[AQ] Give Me Egg-formation [Aoife/Ai]

[Aoife]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Egg-Senpai
+ Description: New Guardian Characters are hatching everyday. New students are thrown into the chaos that revolves around the little fairies whether they like it or not. Looks like they need some help figuring out what is in store for them, and what exactly it means to have an egg.
+ As someone with a newly hatched egg seek out help from someone who has had an egg longer than you: +2 Guardians, +1 Faberge, -1 Roost
+ As someone with newly hatched egg, avoid all talk and help about eggs. You can figure it out yourself: -2 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +2 Roost
+ As an Egg-senpai, seek out new the Egg holders to talk to and explain what it all means: +3 Guardians, +1 Faberge
+ As an Egg-senpai turn down all the new egg holders, they aren't your responsibility: -2 Guardians, -1 Faberge, +2 Roost
+ Requirements: None
+ Submitted by Teale

Aoife was not pleased. Not at all.

The girl was half glaring down at her phone - where twitter was open. Honestly she had been a little snappy at the boy but really considering just how deeply ingrained her beliefs about faeries were it had been a touch insulting when he'd spoken about them. She'd almost totally forgotten about the fact that they'd originally been arguing about bullying, but now the thought passed by she felt a tiny bit bad. 
Not that she thought she was wrong about it. Just that she'd spoken about it so publicly. 

She'd learned a little from Kobayashi - or whatever that other first years name was - but clearly it hadn't been enough. Definitely not enough to stop her from looking like an ignorant ass. She had some idea to what different things were but she really had no idea as to what had actually happened while she'd not been in school and eggless.

The girl let out a huff. She hadn't even known where to meet the boy really so she was just lingering at the main school buildings doors. It was about the time that clubs were letting out too - and there were a few people coming out of the doors as well. She'd only had to hang around in the library forever for the time to actually arrive. 

Ai

[Ai]

Ever since the twitter argument, Ai felt truly guilty. He didn't intend for it to escalate that much. He'd never argued with someone over the internet before, not to this extent. Ai was usually friendly on twitter, making random conversations, trying to be friendly, but when Aoife called him a bully that day, something inside him snapped and he went on full berserk (with words and not a swords this time) as Nagamasa took over. Although he had been a little mean to that guy Norio, he wasn't bullying him. And he did it with a reason. Even in his normal state, Ai got a bit pissy thinking about it, but still, he'd never freak out at anyone. He'd never even dream of being so mean to anyone.

Yet again, Nagamasa made him do a lot of things that he didn't want to do. Ai thought their relationship was getting better, but after the shopping incident and now this, Ai was starting to get scared again. Part of him really wanted to hate Nagamasa, but he ultimately couldn't do it. The guardian came from his heart's wish, after all. Not only that, but it was hard, in general, for Ai to hate anything.

Still, it was always him who had to deal with the aftermaths of Nagamasa's shenanigans.  And he felt uncomfortable with doing so, since it wasn't his fault, but to everyone except for him, it sure looked like it was. This was, again, not fair, not just, if you will. For someone who wanted justice, Ai needed a real ton of patience.

As he left the band club, Ai checked his twitter for messages. He decided not to risk talking to anyone there anymore, but the silver haired still needed to check if Aoi... that girl, was actually waiting for him. Perhaps she'll be nice about the whole thing and hear him out. Just in case, he left his guardians at home for the day, just to prevent another potential blunder.

With his guitar case over his shoulder, Ai went over to the school entrance, where a girl seemed to be waiting. She vaguely resembled the photo from twitter. Okay, another thing Ai was nervous about: he had no idea how to pronounce her name. If he said it and made a mistake, she might flip again the way she did when he talked about fairies, deeming him to be ignorant. What was her lat name, even, though? He couldn't find it anywhere on her twitter. "Hey, I'm Ai from twitter." The silver-haired greeted with a small smile. If he introduced himself, she might as well, so he didn't have to sound like an idiot, potentially mispronouncing her name. 

[Aoife]

Aoife...hesitated. She wasn't one to lie or even hold back the truth, even if she knew it was going to get her into trouble or hurt somebodies feelings. She didn't like causing people to become upset or angry but if thats how they reacted then that was just how it went. The girl wasn't here to apologize. To hear him out yes, but she didn't think she'd be able to take back her own words at this point.

She rose an eyebrow as he introduced himself. It might have been just that he could recognize her, but he could also have been talking to a totally different person. She figured the only reason he'd introduced himself first was so that she could tell him her name. It wouldn't have been a surprise and she also wouldn't have been offended about such a thing considering barely anybody else had been able to pronounce it either. The spelling to how it was actually spoken was...confusing to say the least. 
"Nagumo Aoife. Also from Twitter." Her tone might have been a little hard. A little bit angry and she felt a little annoyed with herself. She hadn't come out to argue more. She needed to not start everything in real life on a bad foot as well. 

It was unfortunate for the both of them that Mab was around. That the little one had actually read what had happened on twitter - because it had already made her dislike the boy in front of her. She was tucked low to the ground - moving carefully and quietly. Aoife closed her eyes, letting out a huff. "Mab. Do. Not." She didn't need her tying knots in the boys hair while he wasn't paying attention. She had already decided not to cause more trouble. While she certainly didn't have the best image of the white haired boy she also didn't want Mab just...doing her own thing. It would be unpleasant.

Aoife really didn't want to be rude. Didn't want to make it anymore awkward than it already was. She reached up - fluffing at her own hair, tugging at a couple of the strands. She'd...have to apologize at least a little bit - if not for her words then at least for her manner of speaking to him on twitter.  She let out a very tiny huff. "Look -" She knew she kind of sounded rough, like she really didn't want to be there but she really wanted to talk to him - to make the situation at least a little bit better. "I'm just gonna start with saying sorry." Again, not for what she said but what she did. "Shouldn't have really stuck my nose in. I just - sometimes can't help myself."

[Ai]

Oh hell, this was so uncomfortable... Ai wasn't 100% convinced this had been a good idea, but to someone like him, cleaning up his reputation was essential. He didn't want people to think badly of him... because honestly, he didn't think he was that bad of a person. Though Nagamasa certainly made him seem bad enough. Maybe he should've brought Luciel along for extra boost.

Ai didn't know what he expected from the other, her tone nor her expression, but he'd hoped she wasn't angry. Her last twitter message gave him some hope that she'd be at least somewhat friendly, but now, her hard tone caught him off-guard. That's right, it couldn't have been so simple. He should have probably seen this coming... and I mean, part of him did, but he still had his hopes. "Nice to meet you, Aoife." He gave her a meek smile. Yeah he could... manage her name. For someone like him who spoke English often, it's wouldn't be that much of a hassle.

The girl then addressed her guardian, who by the looks of it, had some plots of mischief up. No wonder, she must have been upset at him too. Ai knew that neither Luciel nor Nagamasa... or at least Nagamasa, liked Aoife too much. The guardian's feelings tended to resonate with their owner's. "No need to apologize, both of us kind of went ahead of ourselves..." He waved his hand dismissively, still somewhat smiling. Ai was certain it'd been mostly his fault, he kind of got involved in the Norio business just because most of his good friends were, but still, it was probably not his place to speak badly to him...for various reasons. But part of him still felt angry that the other called him a bully and went on to assume things, although she admitted to not being aware of what was going on. Those feelings triggered his transformation.

"That's okay, I kind of... tend to do that a lot too." Ai let out a sigh. He really did, and it sometimes drove people away. For a while, things have been going well for him and Seiyo, but as things were getting more sensitive ,that part of him was starting to resurface again and cause trouble for other people. "Anyways, do you want to go somewhere more quiet to talk? I did promise I'd treat you to lunch, but it's kind of late for that... still we should get something to eat/drink, I'm honestly kind of starving." Alas, he always did after practice.

[Aoife]

She could feel herself lose some of her steam - he seemed nice. It was a little more difficult to be angry at people who actually seemed like good people. And he managed to say her name which was a bit of a surprise. Aoife knew she was a little fickle, that her emotions could switch over like nobodies business. And she found herself smiling a little bit. "First person who can pronounce it off the bat." She would have given a sarcastic clap, to make her words seem less awkward - but that would definitely been mean on her part. 

Mab...didn't much like anybody. So Aoife could only hope he didn't think too much of her actions. The little fairy disliked humans as a general rule and only needed a small touch of something to feel like she had a right to go after them. It wasn't really a case of disliking him personally. Aoife had yet to experience what a character change felt like so it wasn't like she would be able to empathize very well if he went into just why he got so...angry with her? Well - she could probably guess exactly why he got angry but not why his reaction had seemed to change after she had replied. 
The fairy shot Aoife a bothered looked as she moved to settle somewhere where she would keep out of trouble - a good distance away from Ai. They didn't need anymore almost issues. Mab would just have to deal with not having any kind of weird revenge on the boy. Aoife would have to warn him later to keep an eye out because the fairy would probably try to do it again at another time. 
Her fingers reached down to start playing with the bracelets around her wrist.

Aoife found herself nodding her head - people could lose their temper a lot. It wasn't like it was that unusual. Emotions didn't work like a switch or something. If you had a feeling you should express it. She didn't really need him to be apologizing for it. But - she wouldn't say that out loud, not in that moment anyway. "That would probably be a good idea." On both counts - she hadn't eaten anything since lunch and now she was pretty hungry herself. 

[Ai]

When the other smiled, Ai lost some of his tension. The atmosphere was still somewhat awkward, but the boy hoped that despite of their differences, they could be at least somewhat friendly. He was willing to make an effort and make up for the way he'd acted. "Oh, really?" His eyes grew wide for a moment before he resumed to a smiling face. Aoife's name certainly wasn't the easiest to pronounce and he could see why native Japanese people would have a hard time with it. He, however, might've had it easier because he was used to imitating sounds and sing in English a lot.

Ai shot Mab a concerned look. He couldn't dislike guardian characters nor think badly of them, but he seemed to get a little weary of her. Partly because he wasn't familiar with her and that she looked like she quite disliked him. It was a good think that he decided to leave Nagamasa at home. Ai could totally see them getting into a squabble of some sort. His guardian too, had a tendency to go after people as soon as they made the slightest mistake.

"Oh, alright well, I know this place that opened recently... they have quite a variety of foods, I hope you'll like it there." He gestured Aoife to follow him as he started heading towards the school gates. The cafe was fairly close so they wouldn't have to walk long. Meanwhile, Ai thought how exactly he should go about explaining guardian characters... alas, he wasn't sure how much Aoife knew already. Maybe it would be a safe bet to ask her. "So how much do you know about guardian characters? I'm asking just so I know where to start..."

[Aoife]

Aoife herself had planned on sending Mab home before she met up with Ai. But as it was the fairy didn't really like being told what to do and rather than staying out of wanting to help, the little thing had decided only to stay out of stubbornness and to annoy Aoife at least a little bit. But Aoife also supposed that with a giant dog back at home she could understand why the fairy showed some reluctance as well.
Although Mab wasn't exactly the type to squabble - and she didn't really dislike other guardian characters - but she'd certainly have done something to the other.

She followed after the boy - obviously having no idea where they were actually going. She made a humming sound, there weren't many places that she didn't like. It was usually that other places didn't like her considering the girl rarely turned down her volume. All the same she continued after him. It wasn't the most comfortable situation, no, but...if they managed to talk it out it would be far better than her being annoyed at him indefinitely.

"I know..." She thought for a long moment - she only really knew what Kobayashi had told her and that hadn't been a huge amount. "I know that they exsist, that there are people who break them...and that...eggs can go bad?" She really didn't have all that much information - she really wished that she did but as it was she didn't really like to talk about the Guardian Characters all that much. Thinking about them had her yanking rather a lot on the bracelets around her wrists.

"I meant it before - I really don't know whats going on." Hence why...she'd snapped so quickly and easily - if she'd known anything was egg related she wouldn't have gotten involved with it. 

[Ai]

Oh, so she didn't know that many things. In order for her to understand what was currently going on, Ai would have to start at the basics. He could always suggest that book about heart's eggs that had helped him so much, but then again, since she was here and he had promised to explain things to her, he might as well." So about guardians and heart's eggs..." He started, but paused for a moment, trying to gather his words. "When someone wishes for something really badly, that brings a heart's egg into existence. When it hatches into a guardian character, they are somehow the embodiment of that wish, that dream..."

"But those guardians aren't there to just follow you around and either be your friends either make life impossible for you. They can give you... powers. I know that might sound like something from a fictional story but it's quite real. I experience it every day." For better or for worse. His character changes, at least with Nagamasa, weren't the most pleasant. "Sometimes, you can experience a change in personality and gain powers which are specific to the wish you made... we call it character change." Perhaps that had sounded a bit confusing. "Say if you had a weak body but wished to be better at sports, when you have a character change you'll suddenly be good at at it, if I'm making sense." It was perhaps the easiest example he could think of. "Or if you were someone really shy and wished to be better at socializing, when character changed, you'll have no problems when it comes to talking to others."

Sure, character changes weren't always as convenient as he made them seem, but it should work for now, just so Aoife understands. "And about bad eggs... remember what I said about dreams? When a person who has made a dream loses faith in it, their eggs 'go bad', but we just say that they go X, because they turn bad and have a whit X in the middle. Those eggs can become destructive and hurt others, or make them do bad things. It' terrible. That's why, um, I don't know what dream you made, but do hold on to it."

And now, perhaps the most sensitive issue, the one about egg breaking. Talking about it always gave Ai all sorts of negative emotions. " And yes... there are people who break heart's eggs, but that's a very bad thing to do. When your heart's egg breaks, that means your dream disappears. Usually, people become unable to enjoy things they used to. They can't actually feel any emotions anymore, sadness, happiness, anything. In other words, it's more like being dead inside." Ai imagined that must be a lot to take in, so he paused for a moment, giving Aoife some time to let everything sink in and ask questions if there was something he hadn't made clear enough.

Soon, they actually got to the cafe that Ai had told her about. It was after school hours so it was a bit packed with students, but nevertheless the two managed to find an empty table. Ai decided to browse through the menu while he waited for Aoife's reply.

[Aoife]

Yeah, Aoife was a little bit of a blank slate when it came down to actually knowing anything. The girl hadn't really felt any kind of particular drive to actually learn anything after she'd been originally told some information. It wasn't that she didn't care about what was going on with the eggs or anything, but...even then she'd still been clinging onto the hope that it had all been an elaborate prank or big 'in' joke within the school itself.
Aoife didn't even spare the menu a look before she started replying to his words. She let out a small huff as he launched into a fairly more detailed version of what she already knew. "I knew the first bit at least. That was what was explained to me the best." Not that she was putting down her original 'teacher' but she hadn't actually shared a lot about anything.

The second part was...new. "Like...super hero style?" That sounded...fake yes but also ridiculous. So far, nothing like that had happened with Mab. But she knew that just because she hadn't experienced it didn't mean it wasn't true. "'Character change'..." From his example she assumed that such a thing might change physical attributes too? "Wait - so even though it's a 'character' shift it can do things to your physical body as well?" That sounded down right exhausting. Suddenly being able to do things that weren't usually what you did? No wonder students seemed to be walking around dead on their feet - not to mention the mental strain other kids would be putting themselves through. Her eyes flickered over to Mab and she pulled a face, clearly not wanting any of that to have to happen to herself as well. 
"Ah - wait." She shook her head slightly - the boy was only listing positives in that aspect. Aoife was a person who believed in only balance and the law of three. Balance meant there were worse things that could happen. "I can only assume sometimes bad character changes can happen right? That you can have a more negative effect on yourself because your wish is like...not bad...but really...other." She hoped that made sense...sometimes she didn't always have the right words to use in Japanese.

"Haa - so this is only something that applies to kids then?" She...wasn't sure but she had a feeling that adults who gave up all kinds of things because they didn't think that they could reach their own dreams...well did they go 'x'? "Sorry - you might not actually be able to answer that." She knew her trains of thought weren't even on the similar tracks to other peoples so...if he didn't get it she'd understand. Mentioning her own dream though well she didn't think it was something she could ever lose faith in or dismiss. Considering what it was about was almost her whole life. She let out a understanding noise to that anyway, losing hope meant eggs going 'x'.

"So...an actual blank slate." That sounded unpleasant to say the least. Somewhere in the back of her head a thought of faeries draining human of all hope and ambition and driving them mad whilst doing it niggled at her, but she pushed it back. This wasn't the same thing. This was humans - other people taking others lives into their hands...and crushing them and taking other, hopeful little creatures with them. She let out a low huff. Okay this was way worse than she'd thought originally. But - she still didn't see what it had to do with what the argument on twitter was about. Although - she'd let that lie until it was brought up again. "So...they actually kill these tiny fairies..." She sucked in another breath, sparing Mab another glance. She was sure the fairies hatred for humans was only growing as this conversation went on. "Why?"

[Ai]

Ai didn’t mind explaining from the basics if the person was open-minded. He knew that guardians were , in a way, in the domain of fantasy and a lot of people would find it hard to believe in them, but the boy found it frustrating to struggle to make sense of things for someone who just wouldn’t have it, even after being given visual proof. Guardians weren’t scary… not really… and Ai enjoyed having his around. Sure, they brought along trouble with all the X-es and hunters, but they also made him feel less lonely, braver and more powerful. “Ph, I see then… Sorry, I just had no idea how much you knew already. Wanted to play it safe.”

With a small smile in the other’s direction, Ai continued his explanation. “You can take it that way… the transformations do look kinda superhero-ish.” It also depended on the type of wish one had. Some looked more dazzling than others, or at least that was what Ai noticed. Since Aoife kept asking about this, he assumed she had never as much as character-changed before. “Well, yes, it’s more like a , uh, small hint that you’re character changed. For example, when I change with one of my guardians, I have a halo and with the other, I have some marks on my face. Also, both my changes have blue eyes for some reason…”

When Aoife asked about negative character changes, Ai paused for a bit. He never thought there were negative ones just… less desirable depending on each person. “ I mean, sure, depending on your wish, you might gain a character whose change you’re not particularly comfortable with, whom you can’t… control, really,… it’s sort of what happened to me on twitter last time. That’s part of why I wanted to explain this to you. Because I wasn’t… truly me, and I felt bad.” He wondered if Aoife would understand… but whether she did or not, at least Ai knew that he did whatever he could.

“Ah, actually…” Ai was distracted by the waiter who came to take their order, however, he figured he should send him away since neither of them decided on their order. “Uh, where was I? Oh, they don’t go X… from what I know, guardians disappear once you grow up…either that or you achieve your dreams… to be honest, it’s a bit confusing for me too. But apparently, you’ll be able to live your life normally after they disappear, though you’ll still be able to see other guardians if you find yourself near them.” Ai assumed this since his mom and the mentors were leading regular lives…maybe except for Kirishigi-sensei, but that was a completely different story.

Ai nodded at Aoife’s next question. “They don’t just kill the guardians…in a sense, they kill the people as well. I don’t want to ever know what it’s like to live without a heart.” Every time Ai thought about it, he could picture Kirishigi-sensei’s emptiness… the hunters’ eyes, devoid of any emotion. He didn’t want to become like that… or have anyone close to him become like that. “As to why they’re doing it… they say it’s for equality. They think having guardians gives us an unfair advantage… and want to make us be as empty as they are. That’s pretty sick.”

After waiting a bit more, allowing the other girl to process the information, he continued. “And… just if you were wondering about twitter. The reason I talked like that to the Norio guy, was because he broke someone’s egg. She wasn’t my friend, per se, but she was the friend of a lot of people that I know. Perhaps it was wrong of me to meddle when it wasn’t really my business, but I couldn’t help it.” At that point, Ai averted his look. He felt that after that twitter argument, a lot of people started to avoid him. It was happening all over again… no matter how much he tried to change or escape from his past, people would always leave when they find in him things that they don’t like.

[Aoife]

"It's fine. Better to make sure all the bases are covered." And it was, even if it might have seemed like it was annoying. She hadn't really wanted to come off as rude in that moment either, but it seemed that she hadn't been putting up the best front considering. She yanked once more at the bracelet around her wrist before she settled. Aoife didn't want this to be an awkward thing. Ai seemed like a nice person so she didn't want to offend him or misjudge him anymore than she obviously already had. "It doesn't really seem like I know much so -" She shrugged a little.

Aoife nodded her head a little bit. They definitely sounded that way at least. "Okay - but whats the point in the changes?" She didn't get that part - unless it had something to do with some different complicated part of the whole 'egg' issue. "A small hint?" She shot her own Guardian Character a look - thankful she was being silent. She...was staring into space again so she decided that Ai would probably not get his hair tied in knots at least. "So little things change...and if they have blue eyes that makes sense right?" She tilted her head slightly - because with his explanation that was something that actually made sense. "Blue eyes though, huh? I've heard it means you're more immune to pain." Not that that had anything to do with what they were talking about so she offered the boy a sheepish look.

She forced a heavy breath through her nose as he continued to speak, okay so, not bad per say but not all changes were great. Aoife could get that. It made sense. Good always came with some amount of bad. "Right then." She nodded her head a little, taking another few seconds to process what he was saying before she looked back up. "Ah - don't feel bad about it." She waved him off a little. "If what you're saying is how it is, it doesn't seem like theres much of a choice." She sunk back into her chair a little because now she felt bad about the situation. He'd clearly been influenced to argue while she was just the type who didn't know when to stop.

"Right -" Okay so some adults could see them and others couldn't. Depending if they had an egg in youth. She let out a small snort as he said 'normal' she didn't think anybody could just go back to a normal life after living with eggs floating around them for however long. Or if they did it would be an existence where they might never get excited about again. Although she didn't think she'd add that bit out loud. "So they basically just help us until they have to leave?" That sounded...like a lonely kind of thing to do too. She might have found the fairies creepy but she also felt a little bad for them as well. Aoife herself had never met any of the adults who had eggs so...it was a little difficult for her to imagine them being totally okay.

She rubbed a hand down her face. This was...way worse from what she'd expected. This wasn't really the conversation that she'd thought that she'd actually be having. But there it was. "Ah - so emptiness huh? They say a life without dreams isn't a life worth living. Unless you can make new ones anyway." But she kind of assumed that wasn't something that they could just do. Would anybody even be able to accept new dreams after the first was lost? "Equality?" Her eyebrows rose and she felt herself sink even further into her chair. That didn't sound right. "Isn't that kind of - a weird way to go about it?" She was mostly asking herself because getting rid of dreams...didn't seem like it was the best way to go about getting equality. "Thats kind of fucked."

The girl found herself clucking her tongue - annoyed at herself now. She really shouldn't have just stuck her oar in. "So you were just yelling at an 'egg hunter' then?" She'd spoken to him shortly obviously and it seemed like he cared about the faries so...it was a little bit of a startling statement. "No - I get that. I shouldn't have gone for you considering I knew nothing about anything." She rolled her shoulders slightly. "Sorry. I get that you have an actual reason you got the way you did. I just got angry at you for no reason."