paradisa | ❀ Episode 15 ❀ [Dictated]

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rise kujikawa

❀ Episode 15 ❀ [Dictated] - backdated to April 26th

[Filtered to friends/acquaintances]

[Rise hadn't really been feeling like herself lately. She'd taken Alex disappearing a lot harder than she thought she would, and then there was that weird thing that happened a couple weeks ago. If it weren't for castle magic, it would have taken ages to clean up all the cereal boxes she'd piled up while hiding out in her room. Though she can't quite remember exactly why...

Anyway, Sugar had been good company and all, but she needed to get out of the funk she's been in. It's just a baby step, but she figures addressing the journal is a good way to start.]

Hey. It's Rise...

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still here! In case you thought I was sent home, or whatever.

[There's a long pause, and finally what she's been holding back all this time comes spilling out.]

I can't believe it's been a month...

Someone left. Someone I... really cared about. I didn't think it could hurt this much, but-

[Wait. That's not the reason she's talking to the journal right now. She's trying to move past the hurt and reach out to the friends she has left.]

Anyway, I hope I didn't make any of you worry. I'm feeling a lot better now, honest! And hey, if anyone wants to catch up or hang out, I'll be at the beach in that new Four Seasons room tower! Nothing worse when you're lonely than staying cooped up in your room, right? Even if it's all fake castle magic stuff, it's good to get out and get some sun!

[She finishes her entry with as much perky, youthful energy as she can muster, and moves to close the journal. Somehow, she doesn't quite get it closed before a quiet, but audible sigh comes through. Followed by a much smaller, calmer voice before it closes for real.]

I love you, Alex... I hope you're happy.

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[ Ah, that does hurt. He hasn't experienced it here, but...

But this is Sion. And he recognizes Rise as his not-daughter from that one winter, so. In a sickly sweet voice. ]

Do you need a hug?

[GAWD, not!dad, way to suck the poignant emotional moment right out the airlock! ... Is what she might normally think. Right now, she's only kind of rolling her eyes.]

It's okay, I talked to Mo-

[Gah! He threw her off so much she almost reverted all the way back to December...]

... Wade-san. I talked to Wade-san.

[She's not screeching at him... yet. But she probably will soon.]

She's better at hugs anyway.

[ Experience? Maybe. ]

[Is he still teasing her?!]

Oh my god, I didn't-!

[Okay, no, that's pretty obviously a lie. She needed hugs. She got them from Wade. Why did he have to be right?]

... How would you know, anyway?

[Her snark levels are still surprisingly low, but there's the slightest bite in her tone. Only because she's convinced he's making fun of her right now. Stupid ex fake dad...]

[ He just hums at her denial. ]

... Ah, well, the castle made some regrettable things happen.

[ Did he sound a bit embarrassed? ...

She's going to take that the wrong way, won't she. ]

... What do you mean 'regrettable'?!

[She's not sure how to take that! So she just snap-reacts, oops.]

[ And here he pretends that getting her to react is all a part of the plan. Totally. ]

Well, you can make guesses.

[ Or he'll hint either way. ]

There was sleepwalking, and my dreams are rarely nice.

[Sleepwalking...?]

You didn't...?! With Wade-san?!

[Is this actually happening, or is he messing with her?! ... And will he even pick up on what she's thinking?]

Well..

[ Does the laughter for the next minute work as an answer? It should. ]

Never mind! I don't wanna know!

[Ladies and gentlemen, there it is. The moment Rise admits she actually doesn't want to know if something naughty's been going on. If it had been any other guy, she might have prodded Wade for details, but this is a sleeping dog best left alone!]

Just... ugh! You better not hurt her!

[Well... okay, maybe that was going a bit overboard. He's not dangerous, as far as she can tell. Just kind of annoying.]

... Not that... I mean, I don't think you would, but...

[Then again, if she knew the real story.......]

It's not much... but, I know how you feel and I'm sorry.

Thanks...

[It might not be much, but it helps just knowing that someone cares.]

... It's not all bad, I guess. I'm glad for everyone that's still here, too. And whatever time we do get together.

[Even you, Church. Even you.]

[He tries, not always very well... but you know.]

Heh, yeah well... I guess that's the cheerful way of looking at it.

[It's better than letting it keep getting to her, that's for sure.]

I couldn't really think of it that way at first, but... if I have to be stuck here, I don't wanna shut everyone else out, y'know? Then it'd be even worse...

It could be easier... not having to worry about anyone else.

[It's how he deals with things anyway. At least how he tries to deal with things. He always seems to end up caring about people anyway. It's just easier to keep them at arms length.]

[Funny how someone can say something and it'll make you think about someone else who's been gone for a really long time. ... Not really surprising when she thinks about it, though. Church always was kind of similar to that Pixy guy.]

I don't think that'd be easier at all...

... I hate being alone.

[She was alone as a child, even more alone as an idol... she never wants that to happen again!]

I used to like it, peace and quiet.

Then I spent fourteen months completely alone... it kind of lost it's appeal now that I think about it.

[And then he came here. He started caring about people and losing them again.]

Fourteen...?!

[Wow. Okay, she may have just recently lost someone she thought she might have developed certain feelings for, but she's never spent over a year completely alone. Figuratively, she could beat that easily... but not literally.]

I guess... we're kinda the same that way. Not wanting to go back to something like that.

Yeah, I got redeployed to an empty base. Not a soul around, not even the Reds.

I guess we are. Hard to imagine this place having any sort of a positive side... but there you go.

Yeah...

... If there were no one else here, I don't think I'd make it.

[There's a pause, and then:]

... Whatever that'd mean in a place like this...

[Alex died once, after all. So did Sheena. It didn't last.]

[Sugar has been worried for her roommate for quite a while. She's done her best to try to keep her smiling, acting even more silly than normal, but she can tell that Rise has still been feeling down. Sugar doesn't blame her. Having people leave is always sad, and Alex was a good person. So she does her best to be twice as cheerful for the both of them (and hide how tired she has been feeling. Surely it is unrelated, right?)

Naturally when Rise decided to go out, Sugar decided to tag along, sitting on her shoulder instead of flying ahead this time. It'll help conserve her energy. Once they reach the Summer Floor though, she's back to her usual self, exploring the area as fast as she can with wonder and excitement. As Rise finishes with the journal, she comes flying towards Rise like she's found something interesting.]

Rise, Rise!! Look at this! [Suddenly in her rush the fairy seems to trip in midair, face-planting into the sand. Whoops.] Oof!

[Bless you, Sugar. Without her, it might have taken Rise even longer to try and drag herself out of sudden depression. As sad as she was about Alex leaving, it's hard to feel completely alone when there's a cute fairy around constantly reminding her that there are other people important to her. People she cares about, and who care about her, too. None of them could fill the role Alex did in her life, but that doesn't make them any less important than her.

Hearing the fairy's voice nearby as she closes her journal, Rise looks up - with an actual smile on her face! If a bit of a sad one... it's hard to go from finally letting go of someone you love to completely happy again.

What smile there is fades into concern at that... trip? Did she just trip over air?]

Sugar-chan...?!

[Pushing herself up from the towel she's been lying on, Rise hurries over to where Sugar fell, kneeling down next to her.]

Are you okay? ... You didn't hurt yourself, did you?

[She's not panicking yet. But that's the only explanation she can come up with for why Sugar would suddenly fall like that!]

[Sugar is a little hurt, nothing more than a few scratches, but she is not going to let on. That would worry Rise! So she pops her head up and laughs, scratching the back of her neck.]

Hahaha... I'm fine! Just a little clumsy.

[Aww, Sugar...]

Alright... you can stick with me for a while, if you want? Just until you're feeling better...

[She holds out her hands, offering to let Sugar climb up if she wants. She doesn't want to tell her not to fly and play and have fun, but maybe she should rest for just a little while?]

Or we could do something else, like build a sandcastle!

[Something fun that might keep Sugar from flying around and hurting herself! Although Rise's sure she'll be fine in a moment... she's never seen her hurt herself seriously from flying before.]

Okay. I don't feel bad though, I swear.

[Maybe a little disoriented, but she'll be fine. This fairy has run into walls before and come out all right. Still, hanging around Rise was the plan from the start, so of course she wants to do so.]

What's a sandcastle? Oh-! Hang on, there's something I wanted to show you first...

[She searches the beach like she dropped it, then picks something up with her hands. Standing up with a slight wobble, she walks over onto Rise's hand and sits down. Opening her hands, Sugar shows her the handful of sand she picked up.]

Look! It's sugar! Why is there sugar all over the beach?

[Oh, Sugar... Rise's almost worried about that denial, but as long as she takes it easy, she's sure the season fairy will be fine.

What she picked up, though... it's hard not to giggle at the fairy's declaration. That's one way to distract herself from everything else she's been feeling for the past month.]

It looks kind of like sugar, doesn't it?

But it's sand! It's what you build sandcastles out of! And it's not really very much like sugar at all...

[Don't taste the sand, Sugar. This would be a very bad idea.]

[Sugar stares at the sand.]

Really? How so? [But it looks like sugar, shouldn't it taste like sugar?]

Well, for one, it's not sweet! And it's really dry and kinda gross. But it's pretty to look at! Right?

[Inwardly, she's both kind of amused and worried at Sugar's reaction. Seriously, don't taste the sand, Sugar.]

[But she wants to taste the sand. :c If Rise says not to though, she won't.]

It is! And you can build stuff out of it?

Yep! You have to get it wet first, but then you can make things out of it like snow!

[She figures that's the best way to explain it to a snow fairy.]

Really? Oh boy!!

[How exciting!] Let's do it! I wanna make things too!

{ooc: Fun fact from my niece's birthday party: Sand pudding exists, and it is delicious. Made me think of this thread. xD}

Alright!

[One arm raised high in a pose of energetic idol excitement, Rise is clearly giving off much better vibes right now than she has been for some time. It doesn't fix everything, but it gives her something nice to focus on for a while.

Wishing up a couple of sand buckets... and maybe a small thimble or something for Sugar... she starts leading the way to the coastline. Not too close to the water, but close enough.]

Over here should be good! What do you think?

[She knows how Sugar is about baths. Who knows how she'll be about the ocean? Even a fake one...]

[Sugar takes her thimble and flies behind Rise to the coast. She doesn't mind the ocean compared to baths. There was no risk of shampoo at the ocean.]

It looks wet! That should be good, right?

[No, but ocean water is bad for hair. So there's a risk of shampoo when they go back to their room. After a moisturizing treatment. ... But she might get off easy if she doesn't get too wet.]

Yep! You can use a bucket like this...

[She starts to scoop and pack wet sand into the bucket, filling it up to the brim. And all she needs to do is overturn the bucket, and... instant sand formation! A bit shoddy since she hurried for illustration purposes, but hopefully it gets the point across.]

... or you can just build something with your hands!

[The size difference makes it difficult to build something together, unfortunately. But she can still teach what she knows!]

[Noooooo! Not shampoo!!]

Oooh... [Sugar says as she watches Rise start the sandcastle. She claps enthusiastically when it's done. What a cool result! It's just like Rise to know something this neat.]

Okay! My turn!

[Digging her hands into the sand, Sugar starts to pile wet sand into her thimble. Then with some consideration, she flies up to the top of Rise's started castle and lands on the center. There she flips the thimble over and...]

I did it! [One tiny sandcastle on a big sandcastle!]

You did! Great job~!

[Rise amps up her encouraging smile and her energetic idol voice all the way up to eleven! Somehow, Sugar found a way to make this a team effort.]

If you want, you can keep adding the little parts on top, and I'll work on making the big part look nicer!

[Just imagine: a big sandcastle with a whole city of little sandcastles on top!]

Waffo~!

[Sugar raises her arms in triumph at Rise's praise.]

You got it! Just leave it to me. [They could have a whole town of sandcastles on sandcastles!]

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❀ Episode 15 ❀ [Dictated] - backdated to April 26th

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pretend this isn't forever late

no problem :3

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Rise

Church

Rise

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Rise to end

Church 4evs (just ignore the late? ;~;)

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Action

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