Backwater. Hormah's Human Safe House. After Vik's Nap.

[no_i_dun_wanna]

((continues from here))



In a small, but comfortable living room the noonday light filters gently through a curtain of pale gold hand knitted lace. There are muted sounds from outside as people occasionally walk past chatting with friends or family, and even fainter sounds from the now very busy Question Square. The furniture in the room is simple, but good, and there aren't any knickknacks, only a couple house plants and a blue crochet panel against one wall that has the alphabet on it and a verse of scripture.

The room is very quiet, the only living things in it being a sleeping elderly human woman in the softly vibrating armchair and a tiny green being of living gemstone hunkered on the nearby couch back to watch the sleeper. But the aroma of something rich cooking that is drifting in from the slightly open hall door attests to the fact that someone else is somewhere in the house.

Comments

Re: Waking

[no_i_dun_wanna]

The little being on the couch sees that Vik's awake and stands, then waves both tiny hands in the air as a speech bubble appears over her head. "Hi, can you see me waving?"

Re: Waking

[spiderlillie]

Vik senses something has shifted in the room, but she's not certain what it is, yet there is a difference, somehow.

Curious, she swings her head around this way and that, looking for whatever is making her feel that shift in the room.

She catches an odd movement from the corner of her eye and does a double take.

A tiny green being is waving it's tiny arms around from it's perch on the back of the couch. Vik wonders if she's still asleep and dreaming this. She sits up in the recliner with creaks and pops in her joints.

What looks like a speech bubble is above the little green being's head. Vik can see what looks like words, but she'll need to get closer to read them. Bifocal glasses are like that; a thing meant to help you see details often makes that very thing difficult to do!

"Ouch!" she ruefully rubs her thigh where she pinched herself, "I can see you, but.. oooh wait! I remember now! I'm in The Backwater!"

Vik smiles and relaxes, relieved she hasn't either lost her mind, or is lost in one of her wild, crazy dreams. She rubs her weak knees, then using both arms, slowly shoves herself to standing, though she's still bent over a bit.

She grabs the cane handle with both hands and forces her spine to align and stand her upright. A loud pop stuns her a moment. She winces and shakes her head, but grins a determined grin and proceeds slowly towards the couch.

Vik looks at the little person, she can see that the little being is a pretty little lady. She turns to sit on the couch, but her joints are protesting loudly.

One pop makes her loose her balance until she corrects for it, then carefully sits herself on the couch near to where the little person is. She smiles and arranges the shawl around her shoulders a little better.

"You are very pretty, and my favorite color too. And yes, I did see you after a bit, I'm sorry it took me so long." Vik relaxes more as her joints let up some of their discomfort, little by little.

"What's your name?" Vik says with a warm smile, "Mine is Vicki, you can call me that, or Vik, if you'd like to."

Re: Waking

[no_i_dun_wanna]

Tiny blue eyes look at Vik with amazement, and then the tiny lady points back to the recliner chair as her speech bubble pops into sight again. "You didn't use the thingie to let the chair help you stand up!"

Re: Waking

[spiderlillie]

Vik's expression changes to beffudlement when she reads the speech bubble above the little lady's head. She looks back towards the recliner and stares at it a moment.

She looks back at the little lady, "Oh wow. I had no idea it could do that. A lift-recliner? Man.. I wish I'd realized before."

She smiles at the little green lady, "In any case, I know now. Thank you for telling me. Those are very helpful recliners! I'm grateful for the wonderful sleep I've had."

Vik rubs at a stubbornly sore muscle in her thigh while she tries to remember things.

"I have no memory of getting here. The last thing I do remember was Aoife chasing after a whirling woman.. Rose, then Mack-Mack pulling the rickshaw.. and a pretty green Transformer. Oooh, her name was.. Mira? I think?" she chuckles softly, "That part is kinda fuzzy."

She sighs and notices once more the yummy aromas in the room.

Re: Waking

[no_i_dun_wanna]

The little lady hunkers down again. "Mack put you in the chair. Mira asked me to show you your bedroom and bathroom when you woke up. She says she got you the dress you wanted, too." Her head tilts, pale blue hair swinging past her bum. "Do you want me to show those to you now?"

Re: Waking

[spiderlillie]

Vik listens and smiles gently. 'Good old Mack. That is one gentle man.' she thinks to herself.

She nods to the little lady, "Yes, please?" then she realizes what else she said, "..Mira got me a dress..? Oh my! I can't wait to see it!"

[no_i_dun_wanna]

The tiny lady smiles, then stands and waves her hand. A tiny yellow horse with no wings flies over from where it'd been standing on the light. It dances around til smacked, then stands nicely for its mistress to mount. This done, it once more takes off, hovering in front of Vik at a nice distance.

"This way." The lady points toward the door that Vik can see now that she's on the couch.

Inside that door, Vik will find a comfortable bedroom, plainly furnished, though with lace curtains on the narrow window. On the bed is an open suitcase that contains another bra like the one Vik is currently wearing, three pair of pale golden drawers, a black mesh vest with an instruction book pinned to it and a zip front, and a tiny golden spider clinging to a card that says, "Animatronic shawl pin". In the wall to the right as Vik enters the bedroom is another door, this one is open and shows a pale blue with yellow trim bathroom that contains a shower with a seat and a composting toilet.

[spiderlillie]

Vik watches as the little green being summons over what looks to be a flying horse. It hovers there, making Vik stare. She blinks as she tries to focus on the tiny horse, she's utterly fascinated.

Vik shakes herself from staring when she notices the little green lady riding the horse is waving her in another direction. She reads her speech bubble and nods. Vik toddles over to the room she's being shown into.

Vik likes the room. It seems cozy and inviting, and plain, just like she likes things. She looks all around, inspecting things with her fingers. She likes to literally get the feel of things sometimes, and this time she feels it's not breaking rules to touch her surroundings to learn them.

Then she notices the open suitcase on the bed. She tilts her head in curiosity, and bends to pick up some of the items.. then one by one, she picks up all of them, inspecting them, trying to become familiar with them all. They all seem to be her size, she assumes they're meant for her to use.

Vik looks at the little green lady and her tiny horse. "Please? Are these for me to wear..? Umm.. I don't know what to call you though."

Vik looks at some things unsure of what they do. One thingie come with what looks to be an instruction book. Her eyebrows arc in curiosity, and a little worry; instruction books can be intimidating.

She eyes the spider thing wondering what it is or does or is for. She is usually quite scared of most all spiders. But this isn't intimidating, so she ends up running her fingers across it. The texture is comforting, despite the creature it represents. She smiles timidly and holds it so that her hands warm it up. Warm, it feels much friendlier to her fingers.

[no_i_dun_wanna]

"...Ooops," says the speech bubble. "Sorry. My name's Strawbaby, and this is Apple. He's a brat. Those are your clothes, and your suitcase, and this is your room and your bathroom and living room til you get a place of your own. That spider will hold your shawl so it doesn't fall open. She moves her legs when you squeeze her bum. The vest is your dress. Mira says she's only filled one slot on it yet, so all you have to do is tap the little square buckle looking thingie at the bottom of the zipper after you put it on and do it up. And these..." She hops off the horse onto the bed, and then runs over to what looks like a pair of heavy black socks that are laying on the bed beside the suitcase. "These are your new boots! They're going to be pretty! Mira showed me a picture."

[spiderlillie]

Vik reads her speech bubble carefully, nodding as she grasps what little Strawbaby is saying. She picks up the spider and experiments. Sure enough, the tiny spider wiggles her legs. Vik giggles and lays it on her shawl so it can hold it closed. She gently strokes it in thanks.

"Umm, may I get a shower before I try all these lovely things on?" She chuckles softly, "Ole' Vik isn't as fresh as she'd like to be. And, these look wonderful, I'd love to be fresh when I wear them."

Then she looks slightly shocked and sheepish, "Oops, please forgive me Strawbaby, I've forgotten all my manners. It's great to make your acquaintance Strawbaby, and Apple!" She bows slightly, protesting joints popping as she resumes an upright postur. Vik runs her finger gently down the tiny horse's back, petting it. "You are both quite amazing!"

"Oh!" Vik scrubs around in her pockets trying to find something. In a bit, she removes a teensy brass jingle bell.

She'd found it that morning in the bottom of her medication basket, before she came to the Backwater. The tiny bell was half the size of an English pea, but it had been just big enough to make one of her medication bottles tip and fall. So she'd stuck it in her pocket and forgotten it.

Vik blows the lint off the jingle bell, and lays it down next to Strawbaby.

"This is for you, Strawbaby, if you'd like it. It's a tiny jingle bell, it has a teensy sound when you shake it." She smiles happily, so glad she'd found it that morning.

"Frankly, I haven't a clue where the little jingle bell came from, only that it was in my medicine basket this morning. It might be useful to you; your hands are small enough to hold it. And it's cute, like you."

Then her face becomes curious. She remembers something, and screws up her courage, looking serious, "Strawbaby? Aoife told me it was okie to ask what people are. So.. please may I ask what you and Apple are? I've never seen anyone quite like the two of you."

[no_i_dun_wanna]

"Sure!" Strawbaby points to the lid of the suitcase. "Your soap and anti-stinky stuff are in here. Mira says they smell like strawberry, but that it won't make anyone sick." Tiny eyes blink. "OH! That's okay. I forget about that all the time."

Apple prances when he's stroked, then looks up as the bell is produced. And excited little snort pops out of him, and he takes the bell by the loop on its top, and then starts shaking the kerbibble out of it.

Strawbaby stares, then looks up at Vik wonderingly. "That looks just like a bell we lost a little while ago."

Her brows lift at the last question. "We're dollies, of course. Made out of jewels."

[spiderlillie]

Vik giggles, charmed by Apple's prancing.

"Honestly, I have no idea where the bell came from Strawbaby, it was just *there*, ya know?" Vik giggles at Apple's antics, "I'm just glad I can bring some joy to you and Apple." she points in Apple's direction, "he's right happy! Maybe.. maybe I was supposed to find it for you? Or find one like the one you lost?"

She reads Strawbaby's speech bubble and nods, eyebrows rising, "Dollies made of gems. That is extra intriguing! All I know is, you're both very beautiful, and I am quite happy I met you."

Vik sits on the bed, gently moving things aside for herself. She looks at that pretty bathroom longingly and smiles.

"Alrighty my little friends, it is time for me bath. I'm quite ripe. And please, would you tell Mira and anyone else who helped put all this together that I thank them very, very much?"

Vik holds up the vest inspecting it a bit more, "This one puzzles me, but I'm game for an adventure!" She says with a quirky smile.

She strokes the little spider clasping her shawl, it releases and the shawl lays open a little. Vik looks wonderingly at the little being a moment. She is very humbled and reassured by it's understanding of her needs. She strokes it again in thanks, and gently lays it in the suitcase on top of everything.

"Strawbaby, this world is a wonder. So many new things I learn all the time, things I never dreamt of, never could've imagined." Vik turns to look at her, "You and Apple are two of those precious wonders I'm talking about. I couldn't have imagined anyone like you and Apple in a million lifetimes."

Vik smiles at them and wipes her misty eye. She feels that the Lord God has been so precious and good to her today. She has no words complete enough to thank Him for all His blessings.

"Thank you Strawbaby for all your help. And for being a kind friend."

[no_i_dun_wanna]

"You're welcome!" The little dolly puts her hands up and dances, then pauses and points to the vest. "You put that on and zip it up, and then press the button on the thingy at the bottom of the zipper."

Then she puts her arms down and looks around before hopping back onto Apple's back. "We'll go say the thank yous, so we don't accidentally see your nudie. Bye bye!"