chroma | catchall for vin

[countermeasures]

i haven't had coffee yet so this won't be pretty yet

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[countermeasures]

...it was very nice here, before... well. Before they showed up.

[allomantic]

[she's getting some sympathetic vibes.]

I hope your home will become that way again.

[countermeasures]

Where I'm living now - or was, before the war - is much nicer. It's a house that belongs to just my mother and me.

[allomantic]

...Might I see it?

[countermeasures]

Let's see...

[she reaches out to touch the panel again.

their surroundings shift. the architecture of the buildings surrounding the courtyard is sturdy and elegant. it's all encased by walls, with chrysanthemum flowers in the corners in the courtyard and in a garden a ways away. sturdy, clean.

her imagination - memory, really - fills the space with the housemanager, the housekeper, a maid, and... her mother.

jiuqing smiles. her vibes are fond but a little homesick.]

[allomantic]

[she seems thoughtful.]

...I like it. It's nice.

[calming, even.]

[countermeasures]

It's our home.

[she smiles.]

Once we're out of this... I assume there would be some pathway connecting the places we come from, even if it's by going through here. You could come for a visit. I'm sure my mother would love to have you over.

[allomantic]

[there's surprise and interest at first, a little spark of hope, and then a tide of uncomfortable feelings as she tries to push that away.]

...Has anything indicated that to you? Our worlds don't work the same way the Prism does.

[countermeasures]

Just the fact that we're here at all. There was a way to get us here from our own worlds, so it's sort of... let's think of the Prism as a hallway. Your world must be like a room at one end of it, and mine must be like a room at the other end, mustn't it?

[allomantic]

[her emotion is just hesitant disbelief.]

...I imagine if the door opened when we came here, then it will close when we leave.

[countermeasures]

So we'll push it back open. I like you too much to just say goodbye when we're done here.

[allomantic]

[uncomfortable vibes]

I like you as well, but... That does not mean we can make impossible things happen.

[countermeasures]

We don't know for sure that it's impossible... I want to at least try.

[allomantic]

Right, but... If you assume it is assured, you will become even more disappointed later.

[either that, or she doesn't want to get her own hopes up for that reason.]

[countermeasures]

Well, yes, but...

[...]

If it is possible. I would prefer not to say goodbye to you.

[allomantic]

...I would prefer the same, but I would rather focus on the reality.

[which comes off blunt, but her emotions make it clear how unsure she is.]

[countermeasures]

[jiuqing smiles faintly and puts a hand on her shoulder.]

...that's alright. I'll hope for us both, then.

[she can deal with the disappointment, if it happens.]

[allomantic]

[the discomfort doesn't leave, but there's a deep fondness accompanying it, now.]

...I suppose I cannot stop you.

[countermeasures]

No, you cannot.

[allomantic]

[sighing, though there's no actual irritation.]

Very well, then.

[countermeasures]

[jiuqing wins :)

anyway, she looks around at their surroundings, which still look like the house she lives in with her mother, and feels a little pang of homesickness.]

[allomantic]

[ah... after a moment of awkwardness:]

I'm sure this will end soon enough.

[countermeasures]

[she nods]

It will. ...I'm really not sure how I feel about this room. In a way it's nice, but...

[allomantic]

But...?

[countermeasures]

...it makes me miss home.