(no subject)
Gabrielle liked to think that she was an adaptable person. That she could accept change in the world around her. In fact, she thought that she'd done very well on the island, getting used to all the new things in the compound and the references people made when the talked about the worlds they came from.
But she was finding out that there was a difference in learning about things in an environment where she was comfortable and being dropped into a completely alien world with things she didn't understand on almost every street corner.
At first it hadn't been so bad. She'd been confined to her house both from curiosity of everything that now filled it and being unable to figure out how to manage the fashion that all of her clothes had turned into. Finally, she'd found a book on one of the bookshelves that had offered her help in getting dressed, though she'd skipped many of the layers from frustration. Then, after a few days inside, she'd ventured forth into the new, strange world that the island had turned into.
At first it had been exciting, seeing all these new things and contraptions. The carriages that moved without horses. The trains that ran under ground. She'd filled a journal with her new discoveries in a day! But now, only a few days later, the new things felt menacing instead of exciting, her questions asked more out of pure desperation then curiosity. It was like the entire city was speaking a language she didn't understand and couldn't seem to pick up fast enough. This London, as she'd heard people call it, was dark and gloomy and the cold didn't help. It had just become overwhelming and Gabrielle felt near to tears with homesickness. She thought traveling with Xena could prepare her for anything but clearly...it couldn't prepare her for this.
Gabrielle had hoped a walk would help clear her mood but the tears in the corner of her eyes said otherwise. She found a bench on the edge of a small park and sat down, watching the ghost population of the city going about their business. Ghostly or not, she didn't think she'd seen so many people in one place in her life, which didn't help her feelings of being overwhelmed. She sat there for a while until she felt a bit more composed and moved to stand so she could get home before her bad mood caused an outburst of tears.
But she found that she couldn't move from the bench. She tried desperately to stand, checking under her, around everywhere and began to grow frantic...until she looked up. Gabrielle had been on the island for the winter change last year and she knew all about the magical mistletoe. And there it was, hanging innocently from a tree branch just above her head.
Beyond frustrated, with the city, with her mood, with the mistletoe, Gabrielle sat sideways on the bench and drew her legs up so she could hug her arms around them and bury her face in her skirts so she could let her frustrated tears flow. She wished she was braver, she wished she didn't feel so overwhelmed and while she was at it, oh how she wished Xena was here to make everything better in that stoic warrior way of hers.
[I know, another mistletoe post. Gabrielle is feeling a little overwhelmed with the city, but despite this, it's not a bad time to meet her. ST/LT all are good.]
But she was finding out that there was a difference in learning about things in an environment where she was comfortable and being dropped into a completely alien world with things she didn't understand on almost every street corner.
At first it hadn't been so bad. She'd been confined to her house both from curiosity of everything that now filled it and being unable to figure out how to manage the fashion that all of her clothes had turned into. Finally, she'd found a book on one of the bookshelves that had offered her help in getting dressed, though she'd skipped many of the layers from frustration. Then, after a few days inside, she'd ventured forth into the new, strange world that the island had turned into.
At first it had been exciting, seeing all these new things and contraptions. The carriages that moved without horses. The trains that ran under ground. She'd filled a journal with her new discoveries in a day! But now, only a few days later, the new things felt menacing instead of exciting, her questions asked more out of pure desperation then curiosity. It was like the entire city was speaking a language she didn't understand and couldn't seem to pick up fast enough. This London, as she'd heard people call it, was dark and gloomy and the cold didn't help. It had just become overwhelming and Gabrielle felt near to tears with homesickness. She thought traveling with Xena could prepare her for anything but clearly...it couldn't prepare her for this.
Gabrielle had hoped a walk would help clear her mood but the tears in the corner of her eyes said otherwise. She found a bench on the edge of a small park and sat down, watching the ghost population of the city going about their business. Ghostly or not, she didn't think she'd seen so many people in one place in her life, which didn't help her feelings of being overwhelmed. She sat there for a while until she felt a bit more composed and moved to stand so she could get home before her bad mood caused an outburst of tears.
But she found that she couldn't move from the bench. She tried desperately to stand, checking under her, around everywhere and began to grow frantic...until she looked up. Gabrielle had been on the island for the winter change last year and she knew all about the magical mistletoe. And there it was, hanging innocently from a tree branch just above her head.
Beyond frustrated, with the city, with her mood, with the mistletoe, Gabrielle sat sideways on the bench and drew her legs up so she could hug her arms around them and bury her face in her skirts so she could let her frustrated tears flow. She wished she was braver, she wished she didn't feel so overwhelmed and while she was at it, oh how she wished Xena was here to make everything better in that stoic warrior way of hers.
[I know, another mistletoe post. Gabrielle is feeling a little overwhelmed with the city, but despite this, it's not a bad time to meet her. ST/LT all are good.]