just a puppet on a lonely string || Day 142

[gianthobo]

Who: AZ and anyone who wanders past
Open: Open
When: 142
Where: Near the monument
What: An old man takes some time to doodle. Don't judge. Or do.
Format: Whatever
Warnings: None

[Some days are made for being lazy. AZ is taking advantage of one of those days right now. The giant man is sitting next to the monument, some paper sitting both nearby and on his knee. He has a piece of charcoal in his hand, held carefully so as to not lose it. With great care, he starts sketching on the paper.]

[A few finished sketches sit nearby, depicting the Bastion with people around it. He's good enough that it's not hard to tell who's who, though the features might be smudged a bit. Some are people he's spoken to, but given how quiet and solitary he usually is, most are just of people he's seen.]

[Bother him?]

Comments

[evacuate]

[Bother him indeed! Zulf isn't around, so Zia is out for a stroll. She might not have interrupted anyone else, but the sketches have caught her attention.

She approaches him from the side and leans towards the drawings scattered around him. If she didn't already feel so tiny next to him, she might kneel by them instead.]

Is it okay for me to take a look? I'll be careful not to smudge them.

[gianthobo]

[He looks down and nods at her.]

It's all right. I was mostly just... trying to practice.

[evacuate]

Practice makes perfect. You get good stuff outta practice sometimes. [She bends over and picks one up by the empty corners, then spends a moment quietly examining it, trying to pick out the details, before picking up another. It takes her until the third sketch to recognize the figures there.]

These are other people on the bastion, aren't they? [Careful not to touch the paper, she gestures with her finger towards one person in the drawing she's holding, and grins at how delightful the idea of drawing them all is. She hasn't been here long enough to get to know most of the people here, but she can vaguely recognize the silhouettes of a few of them now that she thinks about it, even if she can't name them.]

[gianthobo]

They are. I don't... know many other people.

[He keeps to himself a lot, really. He's never been the social type, even before everything happened. It's a hard habit to break, and he doesn't really have much reason to break it. He's always been the lonely king, after all.]

[evacuate]

[Deciding that she's going to be relatively minuscule whether or not she's standing, Zia crouches over to get a better look at all the sketches at once and tries to pick out the people she knows in them. It's a largely unsuccessful endeavor.] No, neither do I. [She stands back up and smiles.] But now we each know one more person! My name is Zia.

[gianthobo]

[It's okay, he's used to being freakishly tall in situations.]

My name is AZ.

[After a brief hesitation, he holds out a massive hand to shake. ... He'll be careful.]

[evacuate]

[That's all well and good but she's not used to being this tiny!

Even so, she only pauses for a moment when AZ offers his hand before she takes it. ] That's an interesting name. It's a pleasure to meet you, AZ.

[gianthobo]

It's good to meet you, too. ... I never thought of my name as being anything really special, I guess.

[evacuate]

It's different. But of course your own name wouldn't be different to you. It's a good thing, though.

[ourlegends]

[ Lilil seemed excited today. Excited enough, in fact, to take her trainer's hand and tug her in the direction of an absurdly large man near the monument. Hilda didn't have quite the communication skills with Pokemon that N did, but she could definitely understand enough to understand that Lilil was excited about something. Or, as it would turn out, someone.

It was hard not to miss the Monument, to be frank. It was there, in the middle of the Bastion. Lilil had seen it many times, had passed by it many times, and so Hilda could safely deduce that the monument was what had her so excited.

It had to be the man.

Lilil finally let go of Hilda's hand and made her way slowly over to the man, carefully looking at all of his scattered drawings. ]

Lil!

[ She beckoned to Hilda, asking her to come over and see. This was all interesting to her. She had seen art before, but nothing quite in this style ... Hilda made her way over, placing a hand to Lilil's flower and petting gently. ]

A-Ah ... Sir, is it okay if we take a look? Lilil seems really excited to see your artwork ...

[gianthobo]

[He blinked in surprise at the girl and her Pokemon, before nodding.]

Of course. ... You must be Hilda.

[There was a pause, before he elaborated.]

N told me about you. There aren't many trainers here, after all.

[It was... weird. It didn't feel right. Even Kalos had signs of Pokemon life after the disaster, but this place didn't.]

My name is AZ.

[ourlegends]

[ At first, Hilda's a little surprised that the man knows her name ... it's explained, though, as he mentions N. Hilda smiles a little, sheepishly. ]

It's nice to meet you, Mr. AZ.

[ She feels like she should introduce herself, but he clearly already knows who she is. She also feels a little surprised that N talked about her, but when he really thinks about it ... N probably talks about her more than she realizes. She gestures to Lilil. ]

This is Lilil. She seemed really excited to meet you, Mr. AZ ... I think I know why now.

Lilli~gant!

[ Lilil did her best to imitate a curtsy, what with her being the little lady and the team mom of Hilda's group. ]

So ... you're a trainer too?

[ OTHER TRAINERS, YES PLEASE. ]

[gianthobo]

I am. My... my friend should be around here somewhere...

Flooo!

[Floette floats towards them, smiling brightly.]

There she is.

[The little fairy Pokemon waves at them as she floats in front of Lilil and Hilda.]

[ourlegends]

[ Oh, she's so sweet! Lilil is very excited, waving right on back. Hilda holds out a hand to her. ]

Hello! I've never seen a Pokemon like you before ... I'm Hilda.

[ This. Is. Awesome. It looks like Lilil wants to get to know Floette a little better, so Hilda moves over to AZ's side. ]

Is it all right if I sit down, Mr. AZ?

[gianthobo]

[Floette reaches out to touch Hilda's hand in her version of a handshake.]

Her name is Floette. And that's... that's fine.

[She floats over to the other Pokemon, happily starting to chat away.]

You're from the Unova region, right? We're from the Kalos region. She's a fairy-type. I know they aren't very common in other regions.

[ourlegends]

[ We'll just let the flowers talk for a while. Hilda sits down next to AZ and looks up at him, nodding. ]

I've never actually seen a Fairy type ... if I have, I wasn't aware of it.

[ She was in the process of going to see the other regions when she was pulled into Vatheon all that time ago, but she hadn't gotten very far ... ]

What is Kalos like, Mr. AZ?

[gianthobo]

... It's like no other region, really. At least, it's special for me, since it's where I'm from. It's... it has a long history of war, but people are starting to understand the importance of bonds between each other, and their Pokemon. It doesn't have a lot of native species anymore, but the ones it does have tend to be colorful and versatile in battle.

The routes almost all have their own unique names, and there's architecture in Kalos you can't find anywhere else. There's a few palaces in the region, for example, that show off the best of Kalosian architecture... and the art museum in Luminose collects art from around the region as well as around the world.

[... Oh. He's babbling a little. He lowers his voice a bit.]

... It also has its legends, and people who would use Pokemon for evil purposes. But it also has brave young people willing to stand up to those sorts of people.

[wayofvoice]

[Is there a dragon amongst those sketches? Because there's certainly a dragon flying through the air right now, landing a small distance away- he doesn't want to land too close and disrupt all the paper. He still comes closer, interested in what the tall man is doing.]

Drem yol lok. Hello.

[gianthobo]

[There is! Mostly just either his head or off in the distance. AZ hesitates a little bit - a dragon type or a flying type, based on looks alone. But it speaks, which really makes him confused - so it's either psychic, or a legendary, or not a Pokemon at all. Best to treat this one carefully.]

... Hello. How are you?

[wayofvoice]

[Well... 'legendary' is a word for it, certainly.]

I am doing well. The skies rarely treat me unfavorably in this place, and I see more with every venture. [A small bob of his head, meant to be towards the paper.] Do you draw often?

[gianthobo]

[It's better to air on the safer side, especially since Paarthurnax is massive, even compared to him.]

I see. That's good.

[He shakes his head in answer to the question.]

Not too often. But then, I'm not usually in one place for long. Drawing is good for... remembering things, though.

[wayofvoice]

Greh, such a thing has been proven many times. I have seen such things myself- people carving pictures into walls so that important memories may stay alive for many years.

[gianthobo]

Most people don't cave things into stone anymore, aside from sculptures and gravestones.

[He's quiet for a moment, thinking of the graves on Kalos' Route 10. It was his brother who erected them, not him. ... He was the one who should have put them up. Another thing on his list of regrets.]

I have a lot of things to remember.

[wayofvoice]

Then you have much to draw. What is it that you draw now?

[gianthobo]

... The others I see here. I... I'm not the best at meeting new people.