You brought the rain and shine into my life

[soapscent]

Characters: Jolyne and Xion
Date: During the Valentine's event!
Summary: Two complete strangers are drawn together.
Warnings: N/A

Jolyne didn't feel the pull physically, but she was drawn nonetheless. Suddenly no direction made sense to move in except one; Trying to change course just gave her severe vertigo. After a few tries, she stopped fighting it and decided to see where it was trying to lead her.

Comments

[mnementomori]

Xion was at the Clock Tower again, getting ready to gather more dirt to extend her network of train tracks. She'd finally gotten over the sneezing fit brought on by her last expedition into the dunes. But for some reason, she found herself leaving the glass doors and walking away from the edge of the Gardens. There was a tug at the center of her chest, irresistible, and she was so busy looking down at her feet to make sure she didn't stumble that she almost walked right into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry--..."

[soapscent]

Jolyn bumped right into the younger girl. She'd seen her coming and had tried to avoid her, but the attempt had given her an attack of vertigo, and so they had been drawn inexorably together.

"My bad," Jolyne said. "I saw you coming and everything. But no harm done, right?"

The urge to move on had faded.

[mnementomori]

"R-right..." She tilts her head up, but somehow most of her face is still lost in the shadow of her hooded jacket.

"Did you...feel something weird?" The pulling seems to have stopped. She looks this woman over, finding her vaguely familiar. She's seen her in passing at some of the group gatherings the Queen has organized.

[soapscent]

Jolyne didn't recognize Xion; After all, what was there to recognize? All her distinguishing features were sort of hidden.

"I did until like a second ago," she said. "Like I was being dragged along by something. It's gone now, though."

[mnementomori]

"Me too," she replied, biting her lip a little as she considered that. "Is there something special about this spot, maybe?" She looked down at the snow beneath their feet, scuffing at it a little with her boot to see if anything was buried underneath.

[soapscent]

"Maybe," Jolyne said, looking around, but she sounded skeptical. "I don't see anything special about it, though. And it's kinda funny that we both wound up here at the same time."

[mnementomori]

Xion looked up again. "Well...I guess it is about the time for weird things to be happening." She said it pretty matter-of-factly: being in the Gardens over a year, "weird" was a normal occurrence. Experimentally, she took a step back, but ended up wobbling back towards Jolyne immediately. She threw out her arms to keep her balance.

"Woah!"

[soapscent]

"Easy!" Jolyne stepped in to catch her and keep her from falling over. Which actually put them off of the spot they had been standing at earlier...hmm.

"Let's try something," she said. "Stand next to me and let's try walking away side-by-side." This would confirm her suspicions.

[mnementomori]

"Th-thanks," Xion stammered, regaining her balance. She nodded and stepped into place after a moment, lengthening her stride to keep pace with the taller woman. Everything seemed normal...

"So it wasn't that...spot?"

[soapscent]

"Just like I thought," she said as the spot where they'd met moved off into the distance. "I wasn't the place at all. It was each other."

[mnementomori]

"Each other..."

Xion looked up at the woman again. "I guess it is something the Queen's doing, again. At least it's not those flowers, or..."

She stops, realizing something. "Oh! I'm Xion."

[soapscent]

"Jolyne," she says simply, pointing her thumb into her chest. "Nice to meet you, under better circumstances, yadda yadda. Question is, what do we do now?"

[mnementomori]

Xion looks down at her feet for a moment, thinking.

"There were no clues to what's going on this time except for that...feeling. But there must be something we have to do...I mean, all the other times were like that, right? Something's wrong and we need to fix it."

A thought occurs to her then. "Have you been here a long time?"

[soapscent]

"A looong-ass time," Jolyne answered. "I don't think I've met much of anybody who's been here longer. You?"

[mnementomori]

"I've been here..."

She's silent for a moment, biting her lip.

"One year and seventy-four days."

[soapscent]

"That's...remarkably precise." She's unsure whether to be impressed or what.

[mnementomori]

"I keep track in my diary. It helps." Time is precious when you've only lived for two years.

[soapscent]

"Huh. Well, I'm not completely sure, but I think I've been here longer than that."

[mnementomori]

"Really? You're the first person I've met who has been. Do you remember when this place was made, then?"

[soapscent]

"Not really when it was made, but when I showed up there wasn't anybody who'd been there before. I think we were the first."

[mnementomori]

"It's gotten a lot bigger since then. All the things people made...there were hardly any buildings before. Do you remember when the stars fell?"

[soapscent]

Yeah! Man, we thought that was weird, but that was practically normal by this place's standards.

[mnementomori]

"So you've been here at least as long as I have...that's the first really weird thing that happened for me. But it did get...stranger and stranger." She laughs hesitantly, putting a hand to her mouth. "When things aren't dangerous, it can be...fun. But I wish people wouldn't get hurt."