thehometree | [Amber]

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[Amber]

[The amber glows upon the face of a frustrated young man. It's turned a few degrees, then a hand slips up and messes with with tangled strands of hair. His face shifts from side to side, eyes following the outline of his face. He's fascinated with the odd little mirror. Comfortable with the outcome of his quick-fix effort, he looks up towards the hole in the ceiling.]

Now, I will surely get up there this time!

[Alla spreads his midnight-blue wings and wobbles into the air. The room around him tilts, then shrinks as he ascends. The scrunched-up lines in his face soften into a smile. He's done it!

Then, without warning, he slips from view, crashing back down onto the floor with a yelp of surprise followed by a moan.]

Oh dear... this was my best garment. Oh no...

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Oh come on, [Jo encourages, sitting forward so that she can rest her elbows on her knees and her amber slice between those.] Have a little faith in yourself. Or, you know, take a walk outside. There's plenty of shit to do right out that door. Meet people, try not to get into fist fights, you know, the stuff of life.

Door...

[The pink-haired fellow bobs his head here, there, and everywhere throughout the shadowy room.]

There's a door?

[Then he looks a bit shocked.]

Fist fights? I would never...a gentleman would never do that.

Oh, so you're a gentleman now? Alright, let's settle this the gentleman way.

[Jolene settles her amber on the bed, losing contact with it and thusly turning it off. A minute later, her head and her long, long hair are poking out over the central hole in the trunk, a mere handful of centimeters from the lifestream.]

Holy shit, you're pink, [she announces, though she'd been meaning to say something else; she hadn't parsed his hair from the amber with its warped hues.] Alright, never mind. Try again, I'll grab your hand.

[Her arms dangle over the edge, adding a scant inch or so from where she's laying on the ground of her floor. She doesn't even really go much further than the depth of the floor itself, but it's enough that Alla ought to be able to see her long fingers wriggling at him.]

I may not have been a gentleman all my life, but surely I am one now. Duke dAubergine has...

[It's only now that he notices a lack of a face on the amber now. His voice rises in worry and uncertainty.]

H-Hello? All Seeing One? What did you mean in regards to handling this the gentleman's way? Hello? I meant no ill towards you...

[Alla jumps in surprise at the voice coming from above.]

Euh?

[He takes a few steps back and accidentally steps into the light, only blinding him from seeing anything. Though, the familiarity of the voice from above brings the young "gentleman" wings out as prepares to fly. This time, he pushes off from the wooden floor and shoots strait up into the light. The rush sends him into a minor panic and he tries to stop himself from hitting the inside of the opening to the next floor. His pale hand reaches out for the dangling ones in a desperate attempt to not fall from so high.

Unfortunately, Alla is more than he appears to be and weighs about twice as much as one might expect...]

[The gentleman dukely talk is lost on her, not the least of which because she'd abandoned her communications device. When Alla makes a game try to grab on to Jo's hands, she makes a solid grab... but she's not anchored against anything, and the fact that he feels like he weighs a couple hundred pounds (at least if they weren't a few inches tall) startles the woman. She grunts and slides forward, and is glad that she keeps her gem on her skin at all times. Her roachy wings snap open and she begins buzzing wildly, but to no use.

The best she can do is lower them both in a controlled fall. The only thing keeping her from cussing up a storm is the fact that they are so close to the lightstream--dipping in and out of it, in fact--that all she feels is calm resolve and acceptance of the inevitable. Everything is going to be okay.]

Big boy, aren't you? Jesus, [she chuckles, once she can feel his feet touch ground and the weight wrenching her arms lightening up. She only realizes how much she'd been sweating when she touches down, herself. An old injury from childhood had left her right arm straining enough that she rotated it now gingerly; she didn't want anything popping out of any sockets on behalf of a dumb stunt like that.] What did you say your name was?

[Alla's smile quickly falters as they begin to slip backwards toward the floor below. He nearly lets go, not wanting to pull the other with him, but their slowed decent causes him to cling even harder.

The pink haired one would have been in a panic too, of not for their brief mingling with the life stream. Thanks to it, his emotions remain calm and he even manages a chuckle once they land. He pauses for a moment, confused about her phrasing. Where did the name Jesus come from? Alla had no idea.]

No, my name is actually-

[Just as he spoke that, she had asked him his name. He falls quiet, feeling a bit of embarrassment to have spoken over her. After a brief moment of straitening out his brown coat, he tries again.]

I am Alla dAubergine...Are you not the All Seeing One?

[Jolene scratches at her brow, right where the two of them are trying to snap together.] I don't see shit, usually. You just happened to be making a scene and broadcasting it to everyone, and I happened to catch it. I'm Jo. I'm just another peanut in the gallery.

[Narrowing her eyes, gesturing loosely towards his wings, she says,] You can take those off and on again, you know. Unkinks them. Don't ask how I found out.

P-Peanut?

[Pink brows push together in confusion at the other's choice of words. He's unfamiliar with their meaning in such a context and ends up thinking of a art gallery with peanuts on display. At least until he's told of that tid-bit about his wings.]

Oh!

[He drops the gem, allowing it to clatter to the floor as his wings disappear. Only to kneel and pick it back up again. They reappear with their pink furry outline.]

Thank you, Miss Jo.

[He give a generous bow and sweep of his arm.]

I am Alla dAubergine. Thank you for coming to meet me, and save me from another... euh, scene.

[Even though their trapeze-like act in a slow fall was quite a scene in itself. His gaze does quickly fall to her wing, noticing they're not moth-like at all.]

[Poor Alla. Jolene is not the sort of person that one would ideally be greeted by in this place. She tends to be opaque to even the vets of the tree; her witticisms rarely translate well. At least she catches his attempt at gallantry with good spirits, so she chuckles and settles her arms across her chest rather than chase after the scent of awkward for a good laugh.]

You said that already, and I'm just gonna call you Alla because my french is as tres mal as it can get. [Yes, she pronounces that with a full anglicized drawl. Her only saving grace is the fact that she comes from a supposedly bilingual country. Terre de nos aïeux, and all that.]

You want to try the flying thing again? There's food up there, probably some empty rooms if you just want to sit for a little bit. Other people, too.

If you wish to, you may call me Alla, Miss Jo.

[Heat blazes along his cheekbones. Hopefully that was not too awkward to say? His brows pucker at the term 'French,' which he is unfamiliar with, despite the twinned language he speaks. He does understand the short bit she speaks of it. Even with the accent.

The thought of people, food, more comfortable rooms draw him, yet he's a bit nervous, thinking of it. Hopefully they will accept him, even if he is strange and can't fly well yet.]

I would like to. I was taught never to give up, and...I am hungry.

[His voice trails off a bit, shyly. He's not actually hungry for their sort of food, but he must fit in. And he does like the taste. He promises himself not to eat a good deal of it, since these people really do need it to survive.]

[Completely oblivious--and also a poor source of that food that he's keeping so close to his chest right now, what with the calm of the lifestream, Jo gives him a careful nod. There's a part of her that wants to show off: she could get just about anything at this point, zinging off with a powerful spring to land with only slightly softer thud against a far surface. She's managed to leap an entire floor without really putting as much flapping behind her once or twice. She's been practicing.

...That thought, however, stills her from setting off to brag. Alla's probably not sure what the hell is going on, and Jo remembers how fiercely she'd felt about that. It hadn't helped that, at the time, the sword had been missing from the center of the life stream here and the beam of light had been a chilling, horrifying blue. She didn't want to wish that on anyone.

So she gives him a wry look and then offers her arm.] Alright, you have different wings from me, but that's everyone, don't worry about it. You'll find a way that works for you. Generally, you want to pretend like... like you're lifting something heavy, like a box, maybe. Bend your knees, flap those suckers when you're pushing up. Then keep flapping. Stare at where you want to go and you'll get there.

[She points at the hole in the center of the roof, saying,] let's aim for that first, okay?

[Listening intently to her instructions on how to fly, Alla begins repeating the steps in his head. His knees even bend slightly for a moment when mentioned. His blue eyed gaze strikes up to that hole in the celing. Those pink eyebrows pinch together in focus as he gives a nod.]

I am ready.

[A large breath is drawn. When released, he repeats...]

Something heavy...

[His arms move around an invisible box.]

... bend the knees...

[Again, his knees bend. Once, twice, three times for good measure. His pink-fuzz lined moth wings begin to flutter wildly.]

Flap and push up...!

[Into the air he shoots, wobbling towards his goal. His wings flap even faster, trying to compensate for the imaginary heavy box, or perhaps just his own heavy weight.

Through the hole he flies!

VICTORY!

Until he keeps going... oops.

Another floor passes and his wings begin to slow, heavy with worry. Alla's gaze falls back downward, but his body doesn't move along with him. Slower and slower his wings flap as he begins to lose focus and float back down. Back and forth he looks, hoping to spot his new friend.]

[Jo's been flying up with him, but as he starts to slow, and begins to lose what essentially feels like hard-earned buoyancy, she gives him a hard shove, enough that though he's had a glimpse of the hotsprings and muggy ferns on the third floor, the floor they land on is actually the one from which Jo came. That is to say, there are four doors, a hole in the wall that leads outside, and a storage shed crammed into one corner. It's a residential area.]

There you go, you did it!

[The lad yelps as he's pushed. His legs flail even before he lands. The young man's boots scrape the ground, leaving tearing scuffs along the well-shined black leather. Despite that, he laughs. It's quick lived, though, as an unsettled heaviness rises up between his three hearts. He knows this feeling. He knows it will end in a transformation if he doesn't stop it. Quickly, he forces calm into his actions, starting with carefully adjusting his winter long-coat. Small actions like this, ones that don't excite him, usually help alleviate the problem.]

I could not have done so without your help. Thank you.

[His attention is then pulled around the room at his new surroundings. he doesn't quite recognise the homes for what they are... at least not at first.]

Where do all of these doors lead to?

[Despite it all, on the outside, Alla still looks like someone who had genuinely been having a good time, forcing himself to calm for the sake of outward appearances--and definitely not the same ones that Jo has been assuming. She gives him an elbow to the arm, raising her brows and nodding, grinning appreciation. This is more fun than she's certainly had in a while.]

There you go, you see? You'll get the hang of it. It's not too much, it just takes practice.

[She casts a glance at each door, conveniently numbered one through four. While a friendlier person might welcome the newbie into her home, Jo... hesitates.]

They're people's homes, [she hedges, instead.] Enough for three or four people, if you like to get close. Most of them are taken, don't want to go barging in. There's a big place a few floors up, though, sort of... I guess like a lodge or something. Place to kick up your heels until you get to talking to people. Basically, we're stuck here for a while. You probably want to get to know who you're planning on sleeping in the same place as.

[The friendly nudge to the arm takes him by surprise. It's nearly mistaken until he catches a glimpse of that grin. His quick jolt of concerns fades, especially as he listens further to the explanation about the doors. Alla glances over them once more, imagination painting their furnishings and occupants.]

Thank you for that insight. I would not wish to intrude upon anyone.

[Worry begins to show on his face, eyebrows pinching together again. He most certainly had to be careful whom he decided to live with, in the event he transforms and possibly freaks everyone out. No, it would be best to live alone. Still, he casts a wistful glance to the doors, wishing it were otherwise.]

Is it possible to live by one's self here? Outside of the lodge that is.

You know what, it's probably just fine. A lot of people here, though... it's good to have a buddy system. [Jo's not sure how to allude to the idea of people going missing, but it's such a common thing that it's going to be unavoidable sooner or later. She clears her throat.]

It's a matter of knocking on doors and if you see an empty place, you might as well take it. When I moved into my room it was covered in bird shit, but me and another guy cleaned it out. Now it's like new.

I see.

[Yet, he doesn't. Perhaps Jo is trying to tell him to be careful whom he befriends.

His face scrunches at the description of her messy room. If birds are so big then their...well, that was a rude thought.]

I hope that we become friends as well.

[Alla feels they had made a great start but he isn't sure how Jo feels. He scans the room once more before he gives it an approving nod.]

Aside from these doors, is there anywhere else people enjoy going to?

[She did mention food earlier...]

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