1st petal.

[courageuse]

✿a) early morning: action ; 1338 Benny Road ; housemates

[When Ib opened her eyes, she expected to be back in her world, in the art gallery with her parents and Garry. Instead, she found herself in a foreign bed in what looked to be a foreign house.

...Was it a trick? She'd gone through the painting once to get to that other world, but did going back through bring her here instead of home? If that was the case, well...it was time to get to work.

She gets up and examines her room, dresses herself, brushes her hair, and goes out to the rest of the house. The first thing she notices is the family portraits. At first, she stares in disbelief at the fact that she's there and her parents are not. Even stranger, she has no idea who those other people are. Her next instinct is to turn around, walk a few steps away, and then whirl around, as if expecting something to happen. She stares it down before walking away, casting a wary glance back at it.

Maybe it was because she didn't have a rose...

Right. She doesn't have a rose. That unsettles her. And since Garry went through the painting, too, she might as well look for him while she was at it.

Housemates can either find this little girl performing her little ritual with the pictures and possible paintings around the house or looking through cabinets, opening doors of all kinds, all the while looking like she's searching for something in particular.]

✿b) afternoon: action ; annie's flowers ; everyone

[You can find Ib staring intently through the window of the flower shop, close enough to where her nose is almost touching the glass, but still far enough away to mind her manners (and the window's cleanliness).]

✿c) evening: phone ; everyone

[Well, her search around the house and around town shows her that it's more than just her here this time.

There's a tiny yawn before a small, quiet, and rather young voice speaks up.]

...Hello. My name is Ib. There are a lot of people here, but I was wondering if anyone's seen a man with purple hair that talks like a lady.

[The comment about the man doesn't sound like she's poking fun, but instead carries a sense of innocence and naivete.]

Comments

b; enter another shady looking adult

[cabbagehead]

[ Adachi was just walking back home from the grocery store when he happened to pass by the flower shop and see a certain girl staring rather intently at the flowers. This wouldn't be too unusual, no. But the fact that he didn't see anyone with her when she looked so young? Yeah, that doesn't settle too well with him. He knows there's bad people here. He's technically one of them, after all. But he can't just leave a kid by themselves just waiting to get hurt or something! So he'll call out to her from a little distance away just so he doesn't spook her too badly. ]

Hey, kid. Thinking about getting some flowers?

[ ....Yeah, just as awkward as ever. ]

b; who, you or adachi? hehehe i'm hilarious

[courageuse]

[She steps away from the window and turns her attention to Adachi. Now it's his turn to be stared at. After a few very long seconds, she shakes her head.]

I'm looking for a special one.

[Another glance at the window.]

...It's not here.

wow, rude!!!!

[cabbagehead]

[ A special flower? Huh. He thought they were all pretty much the same. But maybe she just can't see it from the window? ]
Have you actually gone inside? They might have more flowers in the back that you can't see through the window.

just like ur face

[courageuse]

Really? [She steps up to the window again, stands on her tip toes and squints her eyes, just in case it was possible to see them that way. Little kid logic.

Nope. A little defeated, she sighs.]

It could be a trap, though...

no urs

[cabbagehead]

A trap?

[ That really is little kid logic. But it's okay, because he's still a man-child at heart. So he'll just play along since he totally has no idea what horrors she actually experienced. ]

Hm. It could be. Maybe I'll go in first and make sure it's safe. Then I'll do a signal for you showing it's okay! That sound good to you?

[ But what should the signal be... ]

ya ok loser

[courageuse]

[Now she's just going to assume that he actually knows what she's talking about and nod rather apprehensively.]

If you really want to, I guess that sounds okay, but... Are you good at getting away from them?

[...! Oh, right.]

And the puzzles, too? If it's not safe, that stuff could pop up, you know.

[cabbagehead]

[ Yeah, he honestly has no idea what she's going on about now. But he'll just pretend he does because hey why not. It sounds like fun. ]

I'm pretty fast, so that shouldn't be any problem. Puzzles, though? I'm not too good at those, really. But I can try.

[ But it's already too late to stop him, he's already disappeared inside the shop! ]

[courageuse]

[Oh well okay. She returns to her place by the window and stares after him, looking a bit worried.

Ib isn't one for shouting or flailing to get someone's attention, so an intent stare for the results is all he'll get out of her. If it takes too long, she'll come to his rescue!!]

[cabbagehead]

[ She'll notice it's pretty much dead silence since he walked in. And she's probably left waiting a few minutes.

SUDDENLY, A BLOOD CURDLING SCREECH! The sounds of things being knocked over! Yelling and shouting!

...Adachi eventually reappears by the window with a cat stuck to his face. Yeah. This is obviously going to be an amazing first impression. ]

[courageuse]

[Well, that's frightening. Ib panics for a moment, trying to see what's going on. Just as she moves to go help him, he reappears.

...Ib's panic settles down and she can't tell if she's mad at him for scaring her over something so silly or if it's so silly that it's funny. It looks like a normal cat, so it shouldn't be anything too dangerous, right?

Either way, she hesitantly enters the shop, smiling a little despite herself.]

Are you okay, mister?

[cabbagehead]

[ As soon as Ib enters, the cat apparently sees it's chance to escape the dreadful horrors of the shop and flees. Probably to go get stuck in a tree. Who knows?

At least he looks okay, maybe a few scratches but he's not going to die at least! He'll just give her one of those derpy smiles. ]

I think so. But anyways, the only danger seems to have left the premises for now.

Anyways, lets check around.

[courageuse]

[She continues to smile as she nods, but then she gets serious again!]

Okay. I'm looking for a red rose. Except, it's special. It looks sort of fake, and it should be in a vase all by itself...

[It was last time, anyway, so she'll go with that.]

[cabbagehead]

[ Wait, a fake? All this trouble for a fake looking rose?

He's not even sure anymore. But what the hell. There has to be something similar in here, right? ]

Alright, then. I'll check over here.

[ And now Adachi plays Ace Faker. He dumps the flowers from one vase, snatches up one of those fakey looking roses, and places it inside! Now he just has to show her...! ]

Aha! Is this the one you're looking for?

[courageuse]

[Ib goes on her own little search until Adachi approaches her.

She stares down the rose!! (Looking pretty unimpressed, really.)]

I have to see.

[She slowly reaches for the rose and takes it out, careful to not get hurt by potential thorns. Hesitantly, she pulls out a petal. There was a vase right here, after all. She puts on a brave face, but once it's out and nothing bad has happened, she looks surprised.

Ib shakes her head.]

It didn't hurt me. It's supposed to, if I do that.

[cabbagehead]

...It's supposed to hurt?

[ Okay, this girl is getting a little carried away with that imagination of hers. ]

I'm pretty sure a rose isn't normally supposed to do that. I mean, with thorns, sure. But pulling the petals?

[courageuse]

[She nods.]

That's why my rose is special. If it hurts, I hurt.

I was able to keep it safe from the monsters last time. But now I can't keep it safe...

[Ib's kind of side-eyeing him now, because she's been under the impression he knew about all this kind of stuff this whole time.]

[cabbagehead]

[ Oops. ]

Guess nobody told me the rules. But if you're here, that means you don't have anything you should have arrived with. But wait a while. I've heard you get your things back over time. It... may take a while, though. Probably after things get scary.

[courageuse]

[...She gets lost in thought for a moment, worrying about where they were keeping her rose before she could get it back.

It's not for too long, though, because her curiosity is piqued.]

How do things get scary?

[cabbagehead]

Ah, I haven't been here long enough to see for myself, but the rumors say...

[ Yeah, he's going to... down play it a bit actually. She's just a kid. She doesn't need to hear about just how terrifying shit can get, right? Not like she's seen equally gruesome things nope not at all. ]

People start acting crazy, they could be really friendly when they weren't before, or really mean when they were nice before. Or your toys could come to life! Hm. I think there was something about aliens, too.

[courageuse]

Oh. I see...

[Yeah, just that. She doesn't even look that surprised. After Mary and the art coming to life, she's not exactly quick to shock anymore...

Except for one thing, though she's more interested than anything.]

There are aliens?

[cabbagehead]

[ A small nod of confirmation. Okay, to be honest, he'd be excited to see aliens, too. ...Unless they were like those huge ugly looking ones from those American movies he saw as a kid. Nothx. ]

Apparently! Wouldn't it be kind of neat to meet some? We could ask them all about what space is like and stuff.

[ Such a kid. ]

[courageuse]

I bet they would have lots of stories to tell.

[...]

But if they come when things get scary, wouldn't they be scary?

[cabbagehead]

[ ...Shit, she's probably right.

BUT WHAT IF]

Well, they could... be here to rescue us, maybe? Like, they'd be the only ones that know how to save us from the scary stuff, and come just in the nick of time! [ ...yeah. Someone has obviously watched too much toku. ]

[courageuse]

Maybe...

[She's not really convinced, but it's not completely out of the question.]

Do you think they would take us away in their rockets?

[cabbagehead]

They could. That'd be something else, wouldn't it?

[ Then again... ]

They could be the ones keeping us here, too! Like, maybe something bad is happening to wherever we're from, and they brought us here to protect us?