[Action]

[gardeningaia]

[It's rather late in the evening to be out in the snow, but so Aerith is. Behind ch. 4, out in the forest, she's cleared the fresh-fallen snow from a small patch of earth and is now kneeling down in it, talking to Faeren.]

Wasn't it strange back then? Everyone changed so suddenly! ...Were you...a little nervous? Hm... But...people seem to be treating the forest and plants all right. Better than they do back home.

...Did I talk to you last time? No, you don't need to tell me. I'm sure I did. You don't have a voice, but still, it's less quiet when I'm talking to you.

[...and so on. In general, Aerith is just naturally chatty with spirits anyway. She'll be doing this spirit-talking for a while into the early night, roaming around the perimeter of the village to see if she can get in touch with Nala... The cold and still-falling snowflakes don't seem to deter her. This is more important.]

Comments

[herotypical]

Oh! [The spirits -- well, Buffy has little inclination for magic herself but she is interested in others.] Any luck?

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Mm. It's a lot easier now than it was during the experiment. I'm not sure who was more distracted, Faeren or me! But now, I feel like I'm becoming more aware of the life around me.

[herotypical]

Can I just apologize for the experiment? When I wasn't totally freaking boy-you out, I was being self-centered and nearly seventeen. So...sorry.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure boy-me must have weirded you out too. [She knows it weirded out Lightning.] So, how about we call it even?

[herotypical]

[She holds a hand out to shake.] Even Stevens.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[Shakes!] And may I never be a "Steven" again. Cloud hated it.

[herotypical]

Yes. Because being so wooed by a super cute he-you was totally...a little on the odd side. Not that you're not mucho cute now, too...just--ah. [Linguistic corner. Focus on something else.]

So Cloud must be over the moon, now. In his own special way.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

...Well. At least I know I'm cute no matter what. [Hello awkwardness, now say goodbye.]

Over the moon, huh? He was pretty happy... but there was just one thing. He was a she.

[herotypical]

You both got switched around? Well...I guess there's a silver lining there.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

He can't tease me for my switch.

[herotypical]

So? Dish. What was he like, as a girl?

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well... He had a nice figure... [...Her lips are twitching, trying not to smile too much.]

[herotypical]

So...[clearing her throat -- should she be more delicate about this?] Are you and him...y'know?

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[She was deciding on whether to make a crack about Cloud not changing much besides the obvious bits, but, ah--that kind of distracts her. She answers with a fair amount of frankness; she's sure with what she's said about him so far and whatever she might have said last time, Buffy could have figured out she had a crush.]

We're not together, if that's what you mean. I like him, but... there's someone else I like too, and it's kind of complicated. [...you know. being dead back home.] Cloud's living with Tifa, anyway. [Which... seems like an indicator of his mind being made up. Although he hasn't actually said as much.]

[herotypical]

Zack. [Buffy knowingly interjects, then:] Ah -- sorry. Like I said? We were close, you and me. So I...yeah. You're talking about Zack, right?

[Hmm. Filing away the living with Tifa comment.]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Oh! [Well. Pft. That probably shouldn't surprise her either, would it?] We must have talked about old boyfriends sometime. Mm. I'm staying with him... but, we're just friends. For now.

[herotypical]

[From the sounds of it she will definitely be holding the wacky-threesome-romance card close to her chest.]

Old flames came up every now and often.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

[Yes. Aerith is still open-minded like she was back then, but...their relationships are really different right now and not suited to wacky-threesome-romance.]

What about yours?

[herotypical]

Believe me, Aerith. My exes are a total earful.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Is that "let's not talk about it" or "let's talk about it somewhere that isn't cold all over"?

[herotypical]

Mostly everything from column B.

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

What are you doing out, anyway? You said the snow wasn't your element.