Welcome to Gaia! ::

The fact that it had been since prior to Christmas before she'd really felt ready to do much socializing was a testament to how poorly Abbi had planned her life. In her defense, it hadn't been her fault that Deus had failed to be the magical haven she'd built it up to be in her head. It hadn't been her fault that she'd come down with a serious case of the blues on Christmas Eve, surrounded by presents she'd bought for other people but none for herself. And it certainly hadn't been her fault that just when she felt maybe she could stand some company over the New Years that she'd instead fallen asleep and dreamt about a world better than what she had.
There had been family, an honest family with a sweet mother who honestly cared and a brother wandering somewhere around the party. There had been good friends, steadfast ones, not the ones Abbi felt she currently held with a transparent grip. Everything had been happy, everything had been better, it had been more. It had been what she wanted it to be...
But time was marching on. The pages in her journal were multiplying faster than she could stop them and she kept penning her sorrows but they never changed. All those gifts she'd bought had been mostly delivered, save for one. That one sat near her desk, constantly rewrapped because the teen kept tearing into it and just staring at the present like it would change something. As though one day the recipient could divine that she needed to talk to him.

Finally, in a fit of misplaced courage and desperation, the girl wrapped the gift for a final time and made her decision. She dressed with care, a dress she had meant to save for a date that was short enough to be considered flirty with socks high enough to be called matronly. New bows were tied around her pigtails, the bear clip left behind because this was an adult matter, even if the pigtails kind of killed that effect. But she was doing this, she told herself, breathing deeply as she cradled the gift close and crossed the hall that was a much shorter distance than she'd built it up to be. A quick knock on the door and a nonchalant call back were her grand entrance.
That hurt a little, mostly because she had wished and envisioned that he might bound to the door in hopes it was her, but instead she had to let herself in.
"U-um... Hi!" Confidence was draining quickly the moment she opened her mouth and she faltered, but she had to press on. At least for a few minutes more...

For a few moments she stood there, her gaze darting between his face and the floor. Both seemed highly interesting for very different reasons.
"I uh... I brought you your Christmas present! Er well, presents... S-sorry they're late I just... Um..." Though nothing had been said or done, the girl winced. Admitting that she'd neglected him, along with everyone else, was harder than she'd thought.
"O-oh um I'm n-not thirsty... Thanks, though..." As for a seat, she just looked around the room cautiously and chose to stand in her current spot, his gift still clutched against her chest.

"I feel like I do." She replied quickly, her voice gone soft as she peered up at him. Her normal purple contacts had been left back in her room, her preference slowly shifting toward leaving her walls behind, especially when it came to Ripley. After a second of looking at him she dropped her gaze back down to the floor, nerves turning back to a mish mash of wishing she were braver.
A second later she laughed and shrugged, gaze still stuck on the floor.
"The holidays tend to uh... Make people less 'accessible'. Big adjustment and all for the first year, yanno?" That was the best way for her to say it, to admit that she'd been hiding out in her room because she felt lonely and afraid. There were too many pent up emotions in just one small girl, especially being brought to a man she admired very much, and Abbi didn't like that. Resolve rose in her and she stuffed the emotions down, at least long enough to get a grip on herself and the situation right before Ripley moved closer.

That traitorous heart in her chest jumped the gun and raced ahead of logical thought, the action making the ten's face flush bright red. Even when he only touched her back to lead her into the room, she felt herself warming and hated how stupid she felt over it. But she obliged him even if she shuffled more than she should and when he sat down, Abbi stared at him for a few seconds. Oh! More floor time, sure ok!
A nervous laugh left her and she scrambled down first onto her knees, careful to arrange her skirt to ward off any awkward moments before she turned and sat next to him. There was a very careful distance put there, not willingly but because the girl respected him enough to not want to push when things seemed so unsure.
Once down on the floor she thrust the package at him, closing her eyes and bowing her head like the cute anime girls always did when offering gifts.
"There's two in there! One is your Christmas and one is your birthday! I... I should have visited you on your birthday and made you a cake but I didn't know what you liked or if they would have let me in the kitchens to bake, I never was really good at that? I mean like the instant made stuff is pretty easy yeah but like... I wanted it to be special..."

Well, she certainly wasn't going to argue the point anymore, not when he kept insisting she stop. For a moment the teen felt mildly put off by how quick he was to stop the conversation, but he spoke again and she paused. He was being... As close to chatty as he normally was?
Maybe things weren't so strange between them then? Maybe she had just built it all up in her head... Or maybe, because he was making more of an effort, that meant things had changed and that she would leave this room all the sadder. Worry plagued and pulled at her, confused her and turned her around until her head spun.
{ If ye want me outta yer head for this conversation, ye gotta stop gettin' all worked up. Jack alive! }
The sudden noise from Viveca was enough to bring Abbi back. That was all the kick she needed, though she did extend a wordless expression of gratefulness, glad that she had at least the ghost to keep her mostly in line.

Unaware of Ripley's staring, she shuffled around for a bit before she finally stuck both legs out in front of her, ankles crossed the end. It made the whole offering her present thing a little awkward since she had to turn so starkly, but finally he accepted the gift and she returned to sitting with her back against the bed.
"Wait you got me a present too what--" Her hands closed over the box, eyes wide. For whatever reason, she had not expected anything back and could not fathom that this was honestly for her. When he moved to open his gift, she in turn set her's down. A bit longer she peered at it, turned it over once and then, without any ceremony whatsoever, ripped into it.

In his gift were two things; The first was a small package of various apple flavored sweets. Somehow Abbi had failed to get the message that he just didn't like sweets, but they were apple flavored so hopefully he would forgive her.
"Stormy helped me pick those out! Technically she picked them all out but yanno... They're for you from me so... Yeah!" That was very important to note, obviously.
The second gift lay under the first, wrapped in Coach stamped tissue paper and upon that being removed, were a pair of very nice gloves, maybe a little fancy and not necessarily suited for the warmth of an island, but ones the girl looked very eager to see Ripley's reaction on.

A long, quite awed "ooooooooohhhh" wooshes from the teen as she pulls the necklace from the box. Its nothing what she expected it to be, but everything she could have ever wanted. Careful fingers turned it so that the shell lay against her palm, fingers stretched back so the shell took center stage. Her opposite hand moved over to brush a gentle fingertip against the spiral of the conch, a smile breaking her mouth into something wider and more excited.
"This is really, really pretty!" All the prettier because Ripley had taken the time to find the things and make it for her. This was so much better than she'd ever expected (she's honestly expected nothing), so the teen was quite happy to hastily put it on with a grin.
She had just about snapped it close when he mentioned the Disney princess and Abbi almost dropped her necklace. Instead her momentarily surprised face turned back into a wide smile. The latch clicked close and she dared to scoot a little closer, her now free hands falling down to lightly touch the man's knee.

"When I was a kid... Ariel was my favorite. She still is my favorite, technically." She hadn't gotten a chance to see the ice princess movie with the sorta ginger princess, even if she had a mug from it. "But she had red hair too and I used to watch the movie all the time, that was always the one I wanted. I didn't get to watch it all the time because--" Here she falters, realizing she was opening up too much and quickly shrugged. "But yeah... Thank you. So much. I totally love it." Though her face had turned a bit red, there was a calm to Abbi's adoration of her gift brought on by honest appreciation. She nodded once and moved back, not as far back as she had been before, but a little just to give him space.

Finally, Ripley decided to open his gift and the girl was careful to watch for minute reactions. Blue eyes darted between his face, the gift and his hands, that she only just now realized were ungloved. For a moment she stopped and stared at that, trying to piece together why he would have left them off but finally decided that she couldn't fill the holes and went back to watching.
"I wasn't sure what kind of apples you liked, so I got you all kinds! Caramel and green and um... Sour? I-d-k just whatever Stormy thought was best!" She chirped to fill the silence between when he spoke and began to open the tissue paper.
Only now did she go fully silent, eyes wide and worried as she pulled the gloves out. Was that too much? Was it like she was saying he should cover his scars? Because she totally, definitely was not saying that so much as trying to make it more comfortable for him to hide them should he wish it... That's all!

"Do you like them-- Do they fit ok I wasn't sure like glove sizing, is there glove sizing and--" Words stopped the second he touched her shoulder, the teen seizing for a moment before she moved slowly toward him. It had been at least a month and, as lonely as she had been, it was him that she had dreamt of.
Carefully, always afraid she would frighten him, the teen leaned into Ripley and gently set her face against the small indent from his shoulder to chest, cheek pressed to him.
"Happy birthday. And Merry Christmas." She murmured, her other arm wrapping around him to properly hug back.

Regardless of what Princess he had made a reference too, Abbi most likely would have picked up on it. It might not have been her favorite, but well, she was pretty partial to all of them. As a girl who considered herself very girly, there seemed no shame in adoring all the princesses quite vehemently, even if maybe she didn't like them as much as a certain other Hunter.
Oblivious to his inner turmoil due to her own worries, she instead focused on the necklace. It took a bit of fiddling with, but eventually the girl got it to sit perfectly at the apex of her peter pan collar, smoothing the white fabric out so that the seashell had a place of notice on her.
"Share? Well, if you say sooooo~" She laughed a little, softly just in case, and smiled down at the box too. It was good he enjoyed the sweets, and more importantly the gloves. Though...

"Oh gosh! I'm sorry, I didn't know they had to be broken in! Should I have done that myself? Oh my gosh I'm really sorry I wish the lady at the store had told me or like that--" But she stopped when he put the other one on, hands clenched together against her chest.
Did he really like it? Or was he just saying that?
These worries didn't really ebb when she hugged him and he went still under her, but they softened, if only a little, when his face touched her hair. A sigh left her unapproved, but she couldn't care. For one moment she got exactly what she wanted and was able to let go.
But a noise near her face made her sit up abruptly, one hand lingering against him before she snatched it back.
"Oh crap... You had it too?" For whatever reason, her eyebrows crumbled up on her face and she moved back.

This was what she had feared, this was exactly why she hadn't want to come here. If he had had the same dream, just like Ceres had, then he would know what had happened. He would know how eager she was to make him her's and though she was pretty certain she was obvious about it now, Abbi didn't want there to be any pressure. Already things had been messy and complicated without them saying anything about... Whatever it was they were, but at least there hadn't been a push. Now it felt like there was one.
"I... Um... Gosh I don't..." The teen sighed and chanced a quick look up at Ripley.
"Kinda... Kinda funny dream, huh?" She asked with a small, hesitant but worried smile. Might as well get it over with so she could spend the rest of her day holed up in her room, crying her eyes out.

"O-oh... That's... That's great!" For a moment she felt better about her gift, proud she had picked something useful and that he liked. She hoped he understood what she meant by the gift, that he could hide if he wanted or not, if he chose. And that, more importantly, she would be in his hands, if he wanted that too.
But that's all gone in a matter of movement, for she begins to close herself off in gesture, one hand coming up to hover around her stomach, prepared to move in any direction if needed. He could say his piece, what he wanted, and then she could run. It was a short distance to the door and an equally short distance to her room. Being across the hall had its advantages after all, she supposed.
Yet when he mentions talking about it together she halts. Her plan for escape crumbles in her mind, looking suddenly hurried and unnecessary. Maybe... Maybe it didn't have to be bad? Maybe it didn't have to be a 'no'?
"Y-yeah... Together."

God, hearing anybody say 'we should talk' was one of the worst experiences, especially for Abbi. They never turned out well, she was quite certain of that, and this had to be no better. The little hope she'd felt spark in her chest dulled as quickly as it'd come, abandoning her almost. And there was no help from the silent Viveca who squatted and waited, careful to mask her expectation with the thinnest layer possible.
"I've never... I didn't even know... That alternate realities... I didn't think they existed!" She drops her hands into her lap, turning so that she can bend her knees toward him. There's still room to run or get closer, but she's not going to make a decision right now.
"OK LIKE. I knew that alternate worlds existed... Its like... Quantum physics or something, whatever... But I didn't ever think... We could see or know... Or even experience those other places..."

The glove makes her look up, noticing his hair. Without being able to stop, a giggle pops out and Abbi smiles shyly up at Ripley.
"Guessing that I already know what the carpet might look like..." She says, indicating his hair. Since in that other timeline, he'd had dark brown hair, something she'd found herself thinking of over the past days. "Gosh, I had pink in my hair... How terrible was it?"

She didn't run yet. There was still plenty of time left.

Fidgeting against the bed, Abbi wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to bring her knees up and hold them against her chest, put some pressure on her heart that ached for an event that might not even occur. But the shortness of her skirt prevented that lest she wanted to make the moment all the more awkward (she really didn't), so she was stuck mildly flailing around and not being able to get really comfortable. Had she expected them to be on the floor, and really she should have, then a longer skirt would have been chosen. Or shorts. Most likely shorts.
Instead the teen crossed one arm under her bust and crooked her elbow over her wrist so she could worry at the meat of her thumb. Already she'd counted up the timelines, the other possibilities. It was only probable that if she had experienced something wonderful and good in that other timeline that in this one things would go worse. Simple probability, really.
"And the fact that we actually... We were there... We felt it... Its so strange. That's not how that works." That sort of science wasn't her area of expertise so she wasn't positive, but she was pretty darn sure things didn't work like that.

Surprised that he laughed, she paused her worrying to look at him and smile alongside his laughter. It had been too long since she'd heard him laugh, she had forgotten the way it made her insides flutter.
"I kind of knew before. Your roots are growing in..." One finger pointed to the crown of his head, her smile not fading until he spoke again.
All his words came tumbling out, surprising her with her with how suddenly vocal he was, unarming her and finding tender spots in her heart and sticking in sharply. What he was saying was that version was better, that version of her was more.
"O-oh." The hand dropped and her arm dropped and together her hands collided in her lap. Blue eyes found her palms and studied the lines, wondering if that other her had different wrinkles, different heart lines.
"Y-yeah I... I liked that other version better, too." And that was true. Painfully so.