itsjustagamerp | Twenty-third Link

Entry tags:

Twenty-third Link

Characters: Namine, Amaterasu, Chibiterasu
Content: Field trip to the Louvre
Location: The Louvre. Paris, France. Circa the 1990's.
Time of Day: Early afternoon.
Warnings: Artwork.

Namine hadn’t thought she’d use the time machine. With the exception of Kaldur, Aqua, and Twilight Sparkle’s expeditions to find good books, most of the others seemed to use it for adventures. While she enjoyed hearing their stories after they got back (even if she worried), she was usually well content to wait for them while they were gone.

That was before she’d found about something called an art museum. She hadn’t known that people on this world collected art to display, simply because it was pretty. Some of the pictures in the book had seemed interesting, and a museum seemed safe enough from how she’d heard that sort of place described. The worst was that it might be crowded, and the snacks far too expensive.

Still it seemed best to have some company, and Amaterasu seemed like the one who would most enjoy this sort of excursion. Taking her without asking Chibi along as well seemed cruel, though, so she’d decided to see about getting all three of them there.

The main problem was that, from what she could tell, animals weren’t allowed in museums. Finally, she’d gotten some help finding information about something called a “therapy dog.” Amaterasu had seemed amused at the idea of playing the part of one, with Chibi along as her puppy training for the same kind of work.

That settled, it was time to go. At first, they’d see if all three of them could go through with her carrying Chibi. If that didn’t work, Amaterasu would wait while she went back for Chibi.

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Amaterasu was of course willing to go along with Namine when she suggested using the time machine. At least this time they would be going someplace safe, and not have to worry about battling Utahraptors. On the other hand, it seemed that she could just run around free in a place like this; that she had to pretend to be a helper dog for Namine in order to be allowed inside. That seemed a little silly to her, but she wasn't the one setting the rules. And with having to do that, it probably meant she'd have to keep using her brushes to a minimum. At least no one could actually *see* her using them until she'd already painted something.

Even with all that, she was still excited to go to a new place and time...and with Chibi, too! It'd be great to see what kinds of art other people made in this world.

She sniffed at the time machine...she wasn't sure if all three of them could fit, but they could at least try. She glanced back to her son, and barked: Do you think you can squeeze in as well, Chibi?

Chibi eyed the time machine. I think I can get in. He might have to climb on top of his mother or Namine, but he'd wriggle in somehow; he wasn't as big as some people who used it. It was exciting to think they'd be going and seeing a whole building full of art; he'd passed things in the palace, but he'd never really gotten a chance to just stand around and look at them.

Even if she couldn't understand what they were saying, Namine smiled at the apparent conversation the two were having. It was good that they could at least communicate with each other easily. Finding room for Chibi should be easy; if he didn't want to be carried, he could ride on Amaterasu's back.

Before she set the dial for the date and they left, though, there was one more thing. She held up two vests she'd found on the theatrical deck. One looked like it would fit Ammy, and the other was a good size for Chibi. Both had "Working Dog" printed on them. "If you wear these, maybe everyone else will understand you're supposed to be helping me."

While she'd understand if they didn't want to, and wouldn't force them, wearing the vests might help in the case of misunderstandings.

Ammy eyed the vests with curiosity, and gave them a sniff. Well, it definitely wouldn't be the strangest thing she'd worn while on the Satellite. And if this helped them get around easier, she could deal with it.

She carefully took the larger vest out of Namine's hands, and squirmed into it until it rested over her shoulders. It was a little snug, but otherwise it fit fine. Once ready she walked over to the time machine.

Chibi was more than used to costumes, given his friends, even if they were mostly masks. The vest would probably look pretty neat on him; if only Kagu and the others could see it! He took the vest and wriggled into it the best he could.

These are comfy.

Well, at least they seemed okay with the outfits. Amaterasu seemed eager to get started with their journey, so Namine went to set the time machine for the date and time they wanted. Then, she turned to Chibi. "Would you like me to carry you?"

Some might think it silly to speak to him as if he could understand, but she knew he could.

Namine would know by now that the two of them could understand her, as they could understand what anyone was saying. She didn't think much of whether people in the other time and place would find that strange...it wasn't like it would be hurting anyone for Namine to talk to her and Chibi like they understood.

With the time and place set, she stepped inside the machine and made as much room as possible for Namine and Chibi. If Namine couldn't lift him, there'd probably be space on her back.

Chibi nodded; that would probably work best, if he could fit on Namine's lap, and it would be the most comfy way to get there. He nudged her leg with his nose; if she sat down he could hop into her lap more easily than she could pick him up, probably.

At Chibi's nudging, Namine goes to sit inside the machine. Once she's settled, she pats her lap in a "jump on up" gesture. Once he was settled, she'd close the door and they could be off.

At least they all fit in the machine, although it was pretty cramped. She gave Namine and Chibi an encouraging smile as they all climbed inside. Good thing the trip wouldn't be that long!

Once they were all inside, she let Namine start the machine. It rattled around a bit as they traveled, and Ammy pressed her ears flat against her head. She was never quite used to this machine. But then, they finally reached their destination.

Stepping out, the skies in this part of the world seemed a bit thick and smoky. The cityscape stretched out as far as the eye could see...even Sei-an City wasn't this huge. She marveled at the stone and glass buildings all around them.

This city is so big!

The buildings are so tall. Chibi pranced around in a circle. There were people everywhere too. He hadn't seen this many people in one place ever, even when there were the big theater performances in Sei-An city. He caught sight of something else and barked. Look at that!

There was a huge glass pyramid standing in front of what looked like a big palace. It was definitely big and showy enough to be a palace.

When Namine stepped out of the machine, she had to pause, standing, and close her eyes. Not only did she have to adjust to the sunlight, but the crowds, and the vastness of the city. She'd never seen this many people, or buildings in one place before either, and it was a little intimidating. Taking a deep breath, she opened them again, blinked to finish adjusting how bright the sun was here. Warm, too. Well, she had chosen a summer day.

She caught a glimpse of Chibi prancing and laughed. His bark brought her attention to the pyramid. "I think that's where we go in. The book said the museum is in an old palace, but they built that pyramid recently as one of the entrances."

Taking another look at the crowd, she frowned thoughtfully. "We'll have to be careful to stay close, with this many people."

This definitely looks like it used to be a palace! Ammy remarked. It was somewhat comforting to see that the people here thought so highly of art that they treated it this well, and allowed people to come in and see it. The glass pyramid was definitely an interesting addition...she'd never seen anything like that before, even in the Moon Tribe's strange constructs.

If that's the entrance, let's start over there.

She nodded, and stuck very close to Namine and Chibi...with crowds this big, it'd be very easy for them to get separated. At least by remaining this close together, no one would question her and Chibi being 'therapy dogs.'

Chibi walked close to Namine and his mother; the vest was probably going to be a lot more helpful than they thought, since it would make them stand out in a crowd. He kept his head high and his ears perked up; everyone always talked about him looking alert when he did that. Well, sometimes people did. When they weren't giving him nicknames.

We'll have to be careful not to get lost. This would be fun, but he didn't want to have to hunt for his mom and Namine in a place this big.

The thought of art being treated as so valuable that it was put in what used to be a palace, but still shared with people, was a nice one. The pyramid stood out against the old-fashioned building enough that it wouldn't be missed as a meeting point or potential entrance. Namine made a note of that. "If we do get separated, why don't we meet at the pyramid?"

Not that getting separated seemed to be a major issue. Amaterasu and Chibi were keeping close by her, and their vests stood out enough that to make them easily noticeable. Getting lost was another issue entirely, though, and very possible. The building was larger than any she'd ever seen, and that impression didn't diminish when they'd gotten inside.

Thankfully, the guards were understanding and let them through without much fuss. That taken care of, Nami took out the directory they'd been given and spread the map so they could all see. "Where do we want to go first?"

It all looked interesting, but she'd rather see the paintings first. The Mona Lisa was supposed to be famous.

Ammy barked once at Namine in acknowledgement. The pyramid would be easy to find again, so that seemed a good place to go. Yes, let's use that as a base.

Although the guards did let them through, they definitely were getting a lot of strange looks from the other people there. Even if they were able to pass themselves off as helper dogs, not that many domestic dogs looked like white wolves. As long as they kept up the charade, they should be okay.

Ammy glanced over at the map that Namine had obtained...there were a whole lot of sections here. She wasn't sure what was famous and what wasn't, but she was interested in seeing the paintings. Now that she had all of her brushes again, it was no problem to pause time and draw a small circle around the painting section of the map with her own ink.

Let's try here first.

Chibi found himself a bit distracted by all the people; they were all so different, even from the people he'd met on the satellite. He was used enough to odd looks that they weren't too bad, and it didn't seem like anyone could see his or his mom's markings.

He pokes his face at the map and nods; that seems good to him. It looked like they had to head upstairs past some things, though; that would be a nice way to see part of the museum on the way.

It looks like that whole side is all paintings; wow...

Chibi looked around them; the flow of people seemed to be heading for the stairs as well, so it wasn't hard to find. He perked up his ears. It looks like that's the closest way up.

Namine did her bet to ignore the odd looks she was receiving for not only having two unusual dogs with her, but also speaking with them. That said, not all of them indicated the others thought she was odd. Some where indulgent, or curious. There were more than a few children who had seemed eager to try to pet Amaterasu or Chibi, only to be pulled away by the adults with them.

The sudden appearance of a circle on her map was surprising, but then she remembered Amaterasu's abilities. So it looked like they agreed on where to go first. The path there would take them past a few other things that might be interesting as well.

They also seemed to have the same idea as many of their fellow visitors. Being careful to make sure that the others were keeping up with her, she moved into the crowd going up the stairs.

Now that they'd settled on where to go, they made their way up the stairs together, sticking as close together as possible through the crowds of people.

At last, they found the first section of paintings...it looked like everything was divided up into what kinds of paintings there were, whether by what time they were made or what style they were done in. Amaterasu was also surprised to see that many of the paintings were hiding behind glass cases. What was the purpose of those?

Can you see all right? While she was asking both Chibi and Namine, she hoped that Namine could understand her well enough without actually being able to understand her.

Edited 2012-11-15 05:09 (UTC)

Chibi tried to peer his way up past all the people. Thankfully having two of them there seemed to make people give them more space, but he still couldn't quite see everything. I can't see too well. He wasn't sure Namine should pick him up, though, if they wanted to keep pretending.

It took them a few minutes to make it up the stairs and to their destination, but it was worth it. Namine was a bit disappointed that they couldn't get quite as close as she might like, and the glass cases caused issues with glare from the ceiling lights. That aside, she could still see reasonably well by trying to move closer to the front of the crowd.

While she only heard Amaterasu's question as a concerned whine, she could guess what it was about. She reached down to offer some reassuring ear scritches. "Don't worry, I can see just fine."

Looking down when Chibi yipped, she realized he was probably having trouble seeing. Deciding she could claim to want to keep him from getting lost, she picked him up so he could have a better view.

Seeing around the crowds was a challenge, but Namine at least reassured her that she could. And now that Namine had picked him up, Chibi should be able to see, too. The paintings were all very lovely, but so different from what Ammy and Chibi were used to. It looked like they didn't use strong inks at all.

There was a guard eyeing them...likely didn't like the idea of animals anywhere near the art. Ammy just gave him a bit of an eye back. None of them were going to alter the art, thank you very much.

Chibi nuzzled at Namine thankfully. Now that he could see properly he could tell that the paintings weren't done with proper inks at all. That was kind of disappointing, but it was always good to see what sorts of different and new things other people were coming up with.

It was neat to watch the people, too; some people looked at a picture and tried to dive back into the crowd right away, and then other people tried to read all the display descriptions. Most people seemed pretty happy just to drift by, though.

The people who had done these paintings hadn't used the ink Amaterasu and Chibi were used to. The paint was thicker, and sometimes if you looked closely enough you could see the brush strokes. Namine liked both styles of painting, but it was understandable that the others might be surprised.

Following Amaterasu's gaze, she noticed the guard and gave a small nod before looking back at the paintings. Hopefully he'd leave them alone if they were quiet and made it clear they weren't hurting anything. Unfortunately, that might mean avoiding getting close enough to read about the artwork. Too bad, since she would have been interested, but they couldn't risk causing trouble. After getting a good look, she went to join the crowd of drifters.

Namine's smile to the guard probably helped a little bit more than Ammy's stare back, since he moved on and left them alone, at least for now.

They looked at some of the paintings in this wing for awhile, and they were all nice, but Ammy was also eager to see what else was in this museum. It was pretty big, after all, and maybe there were other styles of paintings that she'd never seen before.

There was a bit of a break in the crowds as they moved on, and she took the opportunity to move on towards another section. After a little bit, she turned around...were Chibi and Namine still behind her?

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