004 - Dwarven Vow number 10: Play hard, play often.

[redcladidealist]

Who: Lloyd Irving and anyone
Where: The park by the pond in District 4
Summary: Lloyd, that's not how you're supposed to play on the playground equipment.
Warnings: None

Training by yourself was boring. Sure, he understood how important it was to stay in practice and keep himself in shape, but a guy could only hack at imaginary foes for so long, practicing the same footwork and sword maneuvers over and over, before it just got so dull it felt like his mind was glazing over. He very nearly called it quits. It was very tempting to tell himself that he could always come back and practice some more later on.

But then his attention happened to settle on a playground nearby. Swings, slides, seesaws, a jungle gym... Lloyd's eyes lit up with an idea. If training was boring...

...then do something different!

Within a few minutes, people passing by might see a teenage boy with twin swords in hand "practicing his footwork" on top of a jungle gym.

Comments

[heretic_hamlet]

He nodded once more, but this time in agreement more than resignation. Ramza wasn't expecting such struggles to be absent in the varied lands from which Saeng Seong took its guests, but the passion and anger with which Lloyd spoke hinted that his involvement may have been deeper. Like his own.

"And that is how you polished your swordplay, is it not? You do not seem so dispassionate as to leave them to their deeds."

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd nodded unhappily. It wasn't something he was proud of, but having to fight Desians had made it necessary to sharpen his sword skills.

"Yeah. I just wish it didn't have to come to that." Unfortunately, it usually does, and he hasn't figured out a way to stop it. Moodily, he drops his gaze to the monkey bars they're standing on, not really seeing them at all. It's only for a moment, though, before he shakes his head, as though to shake the mood off. He didn't come out here to dwell on a problem he couldn't fix right now.

Glancing over at Ramza, he gestured at the ground before dropping down. There wasn't much point in staying up there right now. "So, how long have you been in this world?"

[heretic_hamlet]

"And I as well. But so much the better that you found strength enough to make your stand in the face of it." The past point was punctuated by a fraternal pat on Lloyd's shoulder, and Ramza soon followed him down to ground level.

"I had arrived nearly a month ago," he replied, "but I cannot complain for my stay thus far. And you?"

[redcladidealist]

"You did, too, right?" Lloyd asked that like a question, but he already assumed that it wasn't. Ramza sounded too much like he understood where Lloyd was coming from.

"I've been here since July," he answered. It still filled him with mixed feelings to think about how long he'd been in this world. Knowing that he was supposed to go back to his world at the same time he left helped somewhat, but it was hard to really believe it without some way to confirm that it really worked like that. "It's been okay here, but I still wish I could get back. I miss my friends, and there's things I need to do in my world."

[heretic_hamlet]

Was it that obvious...? But it was truth one way or the other. "I did," Ramza replied... though he sometimes wondered just how much he actually changed by doing so, to say nothing of unresolved affairs.

Fortunately, Lloyd opened that up for him.

"I was fortunate to have arrived at the end of my struggles... I only pray my allies found their way out as well." Yet, somehow, he couldn't help but give a weary, mirthless laugh. "Would that my world's problems could have been solved by acts so humble as touch."

[redcladidealist]

A small smile tugged at the corner of Lloyd's mouth at the idea of solving his own world's problems with touches and hugs. "Would we have to hug all our enemies until they had to give up?" That would definitely be awkward at times.

The smile faded back into confusion and mild concern. "How can you say your struggles are over if you're not sure if your friends are okay?"

[heretic_hamlet]

It was a weighty question, to be sure... and he had spent a fair amount of time pondering the point himself. But, in the end, there was only one answer he could reach.

"To lose myself to my worries... it would only be far greater a disservice to them. I can only endure in my absence, and trust them in kind."

Though Ramza's smile returned at the thought of Lloyd's first question. "I've known some stubborn soldiers. They could well be embracing for days."

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd let that sink in, and he would have been lying if he'd denied feeling impressed by Ramza's calm, levelheaded response. Even so, after a moment passed, he finally shook his head.

"I'm still worried," he admitted. "I know they said we'll go back to the time we're from, but I feel like until I see my friends with my own eyes, I can't be all the way sure."

Despite that somber note, though, he couldn't help but crack a wider smile. "I've met a couple it might take weeks."