Post Trauma (Closed)

Alva actually rather liked going places without Ted sometimes, as cool as it was to walk and fly around at mach speeds. She supposed the novelty of it had worn off after a few months or so, and while it wasn't like she disliked using the suit all the time, it was just good to go get some fresh air by herself sometimes.

Of course, that meant having to roll herself around in her wheelchair, but it wasn't like she hadn't gotten used to that over the years, either. And Central City was quite accommodating to the disabled, so that was a big plus as well! Alva had hated it when she and her dad had gone on that road trip down South, only to find that not a single building had ramps.

On this day Alva had elected to dip into the shopping district, because, quite frankly, she needed some new clothes. It was okay to spend money on nice things sometimes, just so long as she didn't go crazy. So a lower tier clothing shop looked like a good fit for her as she rolled in through the door. Luckily, it had one of those automatic buttons for her to take advantage of.

Alva rolled around the store for a few minutes as she perused the clothes, a few different skirts and dresses, a jacket here and there, until she finally happened upon the most adorable boots. Like, they were too cute. These boots were made for walking, and that wasn't something Alva would do, but she sure was going to go try them on.

The girl rolled her way towards the back, where the changing room was - even if they were just boots, she felt weird about trying them on in public - and as she brought herself through the entrance to the hall with the private stalls, she heard a metallic thump, and then she was stuck.

"Uh oh," she grumbled as she tried to shift the wheelchair forward, but when she glanced back, she saw the wheel had gotten caught on the rim of the doorway. Okay, no big deal, she could just roll back and try again... The wheelchair did not budge in the other direction, either. Well... Shoot.

Alva looked around behind her to see if anyone was passing by in the store to help pull her out, but the place was pretty much empty, and she really didn't want to have to yell for the worker at the front to come help her.

Just as she was starting to get desperate, though, someone exited one of the changing rooms she'd been trying to reach. It was a woman with really long and spiky black hair - a Saiyan? Alva wasn't sure if she could see a tail. Oh, well, it didn't matter. "Um, excuse me, ma'am, do you think you could lend me a hand, here?" she asked her, "I'm uh, stuck."

TAGS: Amara

"Yeah, help would be great," Alva repeated as the apparently dumbstruck Saiyan replied to her with a question. It almost seemed as though the other woman had never seen a wheelchair before in her life. And it also almost seemed like she was considering not helping Alva out, though she ultimately shrugged and came over to lend a hand. Amazingly, Alva was lodged free with what seemed to be minimal effort, and her wheelchair was free to roll where it pleased. "Whew, thanks," she said as she rolled away from the hallway of changing rooms and back into the main store area. "You know, I think I'll just buy these without trying them on." 

As she glanced back up at the woman's face, though, Alva frowned. She looked... Sad. Weirdly sad, and distant for some reason, especially after she'd trailed off in the middle of her sentence like that. Was it Alva's place to actually ask about that, or should she just leave this stranger be? ...Oh, well, nothing better to do. "What's up?" she asked, "You look all upset about something." Maybe that wasn't the most delicate way to put it, but Alva didn't get the vibe that this lady really cared all that much about talking fancy-like. "I'm Alva, by the way," Alva added as she held up her hand for a handshake, a smile spread across her lips.

TAGS: Amara

Apparently Alva's tuition had not let her down in this situation. The other woman revealed her name as Leriac, which was kind of an unusual one, but Alva didn't comment on it. She'd definitely met people with stranger names before, after all. Yangcong came to mind. And as Leriac went on, Alva's brows furrowed and her smile dipped into a concerned frown. Something definitely had been up with Leriac. "Oh god," Alva replied as Leriac finished speaking, "No wonder you're bummed out, that sounds horrible!" She didn't know if she was quite the right person to be acting as this stranger's grief counselor, but it sounded like Leriac was all alone, and... Well, so was Alva right at the moment. Maybe they could be alone together for a minute? Leriac looked like she needed a good vent.

"You know, uh, there's this milkshake place like a block away from here," Alva offered, "I was going to stop by there and grab one after I finished shopping here. You wanna come with? You sound like you've been through the shitter, so my treat." Plus, if Leriac came with her, Alva wouldn't have to keep rolling herself. ...Leriac wouldn't mind pushing her, right? "Plus, I gotta thank you for helping me out a minute ago, anyway. And in return, you can just like, push my chair for me." 

TAGS: Amara

Most shit sucks, huh? Well, Alva disagreed, personally, though it did sound like quite a whole lot was going on out in the galaxy. She'd seen it on the news earlier - something about a war between the Saiyans and Tuffles that had been going on for a long time reaching some pivotal point? All that was just confusing to Alva, and she didn't really ever plan on getting involved in those intergalactic politics. one thing was for certain, though: Leriac had been in some deep water, and had barely managed to doggy paddle her way to the edge of the pool. 

As Leriac pointed out the boots Alva was carrying, the blonde girl chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I've got my wallet in here somewhere," she replied as she shoved her hand into the pocket of her jacket. She paid for the boots on the way out and swapped shoes while Leriac was pushing her out the store, a smile on her face as she held up her feet to look at. "Yeah, definitely worth the purchase," she stated as she put her old shoes in the bag the checkout clerk had given them and hung it on the chair handle that Leriac wasn't using. "What, ramps?" Alva asked as Leriac expressed her confusion at the sight of them. "Where are you from that doesn't have ramps?"

Must've been a Southerner, or something like that. "Anyway, the milkshake stop is like two blocks down that way," Alva stated as she pointed off to the right. "Though, if you need to make any stops along the way, I don't mind all that much." It was nice not to have any obligations for a day. Alva could just waste away time with strangers! ...Oh, and she also needed to cheer this lady up, that was important, too. "So, uh, if you don't mind me asking while we walk - or, while you walk - what exactly happened? Was it some bad car accident? You did mention a crash."

TAGS: Amara

Alva found it a little hard to believe Leriac had never seen anyone else in a wheelchair. Like, never ever? Did she even know that wheelchairs existed? Alva knew that the South wasn't quite as progressive when it came to these sorts of things, but to the point where nobody was ever spotted in public using one? Maybe she should stay away from heading down there without Ted, lest some of the bystanders get weird about her. Then again, a mechanical person walking around would probably get even more odd looks, but... Whatever. It wasn't like they'd know who was inside the suit, anyway.

When Leriac mentioned not seeing all that 'Earth' had to offer, Alva furrowed her brows. That was kind of a weird way to phrase that, wasn't it? It added credence to the theory that Leriac wasn't from around here, at least. And, by around here, Alva meant the entire planet. But Leriac didn't seem to want to go into specifics about her geographical origin - though, she did go into specifics about her gruesome plane crash. "Oh god, that sounds horrible," Alva replied. She didn't even want to imagine what being burned alive by leaking jet fuel would feel like. It sounded to Alva like Leriac was having a pretty severe case of survivor's guilt. ...Nothing that a good milkshake wouldn't fix!

"It's right here," Alva stated as they pulled up next to the Dairy King. She then continued, "Well, I'm really sorry about that. I lost my mother at birth, so I can at least kind of relate to losing someone close to you. Though, I'm guessing you've heard all about sorries and whatnot, so apologies if that comes off as a little hollow. But come on, any flavor milkshake you want is yours! Nobody can stay in a bad mood while they sip one of these." Alva started to pull out her wallet as they presumably rolled up to the person manning the window.

TAGS: Amara

Got better, huh? Well, Leriac was in better physical shape than Alva, at least - and Alva had never even been in a plane crash. Then again, while Alva didn't have her scouter with it, as it was embedded into Ted's systems, she had a feeling that, given Leriac's ease with which she'd both freed her wheelchair and pushed it along with a single hand, the woman was above your average human's power level. Alva could only assume that was the reason the woman pushing her had been able to survive relatively alright, though it seemed like her companions weren't nearly as fortunate. The crash had to have been a while ago, though, didn't it? Alva felt confident it'd have been on the news if it were a recent thing.

Regardless, it was milkshake time. That'd get their minds off this traumatic backstory stuff, wouldn't it? The concept of a walkup vendor seemed foreign to Leriac, but she seemed like she got the gist of it as the two of them rolled on up to the clerk. Leriac wanted vanilla, and Alva wanted... "One mint crushed cookie blizzard, please!" she ordered. Leriac's choice was rather vanilla, no pun intended, but that made sense - she was probably trying this place out for the first time and wanted to play it safe.

It only took about thirty seconds before the girls were handed their drinks, and Alva paid up. "Alright, let me know what you think! Just roll me up to one of those tables so we can relax for a minute, first," she suggested as she gestured towards a few outdoor tables that were set up outside of the Dairy King. Alva had also started to dig in, her lips pursed around the straw as her body became a veritable vacuum cleaner as it attempted to suck the mostly frozen milkshake up through the straw, to little success.

TAGS: Amara

Once Leriac had rolled Alva over to the table, the warm outdoor had finally melted her shake just enough that she was able to slurp some of it up through the straw. Every now and then, a little bit of the crushed cookies with get sucked up with the minty cream and make for a blast of cold and refreshing flavor in Alva's mouth that could only possibly be described as utterly divine. A cursory glance up at Leriac revealed that the other woman was having quite the time with her own drink, even if it was just the plain vanilla she'd ordered. Did they really not have amenities as simple as milkshakes down in the South? It was certainly interesting to see how different cultures could be even on the same planet, but it certainly didn't make Alva feel all too inclined to head below the equator anytime soon.

"So?" she finally asked after they'd had a few moments to enjoy themselves. "Pretty spectacular, right? I'm really surprised Dairy King doesn't have any chains down South, I'd have thought people all around the world would want them. Oh, well." Alva shrugged and took another sip from the thick, creamy liquid. "Actually, what does bring you up to Central City, then? It seems like you've been getting a new dose of culture shock with every step you take, so why leave the South?" Alva was curious, now that she thought about it. Leriac didn't seem like she was just here to sightsee... But, she didn't really seem like she was here for anything. It was if she was just aimlessly wandering.

TAGS: Amara