aterat | And I do Cherish You

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And I do Cherish You

Who;Aerith+ OTA!
What; Setting up her shop for Cherishment and getting some chocolate! Feel free to also use this for any interactions you might want to have for the event or just for the month in general! She'll be working at her shop a TON trying to make the most things, so you can almost always find her there from morning to night.
Where; Her shop in the market and the chocolatier
When;Anytime at all
Warnings; None for now!

I. Aerith's Flower Shop.

Once a flower peddler, always a flower peddler. Surely that was a motto someone out there had, right? Well, if it wasn't, it was someone's now. Specifically, it was Aerith's current moment, at least for the time of Cherishment. She'd set up some samples in the window of her shop that showed off a variety of different flowers including: camellias, asters, roses, red and white chrysanthemums, ivy, and plenty of others. The common thread that tied them together was that they all represented affection in some way. In the center of all the flowers was a sample bouquet that was wrapped up with two different ribbons, one pink and one black. Next to it there was a small display showing off a sample of ribbons, each one in a different color. A sign finished the entire thing reading:

Let the flowers speak for you! Each bouquet comes with your choice of flowers and two ribbons, one for your loved one and one for you, creating something that will always tie your memories together!

It'd taken her a while to set it all up and even now she was working on small things, shifting things around so that everything looked as perfect as it could. Ironically that meant she wasn't completely aware of people that were coming by the shop. Or into the shop.

Maybe she should think of installing a bell.

II. Noble District Chocolatier

This hadn't always been here, had it? No, it was new. It was definitely new. She'd have definitely remembered a chocolatier. That alone should probably have made people suspicious of it, but it didn't. At least not the native people here. That was a kind of unsettling sometimes, how things would just appear and the people here acted like it'd always been there. The more sensible side to her thought that maybe she should just ignore it herself. Pretend like the chocolates didn't look particularly tasty and that the sweet smell wasn't appealing at all.

Nobody ever had any fun by listening to their sensible side though. The first box Aerith bought for herself. It wasn't the only box she bought though. She bought a few for other people, it seemed like the thing to do. They were wrapped so nicely and the idea of making someone happy with a small gift like this made her forget about the weirdness of it all. That was the point of the entire Cherishment thing wasn't it? Making friends and loved ones happy with a little gift that let them know how much they mattered. It was nice. Nicer than a lot of things this place had given to them. Nicer than most things back in her own world. Nice was a...well, it was a nice change of pace.

The chocolates that she'd bought for herself didn't make it too far before she'd opened the box up and tasted one. You see, she had to taste one. It was only right that she try them before she give them out to anyone else, right? What if they actually tasted terrible? It was the sensible thing to do.

That was what she was thinking when she bumped into someone else, clearly on their way to check out the new shops.

"Oh! Sorry," she mumbled with a mouth still half full of chocolate. This was just embarrassing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“Mm… It wouldn’t be the first time. Most of my prior employers would tell you I’m not particularly good at behaving.” He responded with a little tilt of his head. He wasn’t entirely joking, either, but the atmosphere was light enough for it to sound that way. It was also rather hard to imagine her firing him if he tried to. Unless she really did get particularly tired of his meddling and pushing in her day-to-day life.

Llewellyn had definitely needed a larger push, and a change in situation… “I suppose that’s true, and I’ve, uh- always been of the mind that practice is key.” He added with a smile, it got easier with time… That might have something to do with there being more positive things to focus on since he left his world behind. It made the less positive things a little easier to handle, or at least bounce back from.

“You help more than some.” He responded first, picking the edge off his sandwich to eat while he considered her voice for a moment. Hiding behind a bite of food didn’t particularly mean he wouldn’t hear her shift in tone. “Your mother certainly does, by the sounds of it.” He responded thoughtfully, keeping an eye on her. After all, Llewellyn could imagine that she missed the woman. Family was not something that was easy to be parted from.

"You? Not behaving? No! I can't believe it!" She put a hand over a mouth in mock shock. It definitely wasn't hard to imagine him doing what he thought he should do in any job. Sadly, it also wasn't surprising to think it'd lost him a job or two. It seemed like he genuinely meant well with the things he did, but not everyone appreciated just meaning well.

There wasn't really an obvious escape to this conversation and her feelings, even behind the sandwich. Usually she could find some sort of out or something, but he seemed strangely good at trapping people.

"She does. I miss her. I think, even back home, it's going to be a very long time before I see her again." If she ever did.

Her mock shock gets a slight laugh from the detective, at least her amusement was obvious to him. “I have been told my personality often conflicts with those of my colleagues and I have difficulties following the direction of authority when uh- I disagree.” He responded, almost as though quoting someone. There were even little air quotes at the appropriate moments when he spoke, before he returned to his sandwich.

Llewellyn listened, frowning gently at her admittance. “I’m sorry for that… I know it’s not easy to miss family. Mm… But I do hope you get to see her again sooner than you expect.” He offered, knowing from what she’d said before that her life was rather complicated… Plus with what Cloud had told him about recently, he had a feeling being able to relax and visit loved ones was not something she’d be granted by the universe for some time. “I suppose that might be some of why it’s easier to bury one’s self in their work, rather than thinking about it?” He spoke from experience, and he had a feeling it was rather close to why she was being so focused on the shop and other things sometimes.

"Hmm, I can't picture it, not at all," she said with a twinkle in her eyes and food in her mouth that she was using to try to hide her giggles. "I can't imagine your personality conflicting with your colleagues. What exactly do you end up saying to them?" Maybe she shouldn't be so curious, but it was hard not to be with what he said.

She gave a shrug in response and finished off the last little bit sandwich she'd been nibbling on. "I don't think I will, but that's okay. I knew what I was getting into." The only thing that really felt bad was knowing that she didn't actually know that. Or maybe she did. Elmyra was wiser than she appeared a lot of the time and she'd accepted a long time ago that Aerith was very far from normal. She gave him a tiny smile and nodded. "Something like that. It's also...well, it's a bit complicated, you know?"

“The ones who had me dismissed? Mm… It was more that we had differing opinions on how the job should be done. I eventually got rather… frustrated and called them rather rude things like ignorant windbags and the like.” He responded with a tiny shrug. Llewellyn had prioritized cases and people that were less well thought or not considered ‘important’ members of society by the world’s standards. He had found a better place to work where people seemed to care more, at least- well… He realized that wasn’t strictly true, he had been on very thin ice with his boss the day he’d been taken from his world due to some unexpected narrow-mindedness.

Llewellyn rather hoped Aerith would find that she was wrong, and that she would see her mother sooner than expected… She clearly missed the woman, after all, and between losing his own and seeing how Rhy felt about being separated from what family he had left, the detective knew how difficult it was to miss family.

Finishing off his own sandwich and somehow still having enough of an appetite to move on to a tart, he grabbed on and listened with a curious tilt of his head. “Ah- yes, I suppose I do know… Most things are more complicated than they seem, although sometimes we only think they are.” Llewellyn responded thoughtfully. “So it’s more than just missing family that has you so focused on work? Thinking about what you need to do at home, or something else? Er…” Llewellyn blinked, realizing a moment later he’d perhaps asked too much and awkwardly taking a bite of the blueberry tart to keep himself from saying more.

"Was that what they were?" she couldn't imagine him calling people that unless it was a pretty true statement. At the very least she couldn't fault him for being honest and sticking to his own morals.

"Complicated but you're going to ask anyway." Nothing about her tone sounded annoyed though, if anything she was a bit amused. She should have known better than to try to get things passed him. Her tone got a lot more solemn when she actually answered him. "The things I need to do back home."

“Yes.” He responded with a blunt honesty, and that was it. Llewellyn had very strong feelings about them, and their lack of care for doing things right. “They were that and more.” Llewellyn could think of perhaps one or two who hadn’t been… Entirely annoyed by his presence, but they hadn’t been the majority and hadn’t been in charge.

Llewellyn winced a little as she pointed out that he was going to ask, anyway. It was hard not to between his rather inquiring (nosey) mind and his usual worry over people who he’d grown close to. The detective was glad she seemed to understand that, and that she wasn’t holding it against him or getting annoyed. He listened quietly for a moment, a frown crossing his face again. “Mm… You’ve mentioned that… vaguely, before?” Even in this very conversation, he realized. Even if the focal point had been on family.

“The weight of that, I can see how that might drive you to keeping yourself so busy… But it’s not good to work yourself too hard.” Says the man who needed to be reminded to not work all the time. “And in my uh- experience? Sometimes burying one’s worries and stress under work only makes the pressure build.” And yet, somewhat hypocritical, he continued to do just that when things happened. Undoubtedly, it would happen again one day, and disaster would follow as usual… But it seemed more important to him to point it out to her, and conveniently forget that.

"Then I can't blame you at all for being like that," she said matter-of-factly. "Here's hoping they don't show up here." They didn't need unpleasant people on top of everything else.

"Hasn't everyone? It seems like a lot of people have things they need to get done in their own world," she made a humming noise and shrugged. "Maybe it's a requirement for being brought here." It was another attempt at distracting and changing the subject, she seemed exceedingly fond of doing that. Maybe it was habit or maybe it was just a general unease about discussing things.

"Oh, I don't work myself that hard," she tried to give him a comforting smile, but it was a bit halfhearted. He had a point, even if it was slightly hypocritical, but she wasn't really sure what else to say. "It's just not really something I can talk about with some people." Cloud mostly, she let that hang in the air for a moment hoping he'd get the point she was trying to make. "So, I've mostly just decided it's better to keep it all to myself, you know?"

Llewellyn hoped not too, if this world were to bring anyone else from his world… He hoped it would at least be one of his closer colleagues, though after two years away from home? The detective had rather given up on the idea.

“For some people, I suppose that’s true…” Llewellyn wasn’t really sure there was much of anything waiting for him at home. He’d been on thin ice at work as it was, and his boss had proven to be rather narrow minded about people like himself… Sure, Murdoch had proven that he would try to stand up for him, but… He wasn’t sure that would be enough if he went back and certain truths came out. But he had more going for him here in this world than he knew he could ever hope for if he went back. “But that is a good point. It might be a defining factor for the greater number of people who are brought here.” He could be the anomaly, he supposed.

He could tell that she was trying to reassure him that she wasn’t working too much, but he wasn’t exactly buying that. Really, between this and a conversation with Cloud… He was rather concerned about the both of them and they're keeping things to themselves instead of talking to each other. “Is it really better to keep everything to yourself…? I find, um… Eventually, things have a way of getting out, even if you don’t intend for them to, and not always in the way you want.”

Llewellyn realized that saying it wouldn’t mean much, but it seemed important to point out, considering the things that tended to happen when he’d tried to do the same. He nudged a tart towards her, hoping to… balance out what might have seemed pushy with a less nosy gesture.

"I keep hoping there's some pattern or reason for us all being brought here." But so far there didn't really seem to be anything other than speculation. Sometimes she wondered if the reason even mattered. They were here after-all, so there wasn't too much they could actually do in the end.

In response to his question she gave him a tiny smile that held some sadness that she couldn't completely hide. "Maybe so, but...it's complicated I guess. I think you're probably right, that it'll all come out someday. But it's hard to figure out how to talk about it, you know?"

“Yes, patterns are something that always seem to be… lacking…? or at least not readily apparent in these worlds when it comes to those brought here. I tried to figure out the same in the last as much as this one, and it never quite seemed to fall into place.” He responded with a small shake of his head. “I admit, after a while, trying to just keep ahead and figure out how the world itself worked took priority.” And he expected it would be similar here, especially after the plant situation a while back.

He offered her a sympathetic expression at that, though. “Finding the words can be difficult… Especially if it’s about something complicated. Finding someone you trust enough that you’d be comfortable with might help, I think…? Once one starts talking, it can be difficult to stop.” He was, again, something of a hypocrite… but he meant well, and he tried to choose his words more carefully than he used to. “I won’t say that person is me. You should find someone you would be comfortable with, though…? I’ll try to not push you on that. I’ve been told I can be a little too pushy and nosy sometimes.” He forgot that on occasion, though. “I just hope you can find the words you need to say, and that you get to on your own terms. It’s… not a pleasant experience otherwise.”

"Sounds like something that would just lead to frustration." Sometimes it felt better to just let things like that go if there was no headway to be made. "It seems easier sometimes to just accept the unknown and try to go with it." Rather than hitting your head against the wall.

She fell silent for a few seconds and looked down. "I trust Cloud, but..." she swallowed and her voice became a little more soft. "What I know involves him. Cloud isn't...quite himself. There's a man, Sephiroth and he's tied to Cloud in ways that he doesn't understand yet. Somethings happened, even I'm not fully sure about it all, but he got confused and his mind got a bit jumbled with the memories of someone else." It was complicated and she knew that much. The hesitation in her voice also said that she wasn't entirely comfortable telling someone else's story. "Sometimes when things overwhelm him he starts to go dark and I'm afraid if he learns too much...well...I'm not sure what will happen to him." Maybe it wasn't entirely fair for her to put Cloud completely before herself and carry everything all alone. But it was the choice she'd made a long time ago and she wasn't about to change that now.

"There's also...I know some things about our future. Maybe they can be changed, but I'm okay with what I know even if they can't be changed. But if others knew about them? They'd want to do everything they could to make sure they don't happen. And sometimes things need to happen, even if they seem bad at the time."

Llewellyn offered a wry smile to that. It wasn’t like she was wrong. “It certainly did… I’m not particularly good at letting go of things, so it takes me a little longer to get to that point. More often than not, I set things aside and go back to them later.” But eventually you had to accept something wasn’t going to fall into place and prioritize what you focused on. That certainly helped, especially once you had good reasons to.

The detective falls silent though, listening very carefully to Aerith’s explanation. It was certainly more than he expected her to share… Certainly, there were omissions in her explanation. Details that might make more sense of it all, but it was still a lot… So it wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to Cloud or trust him, but… there were complications preventing her from doing so. That was sad, in his opinion. “That sounds terribly difficult to carry on your own, Aerith…” He started, tilting his head with a rather concerned expression. “These things with Cloud- I hadn’t any idea before… He seems very fond of you, in his own way.”

He started, before humming thoughtfully. “These things… Would it really not be better for him to hear them from you, someone he trusts, than on his own later?” He needed to ask, if only because finding out thing’s second hand from others could be rather painful in his experience… And could make one bitter, and possibly risk this ‘darkness’ that Aerith was afraid of.

Dusting some crumbs away with a handkerchief, he leaned on the counter again with an awkward expression. “I can’t imagine the responsibility one would feel, knowing about the future… I mean… I read a lot in the last world about the future of mine, and knowing I’d go back without that knowledge was frustrating, but I also realized it was probably for the better.” So the fact that Aerith just had to live with the knowledge, that seemed terribly difficult. “But are you sure that knowing these things, having the chance to share and keep them from happening, isn’t why you know? Are you sure you aren’t meant to say something?”

"I'd have never taken you for someone that has a hard time letting go of things," she said with a cheeky wink. It was too bad they couldn't just stick with a lighthearted topic, but evidently he was someone that had a hard time letting go of things. It was a bit funny really.

"I told him not to do that," she said with a tone that betrayed her sadness. "But you can't really control those things, can you? It might not even be him, he may just think it is." She didn't really think that and there was a sadness in her tone that betrayed that. She shook her head enthusiastically.

"I've just been hoping that he doesn't hear them at all." And so far it'd been going okay, okay enough for her to be pretty comfortable with just continuing to try.

"It's even worse when you can't tell anyone. There were these...things that kept stopping me from trying to change things. It was pretty weird." The entire thing was pretty weird. She gave him a sad nod and bit down on her lower lip. "Oh, I know I can't tell somethings. I was told that much. But I'm going to change things. I already have. I just don't know how much I can change. It's complicated."

He ducked his head, slightly embarrassed, with a clumsy grin at that. “No? Then it just means we haven’t spent enough time together yet. I’m horrible about it.” He commented with a wry little shake of his head. Not letting things go got him in as much trouble as it did help at times, after all.

Llewellyn had to pause though, considering her tone and trying to decide if he was going to admit to having actually seen her tell Cloud that. Well, he was an honest sort, and it wasn’t like he’d seen it intentionally. “I know you did- Er… I had seen one of Cloud’s memories during that dreadful crystal rain.” He finally responded with an apologetic tone.

“In my experience, nothing stays secret forever, Aerith. No matter how hard you try.” His tone is still rather apologetic, rather than pushy. He wished he could say otherwise, but… As much as he’s sure that would be easier, he knows all too well from experience that the things you were most desperate to keep to yourself always got out, eventually. Sometimes dragged from you, at the worst moment possible.

“Things that kept stopping you?” He parroted back with a more curious tone, so there was more to it than just not being sure if she could say something or not. There was something actively making her life more difficult… That was terribly frustrating. “But if you’ve changed some things… Perhaps, complicated or not, there is some hope you might get to change more for the better?” He added in a hopeful tone. Really, even if he knew they’d all forget each other one day, he couldn’t help but want better things for his friends.

"Guess we'll just have to spend more time with each other then, huh?" she tried to keep the tone jovial to take away from his obvious embarrassment.

"Oh? Did you now? Should I be worried about what you saw?" her tone stayed light there as well in an attempt to keep things as light as possible. "I hope it wasn't as bad as the memory Cloud saw of mine." She put her arms behind her back and swayed back and forth for a second. "I know you're right, honestly. But it's still nice to think it can be kept, at least for a little bit." Especially when it came to the bad things.

"Yeah, the Whispers. They're things that are kinda like...the planets destiny enforcers. Yeah, that's a good way to describe them!" It made as much sense as anything had about that situation. "There's some hope, but I'm not sure how many eggs to put in that basket. Besides, I'm okay with the outcome being bad for me as long as it's good for everyone else."

The question was, would she want to spend more time around him when he was so damn nosey? “I suppose we shall, at least until I get somewhat too annoying with the whole ‘not letting things go’ or being too nosey for my own good.” Even he knew that well enough, and it was often unsurprising when people changed their minds about him. But he still… tried to be more hopeful about that these days. “Though I will try to uh- keep myself from being too pushy… I still have lots to learn from you, after all.” He added with a tilt of his head. Really, he was pretty darn good at things now… But it was a nice excuse to keep sticking around and having a friend with mutual interests was nice.

“Uhh…” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as she asked about what he’d seen. “You were having a conversation amidst flowers on a hill at night…? Only, apparently, you weren’t really there exactly? When I spoke to Cloud to give the crystal back to him, he said you’d been taken?” He hummed a little. It had honestly seemed like a sad memory, as pretty as the setting was. “There were rather interesting lights in the sky, reminded me of the aurora borealis, a bit…” He added absentmindedly, it had struck him as interesting given they looked so similar to something he had seen once or twice in his life. “But I still… couldn’t help but note the conversation wasn’t exactly a happy one.”

Destiny enforcers… “And they want to discourage you from changing what’s going to happen. That sounds terribly frustrating, indeed.” He shook his head a little. He supposed that’s why some things were considered ‘destiny.’ Meant to happen, for better or worse. He shook his head, though. She seemed to be trying rather hard to be alright with the idea that things going badly for her might mean better for everyone else.

Not something he was unfamiliar with, though maybe not on so grand a scale. “Well- I um… I hope you don’t mind that I rather still hope that you succeed in changing things so they’re better for everyone, including yourself.” Because she was a friend, and Llewellyn couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening to someone he cared about. It happened all too often.

"Lucky for you it takes a lot to annoy me," she smiled at him warmly and then she let out a burst of laughter. "That's right, you're still my student! Should a student really be as nosey as you are? There should be more respect for your teacher." Though her tone made it pretty clear that she was just teasing. Her expression dropped at the memory he described and she frowned.

"Ah, I see. Not really taken, I went willingly." Under duress but that was a minor detail. "That was the lifestream. My people were kind of....connected to it." That was the easiest way she could think of to describe what precisely that was to someone not from her world. "I was hoping maybe he'd listen to what I said." No such luck though.

"That's what they wanted, but we changed things so they didn't get their way. That's very kind of you. It'd be nice if everything could just work out for everyone."

“How else is a student going to learn if they don’t ask questions, hm?” He responded somewhat smartly, because he darn well knew that some of his nosiness wasn’t concerning educational topics at all. But… Well, it was good to make a friend laugh. “And I have the utmost respect for your knowledge, I assure you. I even have a project I was thinking of asking for advice on!” Llewellyn added with a little gesture of his hand before he settled slightly at her change in expression.

“Willingly?” He tilted his head slightly. That was the greater concern, really. From the way Cloud had spoken of it, they had gone to save her after that… But as she continued, he listened with interest. A lifestream… It had been quite pretty to look at, but sounded more important in that case than something to admire in the sky. But he shook his head a little. “Some advice is harder to follow, I’m afraid. Especially when it comes to things like that.” Sometimes feelings made a mess of things, but they also meant the potential for good things as well… He only hoped it would be for them.

Llewellyn knew it might be too much to hope for everything to work out for everyone. Life didn’t work like that more often than enough… But, he offered her an attempt at a hopeful grin. “Of course, Aerith. You’re a friend and… Well, I would hate to think of bad things happening to friends.” Especially when he couldn’t even do anything about it. Knowing about what bad things some people he’d befriended in these strange worlds were going back to was something that bothered him frequently. He didn’t really handle not being able to do things well.

"I appreciate you saying that, though my knowledge isn't really that impressive," she said with a little smile. Maybe some of the other knowledge she had was worth something, but her random tidbits about flowers? That wasn't that much. "Now I'm curious about this project though!"

She gave him a nod. "It was kind of an exchange. Me for the safety of a friend of ours daughter. I was okay with that, they'd have gotten me eventually anyway." That wasn't something she knew from gifted knowledge, it was just a fact. They knew where she was and they could have taken her at any point and eventually they would. She looked a bit sad at his comment and nodded slowly. "You're not wrong. Still...it's complicated. But maybe things like that always are."

It was harder but she forced herself to try to give him more of a smile. "If it helps, it might be bad for me, but it makes it where everything works out better for everyone else. And the Planet itself."

Llewellyn didn’t agree, all knowledge and specialties were important in his opinion. Even random tidbits about flowers. They were important for more reasons than just looking nice, after all. “Mm… I’d call that modesty, Aerith. All of this? It’s impressive. Not everyone can do what you can.” He responded with a small gesture around the lush garden shop. “And for all the reading I do, the experience and advice you provide are sometimes more helpful than the things written down.”

But he settled again as he considered how to explain the project. “Mm… Most of it is as simple as, uh- working on starters that I can have ready for when Rhy and I move? I thought it might be nice to have a few things to put in the ground. The place we’re looking at has a lovely space for a proper garden… The uh- other thing, though.” He rubbed the side of his face lightly. “I want to work on a particular variety of rose for the garden. Someone I knew once grew hybrid tea roses in fuchsia and yellow. I was thinking it might be nice to surprise Rhy with some, but in red and a golden yellow?” Which was a little more advanced than Llewellyn had tried his hand at so far, but he wanted to give his husband something special, in his family colours.

His expression softened a little as she explained why she went willingly. It was definitely a decision he could understand, given he’d stepped between children and bad situations on more than one occasion. Still, how cruel would you have to be to take a child and use them to force someone’s hand like that? “I’m sorry, Aerith… Whether they would have gotten you eventually or not? That’s a delicate and difficult thing.”

Things like her situation with cloud were always difficult. Matters of the heart, feelings, it was usually a mess even without factoring in other concerns. “Sometimes figuring out complicated things is worth it in the end, though.” At least it had worked out that way for him, and he hoped it would for them, too.

Her attempt to give him a smile was not bought, nor was the attempt to put a brighter spin on it. “Mm… I see how that would be a positive, but… I still would rather hope for you to be included in those who are fine in the end, Aerith.” And that was simply that, no attempts to put a different light on it would change that opinion. Sorry, Aerith.

"That's really nice of you to say," she replied with a polite smile. There was no point in trying to dissuade him from thinking what he wanted to think. She'd learned that well enough by now when it came to him. Besides it was nice to get compliments now and then.

"Oh that sounds exciting! I'd love to help you set something like that up! I have some golden yellow ones in my garden. I bet they'd be happy to go live with you two. Why those colors in particular?" Now it was her turn to be the nosey one!

"Don't be sorry, like I said it was my choice," and she was quite comfortable with the choice she'd made. "They came a lot to try to ask me to come back. They thought that it'd just make everything easier if I came willingly and they finally got a way to get me to. Besides, Cloud came and got me out eventually anyway. Though," she tapped her chin and gave him a bittersweet look. "I guess you saw the memory where he said he was going to come get me." And he managed to do just that, which shouldn't have really been surprising to anyone. Cloud did what he said for the most part.

She fell silent for a few seconds and then finally spoke with a very quiet voice. "If we're being honest, I kind of hope so too. It'd be nice to be able to see the things I want to see in the world. There's so much I've always wanted to experience but didn't."

Llewellyn was glad she didn’t try to argue that he was incorrect, because he certainly thought she deserved the compliment. At her response to his request, his expression lit up rather excited. “Really? Thank you, Aerith! I, um- I really appreciate it.” It would be really nice to have a chance to work on things in advanced, just to be able to put some colour in the garden sooner. Plus, it was fun to think it was a project they could work on.

Her question, though, that gets a slightly awkward little hum. Aerith was definitely within her right to be nosey with how bad he’d been for the better part of the day… But he was trying so very hard to not discuss his husband’s life prior to arriving in these worlds, and even if the secret was out that he’d been a king? It felt awkward to start telling details that maybe would be better heard from Rhy. So he rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t necessarily be a lie.

It helped that his husband was always seen wearing those colours… So he smiled finally, “Uh- well, they’re colours that mean more to him. Something of a theme he gravitates towards with decorating and his personal clothing.” Not the whole truth, of them being the Maresh family colours, but near enough, he hoped.

He shook his head a little. Just because it was her choice doesn’t mean it wasn’t a difficult position for her to be put in… But he nodded. “I did, uh- see that. When I returned the crystal to him, we spoke about it a little, and he said that he had gotten you out after that.” Thank goodness, even if he didn’t know what had exactly happened? Llewellyn was just glad to know she’d been rescued in the end.

Offering a small nod, he offered a hopeful smile. “You should have that chance, Aerith…” He wanted her to, wanted the best for his friend, even if he knew the odds were often against that. “And maybe while you’re here, you should take a few chances on things you haven’t had the chance to in your world.” He added, tilting his head thoughtfully. It was, in his experience, one of the upsides to not being in your own world.

"I see, so kinda like his all time favorite colors for personal reasons?" She gave him a little smirk as if to indicate that she understood there were some things he didn't want to go into detail about. Keeping things close to your chest was something she was certainly familiar with and it seemed a bit too hypocritical for her to question it too much.

"He didn't come alone, they all came to help me. Even though I insisted that they didn't have to!" What were you to do with people like that? "They went through a lot to get me out too. The building has a lot of security, both from real people and machinery. It was a pretty silly mission if you ask me." But nobody really had and she couldn't say she wasn't grateful to get out.

"I've been trying to do that, most of it just involves doing things I really wanted to do that I probably won't get the chance to. Like opening my shop and expanding my garden. A part of me has even wanted to explore this place more than I have."

Llewellyn’s shoulders relaxed a bit, glad that she seemed to get that it wasn’t something he was going to go into too many details about. If it were his own story to tell, he would… But this was something special to Rhy, and his husband was already missing being able to keep his history to himself that he’d had been able to before the crystal rain. “Yes, that is, uh- an excellent way to describe it. So it seemed like… a nice gift to work on, something for him to enjoy in the garden when he’s sitting outside, I think.”

Listening to the explanation, he shook his head a little. “Doesn’t sound silly to me to work to get a friend back. You’re clearly cared about, Aerith.” Llewellyn had always been of the mind that you didn’t leave someone you cared about, just because things were difficult or dangerous. Though he knew not, everyone thought that way, which saddened him some.

“Those are good starts!” He commented with a smile, tilting his head thoughtfully at the idea. “There does seem like a lot of this place to explore, though I uh- do worry about how dangerous some places might be.” He added with a vague wave around. It was hard to not be curious about things, though he did try to avoid places he knew he couldn’t handle if they got dangerous. “Is there anything I could assist with, for things you’re looking to try or do while you’re here?”

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