[PRP] Remember me? (Ruth and Serafina)

[Huni Pi]

Ruth's return to Amityville had been mercifully uneventful but at the same time, it's also been horrifically boring. She'd been avoiding her usual haunts or at least if she was visiting them, she didn't stay for long. She had to establish for herself a new set of places she would be known to frequent, even if she isn't trying to draw attention to herself in the first place.

Every action taken was a precautionary measure as her training dictated.

It was why she was in town rather than at the Maul during her break. There were quiet little cafes, trendy and picturesque (as far as Halloween was concerned). It was the perfect cover for her to sulk in because that was what she truly wanted to do be seen.

Seiana_Zi

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Unlike Ruth, this was actually a typical haunt for the kuchisake-onna ghoul who sat at a table nearby a few couples.

One of the great things about being at a cafe was the odd delusion of privacy those who attended had. For some reason, they all thought no one could hear their intimate conversations... and thag meant sitting in the middle of it all gave Serafina some great entertainment as she sipped on her own tea innocuously.

The fact that she could look trendy while spying on people was a bonus.

Though her ears were mostly in those nearby, her eyes were wandering, looking for something even more interesting than manufactured relationship drama (seriously, this ghoul nearby was just trying to get more attention with those claims, considering she was an undead). When her eyes stopped on a ghoul that was sulking in the corner, blues widened a tad.

Was that Ruth?

The girl with her name printed on her underpants was sitting in a cafe? Seemed like an unusual choice. She tried to get a bit closer.

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

She'd given the waiter her order and waited until he'd left before she brought out her sketch pad. It was something she bought on her first few days upon returning to school, figuring an activity that isolated oneself from the world would suit her new persona. She didn't know if her artistic skill was any good, but using her own code to draw felt natural to her and soon she looked busy.

Looked being the operative word.

She may have been hunched over the pad, but with the bill of her hat obscuring her eyes, it allowed her to actually keep a close eye on her surroundings. Which was why she noticed one particular ghoul trying to approach her without making it obvious.

Surveillance, she thought to herself. But the other ghoul didn't look like she was a spy her Superiors sent though she was somewhat familiar... Ruth flipped to a fresh page and adjusted her position so she could keep the other ghoul in her periphery. What she was sketching now was a horribly crude attempt at a portrait with scribbled notes on physical descriptions in the borders.

Seiana_Zi

 

[Seiana_ZI]

She was busy... Sketching?

She supposed sketching wasn't a terribly unusual hobby for someone who didn't speak, considering they needed other ways to communicate. Sketching seemed efficient, although it was slightly surprising. Ruth had seemed to make efforts to act as unusually as possible to communicate. Sketching seemed average.

But then again, sketching was more efficient. That was why she sometimes saw reapers with laryngitis carrying around dry erase boards and not signal cue cards.

Or it would make sense, if Ruth wasn't sketching chicken scratch. That looked more like a Ghoulcasso than anything else, and even that was questionable...

Serafina raised a brow.

Figuring she had probably been noticed with her current proximity, she waved, curious if Ruth would respond.

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

The blonde reaper slowly, almost theatrical in its slowness, turned her head towards the ghost ghoul. She stared wordlessly, or at least tried to give the impression that she was staring at the other ghoul, then made a rather obvious show of looking around. Eventually Ruth gestured to herself, as if she was confirming whether or not she was the recipient of the wave.

There was no other indication that she remembered Serafina at all.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Wait... She wasn't recognized?

Did Ruth just show her underwear to everyone? Hmm... Probably, actually. But she thought they had bonded more than that!

Serafina cleared her throat, nodding as silently as Ruth pointed. She then moved closer, diverting that maybe if she made herself clearer, some kind of recognition would dawn on Ruth. If not, she could not have met that many people with colorful surgical masks on their faces, right?

Again, she waved.

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

After getting past the Playing Dumb stage, Ruth's new persona was now forced to accept that she was indeed the target of the wave. Did she remember Serafina? Well, yes, of course Ruth did. She remembered their time in class and the crafts they made in the human world.

But alas, the Shrinking Violet who lacked self-esteem and had self-confidence issues would never dare assume. (She'd apologize, but probably not for the appropriate reasons.) When the ghost ghoul was closer, Ruth raised three fingers and dragged them across her face, much in the same way she'd done in class when they first met.

There was a hesitancy in the gesture, as if she wasn't sure if the other ghoul would acknowledge or remember what it meant.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

What was Ruth trying to tell her? She obviously remembered that Ruth didn't talk, but remembering her signs was sometimes the harder part. Of all the things she had done, what did the three fingers across her lips mean?

Serafina lifted her own fingers to her surgical mask, and vaguely repeated the motion as she recalled things Ruth had done. Wait...

Three fingers across the lips. She had done that when she was repeating her and Brenley's names.

Serafina.

Serafina dropped her hands, her shoulders slumping in relief. Oh, good. She was recognized. "Ruth," replied Serafina, finishing her way over to place her hand on the opposite chair.

"Can I?"

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

The blonde ghoul's smile widened slightly as she nodded in recognition as well as confirming that yes, Serafina was correct, Ruth is her name. At the other ghoul's request to join her, the reaper gestured at the chair and continued to nod.

She gestured to her plates and glasses, then to where Serafina had been sitting, and finally pushed the menu over to the masked ghoul. Ruth hoped she was being obvious enough with her intentions, it was still hard to shake off the old ways of willful confusion.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Great! She hadn't been expecting to see a friend at the cafe today (especially Ruth, all things considered) but this was something Serafina would latch onto gladly. Happily, she took the seat that Ruth confirmed she could take, sitting herself at the other side of the table.

Pointing to plates and glasses and then at Serafina was obvious enough--Ruth was asking if she wanted to order anything. Well, she had already had a glass of tea, but something small to snack on did sound good ... Nodding, Serafina took the menu that was offered, beginning to thumb through it. It seemed like there were a lot of good choices on here...

After making a decision, she set the menu down and looked back at Ruth, a questioning look in her eyes. She then decided to ask an extremely broad question of, "How have you been?"

...Admittedly, it would be interesting to see how she would explain that one with her gestures. Ruth was always interesting to her in that way.

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

Ruth made something of a show in pondering seriously on the question. And in all fairness, Ruth had a good number of things she'd been through. She was genuinely thinking about her answer, partly because she was consulting with her persona on whether she would be allowed to confide with someone. Especially a ghoul-acquaintance.

The Shrinking Violet begrudgingly admitted yes, but nothing too personal or private and nothing too embarrassing or awkward! Ruth wanted to stick her tongue out at the persona, but instead allowed to raise her hand to motion a "so-so" quickly followed by pointing the question right back at Serafina.

A riveting conversation, this was not starting out to be. Ruth apologizes that she's now so horribly boring.

Seiana_Zi

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Ruth had never spoken very much -- by Jack, she had never spoken at all -- but what she had been in the time Serafina was with her was very ... expressive. She was loud in her own way of being loud, without using her voice but in her sometimes crazy actions instead.

Just motioning a so-so honestly seemed downright understated for what she recognized of Ruth. For a moment, she squinted, wondering if she should expect something else to follow, but when nothing came but a motion to her, she decided just to drop it. Wasn't worth it, right? Maybe Ruth just didn't really want to, er, talk about it. Insomuch as she talked, anyway.

"It's been a little nuts," admitted Serafina, a soft laugh under her breath. "Between the wonders of Wonderland," that was sarcastic," and the joy of whatever the Horsemen and Hunters are up to this time," also sarcastic, "life has been pretty interesting I suppose." Interesting was definitely a word to describe it, though it wasn't necessarily a good kind of interesting ... more like a chaotic kind, if there was one...

She paused, for a moment, before asking, "Did you, ah, experience any of that?"

Maybe she could get more emotion out of her if she talked about something crazy that did happen...

Huni Pi

Serafina eyes Ruth suspiciously......

 

[Huni Pi]

As silent as ever, Ruth simply sat and listened, her chin resting in her hands in rapt attention. Both her first year and new persona agreed listening to other creeple was so much more interesting than talking about herself. The desire to listen was genuine, and both Ruth and the Violet knew that a conversation involved giving and taking.

And now it was her turn to contribute again. In one hand, she held up two fingers, the other tapping her pointer finger before nodding. She pantomimed going to sleep, laying a cheek on the back of clasped hands, followed by stretching as if waking. With her eyes tapered closed, Ruth raised her newsboy cap off her head, and her mouth pulled into a wide and brilliantly manic grin. She looked dazzling a little like her first year self as she held the expression for a moment before placing her hat back on and... dimming.

Again, she gestured to the other ghoul, to ask perhaps what her dream had been during Wonderland.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Was she saying she experienced the first? So she had been in Wonderland as well... That was definitely an interesting experience, though "interesting" was definitely a word that could be up for debate.

When she pulleed up her hat and made that brilliantly wide grin, Serafina immediately knew what Ruth had become. Like her, she had been a cheshire cat in that world--the only creature she readily knew of that could grin that wide without some kind of interference. She had some kind of interference normally, but in that world ... she didn't have to wear the mask.

It had been so nice.

Serafina nodded. "It made me a Cheshire Cat, too. In blues and purples, fairly fashionable," there was a small chuckle afterwards. She didn't bring up her lack of mask, because it would point attention to the fact she wore one now. "The dream was ... crazy. Food that changed you, weird places filling people with weird memories and even visions of the future ... And then there were those copies. You saw the copies too, right?"

She bit her lip.

"They were in tubes, versions of us..."

Huni Pi

 

[Huni Pi]

Ruth smiled a small smile, though inwardly she was grinning from ear to ear. She'd been a Mad Hatter in Wonderland but that didn't seem to matter, not out here in reality. It was easier and more natural for her to let Serafina get the wrong idea, and while the Shrinking Violet clucked her tongue in disapproval, Ruth was ignoring the persona.

Instead she nodded, at least she wasn't lying when the gesture confirmed that she remembered and knew the strangeness of Wonderland and the things they got into. The mention of tubes, however, made her pause, tilt her head, and purse her lips.

Ruth had no idea about this dream.

She shook her head at that, leaning forward as if in rapt attention, hands clutching at the tablecloth seemingly begging for the other ghoul to continue.

Seiana_ZI

After forever and a day!