guestservices | AUDIENCE FOR: Estelle

Yes, a little...

[Her eyes are a little red, but her voice is steady, at least. She offers the tea, then bows.]

Thank you for helping us today. I'm sorry -- I don't know what you like, but I thought you might want something to drink after such a long day.

[The day's not even over, but that's all the more reason.]

[they will take it and there's a dip of their head.]

...thanks and gratitude are bonuses, not privileges, I think. I appreciate the thought either way, especially with how...kind of intense everything got right at the end.

Yes... I think everyone must have walked away feeling terrible, after that.

[...]

I've never done one of these tasks before. What would you like me to do?

I can't say I blame them. [but they don't linger on that. they do take a sip of the tea, pausing for a moment as if thinking it over.]

...teach three people basic first aid and we'll call it even. Okay?

Okay! [She nods.] I'll do my best.

Are there any rules I should know of? A time limit, or... can I tell people about my tasks?

I don't doubt that.

[estelle is a good girl.]

You can tell people about this one if you'd like, and there isn't necessarily a time limit but it would be better to do it sooner or later...just so that it clears the slate and I can help next week if someone else needs supplies.

I understand. Thank you.

... Oh, while we're talking... I don't suppose you have any idea what happened to Cloud today? How he suddenly came back to life...

[they tilt their head, thinking of how to reply when it's clear they actually aren't sure.]

I'm afraid not, but I would love to know myself. Seems a little weird, doesn't it?

More than a little weird... I've never seen anything like it before.

People don't usually come back where you're from, I take it. It kinda sounds rare. [...] This is probably a morbid question, but do you know if anything does happen to people in your world when they die?

I don't think anyone knows for sure. Most people believe in some kind of an afterlife... heaven, for those who lived good lives. I suppose I do, too... I'd like to think that the people I've lost are watching over me.

... What about you?

[there's a little hum to that. they sip their tea. they think it over and decide it aligns with a few things they're aware of from other things they've read.]

It's not such a bad thing to want. Thinking the people you love are still with you and you haven't been left behind. Kinda makes you wonder what counts as a good life though, doesn't it?

True... and I can't say that I know how to judge a life, myself.

I know some people believe that a happy afterlife is a reward only for the most righteous among us, but... I'd rather hope that most people can come to know some measure of peace and happiness at the end...

It would be nice if that were true. But there will always be people that won't, I think. Depends on how things went in their living life.

[. . .]

I don't know why Cloud came back. It isn't something that should be expected when we don't know what happened in the first place, but...maybe we should just be kind of happy that it did.

... I am. Don't worry. What happened was almost like a miracle... I don't plan on taking it for granted.

-- Oh, but now I'm curious about where you're from... Is it not so rare for people to come back?

I'm glad to hear it. [there's like a ghost of a smile in their tone, but they consider the question then.]

Oh no it's rare. But you hear about it sometimes. People claiming they've died and come back after a life-threatening experience and stuff like that. But I think the dead have their own place outside of the living. They aren't always meant to come back at all.

Their own place...?

I... suppose they must, when death has always been an inseparable part of life...

Mm. Death isn't something you can avoid forever. I don't think it's possible to separate them even if you wanted to.

[and that's what makes cloud's return very interesting.]

AUDIENCE FOR: Estelle

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