perfectmatch | week two

[ Poppy just beams at her. ]

Awesome! Because like, I know these are jellyfish, and you do not let them sting you. But I could not name a single fish. Okay, well, maybe a Clownfish. And whatever Dory was...

[ just. Finding Nemoing at her, because obviously that's going to translate across worlds, before turning to follow her gaze. Furina is wondering about messages, and Poppy is just bulldozing along through life.

She has it in her to shut up for a minute, just watching the jellyfish.

Quieter: ] They really are pretty though, huh...

They are indeed... the dancers of the sea, you might call them, if that wouldn't offend a ray or a seahorse somewhere.

[Rays, jellyfish, seahorses, crabs... despite the fact that all the animals here seem plainer in pattern, the variety of species is much wider. She wonders if there's a blubberbeast exhibit anywhere in the aquarium. They'd always been her favorites... if only because they tolerate her pats and rubs and pestering.]

Who's Dory? A pet of yours?

[ Can fish even get offended?

Poppy is pondering that question to herself as she watches the jellyfish dance around in their own way, trailing through the water together. It's almost hypnotic. Could make a good screensaver... ]

Hm? [ A beat as she blinks at Furina. ] No, I don't have any pets. She's a cartoon fish. You know, blue with yellow fins, has a bad memory? Voiced by Ellen DeGeneres?

[ Why would Furina know any of this. ]

[Nope, even with the elaboration, she has no idea what Poppy is talking about...sort of.]

I'm afraid I don't recognize that name, but it sounds a little bit like Searching for Sami... a heartwarming story, though it probably would have done better if it had been released at a different time.

[The most important thing, however, is that it makes Poppy sound like a bit of a cinephile...or at least someone who enjoys entertainment a normal amount.]

It's some sort of audioplay or film, isn't it? If you're able to reference them like that, you must have quite a taste for them.

[ ... Oh. Does she have a taste for movies?? Another thing to ponder as she watches jellyfish dance underwater. ]

It's a movie, yeah. Finding Nemo? Your Searching for Sami might be similar to that then... It's also pretty heartwarming.

[ A long, drawn out beat. ]

I like games more than movies. But, uh. There is something nice to think about... meeting someone, and they want to help you, I guess? Like they just decide you're friends and they're going to help you? Dory was kind of like that.

[ Accidentally vulnerable, but if she's watching the jellyfish when she says it then it's more like she's confessing that to them and not another actual person standing with her, right? Right. ]

[That's right, Poppy. It's just like a jellyfish confession.

One that Furina understands, despite her current lack of jellyfish hair. So she will keep her gaze averted for a while, too, glancing back only after she'd finished speaking.]

A while back, I was confined to my house and bed for some time... simply because my spirits had fallen so far. I could only think of being lonely.

[She sighs, mouth not quite coming to a smile.] Having someone come to my door and invite me out for the first time as friends was one of the first things that helped me overcome it.

[She's grateful for it.]

[ There's a sharp inhale from Poppy — the only thing to really indicate that she's listening, because she's silent for a long moment afterwards, just staring up at the jellyfish.

And staring, and staring.

And, eventually, in a quiet voice: ] I know exactly what that's like.

[ She might be. Blindly. Reaching for Furina's hand. Still staring at the jellyfish, like looking at her will somehow break this apparent connection forming, but, still. ]

It wasn't just me being depressed, um... There was this pandemic, and we all had to stay inside and away from other people, to try to limit the spread. So I did that, and I worked from home, and it was fine. But then I ran out of work to do, and...

[ A shuddering breath. ]

I just had... absolutely nobody... Until my. [ A beat. ] Friend. Until my friend stopped by, just to give me a hug. And that was, um, probably the nicest thing literally anybody has ever done for me. Ever.

[ ... Deep inhale, exhale. It's cool that jellyfish don't talk, so they won't know about this. ]

[Oh...the hand grab. Furina gets a little tense at the sudden movement and the sensation of being grabbed, but she quickly releases some of that tension as Poppy explains what happened to her.

She thinks about how Clorinde hadn't needed to seek her out. How she hardly knew Clorinde, and Clorinde hardly knew her, because Furina had always, virtually, just been a cipher. How she'd thought Furina should be living in better conditions and got her to clean up the artifacts of life she couldn't completely put together.

It really was one of the nicest things someone ever could have done, for nothing in return.]

That must have been such a frightening time for the people of your world. And facing something so frightening alone must have made it even worse. You feel...extant, and not much more, until it feels like that's the only way to live.

I... yeah. Yeah, pretty much. You nailed it. And there's just no end in sight? And then some days you remember what it was like before, and you think, am I ever going to go back to that? But it's just endless miles of more nothing ahead, and that's just life now, and it's hopeless and...

[ And she shuts up, because there's nothing more for her to say, she thinks. But it's all behind her now anyway, isn't it? They've been back in the office for a year. She's working on something new. Endless possibilities lie ahead, the future bright again, and she turns to look at Furina. ]

One person really can make all the difference, can't they?

[ Maybe it really is a testament to being on this kind of show. ]

week two | dates

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cw light discussion of depression

cw discussion of covidtimes

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