( open )

[overclocking]

Date & Time: Several days after the necromorph outbreak
Location: A VR room
Characters: Chrono + Rosette + open!
Summary: Lil bit of coping in-between zombie apocalypses and civil wars, nbd
Warnings: None! KEVIN AND BREAK
Notes: Feel free to tag around also! ♥


[ Chrono doesn't bother to close the door when he finally decides to try one of these rooms for himself. Something about the last few days (weeks) (months) has left him unwilling to stay in enclosed spaces too long, with no obvious path of exist. Too much like a lab or an undead-lined hallway.

But these concerns slowly melt away as he sets about instructing the AI, and the room gives way to a place that isn't a room at all.

Mountains rise up in the distance, framing a blue, clear sky, and a faint breeze rustles the treetops of a thick Michigan forest. Birdcalls ride that wind, and the air smells cleaner, fresher, than any moon base could reasonably boast. Where the blanket of trees ends, a large, glassy lake gleams in the sunlight. He takes care with this part—instructs the AI to make the water a temperature a bit too low to be entirely comfortable for swimming, knowing full well that this won't actually be a deterrent. But it wouldn't be right, otherwise.

He takes his time strolling from one familiar landmark to the next, having the computer make adjustments as necessary. He doesn't miss details, either; for all the times that Rosette brought him to this very place, his eyes had missed nothing. They were wide and all-absorbing, like someone who had been born anew and was discovering the world for the first time.

(Likely because, in all honesty, he had been.)

He stops once he circles back around to the open door—a black silhouette hanging oddly in the landscape, and the only giveaway that none of this is real. It's here that he surveys the scene as a whole, the sum of all its little memory-parts. ]

Perfect.

[ Well. There's still a thing or two missing. ]

... Almost.

Comments

[velveteened]

( she'll find herself approached before long, greeted with not only a grin but also full hands; one holds a plate with a sandwich on it, and the other a steaming cup of tea.

both are clearly way too nice for him to have had any part in making them.

as they're proffered, ) It's beautiful, right?

[anklets]

[His offering duly placates. Lenalee relieves him of both and smiles so warmly that her ever-present winter must have melted some.]

We've caught the sun.

[velveteened]

Ah, well.

( the tea and food are of kevin's making; angelically good, perhaps. oz lets his arms spread out for a moment once they've been freed, turning so they're both facing the scenery. )

I'd say Chrono did! But, ( over his shoulder, ) it's nice of them to share it.

( "them," of course, because with one comes the other. )

[anklets]

[Perhaps, but Lenalee isn't one to bank that much on angels.]

Chrono did? [ well, ] It's lovely.

[Nicer than what her homesickness has brought.]

[velveteened]

( and than his would, were he to ever quite get the hang of the vr (all too easy to get distracted chatting with the ai, being mindful of the time passing, trying to think of where he'd even want to go) properly. )

Have you ever had a bonfire under the stars? — he said there'll be one.

( hard to say if it seems strange that this day will turn to night because of a program being clever enough to do that or if it's just another futuristic oddity at this point. )

[anklets]

[In another world, this is where Lenalee laughs and smiles as if she knows something he doesn't, and airily admits: "oh, hundreds". But in this world, Lenalee Lee is not nearly that mysterious and bonfires have never been, to her, enjoyable things.]

Really? That sounds great. Are we going to stay for that long?

[velveteened]

( the "we" isn't lost on him, and he turns back around with a theatrical flourish and a smile to match, movements all genuinely light and easy. if she's asking him to choose — )

Why not? It's important to have fun when you can.

[anklets]

[Reflects that grin back to him.] I'd frankly hoped you would say that.

[velveteened]

Then it's decided! I tried catching frogs with Rosette, but I'm not as good as she is ( or at all, but in all fairness a lack of experience will do that ) — the only one I caught found me first. Chrono talked about berry-picking too, and I think some people have started making flower crowns.

( which makes him laugh, reminded of ada. )

[anklets]

[Almost sounds like some manner of fairytale ending.] I've. Never done any of those things. What do you suggest first?

[velveteened]

I've never picked berries, but my sister used to like making flower crowns. I bet I could still remember how she did it, if you want to try.

( she's too old now, and ladies of her age are expected to spend more time in balls than flowerbushes; besides, she hasn't had much of anyone to make them for in a decade. )

[anklets]

Daisies would suit you.

[Really, Oz, as if she could turn that down. Delicate, she shifts the teacup onto the lip of the plate and begins moving towards the waterline without so much as a rattle of china.]

[velveteened]

Do you think so?

( he follows, not unimpressed — he knows what a feat that is! )

[anklets]

We could opt for reeds, if you preferred. [ teasing ] There's no shortage.

[velveteened]

Reeds might be a little harder. Besides, they aren't as pretty!

( for a pretty girl like you is how he'd amend to — well, a lot of girls. )

[anklets]

[The flash of a smile-- she ducks her face and a curtain of hair swings forward and hides it.]

Concerned with looks... [ there's a lilt, here, one she's gone without ] Alright. Daisies, then.

[velveteened]

If I'm making you a flower crown, it has to look nice!

( because there's never such thing as making just the one, and if she actually does insist on him having one she won't be allowed to go without. )

[anklets]

[Clever boy. She makes a sound like a laugh and accepts her half-victory.]

I'm wearing one, too, now?

[velveteened]

Of course! You have to.

( it's a rule.. they approach a flat grassy space, far enough from the lake to not be muddy, and he pauses and glances at her in the unspoken question of whether this is the place to sit. )

[anklets]

[Takes that pause and fills it by plopping down cheerfully. You've got your answer, Vessalius.]

Well! I've never been treated as royalty before.

[velveteened]

'Princess Lenalee' has a nice ring to it.

( he sits down too, reaching to gently break the stems of nearby daisies. )

[anklets]

[A tad- wryly:] Does it?

[She sets the dishes aside (this time there is a quiet rattle, but she hasn't spilled any of the tea!) and tucks her legs beneath her, letting her shoes fall off into the grass.]

[velveteened]

( with solemnity — )

Every girl can be a princess, of course.

( solemnity and clearly having heard and said it often, from his uncle and to his sister. )

[anklets]

[And now her lips split and reveal straight, white teeth. It's been a while since they've done that.]

Those words are so honeyed the bees may decide they prefer you over the flowers.

[velveteened]

( it's a victory, and he takes it as such.

and he doesn't blanch or wince at her words but if there's a fleeting sense being caught in the act — virtual bees are no joke! — well. )

We wouldn't want that!

( why not start twisting some stems together in diversion )