»7 [video]

[hopelessdreamer]

[there's a very tired-looking face half-obscured by a gloved hand tapping the mirror. When it draws back, Gal is fully dressed, her new arrival gown in a heap on the grass next to her.]

Oh...hey. I remembered how to work it. But man, this place...

[she leans back, scratching the back of her neck and looking around for a moment.]

It still feels like some kind of weird dream. Okay, who's still here? Jessica? ....Akiha? Kris?

Is Martha okay?


[ooc: feel free to action if you want!]

Comments

[ritsu_kouyou]

Gal!

[Ah... oops.]

...I'm not supposed to be happy to see you back here. Forgive me for being so.

[hopelessdreamer]

[she shakes her head, mustering a smile.]

Well, I'm not going to blame you for it.

[she's remembering the last time they saw each other, though, and she turns a bit red.]

Uhh...no hard feelings for the mess before I left?

[ritsu_kouyou]

None. It was frustrating and a bit irritating, but I knew it was the Garden affecting you.

Nobody calls me 'darling'. [Not even Kris or Katina.]

I only minorly played along because I didn't want to hurt you. Don't worry about it.

[hopelessdreamer]

[she has to put her face in her hands for a moment, though.]

You know, I...tried to swear off that dirt after the first weird thing happened, but I ran out of materials, and...

Kris wasn't mad or anything?

[ritsu_kouyou]

I don't believe so. That idiot just didn't listen to me when I told her it wasn't real.

[notvitiligo]

Oh, good... I was kind of starting to worry.

You look like death warmed over. You okay?

[hopelessdreamer]

Hey. [her mouth quirks a bit.] Don't worry, I'm pretty tough.

Could be better, though. The Queen doesn't have a good sense of timing.

[notvitiligo]

She's pretty bad about that sort of thing. If it helps, everyone I've heard from always goes back to right when they left.

You need any help?

[hopelessdreamer]

I...can confirm that for you, actually. [she grimaces.] You know what's weird? I cut my finger working on something once here, and back home the scar was gone. [she holds up her hand and wiggles her fingers.] At least, from what I remember, since I didn't remember here when I was...

This is getting confusing. I think I can find my way back, though...are you at home?

[notvitiligo]

Yeah, that's what I figured.

That scar thing is interesting... [She immediately shuffles at papers offscreen.]

Oh, yeah, as usual. And remember you can ask one of the weird animals if you need a guide.

[cobbledtogether]

Gal. [Lambda pauses for a second, and then says in that halting way she does when she isn't quite sure if she's saying the appropriate thing:] Welcome back.

Akiha-sama, Kris, and myself are all still present within the Gardens.

[hopelessdreamer]

Hey there, Lambda. [she waves, and it's a bit sheepish.] Thanks, and I'm sorry if I confused you guys before.

[cobbledtogether]

Will you be returning to the mansion?

[Yep, she's just going to dive right in there.]

[hopelessdreamer]

[aw Lambda, do you miss her?]

Probably...not permanently. I'll visit. What happened before was, uhh...

I wasn't myself. Something about this place made me think I was married...[ugh, how embarrassing. She can't really stop herself from turning red remembering.] And it made me act all strange. So...sorry.

[cobbledtogether]

[She just wants to to know what to expect! It's not like she likes Gal or anything! Except for the part where she just learned what a friend is, and she thinks Gal might be one too?]

[Either way, though, she doesn't mention that. She just blinks at the mirror.]

You had been affected by an anomaly? [...] Understood. The data harvested at that time will be recategorized as invalid.

[She had found it hard to reconcile with previous observations anyway, so she doesn't consider it a loss.]

[ported]

Hi, you're back!

[hopelessdreamer]

Yep, I'm back.

[a nervous wave.]

Good to see you haven't starved or anything. [it's a pretty lame attempt at a joke, but she's not feeling terribly witty at the moment.]

[ported]

I almost did starve. Everything turned into a maze and I got a little lost...

[hopelessdreamer]

[oh Kris, you poor baby.]

I heard something about that....a maze? The whole place? Well, you made it.

[ported]

[oh yeah, totally helpless]

Barely but thankfully I did make it. It was tough trying to find my way through the mansion.

[reallyerotic]

Welcome back, Gal-san. It's been a while, hasn't it?

[like the longer hair?]

[hopelessdreamer]

[it takes her a moment.]

Suruga! Your hair...man, was I really gone that long?

[reallyerotic]

I forget how many months it's been. Or perhaps years is more accurate?

[welcome back. get trolled.]

[hopelessdreamer]

Wait, years!? You can't just lose track of that kind of stuff!

[reallyerotic]

And why not?

Did you already forget about how much can happen here?