flickerflash | [Accidental Voice -> Deliberate Voice]

[Accidental Voice -> Deliberate Voice]

[And this early evening, the journal will pick up the sound of one small British girl muttering to herself.]

Well, this is very rude. It didn't snow last autumn, you know. I think I ought to complain.

[Huff. Followed by a small ow, barely heard. And silence. Then finally:]

Oh! [And the journal is picked up finally. Because you, the townsfolk, should know the answer to this question. Clearly.] Did we get visited by aliens in the night? I think I've been experimented on. [Okay, that is totally the best thing ever.] I hope they looked like Elvis clones.

Has anyone seen my cat?

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Katie. [The singing stops with that name. Hector swaggers over, just as cocky as his piratical owner, and Jack steps smartly over the cat as he hurries over to the girl.]

Let me look at you. Not changed. Not changed a hair!

[If he's a very perceptive man, he may note she seems a little smaller; she's nine again instead of ten and a half. But Katie certainly hasn't changed in any other ways. This inspection gets an uncertain smile and she turns around for him-- and then crouches down to give Hector an appropriate snuggly greeting.]

That's good. I would hate to have gotten wrinkles while I was away.

[He is a very perceptive man indeed, but right now that's not the sort of thing he's looking for. If anything, Jack WANTS to see her as being older.]

Lookit Hector---he remembers you rescuin' him from those octopi. He's very fond of you, you know.

[Katie pops Hector up onto her shoulder and stands up again.] I would hope so. Have they given you any more trouble?

Nah. They've been very quiet since we invaded their lair. Not sure we've heard the last of 'em, but so far, so good.

Good lad, Hector.

[Jack moves back to the camp stove. The Cullens, of course, never had to do any cooking, so he has to improvise a lot.] You hungry, lass?

[Actually, she finds with surprise she is, but Katie has faint suspicions as to why that would be. Her expression turns wistful.] Do you have any ice cream, by any chance?

Oh. Ice cream? I don't, darling. I'm making chili right now. Sort of...sort of the food opposite of ice cream, I suppose.

Really? [Trying to fathom this.] I thought that was broccoli.

Broccoli's not a food, love. It's a garnish.

But that would mean you have broccoli like sauce, and that would be horrible. [What kind of self-respecting person would do that. 8|] All right. What's chili like, then?

[Okay, he is not following that logic. On to chili-explanations:]

It's rather like soup, but thicker, with lots of things in it. And highly spicy. Very, very spicy. I like spice.

Oh! Is it like a curry, then? I wonder why they call it chili. It seems a bit misleading.

Nah - not at all like curry. Me mum used to make curry for me aboard the Misty Lady, back when I was very young. This is more like a stew that's angry at the world. Want a taste?

[She giggles at that description.] Can I?

Well I'm offering, aren't I?

[He puts some into a bowl for her. For some reason, being around Katie isn't bothering him the way being around other small children does.]

[Katie takes the bowl and eyes its contents for a moment. And then daintily sticks the very tip of her finger into it, pulling it back to blow on it before sucking the chili off.

Well, that was a bad idea. Her face looks like it's imploding. Seriously. Hot. Hooot.]

........it's very nice! [Croak. Also, she may be being a tad melodramatic.]

Katie...? [He leans in a bit, examining her.] I'm glad you like it. Do you not think you might be acting a bit melodramatic, lass?

Don't be silly. I'm never melodramatic. [But she has now graduated to licking her lips and making faces.] What's melodramatic?

Picture what Hector here would do if I were to tip a glass of water over his paws.

[Hector looks unimpressed.]

[Katie shares an unimpressed look with Hector.]

I would think he'd be very cross with you.

Aye, but that's not the point! He'd act as though I'd very well KILLED HIM DEAD. And THAT, darling, is melodrama.

Oh! [She has learned a new word. This may come back to bite you on the ass some day. And slowly it dawns on her that this means Jack thinks she's overacting. Oh. Well.]

It was only a little melodrama.

I find it refreshing. Far too many people put their feelings at face value these days. Makes things more exciting, child.

So should I practice it more often, then?

[Sounds fun.]

As often as you can, especially if it paints your own situation in the best possible light! That there's a rule for becoming famous!

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[action] This is the closest relevant icon I have.

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