Paper Airplane

ASG3: CLOSED

Lotus picked up the fragments of sentences from the stranger through the last pangs of his headache. "Not looking for anything specifically ... check it out.... Nothing binding you to the ship. If you're interested, you can let owner know and he'll pass it along to me. All right?"

Lotus nodded a few times, hoping that he had understood the key points of the speech. "Thank you. I'll consider it."

Lotus kept his eyes on the stranger as he left, and then stared at the same place for a few seconds after. It was a good offer. A great offer, even. And Aster would want him to say yes right away. But he couldn't.

He had to go back, talk to Aster, sleep on it, and most importantly finish his work for the night. He finished stocking the noodles, then the baked goods that he had been neglecting, and he walked up to the owner (whose name he still couldn't remember) before heading out. "I'm thinking about it," he mentioned. "What that-" What was his name?! "I'll let you know tomorrow night."

He couldn't even meet the man's eyes. All he could think about was going back to Aster and having a good, long talk about this before going to sleep. "I'll see you then."

~^-^~

Aster wrapped his arms around Lotus as soon as Lotus trudged through the door to their room. "You smell like you've had a long day," he whispered.

Lotus resisted the urge to roll his eyes and smiled instead. "More like a long night."

Aster laughed softly and pressed his head into Lotus's chest. He mumbled something.

Lotus absently ran his fingers through Aster's hair. "What was that?"

Aster lifted up his head. "You're shaking. What's wrong?"

Lotus gently pushed Aster away and hung up his coat before answering. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I'll tell you before I go to bed."

Aster leaned against the wall. "All right. I'll get you something to eat."

They shared a meal of lukewarm, leftover noodles and Aster's curious faces before Lotus finally opened up. "I got a job offer," he started with.

Aster's eyes went wide. "Doing what?" he asked as he twirled a noodle around his fork.

"On an airship," Lotus mumbled. "He even said we can leave if we find a better place to go. But for now, it's work, it's a place to stay, and it's a lot better than being away from you all night."

"We?" Aster asked.

Lotus blinked. He couldn't actually remember if the man had offered the job to both of them or not, or if he even knew about Aster. He shifted uncomfortably. "Probably? But I don't know."

Aster nodded. "And you didn't say yes right away?"

Lotus sighed. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Aster slurped his noodle, accidentally hitting himself in the face with it. "But I don't know about you, but I'm tired of living in a dingy hotel room living on cold noodles and not being able to see you all day or night. Come on. Take the job."

Lotus shook his head.

Aster wiped the splattered broth off of his cheek. "I'll come with you. Come on. Who do you have to talk to?"

"Tomorrow."

"All right. We'll talk to them tomorrow. You should go to bed though. It looks like you're stressing out."

Lotus winced. "Maybe we should pack our things just in case."

Aster smiled. "Now you're talking," he whispered.

~^-^~

Lotus could hardly sleep. He trudged back into the shop, Aster trailing behind him. Lotus swallowed his fear as he walked up to the owner. He couldn't meet the man's eyes. "This is Aster," he mumbled. He cleared his throat. "He's with me. We're interested in taking that job."

ASG3: CLOSED

I like Aster's sunny blue and Lotus's mossy green.

ASG3: CLOSED

I was going to make Lotus's speech color dark red, but I had trouble reading it.

ASG3: CLOSED

Lotus Dranger held his head in his hands, trying to pass off a major headache as just being tired. He stared through the shelf in front of him until it doubled, and then closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Long nights weren't good for him, honestly, but it was good to be doing something instead of just wandering around with no money, no food, and no idea of if he would ever find somewhere he would call home.

He would get up in a minute, of course. There was more to be done. But for now, it wouldn't hurt anyone if he took a short break.

"Tal! Buddy, you're back in town!"

Lotus opened his eyes, the two voices pounding on his head. He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then let it out slowly. Already, his headache was starting to ease off, and he mentally thanked Aster for telling him how to stay calm. He stayed still for another minute, swallowed hard, and looked up right as a stranger edged around him with a shopping cart.

Lotus stood up to grab the dry goods he was supposed to stock next. Setting a package of instant noodles on the shelves, words finally registered with him. "...desperate enough for anything so I had him come back to work the graveyard for me."

They're talking about me.

Lotus automatically bristled at the attention, but he pretended not to listen as the owner - Lotus had forgotten his name a long time ago - sang his praises. He couldn't help a small smile, the tension in his shoulders loosening, his headache becoming more and more tolerable by the minute.

"He here with family?"

Lotus took in a sharp breath. Yes, in a way, he was. Was this stranger looking for them? He busied himself with the noodles, but glanced over every so often in order to listen better.

"If he wants to go, I don't mind."

Go where?

Lotus held his breath as the stranger approached him.

"Evening. Owner says you're looking for work and I might be hiring. Ever been on an airship before?"

Lotus glanced around, looking for some sign that this was a joke, a prank, or a trap. "I can't say that I have," he answered cautiously, his voice quiet with nervousness. This could be a way out of the life he was living. Or it could be a death sentence. He thought of what Aster would do. "Go for it!" Of course, Aster's impulsivity had gotten them into trouble before.

Lotus took a deep breath. "But I can make myself useful. I have experience working all over the place. I can be labor, I can be co-leader, I can be a handyman, I can be a cook. What do you want, and what do you need?"

Aster would be proud of him.

ASG3: CLOSED

Name: Aster Wiel

Age: 17

Physical description (features):
- Medium-brown skin
- Wavy, dark-brown hair
- Brown eyes
- Slim, wiry build
- 5'6 tall

Clothing description:
- checkered hoodie with a white shirt underneath
- skinny jeans (even if he can't cartwheel in them)
- tan gloves (Sky-ware)
- short, brown boots

Most prominent skill:
- Gymnastics

ASG3: CLOSED

Name: Lotus Dranger

Age: 23

Physical description (features):
- Very dark brown skin, has a cool undertone
- Black, springy curls
- 5'10 tall
- Broad-shouldered but perhaps too thin
- Large hands
- Dark-brown eyes that barely show his pupil

Clothing description:
- Soft, green knit shirt with long sleeves and a tear in the left cuff
- Cargo pants that can be unzipped into shorts
- Dirty, worn sneakers

Most prominent skill:
- Climbing

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

So much food.

Paper Airplane's Profile Repository

Content TK

Tone, Tome, Home (Asakei and Paper Airplane)

"The book!" Ress screeched. "Keep the book safe!"

Stonesleeve stopped trying to stand up and instead clutched the book tightly to his chest, moistening the cover.

Ress stayed in the water, her tiny limbs moving just under its surface to keep her afloat. "Good evening!" she called from down there, wondering if the strange creature could even hear her. "Stonesleve, sit down."

The clay man sat by the edge of the water, the book tucked under his arm.

"Say," Ress shouted up to the feline. "You wouldn't happen to have an in with the scholars, would you? Do they know you? Because if they don't, you could do us a huge favor."

Stonesleeve stared forward, impassive.

Ress climbed out of the water, ran a hand over her unruly hair, and shook herself dry. She looked the strange creature straight in the eye and asked, "Do you want to help us out? You would be rewarded, of course."

Tone, Tome, Home (Asakei and Paper Airplane)

The clay man ran without effort, and the tiny woman shook her head at the growing distance between them and the scholars. "Stealing it was wrong," she reiterated.

The clay man nodded.

The woman folded her arms. "Where are we going to take it? We can't just give it back; they'd burn us up." She looked up at the man's face, smiled, and shook her head. "You have a lot to learn about the world."

The clay man nodded again.

"Find us a safe place, and we'll start reading it there."

They ended up by the lake. The scholars' fire no longer glowed in the distance. The clay man raised an earthy wall, too tall for a man to scale, around a patch of grass and a portion of the water.

"Don't get it wet!" the tiny woman demanded as she stepped into the water. "Stonesleeve, what does it say?"

With great care, Stonesleeve opened the tome's giant cover. He hesitated, touched the inside page, and left a wet fingerprint. Slowly, he shut the cover and stared at the lettering on the front.

"You can't turn the pages without staining it?"

"No, Ress," came the reply.

Ress rubbed at her forehead. "What are we going to do?"