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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 20, 2021 11:26:56 GMT -6
The clear summer light filtered over the tops of the buildings as Fiera approached the bazaar, a Harachiu sitting on her shoulder as they walked. It was thankfully pretty cool right now, though the humanish knew the weather would heat up the longer they stayed out for. Fiera was hoping that she and Alice could have a fun day out, romp around for a bit, buy some new clothes, have some lunch and go home. She and Alice’s sister, Amber, had spent some quality time out and about a while ago, and Fiera wanted to be sure that Alice got just as much quality time. The Harachiu didn’t seem too enthusiastic, however. Every so often she’d adjust her skirt or fix her hair a bit, but Fiera hadn’t yet been able to goad her into a proper conversation. Everything was met with a few non-committal sentences. Fiera 1 Alice 21.1/8.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 20, 2021 19:43:52 GMT -6
It wasn't that Alice didn't know how to speak either. Fiera knew full well that she and Amber were absolute chatterboxes by this point, once she had taught them how to speak. She just seemed... bothered by something. Fiera wasn't the "comforting" type though- if someone had problems, they could probably work it out on their own. Besides, it was the middle of summer right now. For all she knew, Alice was simply too hot, even in her relatively sparse clothes. The humanish glanced around. There was an ice cream shop over there- perhaps a cool treat would cheer her up some.
"How about that, Alice?" She asked, nodding toward the shop. The harachiu brushed a strand of black hair out of her eyes, following Fiera's gaze toward the shop. "Oh. Uh... ice cream?" She said quietly. "Yeah! How about it, eh? I'm sure you'd only need one of their sample scoops, ha!" Fiera said.
Fiera 2 Alice 21.2/8.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 20, 2021 20:08:19 GMT -6
Alice didn't seem quite as amused by the "joke". "Oh... ha." She said weakly, as Fiera entered the shop. "Well, what flavor do you want then?" Fiera said, trying to brush off her grumpiness. At least one of them would have a good day today- she was sure of it. "I don't really care. I... haven't tried any of this stuff before." Alice said, rubbing the back of her neck. Oh, right. She hadn't really had a ton of opportunities to do any of this stuff. It was only after coming to Fiera that they had had any real agency in their lives. Well. She would change that right up. "Hello there! Could I have a sample spoon of... hm... chocolate and vanilla?" She asked the mammalian at the front desk, who quite amusingly had hair nets over just about every square inch of her face. She supposed that was a necessity when you worked with food.
Fiera 3 Alice 21.3/8.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jul 21, 2021 14:01:08 GMT -6
"Oh, uh..." Sure the mammalian said, shrugging. It looked like she didn't have much passion for this job- fine by Fiera. She immediately offered the little spoons to Alice, who quickly took them off her hand. One of Fiera's ears detected tiny licking noises as Alice dug in, so the humanish got to work picking out her own flavor. "How about... a scoop of pistachio, and a scoop of eggnog." She said. Her friends had always given her shit for her odd tastes in flavors, but now she didn't have any friends so who was winning now, eh? The shop attendant hardly blinked at her request though, and stacked each flavor one after another in the waffle cone before handing it off to her. It didn't take long for Fiera in turn to take out her wallet and pass over the requisite credits before shuffling off to a corner of the shop where they could eat.
Fiera 4 Alice 21.4/8.4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 12, 2021 13:12:48 GMT -6
Fiera took her time eating, letting Alice step down off of her shoulder before she dug in. "Isn't this nice, Alice?" The humanish mumbled between bites, trying not to let it touch her teeth and cause a brain freeze. "Yeah, it's cool." Alice replied, taking small, unenthusiastic bites of her food. "Aha! A pun! Rare from you, dear." Fiera chuckled. Alice only barely smiled back. Something was... wrong. Fiera was used to Alice being a bit cold, but not usually to this degree. "...Wishing your sister was here, love?" She tried. The two were usually inseparable, but Amber had insisted on going out on a "scientific venture" today on her own. That usually consisted of scribbling down pictures of plants and animals on a tiny notebook Fiera had found for her, but still. Perhaps Alice was upset about not being included? She waited for a response, but Alice didn't seem too eager to give her two cents.
Fiera 5 Alice 21.5/8.5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 12, 2021 13:16:40 GMT -6
"Huh? Oh, no. I'm sure she'll have a good time. I'm fine." She said, licking the last of the ice cream from her spoons. "There, done." She said, tossing them back down to the table. Fiera had wrapped up hers a few minutes ago, and while they could both leave now, something felt... a bit wrong about just leaving the topic of conversation there. Maybe I can get her to open up more later. Fiera thought to herself. "Well!" Fiera said, standing up quickly in an attempt to alleviate the awkward silence. "How about... we go shopping!" She said. "I'm sure we can find something nice for you to wear." She said with a grin. She offered her hand to Alice, and the harachiu took it silently, walking back up Fiera's arm and settling herself down on the humanish's shoulder. "Lead the way, then." She said, glancing around at the ice cream shop one last time before they left.
Fiera 1 Alice 21.6/8.6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 12, 2021 13:48:31 GMT -6
Fiera tried her best. Really, she did. But no matter what, she just couldn’t seem to lift Alice’s mood. If anything, it was getting worse. The clothing store they went to didn’t have anything in Alice’s size (though perhaps that was to be expected), and when Fiera took her to a toy store she showed little interest in the doll clothes they had in stock, no matter how stylish Fiera insisted she would look in them. The book store couldn’t hold the Harachiu’s interest either, even though Fiera promised to buy her whatever she wanted so she could teach her to read it. Bringing all of her Harachiu up to full literacy was one of Fiera’s goals, after all. She just flipped through the pages absentmindedly as Fiera tried to explain what each book she was looking at was about, growing increasingly more frantic.
Fiera 2 Alice 21.7/8.7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 27, 2021 15:11:53 GMT -6
Eventually, the humanish could hold it in no longer. "Look, Alice." She said, stammering. The harachiu looked up at her, her eyebrows furrowing. Fiera sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I'm not GREAT at this, but even I can tell something's wrong. Can you just tell me what it is already so we can get it over with?" Alice turned back to the book, completely rebuffing the humanish. "Nothing's wrong. I just have a headache." Fiera didn't even begin to let her back off. "No, that's bullshit. You don't have a headache. You've been doing this all day! What is it! Was the ice cream bad? The clothing store didn't have anything you wanted in stock? Is it the books? I'm working on the reading thing, you know I am, I'm just... I'm trying! What is it!"
"It's not that." Alice said, looking away. Her fingers balled up.
Fiera 3 Alice 21.8/8.8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 27, 2021 15:14:17 GMT -6
"What- yes it is! It's clearly something!" Alice curled in on herself. "If you'd just TELL me-" "Fine! It's that! It's all of that! I'm pissed about all of it, are you happy!" Fiera stopped, steepling her fingers and thinking for a moment. "Well no, because you're not happy. If... if you see something you want, you can just ask, I'll get it for you, one way or-" "No! It's not like that!" The harachiu said, cutting her off. She stopped for a moment before sighing, running her hands down her face. "It's not the clothes that don't fit, or the spoons that are the wrong size, or the reading. But it's. All of them! All at once! You know?" She said, looking at Fiera. The humanish looked at her intently, not stopping her from talking. It was clear from looking at Fiera that no, she DIDN'T know. Alice thought some more.
Fiera 4 Alice 21.9/8.9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 27, 2021 15:17:16 GMT -6
After a moment's deliberation, Alice continued. "It's not... JUST that. Sort of. I just... I don't have a place here, you know?" Fiera tilted her head. "Of course you do! You have me, and Amber, and Icarus... oh, is he being a brat again? I can-" "No!" Alice said, stopping her again. "...Well, yes. He's a douche. But he's also, like, still a teenager so whatever. He's just being an idiot. I know I have the flock, but. The flock doesn't have a place in the city. It's not designed for us, it's not meant for us, we're not PEOPLE. We're just... pets."
Fiera leaned back. "That's not... I've NEVER treated you like that!" "This isn't about you!" Alice shot back, leaning toward Fiera in turn. "I don't care about you! Uh, I mean I do, but this isn't. It goes beyond that." The harachiu said, backtracking when she saw Fiera's ears fall a notch.
Fiera 5 Alice 22.0/9.0
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 29, 2021 10:21:09 GMT -6
Alice pinched the bridge of her nose and stopped for a minute, for real this time. Fiera could tell she was trying to collect her thoughts and, as stressful as this was, the humanish wanted to give her the time to express herself properly. So they waited, with Fiera infinitely glad that they had done this in a library. Their quiet corner meant that no one else was around to peek over or intrude, or even worse, stare awkwardly while they half-argued. The silence stretched out into what felt like infinity and the tip of Fiera's tail flicked despite herself. She slammed her heel on it to get it to stop, if just not to stress Amber out more than she already was. The last thing she wanted was the harachiu to feel rushed and call this off early. Fiera had to admit she was... hurt, to know that what she was doing wasn't enough.
Fiera 1 Alice 22.1/9.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 29, 2021 10:23:30 GMT -6
But at least Alice was taking the time to inform her of what WOULD be enough. So she waited, and after a long pause Alice finally took a deep breath and collected herself. "Look, you're a really nice person. A really nice owner. But you're still an OWNER. Legally. I know that's just for our protection, but we both realize that that's an awful way to talk about another person. Which I am." Fiera opened her mouth, but Alice waved her down again. "Look, I know you ultimately agree with me so just. Shush for a bit, okay?" Fiera looked like she had swallowed something sour, but inevitably leaned back in her chair. "And it's the same for all other harachiu. It doesn't matter how many people that are NICE own us if there's still the option for people who aren't to keep... having us. If that option is still there in the system."
Fiera 2 Alice 22.2/9.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 29, 2021 10:28:16 GMT -6
"And like sure, we could try changing the general culture, but the system sucks. There's no support for harachiu that are on their own, there's nowhere for us to even exist. The spaces that are here, they aren't designed or shaped for us. Or any sapient non-beings of course, but... uh... I haven't met many of those yet. It's not just about not being able to find clothes in my size, its that the only place I CAN find those is in a pet store. There's none being run by harachiu. And that's messed up, you know? I shouldn't... we shouldn't have to deal with that. There should be a place for harachiu to go and live by themselves, with people like them, to be comfortable that's not just... up and leaving the city entirely and hoping that whatever you find out there is better than here. 'If you don't like it, leave.' isn't good enough."
Fiera 3 Alice 22.3/9.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 29, 2021 10:35:17 GMT -6
"We shouldn't have to give up everything we know just so bad people can keep feeling comfortable. There ISN'T anywhere else to go... uh, necessarily. I mean... have you ever heard anything again from the fairies who left?" Fiera shook her head, but to be fair, she had never known one who left. But, it looked like Alice had been doing her research. She was probably asking rhetorically anyway. She waited for Alice to continue, but it looked like the harachiu was now at a loss for words. "...So what are you going to do about it, then?" Alice looked up at her, her brow still furrowed. Now she looked more sad than angry though. Confused. "...I don't know. I keep trying to think of something, but I don't get anywhere. That's why I didn't want to say anything." She flopped back onto the table, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hand.
Fiera 4 Alice 22.4/9.4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Dec 29, 2021 10:49:44 GMT -6
"I mean, where do you even START?" She said, throwing her hands up. Fiera looked away briefly. "Uh well, in MY experience, usually with loud angry protest, followed up by riots and outright war." Alice looked at her, aghast. "...But that's probably not where YOU should start, aha. It didn't necessarily end well for me." Fiera clarified, though internally she still didn't think she was WRONG to do so. Losing didn't mean you were wrong. "It sounds like you want to start out giving people support. You know... build houses where they can live if they don't want to live with people anymore. Make shops where they can buy supplies catering to them. Give lessons so they can support themselves better. And all that sort of thing." Fiera said, waving her hand around for emphasis. Alice's ears perked up a bit, but she didn't exactly seemed thrilled at the idea.
Fiera 5 Alice 22.5/9.5
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