[Audio]

[ordalias]

[ She's been contemplating this, yes, ever since she got her ass handed back to her by Vanitas. She's lost, sure, many times in fact... but this one in particular... ]

How... when do you know you're strong? That you're not weak?

[ She might end that last sentence in a bitter hiss. Sure, she's lost, but when it involves her friends (and Pokemon), it becomes another thing. She couldn't beat Vanitas, came out even more battered, and well aware her appearance would worry friends. So lately she's been hanging around the roof of Goldenrod City's Department Store.

It sounds like she's going to say more, but whatever it is dissolves into a sigh and stops. ]

Comments

[video]

[paladinlost]

[He laughs at that.]

Most girls and boys your age would wear those "weird" paints in my world, though it appears to be less frequent here.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

What were they for?

[video]

[paladinlost]

To show one's status, to emphasize part of one's face, to hide one's perceived defects... It has many uses.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

... defects, huh?

[ Maybe it could hide her black eye a bit better. ]

[video]

[paladinlost]

Pimples, scars... There's a product for everything.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

Hm. I don't see how you'd worry about that. You're really pretty, Cecil.

[video]

[paladinlost]

[Such a sweet girl.]

Thank you. But all young noblemen in my kingdom wear it, and the right lipstain and eyeshadow can bring out the purple in my eyes. Two reasons out of three.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

What's the third reason?

[video]

[paladinlost]

Presumed defects, but I've none yet. Not that make-up can truly hide one's age.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

You're not that old, right? [ Pauses. ] How old is "old," really?

[video]

[paladinlost]

For wrinkles? Mid-forties, perhaps. That's still a few years away.

[And a certain paladin won't be getting them for quite a few more decades, really.]

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

You're in your thirties?

[video]

[paladinlost]

Indeed. Closer to forty than to thirty, to be honest.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

Wow, you... really don't look like that at all.

[video]

[paladinlost]

I've been told a few times. It's something of a family trait.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

Hm... [ Bit of a pause here. ] Cecil, how old do you think I am?

[video]

[paladinlost]

I'd say... Fourteen? Fifteen? I'm better at guessing boys' ages.

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

You're right. [ She thinks about it. It has been some time, but... ] I should be fifteen. [ "Should be." ]

[video]

[paladinlost]

Should be? I suppose it'd depend on the exact number of days since you arrived...

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

It's been...


281 days since I arrived in Johto. 357 days back in my world...

[video]

[paladinlost]

In a year? Yours are shorter than Johto's.

[Even if he has a feeling that's not it.]

[video]

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

No, that was how many days that passed before I came here.

[video]

[paladinlost]

...You're rather tall for one only 836 days old.

[Hear that sound? It's the sound of Cecil's brain breaking.]

[video] shouldn't it be 634? fff, added up the days to today, too

[ordalias.livejournal.com]

Really? Everyone seems big compared to me.

[ Totally forgetting what they were really talking about. So did Cecil figure it out...? ]

[video] ...638, I think. I blame the late hour for this. *headdesk*

[paladinlost]

You might still have a growth spur or two to go through.

[It's either "younger than she looks", "born fully formed from Zeus' head" or "complete anterograde amnesia", at that point. He's not sure he should ask.]