[ voice/action ] please not now

[blessingone]

[It takes Fenimore some time to reach for her journal after they find Shirley missing. But, eventually, she drags herself over and opens it. It's no small matter for Shirley to have made friends in Luceti -- the girl had spent her first fifteen years friendless. She can't just leave that alone. But, even once she opens it, there's silence for a full minute. When she sighs and begins speaking, her voice is calm, though this is by willpower alone.]

For anyone who cares -- [While it's intended as a general "to who it may concern," the slightly bitter edge that creeps in at the end sounds accusatory. She knows it isn't fair and regrets the unintentional addition, but she has belligerence against the world to spare today. When she continues, her tone is flat again.] ...Shirley has gone...home....

[She trails off. The voice doesn't sound like her own. In fact, the entire entry sounds -- and, by the camera, looks -- as though it were made by someone else. Except for the tone, it sounds as though.... She slowly reaches up to touch a braid hanging from the side of her head.

Shirley's voice continues, quiet and strained:] Oh, that isn't fair.... [Using Shirley's hands, she closes her journal and cuts off the feed.

She doesn't want to meet any of the others like this. Not now. Even though she knows that Stella is out of the house, chances of running into her accidentally seem small enough to risk it. In any case, getting away from the house seems pretty attractive right now. She doesn't have to change, thankfully -- they're close enough in size that her clothes just feel a little loose in places. Though of course, on her way out, she does have to stop to grab some things for the cold weather.

Her intent was to avoid people entirely, but she stops at the river next to house 34, by the bridge. That's where she had found Shirley after Senel had left. Shirley had acted strong, no matter how much it had bothered her. "Acting"...but, if she thought about it, being able to act that strong was strong in itself.

She can be found sitting with her arms around her knees on the bank, north from the bridge and away from the pathway -- this time, it's far too cold to even wade, whether or not ice impedes that. She hopes that she's out of sight, and it might have been hard to accidentally catch sight of her were she not wearing a hat that stood out against the snow.

It's still a stupid hat. It doesn't even keep her ears warm.]

[Backdated to during the day! Comments will be answered by blessingone. Journal comments will be answered with an in-Luceti-time delay and, if she doesn't have anything to say, might not be answered at all (apologies if you get hit with the last one). Action ones she doesn't really have a choice on -- she might be a little unfriendly, but she's not upset enough to cut someone off completely.]

Comments

[swordsandfans.livejournal.com]

[Having heard the message earlier, Sokka was going to reply. But... the message ended. So later, when heading north to the village, he does notice someone by the bridge. Someone who looks like Shirley. But... not Shirley, right?

Standing higher on the slope, he speaks up:]

Hey.

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[She looks up. Oh, it's Su--no, wait. Sokka.

--Drat. Someone who knows Shirley. She should tell him that she's not Shirley, but...awkward.] ...Hey.

[swordsandfans.livejournal.com]

[Coming down there to sit down.]

... Fenimore, right?

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

--Huh? [She knows that she doesn't act much -- or anything -- like Shirley, but how did he so quickly...?]

Oh. You heard, didn't you?

[swordsandfans.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It made the message... kind of weird.

[people don't generally announce going home for themselves.]

[girliepunches.livejournal.com]

[Stella might have left as herself with Sophie holding her hand - just a walk, she had said, she'd be back later, but it definitely isn't Stella who's coming across the bridge and holding a very excited Sophie's hand.

Upon seeing what appears to be Shirley on the bridge, though, "Senel"'s expression changes from pensive to surprised, and "he" takes a few steps forward. But... Stella knows not to hope for anything during these experiments, and no one's returned home only to reappear the very next day.]

... Shirley?

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[Her expression tightens, in both displeasure and a little irritation, as the call. The last thing she wants is to do in this form is meet people who knew Shirley. She looks up with that expression so foreign to Shirley's face, but both it and her intended explanation die when she sees who is calling. It seems that, in her shock, she's briefly forgotten the most likely reason that she would see Senel standing there.]

Senel?!

[girliepunches.livejournal.com]

No, I'm...

[And it occurs to her just why she's seeing Shirley. She sighs and tugs Sophie's hand, who follows along obediently as she steps closer still, until she stands a few feet away.]

Fenimore?

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[She's not quite sure what to think at first -- is it a good or a bad thing that Senel hasn't come back? -- but, after a moment, she looks down. Even if it wasn't for Sophie, there aren't too many people who would know herself and Shirley as well as probably knowing Senel -- she doesn't have much to work on so far about why people turned into others, but they all at least seemed to know who they were turned into. Stella was the last person she wanted to run into -- as bad as it was for her, it must be downright cruel for Stella.]

Yeah, it's me. ...It's Stella, isn't it?

[Action]

[drawnbythesword]

[Asbel hadn't seen the journals yet today, so as he approaches the bridge, he spots the familiar girl. Or so he thinks, at least.]

Ah, it's you. ...You're wearing the hat after all?

[Action]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[Ugh, another case of mistaken identity. She doesn't look up right away.]

I'm not wearing the hat because I like it. I only took it because I didn't have anything else to wear. [Wait, she probably should have started with saying that she's not Shirley rather than with blatant lies.]

[Action]

[drawnbythesword]

Oh. You seemed like you were pretty taken with it before. I must've been mistaken...

[Action]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

...No, you weren't mistaken. But I'm not Shirley.

[antiexpression.livejournal.com]

[Minato catches that entry, but he didn't know the person who went home and it looks like whoever is actually making the entry has more problems now. So it isn't until later in the day when he comes back home by the longer path that he runs across 'Shirley' standing by the water. He recognizes the face from the journal earlier. That expression makes it difficult to just keep walking past.

There's a random girl stopping and leaning against the bridge railing a few feet from you, Fenfen.]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[...There is a girl watching her. She looks up, a little irritable.]

What do you want?

[antiexpression.livejournal.com]

[he wasn't staring... okay he was a little but it wasn't that creepy honest]

They changed you into the friend that left, didn't they?

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[At first, she's startled.]

Huh? How did--? [Oh, right. The journal.] ...Yeah. The timing couldn't have been better. [Except, by her tone, she means "worse."]

[voice]

[adashofblue.livejournal.com]

[ "Shirley" .... that's a vaguely familiar name. Hasn't Fenimore--?

Oh, no.

She knows this is a long shot, but she has to try. If only she could be certain it was Fenimore.... ]

Hey, are ... are you okay?

[voice]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[ It takes a while before there's a reply -- it's only after she's had some time to sulk down by the river that she even opens her journal again. But she replies almost immediately after she finds it -- Xion had replied quickly to her in the same kind of situation, hadn't she? ]

...I'm fine. [ Though she doesn't really sound it -- she just still feels that she should be happy for Shirley getting out, not upset. ] Don't worry about it, Xion.

[voice]

[adashofblue.livejournal.com]

[ it is her. oh, Fenimore. ]

... you know I'm going to. [ said with some fondness. ] Would you ... like some company?

[voice]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[ there's a pause. ]

It's not like I can really stop you. [ this translates from tsundere into English as "yes, I would appreciate company from someone who doesn't know Shirley and won't be made uncomfortable by how I look right now." ] I'm by the southern bridge.

[hazelrink.livejournal.com]

[But this passerby... likes that hat. She doesn't recognize Fenimore - or Shirley, really - beyond a passing glance, but that hat stands out to her such that Charlotte meanders on over towards the other party, given that she was out here to check out the dome and spotted this hate from a distance. And she's not evented yet]

Um, excuse me!

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[...? She looks up. This person seems familiar, but she's not clicking quite yet. It's been a long time since they met in person and she's still not very good at identifying people over the journals in real life.

Her tone isn't hostile, but it's not particularly enthusiastic:] ...What is it?

[hazelrink.livejournal.com]

...Can you tell me where you found that hat? [Because that is a extremely cool hat]

[blessingone.livejournal.com]

[...Sigh. But she had come across Shirley finding it, so:]

It was in the clothing store. Where else would it be?