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Petra Soroka     The Floor of Literature is the most 'library' the Library's ever been. Hanging droplets of light provide even, warm lighting to the vast hallways, filled with towering bookshelves that angle themselves into creating comfortable nooks with desks and chairs for reading. It's only natural that Hod's floor would be the gentlest of them, though trying to map the aesthetics of a normal library onto the staggeringly large internal space of the Library still makes it seem repetitively labyrinthine at times, going from the elevator to where Laetitia's book is.

    Petra is sitting on the arm of a couch in her Patron Librarian uniform, waiting with her feet loosely swinging for the others to arrive. Despite the presence of Angela, Roland, and Audrey nearby, she's oddly silent, staring at the floor between her feet with an uncomfortably unapproachable atmosphere. It doesn't quite disperse when she starts talking to the Elites either, and she launches into mission-talk without warning, leaving whatever polite greetings to Angela.

    "So in Laetitia's case, all of the agents specialized in her Work either died or moved to Hydrochoeria, meaning we're doing this without experts. I wasn't ever assigned to her Work because of... well, Kukuru might remember."

    Much more like Lobotomy Corp than the vibe of the Library, Petra stiffly goes through the Abnormality Briefing. "Laetitia is one of the, uh, more adorable and emotional Abnormalities, but the particular nature of her story might make it difficult to convince her through conversation at first. She claims to be from a storybook-type world full of her 'friends', and she's fixated on playing pranks and making new friends in 'our' world, like a child, but the friends she's talking about are some fucked up spider things and she gets very lonely very quickly if she feels like she's being abandoned."

    "In the Managerial Guidelines for Lobcorp, this meant that any agent that worked with O-01-67 would *only* be allowed to work with her until given time to not work with any Abno at all. Once she's decided that she wants to be your friend, she gives you a 'gift' that works sort of like a curse, causing you to explode into spiders if you work with another Abnormality. In the book, that probably means we'll be committing to helping her the moment we step in."

    Petra looks over to Angela. "Alright, Ange, if you're ready to let us in."

    Being drawn inside Laetitia's book drops the Elites at the base of a hill, on a trail through a dark forest. Besides being a haunted-looking forest with angular dead trees scraping at the sky and no sign of civilization in all directions but one, the color shifting of it is the most unnerving part. Vibrantly colored grass in green, blue, and yellow carpet the sickly-black ground. The sky, rather than being blue, grey, or even black, is crimson and slick with fake-looking gore, with heart-shaped clumps of clouds and shifting eyes peeking through.

    Up on top of the hill that the trail leads towards is a cabin, cutesy and fairytale-perfect. It's still in bright crayon colors like the grass, but there's flickering firelight visible in the windows and a coil of smoke coming out of the chimney. It's obviously the place to go, so Petra starts walking towards it.

    "So, just to repeat, she is *friendly*. She might, and probably will, hurt us with her pranks, but she's not going to be hostile on purpose unless we try to leave."
Audrey Basque     Audrey is already here, of course, wearing her own Librarian (General Works ver.) uniform which is only a step removed from Petra's in that she doesn't have a tie and also keeps the outer layer closed and buttoned neatly. If Petra is unapproachable, Audrey probably doesn't look much better off. She's got a stack of reports in her hands, everything she could collect about Laetitia both from the Library and from other accounts (like Roland's).

    She could forget about some of her dread if she was focused on studying, and studying how *not* to explode into spiders is a vital part of this particular... mission? Operation? Rehabilitation? Intervention? Hm.

    Well, whatever this is.

    "So, best-case we just need to teach her harmless pranks, and stress that if she makes people explode into spiders then she can't prank them anymore?"

    Well if only it'd be that easy.

    In they go!!

    Gory skies and weird grass. Audrey is uncomfortable from the word go *mostly* because of the sky, and she elects, probably wisely, NOT to curiously try to do an astrology reading on this particular sky.

    At the sight of the cabin, she trails behind Petra closely, pondering out loud: "She lives alone, I'm guessing? Or... since her story is about having friends to prank, do you think that house is full of..."

    'Fucked up spider things' goes unsaid.
Angela Angela is polite to everyone, particularly Tamamo and White, shaking their hands upon their arrival as she performs the little social rituals she has learned as a functional method for not offending allies and comrades while not being overly emotional about it. Tamamo's bow is a little deeper, and White gets a smile.

She gives a small nod to Petra as she gives her explanation, and then explains in further detail, "As I've mentioned before, Laetitia's nature and power will be stronger in the book itself. Roland will be coming along because he clearly requires more experience in dealing with Abnormalities, and I am going because I can't exactly ask you to do all these visitations without lending a hand myself." There is more to it though. Angela has long ago noticed certain themes amongst certain Abnormalities. Some seem to just be monsters plucked from some corner of a dark mind but others have always felt keenly familiar. And Laetitia is one of those Abnormalities. She is surprised Tamamo has come again to lend a hand but, she supposes Tamamo seems quite suited to this sort of work in much the same way Petra and Lilian were highly adept at dealing with Lob Corp. ... Indeed, as she thinks about it, it's only thanks to Tamamo she even thought something like this could be possible. Maybe the bunrei thinks that because it's something she can do, she should.

She lets everyone into the book though at this point the sensation is familiar to most.

"I'll be more careful this time." Roland promises, still feeling pretty embarrassed about it. "You think she, uh, remembers?" He seesm weirdly worried about that.

"I do not know." Angela says, biting the inside of her lip. She looks at the vibrant grass and can't help but crouch down to touch it with her hand. It's a terrible idea to do, she realizes a moment after, and quickly pulls her hand back and stands up. It should be fine. Nothing in the story about evil grass. But it's not how Lobotomy Corp tuaght her.

"Try not to take the pranks personally. She's innocent in the truest sense of the word."

She follows Petra loyally.

Neither she nor Roland answer Audrey's unstated question.
White White arrives in her usual clothes with her braid coiled down her left arm to the elbow (past which it dangles like a lanyard), a little bit more straight-backed than usual, maybe even a little tense. Just a little, but it's potentially noticeable. She gives everyone her usual small nods and quarter-bows (and shakes Angela's hand with an itty-bitty smile back, of course), but focuses on Petra's explanation firmly. Sure, she's a spider, technically. Kind of. But she'd really rather not 'explode into spiders' even if her body could remake itself, it sounds truly unpleasant. Even if the spiders were still 'her', she's done that before and ten of her was too many! There's a reason her clone-agents don't have full fragments of her soul embedded in them, or even proper names most of the time... At least the conditions seem relatively clear-cut, if the summary Petra is giving is that they have to finish the job in one go.

     So, she enters the book with the others, trying to psych herself up as best she can. She just has to make a friend and treat them nicely, right? That's better than she expected from a spider abnormality, to be honest. And she's done soooo much practice with that very thing, lately! Surely she's prepared. *Surely*. Finding herself and the others on a spooky forested trail doesn't unnerve her, at least. The *colors* though, and the bizarre sky... Well, she can't claim to be as comfortable with those, but it's just part of the set-dressing right? Right?! So what if the girl's pranks might hurt, kids do stupid awful things all the time. Even if it gets annoying, she can cope with babysitting a rowdy kid for the day. She even prepared some useful items for this quest. Even if a spider feeling lonely is a little strange- ... Well, maybe it's not that strange.

     Well, time to get to work then. Laetitia probably won't have any cause to be alarmed by the faint glow of her eyes, so White opens them to start cooly searching the forest around them with the Evil Eye. They can't well make introductions until they're face to face, after all, so that's the first order of business.
Sarracenia      After hearing what had happened to Roland, Sarra was a bit worried about coming to help with this Abnormality rehab. Exploding into spiders did not sound fun. And she was still pretty annoyed at Petra (well, more than usual) for what had been said at the recovery of the last artifact for Audrey's project. So, Sarra is more than fine with it when she finds Petra in a particularly untalkative mood. She listens to the briefing with arms crossed and a slight frown on her face.

     The princess has opted to wear her custom Trideag dress for this, a black velvet dress with gold embroidery framing the chest and composing most all the seams with a double row of gold buttons down the front.

     Being greeted with a handshake from Angela is new, and Sarra looks a bit confused as she returns it. She is polite in return, especially to White and Tamamo. "Lady Tamamo. It is good to see you again. I hope the little spirits are still enjoying their new homes?" she says, then looks to White. "Thank you again, Miss White, for your assistance in the auction house. You do not present yourself as such, but you seem to have a flair for the dramatic which I can appreciate."

     Audrey is greeted in that she receives a slight nod of acknowledgement and a "Hello Audrey." Roland is given a suspicious look over. Is he cleared of all spider aspects? "Mister Roland. You have recovered, it seems." she says, with no indication if that is good or bad.

     They enter the book, and...Sarra winces at the surroundings. The gore-covered sky is of course the most unnerving thing, and Sarra instead focuses on the interesting grass. "Innocent in the truest sense...that is rather frightening when one considers she is an Abnormality. At least Love has a sense of morality and empathy to her." she says as she follows the others.
White Sarracenia's address to White seems to very mildly surprise her, but this isn't the first time that's been the case by now. After a brief beat spent blankly staring, she nods again. There's another beat to wait out before she can actually say back, "I'm glad... It was helpful."

She's not sure which part was her being especially dramatic, but maybe she's just desensitized to what it means to be a teleporting killing machine that tends to show up at exactly the last moment.
Tamamo     Tamamo is here, just as before -- precisely as before, in manner and dress, as with the last abnormality she'd helped with, heavy with the gold and silk she'd claimed were arranged according to arcane designs. She greets Angela with a small smile and an as-small bow, others by name, and listens along to Petra's explanation, eye contact only avoided because one of them keeps looking at the ground. She's seen that sort of look, before, but makes no comment on it.

    "If it is a matter of curses, it may be that only those able to deal well with curses should seek this friendship. It is... troublesome, yes, to have an acquaintance who truly cannot help but exert dangerous powers against others present." She's downplaying her own opinion of that dynamic, if anything.

    "'Innocence' is... the more difficult with which to deal, compared to one with hostility, but understanding." There are cases where that's not true, but she's not expecting anything conveniently 'normal' from an 'abnormality.' "Still, it gives some hope for a peaceful resolution. There are some who merely need playmates able to play at a similar level to themselves, so that they may grow to know restraint."

    Can a storybook character grow? She's fairly certain it's possible, here. On the other hand, that other case was 'a miracle.'
Tamamo     'I hope the little spirits are still enjoying their new homes?'

    "Though it is terribly early to know whether the offerings made will properly last, I do expect, as of now, that all will be well."

    'Mister Roland. You have recovered, it seems.'

    "Oh, dear. Were you injured, Mr. Roland?"
Kukuru Showing up right on time and not a minute sooner or later, Kukuru steps into the Library with a relaxed sigh, breathing in the new-yet-familiar scents of the place. Even though she's not an employee here, she's been here enough times and fond of enough people that she's even put together a library-appropriate outfit to blend in rather than stick out as much as she already does normally: A frumpy knit sweater (beige), a billowy ankle-length dress (dark green), and her usual glasses (fake).

Even her usual cooler full of snacks is packed with room temperature drink bottles today, so as to avoid any risk of spillage or condensation damaging any of the books. There's still little containers packed with food, of course, but even those are neatly set it little boxes to reduce the risk of dropping stuff all over the floor. There's spicy meaty sandwiches, wraps, little bags of trail mix that aren't just half peanuts by volume, quiche, and attempts at pizza-in-a-cup that just ended up turning into crispy mini-calzones.

After the usual polite greetings with all her "Hellooooo~"s and offered (but not demanded) hugs and hand grasping, she soon settles in to discuss work.

"How could I forget? She was so cute back then, too." Kukuru's smile is pleasant as ever, although it's a little more complicated than the usual sort. There's the usual level of fondness in her memory for the familiar-enough Abnormality, of course, but that meeting had been during a somewhat simpler time.

"It's important to be careful around her, mhm. If she starts getting... Mm. Antsy? I'll be ready to step in and keep her from feeling lonely so everyone else can move around more more freely."

The surroundings within Laetitia's book help Kukuru relax even more, at least, as she sees things that almost remind her of home. There's a visible relaxation in her shoulders, too, as she looks from the forest trail towards the sky, although the sight of those eyes peeking through does have her jumping briefly before continuing onwards.

"We'll be okay even if the pranks hurt a little. I'm here." She reassures everyone after Petra's warning, then nods at Audrey and tugs her food-cooler a little closer to keep it from rolling back down the path. "Teaching her harmless pranks sounds like a good idea, mhm. If one has to hit someone, I could take the hit. Then at least... We can show her how bad it could really be if I wasn't around to fix it."
Riku Asakura Riku arrives in his usual attire: a Jean jacket, orange shirt with the space agency decal, jeans, and a pair of sneakers.  He was here to help, having heard that the library needed help with an abnormality.  He greets Angela and Roland with a bow, just as he greets White with a similar bow.  He's worried about Petra, who seems to be looking at her feet and not responding much to those around her until she explodes into her mission talk.  

Riku looks at Petra oddly but keeps a smile on his face so that nobody thinks anything is wrong.  Of course, nothing is wrong; probably, she might just be nervous.  That's fine, it's usual to be nervous before an operation, especially one with an abnormality.  He's completely wrong about this, but he's not privy to anything else going on in Petra's life right now.  

"So... she explodes people into spiders and plays tricks on them.  It's good-natured tricks, but the exploding into spiders thing seems to be a uh... fast way to lose friends," he says aloud, to nobody in particular.  Though when they go inside the book, it's a bit disorienting at first.  Then the scene reveals itself to Riku.  It looks storybook at first, until he looks up at the horror smile in the sky.  

"Right... innocent..." he reminds himself.  He starts walking after everyone else, shaking his head and keeping his eyes on the grass and the cottage ahead.
Petra Soroka "It is... troublesome, yes, to have an acquaintance who truly cannot help but exert dangerous powers against others present."

    "Mhm," Petra agrees noncommitally. Tamamo's arrival especially causes Petra to tense up and exhibit more nervous energy, fidgeting and shifting her eyes away.

"She's innocent in the truest sense of the word."

    "Yeah. I don't think she even really understands that exploding people into spiders kills them. I think she just gets... jealous. Love wasn't born 'innocent', but I wouldn't say they're that different. Just on opposite sides of the spectrum."

"Or... since her story is about having friends to prank, do you think that house is full of..."

    Petra leaves Audrey's question hanging for a while, but when it becomes clear that Angela isn't going to answer for her, Petra reluctantly speaks up. "She talks about how she used to live somewhere with lots of friends. And she calls her fucked up spiders her friends too. So, I'd keep an eye out for spiders in the woods, or maybe inside the cabin."

    The black trees creak in the windless air of the forest, unchangingly dense all the way out to the horizon. Petra keeps an eye out, but there's no sign of any kind of life at all within the woods as you go up the hill, much less the vivid monsters that Laetitia summoned in L-Corp. Eventually she thinks to say, to Kukuru, White, and Tamamo, "Between the curses, the exploding, and the spiders, I think we'll especially be relying on you. She's sort of a 'witch'-type-- her Abno nickname was just 'Little Witch'-- so even if she doesn't see your spider clones as replacements for hers, she might like them."

    Approaching the cabin, a faint music box song becomes audible, slowly limping to a discordant stop timed with when the door is opened. Inside is a singular room, practically like a child's bedroom, filled with cushions and scattered toys everywhere, with a bed pushed into a corner behind a yellow and black hazard line. It's a mishmash between cute childhood aesthetics and the fairytale horror of outside, with the cushions being shaped like plucked-out eyes and many of the toys being beheaded or otherwise maimed, or just being spiders and cockroaches and lizards.
Petra Soroka     Laetitia herself is a girl no taller than three feet, with porcelain skin and a red doll-like dress covered in bows and lace. She's got a puffball mushroom hat with a biiiig red and black ribbon and two jangling bells. Her innocently wide eyes face in two different directions, and she moves with clockwork jerkiness and clicking, head tilting side to side erratically like a wind-up toy. Her expression is subdued, lips parted in a teeny surprised 'o' as her head jerks back and forth, before she smiles shyly.

    "O-O-O-O-O-Oh, you mu-mu-mu-mu-must be new friends from that old ho-ho-ho-horrible place. I-I-I-I'm back home now, so we can come pl-pl-pl-play and smile all we want with all my friends. Come i-i-in and pl-play!"

    While Laetitia jankily totters around the cabin, Petra crosses her arms and stays by the door, but her tense expression eases up some. "Hey, Laetitia. We were actually friends before actually, remember me? Petra? Or Kukuru, or Roland, who came to visit you recently?"

    Laetitia airily ignores her, hinging over at the hip to pick up and shake around some toys that drip with a worrying red fluid. "Yayayayay! Lots and lots and lots of fr-fr-fr-friends to make this place suuuuper duper lively! We're all gonna laugh to-to-together and have lots and lots of fun! Did you hear that, Prickeare? Friends...."

    "Sit down, sit down!" At Laetitia's urging, she directs you towards a pile of heart cushions, but when one person steps on them or sits down, they all explode into a shower of floating cartoon hearts and eyes that swirl around the Elites. Magical sparkles glimmer as everyone's shrunk down, smaller and smaller until they're the same scale as all the other toys scattered around the room.

    Laetitia finds this absolutely *hilarious* apparently. She falls to her back and thrashes her legs in uncanny kicks while unsteadily laughing. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hahaha! Now we can play! We can play together!"
Audrey Basque     Tamamo can rest absolutely assured she's not getting eye contact from Audrey either. The signature Dejected Look Of Shame, spiced up with an all-too-gentle drop of hostility that means essentially nothing from this particular source. It bleeds a bit into Audrey's greetings; or, well, explains the lack thereof. There's no hellos or wave-backs, not even for Kukuru. Audrey's either checked out, or dead-set on focusing on nothing but the task.

    Mostly, Petra gets some acknowledgement when she answers the question with an affirmative that there's going to be spiders, probably. Which was kind of a given, but it never hurts to double and triple check.

    The cabin door opens, slowly...

    Audrey braces, and...

    It's just a cute doll.

    There's no... webs. No signs of eight-legged friends. She's-- janky, but not concerning, and that's a huge relief!

    She hesitates when urged to sit down, expecting the cushion to be trapped, but visually it doesn't seem... well it doesn't seem deadly! So she sits, perhaps even first. This is terrible, because there's a heartful explosion, weird eyes, and now she's tiny?! Or everything else is huge?

    She wonders if she could (or should) adjust the cabin's size to match theirs, but it wouldn't solve the issue of Laetitia being a towering giant for them now. So instead she hesitantly asks the doll:

    "What would you like to play?"

    Just remember the briefing! She's friendly, and just wants to play. Forget she can explode you into spiders.

    Audrey experimentally walks towards one of the toys she's now the same size as. The dripping red fluid coming out of it sure is a lot more obvious than it was before. Please just be an artistic thing like the sky and not something much worse.
Angela "I hope Harriet won't be lonely while I'm gone." Angela says. "I haven't danced with her at all today." She glances sidelong towards White's open eyes, wondering what she's thinking, though she doesn't stare. She doesn't want to make her uncomfortable.

Roland seems to be completely non-spidered but he does frown just upon seeing Sarracenia, though he doesn't have any WORDS to say about anything, apparently. He doesn't offer to shake her hand, certainly. Angela doesn't quite understand why Roland of all people dislikes her so much but she supposes that he does seem generally upset about the privileged class so it's not exactly out of character.

''At least Love has a sense of morality--''

"She is in a way quite like her though." Angela says. "Both in the sense that it will be difficult to know for sure if she's ready to make a life for herself out of the book and in the sense she's likely one of the few who could. At least as humanity in this world stands today."

She gives a nod to Tamamo. "She certainly won't come at us with a knife."

''MIster Roland, you have recovered, it seems.''

Roland takes neutrality as hostility and says, "Don't be weird." Roland says. "She's a kid."

He is a little worried if Kukuru can put people back together from 'spiders' and he doesn't want to think about it like what if she leaves a spider in there or something...

''Fast way to lose friends.''

"That is how it is for some people." Angela says.

''I wouldn't say they're that different.''

Angela gives Petra a smile too. "You know them as well as I do at this point." But she isn't answering about the spiders. "I will endeavour to not act in a manner that explodes me because I am not sure what that would do to everyone else." She adds.

Roland has learned to be even friendlier than he was the first time, "Of course, kiddo!" He smiles broadly. "Happy to get to play with you again. Let's see.." His eyes are directed towards a pile of heart cushions. "Oh story telling time or...maybe....tea? I heard kids do that--" He moves to shit down. AND THEN EXPLODES INTO

GRADE NINE ACTION FIXER ROLAND

Well no he actually has just gotten tiny.

"Ah." Roland says. "Well this is new. So uh. What do you want to play?"

Angela gives tiny Audrey a nod before sitting down on a cushion herself. "We are ready to play." Angela says like volunteering for a mission.
White Hearing again that Laetitia is not just 'a spider' but a girl who likes spiders is- Well. White had been wary when she knew less, since she knows better than most how spiders tend to be about competitors in their space. It's nice to know that there's more common ground than she anticipated, even if they'll still think differently in other ways. She keeps an eye out for spiders in the woods as requested, but finding nothing out there at all... Well, it's a story. Not every character gets lines, and if they're not described they aren't there at all, right? That's what she assumes is the case at least.

     The music that they hear while approaching the cabin itself is... *almost* nice. White is trying to prime herself to feel charitably, and set aside some of the uncanny aspects of this book-world as best she can. Reminding herself that she keeps company with a bratty vampire, and the literal overlord of all spiders in her world is her grandma (loosely). She really has quite a lot of experience with things like this, but it's the small details like the discordance in the song as it comes to a stop that keep her slightly south of comfortable. She's probably not the very first person through the door, but she's also likely not the last (She's being relied upon after all!), and finally getting a look at Laetitia herself ends up being a net positive for White's mood.

Sure, she's a little... Odd. But there's a charm there too, like a character someone would make for some kind of Halloween-themed movie.

     So, she greets Laetitia with a little bow, and a careful curtsy to match. She's about to offer her name, but when Petra ends up snubbed White gets distracted thinking about that instead, looking at Petra searchingly. This distraction happens to coincide with everyone being shrunk down, which is yet another very new kind of experience for White... And not one that helps her nerves much. She doesn't like being small! Her name was 'Tiny Spider' for too long! And looking at those toys... She can already imagine a few ways this can go wrong.

     Well, might as well try to make the best of it. She can't call her usual spiders from her sleeve so easily here, so she has to settle for making the pocket-portal appear beside herself, and summoning one of her reserve agents to skitter out into the open... Whereupon she hops up onto its back to sit side-saddle while it carries her around like an exotic steed. Spiders make surprisingly good mounts, really- very stable- but more importantly it gives her the vibe of some kind of variant ultra-rare pull of herself in a game. Something you only get during a limited window, during an event maybe. So like... Don't try to pull her head off, yeah? You'll devalue her!
Riku Asakura The cabin gives Riku the creeps.  It's the bipolar nature of cute innocence and innocent horror that fills the place that causes him to shudder as he first comes in.  It's distracting enough that he misses the underlying tension in the room between people.  However, the person who showed up was not the one he was expecting.  Laetitia is a sweet-looking young girl, dressed in pink with bells in her hair.  

If not for the studdering and jerkiness in her motions, he wouldn't even know she was an abnormality.  She offers them to sit, and Riku takes her up on her offer.  Sitting down on the heart-shaped pillow, only for it to explode in hearts and swirly bits and shrink Riku down to the size of a doll.  

"Oh wow, I never have shrunk before.  I usually only get big," he says, momentarily atonished.  He looks around at everything so much larger than he is, and he looks up, now, at the larger Laetitia.  "Alright, what do you want to play?  Though I find it easier to play at my normal height," he offers, looking at himself again.  

"I'd like to meet your friends too!" he says up at her with a big, stupid smile.  Putting away the horror aspects for the moment and trying to focus on the little girl before them.  
Tamamo     "Yes," Tamamo says, though it's a slow, uncertain agreement with reservations, "it is good to have you with us for such an outing, Ms. Kukuru. Although, it is necessary that we teach the subject of today's outing such habits as will not require your ultimate techniques to remedy. There are rather few who can survive..." here she glances briefly at White, "becoming several spiders."

    They walk along. Tamamo tries humming the music box tune, but can't predict it well enough to match the way it slows. She doesn't visibly notice Petra and Audrey being weird about her presence, even if that's just politeness on her part. Today is about other problematic relationships.

    "Oh, hello. You are little miss Laetitia, yes? You may call me Tamamo." Tamamo, finding a child-sized doll, lowers herself as her impressively tall geta allows, coming much closer to eye level while Laetitia is still jerking-tottering toward them. "This is our first meeting. I like your bells." The smile is sincere. She does like them.

    This exchange needing time to take place, she is not the first to go sit down. Instead, she finds herself standing back up as...

    'Oh wow, I never have shrunk before.'

    "Is it not that everything else has become larger? That would be far simpler to accomplish." Tamamo says that like it's perfectly sensible and only a little far from obvious. "If we have been shrunk down, I could remove that particular binding. If the story is one of a giant doll, I could not."

    'Oh story telling time or...maybe....tea?'

    "Oh, what a good idea. I do have tea, here."

    Tamamo sits on the floor to bring out several cups and a thermos from up her sleeve. Of course, they're only to her present size, including one she offers to Laetitia.
Angela EARLIER

"Oh I mean, technically I died, but it's fine. I mean. Kids will be kids, right?" Roland asides to Tamamo. "I'm fine now, so there wasn't any harm done."

He seems unusually chill about being exploded into spiders honestly...
Sarracenia      'I'm glad... It was helpful.'

     Sarra smiles happily as the compliment is accepted. "It was! And what is more is that you were willing to help -me-!" Sarra says, as if no one ever helps her of their own accord.

     'Though it is terribly early to know whether the offerings made will properly last, I do expect, as of now, that all will be well.'

     Sarra smiles cheerfully. "That is wonderful! If I can be of any further help to them please let me know~"

     'It's important to be careful around her, mhm. If she starts getting... Mm. Antsy? I'll be ready to step in and keep her from feeling lonely so everyone else can move around more more freely.'
     'We'll be okay even if the pranks hurt a little. I'm here.'

     While Sarra knows that they are safe from any lasting harm with Kukuru around, the thought of needing that style of safety just...does not quite feel the same after the war. Still, Sarra forces a slight smile. "We trust you, Miss Kukuru."

     'It's good-natured tricks, but the exploding into spiders thing seems to be a uh... fast way to lose friends.'

     Sarra offers a friendly bow to Riku when he arrives, but as he speaks up she shakes her head lightly. "It sounds as though even before one has burst into spiders, one has already been declared a lost friend."

     'Don't be weird. She's a kid.'

     Sarra blinks, then frowns. "What is it with you people? I am perfectly decent around children. I have never harmed a..." She pauses. Does Meika count? What about the magical girls she's fought in the past? "...child..." she finishes.

     'She is in a way quite like her though. Both in the sense that it will be difficult to know for sure if she's ready to make a life for herself out of the book and in the sense she's likely one of the few who could. At least as humanity in this world stands today.'

     Sarra hmms, then nods lightly. "...But...how do we teach her how to empathize with others?"

     They enter the cabin, and Sarra blinks in surprise. It is...mostly fine? Sure, the toys have been tortured or are just unusual for toys, but Sarra ripped the heads off of plenty of her stuffed animals when she was a child.

     That Petra is ignored is not lost on Sarra. She raises an eyebrow. Perhaps Petra is already considered a lost friend? Audrey takes a seat when offered and suddenly...hearts and sparkles! Sarra flinches in surprise before realizing what they are. She smiles as she watches them flow about, then blinks and looks around. "Are we...shrinking?" she gasps, then as they reach their final height she sighs before giggling. "This is just like when one of those poison mushrooms gets mixed in with the super mushrooms."

     Others ask what they should play, but Sarra hmms as she looks at their size compared to the toys. "Excuse me, Laetitia." she says, then looks up again. She twirls in place, her dress billowing out elegantly, then curtseys properly. "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom. I am happy to be your friend!" she says, then stands straight again. "And as a new friend I find myself curious. How are we to play with toys that are roughly our size?"
Kukuru "Little Witch..." Kukuru repeats after Petra, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully before letting out another pleased noise. "How cute... Hehe. Well, I'll be counting on you two plenty for handling the curses and spiders, then." She nods towards White and Tamamo while swirling her finger in the air idly, a thin green trail of nanites following it before fading back into her hand.

"I will endeavour to not act in a manner that explodes me because I am not sure what that would do to everyone else."
"becoming several spiders."
"We trust you, Miss Kukuru."

"That's good... I'd be sad if you blew up, Ange, even after fixing you back up. I could probably figure soooomething out even if you did, or if someone became spiders, but..." Kukuru can already feel some of that anxiety hitting her as Tamamo gives her a more vivid idea of what could happen. Trying to fight back the urge to be too protective, she just gives Angela's arm a gentle nudge and giggles softly at Sarracenia's comment. "Of course. Just try not to blow up into toooo many spiders, okay?"

The only thing that really bugs Kukuru at all so far is the sound of the music box, not because of the music box itself, but because of the strange tone of it. Thankfully, it doesn't bother her for too much longer once it stops, giving her horns a rest from the noise and her eyes a chance to really absorb what she's seeing.

Also, who. Recognizing the face of the Abnormality before her, Kukuru's smile widens as she appraoches Laetitia and squats besides her to hold her arms out. "He-llo, Laetitiaaa. Mhm, mhm, we're new friends here! You don't...?" She trails off while letting her lack of response to Petra's question speak for itself. She doesn't let that get her too down, though, as Kukuru eyes those strange toys Laetitia fiddles about with. "Oh, those are neat little dolls there... Prickeare, was it? Where'd you find them, dear?"

Getting back up to follow Laetitia to the pile of cushions, she sends a little cloud of healing nanites towards the drippy doll just to see what, if anything, will happen to it. She watches the doll curiously for a moment, too, before settling into the cushions and marveling at the shower of hearts and eyes. She even claps, clearly amused by the display, then titls her head slowly while things around her seem to be getting even bigger.

"I usually only get big,"

"Right? Oh, that's really a neat ability... Did you come up with this yourself, Laetitia? How's it all work?" She asks while chuckling lightly at Riku, then settles into the now-massive cushion. As she does, she slowly goes wide-eyed as she starts to realize something: This could open up a whole new world of sleep for her.  That has Kukuru's smile widening even more as she lets herself just melt into the giant cushion, perhaps relaxing a bit too much considering everything else around her.
Petra Soroka > BEFORE TINY-MODE
"Both in the sense that it will be difficult to know for sure if she's ready to make a life for herself out of the book and in the sense she's likely one of the few who could."

    Trudging up the hill, Petra weakly smiles at the idea of Laetitia improving as much as Love has. Compared to early on when they met and Petra was organizing hunting squads to capture her, Love's now one of Petra's close friends. "Well... she'll probably stay a kid forever even if everything goes perfect. Maybe she could go back and forth between the Library and Hydrochoeria like Love does."

> TINY MODE

"Oh wow, I never have shrunk before. I usually only get big,"

    Petra instinctively swivels towards Riku like she's doing to scold him for saying something weird, but then she hesitates and thinks about it. "That... I think that's true for me too. How is this the first time I've been turned tiny? I wonder if summoning the Beauty of Ash would bring it out at full size?"

    At this height, the carpet is like dense waist-high grass, but there's a spot to wade out of it on a blanket Laetitia's laid out for her toys. Along with the Elites, there's dolls that seem to be flayed skinless, which were the ones dripping red fluid-- oily, like hydraulic fluid rather than blood-- and multicolored spiders covered in eyes. Petra, recognizing the spiders as the same monsters that roamed L-Corp, immediately reaches for her hip for a weapon, and then pauses.

    "... Oh. They're... not moving. I guess they're just dolls?" There's other ones too, like silly multicolored frogs, or dolls with extra arms grafted on, or little edgy sanrio-type mosnters. Petra chews the inside of her lip and remarks, "... It's some Sid from Toy Story style, stuff."

    To experiment, Petra pulls out her compact mirror, and scrambles across toy blocks a short ways until it feels like she won't squish anyone if the Beauty of Ash comes out at full size. Breaking the mirror results in the typical enveloping geyser of glass, clicking into place around her to form the Beauty of Ash... at about twelve inches tall, like a little gunpla version of itself. It tik-tiks around on top of the block, pacing in a circle, but then Petra evidently decides that this is a fine situation, since she's still toy-size.
Petra Soroka     Laetitia rolls over onto her stomach, kicking her feet with ratcheting-cl-cl-click noises in her knees. She reaches out one big hand for Audrey first, nabbing her and then clumsily patting her head with her entire doll-like palm. "Friends, friends, fr-fr-fr-friends.... You're asking me what I wanna play first? That's soooo nice... wh-wh-wh-wh-what should I play first? Oh! Oh oh oh!"

"Oh, what a good idea. I do have tea, here."

    Laetitia takes the itty bitty teacup between two fingers with an awestuck expression, both of her eyes focusing on the same target for the first time. Her painted-on lips gasp very very softly. "Teatime! We can play teat-t-t-t-time--"

    A jerk of her internal gears causes her fingers to spasm and crush the teacup, shattering it into little pieces. She frowns at this for a moment, and then drops her arm down and sweeps everyone into a pile on the blanket to gather them together. She hums to herself, not remarking on the mistake. "Teatime, teatime, tea party... oh...!"

"I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom. I am happy to be your friend!"

    "A princess!!" She roughly grabs Sarracenia and pushes her into a kind of spooky-looking dollhouse chair, and slides that at the head of a table with a gothic teaset on top, cups and saucers patterned with spider webs. Tamamo is placed at the table next to a big stuffed mouse with only one button eye, the one that Laetitia referred to as Prickeare, with Kukuru on the opposite side of her with a colorful spider next to her. Roland and Riku are given cutesy little hats and dropped on top of a cardboard box. Moving around up there is unstable, and they can hear an unnerving susurrus from underneath the cardboard flap. White and the Beauty of Ash are tossed into a pile of haunted-looking stuffies by Laetitia's side, and given fond little pats that squash them both down beneath the surface.

    Busying herself with setting up the tea party, Laetitia says, on the matter of the other toys, "They're my friends! And you're my friends n-n-n-now. So now you can't ever l-l-leave me!"

    When Laetitia picks up one of the spiders and starts bouncing it around like it's a doll walking across the blanket, it suddenly comes to life and thrashes its legs. She lets it go, and the spider runs around wildly near the table, dozens of eyes looking frantically in every direction at once. White feels something shifting and squirming in the pile of plushies that she's been invited into, and Tamamo gets a reciprocal teacup smushed up against her face to make her drink.

    Laetitia pours Angela some tea, but what comes out instead is... "It's bugs! Ehehehehehe! You've been praaaaanked! Grosss, dr-dr-drink ittt!"
Audrey Basque     Audrey is nabbed! And... given a headpat.

    This is an immensely better position than especially Angela and White seem to be in, so Audrey is definitely not going to complain. Her hair getting fuzzy and her drills getting a bit messy is an acceptable casualty.

    "Well, of course. We came to see you, so it's natural we let you decide first. Would you let us make suggestions too, afterwards?"

    Audrey, idly reaching into her pockets, pulls out... a Playbrick.

    It is tiny, like her.
    That's problematic.

    "Do you know what video games are, Laetitia? They're these little--" She indicates the Playbrick. "Things, and you can play games with other people using them. There's music, and moving images, and sometimes there's games that are all about pranks, and you can play with people who aren't even in the same place as you. You can even message them. It takes a bit of practice, but if you get really good at it, it's like having infinite friends and they're always around."

    It's worth a shot!

    "Oh, but if you want to try this one you'll want to make it all big again so you can grab it."

    She makes sure to load up a relevant game on it first. Something Home Alone-esque and all about setting up funny traps around a house. Relevant! Themed! Maybe they can teach her that pranking people in video games is much safer and okay. As long as it's not Fortnite. Or a Monopoly-like.
Riku Asakura Riku turns to look at Petra, who looks like she's about to say something to him, only for her to change her mind and say something else.  "I have no idea... I wonder if I transform, if I'll have the ability to grow back to full size or not.  Guess it's not important right now as it is to help Laetitia," he says with a smile.  

Though his eyes turn towards what Petra is looking at, and he reaches for the Fusion Riser as Petra reaches for her gun.  Though pausing as she does to realize the spiders are just dolls.  He takes in a sigh of relief at this and nods once to Petra.  "Just dolls..." he says and takes a similar look around the area.  "This is something alright..." he says to everyone.  Once more, feeling uneasy at what Laetitia considers fun.  

Picked up and placed on the cardboard box with Roland, he looks down at the top of the box and wobbles uneasily on its surface.  The hat is ignored because he's been forced into mascot uniforms before, so a cutesy hat is nothing.  He reaches out for Roland to help him to the edge of the cardboard box.  

"What is in the box?" He asks, not towards anyone, but Laetitia may answer before anyone else.  Her answers to his question hurt his heart, though.  She seems so lonely, only to have dolls for friends and not have real friends to help her stay happy.  "You know, sometimes friends have to go home too, right?  
Angela ''Maybe she could go back and forth between the Library and Hydrochoeria''

Angela imagines Laetitia cursing Aidan to explode into squirrels and then considers that this will effectively force Aidan to stick around. No, best she not entertain such thoughts. "Perhaps..." Angela murmurs. She'd prefer if all the Abnormalities could just be free but she's not so much enough of a maniac that she wants the utter mayhem that would be released if they just were let go. Eventually she might need to. She's not sure if being able to leave the Library permanently means losing her EGO along with it. But she'll cross that bridge later.

Roland isn't going to continue his conversation with SArracenia in front of Laetitia. And Angela doesn't get a CHANCE to answer Sarracenia's question before it's Laetitia time. That's LobCorp for you! ... That's the Library for you!

She also doesn't get a chance to answer Kukuru's relief but she can pat her on the shoulder to reassure her twofold.

''How is this the first time I've turned tiny.''

"I am glad we're giving everybody grand new experiences with our new friend." Angela says, stoic as ever but clearly willing to play into the bit they're here to play.

It's actually intriguing to Angela that the roaming spider minion is a toy here. Perhaps the real spider minions are inside the toy? She thinks about this for a moment, studying to see if anything wiggles inside the doll.

"I don't believe Tennant ever showed Toy Story. Perhaps I should check it out." She will probably take some offense with the 'YOU ARE A TOY' message. She has feelings about stories like that.

''Teatime,teatime, tea party...''

"Ah...careful! You don't want to cut yourself!" Roland says, his inner parent-to-be showing perhaps. He reaches out with his hand but she's already cleaning it up. "Maybe I can help?"

Angela glances towards Roland, concerned, but ultimately Laetitia draws her attention back. "Oh lovely, thank you for the cup of--"

But she was already pouring her a brimming glass of spiders.

"Ah ha ha," Angela says. "You got me."

She's told to drink it but she's not going to actually drink bugs. Instead she mimes drinking the spiders like one would do at a tea party. The spiders end up crawling past the rim of the cup and onto Angela, walking across her face with their tiny little insectoid legs.

"Delicious....And gross." Angela says as a spider walks traipses across her eye. Angela doesn't even blink as it does so.
Kukuru "How is this the first time I've been turned tiny?"

"Really?" Kukuru pauses to consider that, then hums softly. "Huh... I thought it would've happened a few more times by now, yeeeah. Maybe we should ask Shinmyoumaru about that some time. That could be a neat way to train..." She murmurs, still giggling lightly at the comfort of barely even sinking into that giant cushion.

Alas, she can't relax too much, and she takes a moment to get a better look at those dolls now that they're so much bigger compared to before. The skinless dols and eye-covered spiders have her jolting up briefly as well, then lets out a relieved sigh when Petra confirms that they're not moving.

As Kukuru covers her mouth for a yawn, she's swept right off her feet by Laetitia's big teatime gathering. She takes it all with about as much gravity she gives to anything else that isn't immediately dangerous, of course, just finishing her yawn before settling into a content little chuckle at the chanting. "Teatime, teatime, tea party, teatime..." She follows along while clapping her hands lightly, peering around at the table gathering.

"My my... You've got so many lovely little friends here, Laetitia. It doesn't sound so bad staying here, mhm..." Kukuru purses her lips lightly as she starts to notice that there's a common thread between all of these dolls, looking around slowly to see if there's any kind of dolls larger than Laetitia's arm lying around.

Seeing that spider starting to scurry about, Kukuru giggles again while reaching over to pat the spider besides herself idly. "Feisty, feisty... Where's that friend from, anyway? I haven't seen anything like that one befooore." She lies, having totally seen spiders before and trying very hard not to look directly at White in that pile.

Good thing there's teacups to sip from. Kukuru doesn't even check to see if there's bugs or even liquid in it before drinking/pretending to drink. Noticing Angela getting spiders on her face, Kukuru nonchalantly taps on the side of her saucer once, creating a pair of small teleportation clouds linking her saucer and Angela's. Now there's somewhere convenient to dump the spiders if Angela opts to!
White Well, this is kind of a mess isn't it? White isn't accustomed to being *handled* like this, but she does her best to go along with where she's being swept and moved to. She's a tough girl, and she can adjust her position to keep away from Laetitia's joints somewhat- she doesn't want to get jerkily squished like that teacup, after all. Given how Petra's own summon came out tiny as well, her own spider probably didn't come out as big as she expected either, so instead of riding on its back like a glorious steed she's just kind of holding it between one arm and her chest like a stuffed animal when everyone's swept into a heap. White is quick to get her footing again and escape the impromptu pile with a little cricket-hop across the carpet (she needs her personal space!) but she isn't fully fleeing... Which means she's still close enough that moving her again isn't hard, given she's not actively fighting back. She does, unfortunately, trend slightly toward 'soggy cat being scruffed' in demeanor as this happens though. If it weren't a cute kid treating her like this she'd probably be acting out a bit...

     There are problems, though, as there often are. Being squished down into the plushy-pile doesn't hinder her too much- she actually wonders if she should make some huge plushies for her bed- but more importantly there's something squirming around under her, and Angela's being PRANKED! Oh no! The best thing White can do right now is throw her little summoned spider like a softball from the plushy-pile before she's buried, aiming for it to land nearby Angela so that White still has an active line of sight on the teacup. If it's actually bugs and not play-pretend, White conjures a little portal between the teacup and Angela's mouth; she's still trying to help Angela have good food, she's not about to let her drink(?) bugs!! The portal just leads into her pocket-space with her other 'agents' who... Are less worthy of dietary defense than Angela. And also they're spiders anyway, so nobody should bat an eye if they could see it at all. If it's *everyone* getting served bugs, White will try to do her best to spare others that same fate too, but the heirarchy there is very clear from the start: Angela, then Tamamo, then everyone else... Except, well, Angela has already bravely taken another road. Eww.

Once that's handled, White has to avert her attention downward to try and see through the cotton and fabric at whatever's moving beneath her. She's not getting snuck up on by something with nibbly intentions; if it seems dangerous she can just teleport the critter outside, if she needs to. She's trying not to get violent with Laetitia's friends, at least... And it isn't like White's voice is going to be any more audible when she's at such a small size. She might as well be mute, now.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia has a flashback to Exigent Serenity as she is grabbed up and pushed into the dollhouse chair. It leaves her panting a bit panickedly with a hand resting on her chest to try and calm herself as she watches the others end up in their various places. Her one good eye flicks about the room while her breathing slowly comes back under control. "Y-yes! I am a princess." she says, trying to get a smile back on her face. "But, I am not a doll, dear. You should be careful how you handle a princess. Or, any of your friends that can move on their own. It would be much less fun to play with your new friends if they were hurt in some way, would it not?"

     'They're my friends! And you're my friends n-n-n-now. So now you can't ever l-l-leave me!'

     Sarra nearly leaps out of her chair when that now giant spider starts skittering about. She lets out a nervous laugh and tries to smile at Laetitia. "There is a difference between a friend which is an inanimate toy and a friend who is a living creature. Especially if that creature is a person."

     When Angela gets some bug tea, Sarra shudders lightly. "Erm...Laetitia, sweetie...pranks are fine, but if you are pranking a friend you really should not use anything too gross. What if instead of actual bugs your teapot contained...candy bugs! It would be surprising but still sweet and fun for your friends, and perhaps most importantly your friends could drink it without getting sick. You do not want your friends to get sick, do you?" As she is talking, Sarra picks up her cup and (after checking to make sure it does not contain bugs or anything else) she also takes pretend sips.

     As Audrey suggests a video game, Sarra considers other games. "Ah! Once you are finished playing with Audrey, perhaps you would like to play dress up? I keep a marvelous collection of outfits with me at nearly all times." Sarra reaches into her purse and pulls out...a Princess Crown! Which is very tiny compared to Laetitia. "Place this upon your head, and you will be magically dressed up in a lovely princess outfit! What fun it would be to have two princesses at this tea party~"
Tamamo     "Oh, dear," says Tamamo, when her cup is broken. It's only a travel cup, not fine china, so she's not too truly put out by it, but that's not the point.

    "Did I give you one that was too fragile?" She didn't. It was obviously Laetitia's fault, but coming at it from the other side is in line with what she was saying earlier.

    "Oh! Oh, my! I have hardly ever been so handled." Her reaction to being dollhandled is notably stronger, though she'd rather be at a tea table than in the lush carpet, anyway. She only gets more concerned when the spider-thing comes to life, with two fingers easing up her opposite sleeve to be ready with a talisman... which she puts away again.

    Her expression with the cup being pushed up against her face is purely thoughtful. "Hoh... I wonder..." Cheek-smush. "Many have said, 'I wish to learn to make friends,' for making friends is a skill that can be practiced. To gain a skill, one must learn and grow. When the Magical Girl of Love came to the wider world, whether she would become 'true' depended on this, that she could become more than she was." Smush-smush.

    Tamamo takes the cup with a, "Thank you, dear." She mimes drinking the completely empty play cup with both hands, then sets it down. "To learn, one must remember. Such was what that Girl of Love could not do, before a miracle occurred. She ever forgot what it was she had done." Tamamo gets out another of her cups, pours more tea into it, and carefully affixes a talisman to the side, bringing the ceramic blessings of strength and fortune. Again, she offers it up to Laetitia.

    "Careful, now. There are only so many teacups, just as there only so many close friends. One could only acquire more by leaving."
Petra Soroka     Laetitia grabs the Playbrick out of Audrey's hands the moment it's shown to her, cluelessly mashing all the buttons at once by poking it with one oversized finger. In general, her demeanor seems to be a lot like an undersocialized 6-8 year old child, so when her interest in the weird little console isn't immediately piqued, she starts getting frustrated and poking it harder. Then she pauses and remembers Tamamo's earlier concern.

    "Oh..." She pinches the Playbrick between her fingers and clumsily shoves it back into Audrey's hands. "That one's t-t-t-t-too fragile,")] Laetitia explains to Audrey, using the exact opposite logic of blame as Tamamo.

"I am glad we're giving everybody grand new experiences with our new friend."

    From deep within the plushie-mountain, Petra's telepathic broadcast responds, idly chattering with the psychic impression of the spine-tensing, heat-itching stress that always comes along with her telepathy, but with an additional 'bouncy' feeling like she's enjoying herself despite her mood. <Honestly, this is the sort of 'new experience' that's actually totally awesome. Everyone thinks turning really small is fun, right? You ever seen a mouse running around in a silly little maze and be like, 'wow, I wish that was'-- Ah!!! Snake!>

    Petra's psychic yelp gets cut off with a shattering sensation, and the plushie-pile's squirming increases enough to be visible on the outside. The Beauty of Ash shoots up out of it, followed a second later by a snake lunging out to just barely fall short of biting it. White sees a second snake uncoiling and slithering through the squishy obstacle course towards her.

    While the Beauty of Ash buzzes around trying to avoid the snake, Laetitia giggles and claps her hands in delight, clacking together like ceramic. "Ahahaha!! Go, go!" She stumbles to her feet and tries lunging after the Beauty of Ash too, tag-teaming with the snake.

"Feisty, feisty... Where's that friend from, anyway?"

    Laetitia seems absolutely thrilled to be asked a question about herself, and leaves Petra alone to come clockwork-waddling back to the table, looming over Kukuru and the spider. "That's one of m-my friends from ho-ho-home! That's Elimanzer, and that's Sa-Sa-Sa-Sathan, and that's Pyewacket, and that's Prickeare, and they're allll my friends."

    The Beauty of Ash pauses, hovering in the air for a second. <She used to talk about how her 'home' was full of friends that she wasn't able to take to L-Corp. Did she just mean the bugs and dolls...?> Her wondering is cut off with another yelp when the snake nabs the mech's leg and drags her back down to the ground.

    Seeing the Beauty of Ash get harrassed has apparently riled Laetitia up though, because she totters over to the box that Riku and Roland are on. She grabs them in her doll-jointed fists, and without their weight on top, it bursts open with a swarm of flying cockroaches. While carrying the pair of them somewhere else, she half-confides and half-scolds, "You di-di-didn't fall for my prank. That means you're very cl-cl-cl-clever, but it's no fun to be frowns all the time! Everyone at that place is always so gloomy!"
Petra Soroka     They're plopped down at a dilapidated dollhouse, where Kukuru and White (once she pokes up out of the pile) are soon forced to join them. Laetitia scrambles in a kitchen playset for a minute before producing several tiny cauldrons of actual boiling oil, along with little catapults, placing them on top of the dollhouse's parapets(?).

    "Now, you've got to de-de-defend your home from the big scary invaders! They've got torches and pitchforks and they're go-go-going to force you to leave and run away! And..."

"Place this upon your head, and you will be magically dressed up in a lovely princess outfit!"

    Laetitia snatches the tiny crown and puts it on top of a flying cockroach instead, which poofs into a frilly pink princess dress around its horrible skittery abdomen. Sarracenia is given a position of authority over the dollhouse, at the veeery top of the roof behind a catapult she can use. "...And they're led by the Princess Cockroach! She's gonna co-co-conquer it!"

    She puts her fingers up to her mouth and blows like she's whistling, but instead, it emits the same music box notes as before and jingles her bells. This causes the horse-sized cockroaches to swarm towards the Elites... though they can't do much but smack into them.

"To learn, one must remember. Such was what that Girl of Love could not do, before a miracle occurred."

    Tamamo is spared from this fate and remains alone at the tea party (along with some spiders and stuffed rats). Laetitia seems to have been subconsciously convinced to be less violent playing with her, or maybe just senses that she's a more tea party-suited toy than a 'smashing action figures together' kind of toy. Laetitia sits down crosslegged and plants her palms between her legs, head jittering sideways as her cross-eyes mostly watch the ongoing battle.

    "But I do-do-don't like learning. It's b-boring... and I'm always s-s-s-so bored already... but now you're here to play with me! It's the best d-day e-ever!"

"There are only so many teacups, just as there only so many close friends. One could only acquire more by leaving."

    Having been offered a *second* teacup, Laetitia delicately takes it, exceedingly careful not to break it a second time. She tries to clink it against Tamamo's teacup before drinking, but a gear-twitch causes her wrist to spasm and spill the tea, so she just mimes drinking out of it very seriously. "But o-ou-outside is where people g-go when they ha-hate me and want to leave... I d-don't like goodbyes. C-can't we just stay? I'll be more careful. I won't break it again. I pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-promise."
Riku Asakura Riku is grabbed by the clockwork girl and scolded for not falling for her prank.  Oops.  "Aw, I didn't mean to be gloomy, I was just afraid of what was in the box..." and it turns out that he was right to be afraid.  It was cockroaches.  Placed down at the dollhouse, Riku stumbles for a moment as Petra is flying away from a snake.  

'...And they're led by the Princess Cockroach! She's gonna co-co-conquer it!'

"Okay, now it's time to transform," he brings out the Fusion Riser.  "I go!" he says and snaps a capsule from its holder and activates it.  "You go!" he does this again.  This time it's the capsule for Ultraman Belilal.  "Here we go!" he brings the Fusion Riser across each capsule.  "It's time to get Ready.  GEEEEEEEEEEED!" he shouts and starts glowing from the white energy pouring from him.  

Moments later, a much larger Ultraman Geed rises from the dollhouse against the cockroaches.  He stomps on them, pile drives them, and generally gets involved in fisticuffs with the invading cockroaches.  

Still, their point was Laetitia, not the pranks she would pull on them.  "Don't you want your friends to be happy too?  If we can't leave, we can't see our friends and family.  We'll visit and play with you, too, but we have things to protect and love as well."
Angela Angela is helpfully protected from getting a SWARM of spiders on her face thanks to White's interference teleporting some away. And then Kukuru, having the same idea, puts another portalk in place resulting in the remaining spiders to end up in Kukuru's cup where they immediately start crawling out and try to get all over her much in the way the earliest spiders got on Angela's face.

"I'm glad you're having fun--ahh, try not to get bitten! If you must be consumed try to get swallowed hole so we can get you out?" She THINKS that would work. It worked in some of the movies Tennant showed? But those were movies. Hmm.

It seems like Tamamo is having some luck changing Laetitia's behavior, though of course much like with Love--whether a lesson ''sticks'' is always the tricky part. Kids be kids.

"I see... Those were the friends you couldn't bring." Angela echoes Petra's statements with her voice. "I'm glad that so many are willing to play with you, Laetitia. I get lonely too sometimes, sometimes I ... break friends. But--" She thinks back to what Lilian reminded her of not so long ago. "--The ones that I was able to show enough care to in order to keep, who stood by me--ended up being truly precious. I've had to learn to be gentle, occassionally, in order to keep them. Friends are a bit like teacups in that way."

''That means you're very cl-cl-cl-clever''

"Everyone's gloomy back home? Is that why you left?" Roland asks, but then there's WAR again.

WAR... Again. He exhales. "This is starting to feel a little...too familiar." Roland murmurs to Riku.

"I'm having a lot of fun." Angela says. "I never got to actually visit you, really. But I hope I get to see you more in the coming days."

Roland, even with tiny weapons, can handle bugs that are mostly just being normal bugs and attempting to bonk into him. But he thinks. Laetitia wants it to be fun right?

"Riku... Let's have fun with it." He manages. "Woah!! It's Ultraman Geed!! Woaaaah!" He throws his fist up into the air. "He's going to save the day!" He doesn't want to seriously hurt the bugs he feels like that might upset Laetitia, but he ends up leaping onto a cockroach and pull on its antennae to get it to charge into a bunch of other bugs. "And I uh... Knight Roland?? Knight Roland! Will lend you my ... steed!" He hopes the others are having better luck actually convincing her.
Audrey Basque     "Well, yes, it's a bit fragile right now because we're so small. If I promise to get you one that's not fragile, would you agree to try it? It's a lot of fun," Audrey argues, as she's handed her Playbrick back and pockets it again for now. Watching the utter chaos the others are dealing with makes her feel a bit bad she's cozying up by Laetitia, though not enough to try to go play with the horrible toys.

    Helpfully, she shouts towards Petra: "Pretend it's Fae! I think that might help!!" It probably will not help with the snake.

    It also doesn't help with the swarm of cockroaches! Audrey decides to hop off the ground, and stay off the ground, to hover vaguely in Laetitia's presence (unless someone screams for help from her specifically).

    "You know, there's lots of ways to play with friends. We've made a lot of toys that let friends stay together even outside."

    Proximity to Tamamo is unpleasant, but she's not petty enough to deny the goddess has some of the best arguments on the floor right now.

    "Sometimes we go outside to find more friends. Sometimes we go outside to try playing games in different places. Don't you wonder what it'd be like to play games at another friend's house? Or with a lot of friends in a big playground? We came here so we can show you how great things are outside."

    This is hardly her forte.

    "But only when you're ready to try. We have all kinds of new toys for you, playgrounds, even friends. But we can't show any of that to you if you don't want to leave. And then if you don't like it, we can keep coming back here to play with you. Isn't that fair?"
White White still isn't exactly in her element here, and being ambushed from below by a snake doesn't help that. Fortunately, she has a peculiar amount of experience with specifically not getting eaten by snakes, eels, and worm-creatures; when it wriggles close enough to lunge at her she waits for the moment before contact to teleport a short distance, placing herself behind its head. Silk unspools from between her fingers as she grabs on, turning into glistening white reins stuck around the snake's jaw and the top of its head, letting her keep herself behind it and away from its mouth. This probably turns into a bit of a wrestle in the process, but even if she's rolled over on or thrashed against, she is more than capable of keeping her grip and staying in the proverbial eye of the storm.

     This strangely provides her with a moment to listen and think, while she holds her silken reins firmly. Once again it seems that hearing the abnormalities talk, in person, is giving her a better idea of what it is they need, even if the outermost layer of presentation was obfuscating it before. Petra, Angela, and even Roland had reiterated multiple times that Laetitia was a lonely child, scared of losing friends. Hearing her talk about 'outside' as a place that only takes things away from her is... A little stinging. It's different from the way she felt when the Murderer had finally calmed down after treatment; she doesn't relate, but something about that hurts to hear.

To her, everything she ever wanted was 'outside'. If White could learn to handle being outside, and even begin to make friends, well... Surely a kid could learn it too, right? That's... The kind of thing kids are supposed to learn, in the first place.

     She tries to say something when she's plucked up from the back of the snake (who is no worse for wear, as long as its tantrum from being ridden wasn't too wild), but her voice is too faint at this size to carry well. She's set down on the dollhouse set as siege defenses are added to the scene, and spends a moment brushing herself off before the dreadful cockroach army can arrive. In a moment of strange focus, she starts to summon out a large portion of her reserves; even if they're shrunken just as much as her, the hundred or so little spiders bolster their visible forces in spirit, climbing to various places and wordlessly cheering (or jeering, from the looks of a few of them gesturing at the roach forces), while some contribute to the battle by swarming roaches, turning them over on their backs in groups of a dozen to one. But that's just for show, more than anything... A way to try and give Laetitia what she seems to want. White primarily uses webs spun from her hands to snare and ground the bugs, while trying to use the Evil Eye of Hypnosis to make them lie down and surrender like proper defeated soldiers! She's unsure of whether even these count as 'friends'... And more importantly, to give herself a bit of space for the more important step.

     If she can't be heard properly, she'll just have to take a page out of D's book, as much as it annoys her. She teleports one of her extra phones from back home straight up to Laetitia's shoulder, letting it sit half-tucked between her bowtie and her dress, with a little bit of web helping it stick there. Through the TTS, between bouts of pushing roaches back and dodging buggy tackles, she types in...

"If you can go outside, you can be with your friends. And you can find a lot of other things that will make you happy, too. You might need to study first, but you'll make so many more friends if you can go to the places they are. It's worth it."
Kukuru "Ah!!! Snake!"

<<"Oh, watch out for the fangs! It's okay if you bite it, but it'll be reeeal unpleasant if it bites you.">> Kukuru radios in as she glances over at the plushie mountain, stroking her chin lightly and nodding along with Angela a moment later. <<"Mhm, mhm, we can carve you out later. That's easy enough.">> She adds, looking for any signs of distress beyond the Beauty of Ash popping out of it with a snakey pursuer.  <<"Going through a silly maze does sound pretty fun, though... Oh. Do call for us if you want a hand over there~"

"and they're allll my friends."

Confident Petra has that well under control otherwise with Laetitia distracted by the question, Kukuru peers up at the Little Witch while kicking her feet back and forth idly beneath her seat, all while Angela's spider-sharing gives her something to snack on. "That many? Wow... That's almost as many friends as I have back home! They're all lovely people, and I bet they'd be thrilled to be your friends, too." She suggests, then pauses to tap a finger against her chin while listening to Petra's theory about the friends that Laetitia couldn't bring with her.

Taking a cue from Laetitia's reaction to Tamamo's teacup lesson and Audrey's Playbrick, Kukuru hrms thoughtfully. "Oh, but some of them can be preeetty fragile... But that'll be okay, because you'll be gentle with them, won't you? Then you'd have waaay more friends to play with. It'll be easy for you, I'm sure of it." She adds with a hopeful tone in her voice, although she's feeling a bit of that fading already the moment she sees all those cockroaches swarming out.

Spiders? Sure, those are fine. They eat things Kukuru would rather not see, and even the ones Angela's sharing with her taste pretty okay for spiders. Ants? Not her favorite thing to see, but still natural enough that their presence doesn't bother her too much. Cockraochers? No, those are one of many banes of her existence, and she's almost glad to be moved onto the dollhouse safely away from all those cockroaches alongside Riku, Roland, Sarracenia, and White.

"...And they're led by the Princess Cockroach!"

Or not safe at all. Inhaling deeply, Kukuru actually struggles a bit to keep her composure while taking hold of one of those little cauldrons. "We need to kill them all. This is no way for a child to live." She declares with not even a hint of her usual humor or light-heartedness, just waiting to throw oil onto those cockroaches before smashing that cauldron into the chargers with all her might!

... Although at her size and relative weight, even her freakish strength isn't likely to do much more than bat them really far away.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia can't help but be amused as the Beauty of Ash is menaced by a snake and chased by Laetitia. As Laetitia introduces all her friends, Sarra considers each in turn. After Petra's psychic wonderings, Sarra hmms. "Where was your home, Laetitia? What was it like? Did you have any friends that were more like you? That could walk around and talk and not be held in a hand?"

     As she awaits an answer, it is revealed that there was an army of cockroaches waiting to swarm them! One can practically see the shiver that goes up Sarra's spine at seeing giant flying roaches. They are gross and scary even when at normal sizes. Now she gets to see one as big as herself. Have you ever looked at a bug's face super up close? "U-um...s-so...you really like bugs and snakes and things, Laetitia?" Sarra asks just before being dubbed princess of the dollhouse with catapults at her command.

     This castle defense might be cute...if not for the -actual- boiling oil. "W-wait! Laetitia! We cannot use this against your other friends! It might hurt them!" Sarra says, then pulls out an ice flower and in a puff of white smoke is clad in icy colors. She uses an ice bolt each to cool off the oil. "There. Now..."

     'GEEEEEEEEEEED!'

     Riku gets into fisticuffs with roaches. Sarra watches from her place on the top of the dollhouse, one hand still raised as if to order an attack. She was intending a non-lethal attack. Something she and Roland are apparently in agreement about. With Roland getting into the role, Sarra calls down from above. "Knights Roland and Geed! Ladies Kukuru and White! The castle would surely fall without your efforts! Your princess thanks you for your gallantry! Do try to show them mercy if you can! We are a benevolent kingdom, after all. Perhaps we can become friends with..." Sarra hesitates and shivers lightly, then continues, "...Princess Cockroach! I shall support you from up here!"

     Sarra blinks as she realizes she can put a Love-like friendship lesson here. "After all, friends can still be friends and support each other even from far away, and even if they do not see each other as often as they would like!" Ignore that she and Riku are probably not friends, and that she and Roland are basically enemies at this point.

     With a catapult at her disposal, Sarra ponders a moment before she dumps the now only warm oil down the side of the castle, then with her ice flower powers fills the catapult bucket with snow. Then, she starts raining giant snowballs down on the invaders!

     Kukuru seems to -actually- hate roaches. Sarra wasn't sure Kukuru could hate anything. "M-miss Kukuru! Just remember we are playing, right?"
Tamamo     Tamamo clinks cups with Laetitia with an equal spirit of make-believe. It's somthing she's seen, after all, yet never had the chance to do, herself. And after clinking, one must drink, which she once more mimes.

    "That is true," she says. "Going outside is frightening. Leaving one's friends is lonely. Learning lessons is boring... but practice is more fun than lessons. I have had a great deal of practice in the arts of healing. Do you have another button dear? Though I have one, here," she reaches into her sleeve, and pulls out an ordinary brown button, "this one may be too small for him."

    'He' turns out to be Prickeare, whom Tamamo imagines as some knightly fellow, to complement Laetitia's princessly nature. Tamamo looks about and, upon finding or receiving the requested button, she produces a small bag of supplies. "Now, this is quite difficult, but I am experienced, as I said. If it is not easy to follow, do not worry for it."

    And so, Tamamo gently lays out Prickeare on an empty section of tea table, which is now her surgery table. The art with which she goes to work, with needle and thread, to reinforce Prickeare's seams, to push inside any escaping fluff, and to position a second eye to match his first as closely as possible... is all perfectly ordinary. It's easier for being something that is, compared to her current size, not at all small, but these are only the skills she'd happened to obsess over thanks to other fixations. Anyone could do it, with some time, and with small enough hands.

    "If it is frightening outside, one should travel with a friend, and only for a little while. When one has seen some new sight, one can return home, and only venture out again on the morrow or, perhaps, the day after that. Though a departure is lonely, those that depart shall return, again, if one is a friend. If one has many friends, one may see each upon a different day, and then be far from lonely, no? If one is hated... ah, that is a sad thing. There are some as will hear 'I am sorry' and forgive you, and there are some who do not wish to be friends, after all. There are all very many different sorts of people, in the outside."

    At length, she finishes. "There! Much better, I think. Does Sir Prickeare think so?"

    'I'll be more careful. I won't break it again. I pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-promise.'

    "Very good, dear. Because you promised to be careful, I will promise to return again." She will.
Kukuru "M-miss Kukuru! Just remember we are playing, right?"

Kukuru freezes whilst in the middle of grasping a cockroach along the wings, visibly shaking for a moment as she turns and looks up towards Sarracenia. It takes her three entire seconds just to crack an open-eyed smile, full of teeth and definitely not straining just to do that much while one of her most/only hated insects is right in front of her. "O... Of course, Sarra. Just playing, mhm."

She settles for tossing that cockroach away instead of pulling its wings off. Her face is still kind of pale.
Petra Soroka     ULTRAMAN GEED grows to a staggering twelve inches tall, standing shoulder-height with the dollhouse that is their new castle. Cockroaches slam into him in a continuous stream, hammering his chest, and though he can easily grapple each his terrible foes and hurl them away, the sheer bulk of them is overwhelming...! Roland's bold charge through the building swarm sends them scattering, and one of Sarracenia's snowballs comes crashing down to completely envelop a cockroach and bring it plummeting to the ground. Kukuru's hurled cauldron smacks into a roach with a satisfying (but small) bonk, sending it flipping away.

    White's assessment that what Laetitia wanted was hype moments and aura was probably spot on, because having an even bigger 'crowd' spikes her enthusiasm even higher. It's less that she wants a big violent 'war' between all of her toys, and more that the toys are her source of company, so a hundred more spiders means a hundred more friends! She shrieks with excitement and runs towards the dollhouse covered in spiders, accidentally tripping over herself and falling in a way that results in her being covered in a blanket of spiders and cockroaches.

"If we can't leave, we can't see our friends and family. We'll visit and play with you, too, but we have things to protect and love as well."

    Laetitia sits up and kicks her feet frustratedly, shaking the dollhouse. "No! No, that's sa-sa-sa-sad! You're su-supposed to laugh and have fun! Don't be gloomy!"

"I've had to learn to be gentle, occassionally, in order to keep them. Friends are a bit like teacups in that way."

    With spiders crawling out of her hair in a steady stream, Laetitia halfheartedly smacks her fists against the ground with uncomfortable *clack*s. "But I don't wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wanna break them. Only meanies hurt friends. I-I-I'm just cl-clumsy a-and shy and then people meet other friends they like better and then they never c-c-come back."

"I never got to actually visit you, really. But I hope I get to see you more in the coming days."

    "You should stay here," Laetitia reasons. "You're lots of f-f-fun. And so's your friend. And then we can see the most of each o-o-other."

    She remembers to add to Roland and Sarracenia, jittering with faster gear rotations, "This *is* ho-ho-home! I've g-g-got the most friends here of... anywhere ever at all. S-s-so you have to stay or else I'll pull a prank on y-y-you so you see how much fun it is to play."

"Pretend it's Fae! I think that might help!!"

    The next time the Beauty of Ash rolls out of the plushie pile, it's engaged in Herculean wrestling with the snake. Petra keeps it held in place for a moment, and then the Beauty of Ash has to dip and scamper to the side to be safe from the snake's next attack. The glass along its back shatters in layers and spikes upwards-- at its current size, it looks like a spooked kitten. She's probably treating it a little like Fae already.
Petra Soroka "Don't you wonder what it'd be like to play games at another friend's house?"
"You might need to study first, but you'll make so many more friends if you can go to the places they are."

    "But I'm not a-a-allowed to do that. I have to stay right wh-wh-wh-where I am, so th-that everyone who c-comes to play with me actually wants to." In the way that kids do, Laetitia's very serious thoughts are accompanied by her picking up the snake with White's silk in its mouth, and driving it around the 'battlefield' while crawling around on all fours, plowing through everyone fighting against the cockroaches. "Everyone g-g-g-gets mad at me if I try to leave, s-so I'll stay right where my friends already are-re-re-re."

    This causes the Beauty of Ash's head to snap up away from its snake foe, flickering and teleporting away from the fight now that it has a more important goal. Petra's telepathy, directed towards Laetitia but broadcasted openly, comes through. <Are you remembering L-Corp, Laetitia? The rules are different now, I promise. Angela was a lot like you before, that's why she wasn't able to visit you much, but now she leaves lots and can make more friends because of it.>

    The Beauty of Ash circles around Laetitia's head, and she reaches out to make grabby hands at it like a faerie or a firefly. <If you're worried about getting in trouble, how about, we can all leave here together at the same time? That way, even if we get in trouble, we all get in trouble together, so we won't be separated.> The Beauty of Ash's head turns towards Angela, silently asking if that's okay.

"If it is frightening outside, one should travel with a friend, and only for a little while."

    "Ohh-h-h-h-h-hh..." Laetitia's eyes sparkle and her sigh of amazement at Tamamo's incredible rat-healing surgery teeters with a clockwork click in the middle. "If there's one friend a day, that's pr-pr-probably okay. There's a *lot* a lot of friends here." She must be including the hundred spiders, which makes sense given her usual company.

    When Prickeare is healed, she picks up the stuffie and hugs it close to her chest. After several seconds, Laetitia seems to abruptly get very very shy again, and gives Tamamo a silent but earnest nod in response to her question. She carefully puts Prickeare to her side, and then cups her hands around another magical little heart that forms in her palms. It starts to grow, and she hugs it too, until it wriggles like it's going to burst.

    Very softly, Laetitia says, "Okay." And then she offers out the heart to all of her tiny friends, and it explodes into sparkles that reverse the curse of en-smalling she put on them earlier, allowing everyone to leave the book.
White It gets harder to keep typing on her phone while Laetitia is sweeping the battlefield with a snake, so White isn't able to keep up with the persuasion the way the others are for a while. She tries to make a bit of a show, figuring out on the fly how to be more performative when she's not actually in very much danger; rather than just vanishing and reappearing all over the place, she jumps, strides across the side of the dollhouse, and even lands on the back of Laetitia's hand once before jumping down again. She can't manage even a fake 'whee!' unfortunately, but this feels... Less taunting, than just teleporting away over and over. When you play with someone, the game has to be fair, or there's no point.

     But that only goes on so long. Eventually the clumsy girl starts to accept what she's being told, and returns everyone to their normal sizes. She first spares Tamamo a glance-over and a gentle nod, before checking over her clothes again. She's not too dirtied up, it'll be fine. She steps a little closer to Laetitia, pauses with her hands folded in front of herself to silently psych herself up again, then awkwardly tries to lean in to give the poor girl a hug; one arm loose around her shoulders, the other reached higher to rest her palm on Laetitia's head.

     It's not her go-to, like it seems to be for Kukuru. But she has nieces, and sometimes those nieces get into fights, or they get hurt, or they get scared. She had to learn to do this kind of thing sometimes for them, too... So it's okay once in a while. Very, very quietly, and slowly like she's telling a very important secret, White whispers from over Laetitia's head. "Things... Will change. It might be... Confusing. But it will be... Okay." She pauses, and draws back just enough to look the girl in the eyes. "Be brave... And I'll bring... My nieces to meet... You. They love... Dressing up... And making dolls."
Kukuru Maybe if she thinks of it as more playtime, the cockroaches-no. No, Kukuru's really not feeling it with the cockroaches. She's more than ready to abandon that activity the moment Laetitia's attentions shifts towards White's swarm of spider friends, although seeing the girl covered in that blanket with all those cockroaches on it makes Kukuru want to cry.

She can't, of course, because that'd really upset Laetitia, so she just suppresses it instead. She can always clean herself up later and maybe try and teach her to play with spiders more instead.

"Laetitia... Petra's right, mhm. Things are really different now than before. It's easier for us to come back, to see you and everyone, and we don't have to be gone forever." She reassures, stepping over to give her a light pat on the hand in-between those little whacks on the floor. "We just have to be gone sometimes because that's what being friends is like. We see each other, we play, we have fun, we... Sometimes go away to do stuff that isn't as fun, and then we come back to make for that time It's just like..."

She pauses to tap her chin, then snaps her fingers. "Eating something reaaally tasty. The first bite's really good, but the tenth isn't as good, you know? But if you eat something different before coming back, it's like eating that first bite all over again. And with so many friends-"

She sweeps an arm towards everyone, the spiders, and hesitates for a while before even barely tilting her head towards Princess Cockroach. "-to play with whenever we come back, it'll be like having that first bite every day, forever."

Kukuru looks so much more relieved when White mentions her nieces, and she's even beaming at White going in to initiate that hug. It's almost enough to wipe away the memory of the cockroaches! "White's right, mhm... And confusing doesn't have to be bad, either. That just means it's extra new things to do with all of your new friends, and to tell everyone about."
Angela You're supposed to have laugh and have fun, Angela thinks. She feels like it's still so hard for her to do that. Is it just the memories or some innate manner of her construction? She can enjoy things, certainly, but has she ever enjoyed anything in such a carefree manner? She can't forget, but sometimes it all feels elusive all the same.

''Only meanies hurt friends.''

"...That's right--" She says, heedless of a glance her way from Roland. "But I know you're not a meanie. Please don't think I think of you as a meanie. Friendship is very important to me too, you know? But I've learned recently that even a friend that leaves can become a friend again if you've learned from how you've hurt them." She does not look Audrey's way. "Sometimes they find their way back to you."

''You should stay here.''

"As they say...I do have people who'll miss me if I stay here." And it is ... nice to know that that feels true when she says it, in this moment, even when it usually feels like she's just lying again. "But I would like to be your friend. I'll visit. And sometimes you can visit us. And when we're lonely we can look forward to our next visit."

''I've g-g-got the most friends here of... anywhere ever at all.''

"That's great! A sweet girl like you should have a lot of friends." Roland says. "Though--" He hesitates. But fortunately Petra knows more of what came before than he ever could.

Angela turns her head to the Beauty of Ash and she nods her head. She doesn't like to think that sometimes other people might be going through similar situations as hers, that there's a suffering out there that equals what she went through, but she's known Laetitia nearly her whole life. And she can easily imagine why she's quite like clockwork.

"As we grow up, we get to make some of our own rules. Little by little." Angela says.

''I'll bring... My nieces to meet... You.''

Angela smiles at White again. She doesn't quite get the whole of the whisper but... She actually thinks things will be alright, hearing that. No, even Sarracenia performed admirably this time, as much as she hates to admit it.

And so they leave the book and as usual... There's a message.
Angela I never asked for them to make a girl to take my place. For me, it was my way of passing on the job to them. And so when they made you, and I could feel the parts of you that were the parts of me I left behind... I couldn't help but feel sympathy for it. Is that so weird? I had to be a Voice for the world, but you--I wanted you to be able to be selfish and lonely and angry and everything you needed to be. And I wanted you to be able to follow your dream. Maybe that's why I encouraged you, even if it risked my own dreams.

Maybe that's what it is to be a parent. You try to balance your needs around the needs of your child? MAybe it was a little late for me to think about this after what happened with Enoch but ... Well, I didn't want you to sacrifice yourself for me.

So don't look back. Look forward. As I reach for my dream, don't you worry about it and reach for yours. Maybe we can see it as a race and see who gets their happily ever after first?

...Hey that new person with you...

But they're out before whatever she was going to say is completed.

"So it is not entirely old encoded messages--no perhaps they come outside of time..." Angela murmurs before shaking her head.

"Thank you once more, everyone. I think that went particularly well. ... Your words were lovely Petra and..." She looks to White. "Feel free to introduce them at any time. I feel she'll get a kick out of it."

For a moment, that smile doesn't seem quite as stilted as usual.
Sarracenia      Sarra's attempt at a Love style lesson seems to be lost in the rest of the efforts, especially Tamamo's repairs of Prickeare. Although it stings a little for an attention-seeking princess trying to do her best, she can't complain when Tamamo so elegantly pulled Laetitia in the right direction. And of course Petra cheated by knowing the right L-corp related things to say.

     Sarra meanwhile isn't sure she really helped. But, at least the girl appreciated her being a princess. Once they are returned to proper size, Sarra watches White give her hug and then goes to her knees in front of Laetitia. "Everyone is clumsy at first. Do not let that hold you back. Keep trying new things. And just keep Miss Tamamo's words in mind and you will be alright." she says, then gives the odd, creepy, yet adorable girl a firm hug. "I cannot promise I will be able to visit often, but I will visit when I can." she says, then lets go and reaches into her purse to pull out...a green mushroom plush. "And while I am gone, here is another friend to help keep you company." she says before standing again and giving Laetitia a little affectionate ruffle on the mushroom hat.

     The princess yelps a moment later as she realizes a few spiders and cockroaches are ON HER! She brushes them off frantically, then blinks a few times as she realizes what she had told Kukuru. Once they are out of the book and after Carmen's usual monologue, Kukuru receives the biggest hug. "I am sorry. Thank you, Kukuru." she says. And much like how Angela hates to admit that Sarra did admirably, Sarra hates to admit that Petra knew just what to say to give Laetitia some hope that the world outside wasn't as bad as the poor girl remembered. "...they were..." is all she says.
White 'A Voice for the world'... Leads White's imagination somewhere specific. She's lacking context, but as with anything else she's already building her assumptions, her little invisible corkboard of datapoints... But that's something to ruminate on over time. White reminds herself to breathe, one hand over her chest briefly as she steadies herself and lets her eyes shut again. It's not something she necessarily needs, but... It helps sometimes. It's something... Uniquely human. Finally she looks to Petra when Angela says her name, nodding, and then to Angela herself. Maybe a soft chuckle would've been more natural here, but Angela gets a slow, steady nod instead. "I will... Send them with... Sophia, next time... She comes here... To visit." It's been a while since Sophia's last part-timing day, by now, so it's about time anyway.