Come Sail Away IC Inbox

[yourexoduslaughing]

Hiiiiiiiiii, so sorry, I can't take your call right now so leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you asap!

BEEEEEEEEP

Comments

[yourexoduslaughing]

I am!! Fio, hiiiii! Did you have the big talk?

[sabigoe]

Uh-huh! It went well, I think. We talked a whole bunch and Sparkles told me that it's sorry. [ And they held hands! ] I don't think it's used to apologies and things like that either so it kind of went back to hiding again. It's okay 'cause I know we can hang out again another time!

[ A very brief pause, then there's a photo of three gumballs sent to Flan's phone. One's pink! ]

Oh yeah, it gave me these!

[yourexoduslaughing]

Awwww yeah! I'm really glad! And yeah, apologies bring up all kinds of feelings, and it's a lot even for people who are used to hearing sorrys! Sparkles will totally come out again soon, and I'm glad it has you 'cause you're doing the right thing by giving it space to feel less overwhelmed!

Ooooo!! Cuuuuute! Are you gonna keep them or chew them?

[sabigoe]

...Yeah. It will. [ She realizes it's similar to how it disappeared after the big confrontation on the bridge a few months back. ]

Chew them? Why would I do that?

[yourexoduslaughing]

'cause they're bubblegum! Aren't they bubblegum? Oh my god are they bouncy balls? If they are, you can still chew on them but not like, a lot, or they'll crack open and you'll get bits of rubber in your teeth and it's miiiiserable.

[sabigoe]

Um...

I don't... I don't know what bubblegum is. And I don't think I should chew on them because they rolled on the floor and hit my shoe...

[yourexoduslaughing]

[Flan laughs with pure delight, holding her phone away so she doesn't deafen Fio, her voice fading in only when she's got herself under control.]

Ooooohhhh oh my god okay okay, where are you 'cause I'm coming your way with gum to try out!! Also like, there's no germs here, it's totally cool to chew 'em, dirt does us good! Man do we even have dirt here? Wait, don't worry about answering that one, just tell me where I should meet you!

[sabigoe]

[ ...Holding the phone in confusion this whole time. ]

Uh... okay? Sure! I'll... meet you at Sand Dollars.

[ She'll even bring the gumballs to show off in person. ]

[yourexoduslaughing]

Okaaay see you soooooooon!

[Flan is already at the Sand Dollar when Fio arrives, four packs of various gums spread out in front of her. She's already been chewing away, one cup full of different gums until Flan's found the best kind of gum to use.

And as soon as she sees her, Flan waves.]

Fio! Hiiiii! Come grab a seat!

[sabigoe]

Hi, Flan.

[ She arrives, with her floating teddy bear companion, Judith, tailing behind her. In her arm is a stuffed rabbit, Lepus. She clambers up onto the seat across from Flan and looks upon the selection of gum. ]

This is all... bubblegum? [ As she gets settled, she places a small pouch on the tabletop and opens the top. The three gumballs from the photo are inside! ] These are the ones Sparkles gave me... the pink one is the prettiest. [ It's just a ball... ]

[yourexoduslaughing]

Oooooo, that's such a nice shade of pink! And yeah! Yours is like, real bubble gum so it'll make huuuuge bubbles, but we're gonna practice with this stuff first! Then you can decide if you like the idea, and then you can decide if you wanna eat your gum!

[She slides over a pack of spearmint flavoured gum wrapped in foil pockets.] Alright, I like to start with like, four pieces! Then we can get some real bubbles going!

[sabigoe]

[ Picks up the foil wrapped gum, looking it over curiously. They can make bubbles with these? Confused, yet Fio smiles politely. ]

Um... okay!

[ Watches Flan expectantly to show her the way! ]

[yourexoduslaughing]

[Flan unwraps and stuffs four pieces in her mouth, turning herself into a misophonia's nightmare as she smacks and talks.]

Okay so you chew it all up and then you push it to the front of your mouth, right against the back of your teeth so it stays in your mouth. Then you'll push your tongue against the bubblegum to like, stretch it out. Like this!

[She shows Fio with her mouth parted so she can see how Flan positions the wad of gum, and then starts stretching it out, getting thinner and thinner, and then-

She blows, and makes a small bubble with it. It holds for a few seconds, then pops when Flan adds some more air to it. She grins, and tucks the mass into her cheek.] Then you just blow a little air into it! This stuff isn't as good as the stuff Sparkles gave you, that'll make BIG bubbles, but we're gonna practice with this stuff first!

[sabigoe]

[ Throughout the demonstration, she's watching with a mixture of extreme confusion and fascination. She doesn't know what's happening. (Also, she's trying to keep a straight face as Flan chews and talks. That's bad manners!) ]

...oh! A bubble! That's why it's called bubble... gum? Okay, um... chew it all up first and then... [ She doesn't get the "gum" part, actually. Fumbles a little, unwrapping her gum packets, then she similarly stuffs four pieces in her mouth. Chewing with her mouth closed. No, she's not going to talk as she does this... ]

[yourexoduslaughing]

[Flan nods enthusiastically as Fio gets it - and as she starts chewing herself.] You got it!

[Speaking of going from bad manners to worse, Flan spits out her gum into her hands and smooths it flat with her thumbs so she can show Fio what was going on in her mouth. She carefully stretches it so she can see it thinning.] Just like this, only with your tongue! You might push through the first few times, that's okay! You're learning how thin you can make it before you can blow a bubble with it. Bubble gum is even better than regular gum, because they make it super elastic so you can blow huuuuuge bubbles!

[sabigoe]

[ Fio grimaces slightly upon looking at the gum being stretched in Flan's hands. There has to be a lot of germs on there! With her mouth full, chewing, she doesn't comment and smiles politely. She's at least enjoying the chewing part. It's all squishy and tastes all sugary!

Then she tries her first attempt at blowing a bubble. There's a small bubble... and then she spits it right out on the table. ]

Oh no! Ew...

[yourexoduslaughing]

[Flan laughs, but she's quick to grab some of the gum wrappers and lay them out flat, putting her own gum on them.] Happens to the best of us, and also to the rest of us! Go ahead and jam that bad boy on the paper, and get yourself fresh stuff! Don't need any germs!

... though there probably aren't any germs on the ship, are there? I mean, unless they're also abducting germs to add here too. Can you imagine that? Just zooping up germs from other universes and putting them here? Friday welcoming like, thousands of microscopic little guys and putting leis on them?

[sabigoe]

[ A nod and Fio follows suit, taking a wrapper to use like a napkin for her gum, then placing it into another wrapper. She doesn't want to touch the gum she chewed. Even if there might not actually be germs as Flan says.

She picks out a few new sticks of gum, still wrapped and untouched. ]

If we've got monsters, gargoyles, robots, and skeletons on this ship... I think there could be tiny little guys wearing leis! Like ants!

[yourexoduslaughing]

Like ants! Oh oh OH my god, Fio, I have to show you this picture that Grace sent me!!

[And with a few quick swipes, she turns her phone to show Fio a picture Grace sent her of Victor's many little ant bodies all million around with itty bitty teeny tiny hats that Grace put on them.] Right?? Oh my god, it's so perfect! Victor looooooved them! God I should totally see if we can get him tiny leis, that would be soooooo cute. He loves dressing up! Victor's new to being alive, he's only been like, a dude for about three years now! He's such a fast leaner though, but you have to be careful, he super likes to copy what he sees other people do!

[sabigoe]

Grace... Gracie! I know Gracie.

[ Thankfully Fio doesn't shove any more gum into her mouth for now, so she can chat a little longer. Leaning forward, she takes a closer look at the photo on screen. A wide smile spreads across her face, delighted by what she sees. ]

He's so cute! ...Wait, so are all the little ants named Victor? New to being alive? New to being a person. Kind of like... Sparkles, huh.

[yourexoduslaughing]

We love Gracie! We're besties, even if she doesn't want to admit it yet!

[Flan grins and nods, more than happy to talk about her best friend.] Yeah, like Sparkles! And yeah, they're all Victor! It's kinda funny to think about, but basically all of them woke up one day and realized they were a person, and that person was a boy! He's from my world too, and he lives in the bunker I work in! We figure people accidentally tracked him in on their boots over like, years, and he survived eating leftovers from lunches or the cafeteria!

It's fun having someone who's new to being a person, but also sometimes hard because they're so new that they rely on you for a lot. He's very good but his feelings really get hurt easily 'cause he's never had big feelings before.

[sabigoe]

[ As they talk, she idly fidgets with the wrapped sticks of gum on the table, just wiggling them around side to side. She's not going to start chewing again while they're having a conversation. ]

...I have a friend who's a bit like them. Mister Monster— I guess he's both like Victor... and Sparkles. [ And a bit of the Captain and Friday too. ] He's also a bug! Not a bunch of ants like Victor though. He's just this one... large black bug. [ Holds a stick of gum up in the air like a pointer, as high as she can reach. Levania would be the tallest on the ship if he were here. ] He wants to be human but he doesn't understand why. And he gets confused about human things too. Sometimes he'd act mean and scary, like he doesn't want to play with me! Then the next moment, he'll say he wants to do fun things together.

[yourexoduslaughing]

Ooooo, Mister Monster! He sounds neat, and a little confused! But I get it, being human is fun, it makes sense that other guys wanna be human too! Hopefully he'll learn to control his temper though, 'cause being mean and scary to your friends is a good way to scare them off! I'm glad he's got you, and you've got him!

What kinda stuff do you and Mister Monster do?

[sabigoe]

We go exploring together! We ran up and down the stairs of a bunch of big towers and went through a bunch of different rooms. He's a special kind of monster— a dream eating monster!

[ The exploring was mostly something Levania had to do. And Fio had to be there, along for the ride. It wasn't much of an activity to do between friends, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. ]

He was mostly doing his job... But I invited him to read books together, eat snacks together, and look at flowers together! We're gonna do those things someday. Maybe you can join us, Flan. Sparkles, too. [ Because she confidently believes they'll one day meet again. ]

[yourexoduslaughing]

Ooooohhhh dream eating monsters!! Oh those guys are so neat! Oh my god yeah I hope I can join you guys! All of us, hanging out and having snacks and looking at flowers - maybe eating the flowers! Maybe doing some crafts too, if he's got fingers and thumbs! And if not, we can totally do a craft for him to wear when he's off snacking on dreams!

I'm really glad you weren't totally alone out there. You're too cool of a kid to not have had a friend! And monsters make the best friends in my experience!