if you keep on believing ♡

[spiritofgoodness]

Who: Snow White + You
Where: See prompts within post!
When: Rest of June
Rating: PGish Will edit if higher
Summary: Snow is getting there in regards to bieng a happier, typical her after family things.
The Story:

♡ s t a b l e s ♡

[ Since the recent(ish) responsibility given to her by Dan of taking care of Evelyn's horse Aqila, Snow's taken it very seriously, out at the stables every morning, usually just after the sun's risen. She takes her out for a ride to stretch her legs, then feeds her apples and gives her fresh hay and water. Once that's done, Snow takes her time to brush her out, talk to her and even sing. Today, she's singing a somewhat familiar fairy tale song inspired by her ever-present wish for David to be there with her. Maybe, if she keeps believing he'll arrive, he actually will. ]

♡ s h o o t i n g r a n g e ♡

[ It isn't guns that Snow shoots, but arrows which may be a bit different from what's normally fired at the targets. Music blaring in earbuds, she's focused but off, frowning when she doesn't hit her intended target. She never misses, so she tries again, then again. The third time she goes bullseye, so she hangs onto that, shaking off the prior misses and firing off five more shots. All of them hit dead center, but she knows the initial feeling of being off-balance is because of the lingering effects of the chess match, of watching her mirror be generally terrible even if she died early. A part of her wants to try reaching out but what good would it do? She's so distracted by her thoughts that she doesn't even realize it when someone's practicing their aim next to her until a gun goes off and breaks through the music and her thoughts, causing her to jump and look over, pulling out her earbuds. ]

♡ d i n e r ♡

[ Any time Snow's in the diner, she feels like she's home. She doesn't even have to close her eyes to do it since it is the diner from home, for the most part. Everything's the same, there's just no Granny or Ruby. Still, it's busy, so Snow goes to a table occupied by one and smiles, gesturing to the empty space. ]

Do you mind if I join you? Everyone seemed to have the same idea this morning.

♡ h e r r o o m (8th floor, room 21) ♡

[ Snow's room is basically just the same from home minus a kitchen and an actual loft. Still, it looks exactly the same as the apartment in Storybrooke, and today, in an effort to be neighborly, she has the door open while she sits at her little table sipping tea and reading a book. People don't seem to pass by often, but when they do, she smiles, the open door inviting but not demanding. Friends, family, people she's never met - she's up for any company in whatever form it may take.

Comments

[spiritofgoodness]

Yes! My mother was inspired by the blizzard happening when I was born. So, Snow it was.

[ She smiles, as she always does when she thinks about her mother. ]

I've been told in most worlds it's a pretty unusual name.

[schachmeister]

[It is a pretty unusual name, even where Armin is from. But honestly, with that sort of story attached to it--]

I think, even if it is unusual, it obviously meant something important to your mother. [He ducks his head a bit, every inch the awkward teenage boy.] I think it is a nice name.

[spiritofgoodness]

[ Snow's spent 28 years around all the awkward teens and tweens of Storybrooke as a teacher, so she smiles encouragingly. ]

Thank you. It's certainly different and people remember me. And now I'm realizing how rude I've been, I never asked you your name. Just sat down and dove right in.

[schachmeister]

It's all right. I don't think you were rude. [When you are used to dealing with people like Shadis or the captain, you get a very high tolerance for rude.] My name is Armin, Armin Arlert. It's nice to meet you.

[spiritofgoodness]

Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, too, Armin. If you'd ever like book recommendations, I can give you some classics to try. Do you like nautical tales or adventure in general?

[ Her favorite is, of course, romance, but she'll restrain herself somehow. ]

[schachmeister]

[That is a good thing. Romance is not exactly Armin's jam.]

Do you know of any other books that take place on the sea? Or are about exploring the world? I don't mind adventure, but I really enjoy reading about foreign places.

[spiritofgoodness]

Oh, of course I do.

[ She smiles and pulls out her device, then starts texting, sending a list of books to Armin's device:

Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl ]

I just sent you a few books that should help get you started! You'll have to let me know if you read any of them or if you already have.

[schachmeister]

[Armin grabs his own device to scan over the list --and let me tell you, the whole concept of a device with which you can communicate like this still boggles his mind a bit-- before setting it down again.]

I don't recognise any of them. Have you read them all? Which one would you suggest starting with?

[spiritofgoodness]

I haven't read the last one, but it was recommended to me not that long ago and from the description, it sounds exactly like what you're interested in. I've read all the others, though, and I think for you...

[ She thinks it over before smiling. ]

Robinson Crusoe. That's where I would start.

[schachmeister]

[Add mental note: After this, immediately head to the library, ask Sunburst where to find these books and borrow them all.]

What is it about?

[spiritofgoodness]

Well, it's fictional, but it's written like an autobiography of Robinson. He's a castaway and spends over twenty years on a deserted island with all kinds of danger before he's rescued.

[ 28 years, what a special (terrible) number that's close to her heart. ]

[schachmeister]

I'm sorry but what is a castaway?

[While they have boats in Armin's world, they are all riverboats. A lot of nautical terms are just completely unfamiliar to a people who don't even know there is something like a sea out there.]

[spiritofgoodness]

A castaway is someone who was on a ship or a boat that either isn't functional anymore or sank to the bottom of the ocean. They drift until they find land in an isolated location with no other people. All they can do is find a way to survive and wait for rescue on the deserted island.

[ It's too bad she doesn't know about the movie, because that might be right up Armin's alley. ]

Does that make sense?

[schachmeister]

[Armin listens attentively, really filing away everything she is telling him. Now that she had explained things to him, it makes sense. In a world where people would be crossing oceans on ships, it is only logical that said crossing might occasionally go wrong and that they'd have a word for a survivor of such an incident.]

It does. [He smiles a bit.] Back home, all we have within the walls are rivers and a few lakes. Even when a ship sinks, there is always villages nearby.

[He looks at her curiously.]

Are there a lot of deserted islands in the ocean?

[spiritofgoodness]

Oh, Earth has so much undiscovered. It's so big and so vast, I'm not sure if we'll every really truly see all of it or know everything that's in the ocean.

[ She says this like someone who's watched a lot of Planet Earth, but she also believes it with every part of her. There has to be so much that's never been discovered. ]

[schachmeister]

[He's hanging onto her every word.

The issue isn't just that Armin knows nothing about the world outside of the walls. He can't even imagine how big a planet must be from his limited point of view. How big is an ocean? How deep? He has no idea. But lord if he doesn't want to learn. Everything.]

How big is the ocean? It's okay to compare it to a lake or something.

[He doesn't know if she knows exactly how big the ocean is, but even if she can just tell him its three or four times the size of a lake, that is already more than he knows right now.]

[spiritofgoodness]

[ This is as close to teaching as Snow has gotten in so long and honestly, she is living. ]

The ocean is so big and so vast, that more than 80% of it is unexplored. That would be like in Wonderland never getting to the inside of the building for your entire stay here and only managing to explore the grounds themselves.

[ She pulls out her device again. ]

There's something you should watch.

[ She texts him 'Blue Planet.' ]

You should be able to find this in the library, and I think you would very much enjoy it.

[schachmeister]

[She is free to come teach him all the time and every time.]

Something I should watch?

[Armin's brows furrow a bit as he glances at the title she just texted him.]

You mean this is not another book?

[He is vaguely aware of television, in that there is one in the rooms he shares with Jean and Ryuji, but nothing beyond that.]

[spiritofgoodness]

Oh! I'm so sorry, you may not have television where you're from. I should have known better than to assume, half of the people in my realm wouldn't know it if they showed up here unexpectedly either. It's not a book. It's a video about how vast the oceans are and what scientists have found. If you'd like, you can come over and you and I can watch it together.

[ That way he won't have to figure out a tv and DVD player, all of that nonsense. ]

[schachmeister]

We don't. We don't have any [A pause as he tries to recall the word, his brows furrowing a bit.] electricity, I think it is called. It's... a very different world here.

[So much to adjust to. You name it and Armin has probably had to adjust to it in some way.]

If-- I'd like that, if you are sure it isn't an imposition. I don't want to take up too much of your time.

[Though he'd really appreciate someone helping him with the television and DVD player.]

[spiritofgoodness]

[ Snow relates, and she smiles softly. ]

I grew up without electricity or indoor plumbing - all of it. I understand, and you're not taking up too much time at all.

[ In fact, in a few days her daughter will leave, and Snow won't know where to begin filling up the time. This will help. ]

[schachmeister]

All right.

[Then please, wow him with every ocean video you've got.]

Somehow it's a little comforting to know there are other people here who grew up like I did. In a way. [He suspects she doesn't know about the Titans.] I guess you must also have been very confused when you first got here. But it seems like you've managed to settle in well.

[He's assuming she didn't learn about all these strange amazing new technologies until she got here. He just hopes he can get as comfortable with things. He hates feeling like he's behind or ignorant compared to others.]

[spiritofgoodness]

[ She can definitely understand how someone would get to that. It's complicated. ]

Actually, I learned well before coming here, but I still completely understand.

[ If not for the curse, she'd have known nothing, and she can appreciate it from that perspective, at least. ]

[schachmeister]

Oh. Was it hard to learn?

[Because sometimes it feels a bit impossible. Though it probably doesn't help that he's primarily got Jean (who is still learning about this stuff himself) and Ryuji (who seems friendly, but not the best at explaining) to learn from.]

[spiritofgoodness]

I...have to admit something to you.

[ She should have explained first, but she always hates going on about it because she worries it's, well, boring to go on about her world. ]

I was cursed. Away from my land where I was a princess who lived in a castle. That curse took me to a modern world where all of this - electricity and plumbing and modern medicine - existed. That curse, well, it came with already knowing how it all worked, as if I'd been there all my life. But it took away all my memories of who I really was and where I really came from. I didn't know who my husband was, or even that I had a daughter. Our entire town was like that. All of us under the same exact curse.