Scene #8141: PNL: Girl Talk

Owner	Pose
Caelan Stuart	It has been... Just over twenty four hours since the most harrowing experience of a little girl's life. It's kind of a /thing/ to have a friend straight up facemelt at you-- but add getting chased through the halls of your school by an actual predator, ending up in the clutches of a literal monster, IN A CAGE, where you're pretty sure you and your dad and EVERYONE is about to die-- It does things to a girl. Sure, dad saved the day and gave her tons of hugs and stayed home to make sure she was okay, but... ...It's rough. It's hard. The memories keep playing on repeat. Even in her dreams... Alice is on the couch, the grey-blue of the family television transmitting something she's barely even watching. Her face is illuminated by her phone, which also has barely any attention being paid towards it. She's curled up under a quilt her great grandmother made for her mother, ages ago. It's dusty, the colors are faded, but it reminds Alice of her mom. And so... Here she is. Trying to drown out the bad memories with media and not really succeeding very well at all.
Charlotte Newman	It's been one day since the fall of Jack the Ripper. Halloween is proceeding apace, especially with Silver Springs temporarily closed for cleanup and investigation. That just means kids of all grades get the day off and get to celebrate their halloween all day long. Charlotte hasn't seen John or Stanley all day, assuming John is doing John Things and Stanley is spending all day sleeping in the Velvet Room (whatever that is) like he said he was going to. Which leaves the young lady to her own devices and-- well, a little bit anxious. Sitting at an outdoor table at the Bean Machine coffee shop, nursing a pumpkin spice latte, clad in jungle khakis and a pith helmet and several plush toucans perched all over-- she stares at her phone for a long time. She's not even sure why she has to work up the courage to do so, but eventually sends a message to Alice through the Reversal game's friend feature. > At Bean Machine on 4th and Maple. Wanna hang out? > I can come to you if it's better. Just tell me where to go. Closing her eyes, she awaits a response, though-- given what happened, she almost expects not to get one at all.
Caelan Stuart	Something breaks the dreary silence. Alice's eyes focus as her phone buzzes once, then twice. She thinks for a moment-- or rather, she stares at her phone for a moment. Thoughts are not exactly coming easy to her, but there's something she is sure about. > Dad would freak out if I'm gone when he gets home. :( Beat. > You could come to my house? Pause. > I'd really like it if you came to my house. (An address follows, because clearly Caelan will freak out less about a stranger being in his house. Especially once he learns they're not actually a stranger!)
Charlotte Newman	> I wouldn't blame him at all. > He's met me before so it should be OK for me to visit. > I'll be there soon. Charlotte estimates five minutes. The Uber takes five minutes just to arrive. Another ten to navigate traffic from across town. Some time in which she helpfully sends a text to Mister Stuart that she was going to check on Alice. Mostly so that if he gets home while she's there, it isn't a surprise that might get her shot by a man who would be understandably anxious. She actually has the driver drop her off a block away so she can grab something at the corner store; which adds another few minutes between her last message and the knock at the door. What greets Alice is a nearly grown young woman dressed like a rainforest explorer with a dash of toucans, presenting a pint of Ultimate Chocolate Mudslide, a warm if subdued smile, and a tentative "Trick or treat?"
Caelan Stuart	> Okay Alice flops over on her couch, arm lolling out over the lip of the cushion. The minutes tick by, it's torture. But at least Caelan is responsive. He seems quite thankful that someone's keeping an eye on his girl while he's out snooping. Apparently there's something about a mysterious bus in the Reversal that he needs to check out. But that's a topic for another scene. There's a knock. Alice crawls off the couch, still swaddled in her ancestral quilt. She opens up the door-- And sees... Someone that almost makes her crack into a smile. Instead she just throws herself into a great big hug.
Charlotte Newman	A smile was what Charlotte was trying for. She failed this time, but that doesn't mean it wasn't still somehow helpful. When Alice goes for a hug, Charlotte's response is immediate, shifting the ice cream to one hand and welcoming her in with a big hug of her own. "It's good to see you," she murmurs. 'Unhurt' is implied. She almost says it, but avoids the word. She lets the hug carry on for a minute or so before eventually reaching up to smooth the younger girl's hair down, "How are you holding up?" Her words are awkward, but her tone is genuine. Charlotte has clearly never had to comfort someone quite this distraught before. She's trying her best, with all the little comforts she can think of, "I brought you this-- you can freeze it if you don't want it right now." She leans in a bit across the threshold, "And I have nowhere else to be, so we can keep each other company until your dad gets home." She's guessing Alice would probably rather not be alone right now.
Caelan Stuart	Alice would absolutely positively rather to not alone right now. Her hug tightens around Charlotte's midsection, and by now it's pretty clear by the dampness on the front of her costume that Alice is crying into her chest. "S-sorry," Alice sniffles, "I didn't-- I don't want you to think I'm a crybaby but--" Well. In this case, maybe a few tears are... probably excusable. "Sorry, it's... I can't stop thinking about it," Alice sobs softly. "I'm... I just need to hug for a little if that's okay?" But there's every indication that she's going to spring for the ice cream the moment she has... You know, the emotional wherewithal to do it. But right now, she doesn't. Right now, there's someone in front of her she can cry to who wouldn't end up hurting for it, too. Caelan is many things, but... He's a dad. Dads historically have a hard time dealing with their daughters crying. So.
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte's face softens. One arm remains holding around Alice's back and shoulders while the other rests on her head, gently petting. When she finally speaks, her voice is gentle and soft, "It's okay. You've been through so much and it was only last night. It's still raw. Your mind is still hurt. It'll take a little bit before it gets better." She closes her own eyes, letting out a little hum, "Even the strongest people need to cry now and then. It's okay." Her arm tightens a bit around those smaller shoulders, "It's even good to cry sometimes. Don't let anyone tell you different." "It's just..." She struggles to find the words, before eventually deciding on, "...It's a lot to work through. It'll take time."
Caelan Stuart	A lot can happen in two years. A /lot./ Especially at this age. Sure, Alice has grandparents and stuff, but of the people who could actually help her work through any of... /anything/, her dad was clearly not in the best position to raise a soon-to-be-teenaged daughter through some very painful years, and her grandparents couldn't be around all the time. This is maybe the first older-girl-figure she's had to help with anything like 'emotions' in... Years? So maybe it's not surprising that she spends a few minutes just... letting it all out. After so long of having to try to look strong and okay for her dad and everyone else, being told that it's okay to cry is... It sort of opens the floodgates a little. (More than a little) It takes some time, but Charlotte is eventually able to get Alice to calm down enough to head back inside, the ice-cream half-melted but still being spooned down by a grateful girl in-between sniffles. "...I was so scared. I'd heard of people... having that happen. Being... being chased like that." "I never thought..." it'd happen to her. But that's how things go, isn't it? There's always some jerk, somewhere. This one just happened to be much more dangerous. The TV still glows. Apparently she had been watching old episodes of... Phoenix Featherman? Huh.
Charlotte Newman	And Charlotte is more than willing to supply that connection. She's no mother type, but a big sister is hardly out of the question. The whole time they're in the doorway is just a hug and gentle hair-petting and just-- letting the younger girl blow off some of that crushing emotional pressure. A good cry can go a long way. She's seen this episode; she watched Phoenix Featherman with Stanley not terribly long ago, so she only glances at the TV on occasion when something exciting is happening. Most of her attention is on Alice, nodding gently from her seat on the couch, "Mm... It's usually something you only see in scary movies. But as scary as that is, you know in the back of your head that... it's just a movie. That's not supposed to happen to real people." She can relate. She did, after all, nearly get vivisected herself the first time they ran into one of the tyrant's minions. She doesn't feel a need to share that detail, though. There's no point, she thinks, in comparing or belittling what Alice went through. "It's different when it's real," She pauses for a moment in thought, eventually adding, "But in those movies, everyone dies and there is no happy ending. And after the credits are over the monster gets up again from where it was beaten." She leans closer, "But this wasn't a horror movie... and that person is never coming back. We aren't clueless teens at a haunted summer camp. We're superheroes." Which is a bold claim to make while covered in toucans.
Caelan Stuart	She never asked for this life-- but does anybody, really? Who asks for the kind of life that involves being thrown headfirst into the kind of danger you only really see on television? It sounds fun-- every kid has imagined being the hero of their own story. But that danger is fundamentally fictional. It can't really hurt anybody. This-- This was all too real. And she's far too young to process the possibility of leaving for the day and just-- never coming back. Even when her mom died, that was... someone else. Someone close, but not /her./ How do you cope with confronting your own mortality like that? Alice sniffles and nods reluctantly into her ice cream. What Charlotte is saying makes sense. But... "...Superheroes? Are you... Captain Toucan, or something...?" There's a little bit of a smile. Just a little bit of one, but still. "...Is dad a superhero too...? I was scared he was going to... Die." Alice curls up just a little tighter in on herself. "...Like mom. Then I'd be all alone. But I remember thinking, it'd be okay, 'cause if dad died there, then... I probably would too. And then I'd see them both again." She shakes her head, shuddering, "...I don't like thinking like that."
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte's gaze drops slowly to her own hands, resting in her lap. Nobody Alice's age should have to confront thoughts like this. It's tough to think about even for someone older and more worldly. Let alone someone like Charlotte, whose memory doesn't even extend past September. "Ah?" She starts out of her own head, "Captain Toucan..?" After a moment, she lets out a little laugh, "O-oh. No, this is my halloween costume." Lifting her arms, she gestures, "I really like birds. Especially these kinds, with the big, funny beaks. So I decided to be a rainforest explorer." Reaching up, she removes the one from on top of her hat with the distinct rrrp of velcro. She reaches over, placing the bird on Alice's shoulder, "They remind me of someone. Someone who makes me feel safe and sound, someone who believes in me no matter what. I couldn't tell you who, the memory is so fuzzy. I haven't seen them since I was very little, I think." She leans forward a bit, looking ahead, resting her chin on her hands, "It's going to be hard... getting past thoughts like that. It never really goes away. These things leave scars that you will carry for a long time." "As for your dad..." Charlotte leans back, placing her hands on her knees, "I think he might have been a hero even before last night. But now he's like Stanley and me. Like John." She nods once, "We're no Featherman, but we're going keep stopping bad people." Her gaze shifts, returning to Alice, "The other side... is a place that exists to foster and grow peoples' dreams and desires. Bad people shouldn't be allowed to mess with it. I hope some day I'll be able to show you that side of the world for the beautiful place it's supposed to be."
Caelan Stuart	Confronting death is never easy. It's enough to drive some of the most brilliant people in the world to commit unforgivable atrocities in the name of trying, desperately, to avert the inevitable end. To be made to stare it in the face like she did-- It's cruel. Unbelievably cruel. But then, what's-his-face didn't get away with it in the end. "Oh!" Alice nods, "That makes sense. I have a stuffed bunny that makes me feel like that. We used to watch that movie, you know? Alice in Wonderland." The one with the white rabbit that leads a girl named Alice straight into a dangerous but incredible (and insane) world. Who is the white rabbit here, though? Surely it can't be Caelan. She smiles a little bit and gently stabilizes the bird on her shoulder. "...Maybe your dad? Does he have a big nose too?" Her mood deflates somewhat, then. She brings her hands together in her lap, gently wringing one over the other, "...Nn. It would be nice if... If I woke up and it was all just a dream, but..." It wasn't. "...Dad was always helping people," she says, then. "Even after mom died. When he started acting weird, I got so worried, but... I'm glad. Maybe stopping that bad guy helped him remember how he used to be?" The Other Side... "...Is that kind of like Wonderland, too...? But there were all those... scary ghosts wandering around over there. I don't think I understand, but... If you say it's supposed to be a good place, then I believe you."
Charlotte Newman	"Ah, yeah," Charlotte nods once, "I know that story. There's a book too, but I think the movie is a little more fun." And thankfully unrelated to the monstrosity they fought to end the Lampport time loop. Alice brings up her dad, though, and Charlotte pauses. Her voice grows quiet and her gaze suddenly evasive, "My dad is... never around. I never see him or mom anymore. They're always out on business trips." After a pause, she quickly adds, "B-but, no, he doesn't have a face like a toucan..! Maybe it's my grandpa I'm thinking of." Not that she actually remembers her father's face. Or her mother's, for that matter. Charlotte scoots a bit closer, putting an arm around Alice's shoulders in a little side-hug, "It's not a dream, but that means we can do something about how messed up it is. It took a bit for your dad to realize that, the same way I did." She tilts her head forward in thought, "I don't think it's like Wonderland at all." Thank god. "But it is a wonderful place. Just... getting messed up by bad people." Rummaging, she pulls out her phone, thumbs through the authentication and opens her gallery app, "Those freaky ghosts aren't supposed to be there, but you also get little guys like these." Thumbing through photos she's taken on her various excursions, she stops on the 'wisp doggo' from the reverse side of Southcourt, a marshmallowy ghost of an animal that doesn't look quite right, but might make for a cute plush toy. "I'll show you sometime. Only if your dad is OK with it, though. Galatea and I can protect you, no problem."
Caelan Stuart	"Oh..." Alice frowns. Even at her age, she can sense when a topic is... probably not the best to broach. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But maybe it IS your grandpa! Besides, someone having a toucan-face isn't that bad is it? Especially not if it gives you such a nice feeling!" Alice is hugged, and the girl leans over to snuggle into it. "...I think dad is just, you know... I think he was just really sad about mom. Even more than me. So he didn't know what to do for a long time." But what's he going to do now...? Will he try to set the world back to the way it was before? What happens to everybody's memories if he does...? But then: Ghost doggo. "Aww," Alice coos, "It's so fluffy and round! Are there other things like this in there...? How did all those bad people find that place? Is it really what's inside the game...?"