nexus_sages | Is half a twin antic an ant or a tic?

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Is half a twin antic an ant or a tic?

Though they managed to hit a bit of a bare spot in the Nexus when first they came in, the white-haired twins have since done a bit of their own research, and have split up to explore the Nexus in general more quickly than they'd be able to do it if they stuck together. Therefore, the male twin is nowhere to be seen, while the female stands in the midst of the forum, lacing her fingers tightly together and looking awkward.

"...It would seem I may have gotten off to a bit of an unacceptable start." At least, she's just going to keep telling herself it's her fault. She can't bring herself to blame her brother, at least when he isn't around to hear it. "My...apologies. I would have information from anyone who cares to provide it, if you'd be so kind."

Well...she's trying.

"How does one leave this place?" And if that isn't good enough... "What do you do when you feel you can't do anything alone, but you're tired of needing to rely on others?"

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"Leaving is easy. Pick a door and go. Finding the right door might be more difficult." Verity shrugs. She's no expert on the place.

"You learn to do it alone. You're doing this alone and you're okay, right?"

"...I see." That clearly wasn't the answer she was expecting, but.

"I'm just..." she looks about a little nervously, but sees no sign of her twin. "I...always do things alone. I'm just terrible at them. But don't tell my brother I said that, he'll start insisting it isn't true at all..."

"Why would I tell your brother what you said?" Verity does not understand this "twins" stuff.

"Most people would." She says it a bit sourly, then sighs and slumps. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to imply...oh, I am terrible at this. Maybe I really should just leave it all up to him." Pout.

"You're never going to get better at it with that attitude."

What she just muttered isn't really clear, but it sounds rather like "Maybe I could have learned before now if he ever gave me a chance." Followed by a massive sigh, and her shoulders droop as she turns away. "...I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with me. It isn't worth your time."

"Okay. Good luck getting home."

"Will I ever get home...?" She sounds...perilously near to tears, really. Frightened, and too proud to really show it.

Thankfully, right about then is when her twin returns, carrying what appears to be a map of the Nexus in one hand and a small bag in the other. "Alisaie, here. This might help..." He nods a slightly distracted hello to Verity as he passes her, arrowing for his sister's side. "I found a map, and - are you quite alright?"

"Fine," she says loftily, though with a bit of a quaver to her voice, and keeping her face turned away.

He looks bemused, but shrugs.

"I think getting in and out of here is kind of...an individual thing?" The little blonde that answers looks about fourteen, dressed in black and stripes and a heavy coat--with a bat barrette in her hair. "I mean, I make my own gates, but it sounds like almost everyone else shows up on accident."

"I could probably open a gate for you, honestly, but it would be completely random, and that's usually a BAD idea." That, of course, implies some seriously reckless behavior got this girl here. Alisaie may not want to rely on her advice.

"But, hey, you're doing something alone right now, and you haven't screwed it up that I can tell. Maybe you better just keep giving it a shot until you find out what your limits are."

"Gates?" Interested Alisaie is interested. "You mean you know some sort of magic for coming to this place?"

Yes, she's a mage.

"I think I'll pass, yes, but thank you. It's bad enough my brother got us here..."

She scratches the back of her head, lets out a petulant little sigh. "I'm afraid I already know my limits, and that's the problem."

"Yeah. It was sort of an accident. My brother and I were playing with faerie spells he thought he remembered right. Now we have a gate in our basement." She shrugs. It's not a big deal unless something comes through, right?

...right?

Anyway. "So you're in the same boat. Big brother or little brother? Mine's a twin."

There's a convoluted backstory there, one life overlaid on top of another lifetime that's been changed through magic. But for all intents and purposes, she has a brother, and wouldn't give him up.

Alisaie covers a smile, shaking her head. "I'm certain he misremembered what we were doing, but he insists he remembered perfectly well..." Siblings, hmph.

"We're twins as well. He's the older one, but he doesn't act like it." She loves him anyway, though, even if she does pick on him.

Uhoh, now they've established a sense of kinship. That doesn't happen to Courtney very often; she's terrible with her peers.

Now, though, she grins and offers a fistbump. Brothers are all dorks, anyway. Invaluable dorks, but dorks.

"How much older? Wilf is six and a half minutes older than me and he never lets me forget it."

Alisaie is a bit puzzled at the fistbump, but gets the idea soon enough and returns the favor. Slightly odd, but kind of an amusing gesture.

"I'm not really quite sure. Mother never told us, and Father wasn't terribly interested in things like that." She shrugs a bit. "It's all right, though. He's not one to lord it over me."

"That's good. That he's okay with you, I mean. Mine is sort of...well, he's kind of loopy. I have to get him out of trouble more often than not. But he doesn't mean it. Kind of like a puppy." She makes a face.

"Did I...no, I didn't. Hi, my name is Courtney. Um, nice to meet you?"

Alisaie laughs; that sounds familiar. "He's always complaining that I'm saving him, instead of the other way round..."

She offers a hand to shake, feeling downright convivial. "Alisaie Leveilleur. Well met."

"Yeah? I think Wilf and I save each other sometimes, but he definitely needs the looking-after more."

Handshakes, yes. Courtney can do that. She clasps firmly but gently, and smiles. "Alisaie. Okay, cool. Can I ask where you come from, or is that rude?"

She can't help but notice the white hair and pointy ears. Not common where Courtney comes from (at least not amongst humans), but kind of charming.

"He thinks since he's older, and he's a boy, he needs to protect me. Sometimes it's just irritating..." She rolls her eyes tolerantly.

"I come from Eorzea."

"I've never heard of Eorzea, but I guess since billions of dimensions meet here that's to be expected."

She wanders to the nearest couch and perches on the arm. "D'you need anything, since you're stuck here? I could lend you a book or something."

She's guessing they're not going hungry. There seems to be free food and water everywhere, even if some of it is a little dubious.

"Billions..." Alisaie looks shocked. That was something she wasn't expecting to hear.

She doesn't really have time to answer the question, though, because that's when her twin hurries up from somewhere vaguely off to the west, holding what appears to be a crude map and a small bag of something. "Alisaie! There you are. Look, I've found a map--" he shoves it excitedly under her nose and doesn't look at all perturbed when she pushes it away again. "And also - hm? Who's this?"

Alisaie glances at Courtney, but will let her introduce herself. "Please excuse my brother."

Courtney looks from one to the other thoughtfully. They're definitely twins, yep. She's going to have to drag her own brother here with her sometime. But with a leash, so she doesn't lose track of him.

"Hey." She looks amused. "Don't let me slow your roll. We were just having a conversation."

If only Courtney knew just how many times one of them was mistaken for the other...she'd probably be laughing herself silly.

"Oh, please, don't mind me. My name is Alphinaud Leveilleur - a pleasure to meet you." Well, he's more openly polite than his sister, a fact which gets him a tolerant eyeroll from her. "I can go if you're busy...?"

"You'll just get lost again," Alisaie says sternly, seizing her brother's arm.

Edited 2015-07-22 01:56 (UTC)

"You don't have to go. It's not like we were talking secrets. Hi, I'm Courtney." She's not, as a rule, a social butterfly amongst her peers, but she doesn't meet other sorcerous types often, particularly not a pair that mirror her and her own brother so interestingly.

"I was just asking if you guys needed anything, since you're stuck here."

Alphinaud nods, offers his hand for a friendly shake. "Well met." Then he'll offer the map to Alisaie again; this time she takes it, if only to make him quit shoving it in her face. "Perhaps if you know where to get a better map? I admit, this one is rather crude, but the best I've found..."

"This is a half-blank piece of paper with a few marks and unreadable words on it." Alisaie is more blunt.

"...I tried, all right?" Sheepish Alphinaud is sheepish, which gets his sister's expression to soften a little.

"Umm...did you get the brochure? When you first got here, I mean?" Courtney moves a little closer to peer at the map, such as it is.

"The problem is, I get the impression this place is a tiny bit unstable. Not, like, in-danger-of-collapsing unstable, but constant-weirdness unstable. So landmarks might not be in the same place all the time, which makes it hard to map."

"I do know there's a garden-y place, and some hotels and stores, though."

Alphinaud nods, fishing out the brochure and holding it up. "This, you mean? Alisaie wasn't much interested..."

"Because you were shoving it in my face," she replies archly.

Alphinaud just shrugs, tucks it away again. "I found a few of the stores, though."

"I haven't been the stores yet. I wonder if there's a currency exchange somewhere. Actually, how would you even do that with multiple worlds...?" Courtney trails off, frowning at nothing, trying to think through something that probably can't be thought out with her limited knowledge.

"...Screw it, I hate economics. The offer stands, though. If you need anything I can bring from home, you've got it. Just let me know."

She's not so good at the whole 'let's be friends' thing, even when she wants to be, so she's hoping an offer of practical help is a good excuse.

Alphinaud shrugs a little. "It seemed to work...but I won't pretend I understand how. For now, it's enough that it does work." And that does make some sense.

Alisaie has to chuckle; she's not too fond of economics either. "We'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"I don't like philosophy much, either." She makes a face at Alphinaud, but it's not a real complaint, more of a tease.

"But okay. I'll be seeing you around, probably. I'm going to hide out here whenever I can." Whenever she has homework due, especially.

Alphinaud looks properly sheepish, though it's sort of spoiled by a smile.

Alisaie nods. "We'll keep an eye out for you, then."

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