leires | Ship Stuff

[Jiiiii...]

You know, all you have to do is just say you're not tricking me this time.

[ Okay that gets her to put up her pouty face. ]

Buuu… that’s not what I mean. But it isn’t a trick!

It’s just easier to explain when you see it!

[ Which speaking of seeing uh

They’re coming to the entrance of the station and going outside now and google maps street view has taught me that apparently you see the sky wheel FIRST THING AS SOON AS YOU EXIT THE STATION so there’s that. ]

[OH THAT

THAT SURE IS JUST THERE ISN'T IT

In that case, Rina doesn't even have to explain. Varian can see it, and he has to crane his neck to look up at it because it's so big.]

Woooah...woah, woah Rina-! Rina what is that??

[He's taking her wrist and trying to get her attention, as if she can't SEE it right there in front of them.]

[ She was about to keep walking but his reaction gets her to stop. ]

Hm? Oh.

[ She lowers her board and cranes her head up to look. She’s lived here so long now that she sorta… didn’t forget necessarily but didn’t realize it’d catch his attention right away. ]

It’s daikanransha— or the “giant sky wheel”. It’s a Ferris wheel, they’re like… an attraction you ride on at amusement parks and stuff.

[ She points at it and starts circling her hand to imitate the way it moves. ]

All those little things hanging off it are gondolas that carry people as it goes around. The view inside is incredible - you can see all of Tokyo from the top and sometimes even Mount Fuji if the weather’s nice enough.

Wow, that...that's amazing! I've never seen a machine so...big!

[He's leaning up on his tiptoes as he says that, as if doing so might get him closer to get a better look at the wheel.]

And they seriously let people get up in that? Wh- ho- can we go that way? Er, I mean, are we going that way-?

[He doesn't want to disrupt her tour but FERRIS WHEEL...]

Mmm, well… it’s not the way I was originally going to go but um… it is uh… it’s really popular with couples especially so uh… if you want w-we can…

[ She starts fidgeting nervously and ends up putting the board back up.

Yeah.

She clearly wants to go on it too. ]

However… it’s even nicer at night… this one lights all up in a rainbow and the bridge to the mainland is also lit that way too. And all the other city lights… they say it’s really romantic, so um…

W-We could go now or l-later on our way home… i-it’s up to you…

[OH...now he gets it.

Varian smiles, dialing his unbridled enthusiasm back a notch as he shifts his grip on Rina's wrist down to her hand instead.]

Let's save it for later. When it's all lit up, you know?

[ She lowers the board just below her eyes, looking down at his hand in hers before adjusting her hand as well. She nods, lowering the board the rest of the way to reveal a slightly bigger than usual smile. Damn you REALLY made her happy with that, V. ]

O-Okay!

Um… sh-shall we continue on then…?

[Look...after what he'd done to Rina? After what he put her through? He's in the business of making her happy. In as many ways as is possible...he'll do it.

It helps that the things that make her happy make him happy, too.]

Yeah! I'll follow you cause I uh...have nooo idea where I'm going.

Nooo problem. I’ve got this.

[ Still holding his hand she takes a turn right and starts heading away from both the station and the sky wheel, heading down a path through a section of park area. ]

Though… if that’s the way you react to the sky wheel, then I’m really excited to see what you think of our “detour”.

[ Because somehow that WASN’T it. ]

[Rina, you do know this suspense is KILLING him, right?]

Oh boy- just how am I supposed to handle all of these surprises?

[ THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT!!! She just giggles again. ]

Won’t be many more after this, at least~

[ She turns her head a moment and looks out at the Tokyo bay in the near distance. ]

…Have you been liking it here by the way?

[He follows her gaze as she looks, sticking close by but also giving himself a chance to actually observe the scenery without coming unglued like he had with the skywheel.]

Well...it's nothing like Corona, first off. But that isn't a bad thing.

[He toes at a pebble as he passed by it, watching it bounce away into a culvert.]

Japan is so...big. Everything about it is big, and there's so much to see and do...I feel like I could spend several lifetimes here and never actually do it all.

But that's what I like about it. The possibilites are truly endless.

Really? I’d never thought of us that way before… we’re actually a lot smaller compared to other countries. But I suppose in comparison to a place like Corona we would be pretty big…

[ She looks away from the bay and back down at their hands entwined. ]

Hopefully in the future we can experience even more of it together. There’s a lot of places outside of the city I’ve never been but always wanted to go see myself.

I mean, if it helps? Corona felt big to me. I grew in Old Corona, on a farm. I'm probably not the best litmus test for things that are big.

[He snorts, shaking his head a little.]

I'd like that, though. Anywhere you want to go, I'll go with you.

That makes me happy to hear.

[ She smiles a little and squeezes his hand. ]

Not just Japan though. I want to go to all sorts of places in your world, too.

So long as I’m with you, I’d be happy anywhere.

Well, you're in luck! Since uhh...Rapunzel and the others went on a little detour without me, they've been all over Corona to places I haven't had a chance to see yet. So I think it'll be about time for us to get to go see them, too.

[He's not sure Rina would WANT to see it, but...he does want to ask his dad and Edmund about the dark kingdom. Maybe there's not much left there to see, but...he feels like it's an important part of his heritage nonetheless.]

And unlike Japan, we do, in fact, have dragons. Real ones.

Was that when you were in prison? [ JUST. CASUALLY MENTIONING THAT. RINA PLEASE. ]

Oh! Maybe we could go on a big adventure then! After I graduate, anyway. I think it’d be exciting to see a real dragon.

[ AND??? DANGEROUS??? GIRL. ]

...yes that's when I was in prison, thank you.

[He clears his throat into his fist.]

But yes, we can talk all about that when you've graduated. I'll probably still be working at the kingdom by then, so there's no rush or anything.

[Rapunzel didn't keep him on any sort of set schedule, and he knows she'd delight in letting them go on an adventure together.]

[ She nods and was about to say something else when she realizes they’re close enough to their destination now that their little “detour” is starting to be visible over some of the trees. ]

Oh! We’re almost there! Come on!

[ And at that she starts to speed up, pulling him along…

Towards something that looks like a giant robot. ]

Edited 2021-08-07 06:24 (UTC)

[A giant...

...

Varian can see it before they've gotten to it properly, and already he can something giddy and quintisentially nerdy begin to stir deep inside.

Rina may be pulling him, but within seconds he's going to be running whether she is or not, straight for said robot.]

Oh man, oh man oh man-!

[ DON’T WORRY SHE’S DEFINITELY RUNNING NOW THAT HE IS.

As they get closer she realizes that there’s a crowd starting to form around it and the horn has moved into position. ]

Ah—!! We’re in time to see it transform!

[ HECK YEAH ]

Tra- Transform?!

[RINA WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT CAN TRANSFORM-

But it's already happening even as they speak, he can see it with his own eyes. The crowd only gets bigger as the music starts to swell.]

[ She slows down now that they’ve joined the crowd in front of it. The statue’s full size is now clear and it’s fucking massive. ]

Just watch!

[ And no sooner does she say that do the plates of armor start to spread apart in time to the music, revealing bright pink light beneath.

Welcome to the Unicorn Gundam Varian, you’re fucking welcome. ]

[Varian watches with rapt attention as the gundam changes in front of them, the armor shifting and opening up, showing off the lights it's been outfitted with. Varian can't help but join along with the crowd as they gasp in awe when it happens, though he does wish he could get closer than they are right now. What all can that robot do, he wonders? It's several sizes larger than any of the automatons that Varian built, and that alone has him feeling giddy just looking at it.]

You didn't tell me you had robots!

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