[ti]private[/ti]Ready to Run

After obtaining her starter - and listening to what Professor Ash had to say to her - Galatea was almost prepared to enter the game entirely after a moment's pause.
At least, that was before she noticed the Tutorial Mode popups in the side of her vision, each having little blurbs underneath them detailing what they would unlock.
Which was nice - she'd never played any of these types of games before, her old life's expectations and desires being most prevalent at the time - so it was good to at least learn the basics of this game.
Of course, the red-haired woman opted to go in order of number, instead of just clicking the one that interested her...so now, here she was. Walking about on a well-trodden path, her Mother's house clearly visible in the distance, some quest markers dictating objectives - Go to Mom's House, Learn About Yourself, Get the Running Shoes - simple little things that felt quite complicated to the statue, looking at the house and at the objectives.
Should she just go up to her mother's house and knock? Or should she just open the door? Would she have to improvise the entire conversation, or would there be leading questions? What would the conversation even be-
"Hey- ma'am," a new voice shook her out of her mind.
A interesting looking person stood beside her, also without shoes on. Oh, so they must be doing this tutorial as well...
"Quick question- how about you come with me for five minutes, shoot the breeze with mom, and get the hell outta dodge. Deal?" The statement was simple enough - a request to complete the tutorial, and then leave right afterwards.
That would be fine.
"Deal."
The word came out of Galatea's mouth before she even had time to note her response to 『Red Velvet』 . But it felt right to say in response to this.

At the smile of the black-and-red haired character, Galatea offered a little smile of her own, letting them explain to not ask...too many questions. Ok, simple enough. And as the door opened, to the smell of mints and lemon, their mother sweeped into view, a happy tone in her voice as she gave 『Red Velvet』 a strong hug - prompting the red-haired woman to offer a handshake instead of a hug; 'It was what she was most comfortable with after all,', her mind chimed in as she walked into the home.
At the mention of tea, one could see Galatea's eves light up slightly, and her seemingly statue-like posture relax a bit, walking into the kitchen as the other player stifled a groan. Was it tea time already? Probably not, but it had been a while since she had a good cup of tea...
"I've been well, mother - I just got my starter from Professor Ash, so that was quite an exciting moment, I must say!"
She began to talk to the NPC, her voice losing a bit of its monotone quality in favour of a bit of warmth.
"What about you, how have you been? It must have been quite hard after father..."

Galatea gave a small smile as their 'mother' prattled on, listening almost intently. Noting the reaction of her fellow player, she opted to just continue to watch instead of responding. Though, at the mention of Galatea's partner, she'd exhale - mainly out of nervousness. "Thank you...I hope so too."
Trying her hardest to at least remain cordial, when her mother became silent after the mention of her 'father', Galatea seemed to become more quiet as well, suppressing the urge to wring her hands, or at least speak up, mind preparing to race a mile a minute. 'Did I say something wrong, was it a sore topic to bring up, oh goodness, I hope that it wasn-'
Her thoughts were cut off with the cheerful declaration of having people to bring her spirits up, the smile at least putting her at ease. And then, the matter of death. Giving authenticity to Hamlet...a quiet laugh, although a bit melancholic given the subject matter - even though this was an NPC in a game.
"Well, all the world is a stage, and men are merely players in it - if he wished to give more life to the production, then I can't be too mad at him, doing something that he loved up until the very end."
Then, there was her mother's advice, after asking Red Velvet what his starter was - a pepper? there was a pepper starter? Now that was curious, indeed. Know yourself and don't get into battles you can't win.
"I'll try." she opted to say instead of the many other thoughts. It was the truth after all; she did at least need to know herself, who she was inside and out.
And if the game could help her with that, then the rest of the advice was still good advice, at least to her anyways. Don't get into battles you can't win, be careful...all good advice.