Scene #9321: ABCs with Qetra

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	There's nearly infinite nooks and crannies to discover within the Library, little pockets of space suffused with magic and shaped through the eddies of Angela's will to form strange, impossible structures as practically afterthoughts. One such is in a far corner of General Works, where Petra's decided for dictionaries of various languages to be stored. Tucked between corners formed by towering bookshelves is what feels like a 'clearing' in the Library, a small open space dominated by a twisting helical tower of wood so dark brown it's nearly black. Books hang from knots and whorls off the pillar like fruit, and small motes of light drift in sinking orbit around it, with tiny lensed reflections of scrawling words inside them if Audrey looks closely. Whenever Audrey ends up coming to this section to shelve and categorize some of the endless pile of books, she finds Petra standing midway up the tower and leaning against a railing, plucking a book off of it so she can flip through it. She looks like she's in better condition than usual-- no bruises Audrey can see, and she's even wearing her uniform correctly for once!-- though, rather than tightening her tie, she seems to have decided to forgo it entirely, sticking with the lily-ornamented collar instead. There's also purple highlights in the underlayer of her hair, unfamiliar beaded jewelry wrapped around her wrist, and a pair of heart-shaped hairclips holding her hair to either side of her face. She stares at the book intently, without turning any of the pages. She's so focused, in fact, that her tongue pokes out between her lips, and she doesn't notice Audrey's presence.
Audrey Basque	After a palpitating lunch with Sylvie and Maria, and another short class, and then a quick get together with just Sylvie, Audrey is finally free. And it's a blessing that she is. She'd spent a bit less time at the Library since getting the Nascent Star, on account of being absolutely fascinated by it. Still-- a bit of a break from it wouldn't hurt anything, and while sorting books out wasn't the most validating or stimulating of works comparatively, it was also a really good occasion to just... brain off, relax, go through the motions mindlessly, while spinning math in her head or mentally mapping out essay chunks. Necessary, in its own way. And if nothing else she was just happy to help. And so here's Audrey, making the rounds to say hi as she arrives, all dressed up for the job; the Sephirah, Angela, Roland, in whatever order she crosses them, typically saving Petra for last if she's about because it's where she's most likely to end up spending half a hour just talking at. Unless she gets ambushed by Binah, anyway! But not today. Small mercy. Which is good because that big band-aid on her cheek would absolutely provoke A Response from Binah. She finally shuffles towards Petra's office, having quite lost track of what day it was after the weekend; but seeing it vacant, headed towards her own desk, to spot the several dictionaries still on it. She'd been looking up some City-specific jargon, matters of Fixers and Colors and yes, even the section on Santa Claus to see if there was any mention of the Red Sack, but she'd quite forgotten to put them away. So it's quite purely by chance she finds herself at the strange tower she'd never noticed before, tucked away in a corner she'd never needed to explore. Or was it that the Library kept expanding? Or both? Seeing Petra halfway up makes her smile, and rather than say hello, the mostly-in-a-good-mood Audrey simply steps through a crack, refracting to Petra's side without looking at her directly, so she can also lean on the railing, back and elbows, relaxing, eyes actually caught by the wandering motes of light more than anything else. "I would commend you on the uniform but you forgot your tie. Still, better than usual~ You must be in a good mood today."
Petra Soroka	Petra languidly raises her head when Audrey appears next to her, and from the first tilt of her head when looking at her, Audrey can tell there's something wrong about her body language. The category of expression that she's making now feels like it should be out of Petra's ability entirely, with the mild tension from concentrating sliding away effortlessly as if it was only superficial, rather than rooted in every muscle and motion she makes. Her eyes, up close, have a pattern of concentric rings inside them like a machine moreso than a person, with a pinprick of electric blue right at the center. She looks near Audrey's face, but her gaze slides past Audrey's eyes as if they weren't even there, settling unnervingly on an invisible point through and beyond her face. "Oh hiiiii, it's you!" If her look wasn't enough to set off Audrey's uncanny valley reflexes, then her voice definitely is. In terms of pitch, resonance, and enunciation, it sounds exactly like Petra's voice, but she slurs and swoops it like she's drunk or half asleep. Rather than Petra's meticulously practiced speech or the stupid stammering that shatters through, this person's is thoughtless and vacant, each word dripping out of her mouth in the same instant they come to mind. She doesn't acknowledge anything Audrey said directly, apparently not deeming it important enough. Instead, she looks around blankly for a few seconds to search for something, fiddles with the corner of the page she's on-- (isn't that a dictionary??)-- as if thinking to dog-ear it, and then casually tears out a tuft of her own hair to use it as a bookmark. Gently, she closes the book shut, and places it... on the ground next to her, like a Sim, because there's nowhere else to put it. Then she abruptly wheels around, grabs Audrey's wrist, spins to face her and leans her weight against her, drawing her face close up to Audrey and threatening to topple her over the railing. Eyes up close, she's still uncomfortably unable to make eye contact, and her expression is just a silly, empty smile despite the sudden violence of their postion-- she'd definitely fall off too, if her weight took Audrey over the edge. "You shouuuld praise me, though! Praise me for wearing the uniform right! I haven't done it before, so you have to praise me! Do you think I should praise you for wearing yours right too? But since you do it all the time, it's not worth mentioning or noticing or caring about, because it's just your default unchallenged state. Don't you think that's interesting?"
Audrey Basque	If she HAD taken a closer look she'd have surely noticed the hair, but now it's impossible not to notice the eyes and the speech. The body language might have flown under the radar right up until she got close, but now that's impossible to ignore too. Especially after casually ripping some of her hair out to use as a bookmark. Who does that?? She's certainly never seen Petra do that. No, worse, she's not even being looked at. "A-- Ah, Petra, this is... what are you doing?" Is that even Petra? Averting her eyes from mirrors almost by reflex means she'd only caught side-glimpses of Qetra infrequently, though they'd talked about her once or twice. It takes her way too long to make the connection, but-- no, can Qetra even manifest like that? Isn't she just in Petra's little mirror to act as an inventory manager, for all intents and purposes? Audrey's discomfort at the threat of falling back and off the tower would be hard to miss. It's a careful play between genuine concern but blind trust for Petra at this point, and concern is starting to edge that conversation out. "Y-Yeah, interesting, and... not incorrect, actually. Um. Good job! Ah... are you... are you alright?" That's the wrong question, isn't it? She takes the shot, half-blind. "Qetra, right...?" She has half a mind to wrestle herself free, but has the most obvious of feelings that she'd not get anywhere if she tried. "Would you... mind backing away a little bit?" The idea that this isn't Petra is plenty enough to crank the discomfort up past what being dangerously close to tumbling back already sets it at.
Petra Soroka	Qetra's grip around Audrey's wrist is nothing like Petra's. Almost infantile in the lack of strength she exerts, where Petra is both athletic and forceful enough to push Audrey around, Qetra feels like she might shatter like a porcelain doll if Audrey shoves her away. She's almost dead weight in the way that she leans further on top of Audrey's chest, without a drop of tension in her body, like a jumble of mannequin limbs. She tilts her head and pouts at Audrey, evidently not even understanding the source of her confusion. She presses her nose even closer and stares through her, absentminded like a dog, and then suddenly lights up in a wide smile without pulling an inch further away. "Oh! Petra's at class today! I remembered!" This close to her, Audrey can hear an odd falseness in the resonance of Qetra's voice, as if it originates from a speaker in the back of her mouth rather than air coming up from her lungs. Her pulse flutters where her skin touches Audrey's, but it's perfectly even and 'shallow' feeling, like capillaries instead of arteries. "She said I should do work while she was busy! But Iiiiii," Qetra draws out the word, raising a finger up to Audrey's nose. Then she trails off and her happy expression slowly slips away, before she remembers what she was going to finish her sentence with and beams again. "Decided to learn how to read! Since that sort of thing's important to Angela, ahahaha." When Audrey praises her, she does the closest approximation to a :3 face that a human being can possibly muster. Smugly satisfied at such a basic thing, she indulges Audrey by actually answering one of her questions for once, holding up two fingers in a peace sign and flipping them back and forth to indicate 'reflecting'. The railing creaks under their combined weight. "Qet-raaaaa! That's me! You got it! We haven't met before, since Petra was being soooo terrible and almost ruined everything forever like she always does with everyone and I didn't wanna come out because it was her job to fix it and NOT mine but now everything's okay since Lilian's talking to her again! But I know all about you!" She doesn't take a breath during that whole run on sentence, and doesn't seem to need one urgently afterwards either. Her eyes flicker over Audrey's face like she's scanning a piece of meat for rawness, falling silent without dropping her uncomfortably easy smile. Her request to back away is just met with a pleasantly airy "Why?" while Qetra's other hand comes up around Audrey's cheek to idly run her nails down it.
Audrey Basque	The fact Qetra's grip is lighter might honestly make it even worse, in how against-expectations it feels. The unnerving little details that are all off - the pupils, the pulse, her voice, her stare. She'd never asked what Qetra was, really. She'd assumed a sapient reflection, which isn't THAT odd back home. Does that make Qetra more like a familiar than a reflection, since she's physically present? "Oh! Petra's at class today! I remembered!" She'd forgotten, too. It was a busy weekend and... "Decided to learn how to read!" Ha, that's cute. If only Audrey wasn't dangling against a railing, she might be able to fully appreciate Qetra's enthusiasm! She might even help her! But right now, she... "But I know all about you!" "A-Ah... a-all?" This isn't Petra. It's almost Petra, but it's enough not Petra that the idea she knows about... things, possibly, suddenly creates quite the weight on Audrey's mind. Qetra seems... freegoing, expressive, and she's not sure if she can keep secrets! But she does seem disinclined to meddle and that might be good enough. Not enough to fully calm Audrey, but she can retionalize enough of a thought that it won't be a problem to not panic right away. For now. "Why?" "B-Because... w-we might fall back if you don't," Audrey manages, despite Qetra's sudden interest in her cheek. Yet, the fact this looks just like Petra means she doesn't make an effort to pull her hand away. "And we... would get injured." Well, she would, at least. She couldn't say if Qetra will. "I think both Petra and Angela would appreciate it if we don't take a tumble off here." She likes praise, maybe something more like... "A-Also, it's, very nice of you to do work while Petra is busy. Is it the first time?" They'd not crossed, before, so she presumes it must be.
Petra Soroka	"A-Ah... a-all?" "Aaaaaalll about you~!" Qetra repeats in sing-song, while twisting her fingernails to pinch into Audrey's cheek painfully. "Well, maybe not 'all'. I don't pay that much attention to you, ahahaha; I just don't think you're very interesting! You're sort of aaaaa... garden-variety pervert? Is that the right metaphor? Ehehe." Despite her saying that, she only leans in closer until their faces are nearly touching, to the railing's complaint underneath them. Her breath against Audrey's face is scentless and insubstantial, only separated from being 'ghostlike' by being faintly warm instead of chilling, though her expression might send a shiver down Audrey's spine. She's easily, gleefully cruel, without even a moment's hesitation when speaking for Audrey being a fellow human being, as carelessas if she was talking about a rock on the ground. Audrey hasn't seen it, but she can imagine Petra talking this way about someone like Sarracenia, where she fully immerses herself in her ideological claims of humanity's interchangeable worthlessness until she's unable to even pretend to believe differently. "A perrrrverttttt... but not even really a funny one, right? What's the point of a <freak/tourist> who can only <diverge aimlessly/no-phase/swept away in the current>?" When spoken out loud, the fracturing, overlapping speech is preceeded by a teeth-aching groaning and crunching that comes from nowhere, like a vast lake of ice squealing underfoot. Qetra doesn't even seem to notice it, or think it's worth remarking on, as she closes her eyes and bobs her head back and forth tempolessly while smiling. "I'm not a fan of an <acted-upon>, so you don't need to worry about me leaking all~ your dir~ty little secrets! I just don't know what Petra sees in you, but that's not my problem, ehehe." Up close, Audrey might be able to recognize that the hair clips Qetra wears are identical to Hibiki's, and the welder's goggles on her head are styled like they're someone else's too. Down her shirt, if Audrey glances below the collar, she has none of the same scars as Petra, but she does have raven feathers poking out of her skin without any of the blood that comes with Petra's. "I think both Petra and Angela would appreciate it if we don't take a tumble off here." "Angela would be okay!" Qetra cheerily informs Audrey. "She liiiiiikes me. And Petra has no right at! all! to complain if I get hurt. So it's okay!" Not even registering the idea that she might be concerned for Audrey's own safety. "A-Also, it's, very nice of you to do work while Petra is busy." "Mhm! She used to have me do work on the Abnos all the time!" As much as Qetra doesn't seem to care about anything Audrey asks her to do, she does care very much about receiving attention and praise. So the moment that Audrey points out the books and work, Qetra lets go of Audrey and drops her hand without a second thought, turning away to pick up the dictionary she placed on the ground. "I don't mind working, if it's for someone who matters... but I'm a laaazy girl, eheh. And pretty stupid! But I thought, maybe instead of doing Petra's dumb work, I could learn to read and then surprise Ange by telling her and she'd be soooo proud of me that I did it without anyone even telling me to!"
Audrey Basque	"Well, maybe not 'all'. I don't pay that much attention to you, ahahaha; I just don't think you're very interesting!" "O-Oh..." Why does the notion that she's so... garden-variety and uninteresting strike deeper than the overt label of being a pervert? It stings, worse than putting her hand in an open flame. Worse than Qetra pinching her cheek. Is that what Petra feels, too? ... why even wonder? Petra hadn't made it particularly secret that she felt Audrey was failing to commit, and was only barely more interesting than anyone else. She had an... odd way of showing it, for sure, and sometimes Petra seems to care enough to make her forget, but this brings it all forward without any cushioning. "I-I mean, I'm..." "What's the point of a <freak/tourist> who can only <diverge aimlessly/no-phase/swept away in the current>?" The crunch, as Qetra leans in closer and gives her a stare worthy of a serial killer. Petra'd not been gentle with her, but this was something else entirely. ""D-Diverging?" "I just don't know what Petra sees in you, but that's not my problem, ehehe." "I... don't know, either..." She doesn't stare down her shirt; Audrey's eyes can't quite decide where they want to look, but not there. Qetra's stare is too intense, so it's intermittently left or right of her depending on how she's moving her head. No eye contact. "B-But... I'd like for there to be something that she sees. I just don't know how." She should be arguing, but that hit her deep enough she doesn't have it in her. "I could learn to read and then surprise Ange by telling her and she'd be soooo proud of me that I did it without anyone even telling me to!" Qetra moves away. Audrey's stance seems to loosen up, like she'd stiffened up under threat. She steps away from the railing, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "I'm sure she'd be really proud," she says, low-voiced and evidently still struck by Qetra being so forward about everything. She stands there awkwardly even as Qetra refocuses on the book. She's got options; she's thinking about them. Leave? This went disastrously. It won't get any better. Stay? Just stand around like an idiot? Argue, insist she's a prodigy and Petra likes her? That feels like a lie, now. Be honest? "W-What would I have to do, to be... interesting? Petra's already given me some... words, about... people, and how uninteresting they are. How even the best school can be a pool of insignificant, soulless losers." She almost means it, when she echoes it like that. She's getting there. "But how would you put it?"
Petra Soroka	"I'm sure she'd be really proud," Entirely incapable of or uninterested in reading Audrey's tone, Qetra cheerfully babbles while sitting cross-legged on the ground and opening up the dictionary in her lap. She carelessly flicks the strands of her hair she was using to mark the page away, and gets back to... reading the page from 'breakfast' to 'brick'. How this helps someone learn to read is unclear, but she seems to be struggling through it anyways, somehow. "Yay~ I hope so, because I'm working re~eally hard. And since Petra's going to college now because of Lilian, maybe she'll be happy for me if I learn something. But maybe just because she'd find it funny to tell me to forget it all again, ehehe. She likes to do that, and I like being... pruned into shape." "W-What would I have to do, to be... interesting?" "Uuuuu... hard questions... I don't think I know...?" Qetra burbles unhappily, brows furrowed. She stares at the dictionary in her lap, seeming like she's just going to let Audrey's question go unanswered out of her disinterest or inability to think about it, and her finger traces over the word 'bretheren'. With a faint, sourceless tinnitus ring, she mumbles to herself, pleased, "<Consanguinity>." Finally, heedless of the time passed since Audrey asked the question, Qetra blurts out an answer without any wind up. "Oh! I do know this, actually! You have to <ex nihilo/nucleosynthesis>, obviously." She scoots around on the floor to face Audrey again, beaming with pride (at herself) despite Audrey's despondent posture. Golden motes of light drift down from the endless ceiling above them and float around Qetra, the tiny droplet-like lenses warping with colors of her body and settling on the book. "When <humanity/You People> are so worthless and interchangeable, that's basically the same as being nothing, right? Accepting <void> means death! And Petra's barely different herself at all, ahaha... no matter how hard she tries, she can't <self-perpetuate/positive entropy/surpass the Coulumb barrier>, so she has to depend on Lilian and the others. And she's soooo much better off for it! <Everyone/You People> should do that, but of course you won't, ahaha." "But since you're <full of/empty of> <nothing but yourself/anyone and everyone>, everything she does with you is <into the aether>, I think. Do you think she's enough of a person to <spend from reserves/starfish bottom> on you that you can be one too, like Lilian can? I don't think so, but I'm just a silly little girl!! I don't know an~ything at all." Qetra puffs out air, looking a little drained, even though she isn't really out of breath at all. "So... <shatter/prune/spit blood and bile/Rorschach patterns in broken ribs> about it. Being <stuck/stasis/passive> isn't interesting! ... And now you have to praise me for thinking sooo much about you even though you've never done anything at all for me so you have to you have to you have to!"
Audrey Basque	"... and I like being... pruned into shape." Audrey can recall Petra saying something along those lines... quite a few times. Making herself useful, how if she's not needed anymore then she might as well not exist, how she's been made 'better'. Qetra definitely phrases it a lot more direct though, and Audrey holds herself back from frowning outright. "You have to <ex nihilo/nucleosynthesis>, obviously." "... self destruct?" Not quite, but close enough. Qetra shifts about, and Audrey manages to look at her, finally. The odd overlapped speech is a bit distracting - it's not like Hiromi's at all, and it's not the smooth communication sort of effect you'd expect from words being beamed into your head. But it's helping, except when it isn't-- it's contradictory, sometimes, but complementary too. "And she's soooo much better off for it! <Everyone/You People> should do that, but of course you won't, ahaha." "But if everyone just relied on the same person... wouldn't that be void, too? If the point is to be something that stands apart... if everyone just tries and succeeds to be the same new something...?" She's missing the point, of course. Trying not to concede that 'being like Lilian' is the end goal. The worst part is it just leaves her thinking about how she could've been. "I think. Do you think she's enough of a person to <spend from reserves/starfish bottom> on you that you can be one too, like Lilian can?" "Is she? Am I that kind of strain?" She already knows the answer. "I don't know though. She's..." She almost says helping. She's not so sure about that one, or rather, she's not sure that's the specific word she wants to use. "She's trying, I think, and I... hate not living up to expectations." She watches the golden motes gathering around Qetra, trying to process the odd advice she's being given. But that she asked for. "And now you have to praise me for thinking sooo much about you even though you've never done anything at all for me so you have to you have to you have to!" "A-Ah... you're right. Thank you, Qetra." She takes a step towards her, patting her on the head since she's sitting on the floor. Quite easy to reach the head, and it seems appropriate for her. She reaches into her pockets, to pull out a small pack of sour candy and offer it to Qetra, if she'll take it as a reward. "I'll try to become someone interesting you'll care about. And that won't let her down." Even though... she's still not totally sure how. Just don't be 'passive'. Yeah, easy. "And thank you for your discretion." She scratches the back of her neck, a bit awkwardly. "I ah... suppose you won't want my help figuring out how to read, so... I can go be uninteresting somewhere else, if you prefer." Not sarcastic; more self-deprecating. And, well, she does have work to do.
Petra Soroka	"But if everyone just relied on the same person... wouldn't that be void, too?" Qetra tilts her head curiously at Audrey, like the question never occured to her before for how simple the refutation is. "Well, that would be <New Apple/Antibaryogenesis/The First Bloom> wouldn't it? If everyone became worth something, then that would just be good, right? <Humanity/You People> can't possibly, but if you could, then that would be better, I think." Qetra giggles suddenly, like she remembered something funny and shamelessly let it filter outside her mind to her body language. "Oh, but Petra says stuff like that sometimes, too! I don't really get it. Isn't it <tiring/erosion> to have to fight for everything all the time?" After that difficult thought, Qetra taps a knuckle against her head, tongue sticking out and one eye closed. She flops backwards from where she's sitting, laying flat on the ground, and rolls around until she's face-down near Audrey's legs. She stretches out her arms and legs, catlike, then droops like she's exhausted. "Ehehe... I don't know, though. I don't care about this kind of stuff. Philosophy's haaaaaard, just like everything Petra has to do. Couldn't you just ask her? Or <cross the event horizon> Lilian? I don't even <like/possess> you." "Is she? Am I that kind of strain?" Qetra rolls over to face up, eyes closed and smiling. "I dunno! That girl likes strain, but I don't like it at all. I want to be... wooble wooble," She lifts her hand up and limply flaps it open and closed like it's drifting through water. "Like a little jellyfish. With all the pretty colors inside, and no brain at all, and if someone pokes me I'll just go plop! and disappear." "A-Ah... you're right. Thank you, Qetra." "Ehe..!" Qetra smugly receives headpats with a pleased look on her face that's suddenly, irrevocably reminiscent of :sticker_doggySparkle:. She fails to catch the sour candy when it's offered to her, and it bounces onto her chest. It's apparently a satisfactory reward, though, because she tears the package open and takes out one of the candies, attempting to place it into Audrey's palm herself so that she can eat it like a dog treat. While doing that, she shares a Fun Qetra Fact with Audrey, while still occasionally interjecting with what she seems to think are jellyfish sounds. Now that she's decided philosophy-time is over, she's reverted to being almost animalistic or childishly carefree, refusing to think on purpose. "Bloop, bloop... did you know I don't actually have a brain already? I got cut open by Schadenf-f-- Schadenfood-- Schadenfreude, once, and it's just not there, ahaha. So whenever I'm relaxing normally, I'm just... bloop bloop, with whatever Petra's doing." "I'll try to become someone interesting you'll care about." Qetra lifts her face up from where she's eating out of Audrey's hand contentedly. That angle only makes her complete unhesitating cruelty all the more heartbreaking. "Ahaha! I don't think so! But do your best!" "I ah... suppose you won't want my help figuring out how to read, so... I can go be uninteresting somewhere else, if you prefer." "You're suuuuuch a <sore loser/bad student/worm>, ahaha." Qetra sits back on her knees, wiping at her candy-colored lips with the back of her hand. She holds up another candy between two fingers and offers it out for Audrey to take and feed to her. "Nope! You have to stay! I don't wanna be lonely so you have to stay and say nice things to me."
Audrey Basque	There is so much to think about. But Qetra seems quite done with the hard questions. Of course it's hard to always be fighting; and there are so many reasons why she can't just 'ask Lilian'. Debatably, why she doesn't even want to ask Petra, for that matter. The revelation Qetra quote unquote 'doesn't have a brain' causes Audrey to stare a bit, in that incredulous stare of someone who's not sure how literal the statement is. "That is... ah... well, I don't know who that is, but it sounds..." She really, really doesn't want to say getting her brain cut out and being bloop bloop like a jellyfish sounds soothing. But Qetra sure seems alright with it. "Horrifying, actually, but you seem not to mind." Thankfully this uniform has gloves, and so Audrey is only QUITE A BIT weirded out by Qetra eating out of her hand, and then demanding for it to continue. As opposed to cataclysmically weirded out. ... is Petra weird about that too? Huh. Food for thought. "Ahaha! I don't think so! But do your best!" Being told by someone eating out of your hand that you probably won't ever become interesting sure is a statement. Especially when that person then proceeds to demand you keep giving them treats and compliments... after having just insulted you like it was the most obvious statement to make. "Ah. Well... alright." What is she going to do, say no? Loser is definitely right. As is worm. She takes the candy and then extends her palm for Qetra to eat it from. "I like your hair. Actually... you seem a lot more... you seem to take better care of how you look. Is there a reason Petra doesn't and you do?" The hair... the hairclips, goggles, the fact the uniforn is on properly, so effort actually went into it. The lack of scars being worn like jewelry. It really is a different vibe, now that she's paying closer attention to it.
Petra Soroka	"I like your hair." Qetra takes that more sincerely and thoughtfully than she has anything else Audrey's said. She twirls a finger through a strand of her purple highlight, smile softening a little bit. After shamelessly swallowing the next candy Audrey offers, she stops coiling her hair and holds it out as if to show it off to Audrey. "Well, that's because it's how Katja wears hers. She likes blue more, but Petra used to wear hers purple, back when they matched. So it's nice, because it's important, you know?" "Actually... you seem a lot more... you seem to take better care of how you look." "I do?" Qetra blinks up at Audrey, wide-eyed and innocently confused. "I don't think I do. Why would I want to take care of how I look at all, when other people can do it for me~? I don't want to be trusted with choosing how I look. I want to be... <mosaic/free-use>." "Petra's just a brat, 'cause she's too stubborn just because everyone ends up hating her eventually. Maybe if she was better at being devoted they wouldn't leave her so often." Qetra sounds as bittersweet as she ever has, to Audrey's knowledge, smiling forlornly rather than really making fun of Petra. She twists the bracelets around her wrist, and then lifts her chin up to stare at (near) Audrey suddenly. "Hey, hey, do you wanna hear? These bracelets are from Valerie, since she thinks that these kinds of mystical trinket things are cute and say a lot about the people who make them. These," pointing at the hairclips, "Are from Bikki! Petra couldn't help but admire someone who tries to wear their heart on their sleeve and fails, ehe, even though they fought for a long time. And these are from Doctor Eggman, and these circles in my eyes are from Dimo, and this is from Lilian but you know that, ahaha, and..." Qetra starts casually unbuttoning the shirt of her uniform to reveal her chest, in a mirror of Petra and Audrey's first (second) meeting. This time, however, it's actually not a blazer, and she is gradually exposing her collarbone and then the skin down to her bra-- or, where there would be skin, if it wasn't covered in soft feathers. "And Angela!"
Audrey Basque	"I don't think I do. Why would I want to take care of how I look at all, when other people can do it for me~?" And just like that, Audrey understands. It's not that Qetra minds her looks, it's that she's accumulating traits from friendships. That's simplistic, but she can't deny the appeal. If nothing else, you'd always be reminded of the people you care about. If you were weird about it like Qetra casually dropping free-use in that context, you might even see it as a proud little mark to show off that tells everyone who you belong to. Like their chokers. Or... Audrey passes a hand over the bandaid on her cheek. "O-Oh..." "Maybe if she was better at being devoted they wouldn't leave her so often." Her attention snaps back to Qetra, and she mms a bit. "Is she really bad at it? She seems... well I don't think I've ever seen someone as devoted as her, actually." To Lilian, at least. She wonders if that's really a good thing, but leaves that thought to fester in a corner. "Hey, hey, do you wanna hear? These bracelets are from Valerie," Katja... Valerie... has she heard those names before? If she did, it must have only been in passing. And considering how it went when she asked about Cinder, she's not sure she wants to ask Petra about any more of her old friends and dredge more misery up. At least... not right now. "Mystical items like those bracelets can carry a lot of power if you care for them right. It sounds like your friend might've been a fan of magic. They're cute." And so's everything else, though the mention of getting rings in her eyes from someone is an odd claim. And then Qetra unbuttons her shirt. "H-Hey, you don't have to--!" Oh, feathers. "Ooooh. Yours don't bleed like Petra's. That's interesting. I guess for you it's always like that and not a sign of stress and Light exposure?"