☼ six; video.

[recalls]

[Vanille's sitting on a low branch of a tree, bouncing her heels against the trunk. It is immediately apparent that she does so halfheartedly, without her usual overenthusiasm and energy. She lets her head fall back, lets it bump against the bark with a dull thud, and peers up at the sun through a canopy of brilliant autumn leaves. The Queen has

Comments

[notvitiligo]

My family... and the ability to read about interesting things.

[recalls]

[She cracks one eye open to look into the mirror. She smiles, but it's bittersweet, and doesn't last.]

Your family... [She nods. It's expected, that answer. Families are important, blood or no, and without them... well, it feels to Vanille like some part of her that should be whole, isn't.] Tell me about them?

[notvitiligo]

[She sighs, leaning her chin on her hand.] Um... Mom likes dogs a lot. She trains and handles shih-tzus. Conformation, mostly. And she's kind of... go-getter. One of those people that can keep up a positive attitude all the time, kind of thing.

Dad's into baking and stuff. Like, um, cooking. We make stuff together for holidays and all, and sometimes I help him make breakfast on weekends.

Um, are you all right? Did something happen?

[recalls]

[There's a genuine smile at those descriptions. Her blood family died a long time ago, and she doesn't remember much more than missing them. Her new family, thrown together by fate and circumstance, has never really had the chance to do any of these things. Except here, in the Gardens.]

That sounds nice. [A pause.] I like baking, too. Maybe... we could together, sometime.

[At the question, her shoulders slump, and she turns her head away. She takes a few deep breath, wills a bright smile to her face and an upbeat tone to her voice.] I'm okay! A friend left, but she's probably happier back home.

[It would not be difficult for anyone to recognize this as patently false.]

[notvitiligo]

Sure. It's becoming my default spirit-lifter. Which is, um, bad for my waistline, but whatever.

Wow... yeah, that sucks. I keep losing people, too. You'd think a place that's all about hooking up would be a little more reliable about people sticking around, but...

[Jessica isn't quite therapist material, so she's not going to argue if Vanille wants to fake being happy. She knows the feeling.]

[recalls]

[She laughs at that, and it's soft, but real.] Maybe we should take walks, too.

[And then she sobers again, and sighs.] Yeah... Maybe they'll come back. [She doesn't sound like she really believes it.]

[notvitiligo]

Hah, yeah, I think I'm comparatively fitter here than I ever was back home, since I kind of HAVE to walk everywhere. But yeah, long as you don't mind having Bulbasaur along...

Well, if you're all from the same place, at least you'll probably get to see them again, right? [Jessica is more than a little bummed that she won't get to see her friends again post-escape.]

[recalls]

Bulbasaur? [When the Pokemon thing happened, she'd been in much the same state as she is now - staying at home, withdrawing from the hustle and bustle of the Gardens, so she hasn't really seen many of them.]

Mmm, yeah. But... who know when we'll go back? Or if we ever will? [It's a rare moment of pessimism for her, and she seems almost surprised to hear herself say it.] Oh, I'm being silly. Of course we will!

[notvitiligo]

Yeah, hold on... [She calls offscreen] Bulbasaur!

[After a moments, she lifts the very interested pokemon into view.] Bulbasaur, Vanille. Vanille, Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur!

Well, given that people keep showing up, vanishing, and then showing up again a lot... and given that we're trying to get out... It's a pretty safe bet that we'll escape eventually.

[recalls]

[Vanille is equally interested in the pokemon, and her face totally lights up when she sees it. She claps her hands together, there may be some totally undignified girly squealing going on, but then, Vanille's never pretended to be dignified.] Oh, it's so cute! Do you think I could pet him?

[It takes her a minute to register the rest, given that there is something so adorable blinking at her over the Vine, but she catches it eventually.] Mmm, right! We just have to stay positive!

[notvitiligo]

Her, and yeah, probably. She seems to get along with everyone who isn't Meta.

SAUR SAUR! [Meta: Apparently a saur sore spot.]

Yeah, no point in giving up. If only because then what would we do with our time?

[recalls]

Oh! [Vanille leans forward.] I'm sorry, Bulbasaur! You're a very pretty girl. [A pause, and an accompanying tilt of the head.] Who's Meta?

[She rocks back on her heels, then, and steeples her fingers together.] We'd probably have no fun at all!

[notvitiligo]

Bulbasaur saur. [The flattery mollifies her.]

Meta's a friend of mine. She's... kind of off, I guess, but seems OK. Other than being in kind of a dumb dominance competition with a pokemon.

I know, right? Gotta keep occupied.

[recalls]

She's here? I'd like to meet her!

Yep! What do you do to keep busy? Fang says I should find more hobbies...

[notvitiligo]

Yeah... um, I guess you could come over sometime. She's not much of a conversationalist, though... I think there was some kind of injury to her vocal cords. Takes a while to figure out what she's saying.

These days, trying to be useful, baking, and trying to figure this place out. And video games.

[recalls]

Oh... that's kind of sad, but I'm sure it'll be fine!

Have you figured anything out yet? This place is so confusing...