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[The camera starts off focused tightly on Wanda's face, the smile on her lips and the glint in her eyes. The background is green and out of focus.]

[She tilts her head to the side, choosing her words with care.]

There's something I want to share.

[Wanda turns the camera away from herself and tilts it up to show a gold and white globe dangling from a giant branch far up in the forest canopy. The picture cuts out for a second, and when it resumes, the camera is rising toward the globe.]

[Plausible deniability -- it could very easily be a camera attached to a remote control helicopter or some other device capable of flying. It isn't; Wanda's doing the filming by hand. But it could be.]

It's a traditional design from a world far away from here, but I was the apprentice paper-folder and I folded almost every fold -- it was a great deal of work -- and I have permission to show you the result.

[The ascent takes longer than might have been expected and the globe, when it's reached, seems larger than it had from the ground.]

[As the camera moves around the globe, it becomes clear that it's made entirely out of a shiny waterproof paper. Some areas are folded into organic designs, folded so much these areas are duller than the rest -- they almost look formed by some biological process. Some sections are more geometric. On of the pentagons is actually an opening that the camera passes through.]

[The inside is filled with structural components, thin cables and shiny metal fasteners and more sturdy paper folded into delicate supports. As the camera moves through what is a surprisingly large area, light and shadow mingle in complex patterns.]

[When the camera reaches the middle of the sphere, the top unfolds in an iris pattern, the whole structuring compressing to make an opening, and light pours in.]

[A stick-like alien suddenly leaps through the opening, and everything starts swinging back and forth, dizzying. Wanda can be heard laughing before the picture blips again, back outside, Wanda perched on a wide tree limb and the paper globe -- still swaying, though it may just be the breeze now -- behind her.]

I think it's beautiful.

[Wanda glances back, then shrugs at the camera.]

If you're not shaped like an insect, if you weigh more than a grapefruit, there are more practical, less fragile designs -- I'm making my own place to live, too, now that this is done, and it won't be a hanging garden...

But I think I'd like to live somewhere ... somewhere that makes me happy to live there, because it means something, even on a foreign planet. Something that reminds me of who I am, but also... [She hesitates.] A place that is beautiful.

[She shrugs, and adds, a little wry--] I suppose one must always have dreams.

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I think it's likely.

[Wanda's almost certain, in fact. The only thing that's kept her from badgering the alien she calls a friend for more designs on her own behalf is an uneasy feeling that maybe, having paid her debt, incurring a new one might not be the best idea. Although--]

I think they like sharing how they do things.

[They were patient with Wanda, at least, though not nearly as focused as she'd been in the throes of the project.]

[Angel fell quiet for a moment, studying the paper. It would be something to do. The kind of project she needed when her fingers itched for a project but her body was to weary to do much more other than sustain life.]

[But it felt almost wrong to ask about it for that reason. If it was another creature's talent, a part of a culture that perhaps she did not understand, then it would be wrong to take it on for nothing more than idle hands.]

How did you first find out about it?

I ... damaged their home, just after I arrived. And they sort of ... took me on, after that. It was a good thing for both of us, I think... I think they were lonely before they had me to boss around.

[Wanda would like to think it was a good thing both ways, at least.]

But they're very alien. Sometimes I wonder if I'm ... projecting.

[She presses her lips together against a sigh.]

I really don't think they'd mind being asked, though, if it was something you wanted to do. I can introduce you, if you'd like.

[The story will earn a small laugh from the girl on the other end of the line. She felt a little sympathetic for the woman being ordered about by small aliens, but at the same time, said woman didn't seem particularly perturbed by it. Angel might have been the one projecting in this case, but in her experience, any companionship would do, if someone was desperate for it.]

I think they appreciate you, or at the very least, they are grateful. You took responsibility for your actions, after all.

[The siren let out a thoughtful hum, before nodding a little.]

Perhaps some time I will come by and ask, then.

[Wanda smiles too, suddenly seeing herself from a different perspective.]

I did. I suppose that is something.

[It is something to think about, later. For now, she nods in agreement, filing away the possibility, and repeats--]

Perhaps.

I know at times it is hard to see the goodness in what you've done, especially when weighted with the negatives that might have occurred around you. I myself struggle with that much too.

[Funny how Angel seemed to stumble upon those most like her purely on accident. She wasn't nearly as alone as she might have thought just a month or so ago. Even if their situations were vastly different.]

Or perhaps, I'm just a touch sentimental about everything?

[A different perspective is one thing; there are some misconceptions that Wanda doesn't think it's fair to allow to stand with someone who she might see again in person, even though it's an honesty that can only work against her.]

That is true, but for me, it is not only what happens around me. I am not a good person.

[When your actions almost caused the literal end of the world, that one was easy. And so much that she'd tried to hide before has slid out here already, it's easier to just say what she thinks than try to keep everything hidden forever -- although she thinks she will leave the revelations in the general.]

Yes, you should be careful of that sentimentality.

[It's not said quite as sharp as her thoughts; she manages to soften the words a little. This woman she's talking to seems nice; she will try to give that the response it deserves.]

[The corner of Angel's mouth twitched downward. She had expected a slight connection, in as the woman made a hurtful mistake with the aliens and found herself trying to recover from that. But she doubted a mistake like that would lead to someone calling themselves a bad person. It seemed like the assumed connection went far deeper than Angel would have expected.]

[She wasn't sure how to feel about that.]

[But the woman didn't want sentimentality, which meant the siren wasn't so sure how much she'd appreciate an attempt to relate. Much as Angel thought that moving past sins was possible (had to be possible, if she were ever to be anything worthwhile), she opted to keep her mouth closed.]

Perhaps. Allow me, then, to express my apologies for being so presumptuous. [She spoke soft and slow, and kept her gaze averted from the screen.]

[Angel's reaction, and especially the word presumptuous, surprised Wanda. And then it didn't; she'd just said she was not a good person... what rational person would want to get on the wrong side of a bad person?]

[It reminded her of a time long ago, when she'd been called "witch" and taken it as a sign of respect, because all she wanted was to have the power she'd never had before, the power to change the unfairness of the world.]

[She hadn't felt like that in a long time, but she bit back her instinctive protest. She'd laid the claim, this was what came of it.]

[So she just inclined her head, accepting what the other woman said as her due. She couldn't think of anything at all to say, though.]

[Angel was just was clueless as to what to say. She reached up, scratched at her cheek, fussed with her hair, and then lowered her hand once more. She hadn't wanted things to go this way -- he'd been enjoying connecting with someone on a basis outside of her powers, outside of her experiences back home.]

[Naturally those things came back to haunt her.]

I suppose I should leave you and your friend be then.

[Wanda hadn't wanted things to go this way either, but in the moments as she watches Angel fidget, it seems inevitable that this would happen because of what she'd said. Still, Angel's words get a little instinctive protest from her.]

No, don't do that!

[Awkwardly--] You should give my friend a chance. If you are still interested in the origami. They are not at fault.

[Now the siren looked guilty, and she lifted the hand that wasn't keeping the TAB secure up into the air, a gesture of assurance. The woman had seemed upset, and Angel hadn't wanted to continue to tax her mood.]

I only meant to give you some peace and quiet for the moment. If you'll still have me, I would be delighted to learn from the both of you. I did not mean to insinuate otherwise

[Wanda stares at Angel, feeling like she's missing something. Or possibly several somethings.]

Oh... Okay. If it's something that you want to do, perhaps we will talk later, as we said.

[She feels like she's going back on telling the truth, retreating to a point in the conversation before that point, but she's too confused -- has she confused herself with her different impulses? Perhaps Angel is right and she simple needs to get away from this conversation at this point.]

I wish you the best. [She says it with finality, ending her part in this exchange, but for all that it's sincere.]

I look forward to it.

[Uneasy as the conversation had been, she meant it. She had been a kind enough woman, with a curious ability (taking the form of her origami). Moreover, she didn't want her first and only conversation with her to end so disastrously. Sooner or later, she would find a way to say hello to the woman once more.]

[Next time, she wouldn't be so socially clumsy.]

You as well, my friend.