(6/9/01, Incomplete)
Its nice to be off duty, isn't it? Or reasonably enough so. For Dirah can not put into words how -grating- it is to have to pretend to be someone else for days and days on end.. So much, in fact, that the moment that she gets a free moment in which perfect costumes aren't needed, she skips nearly entirely into her own bizzare sense of fashion. If business comes up--God forbid, as today is not a very Sigurdy day--she at least has her hair styled up neatly. But otherwise? She's more content to attempt to forget entirely that she's being paid to dress up and act at all. Even if her concept of fashion is eerily similar, in a more feminine way, as she wears the shirt she picked up in Dazil the other day--a low cut turquoise shirt that still is bearing enough skin to make one wonder if pretending to be Sigurd has.. Worn off oddly on her concept. But, plain pants and high boots otherwise, thankfully, so at least she's not out to make the world twitch, as she hangs about the Bridge, half minding things, half going over somewhat schedules of the day and week over in her head. in the vaguest sort of way.
So... If this version of the Yggdrasil has had any strange dreams? Or... Stranger? They have not touched this wan child who sits, perched on the railing, hands in her lap as if being demurely a princess mattered at all hours. Every now and then she sneaks a look at Dirah... But otherwise only sighs and kicks a weary foot. Is she happy? Is she miserable? Even the Solarian princess doesn't know the answer to that. So many people she has seen... And so many thoughts and out of control emotions. If business comes up today, it might be a welcome distraction. "I wish..." she finally whispers aloud, "I wish... We had a dartboard here."
Tifa currently leans against the wheel, rather bored herself...but somewhat in-costume. She was debating their next move in her head rather half-heartedly...just mildly throwing around ideas. What to do next, why to do it? She was still rather interested in Fatima...more than ever, now. What -are- his goals? He risked his own life for the princess...she'd never guessed. Until now, she really thought them all heartless monsters. She turns to Khiea at the mild mention of a dartboard, and yawns in response, "Hm? Yes...a dartboard would be really nice," she responds, leaning once again on the wheel and watching the scenery pass.
"Thrilling day, isn't it, Tif?" No, Dirah never does seem to stick to formality when its not necessary. Why bother, after all? 'Young Master' and all that rot just tends to remind her, and likely Tifa too, of just those roles of acting. Best to act like none of that exists, if its not necessary to do so. And so, Dirah stretches mildly, looking just as bored with the repetition of scenery--Look, another sand dune! Don't see many of -those- in a desert now, do you--when she blinks over mildly at Khiea's murmered comment, "A.. dart board?" One would think Khiea just mentioned the lack of a semi-automatic rifle on this ship, from the care Dirah notes it with. "That could be.. dangerous.." Depending on what, or who, Khiea decided to hurl darts at. Creepy child.
"The other Yggdrasil had a dartboard." This observation is made dryly, almost even without care for how it comes from the girl's high-pitched voice. "It was... Very useful." She speaks almost in a monotone, distant, polite... Withdrawn for as long as it takes before she remembers where she is, and blinks up to Dirah. And how she smiles! "But Mister Sigurd played darts! Don't you, Miss?" A giggle. Yes. She giggles as if it were a weapon... And perhaps it is. "Sometimes they even had pictures of people they didn't like on the board. But that isn't nice, is it?" There is a beat as she stares at Dirah with those happy eyes once more. Then she looks away, swinging her feet in boredom. "Would you like to play, Miss Tifa?"
Tifa nods slowly at Dirah, "Yes...oh well...we can stand a few days of peace after all that," she yawns again. She then peers at Khiea when she mentions the pictures of people idea. Khiea and her are so alike! "Hm....if I could find that piece of paper, and draw a quick 'dart board', we could all play! Do you want to play, Dirah?"
Dirah just -eyes- Khiea for a moment. Must she glance at Dirah so? Creepy little demonic... It almost makes one want to shudder. Rather, Dirah responds, hoping for all the world that it sounds as dismissively calm as she'd like it to, "But I'm not Mister Sigurd, princess. Its not really quite my cup of tea, you see.." Frightening child. And.. Why must Tifa humor her so? Dirah turns her glance over to Tifa in a sort of.. Indecisive glance, somewhat wondering, but mostly just that simple uneven of indecision and boredom. And a wonder if this is such a good idea around the princess, "Even so, I guess I wouldn't mind, as its a better way to spend the time than staring at sand... But.." A pause, "Are you -sure- its safe to let the princess handle sharp things like that?"
Well, if Miss Dirah can use forks--without losing another eye--then why -can't- Khiea play with darts? It's not as if... She doesn't know how to use them, right? The memory of being able to aim them is -particularly- vivid in her mind, especially in this company. "Oh, pleeeeaaaaaase, Miss Tifa!" she wheedles, leaning forward almost enthusiatically enough in her begging to fall off of the railing. "I promise I'll be good! And the other Yggdrasil crew plays it, so how bad can it be? Right?" Her voice blossoms forth in a peal of giggles. "Wouldn't you like to throw things at certain people... Miss... Dirah?" she asks next, a shyer blink in the silver-haired pirate's direction. Smile!
Tifa looks at Dirah, "You worry far too much, Dirah," she says, smiling. "Darts has always been one of my favorite things to do while I was bored. You should try something new once in a while!" she walks over to Khiea and bends her knees to come to a closer match of Khiea's height, "I'll get the darts, do you want to draw the picture?"
"I do..?" What a lame little chime of a response. That's odd.. Dirah was under the idea that she was far more broadly experienced than the rest of the crew. Not.. Worried and parnaoid. Heeeey.. This isn't another moment in which everyone's doubting her good judgement, is it? Its obviously a risk to allow Khiea to play with sharp things. But, if the popular vote goes... With a reluctant sigh, Dirah decides she might as well make sure Khiea doesn't stab Tifa to death with a dart while she's at it. There we go. Friendship above preferance, and yet Tifa likely wont even care that Dirah has made such an important decision.. And she blinks mildly at Khiea, then, a little bit unnerved, and notes mildly, "Oh, sometimes I -really- want to hurl things at people... But you know what, its really better that one -doesn't-, too. Don't you think?"
"Oh, yes! Goody, thank you Miss Tifa!" Khiea's face lights up like the sun as she releases the railing to clap her hands together, losing her perch and toppling forward. Thankfully she can catch herself before a -complete- loss of whatever dignity she could have would be lost. "I'll do a reeeeeaal good job of it! Do you..." she frowns prettily, brushing her dress down and bouncing straight again, "have any crayons? I didn't bring any of mine. Maybe Miss Dirah has some?" The princess blinks her lashes in complete innocence up at her. "Do you have any? Please? And... I don't really know, Miss Dirah." Another blink. "Is it really, really -better-? Okay... Adults are so strange!" She bursts into a lightly-pitched fit of giggles.
Tifa looks at Dirah, "Do you happen to have any Crayons? And what are you talking about, it's all simply figurative, and it relieves stress too. Come on, try it! You'll love it!" she stands back up to her full height and turns to Dirah. It must be unhealthy in SOME way to be this bubbly and happy.
"I was just trying to get a point throu-... Oh, never mind. If you don't get it, you can't get it, I guess." A little glummly there. Sure, Dirah wants to be just as happy and cheered as the rest of them, but its -hard-... Especially when one is being glanced at by a giggling mass of dangerous lunacy like Khiea, and no one believes Dirah that she's, well, a giggling mass of dangerous lunacy. "Sure, sure, darts are okay, then. I suppose they can't be too much of a problem..." Dirah can probably survive a few violent dart throws at her, after all. And then, at least, she can prove that she was right about the princess all along! Or something. "Eh? Why on earth would I have crayons?" How uncivilized! Only children play with crayons. Dirah is guilty of hoarding, if anything, only high quality Kislevi colorful gel pens. And candy, and mirrors... but we're not going to go into the obsessive packratting that Dirah does. She just doesn't have crayons!
Nope! Khiea doesn't get the point at all! It's just too much fun to be a child... Oops, but time to answer. "We can use... Umm... Markers? Brightly colored special -sparkly- markers!" Khiea bounces again on her toes. If there was the room for it, she'd probably spin around in place, and let her skirt billow out like a pretty flower in the wind. "Do you have any of those, Miss Dirah? And let's play! I just -know- we can find... -something- to play with." A look at Dirah. All of these little moments can go right past Tifa, with any luck. "Should we put it up in that... Um, big room with the tables, Miss Tifa?"
Tifa sighs, "Well, since none of us have anything else, a simple pen and paper will do! I'll be right ba~ck! Oh, yes. Dirah, please go to the gun room, we'll play there! I'll also get a soldier to drive the Yggdrasil!" she starts off through the door, to head towards her room and fun a pen and paper.
Dark Ygg, Gun Room
As you enter this room, you are taken aback for a moment at the sheer spendor of this area. Lined in floor tiles resembling marble, this entire area has a noticeable aura of beauty and class. From here, you see a beautiful silver leading down, the Room, and Lawson's own . An elaborate leads out.
Hmm... As long as we're going to be hurling sharp, pointy objects, perhaps Dirah should attempt to.. Make amends with Khiea, long enough to ensure that no one gets stabbed to death with a needle-sharp dart. For this reason, while everyone else prepares, getting people to drive the ship or to fetch paper or anything, Dirah has taken the liberty to go and fetch a few of those beforementioned pretty colored pens. Of course, Dirah will throw royal freakin' fits if any of them are broken, or if Khiea manages to use lots of ink.. But let's hope its enough to save any bloodshed. So, as she enters this area, yet wary of the dangers that come from lunatics hurling metal objects, she also holds a small case of about seven pretty pens, in all shades of the rainbow. Bribery? You bet it is. But bribery is the natural pasttime of the paranoid, is it not?
But... Who could -ever- be afraid of Khiea? Why, she's just the most innocent, sweet little thing that ever walked the earth! Or, at least, that's the appearance she goes for, and uses every inch of girlhood charm that she can summon up. Once the group reaches the Gun Room, Khiea claps her hands again and begins her begging of the paper and pens from Dirah. My... it -did- get easier with time, didn't it? How very much fun! She could get used to -this-.
Tifa comes back with a case of darts, and a sheet of construction paper in her hands. "Ok, we can draw a picture of whoever we'd like to throw darts at. I'll even score whatever you hit on it!" it's a competition now. She walks over to them, and holds the paper out to Khiea. "A game of darts will be relaxing and fun, Dirah. Just play with us for a while, and you'll see!" more of that happy bubbling optimistic smiling again.
"I certainly hope so, Tif.." Fun. Right. That would be nice, but.. One can't hold out hope for something like that! Especially when someone needs to keep a level head about the--Innocent charming angel? Hey, stop that! Khiea's looks don't fool Dirah for a second. But still, she kneels before her and shows her the case of pens, giving a honey of a smile that always seems to connect to the act of bribing children, "All right. See, Tifa brought you paper. And you can use these to color whomever you want on it, if you want. But they're really -nice- and especially from Kislev, so you have to be nice to them, all right?" Hint, hint. You can use these if you're a good girl. All right? All right. You can turn off the Far Too Cute Begging now. Its creepy.
"Thaaaa~nk you, Miss Dirah!" How much fun Khiea has singing out the second-in-command's name! She takes the pens and flops down promptly on the floor after taking the paper, uncapping a whole handful at once and using only one. Careful with them? At least she's no longer directing the force of her fiercely crafted glee onto Dirah anymore. A good girl... She can do -that-. "Is there anyone you'd like me to draw, Miss Dirah? What about you, Miss Tifa? I can't think of anyone... Maybe Daddy," she adds cheerfully, pausing in her scribblings of circles to think, and then returning to them. "No, I don't think so. Any requests?"
Tifa crosses her arms, "Why would you want to throw darts at your father, Khiea? Isn't that rather mean?" of course Tifa is blissfully ignorant of Khiea's actual life, but she doesen't mean anything by it. "Why not....how about Bart's guardian...um...Sigurd! Yes! Draw him! I don't like him very much."
Dirah stands up slowly, dusting herself off. And she blinks at Khiea as she plops herself down and opens all of them at once--Gaaah, she's going to dry them all out, leaving them in the air like that! But Dirah gets halfway through opening her mouth to protest before she reluctantly gulps it down. Forget it. As long as she's happy and chiming thanks instead of cries of Sigrd and accusations, Dirah shouldn't give her a reason to think of it. And she sighs, and blinks at the comment about her father, and waits until Tifa comments upon it before she notes, very gently, "See?" See? She's a lunatic. See, I told you. Why don't you believe me? And yet, all of that grace is lost in a moment as Dirah half chokes. Sigurd? Sure, she's no fan of him by far, but.. But.. For the sake of lookalikes, does she NEED to give Khiea a reason to aim, "Are.. are you so sure that's a good idea, Tifa? There are lots of others, too.. Like Elissa, or.. Or.." A pause. Think, Dirah! Think! "Or Bart! I think that'd be a nice one. He's certainly been a pain as of late."
"Well, sometimes even Daddy needs a reminder," Khiea sings out happily, scribbling away while sprawled on her stomach, feet in the air and kicking back and forth. "Yes! Mister... Sigurd." Her face quiets in a little smile. "I can draw -him-." Then that's to be her first picture? All right! First the circle for the darts is scrawled out, and with all the neat precision that someone so devoted to scientific accuracy can make it... With informal tools. And so many of the pens remain uncapped! "I don't know Miss Elissa... Or Mister Elissa? But... Mister Bart, I can do that too! Just watch!"
Tifa sweatdrops, "Bart? Well, I guess...you sure that's alright, though? I really don't...," she looks confused for a moment. "Well, you sure that's alright, Dirah? I mean, Bart...well, he risked his life to try and save her and all...," she blushes, "Meh, draw him." Cmon, just because of one single thing. He probably just cares especially about Khiea or something, and would've ignored it if anyone else was in danger...or would he?
"Its simple. He could have just gone to save her beacause she's important to someone, and it wouldn't do for her to die due to his lack of forsight, right? Its why she's a good hostage. She's important." And a smile. Seeeee, Bart isn't that good of a person after all! Or so we can say, or so we can pretend, just so Khiea doesn't draw Sigurd and, say, gets confused and hurls darts at the other silver haired image in this room. But, to Tifa's acceptance, Dirah chimes a smile and notes, rather, "Thanks." Its just a bit of paranoid safety for Dirah, actually. And no, for the last time, she's not crazy, nor making this up!
"Yes! It would be very bad if a," Khiea draws herself up as best she can while lying on the floor, and drawing, "-priiiincess- had something bad happen!" Isn't she proud? Wait, now she's peering up at Dirah. Apparently, the girl needs a proper model to draw Sigurd right now... and that person seems to be Dirah. Convenient! "Hold still, Miss Dirah! Thank you so much! And... it's okay, right?" She finishes the sketch sooner than even she'd expected. The picture of the pirate isn't too hard for her to come up with from memory. "Just because we throw things at the pictures we make of people, shouldn't worry! We do it all the time, just not with darts!" Giggle!
Tifa blinks slowly, looking down at Khiea. "Um...," she shakes her head, nah. It's nothing. "I'll go get some cookies, and milk too! Be right ba~ck!" right, so it looks like she's running off? Well, maybe, maybe not. That comment was a bit...odd though. Just not with...darts?
"Er..." Wait, Tifa's leaving her alone with Khiea? Oh, goodness gracious, why must everyone hate her so? But.. Don't show your fear, Dirah! Khiea can smell it! Or something. Nonetheless, she's not really afraid in the first place. Just.. Unnerved. Severely. For she fixes Khiea with a quizzical glance the moment Tifa skips off to get cookies, "Hold still? Why?" Wait, no. Draw Bart! Draw Bart! Throwing darts at an image quite like myself is, depressingly so but, scary! Especially when certain lunatics are doing so, too. "What do you mean by that?" Wariness, wariness.. If Khiea means quiet and careful evil by those cheerful giggled words, Dirah would rather find the hidden meaning now before Khiea leaps at her with a dart, giggling maniacally with That Glint of Evil in her eye.
"We're mean all the time to people in our heads," Khiea confides happily, rolling over on her back to present the picture of Sigurd to Dirah, stretched up in her arms. "Aren't we, Miss Dirah? If we do it to a picture we have of them in our head or on the dartboard... Does it make that much a difference?" She laughs again, eager to work on the picture of Bart next. Careful... She's looking at Dirah! She can tell! She can read your miiii~nd! "It's even better to do this now! Before you get really, really unhappy with someone and want to throw darts... At -them- right? Right, Miss Dirah?" -Smile-!
Dirah looks rather.. Pale. Not like this child is outright threatening Dirah. Not like she's being violent or threatening at all. Its just that.. There's that little TONE in Khiea's voice--that little undertone of not-innocence that seems quite of a different source, that seems to carry beneath those giggled words and make it all an allusion to something else that Dirah is just -not- getting. At all. But its still highly, highly unnerving, "That's a, um.. very nice picture. And.. well, its true.. we do vent at people in our minds, if that's what you're saying. And its healthier to do so rather than to do it outright..." A pause. And Dirah sighs, looking for all the world uneasy, running a hand through her hair in outright paranoia, "You're.. not trying to make a point, are you? You're not going to explode now that Tifa's gone or anything, right?"
Another happy giggle! And all of this will be forgotten once Tifa has returned. Tifa's wonderful fun to be a little girl around... Almost as much as Cerencia. Or... Yui. But quick, don't think about that! "I don't think I'm smart enough to make a point, Miss Dirah!" A happy laugh, and the princess rolls back onto her stomach, sketching away. Still... Only with half the pens that are uncapped. "Do -you- think there's one? Wouldn't that be fun if there was!"
"Well, that's not a very good attitude at all now, princess. You see, girls your age should have self esteem and purpose and direction! That's how you suceed to become wonderful. So its not that you're not smart enough to make a point, its just that..." Wait, wait, calm down Dirah. No one asked you to give a lecture on the way that young women ought to grow up. In fact, its rather out of place. Odd what Dirah does when edgy! "I'm sorry.. It just sounded like it. You're.. such a perplexing, boggling little thing..." A sigh. And creepy, and evil, and sadistic.. And all while smiling! Its enough to cause hystiera, not being able to pinpoint -why-.
"Is that what you did, Miss Dirah?" Innocence! Innocence, that's all she is, and the willingness to learn from the adults! But she can put all that eerieness back into the box of her mind for now, looking truly contrite for causing Dirah to come up with such a line. "I'm sorry, Miss Dirah. I'm not very good at this sort of thing. I... Don't really know what to say a lot of the time." Blame her interesting upbringing! Blame the things inside her head. The girl stops talking and focuses on coloring in the links in Tifa's braid, loop by loop.
Tifa returns with a plate of cookies, and several glasses of milk. "I hope you guys like the kind with the candy chocolates on them!" she chimes. This is supposed to be a game, so there's no reason to keep up the mood, right? She places the tray on the table, and looks at Khiea's picture of Sigurd, lifting it up briefly. "Wow...she's actually kinda good," she comments. "Look, she has some potential. Where did you learn to draw this good, Princess?"
"Of course that's what I did, princess!" Ah, from utter terror to boasting cheerfully! Dirah.. needs that, actually. Boasting is more distracting and thus more calming than just staring down the girl and wondering if she's going to explode at any random second, "I got to be one of the best in the public relations department in Kislev, and got my job here later because of my sheer -willpower-! You've got to have it if you want to go anywhere in life. Self appreciation, willpower, and initiative. And its all right if you don't know what to say sometimes." Of course. Dirah often has nothing to say and talks anyway! "What's important is that you don't let that get in the way of your self-image. You should have pride in what you do. That gives you strength." And Dirah cuts her rant short as Tifa enters, and she smiles, obviously less paranoid and scared to death than she was before Tifa left. Maybe the Princess will be kinder now that Dirah's given her such valuable life advice? "Ah, those are wonderful! And.. isn't it odd? She's got an uncanny attention to detail for someone her age."
Oh. So -that- explains Dirah. Good, now Khiea can keep that in mind... Forever. "Thank you, Miss Dirah! I'll be certain to remember your advice!" At least she's perked up a faint amount from her earlier silence, and she even swings a foot gaily again as she colors. "There we go! Isn't it pretty, Miss Dirah? See?" Well... The picture of Bart isn't -quite- as good as Sigurd's, having had no live model on hand or the repeated memory. She'd do better next time. Really! "Oh, yes, I -love- those, Miss Tifa!" She scrambles to her feet in a rush, careful not to crumple the paper, and skips over... Yes, -skips- to present it for consideration. "Here it is!"
Tifa nods, "That's still pretty good! Have you been practicing this at home?" she would think a princess would have a lot of time to practice things like that. "Ok, shall we hang them on the walls now! Let's play!" she sounds a bit -too- eager to do that. She grabs a cookie after that and starts eating it.
"You're quite welcome, princess." Ah, yes, its always good to take lessons from your superiors! Why does Dirah have the oddest feeling that Khiea is, somehow, snickering softly at the thought of all of that, though? Ah, paranoia, paranoia. Let's stop trying to find fangs beneath that gleeful smile. At least for a moment. Otherwise Dirah will go quite cheerfully mad. "That's a really good picture, though, Khiea. Do you draw often?" Yes, more quiet conversation, as Dirah edges over and snatches a cookie, taking a quick bite before she continues with a lightly nagging tone. That might work with children, right? "And did you remember to put the caps back on all the pens? You don't want them to dry out or get mixed up or mark each other or anything."
Maybe because... Khiea probably -is- laughing happily away in some dark little corner of her mind? And dreamers everywhere twitch. "I learned from lots of practice!" she sings out, attempting to exchange the pictures for the far more precious cookies. Yes... Practice on all those tricky Gear designs! They could have such -problems- if you were just an inch or two off on the diagrams. "Oh... Yes, the pens, Miss Dirah!" Faithfully, the girl goes back and caps each one in her tightly grasped hand. "Thank you so much for letting me use them! It'll be so much fun to do it again whenever we need pictures! So... Are they good enough for use?"
Tifa nods at Khiea, pausing to finish her bite of cookie, "Of course!" she says, putting the unfinished cookie on the table for a moment. "Dirah, why are you worried about those pens so much? They don't dry that easily, and can certainly stand a half an hour," she takes some tape and the Sigurd picture and starts posting it on the wall.
"Its because I only have a few of them, and they were special ordered from Nortune. And they have to last me this entire trip." Exaggeration, of course, but Dirah would rather be safe than sorry. Dirah managed to hoard quite a lot of them, as is the case whenever Dirah is much amused with anything, really, but they -are- special order. And they are rather hard to get, say, in the middle of Aveh. "Besides, learning responcibility is good for young women. And thank you, Khiea, that was very prompt of you." Ah, well, let her laugh away. Dirah feels safter deluding herself with the moment that, at this short moment, Khiea isn't meaning her Horrible Ill. Otherwise, Dirah might very well be on the other side of the room, hiding behind a table, twitching. But! Everything is fine and well. Really! So Dirah can instead finish off her cookie in relative peace.
Yay! Now for the darts! Khiea almost wriggles with happiness at being so useful, and doing such a wonderful job! "Thank you so much! Who wants to start?" Should the picture of Bart be offered up first... Or Sigurd? Decisions, decisions! And if Dirah notices anything, anything at -all- that might be eager to see the missiles fly, then... That's just a trick of the light! Really!
Tifa takes up the darts, "Dirah, why don't you go first?" she asks, holding up several to her. "Then Khiea, then me, we can do that, right?"
"Sure, sounds all right to me..." And yet.. With that -picture-! Dirah is honestly no fonder than Sigurd than anyone else is--He's unfashionable, not nearly as clever as she is, a horrible person to have to mimic, and, remembering a certain chase down Bledavik with too many stairs and him cornering the defenseless Dirah, highly, incredibly, remarkably obnoxious. And yet... Its odd, somehow, to throw darts at the image that looks rather like what she sees in the mirror every day. Well, its not.. necessary to associate that with herself, though. Before this, she was a great deal more lovely. And raven haired, and dark eyed.. Right. That gives her the little cheer that allows her to take those darts and, with the poise of aiming that seems quite like a elegant pose all its own, flaunting dramatic that she is, she hurls the first dart. And not bad--its mostly on the right mark, if not yet off the bull's eye by quite a lot. But no harm. Second and third her throws go, a little closer for both, but.. All in all, she can cheerfully blame all of that on how her perception is off a little lately. All that wearing an eyepatch, you know. Messes up depth perception.
Good thing Khiea only has... Well... All the problems of her own perception to sort through! The princess happily frolics over to her chance at the dartboard, picking up the little metal missles with ease. Is it usual for teenage girls to have learned the game? One never knew in Solaris. Her first shot goes wide, not even glancing near the picture. Ah, so she should adjust for the height... Right! The second shot strikes nearer, and the final one embeds itself into the cheek of the picture. Not quite a bull's eye... but still quite satisfying. "Ooo, not a good job at all! Oh well!"
Tifa decides it's her turn now. She's had quite a bit of practice doing this, and now she has a decent picture to tell what she's hitting! So her first shot goes, and hits rather close to the bullseye. The second shot hits directly in the middle of Sigurd's hair, and the third in his stomach. Too bad there's nothing protecting it! "Um...I don't remember getting this bad, I must be out of practice!"
"Ah, pah, we're all doing just as equally poorly, which means we're all doing fine." Dirah logic is fun logic! Even if it makes no sense and is highly, highly selective. That's what gives it the patented Dirah charm, one supposes. And yet there is some quiet, lingering reluctance in her strikes as she takes up the darts again--she strikes a hand, mid-thigh.. But, ah, screw it! This is the person who's going to put you down in history for crossdressing. This is the person who made you trudge out here all the way in the desert for a little fame, just to bear this heat, not to mention really bizzare prisoners! This is the obnoxious twit who chased you up stairs, when you didn't even have the opportunity to shoot him! With a small grit of her teeth, she picks up her last throw and -hurls- it at the picture, where it lands right on the top of the forehead, still off the bull's eye by a bit. And, taking one look at that image, she can't help but -cringe-. That just looks.. Ouch.
"I've never been very good at all!" Khiea giggles. "If I was, I'd have them -aaa~lll- on target on the bull's eye!" She lines up again, and tosses. This round is better for the little princess, landing the first in the upper left torso. The second... Also strikes there. A very nice grouping! Finally Khiea relents from shooting missles into the heart region, and aims for the face for the last one. An ear? Ooo!
Tifa comes up now, smiling. "Well, here goes. You guys are doing great!" so much for optimism. She misses Sigurd the first two darts, and the final goes directly into his eye. She twitches. "I'm really not getting any better. Huh."
There's another twitch-worthy shot, thank you Tifa. But, really, Dirah shouldn't be upset by any of this, right? Ah, well, its just that nagging little reminder in the back of her mind which is causing her such a trouble here. Well, forget it, forget it. This is Dirah, the trendy Kislevi failed propoganda writer. Who can aim with such an elegance that Sigurd would be lucky to have. And yet, its just annoying enough to throw her aim off that littlest bit--so that one shot doesn't even hit the picture, but rather besides the face. The next, similar, but a bit lower. And--don't think too much on how cheerfully Khiea is hurling those darts into Sigurd's, yes, the drawn -Sigurd's- heart, Dirah's next is off by even more, hitting half down the leg. "Doing great? I'm off by miles here.." Of course, this is because she's thinking too much. "But, er, Khiea's doing really well.." Mild smile, there. Creepy, creepy child.
They... Are definately going to need another picture after this one. Good thing that Khiea can draw dozens, -easy-! Not in very artistic ways, but scientific copies were better for target practice. The tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth with concentration, Khiea throws off another round. And... Goodness, does repetition help that much to firm up one's resolve, or is it skill? She doesn't manage the prized eye-shot yet, striking the cheek... The nose... And the mouth. The clustering is starting to tear up the paper by now, but Khiea only looks disappointed. "I'll get better! I know I will!"