[open video, 4/20 squeaky voice] | Skill Sharing!

[chefbayardee]

[ The screen blips on to Hunk, reclined across a couch. Balmogra the moogle's pom-pom occasionally drifts into the top of the frame, and Hunk's eyes keep glancing towards it. As he starts talking, he's entirely oblivious to the fact that his voice is high-pitched and squeaky. ]

Hey, so with other people asking about things like our stories, our worlds, and our jobs, I realized that we don't actually know a lot about what we can all do! Like... I learned that some people have never been grocery shopping before! Or some can't cook! Or some people don't know how technology here works. Since we're all stuck here, we might as well try to help each other out, right? So what are some things you know or want to know?

Me, I know about cooking and engineering and mechanics. But I don't know anything about magic. Or how to defend yourself from a monster that's up close and trying to eat you. Or how to use a giant fork in a fight? Or why they use forks here to begin with.

[ He pauses for a moment, looking almost uncomfortable, and then- ]

And if you're embarrassed to say something you can't do, you can always send it to me and I'll mention it for you!

( This is super open and threadjacking is possible and totally okay! )

Comments

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk can't help but giggle at the woman's advice, because he can't remember the last time he heard someone refer to "the nuts." He grunts upon further consideration, both because of the sound of her voice being normal to her (is that just how she sounds?) and... ]

Okay, but what if it doesn't have a face? Or, y'know, nuts.

[ Can she come up with an example of that? Hopefully. Hunk isn't sure he can describe human-sized tardigrades. And he'll just listen to see if that weird voice is her real voice. ]

[littlemhigan]

Castor shrugs lightly.

I'm sure you can find the fleshy bits in joints. A small blade could cut some tendons. Ye get good enough at knowin, and you could cripple sommat without much fuss. Everything has a weak spot somewhere; ye just gotta learn.

[ Castor pauses a moment, considering, then: ]

I'm weak compared to home, but if ye want some drillin' in hand-to-hand, I can help ye, if you'd like.

[chefbayardee]

[ He winces at the talk of cutting tendons. He's cut a lot of stuff in the kitchen, but that's way different from in combat. But that offer to teach him fistfighting? ]

Really? I might not be any good, but...

[ He can't really turn that down, especially after seeing Shiro do so much damage, Galra-laser-hand or not. ]

I'd love to learn, especially since I have nothing but close-range asterisks. What if I lose my weapon?!

[littlemhigan]

Nobody's born good at anythin'. S'why we learn, yeah?

Ye don't mind me sayin so, but ye look like ye got some weight to throw around. That already gives ye a bit of a headstart in a lot of situations.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk hardly flinches at the comment about his weight. She wasn't making fun of him for it, so he was darn well taking it as a compliment! In fact, he's beaming. ]

I mean, one time I did a flying elbow drop on someone- I'm pretty sure he was just knocked out. [ He pauses, furrowing his brow in thought. ]

And one time, I was underwater and grabbed my friend by the leg and just kinda threw him around like it was nothing. But I was mind controlled, so I don't... remember that. He did, though.

[ And then he starts sheepishly laughing, complete with a scratch at the back of his neck. ]

I think I'm better at improvising in the kitchen than on the battlefield.

[littlemhigan]

....Those... certainly sound like stories.

[ She shrugs off her confusion and manages another little smile. ]

And why would ye be, if you're not experienced with it? Once yer body can act without ye thinkin about it, ye can start thinkin about other things.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk grins, beaming with pride. He knows they're quite the stories, and he's so glad she seems remotely interested enough to even acknowledge them! ]

Wait, people's bodies can move on their own? Like robots?

[ It sounded cool! Sure, he could put himself on autopilot a bit while he was cooking, but in a fight? That's totally different! He looks absolutely over the moon. ]

How do you do that?!

[littlemhigan]

Uh, no...more like yer muscles remember what they're s'posed to do without ye havin to really think about what yer doin. Ye don't have to think to walk, do ye? No, because yer legs know what te do.

It's like that! Jes...with an angry monster and more limbs involved. All ye need is some practice...

... a lot of practice.

[chefbayardee]

Oh wow, I wonder how much practice Shiro's had... [ Hunk finds himself saying it automatically, without even a shred of filter. He's seen Shiro do some damage with his fists. His mind wanders to the question of what his friend had to go through to get that muscle memory, and... ]

How much practice have you had?

[littlemhigan]

Been fighting somehow for most of my life, but only really been studying hand-to-hand for the last five turns...but I also fight for my livin' so I've been at it every day for that time.

[chefbayardee]

That makes sense, I guess... [ He thinks back to his own much-improved skills at piloting and gunslinging. He definitely didn't get those overnight. ]

...What's a turn? [ He figured it was a weird unit of time. It was one he'd never heard of, and he half-expected a weird story to come with it. ]

oops i goof'd

[littlemhigan]

Yer gonna get good at somethin you do a lot of. 'S just how it works.


Er...did I say that...I meant year. We celebrate at Heavensturn. Must've mixed my words.

is all good!

[chefbayardee]

[ The mixup prompted Hunk to smile. He couldn't blame her, what with them having to adjust to a new world and all that. Words are weird. ]

So Heavensturn is your big New Year's thing? [ Holidays? He could get behind talking about holidays. ] Anything cool happen?

[littlemhigan]

It's more popular out east on Othard, but it's growin' in popularity. Mostly we eat some eastern treats and watch little performances - Starlight is a bigger deal for us, really.

[chefbayardee]

Oooh, treats are fun. What's Starlight all about? [ He smiles, and shoots her a cheeky look. ] It's about the sun, isn't it? Bountiful harvests?

[ He's aggressively sarcastic, and chuckles at his own remark. Because Hunk wouldn't be surprised if he was right- holidays can be weird. ]

[littlemhigan]

Actually, It's a midwinter celeberation out of Ishgard.

The story goes that during some old war, there were gaggles of children left orphaned on the streets during the coldest week of the year. A cadre of Ishgardian Knights would spirit them inside their barracks in the dead of night, so that they might have a warm fire to sleep by and shelter from the elements. This was very much not allowed, so the Knights would conceal the children within their own red jackets that they might escape detection when coming and going from the barracks.

Some moons later, the fighting ceased and the weather grew warmer and so the nightly ritual stopped, but years later, the selfsame orphans, now grown, banded together to honour the Knights that showed them such kindness. During the coldest weeks of the year, they'd don red jackets similar to the Knights, and passed out small gifts to the children of Ishgard to pay forward the cheer and tell the story of the kind Knights!

And that's where Starlight comes from. Or so I'm told.

[Congrats Hunk, it's christmas.]

[chefbayardee]

Oh, that is heartwarming. [ He's smiling, and there might even be hints of tears in his eyes. ] Was... was it ever okay for the Ishgardian Knights to do things like that to help the cold little orphans?

[ He'd hoped so, since a holiday coming from it had to have changed the rules. ] What, uh... what's starlight gotta do with it? I think I missed something.

[littlemhigan]

Are ye mad? Hells no! Ishgard's Knights have their own swords stuck so far up their--Well. Ser Aymeric is enacting some reforms, so we'll see.


The name comes from the starlit nights that the Knights would shelter the children during. Back in th' day, Ishgard wasn't overcast and snowin' round the clock.

[chefbayardee]

So it started snowing and the knights didn't get any more charitable? [ He pouts, clearly annoyed by the revelation. He has no idea what those knights are even protecting, if not their people. ]

Ishgard sounds like a pretty bad place.

[littlemhigan]

It's...

Ishgard's changin'. It'll take a while yet, but it's changin' for the good.

[chefbayardee]

[ Castor seems like she has some pretty strong opinions about this place. About what's wrong with it, about the brighter future. It gets him wondering. ]

Was Ishgard where you grew up?

[littlemhigan]

Nah. Spent my girlhood in Thanalan. S' all desert and scrub and sun down there. Has its own set o' troubles but at least it's warm.

I jes...I spent a good deal o' time in Ishgard of late. It's grown close to my heart in a lot of ways.

[chefbayardee]

How'd you end up in Ishgard, then? [ He chuckles, because while she seems to like it? ] You make it sound like the cold was miserable for you.

Was it work or something? [ He has to assume she had a job. Most people do. ]

[littlemhigan]

Y-ye. That's a way to put it. [ She seems visibly uncomfortable with the question. ] I uh...I had a friend there and was in dire need of a favour.

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk kinda felt bad seeing Castor uncomfortable- it doesn't seem normal for her. So he's going to get her back into her comfort zone, or at least try. ]

Well, it sounds like it worked out. [ He shrugs, dismissive even. ] Deserts and snow are all great, but what's the coolest place you've been to? [ And then he grins, proud of himself for the subject change. ] It sounds like you've seen a bit of your world.