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Post by Panda on Mar 16, 2023 13:54:14 GMT
[Initiated by Faye.]
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 14:28:22 GMT
In the middle of the first night in the demon realm, there was a racket coming from the kitchen. It being directly under the student dorms, it wouldn't be surprising if the sound carried all the way up there.
From the cafeteria, besides the noise, one could see the glow of a light spell coming from the kitchen. They could also perhaps see a red eyed jackalope silently stalking in between lunch tables, guarding the entrance. Maybe someone should investigate...
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 16:14:45 GMT
If the racket in the kitchen didn't wake anybody in the student dorms up, the scream and following clatter of a chair getting knocked to the floor echoing from the cafeteria probably did.
Following the commotion, a quiet voice whispered to the jackalope, "Oh, it's just you, little fella... what- what're you doing in here all by yourself? Unless..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 16:36:34 GMT
"Jack? Did you kill someone?" out from the kitchen, Faye stepped out with a small ball of light hovering behind her. Unfazed, the jackalope hopped away behind another table, vanishing in the dark. "... Oh. Uh, hi. Yves."
It was hard to tell at first due to the lighting, but Faye appeared to be cradling in her arms an old porcelain doll.
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 16:56:32 GMT
Yves sat in the middle of the cafeteria, apparently having fallen on her ass and yelped when she saw Jack in the dark. She stands up, resting her weight on the fallen chair on the floor next to her, and dusts her skirt and tights off, staring back at Faye through her bangs, eyebrows knotted together with worry.
"H-hello..." She makes a bridge with her fingers, shuffling on her feet and accidentally bumping the toppled chair with her shoe during the awkward silence. "Are you, um, okay? I'm not like, prying or anything, just, there was a lot of- ruckus, coming from the kitchen. Just now. N-not that I'm, uh, complaining about the noise or anything, I was just on my way down here and I noticed, is all..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 17:04:31 GMT
"Oh, I'm fine, pretty much. I just got hungry. I couldn't eat anything in that dinner..." she, perhaps unconsciously, hugged the doll closer to herself. "Sorry about Jack. He just likes watching out for me. Uh, I think. He was patrolling around my room earlier."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 17:13:06 GMT
"No- no, it's fine, sorry for... screaming like that, I just get startled easily...I wasn't expecting to see him so I got a little jumpy and, uh, scream-y. Heh..." Yves adjusts her glasses, staring at the doll for a moment, then being BOLD and actually trying to make eye contact with Faye.
"Were you, um, just not hungry, when we all ate?" She winces at her dumb question, before continuing, "Or were, you...nervous, sitting there with everyone, l-like me? Or I guess it could've just been allergy or diet-related, I probably should've asked that first..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 17:19:48 GMT
Faye, very un-boldly, seemed to panic for a second at the unexpected eye contact before turning her head away completely. "It's, uh, it's a, um..."
She took a deep breath. "I'm not used to eating with so many people. Yeah. But also... Meat makes me sick. I get queasy just from looking at it, and seeing people eat it..."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 17:39:42 GMT
Yves pouts empathetically, brushing some of her hair back only for it to fall back in front of her face immediately afterward. "I can understand that... Um, I'm sorry that there wasn't much you could eat. There. And that you had to be so uncomfortable, around everyone. I know I'm not responsible, or uh, I guess I kind of was, I just wasn't in charge, but... I know how you feel. Or, uh, I relate. I think..."
"That's, um..." One of her bridged fingers points towards the doll Faye is hugging, as she offers a tiny, awkward smile, "That's a nice doll, you've got there. If you're okay with me saying that, I mean, I don't wanna offend you by being, uh, f-forward and saying that or anything."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 17:50:33 GMT
"It's fine, I-" Faye was quickly cut off by Yves pointing out the doll. What little color her face had drained away immediately as she turned around to hide the doll from view.
"W-what doll? I don't know what you're talking about!"
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 17:56:06 GMT
"O-oh geez I'm so sorry so so so sorry...!" Yves immediately goes full panic mode when Faye turns around, "I, um, I just thought that doll was important to you so I thought I'd compliment it, or, uh, something and that would make you happy and maybe distract you from how uncomfortable and sad dinner made you feel but I really blew it this time... oh no..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 18:11:44 GMT
"Wait, uh, you don't have to be sorry! I, uh..."
Realizing the both of them panicking is not an ideal situation, Faye took it upon herself to calm down first with a few deep breaths before turning back around to Yves. Blushing slightly, she presented the doll for her to look at. "Okay. Alright. Yeah. This is Anastasia. She's haunted, allegedly. You can call her Anya."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 18:44:44 GMT
Looking mildly relieved for a second, and almost smiling at the start of Faye's introduction for a doll, Yves's eyes go wide and she immediately looks distressed again as her eyes flit between Faye's face and Anya's.
"Haunted? You mean, like, haunted by a g-g-ghost?" It seems like she's about to go into one of her classic, iconic Yves Clemont ramble sessions, but instead she shuts her eyes for a few seconds, and then mumbles, "I... I guess she's just like everyone else, then."
Her shoulders relax a bit, and though her hands are still shivering-- her entire body's been shaking and jittering since this conversation began, actually-- she has another faint, albeit awkward, smile on her face.
"T-thank you for introducing me to Anya. That was very... brave of you..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 19:16:10 GMT
"Uuugh don't say it like that..." Faye raised the doll and buried her face in its back. "You're making me feel even more childish..."
"... Okay. Give me a minute. Hold her." she immedieately pushed the haunted doll into Yves' hands without waiting for her to respond, then vanished back into the kitchen. The light followed her, naturally, leaving the cafeteria dark yet again.
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 19:20:42 GMT
"O-oh, sorry, I- that's just what Nana would always say to me to make me feel better, I guess I didn- AAaaaah!" Yves's explanation is cut off by her yelping as Anya is thrust into her hands without warning.
"Um, okay. Alright." She mutters to herself, since Faye has already disappeared into the kitchen, as she stands there alone, holding the allegedly haunted doll at arm's length and staring at it nervously.
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 20:28:41 GMT
Anya, for her part, was silent. The entire time. The long, long time...
...
Until finally, Faye returned with a tea tray. "I didn't know what kind you liked, so I just made black tea. Let's sit down."
She set the tray down at a table and already began serving. Four cups in total, with the jackalope having already taken its place at the table at some point while Yves wasn't looking.
"... Do you take yours with sugar? Sorry, I didn't even check if we had any."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 20:38:50 GMT
Yves looks very relieved when Faye finally returns, and her face lights up when she spots the tray of tea in the other girl's hands. Y'know, like :o
She sets Anya down at the empty seat across from Jack the jackalope, and scoots a chair out for herself, but in the way where the legs drag along the floor and it makes far too much noise and it would draw everyone's attention if it weren't just the two of them, a familiar, and a ALLEGEDLY possessed doll.
"How did you know I came down here to get some tea? Er, well," The smile that blossoms on her face withers, her head and shoulders ducking, "I mean, there's no way you did know I came here for tea, I just, I thought it's... funny, I- that I was coming to get some tea and you were making some."
...
"Um, thank you, by the way. I normally have sugar but it's not a big deal. Really."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 20:56:34 GMT
"Sugar makes the tea muddy." Faye said, almost automatically. "... Or so I'm told. I never actually tried it. I used to make it with honey for a friend, but we don't have any here."
She sipped her tea. "Hey. What do you know about haunted dolls?"
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 21:29:48 GMT
"I never thought about it like that..." Yves whispers to herself as she, very slowly, takes a sip of her not-muddy tea. She's trying to be very careful with the cup, the scalding-hot tea threatening to spill over the edges with how much her hands are twitching. "I love a warm cup of tea with honey whenever I'm sick... especially since I'd stay home from school and Nana would make soup for me..."
"I...well," She pauses, taking another tiny sip, and setting her precarious tea cup down, "I don't know, uh, much at all? Aside from the dolls in old horror movies and cartoons, and stuff. Though, um, there are some haunted doll Yu-Gi-Oh! cards but you're definitely not talking about those, I shouldn't've mentioned that..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 23:14:31 GMT
"No no, see, that's exactly what I mean!" Faye said. "Haunted dolls are a sort of archetype. You can almost call them a type of story. Usually they're old and full of malice, made by an obsessive artisan, possessed by a spirit for being similar to a human body... You know, that kind of stuff."
"Though another type of ghost story that characterizes a haunted doll... Is abandonment."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 16, 2023 23:32:57 GMT
"I..." Yves mutters committal little phrases under her breath, to indicate she's following along, but as soon as the word 'abandonment' comes up, her face screws up in melancholy and she looks away from Faye.
Just like- Um, right. Dolls get abandoned and stuff, all the time. Like in attics or garages..."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 16, 2023 23:42:55 GMT
Faye nodded, seemingly oblivious to Yves' reaction. She was in the infodump zone now. "It's a part of broader haunted toy narratives. Things that were made to be played with by children, that eventually just... End up abandoned. Kids lose interest."
"That's... Kind of Anya's story."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 17, 2023 0:00:07 GMT
Yves nods, solemnly, but then offers a sad smile to Faye as she takes another sip of her tea, wrapping her hands around the cup. "That's...what happens to everyone who- I, I mean, everything that gets abandoned, right? But... it's not all bad, because... it looks like you've given Anya a new home, right? Unless I'm, um, wrong about... that."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 17, 2023 1:49:08 GMT
"I guess. She used to live in a display case before I bought her." Faye sipped more of her tea. "You know, after Annabelle, it's kind of like a collector's thing. Find a doll with some nasty stories and put her on display. Well, 'haunted'. I sleep with Anya every night and she's never done anything."
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 17, 2023 2:02:37 GMT
Yves is quiet for a moment, holding her teacup near her mouth, and offers a small, tired smile to Faye. "That's... nice. And I'm glad that Anya hasn't attacked you, or anything. Y'know, that'd be bad, no one should have to go through that..."
She swirls her cup taking another sip. "I have a doll that I sleep with, too. Or well, he's a stuffed animal, but, um... that's close enough right...?"
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 17, 2023 2:17:54 GMT
"Pretty open and shut case. She just wasn't haunted. Well, I guess..." she sighed. "Sometimes I just... Wonder if she really was haunted. But since I'm taking good care of her, she can just be a normal doll. Maybe she's happy... Ugh, forget it. It's childish."
Faye looked at the doll wistfully. Anya, for her part, hadn't had any tea yet.
"... Wait." she set her cup down and perked up. "You have a stuffi- a stuffed animal?"
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 17, 2023 2:39:43 GMT
Yves giggles, softly, and smiles !!!! for real! behind the rim of her cup. "I'm sure she's very happy... Faye."
After avoiding eye contact for a second, Yves nods gently, "I sleep with my stuffed friend every night, and I have since I was little. Her name is Barnie Bear, I knitted her myself, it's um... she's how my Nana taught me how to, by making her. So whenever I felt sad, lonely, anxious, and like I needed a friend, I'd always have one that I made all by myself there to make me feel safe..." Her smile, the dusting of pink across her cheeks, and the tears at the corners of her eyes grow as she continues, "She got damaged, when the school got trans- teleported, um, earlier, some stuff fell on her and ripped her up when it jostled around, I think..."
The growing warmth starts to die out and fade, as she places her cup down, "But it's- it's fine. I fixed her up earlier. Sewed her back up again, in the art room."
"And my... familiar, the one that I summoned earlier, looks exactly like Barnie." She wrings her hands together and shoots Faye a nervous glance. "N-not the sharp edges and scissor blades and stuff! The, uh, rest of her, looks just like Barnie, I mean."
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 17, 2023 18:32:59 GMT
"Barnie bear..." Faye repeated the name, smiling. "That's adorable."
"Can I meet her?"
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Post by Akkordian on Mar 17, 2023 18:55:14 GMT
Yves simpers and bashfully stares down at her hands. "Thank you..."
"O-oh, um, yes! I mean, yeah." She hurriedly stands up, pushing her chair in, and glances back at Faye, gently squeezing the back of the chair. "Do you want to, um- or-"
She takes a step back, bringing her hands up to her chest and wringing them together, muttering out a "I'll, uh, be right back." before scurrying out the cafeteria and upstairs.
In less than five minutes, Yves returns to their little tea party, out of breath and with her hands held behind her back. She smiles nervously as she sits back down at the table.
"Here... here she is."
Her gaze retreats to the floor as she holds her Barnie Bear over the table. Barnie's a small teddy bear made entirely of yarn, her torso fitting almost entirely in Yves's cupped hands, the majority of her body a faded pink, her muzzle, belly, and ends of her limbs being beige, with two large red buttons for eyes, a black button for a nose, and a tiny mouth made of black yarn. There are patches of fresher yarn and stitches all over the toy, where she's obviously been mended and re-sewn over the years.
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Post by dootdoot on Mar 17, 2023 20:36:47 GMT
"She's so soft..." Faye reached over to touch the bear herself. By this point, she was practically beaming. "And you made her? This is really good!"
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