87

[perfektsymmetry]

[A) Crowe is out for a walk today, looking exhausted as he sometimes does. Nightmares have been back after the zombie incident, so he hasn't been sleeping well. He yawns as he casually tosses papers to people's houses... but they're not going where they should be. They might be heading through your window, into the garden or right for your head

Comments

B

[ooeeooahah]

[ Ilsa answers the door, but it looks like she ought to be in bed. ]

Hey, Calleo - come on in.

[perfektsymmetry]

[She looks about as good as he does, then.]

Hi Ilsa. A-Ah, I was coming to see how you fared with everything that happened... You look utterly exhausted.

[ooeeooahah]

[ She chuckles softly. ] Nice way to say I look like death on a cracker.

[ Her eyes flicker over the immaculate front lawn. The crater and tire marks have healed sometime in the past twenty-four hours. ]

Come on in, I've been doing some baking.

[ She leads him towards the kitchen, which smells of butter, caramelized sugar and spices. ]

[perfektsymmetry]

That makes two of us, I think. [He grins a little.]

Oh, really? Ah, maybe I should take some notes from you while I'm here.

[ooeeooahah]

You can at least taste test some things for me.

[ She has him sit at the table, with two cupcakes (devil's food and bourbon vanilla) and a glass of tea. ]

[perfektsymmetry]

I think I can handle that.

[He'll give them both a try, nodding in approval.] Yep. Notes. I need them.

[ooeeooahah]

Hmm. The basic cupcake is not too difficult.

[ Ilsa then gives Calleo a basic primer on cupcakes ((because the mun is lazy today)) and pulls him into helping out, because doing aids learning. ]

[perfektsymmetry]

[He pays careful attention. He's a better baker than a chef, so he's really trying hard to improve so he can at least be somewhat of a help in his house.]

I appreciate the help. Sometime when I get a chance to make them, I'll be sure to have you taste-test them. Though I can't guarantee they'll be as good as these.

[ooeeooahah]

Just takes practice, hon.

[ She spins out the barest thread of "willingness to listen" and gives him the silence to talk if he needs it. ]

[perfektsymmetry]

[He is quiet, as he helps clean up. It's clear something's on his mind, but he's wrestling with it. It seemed irrelevant and unnecessary to him, compared to all the problems facing them in Mayfield. But he's also still a teenager with silly teenager issues.]

Um. H-Hey. Can I ask your opinion on something?

[ooeeooahah]

Sure, Calleo. What's on your mind?

[perfektsymmetry]

[He avoids eye contact and continues tidying up, his voice a little flustered.]

Do you think, ah... that it's a bad idea to, u-um, date anyone while in Mayfield?

[ooeeooahah]

[ She sighs softly. ] No more than anywhere else, hon. Humans need the social contacts of friends and lovers. [ She rubs his shoulder. ] The same risks apply here. Back home, people die permanently, just like people get permanently droned here.

[perfektsymmetry]

R-Right, a-and there's also all the danger Mayfield puts us all in, and that e-everyone is forced into this bogus social roles, a-and I could still get turned down and all s-so I probably shouldn't over-think it like I am but I am.

B-Because I always do.

[He clears his throat, looking uncomfortable.]

Plus, once before there was someone, a-and he... He was permanently droned, only to be brought back with no memory of this place. A-and that was...

[Difficult. Embarrassing. Disheartening.]

[ooeeooahah]

[ She moves to rubbing his back, and threading a touch of "relax" into her minute projection. ] You need to let your head and heart cooperate, not let your head tell you all the bad things.

...and as difficult as it can be that he came back with no memory, it is this place, not... letting us track a stable pattern for returning people.

[ She avoids saying "Him trying to avoid someone by feigning memory loss", because that is not something she wants him to focus on. ]

[perfektsymmetry]

[He sighs, his shoulders slumping slightly.]

I-I know. But I lose friends here all the time. Good friends. Kay, Ren, Chizuko, Margot and Nadia, Massimo and so many others... I feel like it's inevitable with everyone I know here. It's hard getting attached to people to know that...