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[The time away from Deerington has definitely not improved Ariadne's skill with a camera. The feed immediately pops on too close to her face, more or less framing nothing but her gray eye. She quickly realizes her error and pulls it back, the feed shaking and rattling until she manages to steady it.

And there she is. The face of an idol. Or possibly someone familiar.]

Just to be clear, I'm not Padmé Amidala and I'm not Jane Foster.

[Her voice is light and airy, like a little, trilling bird. She offers the feed a sympathetic look, as if apologetic that she's neither of these women. She's heard so much about them. They seem pretty great.

Ariadne is...not as great.

But she clears her throat and continues.]

It's me, Ariadne. I...well. I'm sure everyone is confused. I know I am. And if you need to talk about it, I'm happy to listen.

But, uh, what I really wanted to say is that somehow, my orchard is here. All of my trees. And some of them even have fruit. So if you need something fresh to eat or...just something familiar, you're welcome to come spend some time with my trees.

I think I might start a garden. One that everyone could use. Someplace to think. I don't know...

[And she's lost in thought for a moment. Ariadne knows nothing about starting a business or anything. But how hard could it be?

After a moment, she shakes her head.]

I hope everyone is all right.

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[Ariadne, too, finds herself turning to Varian. He seems like a clever boy. And so far, the limits of his cleverness are proving somewhat nonexistent.

She's curious.

And suddenly quiet eager to know the both of them better.]

If I have anything that will help...

[A broad, sweeping gesture toward her orchard.]

...it's yours.

I think it depends on if I can get the ingredients. If not...I don't know. I might have to try and synthetically create something like it? It's possible.

[He's certainly going to try anyway. He offers Ariadne a smile.]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I might take you up on that sometime. The soil is a great start.

[He gets to his feet, nodding.]

Cool, we at least got a plan, then. [That's better than nothing!]

[A plan-shaped thing, anyway. It's hard to plan--was hard to plan?--where October is--was?--concerned.

This whole multiverse thing is still terribly confusing!

But Ariadne smiles, pleased more about possibly having new friends than a plan, anyway.]

Yes. And you know what? I think we might just be okay!

[A plan-shaped thing was better than no plan at all, to be sure!! Even if Varian's not as good at the optimism thing. He's doing his best here, you guys.]

Just maybe! Weirder things have happened.

Yeah. And we aren't even in Deerington anymore, so maybe this world won't be as bad and deliberately find some horrible way to torture us immediately, making our plan totally pointless and futile.

[............. He's trying to help, really.]

[Ariadne's...not great at sarcasm. So she takes the comment sincerely, and starts to nod enthusiastically.]

You're right! October may not even matter here!

[See this smile? This is the smile of the innocent.]

[Bless Ariadne and her everything, she is a good egg.]

Haaaaah. Yeah, sure? I mean- maybe? Statistically, it might be....fine?

[Look, you all got a burst of optimism out of him what more do you want. ]

[Oh Airy, Fern doesn't have the heart to tell her that much optimism is probably an exercise in futility. He'll just echo Varian.]

Um, yeah! Statistically speaking.

[She blinks, looking intrigued.]

How have you collected the statistics? We've only been here a short...

Oh. You're using that as a figure of speech?

Yup, just a figure of speech. Though I could probably gather the statistics if I really tried.

[God, he kind of wants to do that now. ]

[Fern just has to chuckle at that, and glances over at Airy.]

He's going to, now that you brought it up.

Oh dear.

[She smiles a little bit, before pressing her fingertips to her lips.]

I hope you make sure he gets some rest. It sounds like an exhausting process.

[Varian lets out a good-natured snort, waving his hands.]

Please, it'll be easy. I can do that in my sleep.

[He cannot and he is already pretty damn tired. He would be so very exhausted. ]

[Ariadne has it right on the money, and Fern gives a serious nod.]

Don't worry, working in his sleep isn't allowed. All of us at the house are making sure he takes naps.

[He steps closer to Varian, nudging him with his elbow.] Right?

[Ariadne giggles. These two are really quite sweet together.

She's so grateful that she's getting to know them.]

I think if you don't agree, there may be trouble.

[Lucky her, getting these disasters in her life, now she's bonded with them she'll never be rid of them. Varian lets out a soft, faux-annoyed snort, at both the elbow nudge and Airy's comment. ]

Oh trust me, I know. I get dragged out of my lab all the time. I swear they've got a rota system or something going on. Apparently, overworking is banned.

[Hey, Fern is glad to have someone else on Team Make Varian Take a Nap. Given how stubborn the alchemist is, they're always looking for new members.]

It's for your own good. None of us like seeing you passed out in weird places because you were too into your science experiments to stop.

[Self-care is an important thing, okay.]

That's absolutely right.

Besides, if you fall asleep in strange places, you never know what you could wake up to find.

[Like a sister who's decided to weave leaves into your hair...or worse.]

I don't pass out in that many weird places.

[Yes he does.

Varian is less thrilled about having another person on Team Make Varian Take a Nap. He's starting to feel very ganged up on here. How dare people care about his wellbeing? Rude. ]

Normally I wake up to find someone has dragged me into bed. But I'm sure if they were given ideas they could find new and interesting ways to make it irritating for me.

[Oh, Airy is talking pranks, and Fern looks absolutely thrilled. Sorry Varian, this means you're doomed.]

Oh, yeah. A good prank is the best thing ever, especially if it convinces him - [Varian gets another nudge] - to go to sleep regularly.

[She just giggles.

Truthfully, Ariadne isn't all that good at pranks, beyond the ones from her brothers and sisters which mostly wouldn't apply. But still, she's pleased by...just everything.

Especially making two new friends.]

I'll have to think of something.

[Varian has found mercy this day, lucky him. He lets out a groan, faux-annoyed. ]

Aww nooo, don't recruit more people into this madness.

[But hey, if he gets an extra friend out of it, he'll take it. ]

Too late!

[Sorry Varian, there's no way Fern isn't going to encourage someone to do pranks. He grins at Airy.]

Welcome to the club.

I've never been part of a club before.

[She gives him a little curtsy.]

I hope not to let you down!

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droptheious - 2021-10-08 20:51 (UTC) - Expand