dust to dust ( OPEN )

[tosavecocoon]

WHO: Oerba Dia Vanille
WHERE: Inn, House 38, bunker, wandering outside
WHEN: mid October, shortly after Fang's disappearance
OPEN TO: ANYONE
WARNINGS: will update as needed, but gonna start out with mass murder/genocide, loss of agency in the narration, depending on what gets brought up in threads

---

The first day she noticed Fang had disappeared, Vanille chalked it up to Fang having gotten busy exploring or hunting. Vanille wasn't worried. Fang would come back to her in another day. Except she didn't. The second day had Vanille worried enough to try contacting her on the bracelet network again and this time she got no response and wasn't even sure if the message got through. That night, she slept outside the house, on a corner of the front porch with Bhakti pressed against her back and Raine curled up at her front.

The next few days have her more withdrawn and by the time a week has passed, she isn't spending any time in more public places. She completely avoids the Inn now, except for meals since eating alone is not good for her even if she's having a hard time keeping up her cheerful face, but can be seen venturing out to the bunker to keep an eye on the tubes in case Fang shows up again. Her crocdog and puppy seem to know that something is terribly wrong and both can be seen at her heels, one on each side. She spends most of her time outside House 38, taking care of the zalpacas in their fenced-in pen or training Raine a little more. Sometimes, she plays with the puppy and crocdog, but sometimes she just sits on the ground with her back against a fence post, watching the animals because it's easier than admitting that something is wrong.

So she spends more time with her animals in general than any of the people, though if she does happen to run into anyone, even on her walks outside trying to get from point a to point b, she tries to smile, tries to pretend that nothing is wrong. It's easier to force cheerfulness sometimes than admit that she's worried about what Fang went back to, worried that if she doesn't go back, too, history will repeat itself and more people will die because of her.

It isn't just the loss of her closest family that has her near tears, though that's a large part of it. She just doesn't want more people to die because of her. No more Purges, no more fear of l'Cie on Cocoon leading to death and chaos in the streets. No more people on Gran Pulse dying, one-by-one getting turned l'Cie and then going Cie'th because she ran from her Focus. They were right on the edge of facing their Focus this time, of completing the Focus that they gave themselves, to save Cocoon, not destroy it. Fang is back at that point and Vanille...

Vanille is here, alone for the third time in her life, and without any idea of what to do.




( mood music )

[closed] nothing comforts me the same

[3ofswords]

WHO: Kira Akiyama
WHERE: The Inn, Room 6
WHEN: Early October
OPEN TO: Karen Page
WARNINGS: Drug/Alcohol mention possible/probably, will add to comment headers if anything else pops up.

---

"Karen," he calls, leaning his head on the door after a thorough knock. "When did you move?" He can only hope she's in there, now that there isn't a porch to stand and smoke on while he waits around. He's not drunk--not anymore. Goldbell tea clearing his breath and cigarettes to ruin it again.

Getting drunk hadn't fixed anything, and hadn't really made him feel better. Human interaction and friendly advice is plan B.

Mark's friendly advice is plan Z, pragmatic and theoretical as it tends to be. This is some bullshit Karen lives day in and out: at least her pragmatism might apply.

Hearing a door down the hall, Kira presses his face into the corner of the frame, next to the hinges.  He hadn't really pressed Ty for his current housing situation, a terrifying oversight.  "If you're not home I'm going to crawl under one of the beds and live there, fair warning."