Anemone's been here a few weeks now? Too long for her liking. All Eureka Seven spoilers possible.

[tearsofaphrodite]

There's a teenage girl, lounging lazily and very moodily in the middle of the plaza, very twitchy, and glaring at everyone who's passing by. She seems to have slight spasms sometimes.

"Have you ever considered," she asks, you, or nobody in particular, "just how unfair this place is?! Sure, Dewey isn't here, that's grand, sure, sure, but neither is Nirvash! Nirvash isn't here, and I can't - I can't--!"

Anemone twitches a bit more.

"And I don't even have my medicine! Shouldn't this place give me some, since it brought me here?"

She glares, and sighs.

"Don't just stare, tell me what you think! Isn't this place just unfair?! It's as bad as Sabraather!"

Comments

[adregem]

"Doors? You've got to be kidding me." He doesn't hide his annoyance. It's always doors. Dreamer's Doors, doors to some Conductor's house...

He catches up to her in quick strides. "So the Nexus has doors to worlds, and each person who comes through a door can go back the way they came from? Is that what you're saying? And how did you know yours...disappeared? Where do you even find them?" Because it can't be that easy. There's always a catch.

[tearsofaphrodite]

"I just went home through them once. But next time I appeared here, I went to look and they weren't there, so, poof! - they're gone! Apparently."

Ugh.

"Stop talking that much, my brain will explode. Let's find some medicine."

[adregem]

Roland stops for a moment, turning serious once more. His questions could wait until she was more stable.

"Hey," he starts off, voice firm without losing an ounce of care. "Do you want to take a break? Sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you." He looks around, at a loss on what exactly they needed to do since Anemone had no idea what the medicine was.

"How about I go and find you a doctor, or something? They could check up on you, then give an alternative medication to help? Sound like a plan?" Because we're going to be walking around in circles until you collapse if we don't know what we're looking for, kid.

[tearsofaphrodite]

They probably can, true enough.

She seems a bit startled at the questions. A break? Overwhelm?? Finding doctor?

"You're more of a goody two-shoes than even Dominic, geez! Find, go, find a doctor. I guess."

[adregem]

A goody two-shoes? Well. That's new.
Roland's disposition is resolute. With certainty in his timbre, he crosses his arms once again and keeps his gaze focused on the teen.

"If I go alone, you might wander off somewhere else. Listen, I know we've only just met, but your health is a priority. It's easy to lose but hard to gain back. Trust me." Moments like these are when Roland's true age shows, despite how young his body has become. On the inside, he remains his real self: close to fifty, a father in his own right, and carrying more than enough experience in worldly affairs to keep him stocked up with sagely across plenty of lifetimes.

"How about this," he starts off steady. "Let's put a pause on all the tough questions about the Nexus until you get what you need. If you don't know what it's called, maybe we can start with what it looks like. Wanna paint me a picture?"

[tearsofaphrodite]

A picture? What is she, a painter?!?

"Fine", the pinkhaired girl grumbles.

"I can tell you a bit, at least. It's in a syringe? And stuff."

And...

"Tch, let's go see a doctor together, don't want to repeat stuff twice."

[adregem]

Roland cracks a smile. He allows her to trudge along, still trailing closely behind her.

"That's the spirit. Just tell me if you need another quick break. But let's continue afterwards, until we get what you need."

He shakes his head as they turn twice around the corner. "Man, this place could really use Trip Doors, with how gigantic it all is."

[tearsofaphrodite]

Now the girl's slightly curious. She'll grab Roland's sleeve if he lets her - and she is fast, even in this state.

"What are Trip Doors? Tell me."

[adregem]

Roland doesn't mind her touch. The stoic man will never outright admit it, but he has a soft spot for kids who need aid, or even just small acts of kindness. He slows his walk and keeps his eyes trained along their path.

"I'm not the best guy to explain magic, but they're basically these portals that you can activate when you arrive somewhere new for the first time. If you leave that place and you wanna go back, it teleports you right where the Trip Door is, saving you lots of time. Helps if you hate walking." He grins. Leander could have explained that better, Roland reckons. Alas, the Archon was absent, and in his place, Roland's poor grasp of otherworldly magic will have to do.

"Heh. That'd be a treat. Think I could learn how to do that kind of stuff here?" He glances at Anemone, hoping she was still listening to him ramble.

[tearsofaphrodite]

Listening for now. At least it was a distraction. But then, she scrunches up her nose.

"Magic?"

And he expects her to believe in magic?

[adregem]

Roland quirks another amused eyebrow at his pink-haired companion. "Trust me, I had the same reaction. Just go with it. It's magic, and it works." He remarks dryly.

"So," He hasn't forgotten what they set out to do, though. "Your medicine. Are we close to a hospital with doctors or medics? Not that this isn't a nice walk out of town with good company." He offers Anemone a geniune smile and a joke.

Says Anemone, who's practically a mecha pilot magical girl... if you watched, you know XD but she

[tearsofaphrodite]

[thinks she's very sci-fi, you know. (It's like Star Wars a bit. XD ) /ooc]


Magic, huh. Anemone still frowns at that. Is he an idiot? Oh, well, if magic does exist - what'd it be like?

Maybe it'd be something to see. Eh, why not?

"Okay, if you're so sure, do some magic. Here, now."

She smiles.

She ignores his other question for now. He is here to entertain her, Anemone's just decided.

Maybe it's his slight and undefined similarity to Dominic. Or maybe it's her aches and boredom. And of course he can flee anytime.

too bad roland's the designated swordsman of their party, and not the mage XD

[adregem]

"Uh - Right here? Now?" Roland glances about them, a mix of visitors and civilians going about their day. He returns her candidness with an expression of disapproval. "Yeah...Don't think that's a good idea, Anemone. Besides, doesn't this place have a countermeasure against acts of violence? Something tells me casting magic out of the blue might give the authorities the wrong idea."

And anyway, Roland wasn't a spellcaster to begin with. His skill with the sword and the gun was something to behold, but magic? That was more Evan and Leander. The only thing he could do was use Higgledy companions to help trigger small spells, like Kinder for starting fires.

But Roland was intuitive enough to know Anemone wanted to see some sort of...entertainment from him. So he pats her shoulder kindly and offers her an alternative. "I'll tell you what, though. Why don't you watch me train or something some other time, instead? Maybe I'll be able to perform some of my old tricks here in the Nexus. You can hold me to that."

Re: too bad roland's the designated swordsman of their party, and not the mage XD

[tearsofaphrodite]

"It's not violence if you're not attacking anyone, is it?"

Other time, huh?

No fun.

But there's nothing she can do about that, is there? Besides, maybe he's just lying about magic.

"In the meantime - I don't actually know where are doctors here."

[adregem]

"True," Roland cocks his head slightly to the side to emphasize his point. "But my kind of magic needs my sword and my gun out. Can't wave wands and cast spells like two of my friends can, sorry to disappoint you."

When Anemone freely admits to not knowing where to go, however, Roland has to visibly recoil. He's not keen on having a young girl suffer the side effects of withdrawal from whatever she was made to be dependent on - something he hasn't forgetten even though they had been exploring the Nexus for a while now.

He gently places his hands on both her shoulders this time, keeping eye contact as he speaks. "Anemone, listen. If we don't know where doctors are, and if we don't know what your medicine is called or what it looks like, the next best thing is to get you somewhere comfortable for now. Do you have a place you're staying at? I'll escort you there so you can get some rest at the very least."

Maybe she can take something else...How do I even ask what she's sick from?

[tearsofaphrodite]

She begins to tune him out. She does that sometimes.

[adregem]

Roland can see he's losing her attention, and he assumes it's all part of her relapse. He looks worried. He isn't sure what else to expect from Anemone, and that can get dangerous. He won't know what to do to relieve her symptoms or her pain.

Again, with an even gentler hold this time, Roland takes both of his hands and places them on her shoulders, trying to angle her back to his face. His tones are more hushed now, as if trying to appease a child.

"Say, Anemone. What do you wanna do? Do you want me to take you home, or do you want me to accompany you somewhere nice?" He hopes his gentleness can get through to her. The goal has to be to get her someplace safe, where she can rest. Looks like it's going to be more of a challenge than I thought.

[tearsofaphrodite]

Partly relapse, party character. You could ask her friends, no, she doesn't have more than one yet, unless one counts theEnd friend. But at least he notices she's in lalaland right now.

Home? At that, Anemone glances at Roland as if he's crazy.

At least she's paying attention now.

"Careful, people might think you a stalker."

[adregem]

The older man doesn't flinch, knowing full well she means no harm. He stands up straight again and begins to scan the surrounding area for anywhere she might be able to stay safely for the time being.

"Well now, that's not very nice of them. I'm just observant." He smiles jokingly, resuming his scouting.

"Anemone, I'm concerned about your health but you seem to be doing alright for now. Let's get you to that bench right over there -" Roland points to a short distance away, where a wooden bench sits nicely below another building's awning. "- and then I'll leave you to it. Is that alright with you?"

[tearsofaphrodite]

"...okay. But then ask around for medicines, okay? Maybe I can take something else."

anemone, you're triggering Roland's paternal instincts ahhh

[adregem]

"Gah..." Roland grimaces. He didn't know what else to do to help his young friend, and that bothers him greatly. Not only that, he wasn't sure how he was going to find her again and bring medicine to her, much less a doctor, if she moved from the spot he was about to escort her to.

He takes a quick glance around his surroundings, making a mental note of where they were, before he turns back to Anemone. She didn't seem like she was in pain, but he saw the state she was in before they started walking. Without hesitation, Roland rummages through his pockets and brings out a curious green vial. He hands this over gently to Anemone.

"I wish I could do more for you," he says. "But as it stands, neither of us know what to do with your condition. If I'm gone for too long and you feel like you're in pain, try this. It's called an All Be Gone. It should help soothe you, for a time." Or so Roland hopes. "Call for my name and I'll be sure to find you, if you need help. Okay?"

He stands, and softly manuevers her to a better spot by the bench.

Awww. :D

[tearsofaphrodite]

"Okay," she says, just slightly surprised.

She's probably going to doze off a bit, now, and feel slightly better after waking up. For a time.

However, she's definitely going to remember this man, later.