1223/Just Right

Just Right
Date of Scene:	28 December 2014
Location:	Mushroom War Earth <MWE>
Synopsis:	Annie Sandberg and Marceline meet for the first time. Too young? Too old? Nah. Just right!
Cast of Characters:	437, 622

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Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
Simon and Marceline had a safe, happy, joyous Christmas together. Marcy had never had a Christmas before, possibly due to who her father was, but people had sent them awesome stuff and - though they didn't know it - even Santa had chipped in to make sure all was well and remained so. There was no worrying about memory loss, no wondering about why her dad abandoned her on Earth, no fear of what was going to happen to them or if they would have a place to stay tomorrow... Just a nice, pleasant day for the two of them.

It has been a few days since then, and the good feelings remain. And there are about to be some more, hopefully, because Simon has invited Annie Sandberg to come meet Marceline. The two girls had both seemed interested in meeting each other, and this seemed like a good time for it. Where are Simon and Marcy right now? ...Still living out of a Union quarantine facility on the border of the Great Ruin and the post-apocalyptic Earth that the two of them come from. Simon has submitted all the paper work to the Union to ask to join them as an Ally, focusing on Research and Development, and things like that.

While he definitely wants to give back to the Union for all the help they have given him and the little half-demon girl he watches over, he also needs that paycheck that Elites get, so that he can get a more stable living situation for them. They can't live in a place to keep potentially-infected or infectious people/creatures/things forever, after all! They have already been permitted to remain well past what regulations allow for. Simon may want to protect Marcy, but he understands fully well that other people have their own obligations. Being a burden on these nice scientists and researchers and doctors isn't something he can keep doing in good conscience. Joining a military organization wouldn't ordinarily be his first solution to the problem of housing, but this time... It seems like their best bet.

As for where Marcy is? She's outside, covering the sidewalk all the way around the white quarantine facility, with all its cracks and weeds, in chalk drawings. Right now she's lying on her belly, kicking her legs back and forth in the air, as she works really hard on drawing what appears to be some kind of vampire-looking dude in a suit. "Hmm, hmm, hmmm~!" she hums to herself. "Doo bee doo bee dooo~! Skiddly diddly deedly, sha-whop bop, booooooYEAH~!" she sing-songs, in her approximation of scat singing. Hey, if Simon can do his improvisational jazz, so can she!

It's a somewhat overcast day, even without the clouds of ash and dust that occasionally move through the sky as a result of some ancient skyscraper collapsing or the left-overs of a long-finished war leaking pollution into the environment.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
Aside from the drawings Marcy had given her for Christmas, Annie didn't really know a whole lot about the world her new friend came from. And those drawings... well, they were cute, but they didn't really do the reality justice by any means. It was shocking to see how bad things actually were, even though it wasn't the first time she'd been amid such surroundings.

And yet, as she approached the facility, she saw Marcy; and the other girl seemed perfectly happy. And such happiness made Annie happy too. Mr. Petrikov must be a good caretaker, she thought.

"Marcy! Hi!" Annie called, waving energetically. She quickened her pace, and her walk soon turned into a bouncy, perfectly-rhythmic skip, until she stopped beside the chalk drawings. Yep, this was definitely the same person who'd sent her the pictures earlier. She carefully stepped around the drawings to avoid disturbing them as she got close to Marcy. "It's nice to meet you!" She gave her biggest smile to Marcy.

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
Marceline looks up when she hears her name being called. There aren't a huge number of vehicles in the parking lot, because, you know, not a lot of usable roads out here. Most of the stuff that's here is flight-or-hover-capable Union craft, like high-tech ambulances. So there's a lot of open space, and thus just as Annie spotted the befanged, grey-skinned, black-haired little girl, she too spots the approaching blonde-haired human-looking girl. Her eyes get big at first when she realizes who this must be, then she gets up on her knees and waves back with both arms energetically. "Hey, girl~! You're Annie, right? I'm soooo happy you're here!" She gets up off the sidewalk and brushes off her dress to get any dirt or chalk on it off.

"I didn't know you were coming over today. This is great!" Then her brow furrows a bit and her smile gets a bit downturned as she hesitantly asks, "...D'you got any pink chalk?" She holds her hands up, palms open dramatically, as she explains, "I think Grumble might've eaten mine, and there's a GIANT BRAIN I need t' finish drawing around the corner." She puts a chalky finger to her cheek, leaving a blue smear there, as she says, "I'm not sure what color brains actually are, but I don't think they make grey chalk, so's the best I can do!" she shrugs helplessly.

Then she just kind of waits awkwardly. "Sooooo... How old are you? I'm seven and a half."

She isn't used to talking to other kids.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
Annie, thanks to her programming and upbringing, in addition to the drawing, was totally fine with Marcy's appearance. Actually, gray skin and pointy ears had become a comforting sight to her. On the other hand... she wasn't exactly expecting to be greeted with "Hey girl", as if she and Marcy were part of the same high school clique or something. "Yeah, that's me," she answers after a laugh at the introduction.

"No, I didn't bring any chalk, sorry. I would have if I'd known! Because yeah... when people draw brains, they usually draw them pink." Not that she had a whole lot of personal experience drawing brains. But some kids were into drawing things like that!

And then came the next question. The one that she always had to think about how to answer when she was meeting kids from a new world. Judging by the flying vehicles around, Annie figured Marcy could handle the truth.

"Technically I'm about five-and-a-half now. But I'm an android made to look like I'm seven years old, so in a sense we're like the same age," she explained.

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
A lot of stuff Marcy has picked up from the internet since being rescued. Stuff like 'Hey, girl' was not part of her vocabulary before. But she's willing to try it out, because she wants to fit in, and if that's how people talk, then so will she! Simon is likely going to clear up for her at some point that not everything seen on T.V. or the internet is true-to-life.

Marcy's eyebrows go up a bit at Annie's explanation. But then she just asks in confusion, "So you look like you're my age, but you're not really?" THAT'S the part that catches her attention? She just shrugs it off though, and says, "Simon looks a lot older than he really is too. It's okay." She reaches out a hand to try to pat Annie comfortingly on the shoulder.

Then she glances over her own shoulder, and says, "I don't think the giant brain is going to go away until I finish drawing it, but with you here now, I guess I can't be scared of it." What is Marcy looking at? There's a partially-broken brick wall off in the distance, with a giant, grey-and-pink brain peeking over the top. It has a large, glaring eye poking out of the front. It slowly sinks down behind the wall and out of sight after being spotted. Marcy looks discomfitted by this display, but tries to put on a brave face for Annie.

"Anyway, I'm half-demon, so don't worry about not being normal. I don't think I've met anyone so far who IS normal!" She props her hands on her hips and asks excitedly, "So what do you do for fun? D'you have a house or are you living in a qwerty facility too?"

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
"Yeah, that's it. And I'm gonna look like this forever unless I decide to change," Annie answers, agreeing with her assessment. "But it's okay, I like how I am right now."

Marcy then turns discussion back to the giant brain- which tuns out to be not just something Marcy felt like drawing, but a real thing! Annie actually jumps a little when she sees it. It's pretty spooky! It looks like some kind of video game boss. Still, it doesn't seem to be trying to hurt them actively, instead hiding from them, so it might be all right.

"A-anyway... I don't think there really is such a thing as normal in the Multiverse. If there is, I think we're probably a lot more normal than most people," she notes.

"What do I do for fun? Lots of things! I really like to play games. I know like... every game my world has! And I like books too, mostly adventure stories and fairy tales and stuff like that. And I have a couple places that I call home... my mommy who designed me lives in Maine, and my daddy, who was the first person to love me, lives in Guardia," she further explains at Marcy's question. "They're both busy a whole lot, so I have to move around and stay with each of them when I can."

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
Marcy wiggles her fingers, "Ooo! Video games! I've been wanting to try those! Maybe I can come over to play sometime. I'm still learning how to read - Simon's been teaching me - but books can be fun too!" When Annie starts talking about parents, Marcy keeps smiling, but she seems to wince a bit as well. It's just a faint twitch in her facial features. Almost unnoticeable. "That sounds nice. I hope that someday Simon and I have a place to live too. I've already invited Grumble, the talking pug, to live with us. We can take turns visiting each other's houses and stuff!" Marcy looks up at the big, sterile-white facility the Union constructed. It's a mix of air-tight tents, plastic walls, and actual solid structures, using an old building that used to be here as a base.

She's tired of the place, but she has made a lot of friends among the research staff, and it's the first home of any kind she has had since the War. While she'd like to have a home of her own, it'll be sad to leave this place behind.

Best to make use of it while she can. "Yeah, I think we're both pretty normal after all, huh? But speaking of not-normal, there's some science people studyin' mutant plants in there! Want to go watch 'em? Maybe they've finally invented a candy tree or something!"

Also, there's no weird monsters or giant brains indoors.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
"Not just video games, but outside games and stuff too," Annie reminds Marcy. Though, looking around at things, she figures playing games outside isn't really in the cards for anyone around here for now. "Yeah, there are lots of great places to live. Njorun Station is great too, it'd be nice to live there! And you have a talking pug?" That sounds funny but also kind of cool.

"Yeah, let's go see the mutant plants," she answers, heading towards the building. "I like science a whole lot; it's why I'm here after all."

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
As Marcy and Annie head inside, Marcy is really happy. Everything has been so much better lately. And Simon has been going places and doing things without that awful thing at his side. She genuinely believes he is trying to stay with her, to remember who he is... And she genuinely believes she can help him in turn, and that they can have as close to a 'normal' life as the Multiverse may allow for. Now she has a dog friend, and a girl her age to play with, and the people she has met from the Union and from elsewhere, and... She is just really, really happy.

She introduces Annie to various people along the way, showing the android girl all the cool places, and the areas that are restricted so they can't actually go into them, and they peek through observation screens as scientists poke and prod at samples of mutated life from post-War Earth, and eventually she'll even take her new friend to see Simon and they can all hang out together.

Everything is going to be okay now. She just knows it.