( open/closed | i'm the king jj!! )

[underwhelms]

Who: JJ (underwhelms) & Friendos
What: Catch all
When: April
Where: Various
Warning(s): N/A

[ closed starters below! feel free to pm me or hmu at whysofork to plot something or just! comment here!! i can roll with it! ]

Comments

[cajolery]

[ She's eager to get closer too, so she curls her hand in his and falls into step beside him as they approach the three children in her memory. Clive has crouched down in front of the younger version of her, his smile so doting and indulgent that it makes the present Clair's heart ache with how much she misses him. They're not playing, he says, but practicing to become knights.

I wanna be a knight too! the child her insists stubbornly—so this is where it began. It felt like all she ever remembered was wanting to follow in her brother's footsteps... wherever that led. ]

This is my brother, Clive.

[ The resemblance makes it fairly obvious, but she still gestures towards Clive, before glancing at Fernand, so young and so... far away from the man he became after tragedy changed him. This Fernand is the one she remembers so fondly, the one that she wants to remember.

She inhales, swallowing around the thickness in her throat. ] This is Fernand, so dear to us that he might as well have been.

[underwhelms]

You guys are really cute.

[ Clair still has plenty of the traits that she had as a child, stubborn and determined in the face of her brother's gentle attempts to dissuade her. They look like a perfect family, Clair's cheeks chubby and rosy, her face angelic despite her insistent attitude. JJ almost wishes that he could join them, remembering too many evenings spent like this with his own family, where he'd been the one urging his younger siblings away from things too dangerous for them.

It's not really fair that they've had their homes and loved ones taken away, but at least there's the opportunity to revisit good memories like this.

His hand slipping from Clair's, he puts an arm around her shoulders instead, drawing her up against her side as they watch the scene. ]

You must miss them, eh? Are they up on Thesa? If you ever want company when you're visiting, you can always ask me, Clair.

[ Though it's not the same, and the figures sleeping in the pods seem so cold in comparison to the warmth of the memory. ]

[cajolery]

[ She leans into the weight of his arm around her shoulders, her eyes never leaving the scene playing out before them. ]

Yes... that might be nice. I have taken to visiting them whenever I am able, to inform them of everything they have missed.

[ Picture: Clair camping out in front of Clive's pod, going on at length about everything she's been up to since she last visited. She tells him about her new life, her job, every single one of her friends...

Somehow, the child version of her had convinced Clive to give her his practice sword and show her how to swing it—though it's far too big and heavy for her, she still tries her hardest anyway (some things don't change), crying out ha! ha! as she waves the sword around. Still swinging, she charges at Fernand with her fiercest battle roar, while Clive laughs and eggs her on to defeat him, to show him her strength!

To her surprise, the young Fernand plays along, albeit with the disaffected exasperation only a teenager could produce, eventually leading her on a merry chase around the field. They all laugh as they run about, the sound resonating within her. ]

Goodness, but we were all so very carefree then.

[underwhelms]

[ JJ can imagine that. He knows a few people that go up whenever they can to visit their loved ones, hoping to find them safe if not awake. That's all they can ask for, and he has to admit that sometimes he's scared that he won't find his parents there. (That one day he'll just find mementoes of them at his bedside table, like Isabella's ring, and they'll just be gone.)

He squeezes Clair's shoulder instinctively, letting out a breath before he pulls away from her to chase after the children, spinning around as he does so that he's facing her while running backwards. ]

There's no reason you can't be carefree now! You're not fighting a war anymore, Clair.

[ He grins, winking at her. ]

I'll play tag with you, but be careful I'm not easy to catch.