unknownrival | [RL - Tea with Vanessa after lunch.]

Issei took a seat, shaking his head ruefully. "Since at that point I hadn't explained the community to my father or anyone, I had to leave and stay in a hotel, since I doubted they'd believe me if I told them who I was. I spent most of the first day wearing a blanket over my clothes that didn't fit at all and trying to ignore that I was a different gender. It didn't work. Thankfully, one of my friends bought me clothes that weren't so... tight." Why did he have to take after his mother in breast size, anyway?

"And then he took me out to dinner, and that was awkward and I'll thank you not to ask about that. Please."

"Well, I would assume if you get breasts your clothes would be tight," she mused aloud, setting the teacup down. She put her hands in her lap in case anything inflammatory came up so she wouldn't go breaking another cup again. "But then again, women tend to have more petite bodies than men, so I would assume your undergarments and pants wouldn't fit so much anymore."

"The pants were fine, but the shirts were definitely too tight to the point of being painful," he grumbled. "And I don't know why Archer felt the need to buy me a dress, I would've preferred to just stay with the shirts and pants..." Probably because that would have been his only chance to force his once-male friend into a dress, and he couldn't resist the temptation. A better question was, why did he agree to wear it in the first place?

"You wore a dress?" she asked, positively befuddled at the very idea of Issei, the short little boy in front of her, with a huge bosom and a dress. It was so ridiculous, but she held back any laughter that should have been coming from such a statement. "Was it...nice? A nice, modest dress at least?"

"Oh, of course it was modest. I would've thrown it in his face and removed him from my room had he told me he wanted to wear something immodest," Issei answered. "Cut-wise and length-wise, it was about the same as my maid dress, only much less embarrassing afterward." Why did he keep bringing up his embarrassing viruses anyway?

"Ah, yes, I remember teasing you about the maid cafe thing," she replied, lips quirking up a little on both sides but not enough to make a smile. She once again hid her little smile by taking a sip of tea. "I would imagine crossdressing to be the last thing a monk would want to do."

"Well, it ranks above thievery," Issei pointed out, sipping his own tea again. "I don't know how I was convinced during the virus that it was a perfectly reasonable part-time job. I suppose it's just a side effect of the community's all-encompassing power."

"Well...I've only been infected by three, as far as I know. The one like you and your boyfriend, Jurassic Park, and the dream virus."

She hummed thoughtfully, not tapping her fingers idly against the table, injured hand waving over to get the steam again. Sweat it out. "So I suppose I should be grateful in that regard."

"I was also affected by the dream virus... let me think for a moment." Issei started counting off on his fingers. "Genderswap virus, musical virus, attack of the killer inanimate objects virus, pranking virus, Valentine's Day virus, inner thoughts virus, Engrish virus, physical contact virus, drunk virus, psychology virus, dream virus, and maid virus. That's twelve so far in the year I've been in this community."

He let out a long sigh. "Sometimes I don't know why I'm still here."

Vanessa pulled the teacup from her lips as he listed twelve viruses that had all happened thanks to this duck place. She could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth. Twelve? Twelve?

"That...seems like overkill to me," she murmured, eyes darting around as she thought about what he'd said. Would she soon have a list as big as his was? Twelve...she couldn't imagine it. She was under enough stress as it was without her thoughts being read or singing at random or having her toaster turn on her. That was a little much to take in, and she grew quiet for several long moments.

"As far as I know, you can't leave unless the community lets you, right?"

Oh, those weren't all the viruses that had happened while he was there, those were just the ones he'd been affected by. ...Which probably was worse, all things considered.

"I'm not sure," he replied, leaning back in his chair a little. "I know when you haven't joined yet, it often won't let you leave until it knows that you're going to stay. But I've rarely seen anyone try to leave after they've been here for a few weeks. With my luck, I'd swear off the community for a month, have no contact with my friends, and still be affected by the next virus."

"This place sure is rather fickle," she remarked, looking around as she took another sip of her tea. Her bladder was starting to fill, so she crossed her legs again until she had the urge to use the restroom. "I didn't know you could stay away for such a long time. It seems like...it would draw you back in no matter what, you know? That after a few days it would demand some attention and have you thrust back into the madness."

Issei nodded. "I'd like to be free of the viruses, but I couldn't just not talk to all of my friends on here. And what if something were to happen to one of them and I didn't know because I hadn't been watching the community? I couldn't let that happen, so I've stayed. And so far, I think staying has been the right decision."

"I know a man who'd be quite glad if I was taken away from the community and he didn't have to deal with me anymore."

She brought the teacup to her lips and finished it off, eyes looking off to the side as she took in the...interesting...flavour of the kelp tea, something she'd never had before. It was an odd sort of aftertaste that it provided, but she was certain she could get used to it after a while.

"Really? Who?" he asked, tilting his head a little to the side. "I mean, aside from the crazy people you're involved with, obviously. And did you enjoy your tea? Well, you must have or you wouldn't have asked for a second cup."

"Albert Wesker, one of those 'crazy people' I'm 'involved with,'" she replied, quirking her mouth up into a lopsided smile to hide the fear she felt these days at just his name. She'd been calling him "Sir" for the most part, but even then...well. It still felt wrong even now to call him by his full name. "And yes, the tea was great, thank you."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure no one here that's sane wants you to leave." Issei smiled a little at the compliment. "You're welcome. Is there anything else you wanted? You mentioned a tour, perhaps...?"

"That would be lovely, yes," she replied a little too cheerfully, standing up and rinsing her teacup out in the sink before wiping it dry with a cloth. "I've never been in a temple before. At least, not on good terms, anyway." She smirked.

"Have you been to one before that time you came to trample on me?" Issei asked, also rising from his seat. "I'd be happy to show you around, as long as it doesn't come to that."

"No, I haven't been," she replied, smoothing out the start of her skirt. She smiled faintly at him, watching how short he was in comparison to her in her heels. "And no, I'm not going to trample you again. I don't have my boots on. You're lucky today, kid." And she winked.

"I'll keep that in mind if you ever show up again in boots," Issei replied, starting to lead her out of the room. "I'm afraid our temple isn't that large, but I hope you'll enjoy seeing it nonetheless."

"Nah, I think I'll just stick with high heels for now," she said, waving a hand dismissively as she followed him out, taking in everything she didn't have the time or want to take in before. She ran her hand along one of the walls, tapping out an old English tune as she did so.

"Over here are the living quarters of the monks, but you probably realized that when you found my room," he explained as they walked through the halls. "And through this window you can see our gardens in the back."

"I remember that much," she said, nodding about the living quarters as her fingers ran over door to door. Stopping at the window, she leaned forward a little, peering out at everything in it, everything that was kept nice and tidy...it sort of reminded her of her day with Blackout where he'd been pulling trees out of the ground and taking out his frustrations on him. "That garden is beautiful," she said absentmindedly.

"Thank you. We all do our part in taking care of it," Issei told her. "Our library is just ahead. Are you interested in taking a look?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject