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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:01 pm
Who: Vivi, Doe and Shepard Where: Vermillion Bakery When: Between lunch and dinner to avoid the rush Weather: Smattering of dark clouds but generally a nice day
The door closed with a smart click as Doucette stepped out onto her porch and turned to lock everything up tight while she was away. Dolce's pitiful whimpers drifted through the white-washed wood and the woman couldn't help but to wrinkle her nose in a sad manner. Of course she wanted to take her puppies with her. When did she not enjoy them frolicking by her side? But restaurants had health codes and the ferry man didn't like to have to deal with the exuberant pugs more often than necessary. Sorry babies, she thought to herself, tucking her keys into her purse and realizing there was something large and glass within.
Oh right! Doucette had pocketed the soul bottle when she'd finished attempting to turn it into an electric plasma ball by rubbing it against everything she could get her hands on. By this point she was sure it would make her hair stand on end if she got it close enough, like a balloon gathering charge. There wasn't much reason to take it with her, unless she thought luck was on her side for the day, but another whimper from Dolce had her stuffing the bottle a bit deeper. Going back inside would just constitute animal cruelty for getting the poor dear's hope's up.
Eyes to the weather, Doucette took off down the beach with a little bit of speed in her steps so she wouldn't miss the ferry. Not only did she not want to keep Vivi waiting, but her stomach was more than ready for some good treats.
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Just a little after the "right on time" marker had ticked over, Doucette managed to stroll into Vermillion, shaking her head slightly as to get a few of the raindrops out of her thick curls from the rogue showers doing sneak attacks all over the city. "Anyone home?" she called as she pushed open the door, her boots transitioning from the rough noise of heel on pavement to that of smooth wood.
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:41 am
There was indeed someone home in Vermillion -- a few someones, as it were. A few latecomers sat together in the corner, enjoying their cake and tea and talking animatedly. The bakery's transportive spell cast itself as Doucette walked in, the warm luring reds and reassuring beiges beckoning any newcomer to the wide glass spread of the display cases. However, the racks of golden bread and the cases lovingly filled with delicious treats were somewhat obscured just now, as instead of a cheery bonjour, Doucette was greeted by what looked to be a ambulatory table with legs. Human legs.
"G'day, -- welcome -- to Vermillion," the table grunted in the disgruntled voice of Shepard Ryan, sounding anything but welcoming. The table then shuffled over slightly to the left, wobbling just a little as it went. It was a lovely table of an ebony-colored wood, hand-crafted with delicately engraved legs. Slowly, like a bird landing gingerly onto the ground, the human set of legs bent and the table was set onto the floor, revealing its carrier. Shepard unfolded from over his work and looked up at Doucette, straightening his plain black apron and pulling down the sleeves of a green shirt that made his subdued eyes shine. He cleared his throat, sounding much more client-worthy now. "So sorry, how can -- oh, it's... Doucette, right? Vivi's expecting yah, yeah?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:41 pm
A deep breath had to be taken upon entering the bakery. One of those deep, pull it in and close your eyes types of breaths, and that's what Doucette was doing when Mr. Table greeted her. The Irish woman had a feeling it was Shepard. Surely no one else could sound so put-out about working in such a magnificent place. A smile was stuffed behind one hand so he didn't think she was laughing at him, but the twinkle in her eyes couldn't be hidden.
"Maybe I came to see you. Make sure you're eating right," the woman teased in reply with a roll of her shoulders and a shake of those ginger curls.
Despite her banter, Doe couldn't help but be pleased he'd remembered her name. She could even be described as 'tickled pink with pleasure' with the way her cheeks had become a rosy shaded background to her brown freckles. To start with, it wasn't the easiest name in the world. To finish with, most people simply didn't find her rememberable. "But yes, I called Vivi earlier about doing a review for this place. No gifts." Doucette narrowed her eyes at the man and tucked up her chin. She didn't have Dolce around to play trade with anyway. Not that it had been Shepard's fault she'd gotten the free tart, and not to mention it had been Doucette that started the hand-outs, but irregardless she had her standards to uphold on the job.
"Can I sit anywhere?" Doucette asked, wafting a hand in a general direction of a cozy little two-top. The closer to that display case the better. If Vivi didn't sell out everyday it must be because the patron's taste buds were on vacation. Elvis envy blues took in the milling group she'd passed on the way in, wanting to gauge the atmosphere around them in order to add umph to her review.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 9:58 am
"Take a seat wherever yeh like." A faint half-grin glimmered on Shepard's features as he wiped down his newly-placed table with great care, his hands moving in wide, deliberate motions. He stood to inspect his job, only nodding his approval to himself after a few quick extra swipes, and tucked the rag into the tie of his apron. He then began to shift a few chairs under the table, flinging a look over at Doucette while he worked. "Worried about my diet, yeh? Can't complain. Eating veggies an' drinkin' glasses of milk every day and everythin'." He stood, patting his broad chest with an open hand. "How's yah little ankle biters?"
"Bonjour, Doucette~" broke in a low, sweet voice. Vivi waved from behind the counter, smiling brightly. Her hair was up in a ponytail and a headband swept her bangs from her forehead; she had all the signs of being in the middle of a job: her ruffled apron covered in patted handprints of flour, her fingers soaked in a thick, honey-colored liquid. Her hands were both up like a surgeon's, careful not to touch anything as she moved. "So good of you to come! You must forgive me, I am putting the finishing touches on the croquembouche I spoke with you about. The Shepard will serve you some of his own specials while I work, yes? And then I shall show you the pièce de résistance."
"And feed you the better stuff." Shepard interjected.
"Ah, the humble Shepard always belittles his own creations," Vivi lamented with some amusement, rolling her eyes at her companion. "He did not tell you, I am sure, of his own work? The petit birds you see up above? Tres magnifique, n'est pas? They are all his work. The tables that you sit at, as well. Some of the chairs! You see? I must give him his praise where it is due."
Shepard said nothing, only staring at Vivi with a very strange expression on his face, something between modest embarrassment and true annoyance.
"Do not compliment him," Vivi warned impishly, smiling at his scowl. "He may perish. It is another of his weaknesses, like the lunches of pretty girls. "
To this, Shepard only snorted in reply.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:13 pm
Doucette grinned as she fished herself a chair and flopped into it, lacking the grace of miss Vivi but at least looking better than a lump simply being shuffled from one side to the other. A dolled upper lip was pulled in slightly as she shook her head at Shepard's words, those frizzy curls flouncing against her cheeks without a hat on to restrain them. "The inside of a cream puff might be dairy, but one can hardly consider it a glass of milk!" One hand fluttered at his question about the pugs in a regal sort of way that wasn't befitting of her or her currently semi-slouched position at all. "They're fine, fine. Left them at home today but have a feeling their going to ruddy my house for payment." Doe was finding those pugs to be far more intuitive than they should be allowed to be.
Silently she promised to bring them something home if they had simply fallen asleep together on the couch. Please don't let my flowers be on the floor again...
Vivi's voice broke up Doucette's thoughts and she shot a toothy smile in her direction. Not for the first time, Doe was wishing she had a photogenic memory. The dark haired woman looked simply picturesque behind the counter with the almost art-deco apron and covered in what looked to be caramel or butterscotch. She had very much been looking forward to this difficult but impressive cake the woman was making, and she told Vivi so much before turning her attention back to Shepard to allow Vivi more time to complete her project.
"Is that right? Doucette asked with a flourish of her hands into a soft clapping while her eyes swept every location the French woman had mentioned. Indeed, everything was, well, picturesque! There simply wasn't a better word to describe how every little thing fit so perfectly together and how every little detail would call attention in due time to its counterpart somewhere else in the store.
Fingers were pressed to her cheeks where small dimples formed as her lips created the most petite of pouts. "Is it so?" she questioned, tilting her head to one side much the same as her little ankle-biters had done on too many occassions. "No compliments and no lunches? I will find myself quite useless!"
Doucette widened her eyes only slightly as she looked up at the man and his grumpy disposition. It was...mostly true. Doe was best at sharing good food and finding something nice to say about others.
Shepard was simply taking away all her fun! Though if he but mentioned he wished her to stop she'd surely retreat and wait patient as a dove upon her chair. There was something fresh and fun about being around Vivi though, that brought out the Irish's teasing side.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 7:33 pm
"Have fun~!" Vivi called, waggling her fingers behind her as she disappeared into the back of the store once more. Shepard watched her go with sharp eyes, as if making sure she would truly let him alone, and it was only when the door into the baking area swung shut that he snapped out of his grumpy reverie with a sigh and pulled up a chair beside Doucette.
"Thought I'd be safe when she's flat out like a lizard drinking, but it looks like there'll be no safety for me when you two get 'round each other, is there?" the Aussie asked with a faint, low chuckle, loosely scratching his temple with one calloused hand.
"Well, here's hopin' the awkward part's out of the way for me, right? It's all ace from here on out. But before we start with the eating, let me give you a quick bit here: " he cleared his throat and drew himself up, changing his voice to the tone of a lecturer, a false solemnity heavy on his face. "Ground rules: now y'know I'm allergic to compliments, but this place sure isn't, so y'can say anything you want that's nice about the food. Second, I gotta let y'know that this place--" He gestured to the big-top decor. "-- isn't a gimmick. We're actual circus folk, moved up a few months back. So we offer a coupla things: First, what I make is all good to go if anyone wants it. Second, there's the baked goods that'll make you damn rapt and the ice cream. And third, see that story-book lookin' grandmother over there in the far booth?" He pointed a finger to indicate a sweet, fragile-looking old thing petting a large lump of a cat. "That's our resident psychic, palm reader, tarot reader, and whatever else you like. So if you ever feel like some food and a little bit of a postcard from circus life -- we're you're place."
That said, Shepard dropped all gravity, faux and otherwise, from his tone and relaxed into a shy, drifting sort of grin, leaning forward on his elbows as he looked up at Doucette. "So that's the crash course in Vermillion. And now I ask: what'll yeh have? Or do you want me to surprise and delight yeh senses and all that bit? 'Be our guest' and whatnot? "
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Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:26 am
Doucette had the decorum to look marginally abashed, her dainty hands slipping from her cheeks to rest over her mouth as she sheepishly smiled over her manicure at him. The woman was almost childlike in her reactions and expressions, never having been raised with a sort of limit on joy or sadness, but seemingly always in a position which ended in her blushing. Saucers had replaced her eyes as the red head listened to him talk, little gasps filtering through her fingers and an outright womanly squeal at the general ‘revelation’ of their previous positions in life.
“You aren’t really?!” Wonder danced just past her dark lashes. Paired with those big sea-side blues it would be tough to tell if Doe was a simple shortening of her name or a nickname to match an equally wide-eyed animal counterpart.
To be honest, she’d never really thought about seeing a circus. The concept had simply never appealed to her in the same way it appealed to other people since their childhood. There was no fear of clowns and no general belief in the ability of the woman he’d pointed out (though that didn’t mean she was unwilling to believe) but there was a certain awe at the aerobics involved. Doucette was thinking it might be a good time to go to the circus, and though her new found friends were apparently no longer part of one, surely they could point her in the right direction for a good show.
A single finger rubbed against her lower lip as she contemplated her choices presented to her. The other hand, having been dropped from her face, shifted to find her purse which she’d so neatly hung over the back of her chair. “I do have a soft spot for Disney movies to be honest,” she giggled as she pulled her purse onto the table and began digging around for her notebook. Most food critics these days brought cameras with them to help document their experience, but Doucette had always felt that words were better to capture the true soul of the piece laid before her.
Unfortunately, the notebook had allowed itself to sink to the bottom of her bag and she was in need of hauling a few things out before she could reach it. Among the items placed upon the table was her old cell phone, a few pens, one of those fold-up hair brushes (that frankly looked like it would break if pulled through her hair) and a strangely shaped object with a gray locking mechanism on the top, colorful cloth in the middle, and a large gleaming globe at the bottom. Her very own soul bottle.
“Oh, here it is!” Doucette said gleefully, unearthing her notebook and grabbing one of the pens from the table before beginning to shuffle the mess back into the deep recesses of her purse without another thought.
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Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:17 pm
While Doucette busied herself with systematically emptying her purse in pursuit of a notebook, Shepard put himself to work, sliding out of his seat beside her and making his way over to the display cases. He kept an eye on the other as everything, perhaps including a kitchen sink he couldn't see, seemed to be making its way out onto the table, and a faint smile tugged on the corners of his lips.
What to bring the food critic? The ice cream flavors would have to make their debut, of course, Shepard decided, putting a small serving of each flavor in four tiny sample cups. He snapped off bite-sized nuggets of his personal favorite cookies: a rich nutty oatmeal and cranberry, a lemon ginger snap, a moist triple dark chocolate, a chewy peanut butter still warm from the oven. He cut a teensy wedge of a carraway pound cake, and arranged it all quickly and artfully on a plate before sweeping back to Doucette's table. This would make for a nice opener, he decided, and then he'd make way to the bite-sized fruit tarts and the miniature macarons and cream puffs Vivi'd put together for the occasion. He hoped the critic had come hungry.
"Quite a collection you've got there," he remarked genially as he approached the redhead, looking for a clear spot to put down the plate. He gave Doucette a faint but winning grin. "Now, this is just an opener -- got plenty of stuff, so I'll get you some..." His eyes fell on the soul bottle just as he set the plate down on the table, his mouth continuing to move automatically although his face was registering shock. "... some tea or..."
He was frozen, bent slightly over the table, his clear features hiding none of the emotions passing through his mind. Had -- had Vivi given it up? And to this woman? Or had Doucette taken it? She certainly had enough things on the table to suggest she might just take things -- like, come on, who would believe that brush?
Shepard snapped out of his thoughts with a quick shake of his head, tearing his gaze away from the bottle to look down at Doucette. Did... did he just mentally accuse this woman, who seemed so sweet she might apologize for swatting a fly? Geezus, Shep, get a damn grip. There was no time for idiotic conjecture; the color on the damned thing's cloth wasn't even the same. This place, this 'lab' or whatever bullshit Vivi had called it, was it just giving these bloody things away? He caught Doe's gaze, his eyes the intense green of an interested cat.
"Where did you get this?" he said, softly but sharply, his gaze steady.
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Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:02 am
Doucette spared a grin over her notebook hunt as Shepard got up to busy himself with making a sample platter for her. There was nothing her mouth wouldn’t water over in this shop she was sure. Actually, she was willing to put money on the probability that Vivi and Shepard could make even potatoes taste good! It was a bit worrying that the man lingered so long at the counter - were they going to make her try everything at once? - but it gave her more time to continue attempting to shove stuff back into the bottomless pit she called a purse. It all had to go back in just perfectly, and that was difficult without the soul bottle taking up a considerable amount of room. Plus, it was wiser to keep the glass at the top just for a safety precaution against it getting hit.
As Shepard grew closer with his tray ladled with food she decided to hastily shove everything in and hope for the best, sweeping the last few pens off the table and reaching to pick up the soul bottle as the ‘final touch’ when the man’s sudden words gave her pause.
Tea had been her original reply, but now her fingers hovered over the gray mechanisms that enclosed the top half of the glass structure as his new question was formed. It wasn’t a strange question, and anyone else who would care to ask about it would have just been given a half hearted reply (for how could you really explain all that it entailed to a stranger?), but the sudden look on Shepard’s face and the way he asked the question made her hesitate.
“I got some weird call,” Doucette started, her lashes fluttering as she blinked a bit more rapidly than average. A nervous habit really. Compounded with the awkward shuffle upon her chair and the way she rubbed at the bridge of her nose with two fingers the woman looked like she was being caught guilty of something. Guilty of what though she wasn’t sure. Shepard made her feel almost dirty for having the bottle in her purse. “They asked me to come over, I’d been chosen or something. When I got there they gave me a vial of this weird liquid and then this bottle. Said I had to get a soul in there and then I guess they combine the two? Like making a baby. Or something...”
The red head trailed off, obviously out of her conversational depth. Alex had not actually told Doe the inner workings of the whole thing. From what she grasped there was the soul and the essence and somehow it became whatever Zul had been. She was beginning to feel like she’d misunderstood though.
Turning a rather unbecoming shade of red, Doucette simply stared at her lap for a while, unsure of what to do next.
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Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:56 am
"From a lab, yeah?" Shepard straightened, running both of his hands through his hair at once, the honey-brown of his hair spiking up slightly in his palms' wake. The muscles in his jaw tightened. His eyes looked up at the ceiling with an incredulous expression, and then he let out all of his breath in a sigh. Granny Maplethorpe was going to have a few choice words this, wasn't she. "I don't damn believe it. It's like a ******** epidemic."
The sudden realization that he must look a bit loony struck him then, and he lifted a halting finger to Doucette as he took a few bounding steps to the counter, leaning over the barrier and grasping for something blindly with one hand. Then he returned, his face set in a wry, quirked half-grin, and he plunked a glass bottle rather like Doucette's onto the table. They really were quite identical in their bulbous shape and strange grey closures, only the color and patterns of the soul cloths differentiating them. Sitting there on the table they looked like two strange, mismatched lightbulbs waiting to be installed.
"My understanding was that these things are pretty rare," Shepard said, his broad shoulders slouching as he slid back into the seat beside Doucette's. "... so either they're lying or these things attract each other. "
"Sorry." He paused, his eyebrows furrowing. "Not that yer here for a blood third degree."
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 7:39 pm
"Yea, from a lab," she agreed in the meekest voice possible, drawing in on herself like a clam shutting off against the outside world. Her eyes refused to focus, and they dared not look at the man across from her, so she simply seriously studied the wood work of the table before her. Hands twisted in her lap and if she'd had a tail it would be tucked between her legs. The picture of shame. Not that she understood why she should feel ashamed, but the feeling washed through her veins the same way the blush kept her cheeks tinted with pink.
When he set the matching bottle besides her own though, Doucette found new vigor, picking up considerably in her little seat and slipping to the edge of it so she could better inspect and toy with the new item. That cloth was so pretty, the pattern so striking. Whatever was going to end up in there was going to be glorious...more glorious than the puddling mass on the beach outside her home. For sure.
"I really...don't know anything about them," she breathed, pouting at her professed lack of knowledge, "But I'm beginning to believe mine is broken."
Doucette lofted her own bottle and gave it a little shake, holding it in the air and squinting through it's globe for the millionth time. "I mean, I rubbed it against almost everything in my house, and nothing would take. Even Dolce and Gabby refused to cooperate. You'd think after everything I did for them they'd be more willing to share." The woman looked put-off, frowning at the remembrance of her pugs happy indifference to her plight. Share and share alike was clearly not the puppy motto.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:35 pm
Shepard stared.
Then, after a few seconds, Shepard stared some more.
The corners of his mouth twitched in a rather inconclusive sort of way -- to smile? To grimace? His entire face assumed the strangest sort of blank expression, one that gave absolutely nothing on except for, perhaps, a vague and distant shock. A few words bubbled in his throat, but nothing came out: no smiles, or frowns, or any choice phrases. He simply... stared at Doucette. Inside his head, things were much the same. Mental gridlock set gracefully in, playing soothing elevator music over the tones of his thoughts.
"You... Could you..." Shepard said softly in a pinched voice, rising slowly from the table. He picked up both bottles as he moved, his fingers moving in a slow, cumbersome fashion as they curled over the bottle tops. "... could you please try out... the... goods... I'm..." He gestured vaguely toward the kitchen. "... I think your bottle might... I'm going to ask Vivi... if..."
And he strode away without completing the thought, his limbs moving stiffly as if stunned.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:32 pm
The woman blinked as the man seemed to crawl to a mental halt, her brows furrowing and her lower lip pushing up into the top one in a weird sort of pouty frown. What in the world was wrong with Shepard? She almost go up to follow him when he suddenly got up and meandered off! But she wasn't about to intrude upon their place of business. Going into a restaurant kitchen is like someone walking into your bedroom when they should be enjoying the living room. Private things happen back there you know!
Doucette wasn't sure she could enjoy the little samples Shepard had brought over previously, but she needed something to divert her own mental ramblings. In her notebook she made a quick sketch of each little thing with arrows pointing out where the colors lay. It was extremely simplistic and certainly carried none of the vibrancy of the treats arrayed before her, but it was a good bullet point to write comments next to while she chewed away.
Every few moments she'd pick up her head, twisting and craning in her seat to attempt to catch a glimpse of Shepard or Vivi in the backroom. A frown marred her face with every failed attempt and the longer she spent polishing off the food before her the more uneasy she was beginning to feel.
What had she done wrong?
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:47 pm
And then, all at once, the door to the kitchen burst open, and two bodies very quickly came out of it -- one happily skipping and the other moving with rather quick protest. Vivi, her hands now clean but her apron still patterned with honey and flour, came gliding toward Doucette with a massive smile threatening to take over her delicate face. Shepard was dashing behind, both of the bottles still in his hands, his own expression having settled on his trademark scowl.
"Oh, cheri! I am so happy for you! We are both to become guardians! Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!" Vivi purred with excitement, twirling herself into the seat beside Doucette and clasping the redhead's hands. "Your vial -- what does it encase? I am certain it must be something quite lovely! Do you have it with you?"
"You're wasting your time on congratulations?" Shepard was seething, eyeing the bottles sharply. What if he just... dropped them? "This lab's bloody negligent -- she could have killed both her pugs!"
"They are not quite the right color, n'est pas? And they are still alive! Since they are not in the vicinity, I believe we do have time for congratulations, yes."
"Geezus H, are you for real? If it were me, I'd want to know about the almost-death thing before cooing over the pretty things in the vials."
"Shepard, I assume that if time was of the essence, you would have informed her yourself. But perhaps you should get mademoiselle some samples of the tarts?" Vivi's hand fluttered in the direction of the display cases, but her eyes remained on Doucette. "There, do not alarm yourself. The soul bottles were... not explained to you clearly, I have heard? It is no matter. No harm has been done. "
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:33 pm
Wide, scared eyes looked between the two as the talked between themselves and took no care to keep their voices as a more private conversation. The lower rim of her eyes pinched slightly, that sort of far off look one gets when they look like they could start crying any moment and the misty nature of her eyes didn't seem to help the situation. Lower lip was pulled in tight and bit till it almost bled.
Like a child, Doucette's emotional features flickered between delight with Vivi at finding someone else to carry out her task with and the confusion that their half-formed conversation carried. Obviously they had talked before, and had just recently rehashed that conversation back in the kitchen, but Doe had been privy to neither and so she felt a bit lost at sea. Actually she was beginning to feel the touches of, as Vivi would have put it, mal de mer at the ups and downs of their conversation.
"What wasn't explained? Why does Shepard mention my pugs? I would never kill them!" If someone had told a child Santa didn't exist, they wouldn't have looked as confused and upset as the red head did now. Kill her pugs? Why would he even suggest such a thing?! What almost death thing?
Doucette had not brought her vial with her though, and the idea of telling Vivi about her essence was taking a good last place to everything else she was rolling around in her head.
"All I know is that there's the essence, and the bottle. I gotta find something to put in the bottle. I tried pillows, I tried the fish in my fish tank, all sorts of crabs. Nothing would let me copy its soul! And that's why I think it's broken..."
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