06 [voice/action]

[wipesfaith]

[The moment those upcoming missions were announced, Jean knew he would volunteer. He has the habit of pulling the weight of responsibility down on himself, out of a need to not be caught standing still. The mission to Pagoda should be the obvious choice, when he's already seen more corpses than he cares to count, but he thinks he owes something to the dead and he doesn't want fear to be enough of a reason to stop him. And so, the unmade decision teeters in his mind.

The idea of rebuilding, and the destruction that inherently goes before it, gets him thinking about something else that's been sitting on his mind lately. He addresses the journal network with the sort of dogged formality that has been drilled into him by a military life, and the prickly awkwardness of a young man who prefers not to ask for too much help.]

I have a question for anyone who uses magic here. I learned some about the spirits - the filial spirits - at school here, and I've been trying to make contact with them. Mostly the healing spirit, Nala...it'd be useful to be able to do some first aid without needing to have a kit on hand. [His mind is on the battlefield, which hasn't left him since he stepped off of it months ago.] I haven't had much luck, though.

[That, or he just doesn't have the right head for this stuff.]

What I'm asking is, anyone have any tips? About what worked for you, or...anything like that. I'd like to hear it.

Thanks.

[Action]

[Jean, being very much human, is a creature of habit. In the morning, he can be found at the Battle Dome. Need a training partner? Despite the persistent look of having had someone piss in his toast and eggs, he's approachable enough. Honest. Second floor spectators might spot him slinging himself through the air and doing flips and shit with what looks like a complicated system of grappling lines that he's strapped into via an equally complicated harness. Also in the morning, and again in the afternoon, the equine-minded might bump into him at the stables alongside his black Friesian.

At some point, he ends up on the cherry blossom tree hill tucked away just north of the village. Breaking news, fucking loser at most romantic spot in town all by himself. But he has his sketchbook, and he's here to practice landscapes. Something to distract himself with. ...Except while he's got his head bent over the page, the damn trees lose all their leaves like it's suddenly winter - with no autumn in between to buffer the change - and then they blink out of existence entirely. Left behind is a naked hill and a bewildered Jean.]

Comments

[cherishedmiracle]

[At the cherry blossom hill, Jean may soon find himself with company. Nagisa had come to see all the leaves, but it looks like they're gone? That's so strange. But what's stranger is that Jean is just sitting there on the barren hill like a loser.

Not that she thinks the loser part. But. You know.

She's a little too shy to speak up though, so instead she just stands a couple yards away from him, waiting for him to possibly look her way so she can wave or something.]

[wipesfaith]

[At this point, he's still looking around the hill with a scrunched up brow, then throwing the same look down at the sketchpad. What the hell is he supposed to draw now, a blank hill? Yeah, a curved line in the middle of the page, that's real interesting...

It's when he looks up again that he notices Nagisa, and he colors with embarrassment, hastily clamping his sketchbook shut.]

Oh, uh...hey...! [It's the don-go girl again.]

[cherishedmiracle]

[When he finally turns her way, she gives him a wave. She doesn't directly look at him per se though, and instead eyes the sketchbook he's holding.]

Hello! U-um... what are you doing here?

[wipesfaith]

[You mean the sketchbook he's practically strangling, as if with the intent of covering up crimes he's committed? That sketchbook?]

Well... [His eyes wander the sad little hill for a beat.] Not much of anything right now.

[cherishedmiracle]

[Yes! That sketchbook! How suspicious.]

I see... You're all the way out here all by yourself though. Are you waiting for anyone...?

[wipesfaith]

[He pleads the fifth...! Not that that's a thing where he's from. But whatever.]

Not...really. [Painfully aware of how dumb he probably looks to her, he scratches at the back of his head, a nervous habit. His unsettled posture reads like he's thinking about standing but hasn't committed yet.]

Just thinking is all.

[cherishedmiracle]

Do you want any company then? You look a little lonely out here by yourself. But if you'd rather be alone though, then I understand! I was just, um, wondering.

[Not like she's really doing anything herself; she was just out on a walk.]

1/2

[wipesfaith]

You can stay if you want. [This is paired with a shrug. His drawing subject went on hiatus, and he doesn't have much else to do for the time being. He doesn't want to be the kind of asshole who sends a cute girl away, and he definitely doesn't want to come off as some weird lonely loser to her, which is why he's putting on a grin. He gestures brusquely about the hilltop.]

Who knows, maybe the trees will come back in a few minutes. [Although, these random changes seemed to be lasting longer and longer.]

[wipesfaith]

[He remembers a beat or two too late that this is rumored to be a romantic spot, at least when the trees are actually around, so he hastily tacks on:]

Don't mean anything weird by that or nothing, don't worry.

[cherishedmiracle]

Weird? It's okay! I mean, I'm hoping the leaves will come back soon too. They're very pretty, after all.

[Completely missing his point, because the romantic aspect of this area totally flew over her head anyway. She hadn't thought of it at all, oops.]

[wipesfaith]

[Well. Good. Because as cute as she is, his heart is reserved for someone else, thank you very much. He'll curtly wave her over, an invitation for her to sit down nearby, and he sets his sketchbook in the grass beside him. At least he looks less like a guilty weirdo now.]

So what're you out here for? [It's only fair that he returns the question. Not that he really answered her before. But whatever.]