Social Rank Up

Social Rank Up
Date of Scene:	28 December 2012
Location:	Fluorgis - City
Synopsis:	Leida pauses to rest while shopping and makes a strange new friend.
Cast of Characters:	Elysiana Glyphanos, Leida, Portobello, Legion

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Leida has posed:
It is noon in the beautiful city of flowers, the midday sun shining down through a cloudless sky to bathe the smooth stones and wanton vegetation in warmth and golden light. As always, trade is bustling here and the streets are filled with crowds of people going about the daily business of hawking and purchasing wares, from fresh vegetables and fish harvested from the local area to imported textiles and furniture brought in from the other worlds.

The rampant overgrowth for which the city is known is present all throughout the market place, creeping vines and wild flowers covering many of the walls and streets in a verdant carpet that is only worn down in the most traveled locations. The water spilling free from the many aqueducts and fountains is mostly responsible for this, though the overall effect is quite pleasant and the people living here have merely learned to adapt.

Leida, however, has only been here for about a week now. The plethora of roots and vines constantly underfoot are not playing well with her natural clumsiness and the small girl sports several scrapes and bruises on her bare shins and knees as evidence of this.

For now, she sits on the edge of a stone fountain, rubbing some of the fresh water into her knees to take the sting out of her most recent tumble. A basket of fresh produce sits on the ground beside her, various fruits and vegetables piled together in an orderly heap within.

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Touching the ground carefully with her staff, Elysiana makes her way through the city of flowers. Vines and flowers and scents entice her stopping to touch the plants and she pants, humming to herself. She nearly pauses as she notices the small girl. My that was a familiar scene. "Little Lady are you alright?" the woman asked softly. She crouched setting her staff on the fountain, leaning it ever so slightly, to come to eye level with young girl.

Legion has posed:
Legion has been given the job of 'Networking' by Job and, as a Network, Legion understands the purposing of networking just fine. Two Legions make their way into Fluorgis--the City of Flowers. The two don't talk, quite capable of communicating just fine between themselves without words. ONE of the Legions looks up, mouth slightly agape as she sees the rampant plant life, clearly in awe--the other pats this first Legion on the shoulder lightly before stepping back a bit. The first Legion looks back to the second for a few moments, like a kid at their first day of school, and walks through the city towards, coincidentally, the fountain. Much like Leida, she ends up tripping over an exposed root and landing face first in the ground.

The other Legion continues staring at her.

The first Legion, however, gets up, rubs with a wince at her face, pats the root she tripped over fondly, and then continues her silent approach.

Portobello has posed:
Portobello has been speaking with some members of the cartographer's guild at the moment who also happen to be setup near here. Having began their work in earnest not too long after Ranbanastre had ended up part of the World of Ruin. He's been comparing charts and maps with them so they all get a more comprehensive idea of where everything is now.

Once he's done speaking with them he notices somebody nearby and watches as they splash water on their knees. He was about to ask if they were okay though somebody else had done so.

Leida has posed:
The water is cool despite the heat and the small girl sighs softly as she splashes it on her bare legs. With most of her armor and clothing destroyed in the final days of her demonic possession, Leida has yet to acquire proper replacement garments. An over-sized plain shirt hangs roughly down to her thighs, cinched about her waist by a dusty worn belt. The elaborate metal greaves managed to survive but, without her former supernatural pain suppression, they fail to make for comfortable daily footwear.

At the moment, her feet are bare as well and Leida sloshes her toes about idly in the flowing waters as she cleans her wounds. With her back to the street, the girl fails to see the elegantly dressed woman approaching until she is right on top of her. As Elysiana leans in, the sound of her voice so close startles the smaller princess.

Leida spins about in fright and her precarious seating causes her to slip, tumbling over backwards into the shallow waters with a girlish squeak and a soft splash. Sputtering at the sudden sensation of being soaked in chill water, she sits up and coughs a few times.

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos stiffles her laughter. She removes her shoes and quietly, though she does check to see how upset people maybe , as she gingerly steps into the fountain. "Oh..." she shivers. "The goddesses riding three green gooses, this is cold!" she yelps. She smiles. "No reason you should alone in the water, little Lady. I'm Ely... and you are?" She asks offering a hand to the small girl.

Legion has posed:
The goddess riding three gooses...
Legion pauses in her approach, squinting tightly as she tries to parse that. Why would a goddess ride three gooses? Why are the gooses green? Gooses aren't normally green. And how would she ride three gooses at once, presuming a goose is enough to lift her, then it should only be one green goose. Of course if it takes three gooses--geese--to lift her then maybe they aren't so strong...but even so, why geese???

Legion shakes her head and approaches. "Is everything alright, The Network inquires in a friendly manner, extending a hand to the woman showing lots of skin." She offers ar hand up and out of the water.

The other one continues to observe.

Legion has posed:
The goddess riding three gooses...
Legion pauses in her approach, squinting tightly as she tries to parse that. Why would a goddess ride three gooses? Why are the gooses green? Gooses aren't normally green. And how would she ride three gooses at once, presuming a goose is enough to lift her, then it should only be one green goose. Of course if it takes three gooses--geese--to lift her then maybe they aren't so strong...but even so, why geese???

Legion shakes her head and approaches. "Is everything alright, The Network inquires in a friendly manner, extending a hand to the woman dressed in a hand-me-down." She offers ar hand up and out of the water.

The other one continues to observe.

Leida has posed:
Now thoroughly drenched and unbalanced by the sudden shift in temperature, Leida makes a childish whining sound at her horrible luck and clumsiness. Her arms are held up above the water, as that will somehow make a difference at this point, her hands hidden within the lengths of the sleeves that are clearly too long for her slight frame.

With her long bangs plastered to her face, the girl is momentarily blinded. The sound of even more voices aimed at her causes her to stare down in embarrassment for a few seconds but eventually she stands up and wipes at her face, parting the slick mat of raven hair enough to peer up at the owners timidly.

Leida glances from Elysiana to Legion, pausing particularly on the strange nondescript girl as she speaks in her strange foreign manner.

"U-um... I-I-I'm... okay..." Her voice is whisper soft and raspy but still audible.

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos smiled, thugh the question caught her off guard. She glanced between the girl, and the ... thing. She seemed lost for a moment trying to make sure she's not lost her mind. "She..." she nodded to Leida. "It's Ok." she reached over the fountain.. "Come on, my treat a new outfit hmm?" she said with a grin .

Legion has posed:
The...'thing'...is apparently a teenage girl that looks pretty much precisely like the teenage girl all the way over there who is staring at the scene like a camcorder. The most descript thing about her is her green hair which is not really all that descript because the girl staring at the scene like a camcorder also has the same hair color. They're identical.

Legion smiles down at the embarrassed girl and says, "Hi! I'm Legion, The Network informs though that lately we've been taking individual names for ease of communication. Would you like one?, The Network admits to being a bit jealous of The Network for having names while being left out. The Network then makes a pun about being 'green' with envy."

She looks to Elysiana for a few moments as if expecting her to laugh.

She is about to offer to remove her clothes so Leida can have them but thankfully Elysiana has a more appropriate suggestion.

She doesn't have any money. She can't really help. She scuffs her toe against the ground lightly and sighs, disappointed at her inability to be of much help, but then Legion reaches out for Leida's cheek, intending to pull on it slightly.

"The Network requests friendship from the first two people she met in this strange, new, totally awesome city." She says. "She engages in wacky antics to encourage acceptance of this offer."

The other one continues to stare.

Leida has posed:
Leida stares at the bizzare twins with blatant confusion, a blank look of 'what?' clearly etched into her face. Then her cheek is grabbed and the girl makes a funny sound of surprise as she tries to respond with this awkward setup.

"Ummmh... yhou whant tho bhe my fhriend...?"

The poor princess has no idea what is going on here but that much atleast she understood. These girl said they were new here which meant they were mostly in the same boat as herself. It wouldn't be too bad to have some new friends.

She glances up at Elysiana, her cheek still pinched between Legion's outstretched fingers and probably looking quite comical. "...that'sh ohay... I whouldn't whant to throuble yhou..."

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos laughs. Its a sound of geunine joy. "Well.. umm what is your name.. or what would you like to be called?" She seemed to be used to this new concept of most being 'not' having names. "I'm Elysiana Glyphanos- Elysiana or Ely for short." she says quickly. "Friendship, accepted." she said quickly in response to Legion. "Legion... " she says after a moment of consideration for the green haired girl. She looks back to Leida, "Not trouble at all. Little Lady, I used to be like you... I mean perhaps. But I was small and..." she pauses... "Sorry."

Legion has posed:
The talking Legion--actually, technically speaking, both--let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding. The Legion that has been silent turns away and keeps herself busy in an emulation of polite behavior. "Call me Imi then, that seems to be a theme because, ah, well, Iota." She lets go of Leida's cheek. Legion is the name for all of them, at present, but Imi seems to be her own. Even if she just picked it now.

The one last Legion without her own glances over once before walking away.

"mmHmm..!" Imi says. She wobbles back and forth on her feet. Elysiana accepted but she reins in her enthusiasm for now, can't get ahead of herself. She says, "Nice to meet you, Ely for short...about those geese..." She pauses. "Oh, getting ahead of myself." She focuses all her attention on Leida.

"Do you accept me?" Hope glistens, briefly, in her eyes.

Leida has posed:
When her face is released, Leida rubs at the cheek with the back of her soaked sleeve, looking slightly embarassed to be touched by someone she doesn't know at all. Her gaze drifts back and forth between them again as they speak at her, still somewhat confused by the strange directions this conversation seems to be going.

Finally, she just shuts her eyes for a moment and shakes her head a few times as if to clear out the fog of confusion building there with each passing moment. The twin at the front had named herself Imi. Leida latches onto that as a focal point to proceed and takes a deep breath, gathering her courage and... nodding meekly in response.

"Umm... well... I-I suppose..." She bends at the waist, her hands pressing together in front of her legs, offering the older girl a formal cultural bow. "Oh... um... my name is... Leida. Please treat me kindly..."

Legion has posed:
Legion has psychological problems. Their understanding of base social interaction is strangely skewed and, one might even say, aggressive.

As if time happened to be ticking. No time to waste.

Leida accepts and Imi beams like a solar, spreading her arms wide, and then steps forward intending to capture the two in a biiiiiig huuuuuuuug.

"eeeeee thank you!! You woooon't regret it, probably!"

Leida has posed:
The smaller girl's eyes go wide as dinner plates as she sees what's about to happen but she hasn't got the time to react except to make a shy squeak of discomfort as Imi pulls them both into a power hug.

PDA! PDA bad! The fact that's she dripping wet and getting both of the other women soggy in the process only makes it worse. Legion's reassurances are already proven false as Leida is regretting her words at this very moment! But then, it had come to her attention in the last few days that no one in these strange foreign worlds were aware of her own codes of etiquette. Infact, many were quite touchy feely, if the Shard Seekers were any indication.

With a soft sigh, she leans her head forward and rests it Imi's shoulder for a moment, allowing a faint blushing smile to surface. "U-um... you're welcome..."

Legion has posed:
DID YOU KNOW that hugs are scientifically healthy for you? Indeed, hugs are much healthier than a hug-free diet. Imi as previously noted is socially unaware enough that she was about to do something decidedly unDisneylike had Elysiana not proven herself to be an adequate human being. This trait, 'adequate human being', is not something Imi is as of yet in possession of.

However Imi does admit, "Um." awkwardly enough. "I am sorry if I am improper, I am unused to having friends?" Like Leida?! Though unlike Leida she was never, precisely, alone. But there's a kind of not-alone that comes across from having Sister Clones and a not-alone that comes from having friends. They are two very different not-aloness.

It also doesn't take someone well versed in humanity to see that Leida seems to have a tendency of--if nothing else--really crummy luck. She gives Leida some pats that, according to television, Imi is assured is a comforting gesture.

"So what do friends do?" She asks after a moment. "Mm...I think... friends...dry off, maybe? Does this city have...towels?"

Leida has posed:
Leida quietly acquiesces to further improper invasion of her personal space, doing her best to give her new friend a shy smile in return. At the question, she glances down at herself, still knee-deep in the fountain. A sudden gust of wind sends a chill up her spine as if to remind her that, yes, she is still completely drenched.

Moving forward carefully, the princess takes a seat on the stone rim of the fountain and dangles her short legs over the edge, away from the water. She leans forward and scoops the entire mass of her incredibly voluminous hair over her shoulder and proceeds to start wringing it out onto the stone cobbling. With her tiny hands this could take a while.

"T-That's alright..." She asides to the clone, mid-wring. SPLOOSH. Just how much water was in there, anyways? "The sun will dry me out..."

Legion has posed:
"I wish I had long hair like yours." Imi says, employing base flattery. Of course right now it might not seem that great to have long hair what with all the water, but it seems to remind her of the benefits of having long hair which are ... ... ... ...

Anyway, she observes Leida for a few moments, murmuring the name a few times to herself, a sort of drumming 'Leida lei lei Leida' before she looks down at her own wet self. She is, notably, less wet than Leida. Electricity travels at her fingertips and she looks back at Leida, considering whether or not a light electrical burst could dry her out. Nothing painful of course, though it'd certainly be tingly.

She ultimately decides not to terrify Leida further. Likewise she doesn't reach out to mess with her hair, worried about getting it all tangled.

"Do you live here?" She asks. "Or are you just visiting?"

Leida has posed:
SPLOOSH. There's still more! She must have half the fountain in that sponge.

Leida blushes again at the compliment, apparently not immune to flattery or too timid to risk offending the first friend that she's made on her own since being freed from her curse. The question causes her to pause, however.

"W-Well... I guess... I do live here now..." Her homeworld was gone, devoured or cast in the darkness or whatever happened when the Heartless managed to get inside and wreck the place. Even if it were still around, everyone she knew there was already dead, most by her own hands in one way or another.

Leida's depressing thoughts surface in her face, her hands lingering in her hair as she stares at the ground quietly. She snaps out of it a few moments later, resuming the wringing motions with less vigor but retaining her sad expression.

Legion has posed:
Imi's eyes widen. "Ah! I'm sorry. The Network forgot that a lot of people lost their homes." She says. She bites at her lip and looks at her hands, sitting down nearby--it's more convenient! And if she keeps looking directly at Leida she'll feel like she has to hug her again. TOUCHY FEELY. "When we lost ours, that is to say The Network, we reacted perhaps a bit strangely." She looks over to Leida. "We were happy. Ah, it is not that we like others to suffer, of course, but it did give us a bit of an escape, at least for a time." She laughs awkwardly--a self effacing manner.

"Do you...still want to be friends, even though the Network just admitted this dark secret?" PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES.

Leida has posed:
The princess blinks at the strange outburst of honesty, turning to peer at Imi with her mouth slightly agape as she admits such a thing. However, instead of being disgusted, she feels a strange sense of understanding.

Again her thoughts turn to the time spent in the prison that was her home. Abuse, disgust, ridicule; that was ever day of her miserable existence. Could she honestly say that she misses that herself? Was she sorry to be free of those hateful faces? Not really.

A final spattering of water dribbles to the ground as Leida gives her hair a final wring, poking her fingers out of the tips of her sleeves to comb them through the long strands. It was an idle gesture born of nervousness. It would take the better part of an hour to comb out the entire mass of her ridiculously long lockes with the help of a stout brush that would be unlikely to survive the ordeal. Indeed, the bones of several heroic instruments of personal hygiene lay piled in her room, used and forgotten.

"Um... Imi... was it...?" She stares at the ground, fingers worrying at her hair. "I... escaped... from my world too... when it died... so... I think... it's okay... if we're friends..."

Legion has posed:
It's a strange secret to share, one that's not really a secret but feels like one. Imi tends to be one of the more forward members of Legion, she smiles the most that's for sure. In fact sometimes she smiles at times when one shouldn't be smiling. Now is not that time, however, because those words sure have a way of hitting The Network right at its heart in a way grandoise gestures of 'you should get to live too! :D' don't--not to say they are unwelcome, of course, it's just the little things matter, sometimes the trees are more important than the forest, and that's as true for Imi as anybody else.

She scoots closer, pinkening herself this time despite being, arguably, more forward than Leida. Of course Leida not being forward can make her words pack more of a punch.

"I think this one's heart skipped a beat." She says which isn't to say that she would like to be part of a Leidaharem, of course, she is just fine with friendship but rather what this one means is that she is touched, seriously, to her core even though they just met. Imi suspects, perhaps, that she has a good eye for friends.

"Um, I apologize if this is a bit boring, but may I just sit with you for a while?" She adds. It's not as exciting as some sort of FRIENDSHIP ACTIVITY but that's all she feels she needs.

UNLOCKED: FRIEND (Imi! Did you know her name backwards is also Imi??)

Leida has posed:
"O-oh..." The small girl tenses up for a moment out of habit as the Network node scoots closer but forces herself to exhale. Not everyone is out to get her here, even if she probably actually deserves it now.

Leida looks surprised at the request but the sheer strangeness of it makes her giggle a little, restoring some of her good cheer. "A-alright... I think... that would be nice..."

Wandering about in the street during the busier parts of the day was turning out to be a bad idea anyways, as the bruises on her legs will attest to and now she's plenty content to just sit here and let the sun take care of the wet clothes issue.

A sudden thought occurs to her and the princess leans down to scoop up her basket of raw plants. She turns and holds it out towards the other girl, unsure what sort of things she might be interested in. "Umm... would you like... something to eat...?"

Legion has posed:
Don't worry! Imi is totally oblivious to your horrible mass murders of people who really didn't deserve it! In fact, she's also oblivious to your horrible mass murders that, really, were probably quite earned indeed. She'd volunteer to tend to Leida's injuries but her healing spells are pretty flashy and a bit rough. And extreme. Really, to be blunt, not suitable for scrapes. She seems content to just sit around and not even say anything, just enjoying Leida's proximity when she is suddenly asked a question. A small electric ripple travels down her arm as she blinks in surprise. "Eat?" she asks. She looks towards the plants. She's a big plant lover though she is also totally okay with eating them.

"Ooh!" She asks, grinning. "What're those?" Of course being interested in plants and knowing about all plants in a multiversal setting are two different animals. Or vegetables, to be precise.

Leida has posed:
Leida blinks at the question, unsure how anyone could not know what these things are. But then, she'd seen many strange things to which there was nothing to compare in her own world. Like the Ma Belle devices that allowed you to cast your voice across space. Such powerful magic did not exist that she knew of.

Setting the basket on her lap, the girl rummages through its contents before holding up a bright red oval. "W-well... this is an apple. It's sweet and juicy. And this is a peach... they're even sweeter... but oh they're very sticky too... and this is a carrot..."

An example of each different plant is held up as she gives them names and short descriptions, going through about a dozen different fruits and vegetables. Once she's done, she takes an apple herself and nibbles at it demurely, holding it with both hands almost like a squirrel.

"You eat them... like this..."

Legion has posed:
"Ahhh, so they are normal vegetables." Imi says. "The Network was not sure if they followed the same rules." They keep referring to themselves as 'The Network' of course which implies--well, probably not much to someone who lived in the Medieval world, she's certainly strange though, especially to someone who doesn't know what a Network is. There actually might be a vegetable or two she doesn't actually know if they're remotely uncommon due to having a strange education.

"Well," She says eventually. It'd be rude to not accept, but she doesn't want to be greedy. "I will try the carrot if that's alright. Thank you!"

Leida has posed:
As soon as Imi responds to her show-and-tell session, Leida feels immensely foolish at going through all that effort to describe what simple plants are. Her cheeks color up and she stares pointedly down at the basket for a few seconds.

"O-oh... yes... they are..." Setting her own snack down, the girl fishes a carrot out of the stack and offers it to the node with both hands, inclining her head towards Imi as she does so.

"Um... please accept this." Once the gift is taken, she sits up and peers at the other girl, keeping her gaze respectfully aimed away from her face as she considers something.

"Ah... Imi-..." She pauses, unsure what honorific would be appropriate here. However, no one seemed aware of what the suffixes she attached to names seemed to mean either, so she goes with what makes her happy."...Imi-chan...? What is... the Network?"

Legion has posed:
"Oh thank you!" Imi says. "For your gift of this fine carrot!" She reaches back and pulls free a scrunchie from her hair, offering it to Leida who, really, probably could use it more. "Please take my return gift!" She'll then take the carrot and nom on it a bit, like Bugs Bunny.

She blinks at the use of 'chan' and thusly inquires, "What's 'chan'? Oh, actually, I should answer first." She smiles. "The Network is a bit of a long story, but the short of it is that me and my sisters are..." She thinks about how best to explain this. "--many. But we're also one, the Network explains vaguely and notes that the girl who brought me here is also part of The Network! We share thoughts and experiences."

She shuffles her foot back and forth. "There used to be more of us." She adds. "But thankfully, we made it here. I think--well, we're worried too, of course--but trying to be optimistic."

Leida has posed:
The princess puts a hand to her mouth and lets out an awed gasp. "Y-you... all share thoughts? How...? That sounds like powerful magic..."

Her gaze drifts over to where the other girl was standing before, only now noticing that she'd wandered off. "O-oh how rude... I didn't even say hello..." A strange thought occurs to Leida and she tilts her head quizzically. "But... if you share thoughts... does that mean... I did...?"

Imi's final comment makes her frown empathetically. 'Used to be more' implies that there are fewer now and considering how young the girl before her looked, she doubted their numbers had dwindled due to old age at the end of fulfilling happy lives.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that... I-I mean...! I'm glad you are safe now, not that I am sorry there used to be more..." Her voice trails off as she realizes she's rambling nonsense again. "Oh... I guess it's my turn to answer your question. Um... where I come from... we had words to describe our... um... relationships with other people..." Leida smiles back at her timidly, still refusing to meet the other girl's gaze. "Ch-chan... is what we use for... a friend..."

Legion has posed:
Does it mean...she did?
Imi thinks about that for a few moments and then says, "I guess so!, The Network says hello back to remove doubt." She bobs her head a few times. She does not, however, explain how it works. Trade secret! Shh!

"Don't worry about it. Everybody has their troubles, right?" She isn't going to try and pull out Leida's back story herself, she'd rather Leida not worry about that time in her life, whatever it was!

The word chan is shortly explained and suddenly Imi is looking RIGHT INTO HER EYES :D :D :D :D, twisting her head so she can see them.

"Then you're Leida-Chan! Right?"

Leida has posed:
Leida goes bug-eyed as her head is pulled around suddenly by the enthusiastic older girl, finally meeting her gaze properly as she is too surprised to look away immediately.

"Aaah...! Y-Yes...!" She looks flustered for a moment but gathers her wits and takes a deep breath, reaching out to put her hands on Imi's shoulders the way she had seen Reize do for her, hoping to all the spirits she wasn't about to make a fool of herself.

"I-I would like it if you... called me that... Imi-chan..."

The girl gives the best 'happy princess' smile she can muster to back up her sentiment, genuinely thrilled to be making such a connection with another person around her own age for the first time in years.

Legion has posed:
Legion is just twisting her own head hopefully and not Leida's head which would be, perhaps, a bit insane. Of course Imi is a bit insane but she is insane in different ways. A moment passes. Another moment passes. And luckily, it doesn't seem like Imi is about to explode in gore today. Her face is a happy face which means she can run any ship she runs into right now.

Reize's 'hand on shoulders' technique doesn't cause Imi to explode in rage either. "Then I will!" She says. She has just about forgot her entire reason for being in Fluorgis for the first place.

For the moment anyway.

Leida has posed:
Social check: Success!

Leida lowers her arms and giggles softly, spending a little more time sitting quietly after that as the two of them finish their snacks. By that time the warmth of the sun has dried the girl out to comfortable levels and she bids the strange clone farewell, heading back to the Shard Seeker's headquarters with her shopping basket in hand, humming happily to herself.