and every once in your life
Babel is in Grant Park with a rake. She found it in one of the Kashtta's supply cabinets when she was looking for something else entirely, and decided to call the entire day off -- not that she has anything she's particularly supposed to be doing, but whatever -- to go rake all the leaves in the park into a giant pile
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She looks down at Phoebe with a positively radiant grin on her face when the other girl speaks. "And then we shall have another epic snowball war!" she exclaims, striking a pose. A few of the little kids around them follow suit, then explode into a game of leaf war. They shriek and toss leaves at both Babel and Phoebe; Babel dramatically pretends to die, flopping next to Phoebe without catching herself at all. It hurts, a little bit, but she doesn't mind a little pain right now. Even if she's trying not to remember what it was like to die and wake up again in this very park.
"They killed me," she says, grinning at Phoebe, and there's a hint of deep, deep pain in her eyes but not her smile. Then she flips herself over, pulling all the nearby leaves toward them to build a tiny leaf barrier. "We must exact our revenge upon the gnomes."
Yes, you've just been conscripted into a leaf war, Phoebe. The best war.
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She drops it only to flatten her hands against the ground and crouch into a fierce pose. She ignores the slight wince that comes with the lie. This lie should not hurt. They're playing, and she won't stop over it.
"But that just means you get a new life."
She sends a conspiratorial grin Babel's way. Leafs are tangled in her hair and once she is satisfied with their leaf fort, she asks, "On three?"
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"Yeah, I'm neverending," she says, the smile still on her face, though now she's concentrating on the leaf fort. It just needs a few small touches, see, like these red leaves here and there just so. Why Babel is bothering to make these touches when they're just going to ruin it in two seconds flat is beyond the narration, but that's Babel for you.
She nods sharply when she's done. "On three!" It's a bit louder than it probably should be, and she hunkers down in the leaves more so the children can't see her. Well, they can, but whatever. They don't need to know the adults are planning ambushes, now do they?
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