Vanille Dia prayed for a miracle (a_new_dawn) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-06-18 10:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, oerba dia vanille, wrex |
"I think most of them are too old for bouncy castles."
Who: Vanille, Wrex
What: Vanille gets epicly lost on the way to Stark Industries.
When: 06/12 - Bouncy Castle Day
Where: Urdnot Ranch
Ratings/Warnings: Uh... PG?
Status: Complete!
It had been an amazing adventure in California so far. Vanille couldn't drive to save her life and was generally wary (one might even say afraid) of the vehicles, but Belle had set her up with one of those perpetual bus passes when they'd gotten settled in.
Of course, she was still new to figuring the system out, and asking for directions didn't always lead to the right results. When the bus she'd switched to ended up rolling down a long winding road later in the evening, she already had a sinking suspicion she wasn't anywhere near Stark Industries.
She clutched her bag close against her as she got off and looked around. The complex was huge, and lights were on in various places, but it was quiet. And worse...
"There aren't any bouncy castles here!" Vanille observed. Her face wrinkled up into a brief pout, "Not even one!"
In one of the fields there was a group of teenagers playing, of all things, cricket, while a woman in a white coat and headscarf played referee. Nearby, another group of students were practicing archery, and somewhere in the distance there were more teenagers on horseback.
The bus had dumped her in front of a large ranch house / office complex.
And alas, there wasn't a single bouncy castle in sight.
Not a one. It was extremely disheartening.
"And I came all this way, too..." She trailed off, her voice sad and forlorn. Her face was extremely crestfallen. Not even the nearby children playing was enough to cheer her up, though she took in the sight for a while.
She wasn't really sure where she was or what she was doing. There was a helpful sign nearby that she finally decided to take notice of, "Urdnot Ranch. ...This definitely isn't Stark Industries. OOoooh, I should find that person that put me on this bus and... and... do something very mean to him."
Wrex was walking out of the office, looking very much a grumpy man. He wondered if he'd done something wrong, somewhere. He couldn't think of anything. But Alma and Beth were gone, along with his granddaughter. On the plus side, they were probably safer, and Shepard had installed something for him so he could 'skype', whatever that was. But it was still depressing.
Vanille probably wouldn't have known what a 'skype' was either. What she did know was that a very grumpy man was walking out of the building, and while he was almost scary, she felt the need to approach him.
She waved, "Oh hello, there! Uhm... This place is pretty far away from Stark Industries, isn't it?"
He looked over at her, expression growing a little less stern. “Uh. Yes it is. You can’t get much farther and still stay in the state. Do you need help, miss?”
"Well..." She wrinkled her nose a bit, "I heard there was bouncy castles over there, but I guess I'm never gonna get to bounce on 'em after all."
That made her sad again. She folded her arms across her chest and tried not to pout overly much. Grown women didn't need to pout. It was silly to pout over not getting to bounce on something, after all. She realised that she probably didn't need to be this upset about it.
Wrex couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips, even if it disappeared quickly. "Bouncy castles aren't a bad idea." You'd never get Wrex into one, though.
"You sure do have a lot of kids here!" Vanille replied, deciding that was relevant to the conversation. And it was. Because didn't kids like to bounce on bouncing things?
"I bet they'd really love bouncing on some bouncy castles, though they look pretty busy right now with Cricket an'Archery. Is this some kinda school or something? It's pretty big!"
“Sort of. We take in kids who might be getting in trouble with the law,” Wrex replied. “We help them focus themselves into other things. Make their lives better.”
"Kinda like an orphanage, only nicer?" Vanille asked, with a tilt of her head. The kids, for the most part, seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves instead of miserable, which was a good start. And not being in trouble with the law was a bonus!
“Sort of. These are the kids who’s next step means jail. We try to give ‘em an out,” Wrex explained. Then there were the ones with powers, but that he didn’t need to go into.
"Sometimes good kids can turn to bad stuff!" Vanille nodded. A few of the kids at the orphanage had gone that way, and gotten themselves into a lot of trouble. She wasn't even sure where she'd have ended up if Belle hadn't shown up to guide her.
"An' sometimes they just need a hand to tell 'em where to go to do better. Seems like a nice enough place. You should get 'em some bouncy castles. Or take them to the bouncy castles!" She clapped her hands together and grinned, like that was the perfect idea, "OH, you could do that! And take me with you!"
In Wrex's experience, sometimes was more often than not, for a lot of these kids. It wasn't entirely their fault. Society and their lives often pushed them down a dark path, and it was often easier to go along than try to fight back. So he fought for them.
This woman managed to make Wrex crack a smile. "I think most of them are too old for bouncy castles."
"Well I'M twenty-three and I'm not too old for bouncy castles," Vanille declared, while putting her hands on her hips. Her expression was momentarily grouchy at the the thought that there'd ever be an age limit on bouncing around in those things, "Shouldn't everyone be young enough to let loose an'have some fun?"
The look Wrex gave her was of a man that was not the sort of man to ‘let loose and have some fun’ unless that fun involved headbutting, shotguns, or Kasumi.
It just looked like a very grumpy older person look to her. She wrinkled her nose a bit, "Have it your own way."
Wrex relented. A little bit. “We don’t have any bouncy castles, but we do have horses and other kinds of games.”
"Oooh, horses!" She'd always wanted to try riding on one of those. She looked down at the outfit she was wearing and decided that it probablu wasn't practical enough to go riding in. She did have some sense, "Well those sound nice. OH! Hey, I'm Vanille."
She extended her hand out to him, "Y'never did introduce yourself."
He smiled, just a little bit, and held out his hand. “Wrex.” That was it. Wrex. That’s all she got. “Nice to meet you, Vanilla.”
"Wrex is a pretty interestin' name!"
Being called Vanilla didn't seem to bother the woman. It was likely that she'd been called such many times in her life, by many people, and not just here in the states. She bounced on her heels a bit, trying to decide what to do next, "Well it's nice t'meet ya. I don't suppose someone here could tell me how to get back?"
It was an easy mistake to make, though she seemed more like a strawberry than vanilla. Wrex rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. “Well at this point you’re gonna need a ride back. I could have someone who’s headed back into the city drop you off.” He wasn’t just going to make the poor girl walk back. It wasn’t safe!
"I don't want to be any trouble, though! My friend Belle could probably come an'get me... She told me to call 'er if I needed an evac. I just..." Vanille trailed off and darted her eyes to the side, "I don't really want her to know how lost I got."
For some reason that made Wrex break into a genuine smile. “Don’t you worry about it, Kid. It won’t be any trouble at all. Both Shepard and Summers are trustworthy and commute back into town, so it won’t really be that far out of the way.”
"Well, if you're sure!" Vanille replied, bouncing on her heels a bit. Commuting back to town was probably something they did at the end of the work day, she figured, "Is there somethin' I can do around here to help out while I wait for them to be ready to go home, then?"
“You seem like you’d be good with kids,” Wrex decided. “Want to help some of them out with the horses?” He nodded his head towards the stables.
"Oh I'd love to!" Vanille exclaimed, probably a little too excitedly for someone who'd end up shoveling horse poo at some point. She either didn't care, didn't know what helping with the horse entailed, or was generally oblivious about life in general.
"This'll be almost as fun as gettin' to be in a bouncy castle," She decided, while already heading in the direction of the stables. She waved her hand behind her as she walked, "Nice meetin' ya, Wrex! You'll know where to find me!"
“I’ll come get you when it’s time to leave!” Wrex shook his head and added under his breath, “Poor girl doesn’t know what she’s in for with some of these kids. Or with Shepard.”