[ It's just another day in the inter-dimensional world they've all been forced to call home. Of course, in this place, that means it's another day of strange.
Today, for example, Aerith had stepped outside her apartment unit to find a lone fortune cookie sitting innocently on the front mat. Blinking, she'd crouched and studied it for a bit, trying to make any initial sense of why something like that would've been there, before glancing up and down the hall to see if whoever'd left it might be hurrying off.
With nobody in sight, and no clear answers, she'd gone ahead and scooped it up and continued to peer bemusedly at the thing in the palm of her hand. ]
Huh. [ Easy enough to bring on her way, right? So the florist starts to head out, making it as far as the bottom-floor rec room on her way to the front door when she does actually crack it open, pocketing the actual cookie and instead taking a look at the message within.
Anyone nearby will see a young woman with a brown plait and a pink dress standing stock-still in the middle of the room. After about half a minute, she seems to snap out of it, and, with a trepidatious smile, approaches the nearest other resident with a brief wave. ]
[ Not outside the realm of possibility, in this place, but for a message she'd referred to as 'vague,' it'd actually been...very, very specific. To her. ]
[ Jesse's noticed the girl around - honestly, she would've been impossible not to notice - but they haven't spoken before now. He gives her a friendly grin when she addresses him, only for the smile to slip off his face at her question. ]
Uh...threatening? I mean...
[ He'd definitely gotten...something. He frowns, looking at her in concern. ]
Why? Did someone say something to you?
[ Even if the idea of anyone having it out for someone as harmless-looking as her is...well, nearly unthinkable. ]
Oh, no. Nobody said anything. [ To explain, she produces the shell of the fortune cookie, albeit without the message, and holds it up in the palm of her hand. ] This thing was just sitting outside my door. Didn't see who left it, but when I cracked it open...
[ There's a helpless shrug, which hopefully conveys the rest of the sentence: "that's where the message was." ]
Just wanted to see if I'm the only lucky one and I should probably be worried, or if everyone's being picked on today. [ There's a weak chuckle. ] Not..sure which is worse.
[ Oh. It's better news than if she'd said that yeah, some creep had been following her around, but when she pulls out the fortune cookie, his eyes go wide. He hesitates for a second, and then reaches into his own pocket, pulling out a crumpled strip of paper. A fortune from a fortune cookie. ]
OK, well, then I either got good news or bad news. [ He meets her eyes, giving her a helpless grin. ]
Oh boy... [ There's a little hitch of the breath, then a short, sigh-like exhale. ] I'd say bad news, I think... It's not great that it may be kinda epidemic.
[ Unless he's messing with her, which...honestly, she kinda hopes is what's happening here. ]
Did you see anyone? Or did it just kinda...appear at your door?
[ Her voice is still light, inquisitive, but there's an undeniable (and understandable) wariness beneath it all. ]
[ Jesse gives her a rueful little half-smile and a nod. ]
Yeah. I dunno, but...
[ Probably not good, right? He shakes his head. ]
Nah. It was just there. I thought... [ This is kinda embarrassing. He ducks his head, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. ] I got kinda...kinda wasted last night. I thought, maybe I ordered Chinese or something, and someone stole it, but left the cookie. You know?
[ At Jesse's admission, her expression turns amused, and she cracks a grin. ]
Hey, we've all been there, right? It'd be pretty messed up if someone stole your food. 'Specially if it was food that good. [ Ah, man. Now she's hungry. ] But, since the alternative is...that someone left it out for you like they did for me, that's not...great.
[ How many people found the same this morning? And...why? ]
Plus, even if that'd been true, why would the fortune be...well, so specific? It's not like they usually are, with takeout, right? It's more stuff like "always keep smiling," or "red is your lucky color."
[ She doesn't judge him the way he'd half been expecting her too, and Jesse's respect for her shoots up tenfold. He grins, happy and relieved, only to sober almost immediately. ]
Yeah. Yeah, that's, uh...
[ The more likely scenario, unfortunately. He glances down at the paper crumpled in his hand, then back at her. ]
What's yours say?
I mean, if...if you wanna say. You don't gotta, it's - no pressure.
[ He's a stranger, and nobody else from her world is here. There's no real danger in it. Still, an uneasiness twinges at the pit of her stomach at the prospect, and though she's usually an expert at masking her expression, there's a definitive flicker in her face. ]
It... [ Oddly (perhaps, given what she's about to say), she cracks a faint smile. ] Said I was gonna die?
[ Which you might take to be a threat, if you weren't a person who had a mess of confusing...not quite memories, but awareness, of a life in which you were murdered. ]
[ Oh shit. Jesse's face goes slack, just a split-second of shock and horror before he manages to mask it, getting as cloase to reassuring as possible. ]
Sounds like bullshit.
[ His tone, thank God, is easy and natural, without a tremor of the fear that had spiked through him. ]
Someone just messing with you. Honestly? It's a pretty sick joke.
Yeah. For sure. [ ... ] But that's why I asked, 'cause it seems like they're not just messing with me.
[ Depending on what kinds of things are being left for other people, this is either a sick joke on a pretty wide scale, or...something else. Something...maybe worse.
Not that she has any idea what. The whole thing is nutty. ]
I won't let it bother me. [ Aerith's quick to add. ] I really just wanted to see if I could figure out what's up.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
me me me
♥
Today, for example, Aerith had stepped outside her apartment unit to find a lone fortune cookie sitting innocently on the front mat. Blinking, she'd crouched and studied it for a bit, trying to make any initial sense of why something like that would've been there, before glancing up and down the hall to see if whoever'd left it might be hurrying off.
With nobody in sight, and no clear answers, she'd gone ahead and scooped it up and continued to peer bemusedly at the thing in the palm of her hand. ]
Huh. [ Easy enough to bring on her way, right? So the florist starts to head out, making it as far as the bottom-floor rec room on her way to the front door when she does actually crack it open, pocketing the actual cookie and instead taking a look at the message within.
Anyone nearby will see a young woman with a brown plait and a pink dress standing stock-still in the middle of the room. After about half a minute, she seems to snap out of it, and, with a trepidatious smile, approaches the nearest other resident with a brief wave. ]
Hey... This'll sound pretty weird, but...have you gotten any...vaguely-threatening messages today?
[ Not outside the realm of possibility, in this place, but for a message she'd referred to as 'vague,' it'd actually been...very, very specific. To her. ]
♥ ♥
[ Jesse's noticed the girl around - honestly, she would've been impossible not to notice - but they haven't spoken before now. He gives her a friendly grin when she addresses him, only for the smile to slip off his face at her question. ]
Uh...threatening? I mean...
[ He'd definitely gotten...something. He frowns, looking at her in concern. ]
Why? Did someone say something to you?
[ Even if the idea of anyone having it out for someone as harmless-looking as her is...well, nearly unthinkable. ]
no subject
Oh, no. Nobody said anything. [ To explain, she produces the shell of the fortune cookie, albeit without the message, and holds it up in the palm of her hand. ] This thing was just sitting outside my door. Didn't see who left it, but when I cracked it open...
[ There's a helpless shrug, which hopefully conveys the rest of the sentence: "that's where the message was." ]
Just wanted to see if I'm the only lucky one and I should probably be worried, or if everyone's being picked on today. [ There's a weak chuckle. ] Not..sure which is worse.
no subject
OK, well, then I either got good news or bad news. [ He meets her eyes, giving her a helpless grin. ]
It's not just you.
no subject
[ Unless he's messing with her, which...honestly, she kinda hopes is what's happening here. ]
Did you see anyone? Or did it just kinda...appear at your door?
[ Her voice is still light, inquisitive, but there's an undeniable (and understandable) wariness beneath it all. ]
no subject
Yeah. I dunno, but...
[ Probably not good, right? He shakes his head. ]
Nah. It was just there. I thought... [ This is kinda embarrassing. He ducks his head, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. ] I got kinda...kinda wasted last night. I thought, maybe I ordered Chinese or something, and someone stole it, but left the cookie. You know?
no subject
Hey, we've all been there, right? It'd be pretty messed up if someone stole your food. 'Specially if it was food that good. [ Ah, man. Now she's hungry. ] But, since the alternative is...that someone left it out for you like they did for me, that's not...great.
[ How many people found the same this morning? And...why? ]
Plus, even if that'd been true, why would the fortune be...well, so specific? It's not like they usually are, with takeout, right? It's more stuff like "always keep smiling," or "red is your lucky color."
no subject
Yeah. Yeah, that's, uh...
[ The more likely scenario, unfortunately. He glances down at the paper crumpled in his hand, then back at her. ]
What's yours say?
I mean, if...if you wanna say. You don't gotta, it's - no pressure.
no subject
It... [ Oddly (perhaps, given what she's about to say), she cracks a faint smile. ] Said I was gonna die?
[ Which you might take to be a threat, if you weren't a person who had a mess of confusing...not quite memories, but awareness, of a life in which you were murdered. ]
Little aggressive, for a cookie.
no subject
Sounds like bullshit.
[ His tone, thank God, is easy and natural, without a tremor of the fear that had spiked through him. ]
Someone just messing with you. Honestly? It's a pretty sick joke.
no subject
[ Depending on what kinds of things are being left for other people, this is either a sick joke on a pretty wide scale, or...something else. Something...maybe worse.
Not that she has any idea what. The whole thing is nutty. ]
I won't let it bother me. [ Aerith's quick to add. ] I really just wanted to see if I could figure out what's up.