#{ 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐀 *// open }

[mcckies]

It was probably way too early for this, but Valentina was doing one of her favorite things possibly ever - people watching.

It wasn't as entertaining as it probably could have been in any other places - like, literally anywhere else, specifically anywhere not in this limbo - since the same people she saw were really the only people worth actually watching. Countless of hopeless victims of Arcadia rolled through this place and barely lasted a week. Valentina lasted ten years - there was nothing quite strong enough in this world like the power of spite and an overinflated sense of self.

So there had to be some kind of survival instinct in her, but she chose to view it in an opposite manner - these people here were on the same wavelength as her, and that was commendable. Ten years was a long time to survive here, and god knew there were some close calls there. Occasional meltdowns over trivial things that had her shrieking like a banshee and ripping her work from where they hung on the clothesline, but it took a good night sleep and a solid hangover to make her right(ish) as rain the next day.

As for the entertainment, Valentina sipped at her tea - or whatever it was that passed as tea nowadays - at a booth closest to the door, watching those in the town begin their day. She was up and ready to go the second those Things retreated back into the forests where they belonged, not wanting to waste a minute. Her beloved patchwork jacket was on, her favorite guardian against the snow, kept on anyway due to the winter breeze that crept on in anytime someone opened a door.

Someone came in and something about them had Valentina eyeing them, her head tilting to study as they took a seat facing away from her, at the far end of the diner. God, their coat - it was a mess. Absolutely not; the days past had been crazy, sure, but this was ridiculous. Valentina sat down at the booth behind them and gave them two noticeable taps with her index finger on their shoulder. "You know, I'm one of the only people left that knows how to get bloodstains out of clothes," she remarked, nodding at their clothing. "Like, fully out, not that half-in, half-out shit that cleaning lady used to do before she got mauled. Walking around like a giant biohazard is rancid, even for this place. I can help you. I won't even ask that many questions."

[mcckies]

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