vertrauen | ic mailbox / messages

From:

[ Kaede realizes the morning after Kotetsu had left that she is still in her house.

Her house, not theirs.

It certainly didn't feel like a home anymore, that is for sure.

But, the fact remains that she is still in 1475, meaning she had a new "mom" or "dad." It is just a matter of who the mystery parental figure is.

She had escaped the house early in the morning after John had his morning walk (and lots of pleading to not attack the new parental figure) for school, not yet ready to meet the person, but school is done for the day and dinner has to be planned. So, with anxiety making her stomach twist into knots — she thinks to herself that she should not be this nervous, what the heck — she puts her backpack and jacket down as she calls into the house. ]

Hello...?

From:

vertrauen

[Having returned from meeting with Levi, Petra was worn down. The last 24 hours had been much too much, and she had no idea how to start sorting out her new life. So instead of trying to decide what to do with her second chance, Petra has taken to reading whatever she can get her hands on. She's mostly focused on any instruction manual she can find--for the phone, the fridge, the stove. Most of it she still doesn't quite understand, but it's better than thinking about her current problems.

She had gotten a glimpse of the girl who lived in the house earlier, but hadn't intended on speaking to her until she knew what was going on. She wasn't surprised to come home to an empty house after meeting with Levi, but she had no idea what to expect when meeting the girl, and it made her anxious.

She doesn't feel any relief when she eventually hears a voice down the hall, but at least the wait is over. Quickly, Petra sets the oven's instruction manual down and rises to go find whoever owns that voice.]

Good afternoon?

From:

copia

[ Wow, this woman looked young — a bit younger than Mitsuba. At least three years younger to Kaede. But she seems like she may be nice...?

She sees Petra as she moves closer to the kitchen — it is routine to raid the kitchen for a snack before she got down to the business that is homework. John, having heard her voice, pads over to her, and she scratches him behind the ears as she stops a few feet from Petra. ]

Ah, good afternoon. Hi.

[ Real slick and warm, Kaburagi... ]

From:

vertrauen

[Petra had mostly ignored the dog--it wasn't bothering her, and she wasn't going to bother it. It was good to see that he recognized the girl, though, helping confirm that the girl really did belong here.

At the very least, it seems that Petra wasn't alone in feeling awkward.]

Hello. I guess we're supposed to live together from here on--my name is Petra Ral.

[Normally, she'd salute and name her unit, but she has the feeling this isn't the time for that.]

From:

copia

[ John the Golden Retriever will warm up to you soon enough, Petra. Then you can bother him all you want~ ]

Yep. I'm Kaede Kaburagi, it's nice to meet you, Ms. Petra!

[ And to keep breaking the ice: ] Did you find everything in the kitchen?

From:

vertrauen

It's good to meet you as well, Kaede. Please, if we're going to be living together, you don't need to be so formal with me.

[The kitchen is a strange and bizarre place to Petra.]

I.. I think I did. I haven't seen many of the things in there before, but I can adjust.

From:

copia

Oh, I did not want to be rude. If just "Petra," is okay with you, then I'll refer to you as that!

[ She smiles and throws a glance at the kitchen before her eyes widen a bit. ] Well, we should definitely plan what to have for dinner! The appliances are easy to use, I promise.

From:

vertrauen

I guess I'm not the only one who's come from a different place.

[But there's something that's starting to concern Petra. Surely, this place wouldn't leave such a young girl on her own...]

Have you had to prepare you meals on your own for long?

From:

copia

Nope! A good chunk of us are not from here. [ Kaede moves to grab a cookbook from the coffee table and come back with it. She shakes her head at the question, moving her hair from her eyes when the ends land on her eyelashes. ]

No. I mean, I normally do my own lunches, and sometimes for my dad, but we did prepare dinner together. You appeared the same day he left.

From:

vertrauen

With your father--[Petra frowns. He left, and she appeared? She has no idea if or how that may be connected, but she can only imagine how it'd feel to have her father disappear suddenly, even if it only meant that he was returning to his proper home.]

I'm sorry.

From:

copia

Mm, yeah. [ She shrugs lightly, flipping through the cookbook as she moves past Petra to go to the fridge. Her ultimate motive is to hide her face, to keep the tears of her dad leaving and her still being here at bay. A minute passes before she opens her mouth. ]

It's— it's not okay, but there isn't much I can do about it. He'll be okay back home, though.

From:

vertrauen

I see.

[Petra doesn't honestly know how to comfort the girl, but is somewhat relieved that she'd not pretending to be feeling okay after losing her father, even if he's just going back to their home world.]

If you just tell me what to do, then I can take over cooking.

[Petra moves to fiddle through the drawers, reexamining their contents before remembering the small knife she had stolen earlier, still tucked in her boot.] If you'll excuse me for a moment.

[It'd be good to give the girl a moment to herself to collect herself, Petra figures as she ducks out of the kitchen. That, and she didn't know how Kaede would react to her pulling a knife out of her boot right in the middle of the kitchen...

From:

copia

[ Kaede nods, not opening the fridge to turn and place the cookbook on the counter. ]

Well, I don't mind helping with the cooking. It is a nice distraction, too. And sure.

[ Her face is in the cookbook as Petra ducks out to take out the knife. The preteen certainly would not react favorably to such a move, and it would make her feel like Petra has some sort of hidden motive for Kaede.

She raises her voice a bit as she stops on one recipe. ]

What do you like to eat, Petra?

From:

vertrauen

I'd eat anything at this point. [Petra calls back, slipping the knife behind the bookcase. She'll come back for it later to clean it and place it back with the rest of the cutlery.]

Something simple will be good. [Petra will return to the kitchen after a few minutes, jacket off and her sleeves rolled up past her elbows.] Honestly, I'm sure anything you'd make would be better than the rations we had packed.

From:

copia

Rations? [ She lifts her head as she closes the cookbook, pulling out and starting up the simmering metal pot for hot pot. She keeps speaking as she pulls out a variety of vegetables and several packages of meat. ]

So you are a part of the military? Also, steak, pork, or seafood?

From:

vertrauen

Pork? [Just staring at all the meat Kaede's pulling out. A world of prosperity, indeed.

Yes. I wasn't much older than you when I enlisted, actually.

From:

copia

Pig! Hm, maybe we'll just stick with the steak and seafood for now... [ So she's putting the pork back in the fridge. ] Shall we cut up the vegetables together?

And wow, really? [ It's hard to imagine herself in the military, let alone kids her age enlisting so young... ] Was it mandatory, or you chose to do so? If you don't mind my asking...

From:

vertrauen

Yes, just let me know how much and how big. [If nothing else, Petra does know how to use a knife]

It wasn't mandatory, but many do. If you don't enlist, you start learning some kind of trade. My father's shop wasn't doing well at the time, anyway, so I decided to enlist.

From:

copia

Medium-sized is good! And for how much, well, I guess it depends on how much you would like to eat! [ Kaede has a smaller but still effective knife in her hand, cutting the tofu into chunks. ]

I'm sure he was worried about you doing that... [ She looks up at Petra as she takes a vegetable to chop. ]

From:

vertrauen

[Petra says nothing for a moment, focusing instead on cutting a carrot]

He did worry, yes. Less so now than he used to, but yes.

[She didn't want to imagine her father's reaction to the news of her death.]

Are you super hungry? I haven't eaten much today, so I'm afraid I'm going to look like a pig.

From:

copia

[ Oh, if Kaede only knew that her new "mom" is also dead in her home world. What is with her luck and dead maternal figures... ]

I'm sure he's proud of you! [ A smile forms on her face before her attention is back on the cabbage, cutting it into hearty chunks. She giggles a bit at that, shaking her head. ]

I am hungry, yes! You won't "look like a pig," I just hope you like what I chose to have us make for dinner.

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