feonixe | CMO 2018 EDITION

CMO 2018 EDITION

I am, once again, in hell.

the rest of the gang is here

» Feel free to request OCs, I'd be glad to provide writeups about them if needed.

» I am generally a slow tagger due to RL/workbut I'll get one out every 2-3 days at the latest.

» Pick a prompt and get the ball rolling! Or post a comment and I'll brain something.

» Long PSLs are my jam, hit me up on plurk or discord if you'd like to do anything similar ;)

» This CMO is sfw but if you want to write nsfw stuff that's also on the table.......

WISHLIST

☐ >>>> FATE/ AU <<<<
☐ hair brushing
☐ reincarnation au
☐ mercy killing
☐ royalty au
☐ masquerade party
☐ mermaid au
☐ 'city in the sky' au
☐ long airship journeys
☐ space jockeys

layout by photosynthesis

prompts if you need 'em

» Random Scenario Meme	More Random Scenarios «
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» Rain Meme	Snow Meme «
» Seasons Meme	Coffee Shop Meme «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's..... a sound. Definitely a sound.

Crim had been in the annex drafting some reports. It was mundane paperwork to keep herself in the legal alchemist's organnization - perhaps a misnomer, for they did not experiment wildly like the alchemists of old; instead pursued active production for inventions and other principles. Alchemists, but regulated - and regulations often meant paperwork much like taxes.

(She hates taxes.)

No one should be in her estate except for her and her assistant, so the sound of someone falling into the tree is very much a sign of intruder alarm. Nevermind touching any security feed screens while she's working - she bids Eve to turn off the instruments before hurrying through the house, pushing open the door to the garden —

— there's a kid there. Definitely not a human kid, she concludes, as her eyes fall onto their hands and limbs. But a kid nevertheless, one who might be trying parkour on an alchemist's roof.

Not a good idea.

"Hey... you okay?"

She takes a few steps closer, a woman in her late twenties wrapped in a red cloak, extending a hand out. She can't be rude to children.

Edited 2018-05-02 07:38 (UTC)

Doll froze and scrambled to push themselves back up more quickly at hearing someone else there. They dragged the jacket off of their head and it took their hair with it, revealing it to be a wig, and in their move to get up faster, ended up tripping on their own feet and landing on their butt not far from where they'd started, eyes wide as they looked up at her.

The kid was definitely alarmed at having been caught. They didn't seem to be notably hurt, for all that they'd crashed down from above. And they were definitely, positively not human, a fact made far more obvious now that they were facing her. They had no mouth, only a subtle curve to suggest lips that lacked a way to part them. Their bald head was mostly smooth, but for an indented little ring around it. Between that and a few tiny little bumps, it was clear enough that it was the way the figure anchored its wig, a place where it could grab onto the head when it wasn't half inside the jacket they were clutching to them.

Most tellingly, the childlike face was lacking eyes in the traditional sense. The orbits were exaggerated, moreso now to suggest an expression of alarm and surprise, and let her look in on a dark, hollow interior. Two yellow irises floated within, and presumably gave a bit of their own light, to have been seen in such an oddly dark little space.

The doll-child blinked at her, owlish, more alarmed that anyone was there, than at her in particular. The yellow eyes disappeared when they did; there were no eyelids, simply the sudden lack of the irises and their reappearance, but the overall result was effective enough at conveying the blinking.

And then they looked up over her shoulder at a small sound, and their eyes widened a little further. They raised a hand quickly, pointing up at the roof, where the thick paperback translation dictionary was finally making its way down. At worst, she might want to side-step that so it didn't hit her.

If Crim turned to see what had caught the plastic child's attention, they'd be gone when she looked back. A few feet away, under the tree, would be a probably much more mundane sight: a plastic baby doll. Old and well-loved to the point of being sun-bleached unnaturally pale, paint gone and eyes long missing, hair and nails marked up with the faded remains of what might've once been black pen ink, and dressed in a child's attempts to hand-sew doll clothes: black pants, gray-purple shirt, and black jacket. It was the sort of toy that most parents would've wanted to throw away years prior; that a child had had it long enough to be capable of trying to make clothing for it said that they hadn't, and that, ratty as it was, it was surely a young someone's prized possession.

Which probably only raised more questions....

The kid...

... the kid kind of looks like Eve. Well, in the same sense that they are both inhuman, with odd eyes - a doll of a different make. Which is quite odd, as dolls like Eve are not licensed in the slightest; she had only obtained a license to keep it because of her work. Did someone also perfect the protocol for making new life? Most curious...

Her immediate thoughts are to identify this child and return it to its maker, but - the child points, and she turns. She catches the book with practiced ease from years and years of working in a lab with moving parts, making a mental note to gather up the child's belongings to return them later -

— it's gone. The child is gone, by the time she turns back. In its place... a proper doll.

Crim walks closer, crouching down at a safe distance to inspect the doll. A glimmer of understanding touches her eyes - perhaps, a catalyst of some sort? She should take good care of it, just in case. Dolls like those need to be handled properly.

She picks up Doll's doll form with gentle care, bringing it indoors and into the annex. The annex served as her laboratory, half the space taken up by equipment while the other housed two tables and her books. Eve is there, a homunculus with slim limbs and delicate features - more of a spirit than an actual human. It had flowing silver hair tied up in a low ponytail, but what is most apparent about Eve's appearance is its eyes - reflective, like mirrors.

Eve tilts its head, questioning.

"I found this outside. Can you put this on the measuring table? A lot of other stuff fell as well, I need to gather them up."

And so she will, taking a bag from the stack of containment sacks folded by one side. This would leave Doll alone with Eve, who only looks at its doll form in curiosity.

The little plastic doll seemed to be only that. An old thing, loved into a rather shabby condition, once a soft plastic that had been molded in some mass-produced way, now faded and somewhat hardened, with an obvious history to it. Surely no one would be content to buy it at a store in its present shape, but it was that present shape that surely dictated the terms of its appearance, as Crim saw earlier.

Or would, if it were larger. It sat there on the table, motionless, silent, utterly boring. Just a child's old, ratty toy.

....Which, of course, disappeared from the table once Eve looked elsewhere for a moment. There one minute, gone the next. The soft little sound of very light, careful shoesteps on the floor and the whisper of thin jeans fabric were really the only thing that betrayed the odd doll's new location. Having returned to its bigger, more aged, and certainly more mechanically detailed form, the one Crim had encountered first, while no one was watching, the doll child crouched down on the other side of the table, looking for a hiding spot. A little corner behind a bookshelf, perhaps? An angle by which to keep the furniture between them and the two strangers? Doll had yet to get a good look at Eve, but they weren't so curious as to risk revealing themselves just yet.

Well, not really. Maybe a little peek around a corner, before hiding again, but if Eve started to turn around, they'd duck. Doll got at least a good enough peek to know that the other was adult height, and that was enough to keep them hiding for the moment.

Outside, the items were easy enough to gather. The two books, the three-ring binder with the lined paper, and the pencil... all of it looked to be related to a translation project. If Crim wanted to glance over the materials, they were easily enough understood -- someone, possibly even the doll-child, had been working to translate the graphic novel from one language into another, Japanese to English, and was doing it by writing the original line and its counterpart into the notebook. The original book would remain un-marked, but one had merely to find the corresponding pages' writing among the lined papers to read it in English, complete with notes here and there on sound effects and who was saying what, script-like.

Presuming it was indeed the doll's own doing, it was... rather remarkably tidy, for a child's handwriting. Small, studious, careful, but the angles suggested it had been done with some decent speed despite that. It was the more complicated little characters that more time and care for precision had been spent on; the simpler symbols were probably better known to the translator, who already had a good grasp of English, to judge by their spelling and vocabulary, and ability to punctuate.

Eve notices Doll peeking around. It turns around once or twice, looking at the desk behind which Doll had taken refuge - and the fact that the doll had disappeared. Eve must search for the doll, looking at tables and drawers, but it wanders away from Doll's hiding place for now.

Crim comes back a short while after, with Doll's belongings in hand. Eve goes up to her immediately, touches her face with delicate fingers - it says nothing, but its mirrored eyes are drawn in a frown, and she understands.

Both of them go over to the table. Eve motions to it, the obvious space where the doll used to be.

"I think it might be some sort of projection instrument. There was someone there and turned into it."

Eve nods. So obviously they'll have to find that person. Time to look around again, and Doll might not be able to escape this time....

They were certainly trying. Peeking out so carefully from around the table, to see where Eve was while the other looked around, only to duck back when they began to turn in a direction to see Doll, and generally trying to figure out either where to hide, or waiting for a chance to slip out the door unnoticed.

And then the human lady showed up, and threw another wrench into Doll's escape plans. Doll listened to what she had to say, but while the kid wasn't exactly the most technically inclined, they at least got the general idea -- she'd figured out that their smaller, more ordinary toy form was important somehow, that Doll and it were pretty much one and the same.

But it was how she'd said it that really gave the plastic child pause. She was an adult, yes, but... she wasn't being dismissive, or brushing off Doll's existence as a kid's game or tall tale. She'd seen them earlier... and she wasn't dismissing them. She wasn't rationalizing away what she'd seen as her imagination, she didn't seem upset somehow....

This was new.

It was new in a way that made Doll feel a little funny, a kind of guarded hope that they weren't used to having, when it came to adults.

Carefully, the big toy got up from behind the table. Slowly, quietly, cautiously slid pale, jointed fingers tipped with nail polish in the same dusty purple color as their hair up onto the edge and peeked over it, enough to see them with their two dark holes for eyes, mask-like over those odd, somewhat warm yellow irises that flicked between the two bigger figures. The kid's expression was clear enough even half-hidden. They were wary. Guarded, hesitant. But after a very long second of contemplation, they stood up to face them better.

Their body language made their discomfort obvious; though Doll was clearly enough deciding to be brave here, it didn't mean they were at ease.

An awkward little second's pause, Doll still looking between the two adults... and then they brought one hand up to give them a small wave hello before hugging themselves, not quite crossing their arms. It wasn't shyness so much as uncertainty.

Maybe they weren't used to pleasant encounters, as defensive as they seemed to be?

Much of that goes over Crim's head. She's merely describing a phenomenon that she witnessed, nothing much else - something academic, to be studied. Except it's not that simple. She knows it isn't, because she's made a doll too.

Eve sees Doll first, and its reaction is to slip closer to Crim's side, slips a hand around her wrist, as a child would their mother - or perhaps, something more. The lady turns as well, her expression thoughtful, though she does not move.

Interesting... well, as long as they can get along, then they'll have better odds at solving this mystery.

"Hello."

She returns the wave, wearing a calm smile, as she would with children.

"What's your name?"

Doll hesitates, seemingly taking a slow, deliberately deep breath in, to not quite sigh. There's no sound from them doing so, and no indication of where the air might be coming and going from, though one could probably safely assume the eye-holes are used, thanks to a lack of nostrils. It's a very human sort of thing to do, at any rate, the kid looking between Crim and Eve, clearly weighing their answer before giving one.

But they do give one. After the brief pause, they bring a hand back down to pull something out of their pocket, about the size of a tarot card, but thicker -- a smartphone, it looks like. They press something to wake it up and unlock it, and then hold it between both hands to type with their thumbs.

They're quick about it, too. A few seconds at best of rapid, soft tapping sounds, and then they turn the screen around to show them, holding it out for easier viewing:

atm, Jess or Zia, iirc. You?

Crim watches with idle interest, wondering how Doll kept that writing device in its full form if it didn't appear on the catalyst. But really, all these questions are for later. Good thing Doll can communicate - she understands Eve mostly by virtue of being its maker, so she doesn't have as much eloquence with other dolls.

"I'm Crim, and this is Eve. We live here."

She's careful to keep her tone light, a casual conversation.

"Do you need to go somewhere? We can help get you there."

Doll gave them a little nod at the introductions, then frowned as they turned the little device back to write again.

I WAS in the back yard to write bc Tanya's at school, but then when I came in, I tripped and fell, and idek how I got here. sorry if I messed up the tree. it was an accident. where is this?

Doll's wariness had seemed to deflate a fair bit during the little exchange, down to an uncomfortable worry rather than blatant distrust. Crim was... remarkably nice, in light of what little they knew of adults, and that was doing a fair bit to put the kid at ease already.

Edited 2018-05-06 12:59 (UTC)

The woman taps a hand to her chin in thought. "It sounds like there was some sort of spatial anomaly. That's... very rare, though." Technically impossible. Maybe, it was the influence of the foundry in the city? She can't rule that out just yet.

"You're in -" (insert city's name here) "- or specifically, the west side of it. I do some research at home. I don't have an answer to why you're here yet, but - I've got your stuff, and I'll check out the tree if it has any clues."

She's a little worried, but it's not like the world is ending now.

"You can stay here for the time being, if you'd like."

Spatial anomaly? Doll's consumed enough science fiction to assume that it sounds about right. Spatial anomaly, dimensional anom--

Wait, if this was another dimension, maybe it's one in which there were giant mecha suits? Because that would be awesome. Doll made a mental note to check on that later, maybe. Much lower priority than getting reunited with Tanya, but if it were possible to bring Tanya here, so they wouldn't have to deal with her parents any more, then that would be fantastic. Especially if "here" had mecha suits.

If not, it was at least a pleasant fantasy.

But first things first, maybe it was simpler than that. If it was merely a matter of Doll getting randomly sent elsewhere in the world....

how would I get back to New Portland from here? Tanya's going to worry. maybe mail me back? i know our address

The kid held their device over again to show them the message. Sometimes the easiest solutions would work the best, right?

The only question was, where in the world was New Portland?

She glances at the device, frowning a little. This confirms her theory, at least in part.

"I don't know where that is off the top of my head. I'll go search it up just in case."

But if it really was a dimensional anomaly, then she might have to involve other people in the search. What a chore. Crim sighs, running one hand through her hair.

"I'm going to the study. You wanna come?"

That's where her desktop was. She turns to leave, and Eve swiftly follows, always keeping close to her side.

Oregon

Doll wasn't sure if she saw it as they held it up; it was almost an after thought as they nodded to the question of whether they'd accompany her. They stepped out from behind the table, a good deal more relaxed than when they'd first looked up at her, under the tree. Still confused, still more than slightly baffled that this adult wasn't reacting like the others did--

Noses wrinkled in disgust, sounds of disapproval. Frowns, eye-rolls, that disdainful grip that was either a matter of not wanting to touch them more than they had to, or with a tightness born of barely concealed upset, on the way to the trash can or dumpster. Rarely, the best, a mere cautious uncertainty as they returned them to Tanya, never once acknowledging Doll, but speaking to the human about leaving her "things" around

...Really, it wasn't a small part of Doll that still expected this to go badly somehow. But the hope was growing that it wouldn't, that Crim wasn't going to suddenly abandon this civility. That she wouldn't turn out to be like the others.

That maybe she didn't dislike Doll for what they were.

Doll stole another glance to Eve again as they followed, getting curious. Eve didn't seem like a normal human. More like... oh, what was it that was coming to mind? ...Was Eve an android of some kind?

The plastic child narrowed their eyes at Eve a little, thinking, a hand going absently up to their chin to hold it, the other under their elbow. Listening, as though any sounds of theoretical hydraulics and gears and whatnot might be heard over the sounds of the trio's own footsteps and the swish of their clothing as they walked.

Truly, this was something that warranted further investigation. Right?

There's none of that in Crim's manner. To her, Doll is still some sort of anomaly, but there's nothing inherently wrong about them. The plus was that they were able to communicate and willing to do so - definitely good, seeing that a lack of communication tends to foster enmity and conflict. As long as they can talk it out, then there's a greater chance that this mystery can be solved.

Eve trails behind her like a shadow, or perhaps a puppy. Its hair trails out behind it in waves of silver - it looks organic, devoid of the hydraulics that Doll might expect. Yet its features and the proportion of its body gives only the impression of being... rather doll-like, too. Occasionally it casts Doll a glance, but for the most part its attention is fixed upon its master.

Crim pushes open the study door and moves to turn on the computer. It's an aged model, but still with a large enough monitor for multiple people to see from. The background is one of a forest waterfall, devoid of people.

"Let's see..."

Time to bring up the search engine. She types in Oregon first, it turns out some people's names.

Hmm.

Next, she tries the other name. Still nothing.

"... did I type that correctly?"

Doll was thinking of hydraulics as in robot muscles, and who knew what was hiding alongside whatever support structures passed for bones, in an android? Maybe it was something like out of Star Trek. Or Battlestar Gal- wait, no, not that one. Maybe Chobits? This theory train was going to keep on chugging until there was something to contradict it. A lack of outwardly rigid structure like Doll's didn't necessarily mean that they weren't a robot of some kind, after all!

Though if outward rigidity had any bearing on whether something was a robot or not, then what if....

Doll's frown deepened a little, eyes turning down to their own hand briefly. Suits of armor and plastic dolls didn't count as robots unless they had wires and flashing lights and a computer and stuff like that inside too, right? Doll knew that they weren't electronic in nature, but robots generally were. But there'd been an article some while back about scientists making "robots" out of viruses, to edit DNA... or was it RNA? Something like that, at any rate.

Doll silently sighed, shaking their head as they followed Crim into the study, shelving the thought. Doll was a doll, and Eve was totally some kind of cool android until proven otherwise.

Or maybe a space alien. That would be pretty awesome too.

A space alien... a genie? Demon? Youkai?

Dude. If Eve was some kind of youkai... maybe Doll could get them to autograph the manga that'd come with them?

They pulled their thoughts back to the more immediately practical things around them, like what Crim was bringing up at the computer, stepping around to where they could see over her shoulder.

No location results for Oregon, really? Or New Portland? Not at the top, at any rate?

Doll frowned, then looked back to their little device to bring up a simple map of North America, then zoomed in on the northwest part of the contiguous US. The blue shape of Oregon state enlarged with every gesture until it filled most of the little screen, and Doll could point out New Portland, sitting just on the south side of a river, the boundary line between this Oregon area and Washington. There wasn't a marker for scale, but judging simply by how big and bold the words labeling a couple of places were, and what was marked as being part of a state forest, it wasn't some little hamlet out in the middle of nowhere. Doll looked from the map to Crim, frowning with a wordless question as they tilted their head a little, confused.

How had the computer not brought their city up at all?

Crim regards the map with some sort of frown, pulling up another world map with a simple search. The map churns out very differently-shaped continents, with a ring of small islands in the centre.

"We're here right now." She points to one of the islands, then zooming in to reveal a city on its eastern side. "Sort of a sub-tropical climate."

The woman lifts her hands off the keyboards, folding her arms.

"This is really strange. The main hypothesis I have is that maybe you crossed over to this world from yours. It's already sort of established here that multiple time axes exist... but they were just hypotheses."

Until today, apparently.

"My research is on a device that might be able to verify the existence of other worlds. I figure maybe you coming here was related to what we were doing with that... I don't have a solution for you right this moment, but I promise you I'll try to find a way for you to go home."

It's what's right, regardless of who or what Doll is.

Doll stared at the map she brought up. That wasn't the Earth they knew at all. Absently, eyes on the bigger computer screen, they zoomed out on their own map to show a full view of the world they knew, albeit a rather simplified map showing more of a vague outline, on a screen that small, and showing what countries were where, rather than much topographical detail, the kind of map a child in grade school would be working with... but it was a map, and it certainly didn't match Crim's.

Doll was quiet for a moment, yellow eyes flicking over the map Crim had left up, the city's roads, the coastline, all of it unfamiliar.

So this was another world altogether?

It had been a fun thought, earlier -- an entertaining what if, but now that it seemed to be the reality of the situation, Doll was no longer so amused or enthusiastic about it. With confirmation, there were more practical things to think about. They'd been pulled out of their own world somehow and into this one....

Which meant being cut off from their human kid. And it wasn't as easily solved, however inconvenient it might've been, as simply packing them and the books into a box and mailing it back to her house. Doll was in another world entirely, leaving Tanya all alone at home with her parents and no clue where her companion -- her playmate, her de facto sibling, her best friend -- had gone to. The plastic child hadn't even been able to leave her a note, and the girl's parents didn't believe the doll was animate in the first place; they certainly didn't care about them. Hell, they'd been trying to get rid of the toy for years. And now the toy would be missing. Tanya would be distressed, her parents wouldn't understand... worse, her parents might even count it as a positive thing, that she'd managed to finally lose the toy on her own, despite all their previous deliberate efforts toward such an end mysteriously failing.

Crim was promising to find a way to return them, but... she'd just admitted that things were just "hypotheses" before. That she'd been researching how to verify it. Maybe it was like back home, and alternate universes were ideas everyone liked to play with in fiction, and figured probably existed? Which... it'd been such a fun idea before. And now....

Now?

The only sounds were the soft, perhaps expected ones of Doll's shirt against hard plastic as their stance slowly sank as they thought through the situation. Shoulders drooped, confusion giving way to the disappointment that was still dawning. It was a rather humanlike movement, even as subtle as it was, something that the solid shape of their head didn't necessarily hint at, but perhaps the rather detailed articulation of their hands did -- what did Doll look like, under those clothes, to be able to move the way they did? For their chest to rise and fall with breaths now and then, despite there being no obvious reason that the big plastic figure should need to breathe? But that was exactly what it looked like. Deep, slow breaths as they stared at the bigger screen's map, their own little device held loosely in their hands, now forgotten about, mask-like face expressionless, emoting forgotten about while their mind went over what had been said.

Or maybe Crim could tell what this was after all? Another breath, eyes narrowing ever so subtly from the bottom edge, their faint eyebrows coming together just a little... looking down at the keyboard, not really seeming to focus on it....

Maybe the kid could use a hug.

There's a lot that Crim doesn't know about Doll. Far too much for her to make any sort of assumption - but there are things that she can understand despite not having that knowledge, such as the need to go home, the fear of being in a new place. All of these are things that a young child (?) should never be exposed to. Better that Doll fell into her backyard, than some other person who might turn them over to the police.

So instead of saying anything, she steps forward and tries to give them a hug. They're a bit smaller than she is, so she's not sure how they would take it - but hopefully, the sentiment would translate over. She has to hope.

There's a moment where Doll simply takes it. No jerking away, no startle, no surprise, just lets her hug, silent as ever, and passive.

And then the kid blinked a few more times, and she could feel their chest expand again with another breath. The hard plastic shape of them under their soft shirt hinted at the shape of hidden ribs... and then there was even the subtle contours in the center of their back over what might've been a spine as they turned to face her, leaning a little against her front.

Doll's little arms snuck up around her torso in return. The device had been dropped to the table beside the keyboard; small fingers clutched at the fabric behind her.

There, the big toy exhaled again. It wasn't in feeling air at her chest through the obvious holes in the plastic mask-like face, but the change of their torso's shape, the way what seemed to be plates shifted under her hands, trembled a little with interruptions that weren't entirely sobs just yet, a prelude to crying as Doll stared into her shoulder, face buried.

A quicker breath in, a little hitch in it, still fighting off crying on some level....

What if they couldn't get back home? Would they never see Tanya again? Would she be okay without them?

Never see her again?

...And another choked-feeling attempt at breathing, pressing their face against her shoulder more, eyes going dark, arms and hands closing around her more firmly. They didn't seem to have much strength, but neither were they using all of it.

The room felt slightly cooler. Maybe not enough to make much difference -- a degree or so Fahrenheit, at most -- but subtly off from how it had been when they'd entered the room. Or maybe it was the lighting, the way it seemed to wash the colors out subtly and make the shadows just a hint darker than they had been five minutes ago. Probably imagination, that, a psychological effect due to mood? No swift change, and possibly not a change....

The screen of Doll's little gadget dimmed, where it sat, and then shut off.

She just holds the Doll, and waits.

There isn't much that needs to be said, she thinks. She knows how distressed Eve had been when separated from her, it's a mark of how loneliness can cut and even kill. Thus it's important that she gives this kid (?) the support that she can, because this world isn't familiar with alternate realities and she's not about to let someone else be hurt because of inhumane policies.

So she'll wait, petting Doll on the back once or twice. The device falling doesn't escape her attention, but she can't move - so Eve will pick it up, and put it on the table so it wouldn't get stepped on.

It takes a long moment, the thin plastic child leaning against her with their meager weight, torso shaking a bit more with silent crying. The shadows continued to gather, the barest hint of a chill in the air -- but that finally faded as the little figure's tame fit ran its course. Another sob, and they jerked subtly.

A hiccup.

The kid might have been a bit more subdued than some, even in having a cry over their situation, but if their behaviors kept overlapping humans' this much, maybe they wouldn't be all that difficult to read, in general?

Another hiccup, and they drew another hitching breath, letting go of Crim to bring a hand back up around to their face to wipe at their eyes. There didn't seem to be any tears, certainly no wetness on Crim's clothing, despite there being a shine to where they'd have been at the rim of the eye holes, yet Doll used the back of their thumb and the hem of their sleeve to quickly get rid of even that.

One more small hiccup, and a more careful breath in and out, and Doll looked back up to her, eyes a little duller than before. They curled their hand in a fist and moved it in a circle over their chest a few times. The gesture clearly had some sort of meaning to it, the way Doll paused again after, uncertain and relaxed their hand again. Maybe they'd just take their other hand back too...? Unless Crim wanted to give them another hug or something, anyhow. They still didn't seem to be much more than perhaps mostly calm now, still trying to get over their reaction. Embarrassed, perhaps, the way they looked away again....

She's willing to wait. For however long it takes for the child to calm, because she remembers - both her childhood, and the pain of her doll, crying out for solace. It's the least she can do, for someone who's fallen into an unfortunate situation not of their own fault.

Crim lets go when Doll does. She doesn't know what that gesture means, but she can understand that Doll is trying to tell them something. That much is enough.

She gives Doll's hand a slight squeeze, careful to keep her smile calm.

"Are you hungry? I can fix something up."

Doll gives her hand a little squeeze back at that, a hint of a smile in their eyes, despite not being happy overall. Another deep breath, making themselves calm down.

And then she asked that, and Doll blinked, looking back up at her. Their brows came together in a confused frown, and their eyes flicked between hers, trying to figure out if she was serious, maybe. They lifted their other hand again, and tapped the area of their face where a mouth would be if they had one, and shook their head a little, watching her for a reaction. More of a smile made its way into their expression again, and after a second, their shoulders shook a little.

But then the kid leaned forward again to give her another hug, and it was pretty clear that it was laughter. They could probably use it, after the fit of crying they'd just had. Maybe it wouldn't have seemed quite so funny to them if it hadn't been for that, but question was apparently absurd enough that it was doing their mood some favors.

They let go again and made another absent wipe at their eyes, a brief gesture before a more deliberate one: hand held flat, touching their fingertips to their chin and then pulling it down and tilting it toward her, not entirely like what someone did when blowing a kiss. They pointed to themselves, then started to make some other gesture, only to hesitate, unsure, and looked around. Their little device was pretty much right where they looked, after they'd missed the table in dropping it, and they smiled more as they picked it up, looking to Eve and repeating the gesture with touching their hand to their chin.

Thank you.

"Thank you" seemed to fit how they used that gesture there, didn't it? Probably?

They pressed a button to turn the little thing on, and its screen glowed once more, a little keyboard appearing to one side that they started tapping buttons on quickly.

haven't had a tea party in forever i don't eat

She's not sure how to react at first, frozen with her mouth slightly parted in a gesture equal parts surprise and curiosity. On hindsight, perhaps it is a strange question - but what if Doll had some other mouth? Or was just disguising its mouth? There were so many possibilities.

Her eyes light up a little as she cast a glance at the device, and then at Doll's face, a slight chuckle slipping out.

"Right, I should have thought of that." She notes the gesture that it had done. Now that she has seen Doll sign more than once, the fact that it was sign language is beginning to dawn on her. "So... do you drink, or something like that? If you need something to sustain yourself, I can try to find it."

Ghost (???) food is probably nothing like that serum that she has to feed Eve. And speaking of Eve, the homunculus has been regarding Doll with an empty, quiet gaze - the same curiosity in Crim's manner, though much less subdued. There isn't much to do, so it's also just waiting.

\o\

:D

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