew there would have to be a way to go back if she searched hard enough. But now her empathy for the stranger was making her consider that this might not be the case to everyone else.

It caused her to promptly step up and put herself at service. Just the kind of service a star-crossed lover would offer unconditionally to their person of affection, she thought.

"But wait! If you're lost, I gotta do something about that! Virtua Forest's close to civilization, but there's still monsters, tulips, horsebirds and real gamers about! And they can be annoying or even dangerous to deal with- but they're easy-peasy for me, of course!"

"Let me go with you, Zena! I can help you get back or find out where you might have been going in the first place! And I thiiiiink I'm well-traveled enough to know places by description alone! I've been to all 4 big cities of Gamindustri- and a lot of smaller places too! Sooo... why don't you tell me a bit about your home?"

Well, Zena at least gained from the following interactions that the other undeniably meant no harm, and found herself a bit more at ease, at least able to tell rather certainly that this RED was an honest sort. " RED, is it? W-Well, it's nice to meet you, then... "

Of course, as well a thought as that was, it did little to change that she was rather lost in the scene, with the girl's following questions only bringing Zena further aback.

" Ah - n-no, I... " She stumbles a bit keeping up with RED's miniature barrage of questions, centered around the one idea: that she was native here, and pondering accordingly. She certainly knew what a guild was, and she'd met more than a few adventurers in her journey, but of course that was hardly why she was here. In fact - gazing around, despite the simple greens of the surrounding environment, it felt... off. The usual flow of mana that ensured life across Grastaea felt stagnant in this world - perhaps, even, not truly there at all. As one who held a position harbored to it once, the lack of it made everything feel different, even despite little to spell it outright.

Had she even returned to Grastaea? In... any form...?

" Truth be told, I... believe I may be lost, RED. Am I... or, rather, could you perhaps tell me where I am, at this time? "

[wifeysaremylifey]

Seizing upon her reaction to the mention of a fated encounter, Red's head tilted slightly, but her happy expression never wavered. Worries about having mispoken were cast mentally aside. After all, fated encounters were so mystifying in concept, so romantic! That's what her games had taught her, anyway.

She didn't interrupt until a name was announced, to which she responded with a nod.

"Zena!" She repeated it on the spot, as if testing how it felt to say it. "Lovely! Should be easy to remember too! Not that I'd ever forget the name of any of my potential wifeys anyway!"

She said that with outspoken confidence that betrayed either a set of well-done rehearsals of the phrase, or a complete and straightforward belief in it.

"My name's RED! It's very nice to meet you, Zena!"

She avoided mentioning fate again, at least for now. She didn't want to get stuck on the wrong route, after all. Instead, she considered how to gain her trust. It's not like she could rescue her from an assailant like she had done with Nepgear and the others. So what was the next best alternative that didn't require too much thinking, since she didn't like that in the first place?

Perhaps just being very nosy would do the trick.

"Soooooo, were you doing anything big out here? A mission for the Guild? A long hike from home? Oh, maybe you're more of an adventurer like me, and were about to set up camp! I could help you with that!"

" ... Eh? " Zena blinks once again, taking in the girl's words further, her cheeks growing a soft crimson once the intent of her words grew more clear. 'Beautiful hair', 'eyes you could get lost in', even speaking of fated meetings... call Zena presumptuous, but was 'Wifey' in this instance perhaps what she had already assumed...? Then...

" I-I would hardly speak of a fated meeting so freely...! I... " She pauses, the lost auspex making an effort to keep a light tone at the words presented. Zena was a patient sort, and could rather easily recognize the sort of well-meaning giddiness that reminded her of many allies she had made, of bonds forged, during her long-winded quest. She felt rather certain the red-headed stranger meant well; even if that was, as of now, all Zena could really make of her. Those gleaming eyes and that welcoming smile were a familiar sort, even if the words that came with them struck her as a tad confusing.

" I, well... m-my name is Zena. " ... Yes, perhaps it was better to use that name, now. It rang in her head how swiftly the name left her lips, now... but in the midst of this conversation was hardly the time to weigh it. " Might I, ah... ask for yours, as well? "

It was as good a start as any. Perhaps along the way she might be able to better gauge just what sort of situation she'd awoken to... other than it as a rather impromptu courting...

[wifeysaremylifey]

"Why, I'm referring to you, of course~!"

No warming up to it, or playing around; just a straight answer accompanied by a gaze of wonder and a wide, dumb smile on her face.

She had at least kept enough distance to give Zena some semblance of personal space, even if her hand twitched to go forward and offer her something stable to hold onto, just in case her daze was due to actual dizziness.

"I mean, look at you! That beautiful hair! Eyes you could get lost in! Clothes that evoke both power and mystery! There's no girl in this world that can resist all of these charms put together! Nuh-uh!"

She clasped her hands in glee, chest puffed just enough to show some sort of pride in her own discernment.

"But don't worry! You can take your time taking it in! No wifey of mine just gets it immediately either... aaaaand there's no rush at all, when we were fated to meet like this! In the meantime, well..."

"Please, would you tell me your name? I am so eager to know!"

She had nearly jumped in her excitement.

" W... Wifey...? " Zena blinks, attempting to register this interaction - waking up to this red-headed woman speaking with such energy her way was enough to throw the former auspex for quite a loop on its own, saying nothing of such words spoken with such fervor.

" I-I beg your pardon. It would seem that I'm rather, er... dazed. " Saying the absolute least, all things considered - but given she had so-recently awoken here, it was something of a given regardless. " Might I ask what you're refering to...? "

@wifeysaremylifey impromptu starter