Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elsbeth had decided to, just for posterity, look at a house in Durem. And she could do that, because it was her money being spent, but it didn't mean Zaoll had to like it... or participate. Durem was a city, yes, and she liked cities, especially old ones like Durem, but the people were so strange. It was like the poorer parts of Rome, mixed with the architectural history of the best areas. Even in the best parts of Durem, people were just... not... Not Roman, she supposed. And that bothered her. This city was like carbs, without the flavor or enjoyment of the food. She'd rather live in Barton Town.

But they were in Durem, and Zaoll had bowed out in order to go to the grocery store and buy water, or an apple, or something delicious and edible. They did have apples here, she'd noticed that, just not... any brand of water or lemonade or anything that she was familiar with. Also, it looked like the drinking age was 21, which sucked for her, because Elsbeth would enforce that rule like a hellhound, so it'd be back to grape juice with dinner while her guardian had wine. Ugh. Grape juice was gross.

No use whining about it. Zaoll grabbed one of the one-liter waterbottles and checked her pockets; good, she still had gold with her. Everything was these little coins, which was stupid and hard to transport. Maybe she could get a debit card or something here.

...Probably not. Nothing else about Gaia seemed to make sense.

She paused on her way to the checkout. Did that kid have fireflies in his hair?... Well, it wasn't like Elsbeth was waiting for her; she was looking at apartments and houses and habitations. It couldn't hurt to check it out. Zaoll tucked the water under her arm and followed the kid, and then he turned to look at a display and --

"Astor?" It was Astor. Or someone who looked a lot like him, and Zaoll steeled herself for embarrassment as she approached and repeated his name, still in her weirdly soft voice: "Astor!"

She stood there for a minute, all smiles; her entire posture radiated surprise and pleasure as she stared through her square-rimmed glasses at her friend. He hadn't looked so old in her dream, and definitely not so tall; she had to look up a little bit to meet his eyes. It could just be the dream had distorted his appearance - it could have been the lack of her glasses, the nearsightedness that had afflicted her, but...

It was Astor.

Unlike her friend, she knew exactly what she was going to say and how to say it. The hug was not a surprise; Zaoll had just about the subtlety of an avalanche. The words she spoke, though, were mildly unintelligible - and in Italian, so doubtly impenetrable. "Il mio piccolo fratello! Sono così felice siete sicuro, così felice, così felice!"

When she finally let him go, Zaoll kept her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "I am glad you're all right," she said, her accent and the low level of her voice much more noticeable outside the dream as within. "How did you get here? Are you all right?"

He hadn't been in danger at all. He'd come here because his guardian's workplace got transferred! Zaoll was practically giddy with joy - her smile was practically threatening to overwhelm her face. "It's good to see you too," she said, hugging him again as if to make sure he was all there.

She paused, smile faltering. "I am fine," she said obliquely, "Airi saved me... I do not remember anything after the end of the dream, save when I woke up in the glade." A shake of her head, as if to clear out bad memories; she adjusted her glasses, made a little show of looking the grown-up Astor up and down, then she smiled. "Si, I'd thought so."

For a moment, she was silent again, then she said, "I'm glad you're here." She could say it a million times and it would never be enough. "We both kept up our ends of the promise," she observed.

She didn't laugh, but she did smile appreciatively; the younger Fa'e was free to his viewpoints, but nothing about that nightmare struck her as funny at all, even in full sunlight of a warm autumn day. With a nod of agreement - parents liked chocolate, she was pretty sure - she chased down her water bottle from where it had fallen. "Elsbeth usually writes me a list."

Zaoll looked around, then asked, "Is your guardian here?" The vague thought was that she might meet her friend's parent; the idea that Astor might want to meet Elsbeth never occurred to her.

Zaoll nodded, her eyes understanding. "Mine is not here," she said flatly, in a sort of 'don't ask me about my guardian' tone. Why would she want to discuss the traitor? She might have meant her best, but she hurt Zaoll.

"Yes," she agreed. "Where are you staying? I am at the headquarters, near Barton."

She started walking to the registers, a creepily slow and stately walk.

That was disappointing. She didn't like to travel... but she would for Astor, she supposed. They were good friends, after all, bonded by trauma if by nothing else. Now that the trauma was over, she'd hope that the friendship would hold. She knew no one else in this world, after all.

"Yes, of the Fa'e," said Zaoll at her normal volume, which wasn't much louder than Astor's lowered tone. "Until there's somewhere else, I suppose."

She didn't seem to mind the line; it looked normal to her. This was how things were in Italy. They were marginally faster in France, but still, this was what she expected most times. "Are supply depots very different?"

She nodded. It sounded sort of like a negozio di alimentari, a convenience store. Maybe that was just the space word for convenience store. So she said: "Eh. In Rome, they call that negozio di alimentari. It means something like 'convenience store'. They have them here as well."

Zaoll looked at Astor, and said, "Don't fidget," quite casually in an older-sister sort of way. "It's normal," she added, gesturing out to the line. She didn't seem to like to talk as much in real life--for good reason, too, as it seemed her voice was getting hoarser and softer by inches. Turning away, she coughed into her sleeve, and then she stepped back to allow Astor to approach the cashier first.

Zaoll shook her head and paid for her water, then joined Astor by the pile of pumpkins. She gave them a disdainful look and then led the way out of the store. "I am fine," she said, with a smile at Astor; "It is always like this."

She looked around. Durem was aesthetically pleasing, it was true... "Would you like to look at the shops?" So far, she had only been to the Barton Boutique... and while the clothes were nice, they didn't quite... fit right. If you knew what she meant. "There is a Sentinel rally in the plaza, too." She didn't quite understand this cult thing. Really, she hadn't been very religious before, why would she want to serve two different factions who both seemed to want total annihilation of the other?

It just seemed very pointless.