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 Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 1:35 pm
After his last and less than pleasant visit to the garden, Chang’e took his wandering towards something else this time. Brioche had mentioned a reservoir and he thought it might be something to look at even if the thought of touching ice-cold water was the last thing he’d want to do outside of a time of blistering heat. The sand there was pleasant though, somehow slightly warm even with the cold, maybe because there was something beneath it heating it up? Was it a spring system like he had experienced before? Was that something here in this area? He’d have to ask Brioche when he returned home. Taking a seat on the sand, he slid his feet from his sandals and wiggled them until they were buried in the sand. It felt nice and helped warm him as he settled in. The night was unseasonably warm, at least according to Brioche, and for the first time since ending up on this planet, he didn’t feel as sluggish or tired.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:08 pm
Aruna hummed softly to herself as she walked, enjoying the warmer air for once. Everything had been messy lately, everything had been so much that it was verging on overwhelming, but nights like this made it so much better. Calm, quiet, outright pleasant. No sign of youma or anyone of the chaos faction, no existential questions, just a nice, quiet, much needed night. She picked a different route for herself tonight, wanting to see more than the usual back alleys she scouted out from the rooftops. Coming up to the edge of firmer ground, Aruna carefully wiggled her boots off and sighed as her toes sunk into the soft sand. Whether her fuku was magical or not, she didn't want to have to power down and back up to get rid of sand in her boots. She draped the long leg of her boots over her arm and wandered a bit, hesitating when she saw she wasn't alone on the sand. “Everything alright?” Her head tilted as she approached the person. Hopefully they weren't injured or anything, and were just out to enjoy the night like she was.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:27 pm
Blinking slowly as he leaned back to look at the newcomer, his snake-like pupils narrowed as he watched them. “Oh, wait…” They didn’t have that wrongness to them like the other few senshi he had met, one of chaos and one of the mirror. They were more like that other one, Hamal if he was remembering correctly.
“Yes, everything’s alright. Who might you be? Someone from here I suppose?” After a moment, he leaned back up and shifted in the sand to face them slightly. It still felt nice, a welcome and warm change after the past months. If it could get warmer sooner, he might feel a bit better but it would be like this for another few months apparently.
Dusting some of the sand from his exposed scales, he wiggled his fingers beneath the sand to warm up as well. It was pleasant and if he didn’t have company he had half a mind to snooze on it.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:35 pm
Aruna tilted her head curiously. They seemed human enough, but there was something slightly other about them. Maybe not as obvious as Helene, but still different. As she came closer, her eyes fell upon scales on his skin and she did her best to hide her curiosity. For now, at least.
“Sailor Aruna, and yes, from around here.” Her eyes lingered on the scales despite her effort to not stare. “Sorry if I disturbed or bothered you. I don't see many people out at night so I wanted to make sure you weren't injured or anything.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:36 pm
Noticing the staring, he didn’t mind as it seemed less likely that it was done in disgust. Shifting one of his feet, he stretched a leg out and got comfortable.
“Chang’E, from there. Well here now I would say.” Since he wasn’t sure exactly how everything had pulled him here, he didn’t mind it though. It was a new place to wander, full of life and noise and people. Someplace to figure things out.
“You’ve done neither, I just wandered here while learning a bit more about this place. The language… is still something I’m learning.” Though his spoken words were fine, his written words were abhorrent even with Brioche helping him learn and practice.
“You don’t seem afraid? That I’m not quite like the others?” It was a short thing, a casual comment as he brought a hand up to adjust a loose strand of hair hanging near his cheek.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:38 pm
Aruna shook her head and smiled, sitting beside him. “Chang’E…That's pretty. Is English very different to what you're used to speaking?” Her head tilted in curiosity as she looked at him.
“Should I be afraid? Just because someone looks different doesn't mean they're bad.” Her smile was warm and reassuring. “Besides, I've met others who are different too. And so far you haven't given me any reason to be afraid. Judging someone solely on their looks is…..shallow and cruel.” The frown on her face said she spoke from experience on that, but she quickly replaced it with her smile again. “Besides. I'm a senshi so that makes me different too, right?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:49 pm
Moving slightly to allow for space, he was reminded again that humans were warm even in winter, unlike he was. It made sense, but sometimes he forgot given the amount of time he’d not been around anyone or anything on his homeworld.
“The spokenwords, no, but the new phrases… I’m still figuring out the context I believe is what Brioche called it. I believe he said the language I write in from Earth is an older type of Chinese? And this is another continent which is why I have no reference point for things from my previous visit.” Tracing a few symbols in the sand, he wrote his name in it, not Chang’E but the one that was used here.
“Stonings were… unpleasant back then. But Brioche has said calling the way I look cosplay should help with some issues. I find it fascinating truth be told. I met another like me here but she is quite different, perhaps dangerous? But she’s quite breathtaking, an ascended dragon that reminds me of the myths back then.” But she wasn’t a senshi, she was something else, that didn’t make her any less lovely in his opinion.
“Different maybe but there were many senshi I knew in the past.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:51 pm
Aruna nodded, tracing out ‘Chang’E’ in English to show him. “Mm, that would make sense. China is….pretty far away from here.” Her smile faltered when he mentioned stonings, her heart aching just a little. She hated the idea of anyone being hurt, no matter if she had just met them or not.
“Brioche?” She tilted her head curiously, unfamiliar with the name outside of it being bread. “Cosplay might be a good explanation, I could see that working.” She listened intently, nodding. “You're the second person like you that I've met. Another senshi I know, Helene, is similar. Not from Earth.” Though while Helene was pretty, she found herself a little bit more entranced by just how stunning Chang’E was. “The past….how old are you? If…if I'm allowed to ask that?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:53 pm
Watching her spell out a different name than the one he wrote brought a smile to his face as he chuckled. “Not exactly but I appreciate the thought.” He then matched what she wrote to what he felt fit his senshi name in the same older language.
“This is the translation for that. Brioche, the mauvian who found me in the snow, has helped me pick up some things. Though he isn’t the best with language either.” It didn’t make the mauvian any less kind and lovable in his mind though.
His face soured at the mention of age, even now that was something that should be rude to ask someone but since it seemed out of genuine curiosity, he sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to calculate things. It was harder without his abacus but after a moment he nodded and spoke back up. “I believe the equivalent year on this planet would have been 962 AD? The current year is… 2025 I believe so 1,062?” But that was far longer than his people lived so after a moment, before she could interrupt, he spoke up again.
“I would say I’ve been held around the age of 25 comparatively as I wandered. I have no real idea why or how but I have far outlived what was normal for my people.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:53 pm
Aruna’s cheeks colored slightly when she realized her mistake, giving him a small, shy smile. “Mauvian explains being named after bread, I guess. He sounds sweet.” She idly wondered what sort of a cat Brioche was, but figured she could ask about that later. “I could maybe help if you'd like? I might not know Chinese, but I can help with modern phrases maybe?” She always wanted to be helpful, no matter who it was.
Her eyes widened in amazement when he spoke of his age. “Wow….” she exhaled, looking at him in awe. “That's incredible. You must have seen so much….” It dawned on her belatedly that it might not be as incredible to him, but rather potentially something sad. “I'm….sorry if talking about it bothers you. That wasn't my intent, I promise.” At only 20 years of age herself, she couldn't possibly fathom the places and things he had seen in his time. “It must be…I guess a culture shock of sorts, if that was the last time you were on earth, compared to now? What do you think of it? Of how it is currently, I mean?” She tilted her head curiously at him, hoping to move the subject to something less potentially sad or upsetting.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 2:56 pm
“He’s quite nice and has been helping me with a sort of translation pen he calls it? That and something he calls a senshi phone, though I am still learning how to use it properly.” Pulling the thing out, he still didn’t quite grasp the uses of it but at least it was apparently some way to contact other senshi who were on the side of order.
“I’d appreciate learning more about things over time…” Stilling at the mention of seeing things, he pressed a palm to his temple for a moment as he exhaled. It wasn’t something pleasant even if many things blended together over all the time he’d been around. Shaking the thought off he sighed.
“Yes, it’s much different here now but I don’t have a solid opinion just yet, it’s only been a few months.” And with most of them being prohibitively cold, he hadn’t done much wandering outside of a few runs to the bakery or store with Brioche. So his experience was limited with a lot still and there was plenty more to poke around as the weather warmed and allowed him more energy to wander with.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 3:02 pm
“I'm not sure about the translation pen, but I've got a senshi phone though.” She pulled her phone out to show him. “I haven't used it much yet, but there are useful things you can do with it.”
She felt bad when she saw her definitely didn't enjoy talking about the past. “Well….if you'd like, I would be happy to do what I can to help. I work at a cafe during the day, but when I'm not at work, I would be more than happy to show you things?” She found that she didn't mind the thought of spending more time with Chang’E, finding his company to be enjoyable.
“Hopefully when spring and summer come, you'll get to enjoy it a lot more. Especially when it's warm and everything is in bloom. I'm not a fan of the cold weather myself, so I always look forward to summer.” She absently drew patterns in the sand as she spoke, smiling softly. “If you would ever like to, you are welcome to call on me whenever you'd like. I would be….I think I would really enjoy seeing you again.” Something about his presence felt soothing, and she felt far more calm than she had in a while.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 3:16 pm
“I see, yes, if you can help me a bit? Brioche is kind but I have a feeling that he’s not been around other senshi or mauvians. I adore him and his kindness but I want to try learnign what I can from others to not worry him.” And it would help him help his mauvian as well.
The mention of a cafe did have him perking up as he liked the bakery near where he lived and hearing of another one he could visit made it more likely that he might wander further. “I would like that yes and I can reach you through the phone here?” Tapping at the screen, he was still hesitant on its usefulness - if only because he had no clue of its workings still.
“The cold makes me tired, it was never so cold back home. My people weren’t made for it, I found myself sluggish and needed to sleep more when the snow feel heavily.” He couldn’t deny that it did look pretty, as long as it stayed outside where it belonged.
“I would like to come visit that cafe, I find myself enjoying some of the savory breads here on this planet, they’re so light and fluffy. Far different than what I remember but not in a bad way. Perhaps I could meet you there at some point, Brioche made me something to blend in among the humans just in case I want to go out into larger crowds.” He still hadn’t tested it much but it might be worth a shot.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 3:22 pm
“I would be happy to help you, Chang’E. I think it's always good to learn from multiple people when possible. Gives more viewpoints.”
She smiled brightly as he perked up and nodded. “It's called Puppy Paws. When you come, ask for Halia.” She gently took his phone and showed him how to use it to contact her. “Here, you can reach me anytime like this. This button will let you call me, and if you tap here you can type a message to me.” She seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of seeing him again. “I should finish my patrol route for the night, but I really do look forward to seeing you again, Chang’E.” She handed his phone back to him and carefully stood, brushing the sand off of her before nodding and taking her leave.
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