<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7f/36/ab/7f36ab980d4c3cee5e4de335571c10b5.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><strong>Name:</strong> Elena Charlie Vandel (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=250173.msg12381845#msg12381845) - Clone #2, aka, Nicole.<br/><strong>City | Date | Time:</strong> Lulekani Township near Phalaborwa, South Africa | March 17 2015 | 6:30 PM<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong> Julie, Closed.<br/><strong>Content:</strong> Arriving. </span><br/><hr/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><br/><br/>Her hand shot up to wave, returning the greeting-in-motion to the woman who lit up like a Christmas tree. To see the woman so excited and happy as she approached made Nicole feel good. She was even acutely aware that it made <em>Elena</em> - who was sitting at the sewing machine at that very moment - happy, as well, in that 'I am glad I allowed myself to be free' sort of way. Almost immediately Julie was relieving her of her things, and she couldn't help herself from laughing at the woman's lack of <em>acting cool.</em> She'd done so well back at the bench, even when she'd cautiously invited Nicole to show up, but in the moment it was cute to see all that level-headedness melt away a little. <br/><br/>Before she could even react to the woman's corrected words - and god was Julie <em>so cute</em> - she found herself embraced, and her arms naturally - instinctively, even - came to loop around the woman's waist in a hug, her face smushing into the crook of the woman's shoulder just ever so slightly as Nicole drew in a long breath and let it out in a seemingly happy sigh. Julie was sweaty, sure, but that didn't stop Nicole from enjoying the woman's natural scent. It was a weird thing about Nicole and Elena as a whole - they just liked it, and so she hoped the action went unnoticed. Then the moment had passed, and Nicole had spoke as Julie climbed up into the crowded jeep, Nicole taking the brief respite to wave enthusiastically at Julie's co-volunteers, smiling and offering a few hellos, as well.<br/><br/>"I won 't let you down,"  Julie promised, and Nicole believed her. ""I couldn't if I tried." <br/><br/>Nicole grabbed Julie's hand and appreciated the assistance with getting into the jeep. Her smaller muscles tensed a little too, but Nicole only really noticed Julie's flex, and not her own. Once inside the jeep, Julie spoke about the accommodations being far from first class, and Nicole just kind of laughed.  "It's okay, and I know it'll be worth it," she smiled a bit, standing there as Julie got settled in the jeep, and then as she did the same, she offered up another tidbit,  "it all ready is." And, with that, she sunk down fully into a sitting position, her legs criss-crossed, body in no way trying to respect Julie's personal space. Everything was so crowded, she really didn't fret about it, and instead, she allowed herself to just squeeze in next to the woman, one arm pressed against cargo of some type or another, the other side of her body pressed up against Julie's own, shoulder to shoulder. Nicole felt the need to stay alert even with the soothing, adorable grin from Julie, so there was some mild surprise when she turned to see Julie asleep. Giggling - a sound rendered silent by the sounds of the jeep - she lightly placed her head upon Julie's shoulder and wiggled her body down until she was slumped in the jeep enough to use the woman as a pillow, and after a bit of struggle - twenty minutes worth or so, really - she fell asleep, too.<br/><br/>So, when Julie came to, Nicole had not. She stayed half-coiled up there, contently passed out against the woman and, in her sleep, even cuddling the woman's arm that was closest to her, too. It wasn't much, but her own arm had come to coil around the soft skinned appendage of Julie during the time she'd slept, and it was just <em>a thing that happened.</em> When Julie spoke, it summoned Nicole from the depths of her slumber, the words only heard because they were so close together. "Mmn?" she murmured, the sound obviously a question but not really words at all. "We are?" Those two words came out coherent, but still tainted heavily by her drowsiness. Meanwhile, her eyes had fluttered open, but now rested just half-short of being closed. As for the whole <em>hugging Julie's arm thing</em>, Nicole just kind of looked up at Julie sheepishly from her spot on her shoulder and then forced herself to sit upright, all cuddling ceased. That turned out to be a good thing, because Julie stood moments later, leaving the less-achy but still sleepy Nicole sitting on the floor. It didn't take her long to match suit though as her hands found places to hold, allowing her to stand as well. Her legs felt like jello - like they'd fallen asleep - but all that did was cause her to sway slightly once fully upright, an issue handled by Nicole simply keeping a grasp on some of the cargo to help keep her standing.<br/><br/>"You have about a minute," Julie said, catching Nicole's attention like a fish hook, "And if you don't love this place by then, you've made a big mistake coming here." Nicole blinked a few times, smiling. Was the woman trying to make her worry? Or was it just that Julie was so worried about Nicole having a good time? "I can't imagine how you wouldn't though."<br/><br/>It was with those words - and that sentiment - that Nicole finally allowed herself to look away from Julie and <em>around</em>. It was beautiful, to say the least, and totally away from anything she'd experienced before. The large gate, which marked their near - arrival, was nothing compared to the sight of a herd of wildebeest roaming a large, seemingly enclosed space on the outskirts. Nicole lit up, then, even though it was perhaps the only thing in terms of wildlife she could see in the growing darkness. Without warning, Nicole turned and hugged the woman again - and this was no lazy hug, either - it included a firm squeeze, and another moment of enjoying the woman's smell. It also ended with Nicole pressed up against Julie lightly once she'd let go, the woman enjoying the closeness to her companion even though there was plenty of room now that they were standing to put a small gap between them. She didn't, though. Didn't really want to. This was officially a strange, new place and she was so excited to explore.<br/><br/>... she was also very tired, as evidenced by the fact that she didn't hesitate to bring her hand to her mouth, shielding a yawn, as her body swayed a little due to the jeep, resulting in a little hip - bump to Julie. Nicole was pretty busy looking around, and it was obvious she was distracted. Even when there was hardly anything to see but wilderness, she seemed excited and engaged, and as they came into view of the small buildings dotting the landscape, Nicole didn't hesitate to sway into Julie again, this time her eyes coming to find the woman's own. "What're those?" she asked, smiling, "And where will I be staying? With you? On my own?" <br/><br/>Nicole hoped the former, but the latter was okay, too. Nothing could rain on her parade in that moment, not even actual rain. Figuring Nicole was a little sweaty herself - though far, far less than Julie - she imagined rain would feel pretty amazing. So would a shower, or a wipe-down using some babywipes. Anything like that was right up Nicole's alley, but, ultimately, it wouldn't much bother her to go without any of that, either. So instead of allowing herself to focus on anything of that nature, she instead finally pried her eyes away from Julie to continue looking around as they neared their destination, body nearly on tip-toes, at times, to try and give her a better view of the things they passed. She would need a tour of everything, to say the least, otherwise Nicole feared her curiosity and adventurism may devour her. To address that concern, she found herself asking: "Will you have time to give me a tour tomorrow?" Her eagerness was a subtle expression that it was hard for her to be in a place like this without immediately being able to explore, and knowing she'd have to <em>wait</em> until the next day to truly absorb the glory of it all was a pain; yet, she was excited to hunker down somewhere and get to know Julie more, too. Extremely excited about that, actually. Before long, the jeep came to a stop, and though Nicole was a little confused as to exactly <em>where</em> they were, the fact that Julie's friends were all hopping out just put her excitement into full - tilt. They'd made it! And for Nicole, it was more than just some spur-of-the-moment thing. She was in a place where she could help living creatures, and that truly played a melody on her soul's harp.<br/></span></span>