piers | 02. most love like hunters

[ Amuro still has the virtue to look surprised that someone was there, or that someone was listening. It seizes his posture for a fraction of a moment, but danger is so far removed from the things he senses here that he eases back into a smile in the same second. The watering can earns a glance before his attention shifts back to the daffodils reaching for the sun. ]

Do they? They seem gentle. [ Kind, like her. The sort of softness that should be preserved, treasured. ] Sorry if I intruded.

[ aerith shakes her head, long braid swinging behind her. ]

Not at all. A surprise visit is better than no visit, and looking so pretty, they would want admirers other than myself. [ she widens her smile, lifting the can and tilting her head coyly. ] Would you like to join me as I water them?

[ His pause is only momentary, because he's not one to pass up the chance to be a good samaritan. No matter how small the gesture. ]

Sure, I'll help. [ Amuro pulls his hands from his pockets and approaches her. ] Did you plant them here, or do you just take care of them? If you don't mind telling me... I didn't think anyone visited this area anymore.

[ the flower girl keeps a smile on her face, her spirit as airy as the breeze coming the tall grass. whereas the greenery and blossoms grow in clusters, the path she walks along is neat and measured. the garden's only sign of a human's want for order. (though nature possesses order too, simply one too complex for practice.)

he's very kind, aerith can tell. most travellers passing by this misplaced church ask her if she's fine with this solitude. they view it as though it is some sort of confinement, but she always tells them, there's no greater freedom than being attuned to the careless pastures of nature than the hustle and bustle of civilization.

in her opinion, too many things get lost amidst that, including oneself. ]

Oh, no, I don't mind at all. [ honest, as she looks over her shoulder with a giggle. ] A bit of both, really. There are volunteers now and then that help out, but you're right. This isn't exactly a tourist destination.

[ a patch of pink and white carnations are given their drink and seem to bobble their frilly heads as water showers upon them. aerith can obviously water plants without looking, so she does, confident now to pose her own questions. ]

That said, what brings you here, sir?

[ Amuro finds himself subtly drawing from her presence, something arcane and soothing. The area he'd lived in previously on Earth was beautiful and lush too, but it was wrangled in and subdued by mediocrity and regulation, suffocated with structure. It was different from a place like this, untouched by the factions of war, no matter how innocent the party. ]

I saw this place while flying overhead and thought it looked interesting. I have a small aircraft about a kilometer from here. Landing too close seemed like a bad idea. [ Did plants get whiplash from ship exhaust? Probably not worth risking. His gaze lingers on the way the untamed flowers seem to react to her and he only breaks it to kneel down, elbows on his knees. ]

They're beautiful, but I'm not good with things like this.

[ Truthfully spoken, with a trace of good humor. Amuro reaches out to thumb over the velvet-soft petals of a daffodil. So different a feeling from plastics, carbons, metals. ]

You're a pilot?

[ there's something of a gasp in there, something of a little girl's wonder. she hears it after it's spoken and smiles shyly, forgoing a chuckle. ]

I shouldn't be so surprised. Planes pass over over frequently than people.

[ she tips the watering can back upright, moving onto the next patch. her eyes rise to the sky now, contemplating the clouds and invisible wind. there had been a time she feared its vastness.

or she still does, from time to time, because one day she believes the sky will fall. even so, her irrationality doesn't mean she can't admire it. ]

It must be nice, flying.

[ aerith finishes another patch before she walks over to the opposite side and glances down at him, observing the way he caresses the flowers. it's so tender... and she feels he's different from most. she wonders why... ]

Are there not many flowers where you're from?

There are flowers in space. [ And grass spread across acres of field, forests full of trees. Amuro lets his hand slip away and looks up too, fairly charmed by her reaction as he catches it from the corner of his eye. The way he looks at the sky is practical, but deep. As if he is looking past it without discrediting what is only visible to the naked eye. ] But on the colonies, I don't think they look like this. [ The way he says it is faintly incredulous, like he himself thinks it's silly. ] Maybe it's just my imagination though.

[ With that, he stands again and smiles plainly. ]

I fly for the Federation. [ He's clad in the EFSF's blues--the colors of Earth's space-faring military branch. ] Regarding your daffodils, I guess you could say I'm better suited to fixing kitchen sinks than I am with gardening.

[ He stuffs his hands back in his pockets for lack of anything to do with them sans green thumbs. ]

Would it scare you to fly?

[ her eyes widen and she inhales, now too surprised to hide it. ]

Space? A-as in... outer space? Where... all the stars and planets are?

[ she looks more amazed than incredulous. and, soon, scrambling to regain composure. ]

So that's what that uniform is! I'm sorry I didn't recognize it. I'm a little ignorant of things outside...

[ no she isn't supposed to sound articulate anymore. she turns left and right, head down, unsure of how to continue. ]

Um—fixing sinks isn't so bad, I don't think! It has its virtues, like gardening. I always have trouble with fixing plumbing and technical things like that.

[ then his question echoes in the back of her mind, and it makes her stop, cradling the watering can now and lifting her eyes, doe-like in their roundness, the deepest honesty. ]

It would.

[ Her wonder is something of a rarity, a precious thing not often glimpsed anymore in his line of work. Amuro takes it in stride with measured care, an awareness that is quite sophisticated. ]

Yeah, that same outer space. Don't worry too much about not recognizing the uniform. [ He shrugs, though it's not out of indifference. ] It means that this place is still peaceful.

[ (Like it should be.)

Amuro shifts and makes his way to the back steps of the church, trimmed in white wood railing that was already so many years faded. The paint is coarse and chipped when he runs a palm over it. ]

And that if you ever needed something repaired, coming back here won't be too much of a problem.

[ He knows well that this church is already past its prime, a relic that would no longer need the touch of someone like him to mean something. And he was fine with that.

At her answer, he stills. Thinks of her honesty as, again, extraordinary. ]

What frightens you about it?

02. most love like hunters

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