Who: Vanille Dia and Jessica Drew What: Fresh air Where: Out and around When: This weekend sometime Rating: G Status: Complete
Being cooped up all the time was awful. Not to mention that Jess was generally sick more than she was healthy lately. Still she knew that she had to get outside and get some exercise so that she could get better. She decided to take a walk. Though Carol had wanted to come, she had to work and so Jess was out for a walk by herself.
There was no real path she was on, and no set way she was going. Just walking slowly and taking her time. She was wearing a hat, probably to cover up the fact that she was losing her hair.
It was probably a good day to wear a hat. The sun was nice and warm and it was, all in all, a gorgeous day to take a walk. Vanille had ventured out of her condo to go on an adventure. Maybe to find some more funny talking objects or dancing animals, or a new shop, or a new friend.
She wasn't too picky!
She was meandering down the street when she spotted someone in a fantastic hat. It was a really nice hat! Vanille paused, in fact, so that when the person wearing it walked closer to her she could complement them, "Oh hello! That hat really is gorgeous!"
Glancing up at the sound of someone’s voice, she looked to see who was talking to her. Jess didn’t see a lot of other people with a bunch of hats on. “Oh? Thanks. I really like it myself.” It made her look dashing, as far as she was concerned.
She hm’d a bit, looking over at the girl. “Are you on valarnet?” She seemed familiar to her, and that was probably it. Everyone she seemed to meet was on that thing.
"That internet thingie that everyone posts about their dreams on? Yeah!" Vanille nodded her head. It did make the other woman look quite dashing, Vanille had to agree. She wanted a hat just like it now, though she wasn't even sure if she had the hat kind of face, "I'm Vanille."
The perky redhead held out her hand, "Nice to meet you?"
“That’s the one,” she answered back with a smile. Most people were on the internet, talking about their dreams. She was no exception. Leaning forward, Jess shook her hand. “I’m Jessica. It’s nice to meet you too. I think we’ve talked before.” Meaning that she hadn’t just kind of saw her and knew her face from the internet. That would be weird.
The handshake didn't last very long, more like a quick clasping and a bit of an excited shake, then Vanille brought her hands up to her face while she tried to remember where she'd talked to this particular person before.
"I talk to so many people that I swear I'm gonna have to start keepin' a log... Let's see... Jess. Jess! Ah! Video games and recovering from surgery! Oh, you must be doing better then, you're out and about."
“Right, that’s me. And I think you have a good idea there. Keeping a log of all the people. I certainly can’t keep them straight.” That was for damn sure. “Video games and surgery recovery. Yep, I’m feeling better. At least better enough to take a walk. They said I need to get exercise and stretch my legs. I hate being cooped up. How are you?”
"I'm good! I never did get a chance to go out and look at video games, though." Vanille bounced on her heels a bit. She wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask what Jess was ill with, though she was curious.
"Exercise and leg stretchin' is a good cure for lots of things. Fresh air and sunshine and laughter. My legs were real stiff when I first woke up after the accident years ago, and that's what they told me to do."
“That’s what the doctors tell me anyway. I’m mostly just a lab rat.” As a job and as a well and true lab rat, considering how sick she was. “You were in an accident? I’m sorry. I’ve just got this giant incision..” She figured she should at least explain a little. “Cancer. They cut it all out. This is my third time,” Jess explained.
That seemed really bad. Third time? Vanille blinked a few times, then nodded her head, "I was, years an'years ago. I was in a coma for a long time, but it's nothin' like surviving Cancer three times! You're so brave to have gotten through all of that."
She wrinkled her nose a bit and added, "You must get tired of hearin' that though. I bet I'm not the first one that's said it. I hope this is the last time for you and you can just focus on gettin' better now."
“A coma? Good grief. Well I’m glad you’re better.” That didn’t seem any better than cancer. She hadn’t been in a coma, that was for sure. “I guess I just wonder if it’s not going to go away this time, because it went away the other times.”
Might as well be honest about it. The more times she had it, the less her chance of survival, right? “Thanks. Me too. I just want it to be over and done with.”
Whether it was a good idea or not - Vanille had only just really met this woman after all - the redhead reached out and took Jess's hand in hers, then squeezed it a bit, "You know what's the most important part about getting better? Not lettin' it win. I hope it never comes back, but I think if you're scared about that happening then you're never gonna be able to move past it. You seem like a real nice person, you deserve a life where you're not afraid."
Not a lot of people were that sympathetic. Of course she didn’t really tell people she had cancer anyway. Jess gave her hand a squeeze in return and smiled. “You’re right. I don’t want it to win. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it go away. I’m not really scared anymore. I was scared the first time. This time it’s just annoying.”
"Good!" Vanille declared, with a nod of her head. She gently let Jess's hand go so that it didn't drop like a rock, then clapped her hands together, "It won't win, and that's the end of it. Do you want to go and do something fun? I don't really know this area like I should. Or we could walk a bit and I could buy you a coffee or tea or somethin'... or you know, that might be weird and I can leave you alone."
Something fun? Jess tried not to look to skeptical about things. "Thanks for saying so. You're right. I'll be okay. Fun, sure that sounds okay with me. Ah I think there's some kind of petting zoo if you want to go look. Or a walk would be okay. Coffee is always good. Either is good. Whichever you want." She smiled at her, glad that she'd made a new friend. "It's not weird."
"I prefer coffee, myself," Vanille said, with a nod. She pondered their options and pointed towards a nearby coffee stand, "We'll get me a coffee and you whatever you want, and then we can walk to the petting zoo, if you don't think that's too childish. I like gettin' a chance to be with animals. Have you ever patted a Llama? They're so soft!"
“I usually prefer coffee too, though I’m British, so I enjoy tea.” It was one of those stereotypes that were true at least with her. “Coffee definitely. Let’s go.” Hoisting herself up onto her feet, Jess stretched a bit and then started to walk with her. “I don’t think it’s too childish. Petting animals is fun. I’ve never patted a llama. Don’t they spit or something?”
"Oh it's true, they do spit!" Vanille nodded her head, "But the trick is to just not stand where they're spitting! I can teach you! Or play llama distraction."
How Vanille had become some kind of expert on Llama patting was probably a story for another time. She waited for Jess to get to her feet and then started heading for the nearby coffee stand.
Jess wasn’t sure that she wanted to know that story. It sounded like a very loaded story. She laughed a little and continued walking. “Well of course you shouldn’t stand directly near their mouths. That would be bad.” Hopefully she wouldn’t get spit on.
Getting spit on did kind of ruin the fun. Vanille could speak from experience on that one, too, but she'd learned that some things just weren't supposed to be said allowed.
"You come from England, then? I've always wanted to visit places like that. How long ago did you move here?"
She’d stay somewhere in the middle. Not in the front, and not in the back. Jess didn’t want to get kicked, bitten or spit on. That would put a damper on the petting zoo. “I do. Um about two years ago now. Not that long. I got a visa for work, so here I am.”
"D'you think you'll ever go back one day? I'm wondering about it, myself. Australia was really nice, but everyone I care about's here now, y'know?"
Vanille walked up to the coffee stand and ordered herself something large, iced, and sweet enough to question why she drank coffee to begin with.
“I think so. I mean my parents are there, and maybe eventually my visa will run out.” She laughed a little. “It’s a nice place to visit. I like here better though. Right, yeah. It’s hard when everyone you care about is somewhere else.”
Carol was here, and as much as she loved her parents, Jess wanted to stay. She ordered a medium sized something latte. Iced. Cause it was hot.
"You've got a girlfriend here, too, yeah?" Vanille remembered that. She said it in a sort of teasing tone of voice, and very gently hipchecked Jess as she sipped her coffee, "So you wouldn't want t'leave her behind, I'd think."
Jess nodded with a smile. “Yeah I do. Her name is Carol. She’s.. the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” She laughed and nudged her back a little. “I wouldn’t want to, nope. She’s stuck with me. We’re living together, actually. It’s nice. She worries though.”
"'course she worries. They all do, you know... I mean, I've only just met you and I'd worry a little bit. You're worth bein' concerned about, is all. But I bet it gets a little bit much if she's hoverin' around you."
That's when it was a good time to get out and meet random people on the sidewalk that you ended up going to the petting zoo with. To Vanille, stuff like this was just normal, "I can tell she's a big part of your life, too."
This girl was either the nicest person she’d ever met, or the most gullible. Jess didn’t know which. Not that it was a bad thing of course. “Yeah I know. I mean I can manage I guess, if she worries about me too much. It’s not that bad.” It really wasn’t, it could be way worse.
She nodded a little at Vanille. “She had to go to work, I insisted that she go back. Instead of just sitting around and waiting on me all the time.” Not that Carol waited on her hand and foot, but sometimes it was a little much.
"I think sometimes we just need someone to tell us it's okay, you know? To go back to life as usual. After something happens that throws it all off." Vanille replied, nodding her head. She figured it would have been that way with Fang, too, while she was still recovering. She'd have had to tell the older woman to go live her life every now and then.
Jess could definitely agree with that. “Yeah, it’s hard to do that, I’m sure I’d be the same way if our roles were reversed.” She wouldn’t want to leave Carol alone for a second. She was just glad that she had her. Heading up to the petting zoo, she went inside and looked around. “Smells like a barn. Guess that’s the point.”
"Probably, yeah! We've just gotta watch where we put our feet."
Vanille quickly finished up her coffee and tossed it into a nearby trashcan, mainly so that she'd have two hands available for animal petting. The set of pens closest by had a bunch of goats, which she made a quick beeline for, "Oh you adorable things. Are you going to try and eat my shirt? Don't be naughty!"
Ah good idea. It didn’t take long for Jess to finish her own coffee and toss it away so that she could do some petting as well. She laughed and wandered over to pet them as well. They did try to eat just about anything, didn’t they? One bleated at her, and she shook her head in amusement. “I knew a girl once who was terrified of goats. It was the funniest thing.”
"Awww, how could you be terrified of such an adorable face?" Vanille asked, while still rubbing the ears of the one in front of her. There were a few baby goats lower down that had come over to see what all the fuss was about and she squatted down to give them some attention, too, "Did she have some kinda traumatic goat incident?"
Jess laughed. “I think it had something to do with being stuck in a goat pen while there were dozens of them kind of.. surrounding her. That would probably freak me out too. I think that counts as traumatic goat incident. I however like sheep more than goats. They’re cuter anyway.” She gave the goats some more pettings before moving on to the tiny ponies they had.
"Sheep are nice, too! I don't think I like one more than the other, though sheep are cute and so fluffy..." Vanille pondered sheep and also being surrounded by a bunch of goats in a pen of them, "That does sound pretty traumatic, I think I'd be a little scared. Goats tend to stare at you, you know? Kind of like they're expecting something and you're supposed to know what it is."
Did that even make sense? Vanille shrugged a shoulder at herself went to brush her fingers through a little pony's mane.
“They are pretty cute and fluffy.” They were pretty much the same though, aesthetically anyway. At least in some ways. “Right yeah, they do. They give you like a dirty look.” The tiny ponies were so cute, and they ate apples out of your hand. Jess gave one to the pony and patted it’s nose. “I always wanted to learn how to ride horses.”
"My dad knew how to ride. I wanted to learn, too, but they always thought I was too young."
Vanille grabbed up an apple to feed one of the ponies, too, while pondering, "I wonder if there's a place to learn to ride around here. I know that Ranch that helps the kids out has horses! I got to pat them and help take care of them this one time when I got lost and ended up there. I don't think he gives lessons though, but someone's gotta be teachin' those kids how to ride..."
“Oh well then maybe one of these days, I’ll learn how to ride. Just maybe something a bit bigger than this one.” Jess gave the pony another bemused little pat and then moved onto the next animal. “Maybe once I’m better.” Taking care of animals seemed to be a fun thing to do as well. Just then there was a ring from her phone, and Jess took a look at the messages.
“I’m being beckoned back home. Carol needs me for something. It was really nice meeting you properly. I’m going to get on back home.” She gave Vanille a little wave and headed out.
"Alright! Well... message me on the net thingie if you ever want to hang out! Or get a coffee, or ride horses, or... you know, anything at all!" Vanille waved goodbye to her new friend and watched her go for a bit to make sure she was along on her way safely.
Then she turned to the animal next to her, gave it a pat, and said, "I really did like her hat, didn't you?"