Complete Private ✪ Finweald Feeling Sore

[Bluebird]

Bluebird nodded, expression neutral as she listened.

"I have... heard those stories," she eventually said, voice low. And she had - heard them spoken among the travelers repairing camp Ilusus, or whispered by the people within the villages and cities she'd traveled through. "And there are faces I have not seen since that day as well."

The simple truth that made Terrasphere something you couldn't speak of in the world beyond, that for so many made it a hell rather than a heaven. That it could ensnare one's soul. That it could kill.

Bluebird knew these truths from early on. There was no reason for her to hide that knowledge. But with the way Ruby struggled with those words, she knew that there was something she did need to hide.

"It is... alarming, for certain. That something such as this could have such power." Bluebird couldn't tell Ruby that she didn't care if such a fate befell her. "...but what this world has given me far exceeds that risk."

Bluebird smiled weakly. "After all, I would not have met all these people. I would not have met you."

She would not give up her paradise, now that she had found it.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby's ears rose as Bluebird revealed she already knew at the very least about the rumors. and even if she didn't voice if she believed on it or not, the way she spoke and mentioned about it made it clear that this was the case. "So... Y-You already knew..." She muttered, wrapping her tails around her leg in a vague fear for the reminder of this game's true nature.

"It is alarming... Yes... And the risk may be good, but the advantages are... Really good, I must admit." Ruby nodded in agreement, though her cheeks and face would soon mimic the color of her hair, when Bluebird confessed that part of what it gave that exceeded the risk was meeting Ruby.

Flustered, Ruby blinked, letting out a sheepish giggle and rubbing her neck. "Birdie... You..." She breathed a happy sigh, smiling warmly to her. "I feel the same... As scary as this game was... The chance of never seeing or hearing of you again would be..." Ruby's ears dropped.

"... Would be unthinkable... I had to see you again. And... I'm glad you think the same." Ruby said, resting a hand on her chest while the other reached for her friend's shoulder, squeezing softly.

@Bluebird

 

[Bluebird]

"Then let us put this unfortunate chapter behind us," Bluebird said. Ruby seemed calm now. Bluebird certainly felt better, even as her voice scratched against her throat.

She coughed softly, once again trying to clear the phantom sensation of EVE's cutting song. She looked around and couldn't help but sigh - the baked goods she'd purchased had scattered across the street, with half of them soaking in the tea that had spilled when she crashed. It wasn't a great loss, but she had been looking forward to something to soothe her throat.

"Perhaps I should have stored those in my inventory,"

She let the words hang, then covered her giggle. Her frantic escape from Ruby felt so distant now, the negative emotions hidden away in the dark corners of her mind. She gave Ruby a look that was almost mischievous behind her hand. "Ruby, I hope you mean to right this wrong. I was quite looking forward to that tea..."

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

When Bluebird seemed to cut the topic to put it away, Ruby's ears twitched, letting Bluebird's shoulder go while her tails swayed in a faint motion while her gaze followed to see the scattered goods. Ruby's face grew slightly pale, with her ears flattening against her head as she turned to look at the other girl with an awkward smile.

"I... I'm sorry! Uhm, yeah! Let's leave the bad chapters behind, right?" Ruby said, wondering and hoping that by 'leaving bad chapters behind', that mess of an accident was included in it. "You couldn't know it would've happened." The crimson cat said while shaking her head at the blue bird's lament.

However, it was followed with a giggle, a giggle that tickled Ruby's heart and made her lips instinctively quiver into a smile.

The mischievous words and expressions made Ruby's ear perk up, and when she was nudged into compensation, her cheeks grew rosy, with a sheepish brim covering her eyes as she locked on Bluebird's... And her voice softened, turning back to its almost long lost cheerfulness. "Of course I will." She clasped her hands together, then offering one of them to Bluebird.

"I know an even better place, Birdie!" She exclaimed.

@Bluebird

 

[Bluebird]

Bluebird nodded and lowered her hand. Her smile was softer now, but it was still guarded. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't entirely suppress the fear, the anger, the today he is kind but what of tomorrow that whispered through her thoughts.

But that was okay. Today, things were better, and perhaps tomorrow they would be better too. What else could she do but cling to that glimmer of desperate hope, as she had so many times in the past?

"Is that so? That is quite the bold claim."

Bluebird glanced down at Ruby's hand. Their embrace had been mere moments ago, but in the aftermath of those vibrant emotions, the idea of simple hand-holding felt almost uncomfortably intimate.

She took the offered hand anyway. Such mild discomforts were necessary in the name of appeasement.

"Do lead the way, Ruby. I am eager to see your champion in this war of bakeries."

@Crimson Ruby