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( open ) girl's not grey

who: AU'd Re-L Mayer & YOU!
what: Shenanigans of the tiny kind - conning people in to buying her candy, escaping her captors (baby sitters) - and of course trying to escape the Quarantine because that's what Re-L does.
when: June 15-24th
where: All around the Quarantine
warnings: None atm!

i. just like heaven

[ Someone's found her way to the nearest candy shop in her adventures around the Quarantine. Re-L's nearly unrecognizable, without her blue make-up, shorter (but, you know, still fairly tall compared to other kids her age) - and namely, dressed in pink and with a half smile on her face. She peruses the stores nearby, moving from a bakery to a candy store, standing at the windows with her palms splayed on the glass, looking at everything with a certain sense of wonder. Romdeau had never had places so colorful or so lively, and the movement all around is close quarters and oh so exciting -

So she moves away from the window and instead in to the shop, hands clasped behind her back, humming lightly to herself as she takes in the wares, sugary sweet things she'd never been allowed to have, or had never seen before. There's a bit of an odd, hoppy pace to how she moves, balancing on one heel for a few moments before actually making her next stride, hair primly tucked behind her ear. There's a plan brewing in those eyes if anyone's ever seen one - eyeing up a particularly sweet looking batch of taffies that she'd like to get her grubby little pale mitts on. Re-L's eyes scan the crowd, looking for someone who may look a little... easy to talk to, maybe.

Or easy to string along in this little plan.

Once she's got her eyes on someone, though, she approaches and tugs on their hand, clothing, where ever she can, those big blue eyes directed up, very much puppy dog and then - ]

Do you know if their um... [ She pauses, not sure what the taffies are, but instead points - ] .. those things are any good?

ii. the great escape

[ Fortunately for Re-L, she may have found a caretaker along her wandering way or just... you know. Found a passerby who's stopped her from shirking candy stores of their candy or people of their money if she'd asked nicely enough -

And she's currently running away from them at break-neck pace, laughing her head off the entire way. She's fast, probably thanks to the sheer length of her legs, long hair billowing behind her as she runs ahead, occasionally turning, as if to check if the other person is still there -

The momentary pause may seem like she's stopping to be caught, but -

Nope. She whips right back around with another joyful laugh and takes off again. ]

iii. i still see that look in your eye

[ Somehow, once she's able to sneak way from where ever she's held up as any child should be, Re-L sneaks her way back out and .. well, somehow manages to make her way to the border wall. Being sneaky is part and parcel to living in Romdeau Dome and getting away with things, after all. Thankfully she's not trying anything miraculous or wild, actually just.. spending time taking a look up at stars - (stars!), pale little legs kicking over the edge of the wall with a careless cadence.

There's a draw to danger and places she shouldn't be, so there's no wonder any passers-by may be shocked to find her there just.. seemingly enjoying the breeze and night sky, actually... quiet, for the first time in a little while. Maybe it's the night sky or just the lack of excitement and movement at the wall - either way, for once she's not running away or thinking of sly plans. ]

iv. choose your own adventure

Have an idea for a prompt that's not here! Throw it my way!

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[For a moment, she's concerned. Because that the bubblegum stand may not be enough to catch this girl's attention and she would soon be on the opposite end of that sugar straw machine, filling it to the brim with whatever the kid wanted. It's not like she can't say no. She just finds it hard to do, especially to a young girl whoever had the chance to try this stuff. Things she took for granted as a child herself.

It looks like her worries were unfounded as the girl turns away with disgust and fixates on the rack. Unfortunately, she asks the one question Iris can't answer.]

Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because some people like different shapes?

[Is that good enough logic for a child?? Hopefully. It sounds good enough.]

But I can tell you they're all good. My favorite is the circle one that's really pink. Oh, and I bet you don't know about the surprise you get in every piece of gum right? I'm gonna show you that too.

[EXCITED YET RE-L]

Edited 2017-06-22 05:01 (UTC)

These look huge for your mouth.. [ She grabs a rather large gum ball - it, of course, looks large for someone who's a bit smaller than she typically would be, all over, particularly for a kid who's never had the opportunity to shove a gun ball in her mouth and happily crush it down. With a shrug she put it in her bag anyways - worst came to worst she could break it somehow, right? Couldn't be that hard to problem solve.

The concept of a 'surprise' in each one seems to perplex her, brows creasing in toward each other as she takes a moment to observe the bright pink ball in her bag, then back up to Iris' face, as if asking if she's messing with her - ]

A surprise? What do you mean?

You have to wait. I'm gonna show you outside.

[It's tempting to just tell her what the surprise is, but she knows it will be more satisfying to show. Grabbing a plastic bag for herself, she takes a few bubblegum balls and strips off the shelf and shoves them in.]

Is there anything else you want to try before we check out?

[The candy in this girl's bag isn't too expensive-bubblegum ball and taffy. If there's anything else, Iris is glad to add it in.]

Why are we waiting? [ There's a small, impatient frown at that - sure, she knows the whole thing about not eating merchandise before it's paid for, but half of those rules don't really apply to her all that stringently back home. It's not the best way to think about it, sure, but.. why not use your privilege every once in a while? Or.. fairly often, but it's just because she's pushy like that.

Regardless, Iris distracts her easily enough from her displeasure about having to wait with her next question, and Re-L takes a moment to look around the store once more - eyes settling on something called 'Jawbreakers' if the signs are anything to go by, head tipping slightly out of curiosity. She approaches, noticing that the candies range from tiny to nearly the size of her head and reaches up to tap on a plastic wrapped large one -

It feels like a rock and pure confusion dawns on her face. ]

Why are they hard like that? Do they really break your jaw?

[ Is that concern? it's definitely concern. ]

[This girl is so cute. Though Iris is familiar with this type of candy, she acts surprised upon seeing the name and reaches down to pick up the one the girl had tapped.]

Whoa, a real jawbreaker? Seems like they would doesn't it? Let's get a couple. We'll just have to be careful with them.

[Before setting the giant sugar ball into her bag, she curiously holds the large jawbreaker next to the girl's face, comparing the size between the fist sized candy and her mouth. She pretends to be lost in deep thought over the obnoxiously sized candy and whether it would fit. It doesn't hurt to play around with this kid a bit.]

Hmm...this one looks just right.

[ There's a look of slight disbelief on Re-L's face as Iris grabs the jawbreaker she'd pointed out, as if she's unsure how the hell they were going to go about eating absolutely any of it. Of course, this is also the child simultaneously eeking candy out of someone whilst spouting her doctor's lessons on health, so absolutely anything is possible. She's a bit wide-eyed even as Iris sizes the jawbreaker up to her head, eyes zooming between the other girl's face and the jawbreaker in her hand.

Who knew that Re-L was that easy to make nervous, at that age? Probably pretty much no one, actually, but she seems incredulous even as she settles out a little. ]

I'm not sticking that whole thing in my mouth at once.

You won't? What are we going to do?

[Barely able to hold back her laughter, she continues to feign surprise that the girl won't put the jawbreaker in her mouth. What a shame. The candy goes back to its home and she pulls out a more appropriate size instead. She squints her eyes at the label, as though reading something very small, and smiles.]

Oh, this is the kid one-says it right there. The other one must be for chocobos.

[She holds out the normal sized one for the girl to inspect and approve of.]

Do you want this one?

Move on then, I guess. [ She's definitely decided that she's having none of that larger one, though, just by the look on her face. Of course, no one in Romdeau really took the time to mess with her, other than Daedalus, and he wasn't going about teasing her about anything other than her lessons or something equally mundane and certainly not involving candy. Iggy would rib her a little, but when she wanted him to pipe down it was as easy as cutting the turing function -

Something humans didn't really have. Thankfully Iris was soothing her with candy at the moment, even if it came at the cost of a joke or two on her.

The 'kid' jaw breaker comment makes her eyes narrow for a moment, then - ]

How is a smaller one going to help? Aren't children more likely to choke on them then? [ Too logical, sometimes, this one. It ruins all the fun. She scrutinizes the jawbreaker for a moment longer, shrugging, and holding out her hand. ]

Might as well.

[Iris hides a smile behind her hand because she doesn't have an answer for that. This little girl got her with that question, but at least she takes it all the same.]

You're right. They should really change that sign. I'll be sure to let the manager know.

[If they ever come back here together, she'll pretend the sign was changed. Jawbreakers-adults only. Child choking hazard courtesy of the small black-haired girl.]

I think this is enough candy for one day. We can come back next week for the rest. You ready to get in line?

Edited 2017-07-02 17:01 (UTC)

[ Re-L makes a little disbelieving sound, a slight hum, but she's not exactly put out enough to not take the chance to try all these new candies. There's a part of her that worries that she's going to somehow lose all her teeth with all the sugar involved in all these little treats, but on the same coin... she'd never know if sh didn't try it out, right? No sense in worrying about things that haven't come to pass yet anyways.

Iris' question it met with a small nod, looking to where people were lined up to pay for their sugary treats. She begins heading toward it, but as she does so, a question occurs to her that she's never asked of her. ]

What's your name?

My name's Iris. What's yours? Oh, let me see your bag too. I think they weigh it up there.

[Now that they're in line, she holds out her hand for the girl's candy. Sorry, kid. She's got to take it for just a second to pay for the goods. Then they can go outside and she can finally show her the bubblegum ~secret surprise~.]

Re-L Mayer. [ The last name is very important (according to some people, at least), and she's always learned to introduce herself by her full name - leaned propriety is such a pain in the ass. Her bag of candy is passed over without too much question, typically she'd been able to just walk out with things and worry about everything else later, but, new places, new procedures.

There's no rush for her to leave, anyway. When they finally reach the front of the line she stands eagerly ext to Iris, her hands clasped behind her back as a reminder to wait patiently. She's bad at that whole patience thing. ]

[Iris glances to her side before setting the bags on the counter, making sure Re-L still there. What a good kid! The candy must be enough of a reward to keep the girl at her side. She hurries to pay, not wanting to test how long she'll stand there candyless and once that's done, hands the bag immediately back to her.]

Alright, let's go outside. I'll show you the surprise there.

[Iris might be more excited for this than she is, judging by the smile the spreads across her face. Her fingers are in her bag, already digging out a piece of gum.]

This is gonna be great! It's so fun.

[ She's very well trained thanks to her upbringing - even if the other person with her isn't her autoreiv or someone even considerably older than her, she tends to stick to whoever she's with at the time. She receives the bag back with typically outstretched hands, holding it to her as they shuffle their way back outside. She tucks her hair behind her ear when it removes itself, as per usual wanting to be prim and ready, even if it's just to test bubblegum.

Iris' excitement is contagious, it's just.. Re-L tends to be a little more reserved in general, still smiling, though it's a quick of the corners of her lips instead of a grin, at this point.

Once they reach a stopping point she digs in to her bag, too, pulling out a piece like Iris', watching the other girl to see what she'll do next. ]

[This is the moment she's been waiting for, from the moment Re-L expressed her interest in the bubblegum flavored taffy. She plops down onto the steps outside of the building and pats the seat beside her.]

Here we go.

[She pops the piece of gum in her mouth and chews for quite some time. The only indication she's getting anywhere is the fact she holds up her hand and slowly puts down each finger as she counts down to one.

The finale itself may not be as grand as Iris made it out to be, as it's just a bubble. A small one that she blows into until it pops. Poof! The super bubblegum surprise.]

See that? It's like magic!

[ She takes a curious, obedient set where the older girl has indicated, wide blue eyes watching everything she's doing with wrapt attention. Not a single thing like this exists in Romdeau, and so her rapt attention can at least be slightly excused. Blowing bubbles with food items, too? Absolutely something she'd never be allowed. Somehow she'd been picturing some kind of trinket appearing or.. something considering all the hype this bubblegum had been getting -

So excuse her if she looks a little confused, Iris, when it's a bubble. ]

A bubble? [ Well... that's not really what she thought it would be, but also not the worst - ]

How do you do it?

[That's how things are, small friend. Iris isn't deterred though because she's going to show this girl the joy that is chewing gum. An experience she still can't believe Re-L hasn't been able to enjoy until now.

She chews again, making a thin layer over her tongue and then sticking it out to show. Then she blows another small bubble until it pops.]

Looks easy, but it takes a lot of practice. Here, go ahead and try one!

[ Diet rules imposed on her are a bit more... strict than some others, probably. Daedalus definitely gives her more than he probably should, but.. she's still the Regent's granddaughter, and had a different set of rules to go by. She watches with rapt attention, eyes focused on what Iris is doing bit by bit. She's intense, even at such a young age and in a small body, blue eyes focused on the other girl's every move.

Once shown she'll finally, carefully, unwrap a piece of bubblegum and put it in her mouth, seemingly intense even in her chewing before making a very careful incision in the gum and -

Promptly blowing too hard and popping it prematurely.

Well that's certainly an ugly face she's making. ]

[The moment Re-L makes that face, Iris tries to hide the wide smile that appears behind her hand, though it does nothing to stop the laugh that comes out. Can't say she didn't get a warning. There's a lot of practice involved in making awesome bubblegum bubbles.]

Don't worry, you'll get it down someday. Practice makes perfect you know.

[Then to show there is a light at the end of the sugary tunnel, she makes another small bubble and blows enough air to pop it. Oh wait, here's an idea!]

Oh, let's make our best bubbles and take a picture of it.

[BUBBLEGUM SELFIES]

[ Perfectionist as she is, even as a child, Re-L's now bound and determined to make that damn bubblegum bubble if it's the last thing she manages. Now that she knows she can't push air that hard it can't be too bad, right? The delicacy of the bubblegum bubble isn't something she anticipates, though, which makes things a little bit more difficult.

She makes a few more slightly successful attempts, small bubbles that burst fairly quickly, but it seems to irritate her all the same. ]

I'm not taking a picture of some tiny bubble.

[ She will not be embarrassed by a tiny bubble in a photo! ]

[That's an attitude she can get behind. Every time she makes a bubble attempt, Iris claps lightly until they pop and makes a disappointed sound when they do.]

Keep trying! You almost had that last one.

[In the meantime, Iris is trying to perfect her own. It's not going much better. Just bubble explosions all over the place.]

[ There's definitely a slight sense of irritation about her that this is taking so long to master - she feels as though she's spent much less time mastering much simpler tasks, and perhaps that's where it all comes from - she just wants to master it here and now! A long suffering sigh follow Iris' encouragements, but she'll continue to try anyways.

This one she spend a good bit of time and patience on (for Re-L), and once it's there, she's motioning to Iris both to look at her bubble (THIS IS VERY EXCITING) as well as an urging to get her bubble blown so that they could, finally, take the picture before her bubble may suffer a sad fate. ]

[Oh no, she can't let her down! Not after all that time it took for her to make it. Clapping and beaming at her accomplishment, she hurries to blow her own, careful to make it smaller than Re-L's. She wants her to be the star of the selfie show.

Then she leans back, flipping her phone out in a quick motion that shows she's done this a time or two before, and snap. Picture taken! Her victory is immortalized. Iris blows hard enough to pop her bubble and twists the phone around to show her the image.]

It looks even bigger in the picture, don't you think?

[ Truly, Iris is too kind to her, allowing her bubble to be bigger - she ought to be canonized, truly. Her frail little burgeoning ego might not have withstood the blow of having a smaller bubble, but her they are, preparing for a photo, Re-L jealousy guarding her bubble from the outside world in the mean time. It's not as though anyone's going to go by with the aim of popping her bubble in particular, but...

She doesn't know that for sure, either, does she?

Re-L is grinning around her bubble, arms thrown out slightly in victory, all too happy to take the photo.

There's even reluctance about popping it, but she does it anyway, thinking it immortalized in photo form anyway as she takes a look at the results. ]

It does! I'll just have to keep at it and make an even bigger one!

Too big and you'll float away, you know! Better know your limits.

[When she looks back at the photo, it warms her heart. Ever since she arrived, it's been peaceful. Happy. Even her friends were around and she was able to enjoy their company in a way she couldn't back in their world. Times like this remind her of the peaceful days she missed. It reminds her of people who can't enjoy this moment like she can. To thinking of a small boy, playing indoors because night comes too fast, and daemons linger outside the safety of their home. It's bittersweet the way Re-L reminds her time with him and she can't help to wonder if he would have taken part of this bubblegum contest too.

She doesn't linger on her thoughts long and leans back, holding the phone up again. Not for another picture, but to show her the cute photo editing app that she's using. Sparkles frame the image and so far, Iris has small black cat ears on Re-L's head.]

Do you want whiskers or a mustache?

Could I really do that? [ Careful there, Iris, she might do it on purpose just to see, now. The science doesn't support it, but hey, there's no knowing until an experiment is completed, right? That's how Daedalus would probably tell her if she asked how to approach it, if not flatly tell her to stop being foolish.

The quiet between them doesn't bother her one bit, lightly kicking her feet back and forth as she tries to blow more bubbles, some more successful than others. Perfecting technique is important, after all. There's no such thing as recreation without trying to get something out of it, too.

She snaps out of her own personal bubble blowing contest as Iris leans back, a small inquiring noise making it past the bubble she's currently blowing. She sits back up as if for another photo - but then notices that the image isn't moving, and there's new details - ]

Oh - Well, if you're adding ears, then whiskers.. [ Because that's what makes sense, after all. ] Are you going to be a cat too?

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( open ) girl's not grey

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