𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕥. - ada's slowatus toplevel time

[bleedinghare]

Who: adeline & you!
When: early-septeril
Where: housing districts/shopping districts!
What: ada has been doing a scare & isolate after her first full moon. can you catch her?
Warnings: tba


𝕞𝕪, 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟!

Certainly it’s been some time, but what had simply been an absent face amongst Geardagas’s crowds had become more of a fully realized absence― the frilled curtain that sat in the little window of her flat sitting still for the whole of several weeks, the brass knocker left un-knocked, the knob left un-turned. In the day, it seemed simply vacant.

In the eve, however, its state was more telling: a lamp lit in that same little window, the occasional vague, passing shape. Perhaps it was your own curiosity that brought you here, or the curiosity of another you’ve decided to carry along― reaching to mar the dust on the brass knocker with a gentle hand, or perhaps a less gentle one. Regardless, it takes several and a bit of frustration before the gilded light behind the curtain flickers, before the lace stirs to reveal a flushed cheek, a bit of downy fluff. Seen, and in so being startled, the shape darts from the window; you’re left on the stoop, feeling rather jilted in the air of an evening just beginning to cool.

Do you dare to tread on what’s polite and press on? For the braver, might you try the doorknob― or braver still, the window latch?

𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕤!

―Gerardagas’s evening markets were generally a jovial time: lanterns lit, flickering soft orange under the fine, heavily-woven canopies strung between the little stalls, with Monster and Witch of every shape, size, and forme bridging the gap between. The amount of beings made for a bit of a noisy affair, but once immersed, the din smoothed over into more of a white noise― occasionally parted with music, with the calling of a shopkeep. Aside from the shopping itself, the evening market seems to have become a social affair, with food and drink and chatter, naturally; filled with faces to recognize from all of Aefenglom’s reaches.

Perhaps you keep to yourself― there to see to one or more of the vendors― or perhaps you’re there simply for mulled wine and talk, interspersing quips through the crowd, weaving in-and-out― regardless, however, of whether or not you make yourself seen willingly, you are seen.

Looking up from your place in the crowd, or alongside a stall, you catch a glimpse of a little hand wrapped around one of the posterns that keep the canopies aloft― no, a glove, a widely-blinking gilded eye, an equally golden curl peering out from beneath a rather suspicious looking shroud. Seeing herself being seen, the creature starts― and takes off into the crowd, the breeze of her speed catching on her hood, revealing two white ears and a stream of curls.

―if you aim to follow, are you quick enough to fight through the crowd? If you aim to confront, you might be able to head her off if you duck between the stalls…

𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕!

SORRY I PUT THIS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT FIRST anything is a ok but if you want to talk about it hit me up on discord or plurk!!! this is mostly just to get me back into the swing of things and keep me relevant lol

Comments

she runs

[plasticasshole]

[Connor is no stranger to chasing down people, and he recognises that glimpse of a face he sees. Taking off after her is an easy choice, because he's been worried about her.]

Ada, wait!

[He vaults over obstacles and slips between people, calculating the best path to catch her as he goes. And when he inevitably catches up, he grabs her arm and stops her.]

Why are you running?

nyoom

[bleedinghare]

She didn't really have a chance― the response came from fear, not from logic; if it had been, she may have reconsidered, given who and what she was up against. Pulled to a stop with a half-hearted whimper, Ada's hood dislodges itself once and for all: revealing the length of white ears that move to slope in shame, mismatched eyes glimmering with what might grow to tears, face going hot.

"―you're so fast," Ada huffs pitiably, her normally eager eye-contact absent. Instead, it dances over his head, near his collar, catches on the lanterns in the distance. "let go― don't look."

The newly-born monster doesn't have much fight in her, though― a pathetic little tug, that's all. Eventually, she takes to staring at her shoes instead.

[plasticasshole]

[Connor peers at her despite her protests, at the droopy ears and the golden eye.]

You've changed.

[Stating the obvious, but...]

Why don't you want me to look? Where have you been?

[bleedinghare]

Ada seems to shrink away from his gaze, gloved fingertips finding the edge of her hood.

"―at home, that's all― nowhere important." As she moves to nibble on her lip, Connor can notice the more prominently shaped incisors― sharp enough to make her lisp, ever so slightly. "And how could I go out so― indisposed?"

That same lip begins to quiver beneath her newly-shaped rabbit teeth. When she chooses to look up at Connor for the first time, it's met with the motion of her shrinking back into her darkly-dyed hood.

Her voice is a squeak, caught tightly in her throat. "Why, I'm― I'm hideous."

[plasticasshole]

[Oh, oh no. Connor shakes his head, looking down at her earnestly.]

I don't think you're capable of being hideous. I promise, you look fine. Have you been hiding all this time?

[bleedinghare]

Shrinking into her hood, Ada gives a little sniffle― a tear threatens on the lashes of her gilded eye.

"Of course I have been― what else am I to do? I've become a proper beast― a Monster!"

Feeling tears begin to stain her face, she rolls her eyes; blinking them back as if her life depended on it, only working to make her more upset in how quickly she's become upset.

"―and you must think me so vain! I would have been declared socially dead if I were anywhere but here!" In a huff, Ada re-ties the ribbon to her cloak, effectively sealing herself in the safety of her thick velvet hood.

[plasticasshole]

[Connor goes to pull her into a hug, shaking his head.]

Being a Monster doesn't have to be a bad thing. And I still think you're very pretty.

[He pats her shoulder.]

You're used to living life a certain way, and it's not surprising that adjusting here is difficult. But I can assure you, nobody here will judge you for what you've become.

she runs!

[firewalled]

[Rich only catches a glimpse of the woman, watching him as he chats with one of the vendors, but even that glimpse is enough. He does a double take, and then jerks into action once her hood falls.]

Ada?

[That has to be her. Those curls and that eye... but those ears give him pause.

He runs after her as quickly as he can. He's short, but he can move his legs quickly if he wants to.]

Ada, wait up!

[bleedinghare]

Why did they all have to chase? Her newfound transformation had given her speed, but it had also made her incredibly skittish― sending ice into her blood, freezing her in the crowd, a little huddling figure fumbling about to don her hood with shaking fingers.

"―eep!" Ada gives a little squeak, in hearing Rich's step come up behind her― turning a fearful, gleaming golden eye up at him, her voice newly-made mousy and small. "Oh― please, please, don't look! Forget what you've seen―!"

[firewalled]

Rich knows, very quickly, what his presence has done to her, so he does slow his steps, holding his hands in towards himself so she isn't frightened he might accidentally claw her.

"Why don't you want me to look, Ada? It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you..."

Even if her twitching ears are baiting an instinct he is desperate to ignore.

[bleedinghare]

She pulls her hood back over her head, mostly-obscuring her soft ears― though her golden eye still winks in the light. For a girl once so confident in a crowd, she seems absolutely humiliated.

"―isn't it awful? I've no place in any court anymore― save for the fool," Pitifully, her blinking seems to speed as she pushes back against tears. "I look like a magical mishap!"

[firewalled]

"Ada... are you seriously worried about that? Jesus, I mean, if you think you look like a mishap, what does that make me?" He takes a careful step towards her, taking care not to move too suddenly.

"You look fine... I like the way your eye looks. It's kind of taking my breath away, to be honest. And the ears are super cute." Is he helping at all? It's hard to say. He doesn't know if hearing a few compliments are going to do enough to distract from what she's been telling herself.

[bleedinghare]

―and then the tears are dry, reaching for his arm, a glove clutching at his newly-scaled wrist. "Oh, how dare you say such a thing to me! I won't hear a word of criticism from you― fetching as ever, you are!"

Adeline is taking her hand away, then― seeming to recoil as she realized her own hypocisy, ears sloping beneath her hood. When she looks up at Rich, she's taken a kind of sheepishness in the place of fear.

"You needn't flatter me, Rich..." Even as she says so, a bit of colour has come into her cheek. "it's― the difference of it all, from my home, from the vain place I knew."

Ada pulls a tautly-curled little hand to her mouth, brow furrowed in consideration. "I thought myself quite capable in the hands of change― until it came for me, that is. When I can't cope, what else is there to do but... hide?"

Much, of course. She would call the instinct new, but all she knows is hiding when a smile isn't enough.

my, how you've grown!

[fromjapan]

In light of recent events, it has occurred to the SQUIP that, despite its best efforts, and despite the strange wrenching in its chest thinking about this fact... things with Connor may not last as long as it had hoped. It's done its best to use magic and willpower to shield those thoughts from him, to protect him from hearing it over the Bond, but the SQUIP itself is acutely aware of just how sour things could go...

... which is what brings it to the home of another Monster, one it's kept in the back of its mind for some time now.

"Adeline?" It knocks politely at her door, and then pauses, waiting for a response.

None comes.

It waits a moment, looks the door over; it knocks again, this time raising its voice a bit more, shifting the tone to one of concern.

"Adeline! Are you in there?"

It allows several minutes to pass in silence.

Concern. It has to believably sell it.

"Adeline-- are you okay? No one's been able to find you for days..."

After another silent pause, it shifts its weight to its other leg idly, and sighs.

"I'm coming in!"

And with that, it reaches out to try the doorknob... which is locked. It rolls its eyes, and then reaches up to pull pins from its hair, smoothing the dark locks back into place the best it can; and then it leans down, carefully inserting it into the keyhole.

It's only a matter of seconds before the door clicks open.

"Adeline?" It calls, pushing the door open and slipping the hairpin back into its place, glancing around her home in search of signs of life.

[bleedinghare]

― !!

Gracious, they were breaking in! She hadn't been able to catch enough of their shape to determine who it might be, but this certainly struck her as more of a foe notion than one of friend― huddling in a frightened heap behind her chaise, covering her mouth with her hands.

―the voice, though― that she recognizes, both fluffy ears revealing her at once in their perking up. Adeline peers from behind the chaise, her blonde brows knit over her mismatched eyes,

"―I thought you bold, Gregory, not audacious!" With a gasp, she seems to notice her ears― pulling them down with her hands, a little upset huff that urged her further into petulance. "I haven't called for company! I don't want any!"

[fromjapan]

"Adeline, everyone's worried about you. You can't just disappear and assume no one will notice."

It's exasperated as it approaches her; but it pauses a bit when it sees those ears, its head tilting to the side inquiringly. So that's why she's been hidden away for so long; her Monster traits have begun to set in, and she's afraid, even self-conscious over the changes.

"Why have you been hiding from everyone?"

[bleedinghare]

"―worried― what for―?"

the SQUIP is met with a half-fearful, half-sorrowful, wholly-pitiful gilded eye gleaming with tears. She feels seen, too seen― she doesn't even bother to shrink back into her hood, fluffy white ears simply sloping against the side of her head as she begins to blush, stifling tears with two notably-longer incisors in her plush lip.

"I can't go out there," She replies weakly, a huddled little heap on the floor. "why, look at me! I look so― foolish, so― and they don't understand! They expect me to live! What will they say?!"

A tear falls, bitter and heated against the flush of her cheek. They didn't know the game of manners she played once more, but perhaps the SQUIP will have a bit more insight― naive to that as she might be.

[fromjapan]

"We didn't know what happened to you."

The expression on its handsome features softens, the tension in its shoulders releasing as she dissolves into a tearful confession. It goes to her, sinks down to meet her there on the floor; it reaches out, gently brushing a tear from her cheek.

"Adeline," it says, its voice soft, "There are many people here just like you. What you're going through is normal here, I promise."

[bleedinghare]

"It's all they say," She continues, sniffling softly― though the warmth of her flush cheek presses into its hand as it brushes there. "it's all they know, yes? But I don't― I don't know, all I know is my home, and all I know is how my home might treat me, will treat me, if I ever go home!"

Adeline gives a sob, something soft and broken and repressed all at once, clasping two gloves over her mouth to keep herself from making a complete fool of herself.

"―they don't know what pressures of perfection there are, there were― what I know," Ada murmurs, giving a little shake of her golden head, of two soft ears. When she looks up at it, the glimmer in her gilded eye and the perpetual moisture of its blue twin seem to beg for understanding.

She runs!

[hearthebell]

[As a rule, L hates crowds. Festivals and even typical markets are difficult to maneuver, no matter how carefully he prepares, and if not for the SQUIP's suggestions nudging him toward more people, more chances to gain charisma and influence, he would likely be home curled up with a book or a slice of cake. No such luck; he has an assignment, and it's to mingle.

A flash of gold catches his eye. A curl, a set of wide eyes, a face he's seen before. He knows he has; he doesn't forget a face. And it's been a bit since he's seen her; it's odd, considering the SQUIP's immediate approval when they'd first met, the decent rapport they'd established with a dance. Where has she been? He has questions, but moving targets aren't great for questions, unfortunately.]

Ada...?

[His voice doesn't really carry that far. Not when he's uncertain, not when the jostle and press of other bodies is so distracting and insistent. Out of desperation, he uses the forcefield shell he wears sometimes in an attempt to maybe slow her down a bit. The percussive force of the thing actually knocks a cart right into her, burying the poor Puca in an avalanche of wares spilling from their perches and shelves.

Perhaps he overdid it. It is, perhaps, a bit of a habit of his.]

[bleedinghare]

Before she can get too much of a start― Puca are quick creatures, but it's early in her transformation, so her speed isn't too heightened― Adeline is overcome by a wave of weighty fabric, knocking her flat beneath several ornately-embroidered rugs. After an initial moment of heart-gripping, lagomorph-blooded terror, she pops up, pushing upward to free herself; peering through the row of tassels, blowing the intruding ones out of her eyes with a pursed little mouth.

"―you!" She gasps, moreso whines, a furrow in her brow― and a flush of humiliated tears, rolling her eyes to blink them back most furiously.

"You've made me skin my knee― I'm sure my stocking is in ribbons!"

[hearthebell]

[L's all stiff, frozen angles, because there's no plausible deniability. He's obviously the responsible party, here, and it straight-up looks like he attacked her and she had every reason to flee from him.

He winces, approaching, hoping that he doesn't draw too much ire of the surrounding people. While monsters are more likely to be distrusted, Adeline is also uniquely sweet-faced and sympathetic. No one would see the evidence of a grievous injustice written on her innocent features and believe that she was in the wrong.]

It wasn't my intention...

[It's a sort of shitty apology, all things considered, but it is the truth.]

How can I help? I'll do my best... I just can't heal your knee; if I tried, you might actually lose your leg.

[Also the truth. He's kind of useless, isn't he?]

[bleedinghare]

"―oh, don't touch me!" Adeline replies sharply, less in reply to his doubts towards his magical finesse and moreso at the very thought of accepting his help. With an affected little huff, she begins to try and wrestle her way out of the pile of thick, ornately-embroidered rugs and the jungle of tassles they've created for her to maneuver.

Given their weight, she has to stop part of the way through to even take a breath― offering him a rather comical expression; perhaps intended as a cutting scowl, the result being more of a pout. "Are you quite happy? You've caught me, and in so doing you've humiliated us both!"

Pointedly, Adeline pulls up the hood that had been hiding her earlier, shrinking a bit sulkily into its hiding embrace. Though he can't see much once she's done so, he can certainly see her little mouth shift from a pout to a softer kind of expression, pressing her lips together. "―oh, I'm sorry― I shouldn't speak so coarsely."

[hearthebell]

[The shopkeep immediately begins fussing about hoisting the rugs back into place, having not seen the cause of their violent displacement. If anything, he seems to assume that the swiftly running Puca had just careened into to stand on her own. Some individuals might see it as an opportunity to jump right in and start helping; not L, so much. The rugs are heavy, most of the magic he knows would only make them heavier, and it's doubtful that he could move them with much efficacy.]

I'm not humiliated...

[Even if he really should be. He seems to think this is some kind of a reassurance.]

Why were you running? Is someone chasing you?

[If she hadn't been, he wouldn't have had to knock a bunch of rugs onto her to stop her! Also, it would be good to know if someone armed is approaching them from behind, in general.]

[bleedinghare]

"I am running," the Puca hisses as she hefts herself up amidst the mess of carpeting, "from you!" She has half a mind to call him daft for it, but swallows her flush and flare with a frown; instead, she puts her energy into a half-helpful attempt to sort the fallen rugs, colouring in embarrassment in front of the shopkeep.

A touch sharply, Adeline cuts her head in Linden's direction to speak in a hushed huff. "―you're intelligent enough to forget, aren't you? So forget you've seen me."

Regardless of how miffed she sounds, there's no denying the amount of colour in her fair face― or the flopsy little ear peaking from beneath her hood, which she makes an attempt to tuck out of sight. Visibly― in the way she's drawn herself into this shroud― it isn't about her, but moreso her newfound changes.