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 Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:46 am
It smiled at that. "I was there for this, Mali."
The smile faded as it continued to stare out at the sky. "One I wasn't there for."
Then it paused. "You can ask me things too." It reminded Mali.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:37 am
"Yes, you were there, but they are no less treasured. But Hmm... Sweet memories are surprisingly few. There are the memories of my father, which I spoke about already, but something that I hold dear..." After raking his brain for a bit, he settled on one with a small, fond smile.
"I entered a small kids-baking competition at my school when I was perhaps nine or ten. There were quite a few kids there, maybe... Twenty or so, and it was my first time entering anything. Nothing extraordinary, just a tray of those meat buns, with bacon and pepper filling in it from earlier, but they were ugly and misshapen and a huge mess because I was so nervous in making them. They kinda looked like ugly little toads." Bringing back that memory made Mali laugh out loud a little, turning to his side to better face Vivre, curious to see his own reactions.
"There were many things wrong with them. Burnt, too much pepper, not enough grease drained from the bacon, so some of them were soggy, and I didn't win, of course. I wasn't sad though, but angry. The person who won had these amazing little tarts covered in glitter and stars... The ultimate picture of perfection and everyone fawned over them because of how well they had done. Every inch of their tray had no errors and I just sat there alone for a long while. I couldn't bring myself to congratulate them at all because of jealousy that I could not be as good as they are. Right before I dumped them all into the garbage, a young pregnant woman came by my stand. I think maybe she was the mother to one of the other competitors. Even though everything on my try was subpar, she said "Oh, these smell so good, can I try one?". I remember just nodding and trying to calm down." Somewhere during his talking, Mali had reached over and taken Vivre's free paw, holding it gently and squeezing it when he seemed to chuckle at part of the memories.
"She ate one, then another, then another and I was absolutely stunned. I know now it was probably the strange cravings pregnant people get, but back then, I thought she just truly loved it. Her mouth was half full when she asked if she could take them, and after I wrapped them up for her, she just happily hobbled away like she had won the biggest prize. Pfft, I remember thinking she kinda looked like one of those old children's bouncy horses when she left!" Again, he laughed out loud, that soft sound filling the otherwise quiet air around them.
A memory like that wasn't often brought up, but it made him warm all over recounting it.
"I remember being happy with my baking then. It didn't matter what everyone else thought, I made one person happy, and I wanted to keep making her happy. It was likely one of those little kid crushes, I kept looking for her when we had bake sales, or more competitions, and she always seemed so happy to see me... I don't remember what happened to her, but I'd like to think it was the beginning of the whole 'I don't care for the whole, just the part that means the most to me' mindset. If it weren't for her, maybe my spirits would have been crushed, and I'd be some sort of cold, heartless b*****d... More of so anyway." This time he chuckled a little.
"... I have been talking alot, haven't I? Words come easily when I'm with you. Nice words. Insults always come easy any other time... But what should I ask.... Oh, how is the Barrack's food? Do they have a mass kitchen they cook in? And... How have you been eating...? Are you feeling well these days, minus the whole Training thing? ... Have you thought of me often?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:22 am
sweet memories are surprisingly few.
Amen.
It could recall few sweet memories. And the good we're small or reaped after battles and blood. But tender ones were so rare in it's headscape that it couldn't recall any easily. And the few had the pang of loss from those it remembered.
So it asked Mali in order to indulging in thoughts outside of it's own ability and imagination. To steal in moments it laid at night, anxious and uneasy, to distract itself with softer thoughts.
Closing its eyes, it let Mali paint the landscape of a fraction of childhood. The cries of many excitable children. Brightly colored displayed. But it was hard to think of the room and what kind of people would be there. It didn't remember schools..so it made a square room and filled it with kind people. With parents it had seen and a few it had drained. A few others that were gone.
And it saw the warmed meatbuns. Mishapped in a tray before a frustrated Mali. Comically it could only imagine Mali with shorter hair, smaller, and a little more soft. A little rosier in the face. It thought of glimmering tarts and cosmic shapes, of the hobbling woman eating soft buns and meat, and a eager expression turned bright and happier.
Mali had always been someone who wanted to make others happy.
"You're like your father. Wanting to make others happy. Even if they are strangers and you dislike them. You still want joy like he did for you." To fill in spaces.
It opened it'd eyes after the movie reel faded to black and turned to look at Mali holding it's hand like someone holding a teddy bear. He had no concept of what it had done with those hands. For all the world it expected the worst from, did he ignore the possibilities of harm with it?
"It is okay to talk. I just don't want you to think you cannot ask. Or that I am taking too much. I'm being demand ding asking you for memories." It answered.
"The food is the Barracks is okay. It's meant to keep you going and that is about it. It keeps you warm and full but it varies from bland to strange. The food is made by rotation duty of whoever I'd available to do it. I can't do much to help but move stock about or bring in trays when I had my turn."
"They have a smaller kitchen for those who buy their own foods. Most of us don't get out enough to have use to for."
"I eat because I'm usually starving after training. I could probably eat don't and slugs and be happy just to have something at the end of the day. I'm that hungry. Aside from that I feel......okay. I don't have much time to consider things. The days go too fast and when I get to bed I'm already asleep and another day comes just as fast. But when I am taking a break or not focusing on reading my assignment, I do think of things. I have wondered what you have been doing. If you are bored. If you are safe. If you have met anyone." If he was still here as an officer. If he was home with Obie as Nubi went out.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:09 am
"You aren't the first one to think that. Dad was good at filling in emptiness, and even better at making you understand that it was alright to feel empty at times. Not everything that's broken really needs to be fixed. Some things are even meant to be broken, but that doesn't mean it's any less valuable than something that's whole. Every now and again, I forget that. Thank you, for asking about my memories... It helps more than I can explain." Every inch of Mali felt warm right now, content with the retelling of the memory and how it seemed to take him back to that day.
Vivre had once told him he couldn't remember many things... To be asked about his memories, and to tell him what brought him joy in the past allowed for a small connection to be made there. After all, only three people in the world could remember that memory, one was dead, the other who knows... But now there was four, even if the memory was vaguely told.
"Rotation for those who live there... I wonder if they'd let me come cook occasionally... Though I doubt it, given they likely figure I could do better things with my time... Oh well, my cooking is reserved for you then." It didn't matter, whether small batches or large, as long as Vivre ate well and enjoyed his cooking, there'd always be something for him.
... It didn't mean anything.
No, that wasn't right.
It meant something. Mali knew he should be grateful that someone cared for him. There was no need to rush these feelings, or to force something that wasn't there.
He stopped himself from saying anything more on that, for now.
"That makes me really happy to hear." He confessed softly, squeezing Vivre's paw just a little more firmly. "I promise, when I become stronger, and that is a when, not an if, and I'm able to, I will teleport to come see you whenever you have time. I feel like it's been said that you don't have much of a focus on Leisure time, but using it to see me, to be with me and not those you are on a team with, or have some desire to mold you to what they want... Hehe... It kinda makes me feel important."
A voice nudged him at the back of his mind. Wasn't he doing the same thing though? Wanting to make Vivre into something that would suite his own desires...?
That voice was squashed for now.
"It's a really nice night here... Everything seems far too good to be true, if that makes any sense. Just... Peaceful. I could stay here all night if allowed."
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 2:32 pm
"They might let you cook. Maybe even let you decide something. Then again, you might get stuck doing it more often." It joked back.
"I get bored and that makes me restless if I'm not doing something with my time. Leisure is good sometimes I guess." It admitted, seeing as it couldn't deny is was lazying about at the moment. "I mean that's what we are doing now."
It probably needed to find a hobby. Something to do when it wasn't training. Something productive.
At the mention of staying here all night, Vive yawned wide. "I'd probably fall asleep, then who'd take me home." It muttered, exhausted from the day's boot camp session and feeling it still in its joints.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:10 pm
”It feels good though, doesn’t it?” It was almost whispered, as if Mali was asking for a secret to be answered. That paw he held was brought up to his cheek, pressing his face to the back of it for a moment. And in that moment, he squeezed his eyes shut, making a brief wish to the stars above that maybe when all of Vivre’s training was over, he’d still have moments like this.
Then the paw was let go, a small wall was placed up, an attempt to distance himself from these thoughts that he constantly kept playing around with.
“Well, the general expected we’d be out for a few hours. Not too much time has passed if you wanted to nap. And when they come, I can carry you back, if you’d like. I’d be happy to.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:24 pm
"If I fall asleep now, I don't think I'd get up." It said with another yawn as it remained laying there. "And now fun would it be to just waste the visit with me sleeping." It muttered.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:43 pm
”What’s so wrong with that? Like I said, I’ll make sure you get back without any issue.” Mali sat up, scooting a little closer to gently run his fingers through Vivre’s hair, rubbing small circles into his scalp in what he hoped was a soothing motion.
“You’ve eaten tasty food, heard some sweet stories, and now can rest under the moonlight for a few hours, something you haven’t been able to do since you’ve been around, right? I’d say enjoy it, and assure you, I’m happy to let you. It feels like you trust me. Would you say that’s true?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:49 pm
It kept its eyes closed as Mali moved to play with its hair a moment. "I trust you." Because it knew that the man's focused attention and feelings towards him would ensure that the senshi would not allow someone to come to kill him here.
"If you'll let me sleep a while and don't mind it. Then I'll sleep." It couldn't keep awake much longer anyways. It was already exhausted after bootcamp and yet went out to visit the other regardless of its depleted reserves. If Mali saw no issue with letting it sleep for the entire visit, then it wouldn't object.
"Wake me when its time for my pickup." It said as it let itself start surrendering to the sleep that it had been keeping at bay till now.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:29 pm
He trusted Mali. That was enough to entirely make the Senshi’s night. Such a simple thing, really...
“Please do. I’ll be here, and wake you when it’s time to go. It may be a little forward, but I hope this will become a sweet memory for you too.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:33 pm
"Hmm." Vive was already barely conscious now.
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