Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls...

[demonicbeauty]

Who: Ariadne and various (hit me up if you want a starter!)
What: Ariadne keeping busy and being bad at processing her feelings
When: Throughout January
Where: Various, but mostly Serenity Garden

Content Warnings: Backstory trauma likely to come up, discussion of Jedi/Sith violence, will update as needed.

Comments

For Tara

[demonicbeauty]

When she first decided that she wanted to live openly and honestly, Ariadne thought it would be a simple matter of telling the truth once and being done with it. But she realized now, that was palace life talking. The mindset that the people she lived among would never change, that the same faces would pass her in the hall again and again.

The multiverse wasn't like that.

She was beginning to understand that her idea of permanence was...misplaced. And an unfortunate side effect was that there were a lot of people around who hadn't heard her initial announcement and had no idea who or what she was.

The idea of making the announcement again and again actually made her physically ill. So as a compromise, she decided she would start spending a few hours each day in her natural state.

Which meant there she was, out in her orchard, quietly clearing the snow away from the trunk of her lemon tree. In her natural state: Skin green like the underside of a maple leaf, hair blue as candy floss, lips a deep, dark purple.

Also part of her natural state? Talking to her trees.

"You're looking lovely today, Dagmar," she said sweetly, as if she expected the tree to return the compliment.

[psychopepsquad]

Given the recent loss of bits of her sanity, as well as the number of odd things in Sunnydale, the sight of Ariadne prompted a double take, but no other real reaction. It might be was seeing something or her mind shifted what actually was, as it seemed to be doing of late, or this might just be some random green person.

There were stories about nymphs, but those tended to be mythology. There were demons of different colors and abilities, but it seemed rude to make assumptions. And given the nature of this place, there were a lot of things that existed outside of her general information.

So, what was there really to do? Walk up to a stranger and question her? That felt...off and a bit more than her shyness could take. Instead, she followed the purpose that brought her here, which was meditation. She sat against a nearby tree and reached out to the earth, trying to feel the magic beneath her.

[demonicbeauty]

Serenity Garden was meant to be a public amenity. Ariadne dreamed of a place where everyone felt warm and welcome. Where people could pass the time or share their thoughts or fall in love.

All of the best things of humanoid society.

She hadn't anticipated anyone being eager to use the garden in the middle of winter. Not the way the strange Human lady seemed to be using it, anyway.

A crease of concern formed between her eyes. "Excuse me a moment, Dagmar," she said to her lemon tree, before take a few tentative steps in the stranger's direction. "...aren't you cold, my lady?"

[psychopepsquad]

Tara opened her eyes to find the woman standing close by. She had thought for a moment that she might be speaking to a tree again, but she seemed to attract notice. "Um...no, no I'm fine." She tugged at the sleeves to her sweater. Since arriving and realizing her powers had weird side effects for others, she'd done her best to bundle to show barely any exposed skin.

One sweater, two long sleeve t-shirts, jeans and big boots. She was even wearing gloves, just in case. It was almost as if she was back in her early years of college, when she just wanted to fold in on herself.

"It's not so cold for me." She quickly added, "Are you okay?"

[demonicbeauty]

"Me?" Ariadne tilted her head to one side, like a sparrow that had just spotted something glimmering in the trees. "I think so. I mean I..."

She looked down at her hands.

And her cheeks flushed a peculiar shade of lavender.

"Oh. Sorry." Alastrians learned from a very young age to apologize for their appearance. It was one of the keys to survival.

The air around her body hummed, colors swirling like heat rising off of the pavement. One minute, she was green and blue and purple. The next, she was pink and brown and raspberry. Human through and through.

"My apologies. I know it can take some getting used to."

[psychopepsquad]

"It's fine." She didn't really think anything of it by now. She's seen bumpy foreheads, horns, and whatever other form a demon might come in. Being a different color wasn't something that phased her all that much.

The magic doesn't seem like a spell, but it could be a glamor of some sort. Demons could cast it, as well as witches and humans. It didn't require a lot of talent. It was probably one of the first spells she learned as a girl. It's nice to see familiar magic, but in this place, that familiarity only extends so far.

"Um...not really. I've seen a lot stranger elsewhere." She gave a small smile. "Also where we are? Being a squid? It's a bit more extreme than being blue."

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne had to laugh. A bright, bell-like laugh that sang in the air. "Sometimes, I forget about that," she admitted. "But then, I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm in a bed instead of in the water and I panic for just a second, before I remember that I have my lungs again. Can breathe again."

She tried not to dwell on her own arrival too much. Ariadne loved questions like bees loved flowers. Which got especially frustrating when there weren't any solid answers. Better to forget.

Or...try to forget. Alastrian memory wouldn't really let her forget completely.

[psychopepsquad]

"Does that happen often?" She hasn't had any flashbacks to being a squid, but it's not as if she doesn't have nightmares about something that makes her forget where she is. "I guess you have been here for awhile?" It seemed like almost everyone had. Being an outsider was something that seemed regular for her.

"So...I'm Tara."

It's probably a good idea to introduce herself.

[demonicbeauty]

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Tara," she said. And she gave another curtsy. Although she was quite sure that the woman wasn't a Daruc--didn't smell like one, anyway--it was a name sacred to their people. She couldn't help but slip right back into a respectful pattern.

She was nothing if not well-trained.

Or, as she preferred to think of it, well-mannered.

"I haven't been here long," she said. "A few months. It's my first winter. But I was in the...place before. You might have heard people talking about it. 'Deerington,' they called it."

[psychopepsquad]

"Uhm, not 'Lady', just Tara." It was a nice gesture but one that just left her feeling a bit weird and outside of herself. Not that she wasn't already experiencing it, but her normal shyness couldn't accept a grandiose title.

"I heard about it. That it existed in a child's dreams or something and then eventually, many people from Deerington found themselves here. But this is called the Trench." Just the bare basics, but enough to help her get by.

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne nodded, giving Tara an encouraging smile. It was a lot to keep track of, especially if you hadn't had the misfortune of being there. Getting the basic facts was more than enough.

...also, she seemed a little dazed. No that anyone could blame her for that.

"I'm 'Airy,'" she said. A pause. "Well, 'Ariadne,' except that no one seems to call me that, any more." She didn't mind. She rather liked the nickname, actually. It suited her, and her many birdlike qualities.

Even standing still, she gave one the impression that she was about to spread her wings and take to the skies.