She lives for others (Action/Video)

[jerks22]

[A gentle, inviting voice with just a pinch of sadness makes its way to the comms. A woman on a crummy couch is sitting there, with cats milling around in the background. The lines on her face seem to come from either the ravages of time, or sorrow. Possibly both.]

"Hello, everyone. You've probably never heard of me; I mean, I've never really been invited to any parties or anything. Oh, um, anyway, I'm Natalie. Ever since that scare with the ghosts, I've been a little afraid of leaving the house. My husband moved on some time ago, and it's been...difficult without him. I still have my cats, of course." She weakly smiled as one leaped over her lap.

"Oh, sorry about the sob story. Anyway, I thought of meeting people through the newspaper, but it looks like they've stopped making deliveries. We were very private people, my husband and I. No children, and we didn't do much entertaining. I guess it's been kind of lonely, now that that's gone." She sniffed, wiping her nose.

"So, if anyone would like some company, I'd really appreciate it. It's not much," she said, gesturing to her dilapidated surroundings. "but it's home."

[ooc: here begins the Empress plot. You can respond in the main comment body, or visit her house in a comment left below.]

Comments

Action: Introductions

[jerks22]

"Come in!"

Your entrance is marked by the ring of a bell, and possibly the scowling of a cat you bumped into. Their numbers make them hard to avoid. The voice was much pleasanter than the odor of the house, or its shabby aesthetic. Natalie clearly hadn't done much to maintain the space. It was a mess, with dilapidated furnishings and musky scents coming off the feline detritus everywhere. The litter box had taken quite a lot of abuse, when it was used at all. Watch your step.

Despite all this, Natalie was perfectly cheery at the prospect of a visitor, and seemed to take no notice of the rotten state of her house.

Outside wasn't much better. Judging from the gardening tools and bags of fertilizer, it was clear that some attempt at agriculture had been made. An attempt was all it was; even the flowers she had merely bought had wilted.

But at least you're here to make everything better.

[gammavirginis]

"Oh. You have a... lovely... respite block," Porrim said, trying VERY HARD to be polite. The smell was quite assaulting, and she felt herself itching to start cleaning.

"I brought cup cakes!" she shouted back to wherever the voice was coming from. She awkwardly held the plastic tin full of assorted pastries. They were sugar and 'gluten' free, which was supposed to mean they were easier on more delicate digestive systems, but it was all Lusus speak to her.

She walked around a bit, trying to find a broom closet. Maybe she could just get a bit of sweeping done before Natalie came out...

[jerks22]

Poor Porrim. Her polite resolve would be pushed much further.

"Oh." Was her response for the pastries. Not a bad gesture, but they would make you fat. One had to watch their figure at her age, you know.

The pantry, stocked with dry goods, held the cleaning supplies she so eagerly sought. The wood was cracked in places, but otherwise appeared in decent condition.

"I'm so glad you came; I thought no one would. And at such a good time; I wanted to show you the new flowers I've been..." She stopped as she neared Porrim's back. Natalie found her appearance unnerving. As soon as Porrim saw Natalie face-to-face...



"Oh!" She jerked, sending her plants tumbling. Dirt and pottery scattered on the floor. The state of the plant was pretty poor, to be generous, so not much was lost other than further mess being made.

That sickeningly pale skin. Those pupil-less eyes. Those orange horns. And those gaudy piercings! Natalie was speechless. She had been living alone to specifically avoid freaky things. And she sounded so normal, too. She stood there, stunned, waiting for Porrim to explain herself.

[gammavirginis]

"Oh, dear, are you alright?" Did she have a seizure or something? She took a step forward, hand outstretched concernedly.

[jerks22]

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect you to be so...green. Have you come down with something? No telling what can happen to a girl out there. Let's go have a seat; I'll get to that later." She gestured towards the potted plant mess, then led the way to the living room. She shooed away some cats that were occupying the seats, brushed the dust off, and reclined with a sigh.

"So, how are you? I'd love to know more about your...condition. If you don't mind a little gossip."

[purered]

Klaus stepped over the threshold and was quite stricken by the powerful odor. Cats.

Cats everywhere.

Gingerly he stepped around them, but true to their feline nature, they were constantly underfoot, winding around his legs and yowling in a great cacophony. Klaus held the potted peace lily as though it were his first-born and he were crossing some deadly chasm.

"Good afternoon, Miss Natalie," Klaus called, weaving around a particularly aggressive tabby before it clawed its way up his dress slacks. "I hope you're doing well?"

[jerks22]

Firstborn, eh? Wonder what that's like.

"Oh, well enough, thank you." She came around a corner to meet him. "What a strapping man you are." She got touchy, placing her hands on his shoulders to get a feel for his width. "My, what big teeth you have." A bit greedily, she plucked the pot out of his hands, and walked towards her backyard.

"You're so thoughtful; it's been a while since someone brought me flowers." Not like that other one who tried to send her on a one-way trip to diabetes land. "But enough about me; how are you doing, Mr...?"

[gammavirginis]

"Well it's more of a property than a condition," Porrim said, following Natalie unsuredly, the broken pot on the floor niggling at her to clean up immediately. "And I don't know if it counts as 'gossip' necessarily if you're just sharing things about yourself. Are you okay with leaving that on the floor, I can go clean it up. Where are your brooms?"

[purered]

Klaus was not a man who was used to being touched. At all. He stood very still, waiting for her to finish measuring him up. It was everything in his power not to recoil.

"You're most gracious, Miss Natalie. Thank you for the invitation." He followed her to the poor, dilapidated garden. "Ah yes. I beg your pardon- Reinherz. Klaus Reinherz, at your service."

[jerks22]

"Oh, like a birth defect." Whatever it was, she didn't seem too bashful about it. She hoped that was strength talking, and not just pride.

"They're in the corner of the kitchen, underneath the flour bins." Free menial labor was always a plus, even if she was unsightly.

[jerks22]

"It's my pleasure. You're so polite, I'd have never have guessed, with that wild hair of yours. Are the Germans known for red hair? I thought that was an Irish thing." She set it down in a space next to some other dying plants; if it remained in Natalie's presence, Klaus' gift would soon join them.

"It really clashes, doesn't it? So colorful and bright. If only the rest could be like that. Ah, but then you're a man. Men aren't much interested in women's work like gardening."

[purered]

"It's more common in the United Kingdom," he explained. "But red hair isn't unheard of in Germany."

He let Natalie chatter on, examining the disaster that was the garden. Oh dear, this needed a lot of work to salvage.

"Work is work, Miss Natalie. Back home in Jerusalem's Lot, men and women were equally avid gardeners." Though most of them were on the elderly side. He hesitated when he spotted little shoots of green peeking up between the withered leaves. He knelt down, clearing away the detritus, and smiled. It was fortunate Natalie couldn't see him beaming - he was, unfortunately, cursed with a terrible smile, genuine as it was.

"Look here, how marvelous! I believe these are allium shoots." It was no surprise - Allium was one of the easiest flowers to grow, incredibly hardy, and quite beautiful. If anything could survive Natalie's black thumb, it would be allium. "Do you have much interest in learning baout flowers, Miss Natalie?"

[jerks22]

"A little; I used to, but they weren't very interested in me. They're kind of sad, aren't they? My husband used to buy them for me, and they were beautiful. But they always wilted in a few weeks, no matter what I did. After a while you just start...letting go." Buy, buy... she perked up, hands on her hips, adopting a mocking, scolding tone.

"Mr. Klaus! Are you telling me you grew these yourself?"

[purered]

There was a rumbling chuckle from Klaus.

"Certainly not. I've only been here a few weeks. Hardly enough time to get anything to grow beyond a few sprouts."

He tapped his chin in thought, completely missing the scolding tone.

"Though the red ruffle caladium is coming in very nicely. A few more weeks and they should be quite lovely." This wasn't a man boasting. He was clearly someone who was deeply passionate about horticulture. He gestured to the garden.

"As for your garden, proper irrigation and drainage is key, as well as the composition of the soil. I'd be more than happy to give you some pointers."

[gammavirginis]

"Jade blood is somewhere on the center of the hemospectrum, but are also tasked with the important work of taking care of the Mother Grubs, so I wouldn't say we're considered a defect exactly..." She was really too preoccupied to be offended or put two and two together.

As soon as she was directed to the brooms she happily got up to fetch them. Entering the kitchen was an even bigger nightmare!! She she found herself wading through a flood of stale kibble and shards of broken ceramic and glass. The counters were stacked with dishes which no doubt had developed prophecies about a chosen hero to bring back the floods which would banish the colonies of mold.

She opened the pantry expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised that it was rather clean; neglected might be a better description.

Obviously she wouldn't be able to get out to the living room and cleanup the pot until she'd at least gotten a walkspace cleared out in the kitchen. She started to scoop up all the mess.

"Where is your dross coffer?" Wait, use blueblood talk with humans. "Er, your trashcan?"

[jerks22]

The strange diction gave Natalie the idea that she was dealing with an alien, and she didn't know whether to be aghast or piqued at her exotic visitor.

She'd carry on the conversation anyway, content to remain on the couch while Porrim cleaned. She raised her voice a bit to cut across the distance.



" 'Mother' grubs? Huh; you'd think anything motherly would take care of something else. Are you an alien, dear? I was going to ask about those orange horns of yours."

[jerks22]

She looked languid as Klaus lectured on Gardening 101. "Oh, it's kind of you to offer, but I don't think it'd do much good. Plants just don't seem to like me. I guess that sounds dumb, saying plants have favorites. They seem to like you. But for me, they always seemed happiest when I left them alone." A small smirk broke through the glum.

"Three weeks? You poor thing; probably haven't had enough time to put down any roots yourself. You didn't answer when I asked how you were doing; I'm actually concerned now. Have you found a place to stay, and a good job?"

[gammavirginis]

"Uh, yes, technically," she said. 'Your progenitor race' was probably a little hair-splitty and would just open up a big complicated story that Porrim didn't really want to get into. "Mother Grubs don't really do anything besides give birth. They're not really equipped to do more than lay about, consume huge quantities of organic matter and then pump out a ridiculous number of eggs."

"About that waste bin though?" She looked around uncertainly. She thought to check the cabinet under the sink and nearly wretched, finding a bin that was overflowing with rotting material. "...and have you perhaps considered a cleaning service?"

[jerks22]

"Goodness, it's like they're on welfare. Oh, right, sorry. I put all the garbage in the composting barrel in the backyard. Supposed to be greener; less wasteful."

She frowned a bit at Porrim's jab on her living space. It was true, but feelings were still hurt. -1 (relative) year. Besides, Porrim was all the cleaning service she needed. Work that broom!

"But how are you doing, sweetie? You haven't even told me your name."

[gammavirginis]

Well Porrim was not going to carry that gross thing, fortunately that's what Catpchaloguing was for. She took out her crochet needles and quickly knit together a rough approximation of the overflowing trashcan, and the bin disappeared from under the sink and was inserted into her Sylladex.

"Uh, Porrim. Porrim Maryam. Pleased to meet you!" Composting was actually a good idea, yes. As long as you only put organic materials in. Porrim was a little nervous to see what it actually looked like as she wandered the house and out the back door.

[jerks22]

Too bad the compost bin was just her regular garbage writ large. It's said that pigs will eat almost anything, making them nature's natural disposals. Unfortunatley, Natalie didn't have any pigs. She had cats. Thus, predictably, the compost bin wasn't in much better shape. But the scenery was, if not better, different. The decay of her home had become more organic, and wilting vegetables and half-made raised beds hailed Porrim's arrival.

"Good to see you too. Oh, could you water the plants while you're out? There's a hose hanging on a tree." At least she had running water.

"It must be hard, being an alien girl all alone in the world. Are you all alone? Take it from me, things are much easier with a man around the house." *Self-deprecating laughter* "I bet you can tell."

[gammavirginis]

"Uh, is that right?" Porrim didn't really understand what having a man around the house meant in terms of keeping the house cleaned, besides just having an extra set of hands. She dropped the basket full of trash out of her sylladex next to the compost bin and sought out the hose.

"Why is it hanging from the tree, exactly?"

[jerks22]

"Yes, in a lot of ways. So you're single, then?" Not too much of a surprise, given her looks, but her personality was nice enough.

"Oh, don't be silly." The handle was sitting on a nail embedded into the base of a tree, not in a branch. "I make sure my cats never go up trees, as a rule. I'm not Tarzan, ha."

[purered]

"You're very kind to ask, Miss Natalie," Klaus said, plucking a silk handkerchief from his pocket and brushed some of the soil off his hands. "But there's really no need to be concerned. Miss Branford opened a flower shop recently, and I tend the greenhouse."

Genessia, for all its oddness, was like a relaxing vacation compared to Jerusalem's Lot.

"I was considering asking Miss Branford about starting a gardening club. Would you be interested, perhaps? You sounded quite lonely on the network. It may be a nice way to get out and meet others."

[gammavirginis]

Oh that's actually pretty convenient. She found the tree and the nozzle hanging from the nail. She traced the hose back to the spout and turned the water on, although she wondered what plants she was actually supposed to water? Most of the raised beds weren't even put together.

She decided she'd try to get Klaus' opinion before doing anything with that. It seemed like she'd be here for awhile anyway, or at least, she'd be making some additional trips.

She returned to the trash can and dumped out its contents into the barrel, washed it out with the hose, and then returned back inside.

"'Still' single implies that longterm partnership is an assumed end goal, but no, I don't currently have any of my quadrants filled up. I do have a few potentials, however."