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04/04/22 - For Your Amusement
[Synechiae]
| The Golden Saucer. Synechiae hadn't really known what to expect when she boarded onto the airship departing for the amusement park situated in the desert but it was a very different atmosphere from the city-state she had just left. People and noises and bright lights and colors that offset all of the gold on every piece of architecture. Little green creatures with top hats marched down the halls, stopping only to do a little dance before continuing on. Colorful balloons that dangled at the corner of every locale. Larger areas hosted even more people taking part in events while contraptions of various shapes and sizes played random noises and blew up in various colors whenever the person behind the machine did good. Or bad. It was difficult to tell. There was so much, and the elezen was feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. |
Upon receiving her golden saucer credits, Syne had swept past the rows of games and attendants inviting one and all to take part in the spectacle. She went for the stairs leading up to a lounge area and a set of tables where people seemed to be playing a game involving tiles of some sort. Seemed like as peaceful a place as Syne was going to find at least. Relax and have fun, the colors urged, wavering in the air and seeming to react to the noise of an event going on behind her. They exploded into confetti and reformed again, only to do it over and over in time with the sounds.
The elezen remained tense, though she did find a nearby couch to settle herself on. She focused on the clicking of the tiles nearby and took a breath before pulling a small loom from her pocket and placing it in her lap. She teased at the threads with her fingers idly, but didn't go any further. Syne chanced a curious glance at the tables once more instead.
[Yoake]
Yoake was sitting relaxed, yet attentive, her head propped up on her hand and elbow on the table. She arranged her own tiles when it was her own turn with delicate precision, quietly playing her game as if nothing else mattered. Her opponents seemed similarly focused as if her serious aura weighed down any possibility for casual conversation.
Placing a tile sideways in her discard pile, she uttered a single word.
“Riichi.” Her tone was soft and unboastful, but one of her opponent's shoulders sagged, and another sighed in exasperation.
Play continued until she eventually declared, “Tsumo,” using sets of sticks to calculate her final score. Everyone stood up, the beaten players offering a handshake of sportsmanship, the bow-preferring woman offering her hand in a weak, awkward clasp. She started feeding the tiles back into the automatic machine to ready for the next match she intended to while away her time with before stretching. Apparently sitting statue still for half hour sessions at a time, even with her altered form, took a bit of a toll.
[Synechiae]
The elezen watched the match play out with quiet concentration. She was slightly too far to tell the symbols on the tiles being played, but the words the Au Ra woman declared felt vaguely familiar to her ears- muffled words spoken inside quiet homes. The gentle click clack of tiles. An activity gone unfinished when the participants were culled before they could bring their game to completion.
Syne hugged herself as the colors warped and bled into the air, but still she stared until the match concluded, yellow gaze falling upon the beaten players as they retreated before eyeing the woman again.
“Was it a good game?” She asked.
The dusky elezen girl was adorned in blacks and browns, a portion of her cloak nestled like a scarf around her neck. Lengthy tresses of white hair ran down her back, a single red ribbon acting as an ornament atop her head. She looked young.
[Yoake]
Yoake looked back and forth over her shoulder to see if there was anyone else the woman could be talking to, but when she realized it must be her, she stepped a few steps closer, still stretching her neck and soothing it with her hand.
“It was a lucky game. I did not play skillfully. The Dora tiles favored me,” she said, assuming the woman knew something about Mahjong. “The last hand was menzen tsumo. All triplets. Six Dora. One of my opponents went below zero.”
[Synechiae]
Syne did not in fact know anything about Mahjong, Yoake's words sparking little notes from memories that no longer mattered.
“I've never played it before. Only ever watched, but it seems calming in a way. No need for shouting like some games here seem to require.” She nodded her head to the railing behind them, where it was easy to hear the noise of the crowds.
“Either way, it's good to be lucky. Sometimes skill isn't enough and then what else is there?”
As Yoake approached, were she observant, she would find that the Elezen's cloak, particularly what was hanging around her neck was more tattered and torn than the rest of her attire. Small red stains were noticeable as well, though the girl hurriedly drew her long hair over her shoulders to cover up what she could.
[Yoake]
Yoake did note the person's attire, but didn't say anything or appear to find anything strange about it at all.
“It is calm. But is an internal thrill. My heart beats fast when I wait for my opponents to play my tile. Every discard could be the end. A skilled player can be brought low by a beginner. True equality. It is a reflection of the joy and unfairness of life at the same time.”
The corners of her mouth pull up in a subtle grin.
“Or it is just a game and there is nothing else to do.”
[Synechiae]
Syne tilted her head at woman's lengthy explanation, if only to smile softly in return to her latter words. The colors were giggling.
She leaned back against the couch and settled her hands into her lap once more, fingers returning loosely to the hand loom.
“I think I understand. This is my first time here and I've yet to take part in anything. I feel like I should enjoy myself but I have a difficult time relaxing.”
[Yoake]
“It is a strange place to come to relax. What I am doing is not relaxing. It is passing time, wasting time, and avoiding temptation. Keeping busy to avoid doing things I should not. I will not deny I find the game soothing at times. There are not many things from my home in Eorzea. That I can come here and experience one tradition from my home is comforting.”
[Synechiae]
Syne tugged idly at her hair. “I wasn't terribly certain what to expect when I came here.” She admitted. “If not a place to relax then one to distract from my thoughts for a while. I'm new to Eorzea so I've been traveling and learning about all the different locales.”
She pursed her lips. “Some are better than others. This was the closest to venture to from Ul'dah where I failed to avoid doing things I shouldn't be doing. I think. I'm still not certain.”
[Yoake]
“Has it distracted your thoughts? I find it to do well for my thoughts. But then I think about how it helps. I think about the thoughts again in that moment. It is cycle that does not end,” she says with a tiny wry smile.
[Synechiae]
Syne stared past Yoake, at the colors coiling lazily around the woman in thick bloody trails. She sighed and shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest. The loom fell to one side.
“..I guess not. Not enough anyway. But then there's nothing else I can do is there?” Her eyes lifted and lingered on Yoake.
“..Do you think people can change from who they used to be?”
[Yoake]
She paused, staring at the woman with her sharp, rather emotionless eyes, as if deciding whether or not it was worth it to answer such a deep question from a stranger.
“…They have no choice. Life forces them to. They change every moment. To stay the same is not natural.”
[Synechiae]
The elezen stared back unblinking as she processed Yoake's answer, but would be the first to break her gaze, looking to the floor.
“…Maybe. I don't like who I used to be, but I miss not having to question everything I'm doing now.” Syne continued staring blankly at a particular portion of floor tile for much longer than necessary before she hummed to herself and looked up again. Something of a shy expression crossed her face.
“Sorry, this must be a strange conversation to have with somebody you don't even know! I appreciate someone to talk to though. My name's Synechiae, Syne if it's easier.”
[Yoake]
“It is strange. I am not a person who is good with advice. My example is not the best to follow.” She bows to Syne in her way, composed and elegant. “It is good to meet you. I am Yoake.”
[Synechiae]
Syne nodded politely before she leaned back into the cushions again. The couch enveloped her protectively.
“It is nice to meet you too. I ask people lots of strange questions during my travels, probably more than they'd prefer. Truthfully I feel as if I don't know anything at all, like I spent my life in a dream while everyone around me has been awake and aware.”
She shrugged her shoulders gingerly before resting her chin on her knees.
“But it's nice to meet people and learn from them, sound advice or no.”
[Yoake]
“Spending life in a dream is better than spending it in a nightmare,” she said, leaning against the armrest at the other end of the couch.
[Synechiae]
“Do you think so? There's not much difference to me.” The girl stretched out her arms before wrapping them around her legs. Long wires manifested and roped themselves around abandoned Mahjong tables, lifting and dangling them loosely in the air. Tiles clattered to the floor in loud crashes and bangs.
Syne tensed, her eyes leaving Yoake's momentarily before she continued.
“But it doesn't matter now. Everything is real like I wanted it to be. I've got a second chance, I'm not dead.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Doesn't make it any easier though.”
[Yoake]
She gave a sideways glance to the strange woman, the words resonating with her. She chewed on them silently, spiraling them in her mind and deciding what to transform them into.
“I understand this feeling. Living with a second chance. If the second chance is after seeing a dream, you will live carelessly. If it is after a nightmare, you will live carefully. You will cherish a life after a nightmare more. You will live it differently.”
[Synechiae]
The crashing and banging sounds welled up into a roar that shook the world. Syne opened her eyes, cradling the side of her head with curled fingers. She avoided staring at them, the chunks of flesh that dangled from hooks nearby. But they were there, she knew.
“I'm afraid that I'll lose it. Mess up before I get the chance to understand what I should do, what'll make me happy.” Her words were curt and careful but there was the slightest tremor in her voice.
[Yoake]
“Not everyone gets to be happy. Happiness is in moments. It is not a state. It is like medicine that wears off. You must be in a place where there are more of those moments than others to stay happy.”
[Synechiae]
“And what are your happy moments?”
[Yoake]
She took a deep breath, face remaining calm and unemotional, letting it out slowly in thought.
“Knowing that because I have struggled, others do not have to. Dancing at summer festivals. Watching a beautiful sunrise. Playing shogi with my brother. The feeling of sinking into a hot bath. These things are happy moments.”
[Synechiae]
Syne merely listened to the other woman, staring off at the tables. They dangled precariously in the air unlike the hooks full of meat that were as secure as could be. Her eyes drifted back to Yoake-
Syne had not moved or said anything after Yoake had long finished answering her question. Her eyes were dull and lifeless- up until she jerked herself awake violently, gasping for breath and flailing at the air with her arms.
“No…no…no no.” She repeated between ragged, pained gasps, only then seeming to recognize the Saucer again as well as the woman she'd been speaking to. She lowered her arms and gripped the edges of the couch tightly.
[Yoake]
Yoake's eyes widened but she made no move to assist the woman, simply watching her behavior carefully and giving her space.
“…Are you alright?” she asked cautiously, but without judgment.
[Synechiae]
Syne looked over at Yoake, the tension never leaving her shoulders. Bright yellow eyes blinked slowly as her fingers relented and released their death grip on the couch. There were deeply indented grooves where they had been clutching.
“Not really.” The elezen admitted as she rubbed at her wrists.
“I should probably go.”
[Yoake]
“Will you be alright if you go? Will you lose yourself in whatever this is? It helps to be around those who are anchored when you are not.”
[Synechiae]
Syne hesitated before slowly rolling her shoulders into a shrug.
“I'll be fine. Usually I'm alone when things like this start up. It will settle.” Her eyes fell to the floor.
“…There's a lot of pain.” She pursed her lips and fiddled with a strand of hair before moving to stand. The tar traveled up her legs- or perhaps she was sinking into it. It was difficult for the Elezen to tell as eyeballs floated to the surface, casting lazy unblinking stares in her direction.
“But it will settle.” She repeated, kicking at the ground with her boot.
“Thank you for your concern. You're very nice.”
[Yoake]
“You are welcome. Safe travels. I come here often. Let me know if you wish to learn to play. Mahjong is a good distraction.”
[Synechiae]
“Distractions are helpful and I wouldn't mind learning another.” Syne answered with a wary smile as she leaned down to pick up the loom and set it into her pocket. She began to move towards the staircase and let her hand rest on the railing as the walls convulsed with anticipation. Screaming. More Screaming. She looked back at Yoake.
“Farewell Yoake, perhaps we'll see each other again soon. Till then I hope you get to have many more happy moments now and in the future.” The girl bowed politely before treading carefully down the stairs, white-haired head soon disappearing from view.
[Yoake]
Yoake watched her leave wordlessly before she let out a small breath of relief as the tense and strange interaction came to an end. She moved back to her Mahjong table and sat down with her hands in her lap, waiting for players to join her once again - a welcome distraction.
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