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(2013-05-02 - Now)
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Alma Hyral Costa Del Sol!

It was a bright sunny place during the day, and the premiere Shinra vacation spot was still beautiful even at night. The ocean was pleasant, the moon and the stars were out.. Suprisingly, Alma preferred the night, to the day. People were still out and about on the beaches, despite the darkness.

Alma had come in her free time to see Seloria, having written down the location of where she was staying from a previous conversation with her. Reaching the door, she'd knock briefly. "S-Seloria? Are you h-home?"

She could be out swimming.. even now, maybe she should have radioed ahead first to confirm!
Seloria Delacreaux There's a 'womph' audible through the door. "Ah! One second!" Seloria yells.

Something likely blew up.

After a few minutes, the door flings open, revealing Seloria standing there i nher green shift-dress, barefoot. "Oh, hello Alma- sorry for the wait, come in!" The room is fairly large, but there's an extra table, seeing as the desk has a pile of sewing clothes on it. The table has her science equipment, and then there's a little ice box and shelf for food.
Alma Hyral Alma cringed at the sound of what seemed to be an explosion. She began to knock more frantically until Seloria yells back, which indicated to her that Seloria was likely fine.

She'd look at Seloria, and smile cordially. "Oh there's n-no need to apologize."

Once she was inside, she'd look around the apartment. It looked pretty humble, cramped, and downright messy in some places, but it was one thing that her own room on the Ame-No-Torifune was not.. private. She appreciated privacy. "It's very nice to see you again. H-How have you been? You've sounded.. out of sorts, the past few days." She'd try to broach the subject gracefully, but she still sounded downright meek as she observed, "Y-You don't sound happy at all... about having to make a deal with Souji."

Her gaze drifted to some of the clothes that Seloria had made. Wearing her frumpy white mage robes, she seemed so plain while in comparison the Levitani woman seemed so exotic, despite how humble and kindly she'd treated her.
Seloria Delacreaux Seloria points Alma to the one chair, plopping onto her bed. "I... guess I'm not happy. I mean, it's a good even exchange, in the end, because once I'm up and going, I don't have to contract with him any longer, so it's only a couple of months long." She watches Alma's eyes wander, and then Seloria smiles, suddenly. "Alma, you're always wearing your robes. Don't you want something more ... cut for you? Something pretty?"

"I was wanting to make you something anyways... even if they're just more well-fitting robes for you."
Alma Hyral Alma would take a seat in the appointed chair, folding her hands in her lap. She didn't actually know the exact details of their agreement. Just a couple of months didn't sound too terrible to her though. That way Seloria could stay out of the game, she wouldn't have to work in a corporation her whole life like her father. She'd be happy. That's what Alma truly cared about.

She'd look down at her robes, her hands, her sleeves, biting her lip. "W-Well, it's tradition.. in my Church. A-And its important to me for people to know w-what I am, where I c-came from, being the only.. the o-only one left."

She'd sigh putting a hand up to her face. "I d-don't know Seloria. T-Tradition seems less i-important when I'm the only o-one left that even practices, or remembers t-them."

Kyra certainly didn't care about tradition anymore, and Alma wasn't even certain whether Kyra believed in Cosma at all any longer. "I want to look.. p-pretty, but I don't know if I even can."
Seloria Delacreaux Seloria smiles sadly. "That's what happens. Especially if you're the only one. Souji, I'm sure, would've had less of a following if more of us hadn't hooked up with him, but..." She shrugs. "So now we have to deal with it. I know the rites and rules about tradition, but now is your chance to change it, for the better. What if, instead of robes, you..."

Seloria bounces to her feet and pulls out a silky white fabric. "Wore a white dress?" Something more... open for the hotter worlds, with a warm coverup for the colder ones." She shows the fabric off closer. "With colored embroidery - or none at all, if you want to maintain an all-white look."
Alma Hyral Alma returns the smile, with a sad one of her own, whispering to Seloria, "I-I'm afraid that isn't so, in my case. I.. have an obligation to him. It's what my s-sister would have wanted. To s-support him, to help him through his grief."

And then Seloria shows her the silky white fabric. And she looked at it in a longing manner. When she brought it closer, she'd even put out a hand to touch it, just an idle touch. "W-Well maybe I could.. at least see, what you can come up with..." She says this tentatively.
Seloria Delacreaux Yeah, Seloria knows that look that Alma gives the fabric. "You have an obligation. Hilariously enough, it's Niks' obligation... to me, through a contract our parents made, that made him have me seek out Souji, when he doesn't want me to get hurt." She sighs. "Stand up, please. How tight is that robe? I need an accurate measurement." She rummages in her kit for pen, paper, and measuring tape.

"Because, this is what I'm thinking -" She quickly sketches out a floor length sleeveless dress with a modest neckline, something very elegant. Unless your fighting, in which case, don't fight in a skirt.
Alma Hyral The robe isn't that tight. It's loose, giving her the appearance of being a little more overweight than she likely is. She'd stand up, and start to try and gather it closer to her body, holding out the excess fabric to the side in a tight hand, then crumpling it against her side to try and aid in her taking measurements.

"You t-think its just an obligation? M-Maybe he truly loves you, deep down.. he just doesn't want your r-relationship to be the result of an o-obligation between your parents."

She'd look at the sketch. And her eyes would widen at first. She didn't know if she could pull off that look.. but what if she could? Sleeveless though.. her father would kill her! He might barrel straight out of the darkness. And yet.. she couldn't deny that he liked the design. That she thought it was beautiful. That she wanted a chance to try and look that way. "I-It looks very pretty. I d-don't know if I can pull it off but.." She'd look down at herself, then back at the sketch. "M-Maybe I'd like to try.."
Seloria Delacreaux "Try is all I can ask for. How do you feel about the fact it is sleeveless? I can add some short cap sleeves, or even make a light wrap you can wear." Seloria offers as she briskly starts measuring Alma.

Shoulder width, armpit to armpit, chest, hips, waist, and finally, shoulders to floor. She writes them down one handedly, and finally ends up at the desk with the sewing machine, quietly laying out fabrics against a pattern, humming faintly as she gets down to business.

"I don't ... Nik isn't the... type, you know, to settle down. So we've released each other of the obligations. If he does care for me, then I consider it an odd change, but something that Murasame, for example, would approve of."
Alma Hyral Alma would consider the matter for a while. She had no head for fashion. Her family always dressed her plainly, as per her Church's tradition when she wasn't at school, and while at the Alexander Academy she'd worn the uniform. "W-Well.. I like your c-current design. M-Maybe your suggestion of a light w-wrap. It'd be the best of both w-worlds."

She'd allow Seloria to measure her, without fidgeting, then once she was finished, and had started working, Alma would sit back down, watching in anticipation of the end result. "M-Maybe, but he can be really s-sweet if he puts his mind to it."

The fact that Murasame would approve of it made sense to her.. He was always devoted to Tira. That wrenched at her heart again, so she decided to change the subject. "S-Seloria. W-What's it like talking to the s-seconds?"

She seemed inordinantly curious, her Church as a rule generally did not approve of summoning them except in rare exceptions. The sects of Cosma Naturalis didn't consider them gods at all, much less worth worshipping them.
Seloria Delacreaux Wraps are nothing - Seloria pauses, wrist-deep in jersey fabric - to scribble out the approval of such a suggestion. Also because Seloria is apt to forget if she doesn't write it down. She hums faintly, pausing as she threads a needle ccarefully - after three different tries.

"Nik is capable of being the sweetest, kindest man in this universe if he wants too, but that is just not his normal style." She admits, and nearly breaks the needle when she comprehends Almas' second question. Oh boy.

Oh /boy/.

"It's... interesting." She says, carefully. Considering she's done the whole 'I don't want to be a summoner I don't want this power' sort of situation with Alma, it's a actually a very interesting question. "It's not so much talking as it is, well, impressions. Most of them just ... impress on me feelings and reactions and stuff. To what I'm doing. Or what... they sort of 'think' of the situation."

"I find them being around... calming."
Alma Hyral She'd nod as she spoke of Nik, she had the same impression, but for one thing.. "I t-think he could manage it all the time.. t-there's just something about him, it's like K-Kyra, he's rebelling against the e-expectations of his family. M-Maybe once he's done, he'll want to settle d-down, even if he's not going to s-settle back into the role once laid out for him."

And then Seloria nearly breaks the needle, she sees it, and winces.

But then she listens to her explanation, rapt at attention. Once Seloria was finished, she'd think on it for a time. "I-It sounds like a wonderful gift, S-Seloria. Maybe.. Maybe you don't have to think of having the gift as a r-responsibility, other than needing the w-wisdom to know when to use it, and w-when not to use it."

She'd look down at her hands. "S-Sometimes I wish I knew how the G-Goddess felt about what I'm doing.."
Seloria Delacreaux "... Nik is the only one that tried to understand me. Helba, too, but --" She sighs. "That's a different situation. That I don't want to get in here. Not today, not now." She goes back to snipping and sewing little bits, before she starts fussing with the sewing machine.

She then smiles kindly.

"I think she'd be very proud of you." She says, her voice firm. "I am, certainly, and why I am not a goddess, I think that sometimes, a friends' opinion should be considered just as much." That may be slightly heretical.
Alma Hyral She'd manage a faint smile. "Maybe I'd like to t-try to understand you too. You're the one of the o-only people who has been kind to me, e-even when you didn't have to be." But then she'd let the subject drop, out of respect for her wishes, and wouldn't pry into the difference in situations between Nik and Celba.

As she listens to her next statement though, her smile fades away, and she starts looking at her hands. She says her next statement very quietly, with little more than a whisper, "I d-don't think she i-is.."
Seloria Delacreaux "You already do, Alma." Seloria says, gently. "You're sitting here listening to me instead of yelling at me or anything like that. You're on your road and have been to understanding the girl behind the cloth." She holds up the jersey fabric as she says it.

"Heh."

"... Why not?"
Alma Hyral Her smile would return briefly as Seloria spoke of her sitting there speaking to her at first, and moreso when she looked at the fabric.

And then soul-crushing depression would return, as she asked the difficult question. She was quiet for a long while, but then she'd eventually start to speak, "You k-know how on our w-world they say that W-White Magic is a result of.. f-faith. T-Though when they scientifically try to b-break it down, they say f-focus. W-Well in my Church they d-don't like us e-experimenting on W-White Magic. T-They say you t-touch on powers the g-goddess didn't mean for m-mortals to have. W-We're to learn our magic in a-an approved direction."

She'd stare at her hands, fretfully crumpling the fabric of her frumpy robe with her hand. "W-Well.. after K-Kyra started pulling away from our f-family.. I.. I g-guess I wanted to be like her, so I r-rebelled.. just a bit. I j-just kept it a secret. I e-experimented w-with my magic per the f-focus of my studies and.. it changed."

She'd put a hand to her forehead, trying to keep herself composed. "A-At first I thought it was like a s-special secret. But then... a few d-days after... Tira went m-missing. And she was f-found dead.. T-Then my parents pulled me o-out of school... O-Our world fell, and I-I watched my f-family be consumed by darkness..."

She didn't want to cry in front of Seloria, not again. She didn't want her to see it like that. Her eyes were misting up, but she tried to hold them back. "...A-And I just realized h-how selfish and s-sinful I'd been. T-This isn't some p-power I should be proud of. I-It's not something I should have.. I-It's not something I should use for m-myself.. just for others. T-That's all."

"I-I'm just ashamed S-Seloria. A-Ashamed, and I t-think the goddess is d-disappointed in me too."
Seloria Delacreaux "Alma..."

"I want to ask you a very important question. You don't have to answer it if you don't want too, and I'm not going to force you to answer it, and you can feel free to tell me to fuck off at any time, but..." Seloria takes a deep breath.

"How did you 'experiment' with it, and how did it change?"

She doesn't move, her hands still busily making little notations on the fabric - Seloria's attention issues do her very well as she manages to do three to four things all at once.
Alma Hyral Alma keeps her hands tightly in her lap, not looking at Seloria. Quietly contemplating on how to best answer the question.

"I'm n-not even sure how to a-answer. S-Sometimes, while I'm gazing at her e-empyrean majesty, I.. s-see how it all fits together. I s-see clearly. A-And then I c-come out of it, and it feels like I'm this foolish, i-insufferable little speck of s-sand trying to contemplate the v-vastness of the o-ocean, except its eternity, or i-infinity..."

She looks up, unsure how best to go on, "I-I'm not a g-great adherent to my faith. I b-believe in s-science and f-f-faith agreeing. That t-they are one and t-the same. S-So I experimented w-with w-what we k-know of g-gravity, of f-fusion, of l-light... a-and I learned how to i-incorporate it in w-white magic. I c-could explain the methodology, b-but it doesn't make much s-sense without.."

She stops her head, "L-Let's just say that I-I think I draw on the light of c-creation now, but even I-I'm not sure h-how it works. I c-can tell you the i-individual components, but i-it doesn't make sense. S-Some are traditionally spheres we a-associate with the darkness, but t-they're not dark."

She breathes out a sigh, "I-I can't turn it off, I d-don't know if I'm c-capable of using m-magic like I used t-to. But m-my magic... it's a-applications are m-mostly offensive in nature n-now."

 
This scene contained 19 poses. The players who were present were: Seloria Delacreaux, Alma Hyral