Zoe woke up in her dorm room. It felt so natural, so real. But when she sat up and looked to the right of her bed, her chair wasn't there. There was a brief moment of panic as she searched the room with her eyes until she remembered where she was. The simulation. She... shouldn't need her chair in here.
Cautiously, she swung her leg around. Wait, what? She swung her legs around! Zoe wiggled her toes, but that was nothing new. She could do that in the real world. Slowly, her feet touched the floor and she paused. The carpet felt real. So real. Zoe stood up quickly and immediately hit the floor. What?! No, no. Why hadn't it worked?
But she realized. She wasn't used to it. Bearing weight on her legs. Slowly, shakily, she stood up. And as she did, her knees shaking more with hear than anything else, she cracked a wide grin across her lips. She was standing!!! She immediately tried to take a step and nearly fell again. But she caught herself this time. And tried again. And again. And after several failed attempts and a little rug burn on her knees, she got it.
Now she had to get ready.
Zoe definitely took too long admiring her legs when she got undressed. Smooth. No scars. They were perfect. But something about that made her stomach flip, and not in a good way. Still, it was fine. She could walk! But it was nearly time to go and she was still in her underwear. Zoe ran around the room, tripping more than she should have, and got ready. Her dress was almost the same, but it didn't have that little bow that had been put on it when Ma had given it to her. Oh well, she knew the dress in the real world had it.
By the time Vega knocked on the door, she was still finishing her makeup. Still standing herself in the eye with the damn mascara. "Just a minute!" she called out as she put on her lip gloss. There. It was perfect. Zoe draped her braid over her shoulder and slipped her shoes on. Flats. She could barely walk as it was. She didn't need heels ruining it further.
Opening the door, Zoe was nearly in tears again. She had just done her makeup, damnit! Apparently it didn't run in the simulation though because when she wiped her cheeks no foundation or mascara came off in her hands. "Hey Sugar. I- dammit Vega, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doin' here."
It was crazy. She was almost the same height as him like this. She wasn't looking up at him like usual. She liked it, but also missed seeing him from below. It was strange just naturally being so close to eye level with anyone.
