☂ | VIDEO

[gigue]

[Slightly backdated to the last day with the kryptonite around; the Vanya who shows up on screen is about as different as possible from the one that showed her face a few weeks back to awkwardly inquire about jobs. Has anyone seen Vanya smile like this? No, probably not, because it's about as at ease and calm as possible - two things Vanya has probably only really experienced a couple times in her life.

She's clearly lounging, too, her shoulders relaxed instead of tensed up and tight, in the common room of Maurtia Falls #007. The device is held in one hand, but in the other she's turning over a little red crystal.]

I got really freaked out when these things showed up, you know? I just kept picturing all the ways that could have gone wrong, and I'm really good at that. But this isn't so bad. I mean - I don't feel like screaming at people in the street or anything, so I guess I'll count that as a win. [She glances directly at the camera for a moment, sorry Finn, and flashes a grin as she sits upright.]

So you know what? I think I'll take it as a sign. I want to do something new. What's your favorite thing to do here? Maurtia Falls, or wherever, any of the big cities are fine.

[An afterthought hits her, and she takes a moment of fiddle with her device before managing to filter away from the Hargreeveses.]

And does anyone know a good music store? The kind that sells instruments.

Comments

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[am_i_a_monster]

I like hunting, laser tag, paintball, cooking, art, music. I don't know if I have a favourite. Oh, and visiting the dog park with these guys.

[She moves the camera to show her dogs playing then focuses it back on herself.]

The shop where I got my harpsichord and piano is really good. What kind of instrument are you looking for?

[gigue]

[Vanya smiles when the camera shifts to the dogs - but well, she hasn't really stopped smiling. Her face is going to ache later, once this swing shifts.]

They're cute. I've never had a pet - actually, I've never done half those things. They sound like they might be fun.

[Her eyebrows jump, pleasantly surprised.]

Harpsichord, wow - my orchestra back home could only get an occasional accompanist for harpsichord. That's awesome. I'm a violinist.

[She says that with so much ease, so much confidence - it's like the kryptonite is tapping into a lot of what has tried to stay buried since she was four.]

[am_i_a_monster]

They are fun.  I'd never had a pet before I came either.  [Her father would never had allowed it.]  Cats are great too.  [She moves the camera to show her cats, curled up together and sleeping.]

[She smiles.].  Violinists are awesome too.   And you were in an orchestra!  That's really cool.  I was just taking harpsichord lessons before I came here, from my guardian.   Then they gave me a harpsichord power when I was portered in.  It's my career now.  Maybe we could do a duet sometime.

[gigue]

[Vanya makes all the appropriate awww sounds, the kind that she'd probably struggle with if not for the kryptonite. They're cute, sure, but she is real bad at the small talk thing.]

A harpsichord power. Some people get all the luck. What can you do?

[am_i_a_monster]

I can make people who listen to my music have an emotional reaction, remember things, help them sleep, heal injuries and illnesses. I can also play perfectly and people will like it, even if they don't normally like harpsichord.

[gigue]

[She laughs - and it's not the kind of shocked-but-angry laugh she might have surprised herself with before picking up this red crystal. It's surprised, but amused by the similarity.]

No way. That's like what I can do. Well, a little - I've never tried fixing things.

[am_i_a_monster]

Did you get a violin power?   That would be really cool.   A violin'd be a lot easier to carry around. 

[She pauses for a moment.] 

You should try fixing things sometimes.   It's better when everything isn't broken.

[gigue]

[She holds her hand up, seesawing it back and forth in a 'sorta-kinda' gesture.]

It's more just - sound, I think. I don't really know, I didn't get to use it a whole lot back home. How do you do it? Fix things.

[am_i_a_monster]

I think about the person I'm trying to help and what I'm helping them with, as I play.   And it just sort of happens.  It works best when I use a song that's meaningful to them.

[insincerecharm]

Well, I don't know about here... I haven't been here long enough to figure anything out. But I shoot guns in my spare time? [She shrugs, and her tone suggests that's totally normal pastime.]

[gigue]

[Some people have all the fun, huh.]

Oh, well, welcome to getting kidnapped, I guess. [Her smile is wry, but it's still a real smile. Don't get used to it.] How'd you take that up?

[insincerecharm]

Thanks, it's been a wild ride already. [Explaining to your friends that you're dead in their futures is not a fun experience. 0/10, would never recommend.]

Oh, I'm a reporter back home, which comes with necessities of being armed at all times in case of zombie outbreaks. [Again, it's said like it's natural. A part of everyday life.]

[gigue]

[Well that reminds her of someone.]

Do you know Georgia? She mentioned zombies on my first day.

[insincerecharm]

[She grins at the question.] I do, yeah. She's my boss. Or was. Back home, I mean. And her brother, too. Shaun kinda stole me from Georgia's newise side of the blog for his irwins. It's a better fit anyway.

[gigue]

Oh, good. I didn't know she has a brother - he here too?

And you know what - I have no idea what newsie and irwins means.

[insincerecharm]

She does, and he is. He's pretty hard to miss, generally, and comes practically in a package deal with her, I'm surprised you didn't see him around if you've met her. Oh! They're classifications of blogger styles, basically? Newsies report the facts, Irwins... do the crazy stuff? You know Steve Irwin? That's the guy we're named for.

[gigue]

We just talked a little over this thing, so. [Vanya shrugs, even now fully aware how bad she usually is at getting to know people.]

...Wait, didn't he die?

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[girlybruiser]

[ Haru notices the change in Vanya's demeanor and at first is glad to see the other girl relaxing, up until she catches sight of the red crystal. ]

I like gardening, but I have been doing that since back home. [ Oh, but! ] In Nonah I came across a new business that opened up a few months ago. You can throw axes at a target. It's sort of like darts, but it's very fun with an axe!

[gigue]

There was a garden at the high school I went to, but when it was my turn to take care of if, half the vegetables died.

[She shrugs, looking embarrassed but not Normal Vanya embarrassed. It's a fleeting thing; is this how most people feel about these things? Because if she could never feel deep shame over old embarrassments ever again, she'll take it.]

How do you even throw an axe?

[girlybruiser]

Oh, no! Well, it isn't an easy feat taking care of gardens. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning.

[ She smiles afterwards. ]

They're very small axes, a bit heavy, but not terribly so. You use both hands to make it easier to throw.

[gigue]

It's okay. Some people are just good at that. I think screwing up so bad kinda scared me off it.

[No kinda about it, she absolutely retreated as far as possible from her classmates' ire.]

Sounds like a good way to get some aggression out. Is that why you do it?

[girlybruiser]

[ Aww, Vanya. ]

I suppose so! But it is kind of a nice exercise for your upper arms. I already lift fertilizer around...

[gigue]

[She laughs, surprised and impressed.]

How old are you again? You must be really strong.

[girlybruiser]

Do you think so? I think it's muscle memory at this point.

[ Haru can't help but laugh herself. ]

I'm nineteen now. I'll be twenty by December. [ That gets a pause. ] ... I hadn't realized I'm approaching the end of my teenage years.

[gigue]

I think this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you it gets better, but it was all kinda the same to me.