castleinthemist | 02-- Things might yet turn around.

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02-- Things might yet turn around.

So he's taken to spending quite a bit at time in the common area of the residential chamber. Usually? Chilling out at the table or finding a nice little niche to settle in. Right then? He'd found a stone bench near a window that looked out onto the courtyard. On the opposite bench, a green-gray crate with numbers on it and a packing label. Someone got a package today. How? Probably a good question.

He'd gotten it the night before at the fountain while he was still restlessly awake. Didn't really take him long to figure out what had happen once he decided to throw a coin in and make a wish but he didn't think for a second that it would work. About two hours later? He asked again. Past midnight.

Now. It was late afternoon and he'd held off from indulging long enough. He settled onto the window seat, propped a leg up on the opposite stone ledge and plucked an apple from the crate of perfectly ripe fruit. Strawberries, mangoes, apricots, grapes, apples and pears. Perfect. He took a bite out of the apple, sighing contently.

So he'd lost his nerve for a spell. So those damn Shadows sapped a bit of his courage away. Didn't bother him so much right now. He'd just have this and enjoy his little birthday eating, drinking and being merry. Like you're supposed to do.

"Bottoms up." He said, drinking the last out of his flask before looking to the bottle to fill it back up.

[OOC: A window seat are common structures in castles. They look like this. Feel free to join Duo and have a drink, eat some good food, he's happy to share and plenty to go around. Also I may prefer prose but you can also respond in comment spam. I really don't care either way.]

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Cordelia took a deep breath, trying to regain a bit of her composure. Awkward...!

Instead of apologizing again (which probably would be rightfully considered obnoxious at this point), she tried a nod at his first sentence, to then answer the second, which seemed to offer far less possibilities for her to put her foot in it.

"I see, that's interesting and probably quite reassuring. Maybe I'll just have to look around more to find some flora I'm used to. Still, I couldn't help but wonder: How do your buildings look like, if it's three-thousand years after castles?"

Yes, that's how she was supposed to do conversation, right? Gee, these lessons sure had been a while ago... And to be fair, the building thing actually had piqued her curiosity somewhat. Sure, castles at home didn't quite like this one, but they were at least castles. Maybe they were flying castles, like in stories?

Duo listened to her, reaching over for another strawberry. He could relate to her being homesick, if that were really the case. If she were really from a world where they didn't even have apples? Guess then this Cordy'll be a little disappointed.

"If you say so." He said, then pondering an answer to her question. "They're efficient. Tall so you can fit more people in the same general area but on different levels. You don't have one building spanning as such a large area like this castle here. Maybe a hundred yards long. Tops. Depends on what kind of building it is."

"So...you basically all live in really tall, large towers?" Cordelia mused, trying to picture what he was describing. She didn't know scyscrapers, after all.

"I guess we have wizard towers, but they are mostly for mages and people training as them, not for, uh, common people as some would say."

She thought about that for a moment. "Do you even still have kings or emperors?"

"Uh. No. Towers are different. Buildings. Just square or rectangular. Not so tall. It's for efficiency, not for looks." Duo replied, looking out the window.

"Wizards, kings, Emperors. None of those. Everyone is pretty normal. No powers. Well... Heero maybe. Quatre. They coulda both had em but I never really asked. We had a dictator ship for most of my life. Now we have a senate forming. Democracy. That means our leaders are voted for by the public." Duo explained, taking another strawberry.

"So it's a bit like these republics I heard about, then?" Cordelia said, while shily moving her hand towards the box, to take what Duo was having, a strawberry.

"There was someone else who was also from one of those places. I guess it does have an advantage when only competent people get put into positions of responsibility."

While she was of royal blood, her past experiences made her consider the merits of such a system, at least. For one, she thought, surely only good people would be voted into office, so they'd probably not run away when things got bad. Unlike some of her family, sadly.

"...Those are sweet!" She suddenly exclaimed, right after finally eating the strawberry. Sure, they had similar fruit at home, but those tasted differently, so to her, a strawberry was a kind of exotic foreign delicacy kind of thing.

"I guess." Duo watched her take the strawberry though far more concerned with him. They were his favorite so there were plenty of them. Once finished, he took another.

"That's not really the case. Sometimes elected officials are corrupted too, but sometimes they're not. Historically? Things got really bad some times, so I tend to hear. But then that happens everywhere. Corrupted king, president, it doesn't matter. History repeats itself."

Time and time again, it seemed. That little girl was right. "Yeah. They are sweet. Don't you have anything like that at home at all?"

"Oh...it really sounded better for a moment." She admitted. "Those ideals never really match up reality, don't they...?"

She sighed, then continued to speak. "Oh, we have all sorts of fruits, like sun fruits, they're a bit bigger than your apple, bright yellow, and a kind of sour fruit. Or several kinds of berries, but they're smaller than those of yours."

An idea seemed to cross her mind. "Mind if I take two or so? I don't know how long we're stuck in this place, so I'd like to try planting a few of those."

She could make things grow fast, after all.

"Nope." Duo said, popping that p just a little more than he ususally would.

Planting? Huh-- Okay. That's a good idea. He pondered that and took out a small handful of fruit. A variety. Pears, Apple, strawberries and apricots.

"The weather may not be that great for all of em. I think you've gotta mush up the berries to get the seeds but hey. I'm no gardener. Are you?"

"Oh, the weather isn't really an issue." The ex-princess replied absent-mindedly while thinking about it. This was one of the few things she could use her abilities for that probably wouldn't cause too much trouble, with proper care. "The main problem really is finding proper soil, but I've seen a few places I could try."

She glanced at all the fruits he had. Really, it was interesting how exotic different worlds were!

"I'm not a gardener by trade, no, but I've got a hand for growing all sorts of things."

If she took proper care, that is.

"Y'sure?" Duo wondered, then considered the soil. "What about in the court yard? We can always find a place there to use. You should do what I did and ask the fountain for some supplies. Gardening and the like. Wouldn't hurt to get some seeds of other fruits and veggies either." He mused, his arms crossed.

"So yeah, if you can do that? Everyone will be grateful, you can count on that." Though, if it were him? He'd ditch those fancy clothes for something more practical.

Cordelia nodded. "That could work, it really is large enough. And I suppose using the fountain is a good idea, I didn't know about it until you mentioned it. Thank you for that, I should say."

As long as she could have some time without others watching, the court yard would do fine. They'd think her methods to be pretty odd.

"I'll give it a try, at least. Though if we can just use the fountain, it may end up being somewhat useless."

As for the clothes, ~~her mun is lazy at icon editing~~ she just hadn't thought of it yet. She had arrived in these particular clothes pretty much by accident, after all.

"If the fountain stops working for some reason? Then what? You're better off starting a garden. I'll tend to em time to time if you like, but I got other work to do." Duo reached over for an Apricot and took a bite out of it.

"You sure your green thumb will actually be able to do the job though? Weather is still a big factor. I just hope you know what you're doing. But let me know when we got a strawberry patch. Maybe next time we'll just have to get a raspberry bush going."

"You're right, the fountain could stop working. I didn't think of it."

She pondered. She was used to magic and to thinking it'd just keep on working but...maybe this wasn't true here. Duo was entirely correct. She hadn't thought of that.

"As for the 'green thump' as you called it, it'll do fine and be much quicker than you think, don't worry. As long as the soils work and the seeds are plenty, I'll manage. I might take a few tries to get them right though."

She sighed. "And I guess you are right, there's also the castle itself to take care of...

Damn right he was right about that. He watched her think, those wheels in her mind turning. Heh.

"Well... I think I just don't know what you're saying. How are you going to manage? How exactly are you gonna make this work?"

"Oh, uhm, it's a kind of magic. It makes plants grow without additional sustenance, at a really fast pace. It just needs a few precautions, but nothing that should be of concern."

It was the one aspect of her...power... that she didn't mind people knowing.

"You should get on that. Make it your own project. It'll get people to rely on you a little and in a situation like this, that isn't a bad thing." Duo pointed out, looking out to the window.

"What if the magic fails? Best take the sun and water into consideration either way."

"That is a fair point." Cordelia admitted. He was right. She simply had not considered that possibility. This place had already weakened abilities earlier, it could do so again.

"I suppose a part of a courtyard is really the best idea, then. Water would probably have to be supplied, since I haven't found any running water. It is a castle, after all..."

He had given her ideas, at least!

Duo nodded, taking another swig of the contents of his flask. This girl would have to show him this magic thing, cause some how he just didn't quite believe the whole 'magic' thing she was claiming yet.

Oh, he knew it was possible, but could it really be done? That was the question.

"Sounds good. Plus the close proximity to where we've been living won't hurt much.

"As long as I can work undisturbed for a bit. I'm not that fond of people watching, I admit."

She sounded almost a little shy, although the reasons were somewhat different.

He almost snorted a laugh.

"You can't do it if people are watching?" Like the little kid with stage fright.

"It doesn't matter, does it? Just long as we have food, I'm happy. Why? What happens if people watches?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" She waved her hands in a defensive gesture. She noticed she was being mocked somewhat, she just couldn't help 'defending' herself. "I just don't like it, I...could still do it. But it's better not to because I can concentrate myself better that way, you know?"

Have another chuckle. You amuse him, princess.

"So what's the problem though? Just concentration?" He really had no idea. Then again magic wasn't exactly a straight and narrow sorta thing, was it?

Poor Cordelia! That so wasn't the job she signed up for!

"It's really just that, but it's really nothing that special altogether. I'm just not that experienced..." Cordelia slumped slightly.

She wondered if having mentioned magic in general had been a bad idea. It really hadn't occurred to her before that that people here might even consider magic itself unusual. The worlds the other people were from looked to be very different from her own, and the more she talked with others, the more alien the other worlds seemed to be.

And also better, in some regards.

"Then the next step is to get as much practice as you can." Simple, right? Or at least he thought so. He just relaxed in his seat, not really giving that much credence to the problem that he didn't really see as that dire in need of his attention.

"That is a good point, I suppose..." She smiled ruefully, idly brushing some hair out of her face. "Do you often have to tell people something like that?"

02-- Things might yet turn around.

Sorry that she's a little awkward!

I don't mind! XD It's them that have to deal with it!

Hah, true!

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