Trente-cinquième Grimoire [phone]

[wizardoftheweek]

Some have probably asked and answered already, but I still have to wonder just why so many of our former fellow captives have returned. It's disconcerting.

Things have been quiet. Very quiet. Too quiet. I know I'm not alone in this sense of dread. This town always offers up its worse at times like this. I know it. And as bad as things have been lately...

I've been jumping at every little thing. I just want it to get it over with at this point. I'm tired of being afraid.

Comments

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She nods to Patchouli. ] Okay. I'll go get changed and at least open some windows to let it air out. [ Which she'll do before she heads upstairs to take care of the top floor. It'll be a few tags little while before she returns. ]

[wizardoftheweek]

-Patchouli made her way down the stairs, moving to greet Remilia with a hug. She's... gotten a lot better at the whole physical affection thing lately. Not all of Mayfield's time has been negative.-

Promise me you'll try to get along with her. She's as good as family now, you know.

[then_there_were_none]

[Oh, is it time for hugpiles? Flandre is good at hugpiles!

She bounces up and wraps her arms around both Patchouli and Remilia's shoulders, with her wings draping on them like a living cape.]

[badladyscramble]

Ahhhh.... I will, I will. [Clearly hearing Marisa called "as good as family" was a little painful for the Vampire but she managed a smile and shrugged it off, embracing Patchouli closely, unfolding and wrapping a wing about Flandre to include her too]

[wizardoftheweek]

Thank you so much... You have no idea how much this means to me...

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre chirps again, sounding more worried this time.]

Patchouli is sad?

[This wouldn't do! The smaller vampire wiggles up Patchouli's arm a bit, balancing against that and her sister's wing in some complicated looking bit of physics that wouldn't work if she was any heavier. But Flandre was good at being a leech. Then she reaches up with one hand and the opposite wing that wasn't clinging to anyone to tug the wizard's face into a smile.]

There!

[badladyscramble]

I don't... but I'll try to understand.

Flandre!

[Remi tries to sound chiding but it's really hard when she's on the verge of bursting into giggles]

[wizardoftheweek]

-Patchouli can't help giggling at Flandre's attempts, breaking into a barely controlled laughing fit.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Done with airing out the upstairs, Meiling had washed off her arms, changed shirts, and stood away at the bottom of the stairs.

She looked so happy she could cry.

...or she was actually already there. ]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre is quite proud of herself and not chided at all.

Well, maybe a little, but everyone was smiling, so she couldn't be in trouble. She lets go of Patchouli's face, wings all fluffed out and happy.]

I fixed it!

[While glancing back over her shoulder to see Remi, she caught sight of Meiling standing over there.]

I see Meiling again!

[Then she chittered, confused again. Were those tears? That wouldn't do! The smiling could stay, though. But rather than move and dislodge her precarious balance, Flandre closes her eyes--and a copy of herself abruptly flickers into existence in the empty space next to her.

With a bounce and a flap and a hop, the doppelganger closed the distance to the gatekeeper and jumped up to throw her arms around Meiling's neck--and from there blotted at her eyes with the soft palms on her wings.]

[badladyscramble]

[Well, that was unexpected. Remilia hadn't been notified her sister had that particular power back. She can't help but laugh thought as it goes to hug Meiling]

Just come over here already, Meiling.

[wizardoftheweek]

If we spend all day hugging, we won't be able to prepare dinner.

[not_so_great_wall]

[ You don't have to tell Meiling twice; or even once. By the time the copy of Flandre has made her way over, the gatekeeper was already in motion. Arms out to each side, she barrels into the standing pile (almost making it a dogpile on the ground in the process) and just... squeezes with most of her might.

Yeah, someone's been a little depressed, lately. She needed this. ]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre was not expecting Meiling to move! And thus squawks something wordless about it. Her wings pull away from the gatekeeper's face so there wouldn't be any rude eye-poking business and have just enough time to rest on Meiling's shoulders before there is suddenly an amorphous pile of affection.

It knocks the first Flandre loose and she goes fluttering down to the ground like a leaf, but the doppelganger is pretty much solidly in the middle of the hugpile. Hugs were always acceptable.]

[badladyscramble]

Oof!

[And Remilia's somewhere in the sort-of-bottom of the not-quite-pile, but still smiling mostly. This isn't so bad, even if it's completely undignified]

Dinner can wait.

[wizardoftheweek]

Well so long as you're not hungry.

[not_so_great_wall]

We don't have a lot of food in the house, anyway! [ Meiling exclaims with more glee than is necessary. Today was shopping day, right after cleaning, and she has obviously been distracted from that. ]

[then_there_were_none]

[Further distractions may be in the future. The Flandre that is not involved in the hugpile is disgruntled at this fact, and is now trying to jump and buzz her wings and clamber back into the center where there are hugs.

The second one hunkers down a bit against Meiling and makes some irritated chittering sounds at...herself.]

You're not supposed to do that!

[badladyscramble]

Well, we'll do something about it... later.

[Oh geez. It's been a while since Remi's seen this display.]

Now, now, Flan. Play nice. [With yourself.] There are enough hugs to go around.

[wizardoftheweek]

-They had to stop hugging eventually... but Patchouli was more than a bit amused that none of them were willing to pull away.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Or they could just die hugging. It wouldn't be the worst way to go.

Finally, Meiling pulls away and picks that clambering Flandre up to carry her. ] More than enough to go around, like your sister said. [ She beams. ] Let's go take a look in the kitchen. Maybe I can scrounge something together.

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre is still disgruntled! Though less so now. She still bats at the doppelganger Meiling was carrying when she thinks her sister can't see. Or maybe it was the doppelganger swatting at the original one. The other one clearly has more space and this is a Problem.

Then one kicks at the other and that sets off a fit of wing-flailing squabbling. Both will end up squirming away from Meiling in the process if they're not careful, though.]

[badladyscramble]

Stop that!

[Remi steps between the two batting them both away with her wings. Now it just a mini-vampire flail-fest.]