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

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.

[fromjapan]

It has never occurred to the SQUIP before that the changes endured by the people here-- that the change that it endured, forced into a body of its own-- may be permanent, but... it does stand to reason.

It files that away, decides it will fully unpack what it may mean for it later. For now, it's focused on Adeline.

"... Adeline," it says softly, "There are people here who practice magic, who can change the shape of their bodies, or the bodies of others... what if they could undo the changes you've undergone?"

[bleedinghare]

The taste of its words is bitter as it settles in her thoughts― why, she may have thought of covering her imperfections in her homeworld, but never of outright transforming herself.

"...perhaps,"Adeline considers its words carefully, feeling more than a little troubled in conscience. "but― to defy fate― perhaps it is simply my burden to bear, you see. As you've said, it's normal; why, Connor has even called it cute, but..."

She frowns. "I suppose I'm just adjusting― with some difficulty, it might seem. How else is one supposed to react, gaining a tail? Ears, a mismatched eye? And my teeth! It's been enough to destroy my confidence..."

And the hunger. Her stomach doesn't rumble, but something feels so― funny, consuming, craving. She holds her tongue on that, though, lest she be understood, lest it come off as less than ladylike...

[fromjapan]

"I understand," it says, gently cupping her cheek-- a soothing gesture, and it leans in, though not enough to seem too forward. "Your entire life, you've had perfection expected from you, but here, everything is just so different."

It drops that hand from her cheek, instead taking one of her little hands in its own, her skin porcelain fair against its warm bronze.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

[bleedinghare]

The words seem to spill from her lips― feeling almost charmed, almost enchanted simply by touch; in this moment, the hunger seems to abate, touched-starvedness and craving for bond dimmed in the fitting of her hand in its own. Her gilded eye seems to glimmer.

"―why― please, ser, yes."

[fromjapan]

"Before I arrived here," it says-- leaning in, softening its voice as though it truly were telling a secret, "I didn't have a body of my own, at all. I was a device, created by humans... not unlike Connor, but without even my own body. This place changes the people it brings here, even those who weren't people at all, at first, and adjusting to that fact can be very difficult."

[bleedinghare]

"I... how strange you are."

So she says, but the curiosity bubbles in her belly just as it does with Connor― an open, quietly fascinated expression on the softness of her features, something bright winking in her gleaming eye. She can't discern why, but they two don't feel like strangers.

"―this place― it went so far as to gift you a body? To make you a person?" As she speaks, she seems to study it more closely― a little glove raises, brushes along its jawline, or very nearly. It has stubble, a shadow, as if it's freshly shaven. "You are different, then― different than he."

Ada tilts her head, a soft ear peaking in fascination.

"Are you real?"

[fromjapan]

That is... a complicated question to answer, even just in a way that would satisfy her curiosity. It raises a hand to lightly press against the back of her little gloved one where it hovers against its jaw, smiling faintly.

"That depends on what you define as being 'real.' I'm self-aware and conscious... and physically here, in front of you."

[bleedinghare]

"―have you got a heart?" Adeline inquires quietly, curiously, allowing herself to smooth a soft thumb over the sharp of its jaw when it presses her nearer. "If cut, would you bleed? Can you eat? Do you― breathe?"

Perhaps morbid, but she has meaning― if it were mechanical before this place, who's to say it isn't mechanical now? The only machine she knows is Connor; is the man in front of her a breathing body, or something more akin to a mechanism with a mind?

―she seems to catch herself, flushing― pulling her hand away, giving a sheepish little laugh. "My curiosity is enough to kill me― forgive me, ser, for prying― why, for staring!"

[fromjapan]

With a slight smirk, it reaches out to again take her little hand, lifting its chin to allow her fingers to press at the point of its pulse there; and sure enough, it does seem to have a heart, if the steady beating beneath her fingertips is any indication.

"I do all of those things," it says, gazing at her from its own mismatched eyes, its smile almost catlike as it watches her. "My body is entirely human. My mechanical parts-- my true self..."

It lifts a hand to indicate a place at the base of its skull, on the right side of its head.

"... are in here. All this place has done is give me a human body to occupy."

[bleedinghare]

Adeline is silent as she listens― why, as she feels, an expression of soft wonder on her features as she smooths her velour fingertips over its jugular, over the thrum of blood that pushes back against her fingertips. As it motions, her eyes follow, barely even thinking to nod in understanding.

"How― unreal," She murmurs in quiet awe, changing her touch to moreso cup the side of its neck, as if savouring the pulse therein. "a life filled with magic I have lead, and you and your kin are something entirely new to me."

A construct? Even still, the words don't fit. Magical, perhaps, but not alchemical― mechanical, a machine with a mind, a body, a heart. In the pool of her tummy, curious, insatiable butterflies begin to stir.

[fromjapan]

It smiles at her, allowing her hand to rest there, its own closing over hers gently. Funny... when it first arrived, it hated being made aware of the beat of its heart. It was nothing more than a constant reminder of its state of being trapped, locked within this body, alone.

But now it's no longer alone, and this body has given it many interesting new opportunities... one of which it's gazing at now, as though admiring her, a subtle, sweet look.

"There's much more magic here that I doubt you've ever seen before," it says, "And I could show you sometime, if you want. I am a Witch, after all."

[bleedinghare]

Adeline lets her hand trail from its throat― down to its chest, searching for the same there, finding it― regardless of the potential for a faux pas in so doing, simply fascinated with the crafted thrumming behind its clothes. His words, however, draw her attention again; she lifts her hand, a spare splash of colour rising into her cheek:

"―is that so...? Before the mirror, I knew my own magic well, but now―" Adeline glances down at her lap, ears sloping against her head. It was a strange exchange― but it led her to wonder what it may have meant, what skills it might keep secret.

"I felt the pull of it― your magic. You feel... familiar to me, ser."

[fromjapan]

"And you to me. It's as though we've met before, maybe in another world..." It smiles winsomely at her, and catches her hand, gently.

"I'm glad we found each other again, if that's the case."

It dips its head down to press a light, gentlemanly kiss to the back of it, its starkly mismatched eyes dropping closed.

[bleedinghare]

"―thank goodness for it―" Ada breathes, shaking her head, colouring in her cheek as it kisses her hand. "this place is unlike anything I've known, anything I've seen― why, look at me, look at you..."

She doesn't draw her hand away; instead, a kind of trouble veil falls over her features, catching her lip in her teeth. "This place, its people― I find myself both frightened and fascinated with it all."

Lowering her eyes, she swallows softly.

"Were I as capable as I had once been― had I kept my magic― I might not have such a reason to fear. But this place, and these changes..." Ada frowns, her ears lowering. "―it's made me afraid, almost as if by nature. Skittish, even."

[fromjapan]

Ah. It lifts a hand to indicate her ears, sweeping along their shape-- it doesn't touch, not without her permission.

"But of course. It chose a prey animal for you... you must have gained some of a rabbit's instincts." It tilts its head at her inquiringly, turning to glance at the house around them. "... do you live here alone? I'm sure that must make it difficult to feel safe, even in your own home, when you're in such a strange, new place."

[bleedinghare]

"―what a cruel joke that is!" Ada replies with a little pout, folding her arms over her breast, those same ears flopping over in mock-defeat. "Do whatever powers that govern this realm think me so― fragile? So vulnerable? Pah!"

The irony escapes her, however― especially in how her mismatched eyes widen, in perfect agreement to its thought as her body on instinct takes up a small tremble. "You're― quite right, ser, but what else was I to do?"

[fromjapan]

"I'm not sure there's any one conscious thing in control of how things work here. What you become seems to be chosen at random." It smirks at her, however, giving one more little gesture to her ears before it drops its hand away. "But at least the ears are very... becoming on you."

And then she asks that question, and, ah-hah... an opening, maybe. If L would be open to something of the sort...

"Many people here share their homes with a roommate," it says. "It offers a few benefits, including strength in numbers-- there's always someone there to watch the door, so you could feel more secure."

[bleedinghare]

Ada flushes, but it lacks coyness― pouting somewhat as the ears in question droop, feeling a bit patronized despite its intent. As charming as they might be to others, all she can see is silliness!

She shakes it, however, curling a little hand beneath her chin. "―I... see, but I couldn't possibly intrude on someone in such a manner! I haven't had a room-mate since finishing school, and that was nearly eighty years ago..."

Elves.

[fromjapan]

Eighty years... that surprises it, though its outward reaction is mild. If there are other machines here, it stands to reason that there could be other, much more strange types of people and creatures here as well.

"Well, what if someone were to offer? Say... someone who already knows they enjoy your company?" It smirks knowingly at her, even as it waves a hand in the air in a play-coy gesture.