tushanshu | o1 ☽ video;

Entry tags:

o1 ☽ video;

[Hey Foreigners there is a cutie brunette on your screen right now. She’s tapping her chin a little thoughtfully, eyeing the camera] Okay, so I get the whole other realm, hi-you’re-on-a-turtle-and-also-there-are-computers thing. Which, weird – seriously, who expects the afterlife to be so high tech? Also, sorry about the possession thing, that must've sucked. But I have something a little more important to ask about right now.

[She leans back and gestures at herself. She’s wearing a green dress that, while it looks good on her, isn’t exactly appropriate for every day wear] Does anyone have clothes I could borrow? Pants, especially pants. You have no idea how long it’s been since I even saw a pair of jeans.

Other than that, does anyone know if there’s a dance club around here or something? I had a look around myself, but maybe someone who’s been here longer can help. There’s gotta be some place teenagers can go to let loose, right? [She winks, and reaches forward to turn off the camera when something else appears to occur to her]

Oh yeah! I’m A – Catty, I’m Catty. [She holds her hand up in a Vulcan salute] Greetings to my fellow inter-dimensional travellers. Especially those of you with pants.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Vanessa pulls back then, hands on Catty's shoulder as she gives a bitter laugh. She doesn't mean to, but it's there all the same.] I arrived on my birthday. No Choice. All my memories, all my powers. [Abandoned. Abandoned by everyone.]

[Catty frowns, reaching up and cupping Vanessa's cheek lightly. Her fingers slide up, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Vanessa's ear] Did you know what you were going to choose?

[Another sniffle, then a shrug as Vanessa's hands fall away first, and then she takes a step back.] No. [How could she be expected to choose? How?] I still haven't really decided yet.

[Except Catty is stepping forward with her again. Sorry, she's not done hugging you.] Then this is a good thing. You have time to think about it.

[Oh. Well, okay then. Hugging is good and normal and comforting. Vanessa can deal with this.] I had time to think about it before, and I didn't. Who knows how long we'll be here?

[c:!!] A while, hopefully. [What can she say? Catty doesn't want Vanessa's last memory of her to be her disappearing in a flash of light. She's quiet for a long moment, about ninety nine percent sure she has her answer, but still needing to ask] Chris...?

I hope not. [You're not going to like what you'll hear about this place, Catty. A frown as she pulls back again.] I told you, it's been just me from our world.

[She gives a sad little shrug] I'll take what I can get. [She bites her lip, looking apologetic] I know, I know. I just had to ask. To make sure.

[The look on Vanessa's face mirrors Catty's.] He's probably waiting for you, whenever the Emperor or Tu Vishan sends our souls back. That's what Stanton said. That you two would find each other again.

[Catty's relationship with Stanton has grown closer, all things considered, but he's still a grumpy old man, so she makes a face] Since when could he tell the future? [She rubs her arm a little awkwardly] I guess we have to hope, right? ANd I have you here. That's something.

I don't know if he was telling the future so much as... Giving me something to hold on to. [She kind of fell apart right then and there. Stanton gave her a reason to get up and go.] There's nothing else we can do but hope.

It's what we were made for! [The topic is making her feel almost sick with grief, so she slams on her smile and moves it right along] Anyway. How...do you feel about giving me a tour of this place? I mean, I got the general idea from the kedan, but I'd rather have you show me.

Yeah, I guess so. [Except, you know. Technically Catty is a traitor, and also dead. So Vanessa's really the only one still.] But I look terrible. And there's so much to talk about, and... [She sighs and smiles back.] Let me just wash my face, hold on.

[It's the kind of thought with her name attached that's impossible to ignore, but nothing on Catty's face shows that she heard it. She reaches out and tugs lightly on a lock of Vanessa's hair] Shut up, you always look perfect. [Waving her off] Go, go! I'll be here.

[Vanessa makes a face, batting Catty's hand away.] No, I don't. [But she runs off to the bathroom to wash her face and stare at her reflection for a few seconds. What if she goes back out there, and Catty's gone? That's not something she thinks she can handle right now. Not again. It takes her another moment before she comes back out to the living room, brushing her hand along Catty's arm.

To prove that she's real.] Okay, let's go. [She tugs on Catty's elbow, pulling her toward the door and outside.]

[The urge to just bury her face in her hands and start crying almost overwhelms her as Vanessa leaves the room. But Catty stands there instead, stock still and focussing on breathing. She only moves when she hears her friend preparing to come back into the room, and that's when her muscles relax, everything natural again]

A girl called Annabeth said there were clothes in Earth sector? These are cute, but I don't want to steal all of your clothes.

[Why is she even doing this? This isn't normal. They're not normal. There's so much to say to Catty. About her anger and her fear, about what happened after she died, and before she died, and what's happening on Tu Vishan. Shopping is not important, not in the long run.

But it's the only way they know how to cope. The only way they've ever been able to keep going back home. Stick to routine. Go out, have fun, dance, shop, pretend.

Maybe that's not been the right thing for them all this time.] Yeah, but they're not exactly free clothes, and rations make everything more expensive.

[Catty shrugs easily. She can hear Vanessa's worries like the other girl is speaking them aloud, but she doesn't address them at all. She'd rather not hear her best friend call her a traitor to her face, if it was all the same. Rather not deal with the fact that she's dead and on the back of a giant turtle. Shopping is fine]

I don't think I've ever found anything that is so expensive a couple of pretty girls can't find a way to get it.

[She glances at Catty with a slight smile, sighing loudly.] Yeah, well, the kedan don't particularly care how pretty we are, trust me. They don't really like us all that much. [Vanessa tugs Catty in the direction of the Earth Sector. She could do this walk blindfolded.] They're angry and upset, over the rations. It's easy for them to blame us.

Don't be so defeatist. It's not like there are only kedan here, right? [She follows Vanessa easily, but she can't stop herself scanning the area for potential threats. Recent paranoia dies really hard, apparently

She sighs a little] So no Planet Bang, huh?

[It's really weird to be the one in the position with all the information. Makes Vanessa feel useful, feel good.] Kedan and Foreigners. Those would be people like us. It's not defeatist; it's realistic. [There aren't a lot of store owners that are Foreigners, and even fewer who are tailors. And that still costs money. Vanessa barely makes enough juulan for herself.]

Nope, nothing. I don't think kedan understand the concept of clubs. [A beat.] There are bars. [Another long pause.] I sing at them sometimes.

I could use a little optimism, to be honest. [The words come out a little more forceful than she meant them to, but she forges onwards. Thankfully, something else her friend says as all kinds of distraction potential.] Um. Did Vanessa Cleveland just say she sings in bars?

I'm sorry. There's... [She remembers the spectre slipping inside of her body, the way they fought for control. The burns from the possessed kedan hands on her body. She bites her lip. Was that only a couple of days ago, really?] There's not a lot to be optimistic for around here. [It's not a paradise, not a vacation.

So she's happy for the distraction, blushing slightly.] Well, I needed some sort of job, you know? Can't really see myself working in the fields.

[Catty's lips open, but she feels Vanessa's memories. Behind the cheer, something like concern stirs.] What...happened?

[The distraction has been forgotten in the face of Vanessa getting hurt, oops]

The wreckage, the satellite... [Vanessa points to some of the pieces still scattered around the city as they walked.] There were these pods with like... Some sort of energy spirits. They attacked the city, possessed people. It was pretty bad. [A shrug, like it's no big deal. No need to be worried.]

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

Re: action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;