Excuse You I Had Vows to Keep

[hollystrike]

Who: Katie and you!
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: Vanquish / Iskaulit
When: Today!

[Last thing Katie remembers is literally dragging a troll's battleaxe through a town on the verge of rioting, a large collection of stray cats nipping at her heels.  (Look, life is complicated.    Don't ask.) 

Waking up to absolute stillness after that?  Disconcerting, to say the least. 

There's a dreamcatcher above the bed she's lying on, crafted with familiar wool and laced with magic, and it's the familiarity that pulls at her memory before she rolls over to see a collection of woolen dolls.  That she crafted, she remembers suddenly.  She'd forgotten.  When did she--?

Then she's out the door and into the hallway, wide-eyed and disoriented.]  No, no, no--

[It's the Fleet.  Worst possible timing, oh my god.  Or someone's god, anyway.  You can find her in the halls or in the blanket fort, much beloved and missed cat winding around her ankles as she... starts pulling the blankets down and folding them neatly into a pile.  Goddammit.]

-----

[And much later, a video broadcast, cheerful British accent warped slightly by a little American influence--]

Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.  Do we still have a theatre?  A fox park?  If all else fails, I suppose people would consider me old enough to drink for once.  [It's not a familiar face, except for the same bright green eyes.]  I have all the time in the world to waste, and I'm new.  Tell me where I can waste it?

[She'll be on the Iskaulit anyway, trying to match old-new memories with what she finds and feeling more than a little displaced.  Find her pretty much anywhere.  Later, she'll head out to the hotel and the planet, but that's a different post.]

Comments

[goldenglasses]

[Vash shakes his head and laughs. Not even going to bother to act like he wasn't staring.

Even the voice seemed a bit like Katie's might in a few years. Once puberty hits. If this really was a relative then Katie sure was going to be one good looker when she gets older.

This one sure was a cutie!]

Sorry! I didn't mean to stare! My heart was simply held captive in your beauty and my eyes were becoming stuck as well!

[hollystrike]

Oh, is that all? [So, so amused.] You should be careful who you speak to when you talk about beauty and captivity in the same sentence, Vash. I might take you up on it.

1/?

[goldenglasses]

Oh yeah? Well, I think for a breath taking--

[goldenglasses]

[Wait...]

[goldenglasses]

--beauty like you--

[goldenglasses]

[She knows your name already.]

[goldenglasses]

--I think I wouldn't put up--

[goldenglasses]

[So she has either been told or heard about you already. And she looks like Katie.]

[goldenglasses]

--too much of a fight--

[goldenglasses]

[And looks like Katie... What if it's like one of those glitches? Only instead of getting younger...]

[goldenglasses]

--to be caught stuck in your arms--

[goldenglasses]

[ABORT YOU IDIOT! ABORT! SOMETHING IS WEIRD! ABORT!!!!]

Done~

[goldenglasses]

--buuuuuuut, ah-um. You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours. That's not very fair now is it?

[hollystrike]

Oh, is your name actually Vash, then? I was just guessing. You looked like a Vash. [She is so amused. No wonder the nobles can catch idiots with such honey.]

And here you were flirting with such bravery when you had no idea who I was. One would think you'd at least ask for a name before all the staring and so on.

...then again, if you knew I would have missed out, wouldn't I?

[goldenglasses]

You would you have? Is there a reason you think that?

[He flirts with pretty much everyone. Why wouldn't he flirt with her? It-- can it be Katie?! Or maybe she's actually a guy he knows? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!?]

[hollystrike]

No. I never have a reason for anything. I just decided it arbitrarily.

[goldenglasses]

[Vash takes that as a sarcastic response and his heart can't toe it anymore. It shouldn't make sense, but he can't think or anything else so he asks uncertainly.]







....Katie?

[hollystrike]

That depends. If I were Katie, would you still flirt with me?

[Look it's just fun watching you go red.]

[goldenglasses]

The Katie I'm thinking of? No. No I would not. [He doesn't care if Katie is older or not.]

[hollystrike]

Luckily I'm not the Katie you're thinking of, then.

[goldenglasses]

[Vash sighs.] Oh thank goodness. [That would have been awkward!]

Then... how do you know me?

[She can't be from Gunsmoke, right?]

[hollystrike]

[...somehow this man has missed the memo about her lying shtick. But hey. He can't really be blamed when she's also older, and more fun for her.]

I don't. I read your name on the crew lists. You just looked like a Vash, that's all.

[goldenglasses]

[Really it's the difference between speaking to a kid and speaking to an adult. While he knew Katie lied... a lot he never did get that it was all the time.]

I looked like a Vash? I'm not sure I get that very often. Why would you say that? [Has she seen his wanted posters? He's a bit suspicious of that answer. Never mind she's said the same answer twice.]

[hollystrike]

Too hard to explain. I mean, you also look like the kind of person that puts up hammocks for raptors, but that's really stretching it.

[If that doesn't do it...]

1/3

[goldenglasses]

Well, no, actually I put up that hammock for myself not-