observations of spires as places of conflict.

OIA'I'O

Flowerbirth brings fragrant breezes and blue-stretched skies. You appreciate this from a purely observational standpoint, finding no joy in the harmonious colours. You merely note the seamless change of seasons, feel and intellectual appreciation for all Rae has done, and then dressed based on the temperature.

You sit staring at the Spire. Your hands are a blur as you record all that you see, filling page after page of careful and studious observation. The longer you sit the more the earth around seems to claim you: your legs have disappeared into the grass, your feet turned to earth. Because your hands continue to move they remain as they were, though your back now looks like a mound of grass rather than the body of a woman.

You of course don't care about this in the slightest.

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

Hotaru isn't wandering for once, striking out into the brisk air with purpose to her motions and a few hoarded vials from her handy transmutation-man. She is restless with lack of purpose and direction, and her fingers drop to idly smooth over the unblemished glass vessels at her hip. It is a rare material here, especially with the forger losing his life over LongNight and leaving any kind of fireworking behind to stagnate. But Hotaru knows she can create it, can mold it to her needs, and she intends to harvest as many materials as possible for her trials.

The Spire is not her intended destination, but what she finds there causes her to pause curiously long enough to derail her. It's a vaguely human-shaped lump, with appendages - hands, she assumes from a distance - that hurry across parchment in contrast to the preternatural stillness of the rest of its body.

Never one not to stick her nose into something, Hotaru adjusts the strap on her shoulder and makes her way closer, doing her best to be unobtrusive. Discerning the girl beneath the greenery is easier up close, a peculiar kind of magic that Hotaru has seen before, but not here. In a land far away, once. It is not so jarring for that sense memory that tickles at her brain, and she spontaneously folds her legs and drops into a sitting position outside of the girl's assumed bubble of space, staring out at the Spire in turn. "Are you sketching or studying?" From the scribbling nature of the writing tool she'd assume the latter, but perhaps it will spark a conversation out of the moss-girl.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

Normally Kai is the one to alert you to the presence of others. Without his voice to interrupt your thoughts, you take almost no notice of Hotaru as she approaches and then sits. Indeed it is only as you look up to try and gauge the relative height of the Spire based on other things in the immediate vicinity do you acknowledge her at all. You don't jump, flash an uncomfortable smile, huff a sigh of relief, or do anything at all save for marginally widening your eyes. This is an unconscious movement on your part, though.

"Observing." You answer. Though studying usually applies an aim (which you do have), the word is imprecise of your current activity.

Without Kai to bridge the gap, offer up your names and generally hold the conversation afloat, you let your eyes return to the page as you continue to write. At one point you stop and look up again at Hotaru, as if you're going to say something. Instead you hold up your quill, apparently using the height of her head as a guide before moving it to the Spire, and then drop your eyes to record your findings once again.

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

She's definitely an odd girl, and Hotaru is concerned about her lack of awareness of her surroundings - odd, again, considering how studiously she examines the Spire - the maternal instincts burned out of her reigniting at the prospect of the girl getting hurt due to her distraction. It keeps her rooted to the spot, even when no further words are forthcoming from the girl. There is no basis for her to speak her fears yet, and her warnings would likely hold no weight for the girl if Hotaru has any accurate memory of her own children thinking they could take on the world at the tender age of not-fucking-old-enough.

It's a beautiful day at least, and Hotaru reclines a little, hands digging into soil. When she notices the girl using her for measurement purposes, she sits a little straighter. "Need me to move for better measurements?" What the hell, right? She had nothing better to do today, the hour was young, and well...Hotaru is a mother at heart. Her twin-colored gaze falls upon the nameless child and she sees Arya's quiet nature, Romina's obsession with nature, Ru'in's studiousness. Old memories and ties that the girl doesn't deserve to have projected onto her, even in silence, but they strangle her nonetheless.

"My name is Hotaru, what is yours?" If the girl declined her offer, hopefully she could at least get a name out of her.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

"No. Though.." You look up, suddenly interested. "Do you know the precise measurement of your head?" Your voice is not expressive at the best of times, though a small warble of hope seems to make your words a shade more buoyant. If she does you can be sure that the remainder of your estimations will be all the more accurate.

"Oia'i'o." You reply, the vowels flowing off of your tongue like water and giving your name a uniquely natural feeling. It isn't one that many people can say easily, the strange bowing of the syllables often thought of as too strange.

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

"I'm afraid not," she admits, though an amused smile pulls at her lips. "What standard of measurement are you using though? Now you've made me curious about my own head size." Hotaru was no mathematician, she was far too pretty for that. But perhaps the little genius in the making would be willing to educate a sentimental old lady on this fine day. Hotaru had certainly entertained more ridiculous notions than head size with her baby-babbling children.

The name she's given is complex, and Hotaru rolls it through her head a few times instead of going for it guns blazing. "Nice to meet you Oia'i'o. Do you have a favorite thing to observe or is this your first entry?" The name is stilted, but sincerely attempted at least. It's not like her own name hasn't been butchered a million times, so she gets it. And okay, is it weird to be leading the quiet girl into further conversation? Maybe. But until the kid runs off or tells her off, maybe she can provide some company.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

Were you one to grumble or display other indications of your mental states, you might indeed have done so. "Centimeters." You reply, holding out your quill to show the notches laid therein. Honey and I use the metric system so my brain has decided just now Caido does as well. "I can tell you one measurement for it." You say and in what is basically ground breaking, you utter what's meant to be humorous if only because it is in fact literally true: "It is precisely one-Hotaru-head around." You don't smile, but something about you—your eyes perhaps—seem to shine a bit more.

"You're saying it wrong." You point out, though not with any judgement. No one gets it right, other than Kai. "My inclinations are not taken into account. I have to observe the entirety of the Hollowed Grounds. I am working my way through alphabetically." You're still unhappy about using an ad-hoc system to decide where you ought to go next, but it's the truth .

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

The unit is one she hasn't heard of before, though she marvels at the precise measurements that the girl presents to her, admittedly impressed. Her subtle humor takes a moment to register, and then Hotaru is laughing, eyes crinkled with amusement. Those same old maternal instincts rear their head, pleased as punch that Oia'i'o has given this small bit of acquiescence to Hotaru. "I'll proudly tell everyone that I was the base for such an honorable measurement." Her humored grin is warm and bright, suddenly glad that she stopped to investigate this intriguing little creature.

"I'm sure you get that a lot. Do you prefer I continue to attempt to pronounce it, or do you have a nickname you like?" If Oia'i'o wanted her agency, and was willing to listen to Hotaru butchering her name until it became smooth with familiarity, then the woman would certainly do so. But if it offended her, she'd just as easily convert to a nickname. "Is this a mission then? If you feel you have to." Again her concern rears its head, protective desires fanned into flames at the barest insinuation that she is under someone's thumb. Unlikely considering how joyously she scribbles away, but something to consider.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

"I never said honourable." You clarify quickly. At best you can occasionally make a joke, but rarely do you ever understand them in return.

"I have no preference. But my twin calls me Oia. That can be easier to say." It doesn't involve the rest of the inflections or the strange pauses that most speakers tend to stutter over. "A mission? No." You can't say why, but you think there is some sort of connotation with the word that doesn't appropriately fit. In so thinking though, you pause, your head tilting a fraction to the side in what in someone else would have been extended into a full on posture of consideration. "I think I have the ability to reject this task. I'm not sure though."

You've always done what you're told, at least by Rae or Kai. You've never even considered doing otherwise.

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

Hotaru smirks and crosses her legs at the ankle, perfectly content to remain in the girl's presence. "Correct, you did not. But I did. A self-created stroke of my ego you see." Her eyes glitter with amusement, surprised by how fond she is of this straight-talking blunt style the girl employs. It's Hotaru's antithesis, the foil to her manipulation and coercion, and it's a delightful interaction.

"Then I shall call you Oia. My twin had nicknames for me as well, it's nice to meet another here." She hadn't met any other twins since her arrival, which was an odd thing to mourn. But it makes her long for her sister in painful, aching ways.

She pauses and turns her head to better view the girl at the uncertainty of the words. "Were you assigned it by someone?" Lifting her hands she places them in her lap, careless of the soil clinging to her palms. "You don't seem the type to be unsure." Her maternal instincts only burn fiercer, slinking around venomously in her breast even as she forces them under control. Observing is no difficult or particularly menacing task, but the girl seems too old to be ordered around, especially if she's not sure she can deny it.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

You blink at that, finding yourself wholly satisfied with Hotaru's interjection. "Acceptable." You concur with a nod.

What Hotaru says next makes you sit up, blue eyes blinking as thoughts swirl behind them. "I have met another who was a twin. I wonder if there is a reason the Voice has tried to pull twins here. Did your twin arrive as well?" Loren's hadn't. If Hotaru's didn't as well, that would likely point to some sort of intentionality rather than mere coincidence.

"Yes. By Rae." In fact, you're unsure about a lot of things, but that's only because of your epistemic commitments. Rarely would you espouse to be certain about any of your claims. That said, you tilt your head slightly, putting you pen down for a moment. "What type do you think I am?"

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

Hotaru's lips twitch in further amusement at Oia's approval, charmed by her succinct mannerisms and the fact she has somehow managed to at least partially catch her by surprise.

Though she knows the girl is only curious, her ensuing questions summon a feeling of loss in her very soul. A yawning chasm where Raeden should be. Where she should have always been, intertwined forever with Hotaru the way they'd been brought into the world. She misses her twin as much as her children, still wakes up with Raeden's name on her lips and sheets tangled around her legs, reaching for someone who isn't there. Hotaru doesn't hold these feelings against Oia, couldn't bare to when she is innocent in such an odd way, but it aches nonetheless. It will always ache.

"No...I arrived alone. But it's an intriguing question, why twins may be targeted." One she can't help but be curious about herself. A damnable, miserably weak part of herself flickering hopefully, wondering if perhaps she can pull Raeden here somehow. But what if she pulled her from a good life? From her own kids? Hotaru would never be able to forgive herself for that selfishness.

The god's name makes her stir, though she holds her tongue. Demigods then. She certainly has some experience with those, with their half-mortal campaigns and dedications. She can't claim to understand it, too broken by the gods (except her own, her Lady swathed in starlight and the void of darkness) to ever be devoted to their plots. "It's not something easily put to words," she admits. "You seek confident in who you are and where you fit in the world. A grand scheme kind of girl. Unbothered by the little things, the drama we all mire ourselves in." Here she laughs softly, well aware she is too invested in such dramatics to ever really break free.

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}

OIA'I'O

"Perhaps it is an experiment. Maybe there is an identical world where all the initial conditions are different. Only twins are the changed variable, to see what effects that subset can cause." You find this idea suddenly fascinating though you know it isn't true (the Voice doesn't have that sort of power. Does she?) Realizing that there's a non-zero possibility of this, you scribble a few notes to yourself in your notebook.

"Why wouldn't I be confident about who I am. My existence is one of the only things I am perfectly sure of." You reply. "I am not bothered by many things. Certainly not bugs, or dirt, or love, or misplaced socks." These are the sorts of little things you take it Hotaru is referring to.

"Do you mire yourself in drama?"

Coding base by Sky!

HOTARU

"That implies The Voice can see and is invested in the other world she surveys. Is that plausible?" It's posed more for Oia's sake than her own. Nothing can bring Raeden back to her, and misplaced hope will only prolong the hurt of her absence. A part of her wants to target her anger towards The Voice, rage against her for not bringing Raeden and only choosing Hotaru. But there is only a festering ache where the anger should be. The odds are unlikely at best, and in the end her mind cannot sway a god's. As it has always been and will always be.

"Exactly why you don't strike me as the type to be unsure about whether you are capable of ignoring a command from who set this observational task on you." Because Ru doesn't have the desire to contest the girl's assured answer. There is nothing wrong with it, with her self-confidence, but she still fears that Oia is simply following along an order. It bothers her. Though the following question does make her laugh, the pointed contrast amusing. "I do. People are far more honest and revealing when they are impassioned, and that knowledge is powerful."

she would burn down your kingdoms

herself with it

if it meant your ruin

_{Table Code by Sky!}