005 - [Action]

[triggered_it]

[A camper, who looks to be about sixteen turning seventeen, or maybe seventeen already, is sitting on a large wooden chest. He actually just turned fifteen, but no one need know that. He wants to be reading a book right now, something poetic or maybe something strange, but books are for smart children, and he doesn't want to appear too clever, not

Comments

[cantblameagirl]

[Vala knows wealth when she sees it. She also knows disinterest when she sees it, and that's really just begging for her attention. Someone at camp can't be that miserable, not with a beautiful chest like that a beautiful day to enjoy. So she wasted no time in joining Adrian, sitting besides him on that chest.]

Hello, [she said with a grin.]

[triggered_it]

[Oh, someone's talking to him. What should he do? He keeps calm.]

Hello.

[Not unpleasant, but with a tone that slightly suggests 'who are you and why are you talking to me?' And, yes, that is a very slight German accent. He will someday rid himself of it, but for now? It's there.]

[cantblameagirl]

[Vala sounds British. She's never been there, but that's what you get for being an alien. BUT BRITISH ASSUMPTIONS ARE GO. She smiles at him, pushing a pair of sunglasses up onto her head so she can look at him properly.]

Who are you?

[triggered_it]

Adrian Veidt, from Brooklyn, New York.

What about you?

[Finally, a small smile, but even that seems incredibly forced.]

[cantblameagirl]

You don't sound like you're from Brooklyn, Adrian. I like your accent. [She sticks her hand out, reaching for his in a mockery of formality.] Vala Mal Doran, from all over.

[triggered_it]

[Eyes narrow. Discussing his heritage is a no-no.]

Not originally, no, but I live there now.

[Pause.]

Your family travels a lot, then?

[cantblameagirl]

Is it brilliant? I've never been, but I have heard it's brilliant. Where are you from originally? [She will make a game of this, if she has to. Vala just shrugs.]

My father doesn't like to settle down.

[triggered_it]

[Takes a moment to think about how to word this.]

It's different from Berlin. I'm not sure how else to describe it. America, in general, is a very strange place, isn't it? [It is to him. Brooklyn is so very un-Prussian, after all.]

[cantblameagirl]

[Oh, answers, she likes answers. Vala laughs, in a way that has her leaning forward and nudging his shoulder with hers before straightening.] It is! I've been all over, and America's one of the strangest places I've been.

[triggered_it]

Everyone and everything is so... casual, I suppose. Even the way that people talk... it's all, well . . . "Fock this, you focking sonuvabeetch." [He actually laughs, just a little. Because it sounds ridiculous coming from him, and he knows it.]

Do you know what I mean?

[cantblameagirl]

[She snickers a little more, now that he's laughing too.] Yes! Though I wouldn't call that casual, really.

[triggered_it]

Well, they seem to think it quite casual. They swear casually, anyway. I never can. I'm not used to it.

[The closeted queen in him is going to start to come out now.]

The way that some of them dress, too. [He crinkles his nose in distaste.] You can see what I mean by that, of course. [He gestures toward the other campers.]

[cantblameagirl]

I don't mind it, really, but - a time and place, right? [Like when she's pissed off. That's all that really matters.]

I know. [Vala turned to look toward those campers, head tilting slightly. She isn't a queen bee sort, but she does like pretty htings. Including clothes. Vala's dressed very well. ...Most of it probably isn't hers, though.] Not so much casual, but definitely sloppy.

[triggered_it]

[He's viewing the whole camp-experience as a social experiment now. He's even starting to enjoy himself. Not because of Vala but because he's learning, learning about people.]

The best we can do is hope they're only dressed like that because they expect to be getting dirty. If some of those clothes were ruined during a hike, it wouldn't exactly be a tragedy.

[cantblameagirl]

[It's a good thing she doesn't know that; she'd be terribly put out.] That must be it. I can't imagine there being another reason for it. Maybe they think it's comfortable?

[triggered_it]

[Most would be terribly put out if they ever knew what Adrian Veidt was actually thinking.]

Perhaps. I don't think I've ever been comfortable in plaid, though ... In fact, I don't think I've ever worn plaid.

It takes a certain look and style to pull it off.

[Pause.]

Have you been here before?