audio to video:

[charring]

[At first, there's nothing to be heard but Charlie's voice, muffled. And a purring. This could be any one of her pets. Charlie sounds like she's enjoying what she's doing and there's the occasional clank of a pan and the sound of something sort of sticky moving and then whatever purring thing that was near the device climbs off.

There's the flash of white and gray and Phantom is trying to move the device with his mouth. It's still too big so he settles for scooting it around on the floor and there is Charlie wearing a black t-shirt, shorts, her usual sneakers and her hair is tied back and tucked away under a reddish bandanna. She's in the kitchen but everything that she had on the walls, the spice rack with more spices than anyone should have at one time and the retro clock and the pots and pans, they're all in a box on the counter.

The sticky sound? That's a paint roller moving up and down a wall, coating it in black. Charlie has faint smudges of black on her arms and face and she's concentrating. She also looks like she's enjoying herself. There's a yip from Phantom and Petrichor races by, followed by the fox kit and Charlie looks down, smiling.]

You, two. This is neither the time nor the place and---Phantom, you have chalkboard paint on your fur. Hypnos and Sonic aren't even half as crazy as you two. You should take notes from them.

[So much love and teasing in her voice when she talks to the animals. She notices the device but doesn't seem to mind that it's on,carefully setting the roller down in a tray of paint before crouching to pick the device up and raise it so the City no longer has a floor up view. She turns it to the wall for a moment.]

My landlady is awesome. She said I could do this and won't care if I suddenly vanish and it's still up. She said she has someone repaint, anyway, and has seen it all when it comes to painting the walls. Chalkboard painted walls are kind of a bucket-list thing for me, which at this point is kind of too late but whatever. This is fun.

[And the device shuts off so Charlie can keep working. She has a lot of wall to cover.]

Comments

video;

[oceantrauma]

[Okay, he knows a lot of stuff for a kid, but....]

What's a bucket-list? And when did you get a fox?

video:

[charring]

Hi, Ken. A bucket-list is a list of things to do before dying. And I got Phantom a couple days after I came back. My friend Michael got him for me.

video:

[oceantrauma]

[No comment on that, then. It's late, yeah, Charlie. He feels a bit sad about that, but smiles for Charlie anyway.]

Does that mean we can write on your wall now? That might be fun.

video:

[charring]

Write. Draw. Play tic-tac-toe or whatever. I have a can of colorful chalk to use.

video:

[oceantrauma]

I don't really draw, but playing games I'm fine with. Or leaving notes.

video:

[charring]

I don't draw much, either, but I think when it's dry I'm going to draw around the kitchen window to make it look like a picture frame. Sounds neat. You should come over and play when it's dry because it smells terrible now. It'll smell better later.

[crowing]

Chalk-board painted walls?

Sounds dusty.

[charring]

It probably will be, but I've wanted one for years.

[crowing]

One wall or like the whole room?

[charring]

One wall for now but probably others later.

[burnsobright]

Talking to your... pets, are you. I do hope they don't reply.

[charring]

They don't. They listen, though. Mind when I tell them to not do something. Except for the new one but he's learning.

[burnsobright]

Pets are rather pointless. We had a Hound. He ran away.

[charring]

They help with the ticking here.

[burnsobright]

And you other companion?

video;

[majorcrotchgrab]

You're doing better?

video;

[charring]

A little.

video;

[majorcrotchgrab]

Good.

Re: video;

[charring]

It's a weird thing to adjust to.

video;

[majorcrotchgrab]

... I can't imagine.

[tangledintower]

[She's been a little quiet since the Titanic curse...drowning was a bit of a shock, and put that with the fact that Charlie got killed, it's been a tough week.]

Hey, Charlie...you're looking a lot better!

[charring]

Hey, Rapunzel. [Charlie's smile is only half there and shows even less the emotion than usual but she is trying her best to act normal.]


Thank you. I feel better. Ish. Kind of. How are you?

[tangledintower]

I'm okay. Still a little...shaken, I guess, from what happened and the boat curse.

[charring]

...did you see me dead, Rapunzel? [Based on what she just said, Charlie's taking a guess.] And you were on the boat?

[tangledintower]

...yeah. Yeah, I did...and I didn't make it off the boat.

...I sort of can't swim.