☣ third story. (video)

[thinkbrave]

( Ellie's just sort of lying down by the vine, playing with a tiny tiny fruitknife. It looks blunt and useless, and like it's seen better days, but Ellie is just unfolding and refolding it. )

I've been thinking. ( A bit of a pause, and her voice drops, something like self mockery. ) Big shock, there.So, if we're all here, and we're all... stuck.

Comments

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[howaverage]

[ The vine had poked restlessly at Em; it's like these things know when someone of interest is broadcasting. She's at the library - no surprise there - with a mini tower of books by her side as she sits on the floor. She smiles a little to Ellie, as if encouraging. Again, while she's not an excessively good reader of people, she recognizes that tone. It's a tone of someone missing their friends. ]

I would rather wish I was back there, not that they were here. If anything, I would like them to know I'm alive. That I am here against my will and that I miss them. [ There's a substantial pause. ] I wouldn't mind my baby to be here.

[ She means her dog, but it surely sounds like she's talking about a kid (which is not that much of a stretch, all things considered). ]

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[thinkbrave]

( Ellie glances over, and then eyes the books with some interest. Delicious, delicious books. It takes a second, but she snaps back into what Em is saying, and nods, rolling onto her belly. )

Mm. Makes sense. ( Oh, what a deep and thoughtful expression this is. Or maybe it's just slightly different from her usual lineface. But-- wait a second. ) You have a kid?

( Her mind. It is boggled. )

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[howaverage]

[ She laughs a little bit and shrugs. ] In a way.

[ She shifts a little to reach into her back pocket - she carries her wallet more out of habit then anything. Some odd dollars, a couple cents, a lot of cards and a bunch of photographies. She whips out one and brings it closer to the mirror-video. ]

Her name is Mowgli. [ She looks at Ellie over the picture she's holding. ] You're worried about your friends, huh?

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[thinkbrave]

( Peering-- and then a bit of a grin. Ah, haha, that kind of kid. ) A little hairy, isn't she?

( A moment of consideration, and a nod. ) Some big stuff happened before I left. There's probably... There's a lot of people looking for us right now. Not much 'probably' about it.

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[thesamename]

I didn't want her here.

[This may be a blatant lie, but neither of the two ladies who would know that are in the room to call her on it, so she goes ahead and says it, though the obvious lack of eye contact might be a clue. Or maybe Jackie just isn't very friendly. Maybe both.]

Killer plants are too ridiculous to wish on anyone.

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[thinkbrave]

( Her attention is back on her absurdly useless knife, though her gaze flickers over to the video. ) You don't think you should want her here, or you actually don't want her here?

I agree on that last part, but it doesn't keep me from wanting them around.

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[thesamename]

[Her mouth thins. She had said she didn't want her here, but correcting the woman on semantics was a very clear path to showing how much all of this bothered her, so Jackie chooses not to.]

I shouldn't want her here.

[Though the reasons for that were slightly more complicated than the Gardens themselves.]

Maybe the Gardens were a chance for some of us to step gracefully out of one another's lives.

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[thinkbrave]

( Okay, that gets her attention. It's an interesting thought, and she twists around to face the vine more, looking at the person on the other side of the... video? Mirror? ... Leaf? Whatever the term was, she was looking at them. )

Is that something you came up with so that you wouldn't feel guilty about something?

[no_hometown]

I'm alone here. I've heard that others from our own worlds could appear at any moment, but they might be from a different point in time than the one we come from, and they will always be female, even if you remember them as male.

My primary wish is to return home, but I'd rather be here with my friends than here without them. [Is that selfish of her to wish, during wartime? Well, they could easily be Angeal and Genesis from different worlds, different times. There's no telling with this place.] Maybe if we were here together, we'd have a greater chance of finding a way back.

[thinkbrave]

Different point in time? But that's-- ( stop. deep breath. This place doesn't really pay much mind to what is and is not possible, does it? ) It just another of those 'Garden Things', isn't it? This bloody place--(So much a sigh. )

I hadn't thought of that. ( It does make her feel a little better, at least. ) Too bad none of my friends and I are really on top of this whole... superpowered, magic game. Maybe if we could tunnel our way out, or something.

[no_hometown]

It's one of those things, yes. [Sephiroth is similarly annoyed by the peculiarities of the Gardens, and it brings an iciness to her tone.] It seems the Queen can bring people here from any time or any place. Or even from worlds that seem quite similar on the surface but are ultimately unlike.

Simply having more of your people with you to consider the problem could be helpful. I find that comrades can assist and support each other in many ways, not just in combat, by virtue of their closeness.

[thinkbrave]

It's bloody stupid. Doesn't she have-- anything better to do with her time? ( A silly comment to make, perhaps, but trying to verbalise the frustration proves difficult, much of the time. )

Yeah. ( There's a brief, sharp grin. ) We might drive everyone insane, too. There's a lot of yelling, sometimes.

[video]

[welljustwatchme]

I have people I know here. Some family and the Italy sisters. Austria just showed up the other day, too.

A-and... I have to say there are people I'd like to have around, too, if I can't go home to them.

[video]

[thinkbrave]

( A dry laugh, if such a thing is possible. More countries, huh? ) Does it make it easier, do you think?

Oz, England. That old lot? ( Commonwealth... represent?)

[video]

[welljustwatchme]

I'd say so, yes. Because my sister makes me sleep inside, instead of with the bears, and my mother makes sure I keep myself looking proper. And those are silly little things, really, but this is the most days in a row I've seen another Nation every day since the last World War. I feel bad for liking it, but it gives me a whack'a normal in the midst of all this weirdness.

[She cracks a little grin.] Yeah, British Empire meetups are fun. I haven't seen Oz and New Zealand in... years, I think. Decades since I last went for a walk with our little Kiwi. My best friend, though, is Cuba. Even though America hates her, 'cause she's a communist.

[video]

[thinkbrave]

Makes sense. I feel like having things back to normal... I'd rather they were actually normal, instead of this weird limbo. ( pause... ) You make a habit of cuddling bears, usually?

( A quiet snort. ) This feels like the sort of thing my history teacher would come up with to make us engage in class more. ( She shakes her head. ) Kiwis aren't doing too bad, lately. They've been going above and beyond in the war effort to help us out.

( ... they also thought it was a good idea to send some teenagers back into the warzone to help out more, but not everyone is perfect, right? :| )

[sheroic]

I want Japan to be here! Canada's here, though, so I guess it's OK. Because I know I can protect them both if anything happens!

[thinkbrave]

Oh. Are you another... ( ... politically organized body of people under a single government? ) uh. Friend of Maggie's?

But if they're not here, it means you don't have to protect them from whatever they could run into in this place, right? They might be safer... back home.

[sheroic]

I'm her sister!

But I'm not at home, so they definitely can't be safe there! What could they do without me?

[thinkbrave]

Oh. ... Hi. I'm, uh, Ellie.

( Oh. It.. feels like she talking to a mockery of herself. I mean, she was about to call that egotistical and then... well.

But she's different. This is just a weird... country. Person. )

Maybe it'll be good for them to give a crack at being independent?