hadriel_logs | am I the caller of your keep

Entry tags:

am I the caller of your keep

Who: Guardsmen & you!
What: A open catch-all for the Guard HQ for the month.
Where: Guard HQ
When: March 10th – April 9th
Warnings: TBA

A month after construction finished, the Guard HQ is in great shape. While it retains an air of newness, it's also starting to look settled into.

A sofa by the entrance, in clear sight of the office off to the right, provides a place for visitors to wait if they wish to speak with a guardsman. The office itself is made up of a variety of scavenged tables and chairs, inconsistent in style but providing every guardsman a space to do paperwork and occupy while manning headquarters. Beyond the office is a small meeting room, as well as a separate lounge for guardsmen to socialise and eat in, filled with a handful of comfortable chairs and a low table. Off to the left side of the building is a large, open training area, for guardsmen to train, spar and offer lessons within, safe from the overbearing heat outside. Beyond that is a storage room. A set of stairs at the back lead up to the roof, which serves as the northern watchtower. Like the standalone watchtowers that cover the other cardinal directions, it provides shelter from the elements as well as windows that allow a clear view, wide enough to be shot or fired from with ranged weapons.

The front door is always unlocked.

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( While Serah's certainly familiarised herself with the actual location of the combined guard HQ and clinic, she's not yet stepped foot inside either building yet. But today is the day that all gets fixed. The study building is in good shape and there's only so much exploring of a city anyone can do before they go stir crazy.

So.

The guard HQ it is, then. Not that she's sure what she wants from them. Maybe more information? Another way to help in this city? She's never considered herself a fighter, but she's learned to defend herself. Maybe that can be useful, like it was while traversing the timeline back home.

She steels herself with a breath, and knocks before entering. )

... Is anyone here?

( ... Wait, she recognises that head of hair sat at a desk. )

Ignis?

[It would be a difficult thing to not recognise that particular hairstyle, and Ignis knows the voice that addresses him instantly.]

Serah.

[He finishes the sentence he's reading before he looks up and smiles slightly, getting to his feet. The young woman looks deceptively delicate in this building, but he's quite sure she's anything but.

As she can see, he's here, though the building is quite quiet at the moment. Ignis tends to prefer it that way.]

Do you need something?

( Well, it's just a day in the life of a Square character. You can't exactly call a pink bob with a side ponytail 'forgettable' either. )

Well, I thought I should learn more about the organisations here. ( And she's more than happy to know there's at least one friendly face in the guard. But colour her curious... ) How long have you worked here?

Almost since I arrived.

[At the time Ignis had, quite immediately, needed something with which to occupy his attention so that he didn't go completely off the rails. The Guard had become and important part of his life in Hadriel after that, and he wouldn't lose it now.]

That would make it around seven months.

[He still recalls that first meeting with Henry, and how it had been by chance alone that he had caught the man's interest. How fortune lays out its favours.]

Did you have a mind to join us?

( She went for exploring. Not because she didn't trust the things people were saying, but simply to get a first hand account of everything. It's always useful to do your own exploring, to cast fresh eyes upon the city and take things into your own hands. )

I see. ( Has it been so long? How long has she been here now? Long enough for The Door to bring in more people.

Then he asks the question as though he's read her mind and Serah blinks. )

... I thought about it. Is there any way I could help?

[How long he has been here is one of the things that Ignis tries not to let his mind linger on too much. It leads to other, far less welcome thoughts, and he would much rather keep his mind on the present in that particular matter.]

If you're looking to join, you'd best speak to Nick or Henry. [He replies smoothly.] In that regard, I'm far more of a simple pencil-pusher.

[The comment comes with good humour, though. Given recent losses, he can't imagine that Henry or Nick would decline capable new Guard members.]

I can pass on the message.

( She'll get to that stage eventually, more than likely. But for now, Serah tries to concentrate on the fact that she has to do things here and be helpful, to try and do anything but obsess over not being back home, doing what needs to be done there. )

You will? Thanks. ( It's easy to smile at that.

A pause lingers in the air where Serah glances around at the room's outfitting. It's nice. It looks fresh, too, recently cleaned? Or just new. ) Can you give me a tour?

( If this is somewhere she'll end up spending her time, it'd be nice to know what is where. )

Ah... hm. [He taps his fingers against the edge of the desk, eyes on the paperwork laid out in front of him. It's a small tug of war between duty and something he would much rather be doing, before he nods and pushes himself to his feet.] Of course I can.

[The paperwork can wait. He rounds the desk and makes a small gesture of his hand to lead her out of the main office into the lounge area at the back.]

It's not a large building, I hope you haven't built yourself up too much.

( Following the directions, Serah peeks around corners casually, never straying from his side even as she checks things out. )

I promise. ( It's said with a smile and a giggle, as good natured as it gets. ) So, did Henry and Nick found this?

Henry and Maketh. [He corrects her politely, venturing further into the room when she shows interest in what's beyond the door. She reminds him strangely of Iris, in both her manner and stature, and it's a small tinge of sadness that comes along with missing one of his friends.]

Maketh is no longer with us.

[Best to leave it at that, than go into detail about just how things ended.]

Nick took her place.

She went back home?

( Serah doesn't mind Hadriel at all. In many ways, life here is entirely familiar to her. A small community of people banding together to restore a new home. Gods who seem like Fal'Cie without a visible physical presence in the city. But that doesn't erase the fact that Hadriel has whisked her away from a universe where the timeline continues to degrade and crumble. It doesn't change the fact that being stuck here, without the hope of finding an artefact or having a Time Gate - only a Door no one can figure out or even see - frustrates her if she thinks about it for too long. )

Mm, she did.

[That gets around that issue fairly smoothly. He lets her have a look around the break room before he shows her around the rest of the building, giving commentary to their surroundings until they come out on the roof. From there, there's a decent view of the surrounding area, and a couple of the watchtowers are clearly visible.]

We do what we can here, but there's a fine line to be walked. Many will buck against any perceived attempts at showing authority.

( Up on the roof, the state of the city is all the more clear. Serah spends a good few seconds, silently absorbing the destruction and the emptiness of it all. So vast, and yet...

She comes back to the present when Ignis starts talking, and the idea is easy to imagine. Many people back on Cocoon just went with what the Sanctum ordered, but then there were others. )

Sounds like Snow. ( She's still looking at the city as she speaks, memories of Snow fighting to help her after she became a L'cie easily bubbling to the surface. ) ...He had good reasons. ( That's quickly tacked on the end. There were a lot of problems with the way Cocoon was run, things which are crystal clear when looking at them with three years of being away from that world, but back then, it was much harder to see. )

Snow?

[Ah, but hasn't Ignis followed something of the same? A rebellion against authority... but it's quite different when that authority is trying to kill you and destroy everything you hold dear to your heart.

It isn't that he doesn't understand the position of those who would resist any efforts by the Guard to maintain order, but that doesn't make it any less of a frustration.]

Someone from home, I take it.

... My fiancé. ( And that's how he saw himself against the Sanctum, even moreso after she became a l'Cie. ) He was always trying to help people.

( Especially her. All the things he did for her after she became a l'Cie, and then to not only believe her about Lightning but to go and try to find her. To become a l'Cie again, himself, to protect others.

She can't keep the pain out of her voice entirely with the way those thoughts spiral. )

[It's the thread of loss running under her words that keeps him from responding immediately. He gives a small nod of acknowledgement, keeping his attention on a small group of creatures lingering on the horizon, pacing back and forth.]

What do you think he would make of what we're trying to do here?

( It was a good job she had Noel and Mog in Sunleth; after Snow disappeared - faded because he was out of time and place - they were the ones who kept her together. Who helped her remember that she had a job to do and that she was now the one saving Snow instead of the other way around.

The question, however, takes her aback. Takes her away from the worse memories of what happened and towards the better thoughts. The hope that maybe, one day, Snow could arrive here and see for himself what the Guard were like. )

I think... he'd like it. It would remind him of NORA. That's what he called our neighbourhood watch group. Just him and our friends, working to keep the monsters out of Bodhum.

( In Hadriel's case, there is no Sanctum for Snow to rebel against. No danger of movements like the Purge starting again. )

It sounds as if he might fit in well here.

[Someone like that is someone that the Guard, and Hadriel on the whole, could certainly use and Ignis would definitely not say no to another person who has a mind to keep everyone here safe from the horrors that plague them.

Realising that people he had thought long lost or dead could come here is something that came to Ignis some time ago, but it's definitely still a strange thought even after having experienced it.]

Were you part of the same group?

Me? No. ( She supported them, sure, even down to the cat earrings she still wears. But then, at least, she wasn't a member of NORA. After the fall of Cocoon... well. ) I was still in school.

[He's where he gives her another look - subtle, but telling if she spots it. That she's fairly young is obvious, but he can take a lot from what she's telling him.

Interesting.]

I see. You would have wanted to be, though?

( That's a harder question to answer than Ignis might think. It all depends on whether she thinks of where she is now - after the years on Pulse, learning to use weapons and wield magic, and travelling through time with Noel and Mog - or how she was then... )

Back then? ( She hums and shakes her head briefly. ) No. I didn't know how to protect myself. I wouldn't have done much.

( And she knows how well that would have went over with Lightning... ) But it's different now. I want to help others like people have helped me.

Edited 2018-05-26 13:48 (UTC)

Admirable.

[Ignis feels that's the main reason a lot of people join the Guard. It's a difficult position to be in, when so many people in Hadriel view them as an organisation that they would rather not have, but here they are, and here they will stay.]

It sounds like you'd be a fine addition here.

( The smile she offers is just a little bit bashful. Admirable? Well, it's just the right thing to do. She doesn't think much more of it. If she has the skills, and the time, she should help.

And she does. Or at least, she thinks she does. She's fought the monsters around this city before and come out fine. )

I hope so.

( And with that, she inclines her head just a little. ) Thanks, Ignis. This was really helpful.

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am I the caller of your keep

you asked for more of this?

<3

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