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Isn't it nice when things have settled down? Will thinks so. Will also thinks riding her bike around a simulation of Heatherfield is nice, so she's doing that.

It's a lovely fall day, the air is just cool enough, the breeze is just light enough, and while Will is a little uncomfortable with simulated people, the city just looked too creepy without them - so random strangers are going about their simulated business, their chatter adding to the background noise.

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Kaylee was planning on making a simulation of Serenity, so she could poke around in the engine and pretend she was back somewhere where she knew how to handle things and wasn't scared. Not that Kaylee's scared. That she'll admit to. Um.

But there's this lovely fall day, with a bunch of things and people that look like they came out of a history text or something. So she wanders in, wide-eyed, peering around curiously. "Wooow..."

With so many simulated people around, it's a good thing Kaylee has the plantsuit, or Will wouldn't have noticed her.

Will, for her part, has covered the plantsuit with an illusion of a red t-shirt, overalls, and a red jacket. She even feels the imaginary clothing over her plantsuit - it does a lot to make her feel less self-conscious, or would, if there were people here - like say, the pretty brown-haired older girl in the plantsuit over there!

Will brakes to a stop and waves, to mark herself out from the holo-people. "Hi! Um, did you want to use this Sensorium? I'm Will. I'm the only one in here who's not an illusion."

Because clarification is a good thing.

Kaylee starts, looks over, and grins at the redhead before trotting over. "No, it's shiny!" Kaylee says cheerfully. "I was just gonna poke at Serenity's engine. This is loads nicer, though. It's all outside'n stuff."

Outside is nice and breezy and sunny! And it doesn't smell bad. That's very important in a "nice outside" setting.

There might be some pollution. Will hasn't really remembered to include it, but Stacy's probably that accurate - at least in terms of smell.

"Serenity?" she repeats. "Thanks. It's my town. Not my hometown, but . . . you know, I live here."

It's not Persephone levels of pollution, though. Trust me, it makes a difference.

"It's real nice," Kaylee says sincerely. And then she griiiins, and beams proudly, because Serenity is her favourite thing ever. "Serenity's my ship. Well, she's technic'ly the cap'n's, but I'm the mechanic, and she's my girl."

"Ship?" Will blinks, uncomprehending. "You live on a boat?"

Kaylee giggles and shakes her head. "Spaceship. Kinda like this, only without the AI and the plants and a lot smaller and sorta fallin' apart, but she's the best ship in the 'verse."

She loves her ship.

"Oh!" Will's face clears in comprehension. "Oh, wow, that's pretty cool. So you're from the future? Or, uh, past or whatever, depending on what time it is now?"

She blushes a little bit, glad once again for the illusion of non-plantsuit clothes. It's so nice not to feel completely self-conscious when meeting a new person.

"She sounds really sweet," she adds, then blushes a little deeper - it's not like any of her secrets are sacred here anymore, but it's not exactly run-of-the-mill stuff, even for girls with magical powers, to be able to talk to machines. "I mean - you sound like you like her a lot."

"Oh, she's a sweetheart, alright," Kaylee says, nodding. "Don't look like she should run, lotsa folks say. Which is silly, 'cause you just gotta listen, she'll tell ya when she needs fixin', and she's got a good mechanic, she'll fly the skies longer'n any of the Alliance junk they've got out there."

And then Kaylee has the decency to look a little sheepish, considering she hasn't even introduced herself. "I'm Kaylee, by the way."

"Hi Kaylee. I'm Will."

A pause, as Will considers all of Kaylee's Serenitybabble.

"So, um, do you wanna get some ice cream?"

Kaylee has had many sweets, over the years. Strawberries and cream (once, only a bite, but it was heaven), ice planets, sweet dumplings, but this is one sugary treat she's not familiar with.

"What's ice cream?" she asks curiously.

"You don't have ice cream in the future?"

Will looks a little unsettled. "That's . . . well, it's probably not REAL ice cream, but Stacy makes a really good imitation. It's just down the street there -"

She points to the end of the block, where an ice cream parlor is positioned at the corner of two streets. "They have a bunch of crazy flavors, but there's always vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, especially if it's your first time trying."

"Strawberry?" Kaylee asks, perking up noticeably. If there are strawberries involved, she is so there. "I love strawberries, lead the way!"

Seriously. Strawberries.

"Strawberry is pretty good! I like rocky road myself - that's chocolate and nuts and marshmallows, but if you've never had ice cream, strawberry is a really good place to start."

Will and Kaylee walk down the sidewalk, Will wheeling her bike along beside her.

"So um . . . what's it like, living on a spaceship? I mean, that's not this one." Will suspects it's kind of a dumb question, but, well . . . what else is she going to ask? She's not a social butterfly.

"I almost never get to eat strawberries," Kaylee admits. "They're my favourite food in the whole 'verse."

As they walk, and Will asks her question, she laughs a little. "Well, I dunno. It's just like... well, jobs we work, ain't exactly legal most of the time. But we don't make much money, just enough to get by mostly." She tucks her hands in her pockets, trying to think of everything that might interest Will. "So, y'know, we smuggle things, mainly. Our food's just processed protein, it's cheaper than real food. You can make it sorta food-like, but it ain't the same."

Oh, look, a simulated squirrel!

"Serenity's old, 'n kinda fallin' apart in places. But I keep her flyin'. This one time, we was stoppin' on Jiangyin, and one of the buffer panels just came right off! Had to jury-rig the thrust currents through the grav booster t'keep us a little off-kilter so's the hull didn't get burned through when we hit atmo!" Not that half of that will make any sense to Will, but...

"Oh wow. So food is pretty scarce?" Real food, anyway. "The future sounds . . . hard."

It does!

"Stacy's food is pretty bad too. I never eat in the cafeteria if I can help it. At least it tastes like real food here, even if it isn't."

She smiles at the tech speak. Will might not be an engineer, but she's more receptive to engineer talk, just by associating with so many machines. "I bet she really appreciates that. Serenity, I mean." Hey, she has no secrets anymore! "I, uh, know it sounds really weird, but I have magical powers and I can talk to machines."

She smiles, a little apologetic. "You probably don't believe me - I wouldn't believe me if I heard me talking -"

By the time Will's done apologising, Kaylee's already looking at her like she's quite possibly the coolest person ever. "You can talk to them?" she asks breathlessly, looking rather starry-eyed. "Oh... I mean, I say Serenity talks to me and all, 'cause I just know what she needs, but you can really talk to machines?"

Kaylee's a little jealous. But mostly she just thinks it's cool.

"Yeah, some of them are pretty fun." Will continues blushing slightly, encouraged by Kaylee's enthusiasm. She should have known a mechanic would be the best person to talk to this about. "My computer and my printer are sort of like an old married couple, and my fridge is sort of like a naggy butler -"

At that point, they draw up to the ice cream parlor, and Will chains up her bike out of habit. "If you like strawberries, you're gonna like this place. They slice real fruit on if you ask."

Will, really, she's going to be on cloud nine forever now. Well, for a good long while. "Real fruit? Can I get something chocolatey with strawberries on it?"

Because that would just be the best thing ever.

"Oh yeah. You could get even get chocolate with strawberries on it, or strawberry with chocolate chips on, or you could get 'em both together. Just ask for a scoop of each. You can get nuts, too, if you like those."

A pimply-faced red-haired boy is manning the ice cream stand, and Will goes to talk to him before he can speak. "Hi can I get a bowl of Rocky Road, two scoops, with whipped cream? Thanks."

((OOC: We're totally gonna pretend this isn't a month old, right?))

Kaylee hesitates, chewing her lip, and then steps forward. "Um, can I have a bowl with chocolate, and strawberries on top, and that... cream stuff? Xièxie."

The bowl is prepared and handed to her, and Kaylee takes the first bite with the full intention of savouring it. Which she does. And makes a little happy moan.

"Oh my god."

Will grins. "Better than moldy protein?"

Her Rocky Road has mysteriously appeared in her hands already. Hmm.

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