historicals | pc catchall | turboheaven

Does that make the act of befriending them matter less in the moment?

[ it's not a judging question - just gentle and patient, head tilting slightly to the side as he pets the little bird. ]

I don't know...? Just seems pointless if they won't even remember.

It's not like I would have gone out of my way to hurt them, either.

I don't think I'm a particularly memorable person.

[ he says, thoughtfully - petting the bird still. no judgement of himself, this time, just sort of an objective fact. or. well. at least a fact in his opinion. ]

And... the interactions I have had with others are fleeting at best. But, while those interactions may not have been long, and likely barely made a dent in another person's mind - to me, they mean quite a bit. So I treasure them for that.

We don't always know what the perspective of others may be - be they a human being, or be they someone or something else entirely. So... I don't think it hurts, to enjoy those fleeting moments for a little while. Perhaps if they don't stick with them, it will stick with you, mm?

Why would you say that?

[ he's pretty weird. would be hard to forget him, in laurence's opinion. ]

I guess it's not hurting anything. [ with the tone of someone who's not really convinced it's worth the time. not his circus, though. ] But I've never really been interested in things like this. It's not like there aren't any birds in the Tower.

Ah - well, it's more so brevity than it is anything else...

[ but that hardly matters too much right now - something else laurence says catches his attention, and he smiles a little, resuming to petting his little buddy. ]

That's the second time now you've mentioned the Tower. Towers typically tend to have quite a few birds...

What you said before about "fleeting interactions" could go both ways, you know.

There are birds. Outside the Tower.

[ duh? ]

[ ah. he was... afraid of that. ]

...Will you tell me a bit about it?

Uh, well... It's a safe place for demiflora like me, one of the only places like that in the world, as far as I know. Spawncampers can't get in - those are people who hunt us for our powers and body parts - so as long as we don't use our powers, we can actually live normal lives there.

But we don't leave, and people only go in or out if they're cleared to. Birds or other animals don't really count.

[ he thinks they're still on that ]

[ a ]

Wait - wait, hold on, my dear friend, I think you've lost me. A bit of context, first. You said that you are a demiflora, and you've powers...?

Oh... Sorry. [ backtracking... ] Demiflora are just people with supernatural abilities. Some people here said it's like magic? Which... I don't know if it's really the same.

My power's teleportation, though. I can open portals and go to other places instantly, as long as I know where I'm going.

[ drift aura... ]

Teleportation... [ the first impulse is to say how amazing that is, but the context of laurence's story cuts some of that joy down - if only because it sounds dangerous, too. to live in a tower by choice, to be unable to explore the outside world despite having every tool in your arsenal to do so... that's difficult. ]

Goodness. [ taair says, softly. ] Are there many of you that live there?

[ 🧍‍♂️ ]

A lot. I don't know the exact number, but it's definitely in the thousands at least.

Oh.

[ there's like a weird moment of relief? and then he shakes his head to clear it. ]

...Those "spawn campers"...how awful that must be - how very terrifying, for you and yours. Still... safety can be just as much of a cage as danger, can't it?

A cage...? I never thought of it that way. If it's safe, that's all that matters, isn't it?

...Perhaps so.

[ a slight crook of a smile, a little enigmatic, but. moving on! ]

It must be an incredibly vibrant community. Are the powers that you have - are they similar across members of the demiflora? Or do they vary?

[ there's a vaguely curious, mostly confused look at that. ]

Demiflora powers are different based on species. So any Daphne demiflora like me could teleport, but a Lily or a Narcissus would never be able to on their own. And I wouldn't be able to hypnotize someone like a Lily - not that I'd want to, even if I could.

[ it's creepy. ]

[ i will keep my secrets

anyway he does a little !!! ] Oh - demiflora! That makes perfect sense...! [ FLOWERS ]

A Daphne, a Lily... there's not a Convallaria, is there?

...I don't know. Maybe. I'm not an expert on demiflora; I mostly just know about the species of people I know in the Tower.

[ laurence, named after laurels in a world where all things are flowers, is also not a flower expert. convallaria flowers and demiflora could be out there. ]

Is that your favorite flower or something?

It's a flower that is native to Iria, and the center of a very important festival - it's also the name of a town, and the mercenary group that protects it. So... a dear flower, indeed.

[ something something player character group

the easy warmth returns as he brings it up, hand to his heart briefly, but!! nerdy excitement wins. ] Tell me a bit more about the people you know. Are there many Daphne like yourself?

I haven't met a ton of others, but we're not exactly rare. I probably know more Begonias than anything... If there are more of us in the Tower, they don't have the hair.

[ touches his bangs. his cockatoo hair. ]

[ he looks up to his hair - it makes him smile, because he absolutely does think of a cockatoo. ]

I see... It is very fetching. [ sort of like a petal variation! neat... ] What sort of powers do Begonias have?

They can make things float. Themselves, too, apparently, but I've never actually seen one do it.

[ again. powers are against the rules. ]

pc catchall | turboheaven | laurence

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