The Neighborhood - Varia Galet character sheet. (Patreon)

“You're a heartbreaker, dream maker, love taker...” She stares at the computer screen, going over a script she's been writing for the twentieth time as her music keeps her sane.  “You're the right kind of sinner... to release my inner fantasy..." She mutters along as her eyes start to glaze over, still getting a compiling error after all this time...  

Varia recalls Meep’s warning: ‘Don’t stay too late… you practically live in this library, sometimes…’ She glances at her phone and sees that, yeah, okay, maybe 7 o’ clock was a biiit late. She begins gathering her things, slipping her laptop and notes back into her bag and walking back up to the desk. She stood up straight and proud, her prim and proper state of dress a little loose after a hard day of studying, and sets the stack of books up to be turned in. "Here you are."  

“Ah, Ms. Galet… finally done are we? I’ll hold these to the side for you for tomorrow. And… do try to keep the singing down, dear, yes?” Varia’s head shrinks down into her shoulders, clutching her bag as she gives a series of rapid nods and wordlessly leaves, already feeling a rosy hue start to form on her face.  She takes the usual alley-way shortcuts through the city as she makes her way home, struggling to clear the fence. Her pace felt almost normal without Meep there to scale it twice as quick. “Hnnngh-Ah…!” Varia clears the top but loses her footing, landing in a heap on the other side. “Ow….”  She groans, pushing herself onto her hands and knees. “Woof!” The sudden bark had her scrambling up to her feet, clutching her bag as she whirls around to find a dog staring at her… on the other side of the chain-link fence. “Oh! Phew…” She breathes a sigh of relief as she sees it pace back and forth, not aggressively, but certainly excited. She’d have to warn Meep next time they decided to cut through. Ignoring the stray, she heads on back home.  

Just as the sun was starting to disappear behind the horizon, Varia was walking into an empty house; it would be another three weeks before her parents were back from their overseas business venture. She opens the fridge, thinking about what to have… before closing it, opting to just make a cup of coffee before heading up to her room. Tossing her bag onto her bed and throwing off her clothes, she slips into a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants before settling in front of her computer.  

From one extreme to the other.  

She lounges back and looks at her list of games, long enough now it had reached the ‘There’s nothing to plaaay…!’ status. Her head now a foot below the head-rest and finger flicking at the mouse wheel, she sighs as her eyes pass over 4EX titles, CRPGs, Management Sims and everything in between… before drifting to her browser. She opens it and - after a quick glance behind her, as though her parents may cover a thousand miles to suddenly burst in - she debates whether to go to the normal site for game mods or… the other one. And, after chewing on her lips for a bit, she muses: “Let’s see what’s new on The Lab…”