{Seven} &diams I tightly lock the door / I try to catch my breath again

[burntorangesky]

Dear Edensphere.

Thank you so much for~~~~

for randomly terrifying me. That was wonderful, let's do it again quite soon.

And I do not appreci~~~~~~~~~

I really do not k~~~~~~

Kindly stop mocking my perfectly justified dislike of snakes. This is~~~~~~

I really hate this place.

No love,

Fred.

[added a few minutes later]By-the-by,

Comments

Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

Thank you.

[Fred spent the next few minutes trying to... well, make friends with her hair. She was tired of getting hissed at. She soon discovered that if she coaxed the snakes out of their tangles they calmed down and were quiet. Therefore, her hair was mostly not hissing by the time Roswell arrived.]

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

[Roswell was home not five minutes later. Though he wouldn't have admitted it, his heavy breathing by the time he made it through the door was a fairly obvious signal that he had ran. Making his way to her room and to her bed in rather sizable strides, Roswell was on his hands and knees not a heartbeat later trying to peek under the bed. The faint sound that came from within, something almost like hissing, made his heart race a little faster. What had the crystal done to her?]

Fred, come on. Come on out. Tell me what's wrong.

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

[Fred didn't hear him come in, still occupied by the snake hair and trying not to think about the memory. When Roswell spoke, so suddenly and so close by, she was startled, pulling at the snakes she had been untangling so that they hissed loudly in annoyance. She took a deep, calming breath before she answered.]

I'm not entirely sure you want me to come out.

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

[The hissing this time around was unmistable. Without thinking, his hand shot into the darkness, fumbling around for an arm to wrap in a loose grip. There were snakes down there! He had to get her out before they hurt her, or hurt her worse than they maybe had.]

Just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean I want a bunch of snakes to kill you, Fred. Come on.

[He tugged at her then, trying to pull her out quick enough to startle the damn things or at least minimize whatever injuries she was going to endure. The Medical Island - he'd have to take her there. Maybe they had some kind of anti-venom...]

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

[He actually managed to wrap his fingers around her arm, and there was no real way to stop him from pulling her out. It wasn't like she had anything to grab onto down here. She managed to grab her journal before he pulled her clear out from under the bed. Once clear, she pulled away from him slightly, brushing the snakes aside that had fallen in front of her face. They were mostly docile now, but they wriggled and hissed as she touched them.]

Er... I did try to warn you. [The words were said in as an apologetic tone as she could manage.] On the bright side, they haven't bitten me, and I don't think they're poisonous.

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

[As soon as his friend had been pulled into the light, Roswell's hand quickly reclaimed itself in a jolt of surprise. Exclaiming such with a rather pointed "Oh!", he stopped himself from backing away from her too far. A few moments of quiet (with the occasional hiss) later and he had composed himself...mostly. The confliction of emotions, of anger and fear, surprise and compassion, made him take that much longer.]

And they could have bitten me. The lack of that and the whole 'not being poisonous' thing is good news, yeah.

[His look lingered on them, face screwed into a mixture of morbid curiosity and disgust.]

Do they hurt? Your head, I mean.

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

[Fred kept herself from looking at his face by taking one of the snakes between her thumb and forefinger and lifting the head part to her eyes. It turned its head to look at her, and its tongue flicked out to touch her nose. She let go of it in mild disgust, and it stayed where she had left it for a moment before dropping down again.]

Somehow I don't think they would have. They appear to be very calm creatures, though they don't seem to like getting tangled with one another.

[She chanced a look up at his face to see that he was staring at the snakes.]

No. They don't really feel all that different from my regular hair, other than the fact that they move independently of any outside force.

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

Probably feels like your hair is constantly blowing in the wind then, doesn't it?

[Roswell felt himself smile and squashed it back into a stoic stare. He wasn't here to befriend her again. The only reason he had made the trip was to make sure she was okay. And she was. Still...she had been so scared. With his expression still fixed, he tried to sell his concern as simple curiosity.]

So what was the memory? I have a feeling it wasn't just the snakes that had you hiding under the bed. Wouldn't really make sense for something that was attached to your head.

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

Yes, that is an apt description.

[She caught his stifled smile and felt a pang of sadness. She pushed it aside. She couldn't regret what she had said in the Scavenger's Yard; it had been the only way to force him to agree to let her help him. But his coldness toward her hurt, as much as she rightly deserved it.

She could satisfy his curiosity, at any rate. Schooling her features into a sort of calm politeness, she spoke.]

No. It was... [flipping open her journal, she pointed to the picture she had drawn] ...these things. They are some sort of machine or robot, I think. They had me in a room and they were... I think they were interrogating me. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I was so scared... [despite her best intentions, she started to shake again.] They were going to kill me, Roswell! One wrong word, I would have been dead.

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

[Although it couldn't be discerned from his face, Roswell's heart and mind were at war. Pride took up arms against compassion and led the armies of the emotional spectrum to bloodshed all within the span of a second. He knew that, in that moment, he would find himself defined. What side of him won in a moment this important would show the hatchling the kind of person he had been back home.]

Fred...

[A flurry of negative, cold responses fought to tumble from his lips, but none of them won out. His face slouched and showed his sympathy and, with both arms, he drew his friend into a hug that offered both comfort and safety. He couldn't let her suffer alone. He just wasn't...wasn't physically capable.]

But you aren't...

[His words spoke softly and sidelong against her ear.]

Whatever happened, you're alive. It was just a memory. Whatever those things were, they won't find you in this crazy place.

[A broad hand slipped to the back of her neck, gently holding her there.]And if they did, you know I wouldn't let them hurt you. It doesn't

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

[Fred let him hold her until the shaking slowly stopped and she got her breathing under control again. His comforting words went a long way to helping that, knowing that he still cared, as did his hug. Finally she pulled away in order to look at his face.]

Thank you, Roswell. And... [she took a breath, then forced the words out. She meant every one, but it was difficult for her to say them.] I am sorry about what I said, earlier. In the Scavenger's Yard. I went too far.

[She laughed, perhaps a tad too shrilly.] But after that memory, I really don't think I'll be frightened by anything in Edensphere.

Re: Quicklog

[yourealrightnow]

[Her apology stunned him, and it showed. There was a withdrawl to his features, to his posture as he tried to process it. Roswell knew Fred enough to know that what she had just done hadn't been easy. Hell, she might have used the word 'painful' if he let her. But he also felt her sincerity.]

Apology accepted.

[He smiled and, this time, it stayed. It wasn't grand or broad, but it was there.]

I know how badly you want this, now, and I know if I don't take you with me that you'll just go yourself. I don't think either of us will ever be able to this alone. It's too big.

[Coming to his feet, Roswell's gaze drifted to his room. He had had something of an exhausting day at work and a little old fashioned relaxation felt like the way to go.]

I think I'm gonna go crash for a while, though. Maybe you should try and get some sleep, too. I know it's early, but you have to be feeling pretty drained after what you've seen. Near-death experience and all.

[Striding over to his open door, he half-turned his head back to give Fred a final,

Re: Quicklog

[burntorangesky]

[Fred smiled slowly in response. They had only been arguing for a day, but she was relieved all out of proportion that he had accepted her apology.]

Thank you again, Roswell.

[Watching him go to the door, Fred smiled again when he turned his head to look at her. She waited until he closed the door behind him before adding something under her breath. Hopefully he wouldn't hear it.]

Please be careful.

[Laying down, she thought she would have a hard time getting to sleep what with the snakes in her hair... but she was fast asleep within moments, snakes or no snakes.]