video | un: Da Silva

[rosae]

( The feed opens to a woman who's clearly seen better days, hair a mess of disheveled layers and eyes circled in dark. Fellow Warmbloods might be able to relate to the way she moves — as though hardly daring to, even the most subtle shifts of her body resulting in little stabs of pain.

Despite the wince that flinches across her features as she settles back against a nest of pillows, the woman offers a quiet laugh. )

This is probably the worst time to show my face on here, huh. But I hope the rest of you who have this flu, or whatever it is, are taking care.

Anyway, since all I can really do is sit here... ( —a wry little smile; it's been weeks and she's still not too thrilled about being home-bound— ) ...it's been giving me a lot of time to think.

( She reaches very slowly for something that was just off-screen, drawing it gingerly into her lap. It's a brown teddy bear. )

This is something from my home that ended up here with me. It's my daughter's. When she was little, she had a very hard time with sleep. ( An understatement to be sure; the progressively dangerous sleepwalking spells are what she now knows were supernatural callings to her daughter's fractured soul. But Rose won't divulge that quite so openly. )

This guy brought her comfort, so in turn, he brought me comfort, too. ( She can't quite hold the stuffed animal to her chest the way she wants to, not with physical contact being as painful as it is, but one arm dares to loosely curl a bit closer around it, protective. )

Do you have anything here with you, from your home? If you don't mind sharing, what does it mean to you? This sick old lady would love to hear your stories.

Comments

[slayerskiss]

Nah, she was normal. Hornless. It just made her want to be friends, so we just hung out 'till the effect wore off.

[The chocolate got Willow fucking killed, so she's with Rose on that one. One day Faith is going to hunt that guy down and gut him.]

Yeah. Kind of more common than you'd think is possible, I guess? They just keep popping up, no matter how many you kill. I was only an active vampire hunter for about... eight or so months? And I still think I killed nearly a thousand of 'em.

[grice]

[ the togepi seems to already like who is reaching for him. the little egg-thing shrills and shares his energy in a warm, pooling wave of emotion: joy. he stores it from others, he energizes from it, and as thanks, he shares it with those worthy enough to receive. falco’s lips split open a smile, and he holds the oval creature toward rose’s hands.

his shell seems wet to the immediate touch, but that’s because something is happening; rose looks worn and ill, and the togepi is intelligent enough to see it, to want to change it. rose will feel her pain lift and her energy restored just enough to feel the difference. it won’t peel away the aches for long nor for good, but his intention is helpful.

plus, he wants to be held. ]

I’ve been feeding him bread— little wet pieces in soup. Is that alright, for a baby?

[ soft, for a toothless mouth. bread had been the easiest thing to make— but he seeks knowledge from an expert. ]

[miiraculous]

Nihaha~ It is true! The smell of sunshine makes everything feel sunny!

Hm- And I am not sure what modern means anymore. I am from 1983 and apparently that makes me an old lady here. The things here can be overwhelmingly amazing to me.

[fogsong]

[ Sharon may be proud of her baby photos but when Rose says she's still just as cute, she ducks her head, embarrassed. Her smile doesn't fade, not even as her cheeks take on a rosy hue, but she does let out a soft, exasperated whine of mom, aware enough of where the conversation is taking place.

But she likes it. She likes this feeling of normal and she's never felt so normal as when she's with Rose. ]

I think that sounds like a plan, mom. I'd like that a lot. [ It'll be a nice addition to their slowly developing routine. ] We could make a whole thing of it, maybe add a bakery visit.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[He waggles a hands, equivocating.]

My world has...super powers, I guess you could say, although my teacher wouldn't like me calling them that.

[rosae]

Oh— that makes me feel a bit better, honestly. I was a teenager in the eighties. ( Rose smiles again. )

I know what you mean. Most people I meet here seem to come from the future, to me... even this thing is still taking some getting used to. ( She gestures to her Omni device. It's... like something from a sci-fi movie. )

We can be old ladies together.

[miiraculous]

[Rika lights up at that.]

Really? Then we would have been classmates!

[Her expression then softens with some genuine relief;]

That makes me feel better too. I was beginning to worry that I would not be able to fit in here.

[rosae]

( She almost can't handle how precious the little thing is. It doesn't matter if it's nothing that looks human at all — more bird-like than anything, really — he's a baby. She lifts her hand to her mouth for just a moment as he makes those noises, giving a quiet gasp to her own palm before she's returning to reach for and accept the little darling. She isn't afraid to take him; how could she ever be afraid of this....?

And indeed, something is happening, perhaps something magical. Rose's eyes widen; it's not the first time she's witnessed some sort of magic or power in this place, but it's the first time it's been quite so tender. She's left feeling better than she has all month, even if it's subtle — movements aren't so aching, body isn't so fatigued. One layer of wear and sickness ebbed away, even if only for a while.

She's taking him and holding him close, careful. His body certainly isn't like a human baby's, more rounded; she won't tilt him too far back. But the hold is still a cradle, gently pressed to her chest as she stares down at him. How long has it been since she's held a baby...? She still remembers Sharon so tiny, so small and perfect. )

I think that sounds perfect. ( Her eyes, previously fixed on the little one, look back up to Falco with a soft smile. ) And you could probably give him some mashed up bananas sometime, too. When Sharon was a baby, she loved trying out all kinds of different things.

[grice]

[ falco seems so attentive to the details, nodding, a calm enthusiasm in his gaze for spread seconds to remember it all, even the way rose seems to hold him. there’s no other place to learn than from a mother, and as falco begins to gather vials and salves— ]

I don’t think I’ll have a little brother, [ for a sad reason he doesn’t really want to get into at the moment. to spoil this? the melancholy in it is present and fleeting, but following it came warm, genuine expectations. ] but I would’ve liked to. Like my big brother.

[ he venerates colt to this day— it’s difficult to remember those who have gone and those he thinks are gone, but are still alive— despite it all, no, falco won’t have a little brother when he gets back home.

but he’ll have this little guy here, right? ]

Can you teach me more, Miss Rose?

[ about . . . baby. ]

[rosae]

( Rose gently strokes the side of the little creature with the pad of a finger, tending to one baby while listening to another. At the mention of a big brother she pauses, brows lifting softly. She still knows so little of Falco's life — she's seen snippets, from the very first encounter he'd had with him. A child who knew too much responsibility, independence. He'd successfully retrieved her stolen locket from a full-grown man. He's used to giving up his food, subsisting on small amounts.

Along the way, she'd formed the assumption that he'd been on his own, with no family to speak of. )

I'd love to. It looks like you've already got a nice swaddle set-up, but I can show you how to do it with a blanket, too. ( The sling Falco's been using is a nice secure way to keep a baby comfortable, but it could be handy to know how to properly swaddle him with a blanket for when he's sleeping outside of the sling. )

Babies love to be kept as tight and snug as possible, especially during bedtime.

( She leans to reach, one-armed, across the bed to grasp the small throw blanket at its corner, and (still one-armed), spreads it out. Doing things with one arm while cradling a baby in the other still seems like second nature, even if it's been nine years since she'd done it.

With that, Rose will gently lay the baby down in its center, demonstrating how to properly tuck and wrap him up. As she does, a question forms its way to the surface, voiced gently. )

What was your brother like...?

[grice]

[ with one arm, while holding a baby, while explaining and talking? mothers are amazing, falco realizes, and hope he has the chance to one day say so again to his mother. he's barely had the chance to live with her. the togepi complies quite easily, not that much of a fusser but occasionally kicking its little feet back and forth (which doesn't do much). at most, its stubby feathers reach for the movement above its head, letting out a playful shrill.

falco, on the other hand, enthralled in watching, ]

Colt—? Oh, he, [ if there's anyone that falco likes talking about, it's colt. it keeps his brother. falco holds his hands it a steading "wait" gesture, and slips off the bed in a way that wouldn't disturb them or the blanket in making. ] I'll go get him.

[ it's probably so worn out by how much falco brings it with him just about everywhere, including gabi's picture, but the time, when he's bent down to one of the side zippers of his backpack, he pulls out a paper with a shine of film still on one side, albeit a little dull. the edges are bent, the middle has a crease in it, to be able to fit it into pockets and such. returning to the bed, falco holds the photograph out to her. she doesn't have to take it if her hands are full, but the option is there— that, and falco makes she to hold it in a way she can see clearly: a handsome young man holding a handsome little man, who might one day share his splitting image. ]

He'll be twenty, in August.

[ he keeps track. of course, he keeps track, and he refrains from using he would've been. he still is, in his heart. ]