[The Wonderduck is still docked on the snowy planet for a few more days. Sometime in the evening, there'll be three knocks on the door to the engine room or wherever else Lloyd may be.]
[ Lloyd had gotten used to hearing the sound of footsteps approaching and passing by the engine room, so he doesn't pay much mind to this particular set. the only thing he wasn't used to was someone knocking on the door. curious, he abandons his latest project to answer, opening the door enough to peek outside. ]
Kaneis? [ he pushes the door open some more, combing his hand through his hair. ] What's up?
[Kaneis meanwhile, felt extremely nervous. He didn't want to do this, but he's run out of excuses. So...here he is. Wearing his winter coat and gloves (though he's missing that scarf).]
Hey Lloyd- are you busy? [Right. Just get it over it] I was wondering if you wanted to...go for a walk? [Ugh, that sounded lame. He rubs the back of his neck] And you know, talk.
[ oh? this is a pleasant surprise. never minding the odd sense of deja vu he's feeling, he steps out of the engine room, closing the door behind him. ]
Uhh, sure. Lemme go grab my cloak. [ he gestures to the cabin, since he... kinda left it there. ]
[No Lloyd. This is the opposite of a pleasant surprise. Trust the narrator on this.]
[He just nods with a "sure" and waits while Lloyd goes to get his coat, shoving his hands into his coat pocket as he waits. Already he is dreading this. His stomach feels so heavy.]
[...Okay. So that might be the fact that it's actually full for once. Curse Ludger's delicious seafood stew. Still, part of it is stress and dread.]
the cabin isn't very far from the engine room (not that the Wonderduck was a big ship), so it doesn't take him long for him to go in, slip on the wool cloak over his clothes, and head back to Kaneis. the whole time there, he can't help but wonder what this is going to be about. Kaneis wasn't exactly as talkative as he was in the past...
his eyes settle on him the moment he returns, oblivious to what they'll be talking about as he nods in turn. ]
Yup. C'mon, looks like the snow lightened up.
[ not that he didn't know that Kaneis probably knew that, but whatever. ]
[He gives a nod at the snow lightening up. Sure, he already did know that. But whatever]
Yeah, let's go.
[He walks with Lloyd out to the cargo bay, and to the exit of the ship. The plan's to find some place alone to talk, away from the ship. He has a couple places in mind, but it's gonna take a bit.]
[Might as well try to make small talk until then huh...]
Heard we're gonna be leaving this planet in a few days. Where do you think we'll end up next?
[ Lloyd grins in response, falling into step next to Kaneis as they make their way to the cargo bay and out of the ship (though Lloyd didn't hesitate to jump off at the last step to hear the familiar "crunch" of snow under his feet). he almost asks where they're going before he's beaten to the punch at getting the first word in.
already, he can feel the cold settle in, and he rubs at his nose, taking a moment to think about Kaneis's question. that's a pretty broad question: there's a lot of possibilities, aren't there? ]
Who knows? Someplace warmer than this would be pretty awesome, though!
[ snow's nice and all, but after a while and can get old. and cold. and he also knows that Kaneis isn't a fan of it, so it'd be good for him, too. ]
Heh- you know I'd be up for a beach. Especially if it was with a resort town. [FULL OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN OF COURSE]
And Iselia's forest isn't bad...but you know, with us traveling to other planets? Maybe we'll see places stranger looking than Iselia. Like- a forest made out of blue crystal trees! Or giant mushrooms! Or something like that- you know?
[ oh no Kaneis, what are you doing? now you've gotten him riled up. ]
A crystal forest would be so cool! Can you imagine what kinds of monsters they'd have there? I bet they could glow, or-or something that's just as awesome!
Yeah!! Man, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
[ hold your horses there, Lloyd-o, it's not like they're actually going to visit a planet like that anytime soon... if ever.
he settles down a little, though, looking up at the sky. ]
I never knew space could be so big. I knew there had to be other people living out there-- [ thank you, Derris-Kharlan. ] --but there's so many different planets we've never even heard about. It's kind of amazing, huh?
Don't waste all your excitement now. It'll be awhile before we hit the next system I bet.
[Since seriously Lloyd. We all know how you work and don't waste it now. But at that statement, he has to consider it, eyes following Lloyd's to the sky.]
...Yeah, it is. [He's been to a few worlds now himself, but that's not even counting all the different ones he's heard about through other people] Even makes me feel like I'm from the boondocks.
[Especially after seeing some Earth cities. Man. Those things were just way too damn big]
[ it actually surprises Lloyd a little to hear that from Kaneis, considering where he's from. Meltokio's easily the biggest city he's been to, and for Kaneis to admit even that... ]
Mm... I think I get it. Aselia's huge, but I guess there could be places and planets that are even bigger than home.
Like this one planet I was on- called Earth? They had these cities where some of the buildings were so tall, you couldn't even see the tops of them on a cloudy day. And these cities had millions of people in them. Not thousands, millions. It was crazy.
[ never mind the fact that it's weird that they named a planet after an element, but the fact that there are cities with that many people and buildings that tall?!
and here he thought the Altamira hotel and the Tower of Mana were tall buildings. ]
And I thought Meltokio was a big city... How could you walk around with that many people?
Or they'd have to be really big so that people won't bump into each other. [ even so, it must take them forever to get form one end to the other. did they have a tram system like back in Altamira? ]
[ wOW EXCUSE???? THAT COMMENT WAS SO UNCALLED FOR ]
Well yeah, I know they're cool! But millions of people? That's just gonna make it way too cramped! [ he's so affronted he forgot this is the part where he's supposed to be climbing up some stairs. ]
[ that was a close one. he totally knew they were there, by the way, he just tripped over the first step on purpose. but okay, climbing after him now. ]
It's not like I don't want to see one! [ hes actually bouncing in excitement at the prospect of seeing a city that big. ] I just don't want to end up being squished by a bunch of people before I even get a chance to see it.
You won't, you won't. Just stay clear of a thing called subways and even a country bumpkin like you will be just fine.
[He continues walking up the stairs until it reaches an overlook at the forests below and beyond the city. He gives a small little headshake to himself]
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