Fruits, Clocks and Gears

“Yes! Yes it is. My name is Ater and I come from the Gray Garden. Have you heard of it? You live here, right?” A fairly obvious question, but Ater noticed that the angel’s appearance didn’t match the aesthetic of the world very well. Maybe this was her first time too.

“Um....Y-yes....” Peaches twiddled her fingers a bit, still visibly nervous at the newcomer, but slowly warming up to her.

“M-my name is Peaches...I-I’m an angel....”

No.

Those horns… A demon? The Great White paused, eyes narrowing at the stranger with a frown. “Who are you?”

The fight had just finished when the shark familiar came into view. Steam kept his hand on his guns, raising an eyebrow.

“I should be asking that. ...But if you must know, I’m Steam. A demon, in case the horns didn’t make it obvious.” He shrugged, glancing at the defeated enemies on the ocean floor before returning his gaze to the familiar.

“I promise I won’t do anything to ruin it, if you’re worried about that.” The cat suddenly paused, as if something just occurred to her.

“Oh, wait. You’re not hurt from when I made you fall, right? I’m really sorry about that. I just couldn’t take my eyes off the scenery. Your world looks very strange, but interesting too! ”

“U-um....” The angel fidgets a bit at the sudden realization from the other.

“I-it’s fine....I-I’m not hurt...” She manages to finally say after a bit of hesitation. She then takes the chance to get a good look at the stranger. They seemed to be new to this world, perhaps a visitor..?

“ uh. that’s kind of— nasty. does your god not take care of that ?? “ she asks, making a mental note to kick etihw’s ass if they ever let the Gray Garden become polluted.

she looks up at the oncoming orchard, then towards steam. she’d be sure to keep an eye on him.. don’t need any pollution in their world. it was full of beautiful natural scenes. if any smog formed in them, grora would be pissed.

Steam shrugged slightly.

“I mean, the pollution isn’t everywhere. It’s just inevitable in a world like mine. We do what we can to control it, but it’s still there.”

𝓣hankfully, for this angel, while not quite what she was looking for, another kind being was around, something that had seemed almost as gentle and approachable, but with an aura of elegance that just seemed to surround her. Igls, having felt the foreign magic in the air on her skin, carefully followed and then approached the other, keeping a respectable and safe distance. She rested her hands to her sides and tried to make sure she was within her range of sight, though Igls wasn’t really aware if the stranger could see her or not. Oh, the tragedy of being blind!

    “𝓤h, excuse me, miss?” 𝓗er voice was soft and frail, but still supported polite confidence behind it by being audible and fluent, even against the many murmurs of many crowds. “𝓨ou don’t seem to belong here. Do you have business with this world right now? Don’t be alarmed, though. It’s okay if you don’t, rather it’d be because you’re lost or that you’re just exploring. It’s just part of my job here to help keep track of what comes into our world, and what goes out, including people. And of course, if you need assistance, you can always ask me. This place is my native home, I know it like the back of my own hand.”

The bustling and busy nature of the place Peaches was currently at was intimidating, to say the least. Being someone who rarely socialized with others due to near debilitating shyness, she often kept to herself and preferred quiet places.

The angel was very lost, needless to say.

However, the sudden voice made her jump slightly, a bit amazed she could even hear the other in such a crowd.

“A-ah..!” She squeaks in surprise as she turned to the source of the voice. In front of her was another angel, it seemed, and someone who she hoped was friendly, though she assumed so with the way the other was speaking.

“Well, as I said, this is Mindscape, the capital city of the Dreaming World.” Vivi smiled, then curtsied. “My name is Vivi. If you need to know anything of this world, ask away.”

Of course, any big questions would have to be answered by the God and Devil, but she’d still do her best.

Clockwork was silent at first, taking in the other’s words as she glanced around at her surroundings once again.

The question had the android’s footsteps slow to a stop, surprise flickering onto his face. No one, in all the time he’d encountered people from a new realm, quite had addressed him like that. “Friend, I would hope.” What a way to start a conversation.

It was understandable, though. His home was quiet, mute, like the murmur of the public had been replaced with the kind of silence that made the ears ring in hopes of hearing something new. If Ziel had a choice in the matter, he would have preferred the City to have that hubbub of sound like his old home had. This quiescence always made him shudder every time he walked his own streets.

“Um… I don’t mean to impose, but… What are you doing here?”

Noticing the other’s tension at the sudden question, Steam let himself relax ever so slightly, his hands retreating into his pockets as he leaned back a bit against a wall.

“Friend huh? Good.” At the other’s question, he shrugged slightly. Really, there was no particular reason why he came to this strange world aside from boredom.