She's somewhere else.

Soo... far away.

She sways with a black ocean. Ship lights catch darkness off guard, it glitters in the spotlight. It's a show for a bored girl. The audience watches from the edge of her seat. Eyes reach over boat's ledge. Her arms rest on its cold, metal railing and atop that her head rests, too. Her cheek fattens as she leans on to it, and her eye scrunches, too.

Still, she follows the motion.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

What would happen if she jumped in?

Three, two, one.

"Hi, how do you do?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]of course. where are his manners?

"doing well. yourself?"

despite that, his eyes narrow, gauging. he peers down at the threshold that separates the room from the hallway, and wanting to test his boundaries, he crosses it, stepping in.

"i'm cian."

[attr="class","noodles"]nanette bouvier

It's sheer, everything she has on is sheer. Thin layers layered again. Bows fasten flowing fabric, wrapped at her wrists, waist, and loose at her neck. The rest is white water, rushing down her sloping form and bubbling in brilliant ruffles at her feet.

The same bows that fasten her garment hold back her bangs too. It softens out her face, and more and more she looks like a gift. Wouldn't it be sweet: bows pulled and discarded on the floor, wrapping slipped off her shoulders.

He might not have noticed it before.

She had been turned away from him, watching herself in her full body mirror as she brushed out her hair. Still, now he can see, and it seems she's just realized it too.

"Oh no!" She exclaims, her voice more air than sound. "This is inappropriate of me."

A blush hits her cheeks, but she makes no move to cover herself. She's stopped moving altogether. She's still. A doll with ball joints and no plastic parts.

Then, just like the hallway, her light goes out, too.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]what the fuck?

curious eyes watch her, studying. anyone else would've likely stopped, hesitated, but he continues forward, stopping just shy of her.

"how so?"

she makes to even meet his gaze, so he takes another step forward, standing beside her before he lowers himself to a knee. he keeps his hands to himself for now.

"you okay?"

[attr="class","noodles"]nanette bouvier

"Shuppet, if you could be a doll."

(No pun intended.)

Shuppet eyes are scary up close. In the dark they are bright. Twilight cast at midnight. Lunar yellow, white clouds dimming in a dimming sky. They consume his vision as Shuppet passes through her to reach him. A steady gaze and a mean look.

Light flickers, but its eerie. Spirit fueled, blue-green and green-blue balls cast a dim light.

Then Shuppet is seemlingly gone again.

In the pokemon's place is a robed Nanette. The addition to her ensemble done impossibly quick.

"I'm Nanette. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cian."

She hasn't moved from her spot, but her head tilts. Empty eyes look into full ones.

"Perhaps it would be smartest if you were to stay here for a while."

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"shuppet?"

he blinks, feeling his vision reduced into nothing but shades of yellow and blue and white. his mind tells him to react, to move away, but something else keeps him still, stuck on his knees until eventually, he blinks, returning to the sight of her robed.

"nanette."

her head tilts and he meets her gaze. her eyes unsettle him enough to cast doubt. so he asks:

"would you like me to stay?"

[attr="class","noodles"]nanette bouvier

she smiles, bright and polite. "stay as long as you need. finding your room in the dark won't be an easy feat."

she pauses, and in stillness she really does look like a doll. frills and bows and long, long lashes.

(and then someone pulls her that little string and she's back up again.)

"how do you suppose we pass the time? perhaps a game?"

River Marx

[attr="class","cian"]"you have a point, nanette. not to mention the dangers that lurk in the dark. best i stay here with you, then."

he shifts, sliding off his knee to sit on the floor. he rests his back against the edge of her full body mirror, eyes still fixed on her.

"a game sounds fun. what'd you have in mind?"

[attr="class","noodles"]nanette bouvier

"i only know how to play one game."

she is a dance. fluid in the way she speaks and moves, but this sentence doesn't sound quite right. it's out of tune. has she really never learned another game in her life?

in her grasp is an ouija board, boxed up and obscured by a gorgeous leather. she's sat directly across, feet tucked under her torso, and before him, she unfolds it. setting the board up with great reverence and the softest touch. again, it's much like a dance. she is uncannily balanced and eerily even tempo.

1-and-2-and-3-and-4 so she moves.

"unless you have a preference for something else?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"what game?"

ah.

is it too late to walk out the door?

possibly.

"no, this works."

his hand extends over, ready.

[attr="class","noodles"]nanette bouvier

Perfectly manicured nails join his on the planchette. Rose petal tips as soft as one might assume.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Nanette asks, voice high with excitement.

The planchette moves, and the game begins.

Yes.

"Okay, now think of a number," she's talking to Cian now, "let's see if it guesses right!" She's childish, a little girl playing her favorite game.

CIAN MAHER