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rainbowfic2022-07-31 11:24 pm
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2022-07-31 11:24 pm
Library Yellow #4, Cerise #4
Name: shadowsong26
Story: Window Shopping
'Verse: Lux
Colors: Library Yellow #4. oniochalasia, Cerise #4. Cute animals
Supplies and Materials: photography, canvas (the first one), brush (menagerie), watercolors, fabric, pastels (my current gen + romance card O3 "disability (sudden)"), novelty beads
Word Count: 1152
Rating: PG
Characters: Rubika
Warnings: Don't think so, nope.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Last Library Yellow, at long last!
There wasn't a whole lot to do on Charon, especially on the side facing Pluto. The other side had the capital, which was an actual city, and a couple of sightseeing resorts. There was a better view of meteors and space dust from outside the solar system from the spaceward side of Charon than just about anywhere else, which meant some tourism over there.
But this side was mostly small farms, along with the small towns they surrounded. Like the town where Bix grew up (okay, technically, she grew up on a farm outside it, but close enough), which didn't have much more than a post office, the school, a little movie theatre, and a couple of shops. And most of those shops were practical things; groceries, farm supplies, and so on. For anything else, you went crossworld to the capital, or maybe flew down to Pluto, which was a little more urban.
That didn't stop Bix and her friends from goofing off on Main Street on their way home from school, especially after exam days, of course. Sneaking into the movie theatre when they thought they could get away with it, a lot of window-shopping, descending like locusts on the candy store...
When they hit high school, the candy store was less appealing, and most of her friends would go to the shop on the left, which sold clothing and jewelry and makeup, along with a small electronics section. Bix would join them sometimes, because it was way more fun shopping with her friends then by herself, but most days, she would drift right instead.
Because to the right of the candy store was the pet store.
Mem always said no, and Bix wasn't going to do something stupid like try to sneak a little friend home, but she still liked to hang out there, watch them play. Sometimes, even though everyone knew everyone in town, which meant everyone knew Bix wasn't buying, she'd even get to play with them.
And no matter how bad her day had been, no matter if it was one of those days where everyone else had a date to homecoming and she was convinced she'd failed all of her exams and was never going to get her pilot's license or whatever...
Window-shopping at the pet store somehow made everything okay.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
There's a little pet shop, on a busy streetcorner in one of the busiest cities on Oberon, that Rubika always makes time to visit.
Technically, it's not on her circuit. The city, that is. There aren't any Family members living there for her to trade information with, so there's no official reason for her to stop by. And there are better places to stay the night, if she doesn't want to sleep on her ship.
But it's not all that far out of her way, and it's a nice little island of bliss in the middle of a slightly-chaotic city. And if she stops once on her way out to the Uranian moons, which make up the bulk of her circuit, and once on her way back to Earth...
It's bigger than the one on Charon where she used to hang out, with a bigger variety of pets to choose from. And fewer regulars--advantage and disadvantage of a city, really; not as many people know who you are.
And the rules are the same, even if it's no longer Mem making them. Rubika's ship isn't really set up for a pet, and, honestly, she's not sure she'd be the greatest at taking care of one. Even the 'low-maintenance' ones, like fish, take a lot more investment than people think. Her life may have long stretches of downtime while she's in transit, but when she is actively on duty, she doesn't see it for days on end sometimes.
She doesn't need it in the same way she did as an adolescent. Her life has gotten a lot less stressful, occasional near-misses with asteroids or whatever aside, than high school was. But it's still nice, to take a couple of hours to window-shop and maybe wheedle one of the staff members to let her play with something fuzzy for a little while.
Just to tide her over, during the long, lonely days where it's just her and the stars.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
For a while, after she walks into that room with her sisters and her other nature asserts itself, Death will avoid pet stores. She won't be sure of the full extent of her powers, she won't have control over her aura--which feels like such a weird word to describe it, but there won't be a better one--and the last thing she'll want to do is turn something that should be a simple pleasure into a crushing disappointment. Playing with the animals will be an obvious risk, and one that's easy enough to avoid, but if just her presence might scare them...
Not worth it.
But Death will adjust, in time. And on her way to the Island, to collect Papi and start to take her first steps into--whatever the hell this is supposed to be, she'll stop in an old, crumbling, unremarkable little coastal city.
The others will scatter on actual errands. Famine will want to collect supplies, and a few things for Pestilence, who also needs new clothes; War will head right for the dockside taverns, promising not to go overboard but they still need cash for food and fuel and the basic necessities. They'll still be alive, still operating within broader Human society, still having to take care of their more mundane needs, after all, even if they'll also be...something else.
But Death...
Death will wander the city center until she finds a store with the right--well, aura. A small place, with a pen by the window holding a half-dozen puppies available for adoption, climbing all over one another to get attention from the passers-by.
She won't go in, still a little bit uncertain about what she might do. But she'll stand outside the window and watch.
And one of the puppies, a fuzzy little brown-and-white thing, will wander over to the window and sit in on the other side, head tilted, considering her.
She'll smile a little, and kneel down to his level. The window and the gloves she's wearing will be enough of a barrier to protect him when she puts her fingers against the glass.
His tail will wag just a little, and he'll let out one quick yip before turning back to play with his siblings, and she'll know, without needing to worry about it, that she didn't scare him, or hurt him. That he'll have a perfectly normal doggy life with a perfectly normal human family.
Whatever comes next. Whatever she and her sisters might do.
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, she'll step away from the window and melt back into the crowd, smiling.
Story: Window Shopping
'Verse: Lux
Colors: Library Yellow #4. oniochalasia, Cerise #4. Cute animals
Supplies and Materials: photography, canvas (the first one), brush (menagerie), watercolors, fabric, pastels (my current gen + romance card O3 "disability (sudden)"), novelty beads
Word Count: 1152
Rating: PG
Characters: Rubika
Warnings: Don't think so, nope.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. Last Library Yellow, at long last!
There wasn't a whole lot to do on Charon, especially on the side facing Pluto. The other side had the capital, which was an actual city, and a couple of sightseeing resorts. There was a better view of meteors and space dust from outside the solar system from the spaceward side of Charon than just about anywhere else, which meant some tourism over there.
But this side was mostly small farms, along with the small towns they surrounded. Like the town where Bix grew up (okay, technically, she grew up on a farm outside it, but close enough), which didn't have much more than a post office, the school, a little movie theatre, and a couple of shops. And most of those shops were practical things; groceries, farm supplies, and so on. For anything else, you went crossworld to the capital, or maybe flew down to Pluto, which was a little more urban.
That didn't stop Bix and her friends from goofing off on Main Street on their way home from school, especially after exam days, of course. Sneaking into the movie theatre when they thought they could get away with it, a lot of window-shopping, descending like locusts on the candy store...
When they hit high school, the candy store was less appealing, and most of her friends would go to the shop on the left, which sold clothing and jewelry and makeup, along with a small electronics section. Bix would join them sometimes, because it was way more fun shopping with her friends then by herself, but most days, she would drift right instead.
Because to the right of the candy store was the pet store.
Mem always said no, and Bix wasn't going to do something stupid like try to sneak a little friend home, but she still liked to hang out there, watch them play. Sometimes, even though everyone knew everyone in town, which meant everyone knew Bix wasn't buying, she'd even get to play with them.
And no matter how bad her day had been, no matter if it was one of those days where everyone else had a date to homecoming and she was convinced she'd failed all of her exams and was never going to get her pilot's license or whatever...
Window-shopping at the pet store somehow made everything okay.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
There's a little pet shop, on a busy streetcorner in one of the busiest cities on Oberon, that Rubika always makes time to visit.
Technically, it's not on her circuit. The city, that is. There aren't any Family members living there for her to trade information with, so there's no official reason for her to stop by. And there are better places to stay the night, if she doesn't want to sleep on her ship.
But it's not all that far out of her way, and it's a nice little island of bliss in the middle of a slightly-chaotic city. And if she stops once on her way out to the Uranian moons, which make up the bulk of her circuit, and once on her way back to Earth...
It's bigger than the one on Charon where she used to hang out, with a bigger variety of pets to choose from. And fewer regulars--advantage and disadvantage of a city, really; not as many people know who you are.
And the rules are the same, even if it's no longer Mem making them. Rubika's ship isn't really set up for a pet, and, honestly, she's not sure she'd be the greatest at taking care of one. Even the 'low-maintenance' ones, like fish, take a lot more investment than people think. Her life may have long stretches of downtime while she's in transit, but when she is actively on duty, she doesn't see it for days on end sometimes.
She doesn't need it in the same way she did as an adolescent. Her life has gotten a lot less stressful, occasional near-misses with asteroids or whatever aside, than high school was. But it's still nice, to take a couple of hours to window-shop and maybe wheedle one of the staff members to let her play with something fuzzy for a little while.
Just to tide her over, during the long, lonely days where it's just her and the stars.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
For a while, after she walks into that room with her sisters and her other nature asserts itself, Death will avoid pet stores. She won't be sure of the full extent of her powers, she won't have control over her aura--which feels like such a weird word to describe it, but there won't be a better one--and the last thing she'll want to do is turn something that should be a simple pleasure into a crushing disappointment. Playing with the animals will be an obvious risk, and one that's easy enough to avoid, but if just her presence might scare them...
Not worth it.
But Death will adjust, in time. And on her way to the Island, to collect Papi and start to take her first steps into--whatever the hell this is supposed to be, she'll stop in an old, crumbling, unremarkable little coastal city.
The others will scatter on actual errands. Famine will want to collect supplies, and a few things for Pestilence, who also needs new clothes; War will head right for the dockside taverns, promising not to go overboard but they still need cash for food and fuel and the basic necessities. They'll still be alive, still operating within broader Human society, still having to take care of their more mundane needs, after all, even if they'll also be...something else.
But Death...
Death will wander the city center until she finds a store with the right--well, aura. A small place, with a pen by the window holding a half-dozen puppies available for adoption, climbing all over one another to get attention from the passers-by.
She won't go in, still a little bit uncertain about what she might do. But she'll stand outside the window and watch.
And one of the puppies, a fuzzy little brown-and-white thing, will wander over to the window and sit in on the other side, head tilted, considering her.
She'll smile a little, and kneel down to his level. The window and the gloves she's wearing will be enough of a barrier to protect him when she puts her fingers against the glass.
His tail will wag just a little, and he'll let out one quick yip before turning back to play with his siblings, and she'll know, without needing to worry about it, that she didn't scare him, or hurt him. That he'll have a perfectly normal doggy life with a perfectly normal human family.
Whatever comes next. Whatever she and her sisters might do.
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, she'll step away from the window and melt back into the crowd, smiling.