{ open }

[astralera]

♥ Who: Era & OTA
♥ Where: Various
♥ When: October
♥ What: catch-all log
♥ Rating: PG-13

•••••

Around the City

It is easy to forget while running. That is why Era has grown so fond of it over the past few weeks — it pulls her thoughts away from the things she has no desire to dwell upon.

The burn of her muscles, the pain in her stomach, the rhythmic, almost meditative breathing, the pounding of both her feet on the ground and her heart in her chest.

She is forced to focus on the now, and live in this moment. Pushing her body to its limits and beyond brokers no distraction.

So she runs and she runs and she runs and she runs, because stopping means everything will just catch up to her again.

Botanical Garden

She misses her garden in Deerington.

It had taken her some months to get it to a point where she was proud, but she managed it in the end. Her sparkling crystal crops and the variety of vegetables that sprouted from the earth, growing each day as she tended to them with great care. There was satisfaction in looking out upon her little garden and seeing all this life she nurtured from seed, creating something wondrous out of something so small...

She misses digging her fingers into tilled soil, unearthing potatoes and carrots, then carefully planting everything again, tucking the promise of life beneath a blanket of soft earth. She wonders if it was all harvested before the first frost. Was there an Era still there, tending to it all alongside her Chocobo? Was someone caring for Peki? Moira certainly would if need be, but it's a worrying thought all the same.

For all that Era disliked it in Deerington she found it infinitely preferable to Havenwell despite all of its horrors.

Not least in part because Deerington at least had forest and wildlife. There were physical activities to keep her active and occupied. In Havenwell the closest she can get to an overgrown forest is the carefully cultivated botanical garden she sits in currently.

There is interesting fauna on display, but it is like walking through a museum. Everything is in its proper place, with placards stating the bare minimum of information about each plant (and all of it ultimately useless). It is frustrating. Her heart yearns for nature, yet there is none to be found. These gardens aren't natural, but it's the closest thing she has.

So Era distracts herself from how miserable she is by taking pictures of each of the plants on display, mentally noting their scents in order to compile a proper reference guide later. Perhaps if she finds medicinal herbs she might convince them to give her some seeds to grow herself to create salves and ointments, since it isn't as though the natives have any available.

Clothes Shopping

For all that Era adores clothes, she rarely has the opportunity to indulge in outfits that have no worth in combat. Even in Deerington she was limited, due to there being so few clothes that fit her frame, for despite being as short as a human child her body is certainly that of a grown woman.

She doesn't hold out much hope that this world will provide her with any more success than the last. At the very least she can always count on dresses, for they require a great deal less alteration than jeans or a properly fitted shirt. It would be nice to have more variety, or a properly fitted, corseted dress — something to make her look more like the woman she is and less like a child.

And, if nothing else, she can simply purchase some fabric and test her sewing skills...

Wildcard

{{ feel free to create your own prompt, or mix-and-match! whatever you like! more general prompts will be added throughout the month. }}

(( things to note:

• Please note if you want her Carbuncle to be around. There is a 50/50 chance it is.

• Era is a 4'8" tall Auri (Raen) woman. Reference imagines/more details on her species can be found in her journal!

• She has an accent that is British with an undertone of Irish.

• Those sensitive to the element of Light will be able to notice she contains a great deal of it.

• Her dream-guide (similar to a daemon from His Dark Materials) is also often curled around her neck. He is a white weasel that lets off a soft golden glow, and will not interact with your character. ))