Apocalypse Mom Rides Again ((for ancienttouched))

[eumenis]

Except when crises loom, 99% of Furiosa's activity in the Nexus is related to trade. She's always interested in plants, medical advances, and technology that can be integrated with what they have back home. Of late, she's been looking for a way to reduce their reliance on guzzolene. Because sooner or later, Gastown will run dry (or maybe burn down if there are such things as vengeful gods), and they'll have to get by somehow.

Even this vital quest can't take up all her time, though, and after a particularly lucrative exchange one day, she finds herself wandering through the shopping district, peering at a consignment store window featuring toys and children's clothing from worlds across the multiverse.

The little ballet slippers designed for tentacles are strangely both cute and hilarious, and she lingers for longer than she normally would, speculating on the infant that might need such things.

Comments

[ancienttouched]

"Arcanics don't usually do really... good in crowds of humans." Understatement of the century, and from the tentative way Kippa says the words, she's well aware of that. The blanket however gets a nod, but that's no surprise. In her mind you can never have enough soft blankets, especially for babies like these blankets are meant for.

"Arcanics are... what happened when Humans and Ancients made babies. A real long time ago, and Arcanics can have babies all on their own too so there's lots of us now. But the Humans back home don't really like us." A soft huff as she studies a display of soft toys, brows drawing. "They say we're just animals. Bad or rabid. They have a big church full of scary ladies that experiment on us... they cut us up to use parts to make potions."

"Back home is... not very nice. I dunno why."

[eumenis]

"All we have is humans, where I come from," Furiosa says thoughtfully. "And they can be very cruel to one another, too. But not everyone is like that."

Obligingly, she steers closer to the shelves of toys, probably searching for a camel. There's a llama. That's not quite the same thing, but it's close enough to buy for the price on the tag.

"You seem like any child I've ever known," she says. "Smarter and braver than some, maybe."

She 'walks' the llama across the bar of the cart and has it bump its nose against Kippa's arm. "If anyone here were cutting up any person for experiments, a lot of people would try to stop them." A lot of angry people, she suspects. "You should never leave the Nexus with anyone you don't trust, but no one can hurt you while you're here."

[ancienttouched]

"Some of the humans are nice. The Edenites want everyone to live together, peacefully... but there's not a lot of them anymore."

"I don't know... I don't feel very smart or brave." Kippa watched the path of the llama plush, pretending to hide behind her tail again with a soft little laugh when it bumped against her, before her attention was drawn by what Furiosa was saying.

"...This place is safe then? I mean... how do they keep people from hurting each other?" She wanted it to be true, but then, it seemed rather impossible in some ways.

[eumenis]

"Well...usually." Furiosa can't lie to a child. "Normally there's a kind of magic that makes it so people can't hurt one another. Sometimes it fails. And you can already tell, it can get cold here, so it's not as though nothing bad can happen. But there's very little fighting."

She tips the llama into the basket and picks up an elephant and an extremely fuzzy black cat. If there are no other foxes on these shelves they can get the one in the front window. All of these toys are pretty cute, though. They just might not hold up as well in the Citadel as they would in a gentler climate.

"This one's good fabric," she says of the elephant. It's corduroy, it should be fine for the older, rougher children.

"I come here to trade and buy things to take home. The world I come from is a desert, and it can be very harsh. I do my best to keep the people in my city safe and supply their needs...it'd be hard without this place to come to, though. We've gotten a lot of our plants from here."

[ancienttouched]

"That... makes sense. Magic can be picky like that." It was still reassuring that there was some protection. It was better than nothing, as far as Kippa was concerned.

"It looks tough, just like a real elephant is. I've seen pictures of them and they're huge!" For emphasis, she was flinging her arms out wide, even if there was no way she could properly demonstrate the actual size of them. She'd sure try though!

"I think some Fox-kin come from the desert! The Thornyblossoms... they have bigger ears than I do, and their fur and tails are all tan and sandy-colored."

[eumenis]

Furiosa breaks into another charmed grin and plunks the elephant into Kippa's lap gently. "Well you hold onto this one until we find you a nice toy fox. I've seen them in picture-books, too, but never a real one. They may not exist in my world any longer."

"There used to be foxes in the Green Place. Not like you, I mean, not...Arcanics, just little foxes. But they had the same red color, and black tipped ears." She considers a moment. "They must have been there for the mice and rabbits."

"My clan sisters used to tease me saying the way I laughed sounded like them barking in the night."

[ancienttouched]

"Okay, Miss Furi!" Kippa was more than willing to accept the elephant, arms going around it snugly, letting her tail loose for the moment to flick at her side.

"There's lots of animal-foxes back home too. They're fun to watch run but they can be real loud sometimes too." The Arcanic girl propped her chin against the elephant's head, ears flicking. "If they get going sometimes it sounds like people screaming even." She shivered lightly, tightening her grasp on the plush.

"Kinda spooky."

[eumenis]

"The climate is very harsh in my world. We don't have as many animals left in the world as there should be. But we raise camels for milk, and we have cats to protect our food stores, some guinea fowl for eggs, and a couple dogs. And there are lizards and snakes and bugs around. We eat them, too."

"And crows. Always lots of crows."

They've hit a part of the aisle where there are some dresses hanging, and Furiosa pauses, her eye caught by one. She shouldn't. It might be too much, and she still wants to get the little girl a coat, but...

It's sky blue, with a cloud pattern, and rainbow borders on the cuffs and collar, and when she touches the material, it feels pretty thick and soft. Sturdy enough for a child to play in. She plucks it off the rack and holds it up to Kippa, trying to decide if it would fit.

"...I think you'd grow into it," she says slowly.