[closed] Gotta do the cooking by the book

[dancingfists]

[The air felt different today. Senel couldn't quite explain it - after all, Werites Beacon was a floating island. It was entirely possible that the Legacy had shifted towards another part of the world. Entirely possible... and not the proper explanation. It couldn't be, because it didn't explain the unsettling feeling in his stomach.

He and Shirley were out today to run errands. Typical brother-sister stuff. They'd get groceries, put them back in the kitchen, and then treat themselves to hot chocolate because it was kinda cold today.

Except, while they're paying for groceries, someone inevitably recognizes Senel. Not as a Coliseum champion, mind you, or as an Alliance Marine. Oh, no, they ask him for advice on chocolate chip cookies. Senel gives it, absentmindedly, before turning to stare at the woman as she leaves the store.]

Uh.

[He glances over at Shirley.] Wait, why're people asking me this kinda stuff?

Comments

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley leans against him in turn, relaxing with the knowledge that whatever's keeping Senel up doesn't seem to be a cosmic threat in the night. Senel's explanation has her looking to the sky with more focus, as if appraising the number of stars herself. It's a clear night, so there's plenty to see.]

Count for me, then.

[She yawns, because she's still tired from running around town all day checking up on things. But maybe having a listener might help Senel, and there are worse things to fall asleep again to than his voice.]

/re-emerges from the void

[dancingfists]

[ He fights back a laugh at her yawn, ] Sure.

One, two, three . . .

[ How many times had he counted the stars before, when he was navigating the ship through still or turbulent waters? When he and Shirley were constantly traveling between ports, with little to anchor them but the stars?

It's been a while, but he recognizes the constellations with an aching memory. The clear weather helps, of course; so too had the hours of study, pouring over astronomy maps and memorizing the constellations until his head was swimming in the stars.

At some point, though, his entire body doesn't stop feeling restless. He sits up a little straighter, curling his left hand into a fist and un-curling it as he continues to count - ]

Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...