3 [@necromantica: video] (WARNING: blood and gore)

[burntbridges]

Hello everyone! I hate to bother, but I thought I might share some exciting news with you all.

[This is a blatant lie, as everyone who's met her knows - she loves to bother. But that's not the point.]

First of all - I took the time to talk to a doctor about my child, and everything seems to be fine with her. It's a girl! I haven't thought of a name for her yet, but perhaps some of you have suggestions. A family name didn't seem appropriate seeing as... I have no intention to see my family again, nor bring any of them here.

[With the obvious exceptions, she guesses.]

Second thing... Here, Walter, come in here.

[She pulls a dead body into the camera view with her - a certain zombie-killing sheriff might recognize him from a certain zombie-related misunderstanding. Since then his bones have been bleached clean (mostly), and his head glued back together to the best of her abilities (it's missing a few pieces), and she's even done her best to clean the clothes she found him in. They're torn and bloodstained but... she thinks it gives him character.

Those living on floor one may take issue with the smell that came from her amateur attempt at cleaning the corpse... the bathroom on their level may or may not have suffered a lot of damage from her efforts. Aside from the bathtub being dyed pink from her filling it with chemicals she has a very approximate knowledge of and a dead body, there are bloodstains that she didn't know how to clean up, as well as some leftover gore that she failed to throw away. (Exact levels are up to player comfort.)]

This is Walter! [She seems perfectly happy to refer to him as though he's a living person, and has propped him up so he can sit next to her while she continues to speak. She even picked his hand up to make him wave when she introduced him.] I found him outside of the perimeter while everyone was handling those monsters... and we ran into a bit of trouble, but I was able to get him back to the communal hall in one piece. Mostly.

Now, it's been brought to my attention that some people come from worlds where necromancers don't exist or are frowned upon. I'd like to assure everyone that while I am a necromancer, my magic is only used for good. It can be extremely dangerous, but I've become very attached to many people I met here so I'm taking extra precautions not to take any risks with it. And, well, I very much like to stay alive as well. So there is that.

For those of you from worlds that don't have necromancy, I suppose the easiest explanation is that I can speak to the dead. I can make them move too, but not both at the same time and I thought it might be better to talk to Walter rather than- yes yes, I'm getting to it. I told you I would.

[She's addressing Walter, who has not made a single noise as far as anyone else will be able to tell. She clears her throat.]

I made this.. video.. [still a weird word] to give people the chance to ask me anything they might need to know about necromancy and the dead and... Walter agreed to answer questions about himself as well - seeing as he is a native of the Quarantine, he can give us more information about it and what's outside of it. [She may or may not have bullied him into it, but Walter can't communicate with non-necromancers, so he can't exactly ask for help.]

Comments

Voice - @lolococo416

[threatenwithcuteness]

Wait, you're pregnant!?

Like? On purpose?

*Sorry, Lola is not seeing enough age difference to really warrant that. She is also not talking about the zombie, or to the zombie, or discussing the zombie. She hopes the zombie won't be a thing anymore really. Yeah, if she pretends it isn't there that's fine right?*

[burntbridges]

Yes, I'm pregnant on purpose. I'm a little old for a first child, but... there were complications.

[Obviously they have very different perspectives of 'too old for a first child'. She's just scraping 18, but her grandmother was teasing her about being a virgin by the time she was 16. So.]

My husband isn't here, but I can assure you she's not a bastard at least.

[threatenwithcuteness]

Old!? But, you're not that much older than me.

And I definitely didn't want to be pregnant.

*The legitimacy of the child was not really Lola's concern, so she ignored that.*

[burntbridges]

Well... in all honesty it wasn't my first choice either, but it's happening now.

[And the last thing she wants is to lose the very last connection she has to her world.]

[threatenwithcuteness]

I guess it's better than being the only one from your world, without any family.

Wait, you said you had a husband too? And that's just... normal, where you're from?

Married, with a kid on the way, what about school? Or working? Or really judgmental friends talking about something you didn't want to happen behind your back?

[burntbridges]

Well, we're the same age, so that's a rather lucky strike for me.

[She tips her head.]

I had a private tutor until I was 16, my husband works as a bank clerk and... well. Most of my friends are dead.

[Except for Mary, who is completely obsessed with a psychopath half-breed and receives most of the judgement out of her friend group.]

[threatenwithcuteness]

But, married?

*Give Lola a chance to try and picture tha- nope, nope definitely not a thing she can draw to mind.*

I guess I wanna be married before I turn 25, but I wanna finish school first. Definitely not before I turn 18...

What do you do with yourself, at home, I mean wherever you're from? Married and not having a job?

*Lola's voice is equal parts concern and scandalized by all of this.*

[burntbridges]

[Letha, on the other hand, can't think of a single reason to be scandalized by this. She's married, has a husband with a decent income and is successfully (hopefully) performing the only real use she serves in this world, according to her family. She thinks she has it pretty good.]

I took up reading tarot for a while, but it rarely yields any interesting results. Mostly, I read books. And played practical jokes on the maids.

What did you occupy yourself with in your world? [And why is it taking Lola so long to get married? Is it the hair? It's probably the hair.]

[threatenwithcuteness]

Practical jokes on the- wait you have maids?

*People from other worlds are weird.*

I... go to school? I work- worked at my dad's restaurant most afternoons, spend time with my friends. I record tutorials on how to do hair, make-up, and fashion things. Look into what sort of culinary or fashion program I would want to go into after I'm done with high school.

I do what any normal teenager would do in Toronto.

*Her hair is perfect thank you very much.*

[burntbridges]

Toronto. Is that where you live?

[She's never heard of it, but.. she also hasn't heard of half the cities in her own country. And she couldn't tell you for the life of her where London is on a map.]

So, you're lower class. [Letha no.] I had three maids, I think their names were... hmm.... [She had them for a year, you'd think she'd remember.] ...One of them was definitely Martha. I'm sure of it. None of them are very good at cooking, but I can't say I'm any good at it myself. And as far as makeup goes... I'm surprised your world is so open about it. No one would be caught dead discussing their makeup choices in public, much less wearing as much as you do.

[Letha, stop this.]

[threatenwithcuteness]

Oh, so you didn't play pranks because you're friends with your maids, you did it because you could. And because you have nothing else to do.

*Lola managed to cut off her anger with pity. This girl was like a character from that movie, only the version with the zombies instead of the version Lola actually liked.*

If you think my make-up is surprising, you would have a heart attack from everything else in my life. I like how I look, I like spending time on myself. Most of all, I like me. Even when everyone else calls me names.

[burntbridges]

[She thinks it over a minute before replying.]

Your makeup suits you, at least. You do certainly make an impression - it would be hard to miss you in a crowd. [She's trying to say nice things, okay.] How do you even make your hair that color?

[threatenwithcuteness]

Thank you.

*She likes praise. Even if it feels like she's trying a bit hard to offset her words.*

At home I have a stylist who I trust with coloring my hair. Then I take care when I wash it, silk pillowcases, little things to help protect the dye to keep it bright for longer. Like how you protect clothes in the wash.

[burntbridges]

I'd never cleaned clothes before I came here... it took some getting used to.

[There's a hint of embarrassment in her voice as she admits it.]

Still, the world you live in must be nice. My family would be mortified if I tried to make my hair anything but black.

[threatenwithcuteness]

I've been doing my own laundry since... I was eleven? I do it better than Dad ever did.

*Lola's painfully mundane, but they are useful life skills.*

It's okay, it isn't perfect and things are messed up but they usually work out. Dad wasn't super thrilled the first time I dyed my hair, but he came around because I really wanted it. He's such a guy about fashion stuff.

[burntbridges]

[That gets a vaguely confused little laugh out of her.]

'Such a guy'? What does that mean?

[threatenwithcuteness]

Ummm... guys don't have to really worry as much about looking good. They can wear just about anything, and so long as they bathe regularly and brush their hair they get away with it.

*Some guys had style, but they didn't really have fashion.*

[burntbridges]

I'll take it your world doesn't have many men like my husband, then. On most days he wears more lace than I do - and his hair is longer too.

[To be fair, Aristeo is gaudy by her world's standards too... but it's a charming level of gaudy.]

I think you'd like him, though, if you met. He loves to make himself look exotic.

[threatenwithcuteness]

Most men that want to look, um, exotic. Usually are more interested in spending time with other men than with women. Or like men as much as women. At least in my world.

*Lola's last romantic entanglement was with a boy who had a boyfriend. Lola makes terrible choices do not be Lola.*

I like most people, if they're nice to me.

[burntbridges]

What are you- oh. Oh.

[oh.]

Well.. I honestly couldn't tell you, one way or the other. He doesn't seem to care much for men or women, as long as they're alive. Must more interested in the dead.

[Which she just realized sounds terrible but.. who is she kidding, he's brought bones into bed so many times it's embarrassing.]

[threatenwithcuteness]

...Yeah, that's gross and unhygienic and illegal.

*Dead people do not normally give consent, and also they are dead. Leave the dead alone.*

He liked you enough to, you know. And you are pretty so I can see why. But if your guy spends more time on his hair than you do on yours, it is generally a bad sign.

[burntbridges]

[She glances around as if someone might overhear her, but who is she kidding, she's a huge gossip. And Walter is currently regretting agreeing to her dragging him out of the wilderness.]

Well, he was never much good in bed, but he did manage to sire a child. Deep down there must be some interest in women.

[threatenwithcuteness]

That's unfortunate, I really wish there was better ways for boys to learn what they were doing. I got really lucky in that regard.

*Barring the pregnancy and... well, everything that happened after. But the event itself was definitely in the win column.*

Pregnancies are a lot easier than enjoyment.

[burntbridges]

I suppose so... but there's no room for learning when one is required to have no experience.

[Like honestly, she may not know any other way but there has to be SOME better option than paring virgins together and expecting a livable marriage to happen.]

Still, life is what it is.

[threatenwithcuteness]

Well, there are books on the subject. They help.

*Personal experience.*

I guess I'm lucky I'm in a world where you don't have to be inexperienced when you find the right person.