< Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) | Sol Invictus Logs | For Once I Wish I Was Thirteen >
Spring is let into the white room by Zahara, bearing with him a tray of cookies and milk.
Innocence Innocence is huddled in one corner, looking a little frazzled from her whole experience.
Innocence Fierce Red Star, on the other hand, is sleeping the sleep of the (un)just on his table.
Spring "Innocence. How are you doing?"
Spring "I am sorry to have left you in here."
Innocence Innocence looks up at Spring with some concern. "It's... not very nice in here," she says.
Spring "No, I am afraid not."
Spring "I can take you somewhere a little nicer, if you promise not to cause any trouble."
Innocence Innocence looks up, and blinks. "I can... I can do that."
Spring "Please do so." Spring nods kindly.
Spring has, in his other hand, a plain white robe, which he hands her.
Innocence **(cut that)
Innocence Innocence picks herself up. She's wearing a white sundress of Zahara's that they had given her, the better to get rid of Loss' horrible old outfit, but even Zahara's clothes are a bit big for her.
Innocence "Where... are we going?"
Spring "I am considering that question as we speak."
Spring "For now, let us at least find someplace with more light."
Spring gestures politely towards the door.
Innocence Innocence steps lightly out of the white room, and does not explode in a shower of Essence-laden death in the moments afterwards. She looks up and down the hallway with a certain amount of curiosity.
Spring leads her towards a nearby courtyard or tea garden or something.
Innocence There is, oddly enough, a tea garden not too far distant from the dungeon, and Innocence walks out into it with perhaps even a bit of delight at the feeling of fresh grass on her bare feet.
Spring smiles, also finding it pleasant, and places the tray down on a nearby table, offering Innocence a cookie and a glass of milk.
Innocence She takes a cookie with (relative) abandon, but only nibbles on it very slowly, in tiny bites. "Mmmm."
Spring "So."
Spring "Please tell me about yourself. To begin with, do you have a name besides Innocence?"
Innocence She thinks for a moment, and then shakes her head. "...no."
Spring "Mm."
Spring "Please tell me the first thing you remember."
Innocence She finishes her cookie and reaches over for the milk. "Well, do you mean... remember or... REMEMBER?"
Spring "Can you clarify your request for clarification?"
Innocence "The first thing I remember is the light hurting my face," she says, right before chugging half a glass of milk. "But I... remember things before that. Hazy, unclear. I... think I mentioned some of them to you, when we were... first talking."
Spring "You did, yes. They were not very specific, I am afraid. You have no more precise memories?"
Spring smiles, his question not pressing or piercing, but gentle.
Innocence "It's all very blurry," she says. "And I don't.... I don't really like them," she says, and visibly shudders slightly. "I try not to think about it too much."
Spring "Please, do not stress yourself. You have been through very much."
Spring "Do you know what Essence is?"
Innocence "I... do. I think," she says.
Spring "Can you use it?"
Innocence "I..." She blinks. "I haven't tried."
Spring "Would you like to?"
Innocence "I think I would," she says. "What... do I need to do?"
Spring "Hm."
Innocence "...how did you learn to do it?"
Spring "I tried very hard."
Spring "I strove with all my might to become a hero, and it was given to me, on the third day of my ordeal."
Spring "That is not necessarily how it normally works, but trying very hard does seem to be a consistent theme."
Spring "So. Try." Spring's eyes are bright, and purple.
Innocence adorably bites her lip. "Hmmm," she says. "I guess I should try really hard, then." She selects a small clementine from elsewhere on the table, places it at the very center, and looks up to Spring for approval.
Spring nods to her expectantly.
Innocence Innocence tenses one eye much tighter than the other and stares intently at the tangerine.
Innocence Her hand grips the side of the table and begins to shake, not enough to see but enough to cause the entire table to begin a subtle jostling motion as her grip grows tighter and her expression becomes even more crazed.
Innocence She is doing this, as Thirteen suddenly realizes that the result is apparently going to surprise him.
Spring blinks, and abruptly becomes somewhat better defended.
Spring ::Zahara, I feel it only polite to warn you that there may be some sort of mess in the tea garden nearest the dungeon quite soon.::
zahara :: ...Do I need to come down there?::
Spring ::I hope not.::
Innocence Very, very suddenly, there is an instantaneous burst; the tangerine explodes outward at speeds almost impossible for even the moderately-trained Exalt's eye to see, and Innocence leaps backwards out of her chair with a girlish shriek.
Spring abruptly leans so far back in his chair that he is nearly horizontal, letting the fruit blow past him, and then rocks back up, swaying slightly.
Spring "What is wrong?"
Innocence "I..." She looks at the table where the tangerine was. "That surprised me!"
Spring "Yes. It would have surprised me as well, were that possible."
Spring "What did you do to it?"
Innocence "I'm... not sure, actually." She looks around, seeing the tiny, woeful, far-flung pieces of tangerine that have wound up at the various ends of the tea garden. "I looked at it, I focused as hard as I could... At first it didn't seem like anything was happening, but finally, at the end, it was like... all of a sudden something went free, and this feeling came... pouring out..."
Spring "Interesting."
Spring "Do you think you could do it again?"
Innocence "...do we have another tangerine?"
Spring calmly spits one up and sets it down on the table.
Innocence Innocence begins to focus again with the same scrunched-up, asymmetrical expression. This time, it takes just a little over half as long to explode a tangerine.
Spring "This is a good beginning."
Spring "Can you do this with things that are...not tangerines?"
Spring frowns slightly as he considers her Essence patterns, but smooths it out again.
Innocence Look as he might, Spring can't see the normal evidence -- bright, streaking, heavily-flavored Essence -- that should fall behind something like this; just the simple basics: white light at her forehead, and energetic explosion at the tangerine.
Innocence "I think so!"
Spring "Excellent."
Spring "Would you...like to learn more about Essence?"
Spring "I could teach you."
Innocence "I would," she says, clearly enjoying this process.
Spring "I will, then."
Spring "Please promise you will not explode any people or valuable objects."
"I think I can do that," she says, and giggles.
Tags: (:tags :) < Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) | Sol Invictus Logs | For Once I Wish I Was Thirteen >
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