[video]

[10_20_15_5_50]

---right?

[If the tone is any indication, that one word wasn’t directed at anyone---it was the sort of mutter manuals muffle. What follows is livelier, as the young woman speaking seems hopeful.]

Right. I don’t want to be a bother, but I was wondering if there’s anyone available to give the ten-cent tour…. and if there’s anyone who would want to. Since ah, I’m not the only new arrival, and there’s sort of a lot to see, I figured I’d ask. If you’re new too, okay, awesome, we can explore together. If you’re not new and you want to show off your stomping grounds, I’ll ooh and ahh appreciatively. Promise. And I’ll owe you one.

Comments

Late late late two weeks late / video

[fractalize]

I wouldn't be able to give much of a tour---

[ Someone's cooped herself up for the most of the time. ]

But I've been here long enough that perhaps I should know where things are.

Perhaps I could help?

[ Elsa half shrugs, she looks awfully tired, but still smiling nonetheless. ]

man my very plurk is britofthebacklogs

[10_20_15_5_50]

[Sam lights up, thrilled to hear from another human (?) who seems to be around her own age---and another girl, at that! While the robots have largely proven themselves likeable people, seeing eye-to-eye to someone is something she's missed.]

Hey! I'd love to have some company picking out a place to stay a little longer-term, since I haven't really settled anywhere as of yet. I've been told that any place that isn't already occupied is open to takers; would you like to come with, looking at apartments?

Boy oh boy

[fractalize]

[ Elsa had had about the same reaction, smiling a little wider than usual. A person! An actual person sized...person! ]

I wouldn't mind at all. I've never looked before, I've never needed to, so. It'll be a learning experience. I'm sure of it.


Excuse me, I'm...Elsa. It's very nice to meet you.

[10_20_15_5_50]

Never n---you found someone from home was here before you came?

[Sam's surprise is audible; the odds of that are what, astronomical? Still, reigns her reaction in to actually introduce herself, like a polite person.]

I'm Sam. It's very nice to meet you, too!

[fractalize]

Well----not from home. From here before.

[ She stops, rather nervous about continuing; that wasn't where she was going with that. ]

But that's hardly the matter, it's actually...quite difficult to explain.

[ No it wasn't; but she'd rather not scare off the person sized person first thing with her ice powers. She was just getting back into the swing of things, finally, after her loss of control earlier this month...she sighed. ]

Sam. [ Elsa nods with acknowledgment, her queen-like composure returning. Maybe she should try again to explain. ]

It's rather I can...sort of build my own place to live. It's much s---[ Not safer, she's trying not to hide anymore. ]---more convenient.

[10_20_15_5_50]

[A lucky first find, then? Not so good as a familiar face, but--oh, no, that wasn't it.]

[Having once spent a couple of weeks helping a friend's family renovate--weeks with kitchen witches accustomed to concoctions, not construction--Sam cannot keep from wondering how building could be convenient: you can colour her intrigued.]

Would showing be simpler?

[fractalize]

Perhaps.

But I believe you're still on the lookout for somewhere to live.

Where could I possibly find you?

[ SUBJECT DIVERSION, GO. Elsa's still, really not all that comfortable divulging the details of her powers...rather, to showing them off in person. Perhaps after they'd met, the intricate ice gown would help give it away without a demonstration. ]

[10_20_15_5_50]

Oh, I'm sorry---I swear, I'm not always so easily side-tracked.

How does meeting at the gateway outside the Warehouse sound? Or...?

[It's an invitation, for any alternatives. Even if it's somewhere she hasn't been before, Sam's game---meeting someone to scale is exciting enough.]

I'm open.

[fractalize]

No no, it's alright. It's a display worth seeing, sure, but. Important things first.

[ Elsa nods, looking around rather bewildered. ]

I might be a while, I'm...well. I'm on the side of a mountain right now. It's a rather long walk.

[ Elsa won't lie; meeting someone else to scale is pretty amazing to her too. ]

[10_20_15_5_50]

[Okay, so that's not what Sam was expecting to hear, but she can roll with it, so she does, offering Elsa a sympathetic smile.]

That would be a good chunk of ground to cover, but no worries; I'm not rushing. Take what time you need and just say 'hey,' when you're getting close, alright?

[fractalize]

Wonderful.

I'll...I'll be down in no time.

[ The video promptly cuts off, because yay meeting people, a thing she's not sure she's all that excited about still. But! Wanting to work on herself and her personal relationships, she's out the door before you can say 'freeze!' ]

[10_20_15_5_50]

[And Elsa is gone before Sam can say 'seeya,' but oh, well.]

[The good queen will find Sam, true to her word, waiting by the Warehouse gateway. As soon as she notices a person's approaching, the adept turns to wave; a puzzled expression flickers across her face in the first second she sees Elsa, but it's almost immediately eclipsed by a genuinely gleeful grin.]

Hello!

[fractalize]

Good afternoon! Hello.

[ Winded, but not down and out. Elsa doesn't even catch her puzzled expression. Instead, she brushes herself off, and offers a polite curtsy. ]

Sam. It's wonderful to meet you in person. Overwhelming, I bet.

[10_20_15_5_50]

Elsa.

[She'd started to offer her hand to shake, but the curtsy prompted a moment's pause---more a second's slowing, really, since Sam opts to follow up on her original intent and holds her hand out after all. Like her neck, it's covered in intricate inkwork: notes from the nails up, though her left hand is unmarked.]

It's... a relief, honestly. The robots have been perfectly nice people for the most part but going without someone to talk to on my own level, I could tell, was going to get lonely.

[fractalize]

[ She's hesitant to even shake it; not because of the delicate looking markings, instead, because of her paranoia. She still carried it despite her journey so far out of Arendelle. Elsa looks confused more than anything; her hand hovering before shaking Sam's hand briskly. It's short and blunt, but could still pass off as an unfamiliar custom. ]

Well, luckily for you, there's plenty of us here to go around, if not just to help each other with the little things. Like tea.

[ Which is an image she'd never thought she'd have; a giant robot nearly crushing a teacup. ]

No one's given you any trouble so far, have they?

[10_20_15_5_50]

[Brief as the shake is, Sam beams. Elsa's curtsy may've stirred up some concern in reminding her 'standard etiquette' is up in the air---and at Everest's elevation---but it seems like she should be able to get by, banking on intention.]

Man, I'd be inviting you over for a cup if I weren't in the process of picking a semi-permanent place. Consider it pending; as soon as I've got a tea set, and a place to put it. Three PM's the traditional time, right?

[Sam's smile slips a little at the question and she shrugs, offering Elsa a non-committal noise.]

Not really. That Dirge bot is some kind of sketch, but I think I know what I need to to handle him.

[fractalize]

[ Thinking nothing of it her smile is infectious, as is her friendliness. ]

That sounds lovely. I may be looking for a place to call my own soon, given the...er. Circumstances. Perhaps a contest to see who can find one first; they'll serve it. I've never much cared for the 'traditional' time.

[ Matters, matters. ]

So he is. Oh?

[ That piques her interest, seeing as how her only reply was 'be nice or i'll turn you into a popsicle.' ]

How so?

[10_20_15_5_50]

I like that! It's on! And if we come across a place and are both eyeing it, we can flip for it. Granted, I don't even know what you're looking for in an apartment, but I say so to be safe; flipping seems fair.

[She nods in response to the remark on 'traditional' time, looking a little relieved.]

That's flexibility I appreciate, since Earth time has less and less bearing on what I'm actually up to.

Well, he's so goddamn greedy---and sort of impulsive, or at least very 'point A? point B!' given the way he went after his drone. There have got to be ways to exploit such open self-interest---stack the deck!---since he's all about what he has to have and there's no loss like the loss of opportunity.

I think stressing the bridges burnt when a person does things detrimental to others will be a good angle to play. There's all the deals he'll be out if he harms anybody... and some scaremongering, I can manage.

[She can't quite keep a crooked little smile from surfacing, though there's something almost sheepish in it---she knows that this assessment doesn't sound like a very nice person's assessment, even if it's a matter of pragmatism.]

[fractalize]

Scaremongering was the only thing I'd managed to get to him with, but I suppose you're right. I don't know him very well though, so. Thank you, for the insight.

[ She began to wonder; just what was one to look for in an apartment? ]

What does...someone look for in looking for an apartment?

[ Maybe...high up. Like in a tower. Or very spacious, with lots of seating.

She doesn't know how small they are.

Or perhaps close to Lea, that couldn't be a bad idea. ]

[10_20_15_5_50]

I don't know him well, but we talked long enough I've got a few things figured. Since it really is 'whatever works,' scaremongering sounds fine.

[...and besides; Elsa's admission makes her feel a bit better about turning to it so readily.]

Good lighting! [The answer is immediate and emphatic.] It's important, because even if a place is small? It can be bright, it can be cheerful. Default-dim lighting can leave a place looking and even feeling dingy all of the time. So; good lighting, and it's nice to have some natural. Ideally, with windows one can get wide open.

[Sam speaks with the kind of conviction that only comes from experience---in this instance, a great deal of experience with student utilities.]

Little windows that only open to an angle? They just don't do it for me, and especially not here, with it so nice.

[It had to be what, something like 17 C? --that's overestimating-- Warm enough anyone would be alright wearing short sleeves.]

[fractalize]

[ She's honestly shocked at her enthusiasm. ]

Good....lighting.

[ Oh. Oh no. She's being subconsciously reminded of her sister, and she looks on with a sense of slight remorse and perhaps, even nostalgia. ]

You sound just like my sister. Big windows, big lights, bright canopies. Nice breezes.

But I get the idea, I think. Look for...well. An ideal structure?

[10_20_15_5_50]

What can I say? I've lived and I've learned and I've developed some strong opinions throughout my adventures with student housing situations.

[She's a little surprised by the sister remark, but smiles and shrugs.]

Pretty much. Lighting and airflow are extra important inasmuch as I'm concerned because I sometimes paint, but also important? Storage space, and water pressure. Those are probably the four big points. Layout is just personal preference, but... light, air, places to put things, and the pipes are, I think, of-interest to everybody.

[fractalize]

Water pressure?

[ Her inexperience becomes apparent. ]

Pipes.

[ Things she knows of, but...doesn't know how to inspect. Nodding with some...questionable ease, she changes the subject suddenly. ]

You paint? Really?

[10_20_15_5_50]

I don't think it's something to sweat, here, since it's not like we're signing on for anything. If the water's working right and running clear, it should be fine---it's just that, in my experience, if the pressure is low and there's just a trickle at a tap, it could take any amount time to get fixed. But... I guess that's not exactly a universal.

[The curtsy, Elsa's uncertainty... Sam is again aware of the unknowns.]

On occasion. I like to do landscapes, since I've seen a lot in the couple of cross-country moves I've managed. D'you mind if I ask where you're from?

[fractalize]

Cross country? My, that sounds like an incredible feat.

[ Moving across the country? Insane. Mere travel across her country was a bit dangerous, but...not unheard of. But uprooting sounded...intense. ]

What? Oh, no. Not at all. Arendelle. I'm from a smaller country called Arendelle.

[ She didn't really have a frame of reference to give Sam, she had no idea where Sam could've been from. Though it wouldn't hurt to ask; it may ease her curiosity at her peculiar markings. ]

A-and yourself?