[PRP] First Word, Three Syllables (Lily/Noeh)

[AMItotic]

For all that the world was different, at least the trees were the same.

Sure, there were reports of some kind of fungus thing going on in the woods, but what Lily concerned herself with were the sturdy boughs and great limbs that could hold her aloft on an early spring day. Class was out, she wasn't planning to film any material until tomorrow, and she hadn't been texted back by anyone who wanted to hang out, so she chose to solo-hang instead, on a solid oak in one of the parks by campus. Held upside down by the crook of her knees, she had her phone extended out to take a selfie, her face contorted into a snarl. She took another one with her tongue sticking out, and a third baring her teeth, but by the fourth she felt herself beginning to lose steam. In the absence of any outside stimulus, she pocketed her phone and looked out at nothing in particular, taking in the ambient sounds of nature, traffic, and the screaming kids on the nearby playground.

Soothing.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Lily wouldn't know what an anomaly it was for Noeh to travel outside of the otherworld. But just know that it was exactly that: a whim, an anomaly. She stood in wonder beneath a nearby tree, greenish-blue eyes traveling over the sun-limned boughs as if she were regarding an ancient piece of magic, or a classical masterpiece. Noeh didn't speak once she caught sight of Lily; she only smiled and waved, a little hello there! of a greeting.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily blinked when her eyes glanced over to Noeh, doing a double-take from her perch. She reached for the branch carrying her and held tightly as with a grunt she lifted her legs and unraveled them to right herself.

"Hey, it's...you," she murmured, finding the girl familiar in a way she couldn't quite place. Still, Lily had no issue with most things, provided they weren't actively trying to kill her, and so she dropped to the dry earth below, waving back now that her arms were free.

"What's up?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Noeh smiled again, eyes crinkling, and did the little hand-wave again. This time it seemed to mean yes, it's me. Then she made another gesture, a sort of slicing motion at her throat, which seemed to mean, Sorry, I can't talk. And then she held an open hand out to Lily: How are you?

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily's eyes lit up under the dark sweep of her bangs. "Oh s**t, you're the, um...you were at the party sacrifice thing," she remarked, thinking of the girl in finery she signed to for a favor.

"Things are cool, I guess," Lily shrugged. "The whole world is weird now and that's kind of weird, but at this point I'm starting to get used to it."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Noeh nodded, still smiling. Her brown hair had been hidden beneath a cowl at the party, but now it had fluffed up significantly, like a cloud threatening to consume her entire head. Her commiserating look seemed to say, Same. She pointed to her own forehead at two points, then to Lily's. A compliment on the horns??

She sighed, a voiceless little thing more visible for the slump of the shoulders. It was hard to communicate when she couldn't talk.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Oh, um, yeah...party gift," Lily tilted her head to one side, her bangs getting caught on the nubby horns at her hairline. "I scared a barista once, it was kind of awesome but then I felt bad because she got milk on her shoes."

She rubbed her forearm sheepishly, then looked back to Noeh. "You, uhh...want my phone so you can type stuff?" Reaching for her pocket, she slid out the small device, holding it out. "Might be less work than charades."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Noeh accepted the phone with a grateful nod.

Baristas are a proud, strong people. You gave her a good story to tell! I'm sure she wasn't mad.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

This was sage wisdom, and to that Lily nodded in agreement. "Still, it was soggy shoes, and that means probably soggy socks, which is just...eugh..."

"But it's whatever," she added, shrugging her shoulders. "How've you been? Is your spooky stuff different too?" Lily wasn't sure of the terms between Noeh and the rest of the court, or really how the court even operated except to be fancy and murder-ey. To be honest, she was glad that being a moonwalker excluded her from all of the particulars. It was too much drama.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

I don't have any spooky stuff, Noeh typed. Not anymore. The... whatever happened? It cut me off from all of that. And my friends are dying. But it's whatever, like you said. There's nothing I can do about it.

She paused. Typed some more, paused again, probably backspaced some? And then turned the phone back to Lily. The new message said:

I don't have any spooky stuff. Not anymore. The... whatever happened? It cut me off from all of that. I was here to look for a friend of mine, actually. Melany Dubhslaine?

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily's eyes flickered over the screen of the phone, and she frowned. "Oh s**t, that sucks," she responded, emphatic and gravid. "I'm sorry. I, uh...yeah, that's rough."

She waited patiently while Noeh typed more, then shook her head. "Melany? Like...Lady Badass in Grey Melany? I haven't seen her since..." Lily choked before she could say 'the stabs', choosing to cough instead. "...the, uh, party thing. Are you meeting up with her or something?"

Lily wasn't sure what to think of Lady Melany just casually meeting people in the park. It was terrifying, but she kind of wanted to wait and see her anyway.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Noeh shook her head. She's got something of mine that I want back, she typed to Lily. I heard she came over to the mortal world. So I was just looking.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Oh." Lily scratched the back of her head, shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, I haven't seen her. Sorry."

She thought of Melany being in the normal world and her stomach churned. "So is she over here, like...full time now? What about the...court thing? Isn't she running that?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

I'm not sure what's up with the Court, typed Noeh. Time will tell, I suppose. It might be collapsing.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily nodded slowly, crossing her arms. "I mean, that's probably not the worst thing to happen, with the whole stabbing party thing or whatever." She glanced over to Noeh and began to backpedal. "Um. Sorry if Adoelle was a friend. She was...neat."

shibrogane