Definitely not a "vurp" and definitely not something she wants to taste

[glitchinprincess]

Characters: Vanellope and anyone who's willing to talk to a brat with dirty hair!
Setting: First floor cafeteria.
Format: Either or! I'll be starting with action, but I'll follow your lead if you want something else.
Summary: Vanellope has discovered that she has to eat oatmeal and she is not amused.
Warnings: May be vaguely spoilerish if you haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph yet. Also, Vanellope gives inappropriate nicknames.

<sub>[This day was already turning out to be way weirder than Vanellope wanted to deal with. The last thing she remembered-- those creepy bugs coming out of the ground, and a crash, and Ralph yelling, and then--

...waking up here, and finding that weird note. Luckily the words were all simple enough for her to understand. Unluckily... the words were all simple enough for her to understand. No way could Sugar Rush have been destroyed! Glitches couldn't leave their game, right? And... and...

But those bugs, A small, nagging voice in the back of her mind whispered. Remember those bugs?

She didn't want to deal with it.

Another thing she didn't want to deal with? The jumpsuits. Uh, hello? Totally not her style! Her hoodie was much better racer material, thank you. She'd changed clothes and grabbed a handful of candy from her trunk ASAP.

Exploring the tower was something she definitely needed to do. She found herself at the bottom floor cafeteria more quickly than she would have thought - idly bringing a piece of licorice up to her lips to chew on, she passes through the doors.

A moment later, just after swallowing, she gags. Both hands fly up to her mouth and she makes a dash for the nearest trash can, jumping up to empty her stomach into it.]</sub>

What--?!

_{[When the vomiting subsides, she hops back down onto the floor and eyes the licorice suspiciously.]}

...bad licorice.

_{[With that, she pops a mint into her mouth. A moment later, she has to jump back up to the edge of the trash can. This is not okay. She's sure she could have some fun with it if it didn't make her stomach hurt so bad... but it does hurt. And it's not just one or two candies. She's trying it out with everything she's got, and the result's the same every time. Finally, she collapses on the ground next to the trash can, her face a little green.]}

This really stinks!

Comments

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko nodded. Ah, so this was a newcomer who hadn't learned of the oatmeal rule first.]

If you're new here, you have to go to the cafeteria and eat the oatmeal before you eat anything else. Otherwise, you'll just throw up. It's a weird rule, but that's how it works in the Tower. And if you're new here, I could tell you what I know about the place while you eat. That way, you'll be prepared.

[glitchinprincess]

...oatmeal?

[For a moment, her eyes are wide. Then she makes a face, wrinkling her nose and crossing her arms over her chest.]

Who came up with that rule?! That's just gross. No one eats oatmeal where I come from.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko had to stop herself from chuckling at that reaction.]

I know, I know. It's a weird rule, but that's how it goes in this Tower. However, after you eat it, you can eat anything you want, and you can add things to the oatmeal to improve it's taste.

[glitchinprincess]

I can add things? What kind of things?

[This is the look of someone who's getting Very Bad Ideas. ...but at least she's not looking like she's going to throw up anymore.]

So what's up with this place anyway? Did you wake up in those weird clothes too? How come we have to eat oatmeal first? Are there any other stupid rules like, I dunno, what we have to eat first or whether or not we're allowed to wipe when we go to the bathroom for the first time?

[Vanellope, please.]

[tohko_amano]

Things like chocolate sauce or spices. Small things like that.

[Tohko chuckled and held up her hands.]

Calm down, calm down. I woke up in this place wearing my high school clothes, which are what I currently have on, minus the cloak and cape. And no one knows exactly why we have to eat the oatmeal first-it's just a rule that the Administrators enforce. And you are allowed to wipe if you go to the bathroom, regardless of whether it's your first or twentyth time. As for this Tower, I'll tell you what I know if you start eating the oatmeal, alright?

[glitchinprincess]

But I don't like oatmeal. What if you eat it for me and we just tell them I ate it?

C'mon! Pretty please with sugar and chocolate and sprinkles and a cherry on top?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko chuckled again and patted the kids head.]

That wouldn't work. However, I can eat it with you. That'll have the same effects, and I can tell you everything I know about the Tower while we eat. So, how about you grab a seat? I'll get the oatmeal.

[glitchinprincess]

Okaaay!

[No way around it - she's going to have to eat the stuff. So she scampers off to go find a seat, glitching into a sitting position as she nears it. Oops, she really should get the glitch under control, but at least it was a little helpful.]

Hey, hurry up, I'm starving!

[tohko_amano]

[Thankfully, Tohko didn't notice the glitch-she was too busy getting the bowl from one of the drones and two spoons for them to eat. She then hurried over and sat next to the girl, handing her a spoon.]

Sorry for the wait! Let's dig in!

[Tohko took a bite of the stuff. It tasted like sand, but that was normal for her. She managed to swallow it with a smile, and started telling the kid what she knew about the Tower.]

Alright, first of all, monsters roam the hallways here at night. If you don't know how to fight, you had better start learning from someone or stay in your dorm room until morning.

[glitchinprincess]

[She gives the oatmeal a look of pure and utter loathing when Tohko sets it down, and sort of just... pokes at it with her spoon for a few moments. She's not eating it just yet.]

Monsters?!

[Her first thought is that those creepy bugs that ruined her race are here, too. So this could still be Sugar Rush. She's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, at this point...]

Nuh-uh, no one tells Vanellope von Schweetz where to go! If those monsters try to bother me, I'll get 'em! Pow! Just like that!

[Also I am so sorry but I have to take off for a few hours once I catch up on tags. ;; I'll be back later though!]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sighed.]

I'm glad you're that enthusiastic, but there are a lot of dangerous monsters here. Some can't even be killed. Do you know how to fight?

[And that's alright! Don't worry about it!]

[glitchinprincess]

Fight? I'm--

[She can't help it - she glitches. The thought of actually fighting doesn't sit well with her. Last time she really wanted to fight someone was, well...

It ended with her getting stuck on a candy tree. Safe to say it didn't go well. Characters from Sugar Rush didn't really do fighting - it just wasn't that type of game.]

--er, not a fighter! But I can hold my own if I hafta! I'm tough!

[A few of her words were cut off in the glitch, but Vanellope didn't seem to notice.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko looked puzzled at the glitch. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but while some of the words were cut off, Tohko could piece it together.]

That's good to hear..but if your not a fighter, you should get someone here to train you. There are a lot of monsters here. If you got caught somewhere, just being tough won't help. And..pardon me, but what happened to you just now?

[glitchinprincess]

Well, maybe I'll get someone to train me and maybe I won't! We'll see what happens.

...uh... I've got pixlexia. It happens sometime. No biggie.

[If this girl doesn't know she's a glitch, she's not coming out and saying it. Ralph was the first person in awhile to not treat her bad for glitching - she's not explaining it to someone else so they can treat her bad like everyone else from home did.]

[tohko_amano]

You really should. I came to the Tower not knowing how to fight, and training has really saved my life. I would have died several times if I didn't know how to fight.

[Tohko looked puzzled when the girl mentioned pixlexia.]

..What's pixlexia? I've never heard of it before.

[glitchinprincess]

...!

[Died... this place has got to be Sugar Rush, because glitches can't leave their game... but what if it's not? What if she dies here?

"If you leave your game, stay safe. Stay alert. And whatever you do... don't die. Because if you die outside your own game... you don't regenerate. Ever. Game Over."

A standard PSA in Game Central Station - she'd heard the other racers talking about it before...

When she speaks up again, her voice is very small.]

I'll think about it.

[Then she fidgets a little uncomfortably.]

It's... you know. Pixlexia. It makes that thing you saw before happen sometimes. Caaaareful~ It's contagious!

[She fakes a cough in Tohko's direction, because messing with other people is easier than admitting the things that are wrong with herself.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko patted the kid on the head and smiled. She hadn't meant to frighten her, but you had to be careful here.]

Good. You should really consider it. There are plenty of people here who would be more than happy to train you.

[And Tohko just looked even more puzzled by that description.]

Ah, I see..I admit, I've never heard of it before. I guess it's only something that exists in your universe..but how is it contagious?

[glitchinprincess]

How's it contagious? It just is!

Is this the face of a kid who would lie to you~?

[BIG GRIN.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko smiled. She wasn't going to accept that explanation, but this kid was rather cute.]

It just is? Really? And while your face is rather cute, even cute faces can lie.

[Stories had shown her that. Chia had shown her that. Hell, she herself was living testament to that.]

[glitchinprincess]

It is! Watch!

[She grabs for Tohko's hand and concentrates. Concentrates... concentrates... glitch!

She'd caused others to glitch before - most recently Taffyta and King Candy, just in the last few... days, really. Unless more time has passed here than she knows.

But Tohko isn't from the arcade. She's not a program and she doesn't have code, so whether or not Vanellope will be able to cause her to glitch as well is something even she doesn't know.

Then again, she doesn't know this tower isn't full of game characters. Everyone she's ever met has been from a game. So she doesn't see any reason why her glitching wouldn't work...

At any rate, it makes herself glitch. Tohko? Well, that remains to be seen...]

[tohko_amano]

[However, Tohko was a flesh-and-blood human, not a computer program. Nothing happens to her, but she does see that the girl glitches.]

Erm..are you alright? I don't imagine that feels well.

[glitchinprincess]

...

[She frowns heavily.]

That usually works! What are you?!

[tohko_amano]

I'm a human. What are you? An artificial intelligence of some kind?

[glitchinprincess]

Artificial whaaa--? No, I'm a human too!

Look at me, I've got arms and legs and a mouth and a nose and everything!

[tohko_amano]

But you keep flickering in and out and looking scrambled sometimes. That doesn't happen to normal people back home. It's something that does happen to computer programs though..

[Tohko isn't meaning to hurt your feelings, really, she isn't. She's just..puzzled.]