Penny Polendina (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
in4apounding) wrote2037-12-29 12:00 pm
in4apounding) wrote2037-12-29 12:00 pm
IC Contact
[And speaking of awkward, Penny's quiet for a bit after that. Talking to Ruby is usually the easiest thing in the world, but this is just all kinds of uncomfortable.]
[She needs to say something.]
Was that your first-?
[Probably something other than that.]
[She needs to say something.]
Was that your first-?
[Probably something other than that.]
Y-Yeah.
[If it's possible for Ruby to get any redder, now would be about that time.]
I mean! I've kissed my parents and Yang before! But that... um. T-That doesn't count. But Weiss...
Uh. Yeah.
[If it's possible for Ruby to get any redder, now would be about that time.]
I mean! I've kissed my parents and Yang before! But that... um. T-That doesn't count. But Weiss...
Uh. Yeah.
No, that's not- ...it's different, yes. It was. Um. My first, too. Now.
[THERE IS A WINDOW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BED. She could totally survive that jump, right? Just casually exit the room as quickly as possible.]
It. Wasn't bad, at least? I mean if it had to be something-
Like.
Not that- um.
[That window is looking really appealing.]
[THERE IS A WINDOW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BED. She could totally survive that jump, right? Just casually exit the room as quickly as possible.]
It. Wasn't bad, at least? I mean if it had to be something-
Like.
Not that- um.
[That window is looking really appealing.]
[You're gunna have to race Ruby to the window at this rate, Penny. That is, if she doesn't combust from how red and warm her face is right now...]
I-It was nice! [And there goes her voice, jumping up an octave.] I mean. Unexpected, yeah. And I think something funny's going on here.
But.
I-It wasn't bad! So don't be upset!!
I-It was nice! [And there goes her voice, jumping up an octave.] I mean. Unexpected, yeah. And I think something funny's going on here.
But.
I-It wasn't bad! So don't be upset!!
[This is her room, SHE gets the window. Ruby can just bolt for the door like a polite guest should.]
Um, yes! I mean, I think sometimes things get strange for no reason, like- um-
[And now she's getting red for a slightly different reason.]
Like before you arrived there was this day I couldn't stop talking for some reason? Things just kind of kept coming out of my mouth as soon as I thought of them.
[Boy, that feels familiar right now.]
That's how Dave, um, found out I wasn't r- wasn't human. Before.
Um, yes! I mean, I think sometimes things get strange for no reason, like- um-
[And now she's getting red for a slightly different reason.]
Like before you arrived there was this day I couldn't stop talking for some reason? Things just kind of kept coming out of my mouth as soon as I thought of them.
[Boy, that feels familiar right now.]
That's how Dave, um, found out I wasn't r- wasn't human. Before.
[Whoa okay serious time for a minute here.]
Dave knows? And he's okay with it?
Dave knows? And he's okay with it?
Yes. It just kind of... popped out, accidentally.
[Did she not mention this already?]
[Oops.]
And he was more than okay with it! And Jade. Though, um. Telling her wasn't an accident.
[She fidgets just a bit, adjusting herself under Chroma's head.]
I guess wanted at least one person to find out because I'd actually chosen to tell them. I mean, I couldn't even tell you-
[Did she not mention this already?]
[Oops.]
And he was more than okay with it! And Jade. Though, um. Telling her wasn't an accident.
[She fidgets just a bit, adjusting herself under Chroma's head.]
I guess wanted at least one person to find out because I'd actually chosen to tell them. I mean, I couldn't even tell you-
[Ruby, bless her soul, looks zero percent offended that Penny willingly told someone else when the reveal for Ruby had been an accident.]
I can understand that, I guess. I mean, maybe I can't, because I didn't go through what you went through, but... I guess, to tell someone on your own terms must feel really good, huh?
I can understand that, I guess. I mean, maybe I can't, because I didn't go through what you went through, but... I guess, to tell someone on your own terms must feel really good, huh?
It did, yes.
[Still looking just a little embarrassed.]
It- still felt really scary, though. Even though I'm human here. Is that silly, you think? There's so many people here who weren't human.
[Still looking just a little embarrassed.]
It- still felt really scary, though. Even though I'm human here. Is that silly, you think? There's so many people here who weren't human.
I don't think so. It's something you're so used to hiding... if you've been hiding it your whole life [however long that might actually be] it can be kinda weird just outright saying it.
-ello? Penny? Hello? Uh, if you get this, give me a call sometime, okay?
[Rakka sounding pretty good, which is good as there were sounds of various Pokemon fighting in the background. But at least she's alright! ...Right?
Right.]
[Rakka sounding pretty good, which is good as there were sounds of various Pokemon fighting in the background. But at least she's alright! ...Right?
Right.]
Penny!
Oh my goodness, I can't believe it!
You were the one who sent John all those pies?!
That is such a simple yet wonderfully effective prank! I'm jealous I didn't think of it myself, but I also want to formally extend congratulations your way!
Is there any reason in particular you've started down the path of practical japery? :B
Oh my goodness, I can't believe it!
You were the one who sent John all those pies?!
That is such a simple yet wonderfully effective prank! I'm jealous I didn't think of it myself, but I also want to formally extend congratulations your way!
Is there any reason in particular you've started down the path of practical japery? :B
[It's maybe an hour or two later when Penny responds.]
Rakka! It's good to hear from you! ...Are you training?
Rakka! It's good to hear from you! ...Are you training?
Jane, thank you! And yes, I signed him up for the Olivine Pie of the Month Club!
I just wish I'd known he didn't actually like pies beforehand, I would've figured something else out.
And
you know how sometimes things get really weird here, right? Weirder than usual.
Well a few months ago a bunch of people woke up in the wrong bodies for a few days.
John and I ended up
switched. For the duration.
[It was super uncomfortable, at least on her end of things.]
And John made this weird sort of joke broadcast in my body, but invited me to prank him back for it.
It took a while, but this was it!
I just wish I'd known he didn't actually like pies beforehand, I would've figured something else out.
And
you know how sometimes things get really weird here, right? Weirder than usual.
Well a few months ago a bunch of people woke up in the wrong bodies for a few days.
John and I ended up
switched. For the duration.
[It was super uncomfortable, at least on her end of things.]
And John made this weird sort of joke broadcast in my body, but invited me to prank him back for it.
It took a while, but this was it!
I didn't know Olivine HAD a Pie of the Month Club! Now I'm curious to see just what sort of pies they're sending out.
And that's fine. Sometimes it's better the person not like the thing they're being pranked with, and I'm sure he'll find a use for them anyway. He could gift them to others, perhaps, or pie folks in the face!
I know I'd do the latter if I wasn't partial to a pie.
Ah. Right, he did mention that.
His "prank" sounded a little mean in my opinion, but so long as you didn't get hurt, I suppose it's alright.
And you did get him back! :B
And that's fine. Sometimes it's better the person not like the thing they're being pranked with, and I'm sure he'll find a use for them anyway. He could gift them to others, perhaps, or pie folks in the face!
I know I'd do the latter if I wasn't partial to a pie.
Ah. Right, he did mention that.
His "prank" sounded a little mean in my opinion, but so long as you didn't get hurt, I suppose it's alright.
And you did get him back! :B
[And when Penny answers, Rakka sounds just as busy as the message would have her be.]
Penny! Hello!
Uh, yes! I've been training for a while.
[...phew.] It's all to get my next badge, which is why I wanted to call you!
Penny! Hello!
Uh, yes! I've been training for a while.
[...phew.] It's all to get my next badge, which is why I wanted to call you!
[Let's face it, Penny's a housemate by now, so Penny also gets a present under the tree from Jane, its bow colored in a green similar to her dress. Inside are two things: cookies that are basically thin cinnamon rolls and a silvery hair bow with a charm on the knot of a little Aron. The tag reads:
Merry Christmas Penny!
I certainly am happy we get to enjoy your company in this lovely little house!
It's my hope that you feel happy and welcome as well.
- Jane]
Merry Christmas Penny!
I certainly am happy we get to enjoy your company in this lovely little house!
It's my hope that you feel happy and welcome as well.
- Jane]
Jane, thank you! I love it!
[She has gotten so many hair accessories, it's fantastic. Picking which one to wear first is going to be a challenge.]
[And of course, the other part of her gift-]
Would you like one?
[Offering the tin of cookies. Christmas is all about sharing, right?]
[She has gotten so many hair accessories, it's fantastic. Picking which one to wear first is going to be a challenge.]
[And of course, the other part of her gift-]
Would you like one?
[Offering the tin of cookies. Christmas is all about sharing, right?]
Penny!!
What are you up to?
[She could probably find her, they're in the same house. But. Eh.]
What are you up to?
[She could probably find her, they're in the same house. But. Eh.]
[On the day of February 14th, should they look at their communicator, they might see a message from one young Mabel Pines!]
Hey, you! You there! Yes, I’m talking to you! I’m just here to wish you a super duper Happy Valentine’s Day! May you get a lot of love and candy from everyone around you!
Because I know you definitely deserve it!
Hey, you! You there! Yes, I’m talking to you! I’m just here to wish you a super duper Happy Valentine’s Day! May you get a lot of love and candy from everyone around you!
Because I know you definitely deserve it!
Why...? Why would you do that?
Words seem to echo as Penny finds herself standing in a small, dark room. A single window off to the side offering light from the moon, painting soft rays on the walls that themselves look like they've been painted on. From where Penny was standing, unable to move, it seemed to stretch out into a vast expanse of dark land, with ground made of pebbles.
"-Both of us sin bound. But in the end, only you were forgiven." A voice states, from the center of the room. A girl is there. Or, was she always there. Her voice is cold, speaking with a barely restrained disdain.
"Everyone leaves me eventually. When Kuu took her Day of Flight, part of me was jealous of her. And I hate myself for it."
"That's not true!" Penny cries in a voice that isn't her own. "You came looking for me when I fell into the well, you took care of me! Whenever I was in pain, you were there!"
"That's right!" To Rakka's side, she finds another girl standing there, the same one. She snaps at Penny. "And why'd I do it? I was looking for my salvation!"
Another copy of the girl pops up on the other side of Penny, and another. They seem to appear from her blind spot, sometimes peaking in unison, sometimes not. It soon becomes overwhelming. "I can only forget about my sin when I'm being useful to someone! ...But you were never useful at all, were you? You were useless!"
Tears well in Penny's eyes and she frantically shakes her head. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"Rakka..." The first girl finally speaks again, looking at her, utterly coldly. "For what I needed, you could've been anybody. And you couldn't even do that right."
All the other girls converge on Penny at once, hands roughly grabbing clothes, skin, anything they can get their hands on. Fabric tears, nails dig in and scratch skin. It hurts but she can't call out.
"And now you're just a nuisance. I don't need you anymore, so just get out."
The copies lift Penny over their heads, a door opens behind her...
"Get out!"
And she's tossed out into a cold void of darkness. The last thing Penny will see before she wakes up is the door slamming shut.
Words seem to echo as Penny finds herself standing in a small, dark room. A single window off to the side offering light from the moon, painting soft rays on the walls that themselves look like they've been painted on. From where Penny was standing, unable to move, it seemed to stretch out into a vast expanse of dark land, with ground made of pebbles.
"-Both of us sin bound. But in the end, only you were forgiven." A voice states, from the center of the room. A girl is there. Or, was she always there. Her voice is cold, speaking with a barely restrained disdain.
"Everyone leaves me eventually. When Kuu took her Day of Flight, part of me was jealous of her. And I hate myself for it."
"That's not true!" Penny cries in a voice that isn't her own. "You came looking for me when I fell into the well, you took care of me! Whenever I was in pain, you were there!"
"That's right!" To Rakka's side, she finds another girl standing there, the same one. She snaps at Penny. "And why'd I do it? I was looking for my salvation!"
Another copy of the girl pops up on the other side of Penny, and another. They seem to appear from her blind spot, sometimes peaking in unison, sometimes not. It soon becomes overwhelming. "I can only forget about my sin when I'm being useful to someone! ...But you were never useful at all, were you? You were useless!"
Tears well in Penny's eyes and she frantically shakes her head. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"Rakka..." The first girl finally speaks again, looking at her, utterly coldly. "For what I needed, you could've been anybody. And you couldn't even do that right."
All the other girls converge on Penny at once, hands roughly grabbing clothes, skin, anything they can get their hands on. Fabric tears, nails dig in and scratch skin. It hurts but she can't call out.
"And now you're just a nuisance. I don't need you anymore, so just get out."
The copies lift Penny over their heads, a door opens behind her...
"Get out!"
And she's tossed out into a cold void of darkness. The last thing Penny will see before she wakes up is the door slamming shut.
"Sal-u-tations, Pyrrha Nikos! It's an HONOR to finally meet you!"
The nightmare doesn't start as a nightmare. Rakka's practically flying, having the time of her life. Unseen crowds are cheering. She's surrounded by a whirlwind of explosions and blades and gunfire, but it's exhilarating. Every dodge and swoop is a test of skill, each success bringing a new rush of adrenaline.
"This is going to be so much fun."
But even as the rush of the dream accelerates, something seems off, somehow? A little niggling piece of worry at the back of her mind. Like someone calling for her she can't quite hear. A mounting sense of dread bubbling up under the excitement, almost like a countdown.
And just a moment before the dread overtakes the thrill- she hits it. It feels like nothing, like part of herself, like a bar of steel midair.
It doesn't hurt, even as her body bends at the middle around it, yanked back against her momentum; and then the panic sets it. She tries getting away, to continue to glide through space, twisting away; but every move she makes slams some part of her into another thin, invisible barrier. They wrap around her, yanking and tangling and biting into her the more she tries to escape. It's not long before she's brought to a halt, kneeling on the ground, arms painfully pulled up and out to her sides.
She's at the center of a small circle of light, anything past its edge dropping abruptly into shadow and darkness. It's quiet, the cheering of the crowd fading to a dull, staticky roar at the edge of awareness. And then, with a series of echoing clicks, a girl in armor walks deliberately out of the shadows to face Rakka. Armored, almost regal in her bearing; her face hidden in shadow. She seems to advance slower than her strides should be taking her.
Her form flickers occasionally, seeming to slip seamlessly between different people for just an instant. Some of them Rakka might recognize, in more than just that dreamlike way of knowing, some she might not. But here, all of them seem intimately familiar and dear. A girl with a long mane of hair that seems to shine like sunlight; a boy with his face enigmatic behind a pair of sunglasses; another girl, eyeglass lenses reflecting harsh light; a dark-haired boy with an angry stride; a girl with short, brown hair; a dark figure hidden under a billowing red cloak. It's on this last form that the girl finally settles, standing quietly in front of Rakka. Within the dream, she can feel a dull ache, a fear and longing, in her chest, as she speaks with a voice that's not her own.
"Don't- don't go. Please."
"It's okay," the girl says, her voice for a second filling Rakka with warmth, hope. And then she takes a step forward, and another.
And moves past Rakka entirely, somehow ignoring the taut wires holding her in place.
"Something has to be real before you can leave it."
"N-" Rakka's voice catches in her throat as she tries to cry out, shout past the lines wrapped around it. "No! Don't- DON'T LEAVE ME-"
The pain, her stomach dropping inside her, is almost enough to distract her from the armored girl rushing out of the darkness in front of her. A lance raised in her hand, slashing downward, seeming to yank the wires tighter as it does so. There's a sudden sharp spike of fear as the loops of wire spasm closed, and then sudden, endless darkness before Rakka wakes up.
The nightmare doesn't start as a nightmare. Rakka's practically flying, having the time of her life. Unseen crowds are cheering. She's surrounded by a whirlwind of explosions and blades and gunfire, but it's exhilarating. Every dodge and swoop is a test of skill, each success bringing a new rush of adrenaline.
"This is going to be so much fun."
But even as the rush of the dream accelerates, something seems off, somehow? A little niggling piece of worry at the back of her mind. Like someone calling for her she can't quite hear. A mounting sense of dread bubbling up under the excitement, almost like a countdown.
And just a moment before the dread overtakes the thrill- she hits it. It feels like nothing, like part of herself, like a bar of steel midair.
It doesn't hurt, even as her body bends at the middle around it, yanked back against her momentum; and then the panic sets it. She tries getting away, to continue to glide through space, twisting away; but every move she makes slams some part of her into another thin, invisible barrier. They wrap around her, yanking and tangling and biting into her the more she tries to escape. It's not long before she's brought to a halt, kneeling on the ground, arms painfully pulled up and out to her sides.
She's at the center of a small circle of light, anything past its edge dropping abruptly into shadow and darkness. It's quiet, the cheering of the crowd fading to a dull, staticky roar at the edge of awareness. And then, with a series of echoing clicks, a girl in armor walks deliberately out of the shadows to face Rakka. Armored, almost regal in her bearing; her face hidden in shadow. She seems to advance slower than her strides should be taking her.
Her form flickers occasionally, seeming to slip seamlessly between different people for just an instant. Some of them Rakka might recognize, in more than just that dreamlike way of knowing, some she might not. But here, all of them seem intimately familiar and dear. A girl with a long mane of hair that seems to shine like sunlight; a boy with his face enigmatic behind a pair of sunglasses; another girl, eyeglass lenses reflecting harsh light; a dark-haired boy with an angry stride; a girl with short, brown hair; a dark figure hidden under a billowing red cloak. It's on this last form that the girl finally settles, standing quietly in front of Rakka. Within the dream, she can feel a dull ache, a fear and longing, in her chest, as she speaks with a voice that's not her own.
"Don't- don't go. Please."
"It's okay," the girl says, her voice for a second filling Rakka with warmth, hope. And then she takes a step forward, and another.
And moves past Rakka entirely, somehow ignoring the taut wires holding her in place.
"Something has to be real before you can leave it."
"N-" Rakka's voice catches in her throat as she tries to cry out, shout past the lines wrapped around it. "No! Don't- DON'T LEAVE ME-"
The pain, her stomach dropping inside her, is almost enough to distract her from the armored girl rushing out of the darkness in front of her. A lance raised in her hand, slashing downward, seeming to yank the wires tighter as it does so. There's a sudden sharp spike of fear as the loops of wire spasm closed, and then sudden, endless darkness before Rakka wakes up.
Edited 2017-11-05 03:12 (UTC)
Hey, Penny? I'm wondering something.
What badges are you looking to get next?
I know I personally at least want to get the badge from Olivine City, maybe Cianwood, but I'm not about to set off without you and Rakka, and it's very likely you both have badges you're still meaning to try and get.
And since the weather's finally getting better...well, we should plan out some trips, shouldn't we?
I'm also texting Rakka, so don't worry - I'd like all three of us to get together and figure out what we're doing.
What badges are you looking to get next?
I know I personally at least want to get the badge from Olivine City, maybe Cianwood, but I'm not about to set off without you and Rakka, and it's very likely you both have badges you're still meaning to try and get.
And since the weather's finally getting better...well, we should plan out some trips, shouldn't we?
I'm also texting Rakka, so don't worry - I'd like all three of us to get together and figure out what we're doing.
Page 3 of 4