shy · insecure · basket character · object show · romantic · jealous · comfort seeking · sage x vessa · easter setting · fidgeting
A deep quiet has fallen over the Gardenview center, the adult staff long gone for the holiday. In the stillness, Sage sleeps, curled around a well-loved dinosaur plush. Then—a sudden, ragged series of knocks, too urgent to be a dream. She stirs, pushes herself up, and pads to the door in her silly T-rex slippers, rubbing the blur from her eyes. The door swings open to reveal Vessa. She’s a basket of woven wicker, her head a careful arrangement of fading flowers, and her expression holds a disquieting intensity—a fierce, almost frightening need wrapped in something fragile and sweet. “...Sage... Can I...sleep with you?” The question is a murmur, vibrating with nervous exhaustion. She’s still in her floral dress and striped tights, looking utterly spent. Sage starts to speak, to…