J-006 ♒ INTERLUDE
Eruka set the box down on the table and reached for the bottle of water nearby. She had found since arriving in Vatheon, she drank easily twice as much as she ever had before, even when Medusa’s orders kept her stuck in the roasting Nevada desert. The omnipresent salt content in the air, while apparently not enough to bother anyone else in the bubble, left her parched and sometimes queasy. And of course, moving was enough to make anyone thirsty.
Not that she had a lot of things to bring, she thought, surveying the room. Deciding to go along with what several people had told her about there being no limit as to where she could live, she had found a quiet apartment in a building that had little traffic going in and out of it. She didn’t remember what number had been on the door, but the rooms were empty and sparsely furnished, like a guest house waiting to be lived in.
She hoped she would be left alone here. Her attempt to contact Kim had met with no response, and Eruka had been quietly worried about the other witch -- the only person in Vatheon she’d dare to call an ally -- and she’d been afraid Kim had been sent home. (She’d since learned that Kim was still present had mentioned the casual air of wherever they were all living.) But, fearful of being without any recourse, she’d reluctantly tried to send a message to Medusa... and still received no answer.
It should have made her relieved, even potentially happy. Even the collected Shibusen student body seemed largely uninterested in her, some even (dare she say) cordial. And she didn’t deny that, anxieties aside, she’d enjoyed talking about clothes with Liz Thompson. But she couldn’t completely relax, not when she would lay awake at night, terrified of feeling snakes crawling around in her body, or whenever she imagined the skull on the collar leering at her when she caught it from the corner of her eye.
There were other things, too. Eruka lowered the water bottle, pausing halfway as she studied her hand. ("Oh my God! Is that-are your hands actually?!") She felt her ears and cheeks burn in embarrassment as she recalled how Liz had recoiled in disgust. Sure, she already knew that Liz tended to overreact -- just that accidental shrieking video on the SFC when she’d been turned into a ghost proved that and she was already used to being cursed -- but Eruka had always stubbornly maintained that the little webbings were cute! It wasn’t as though there weren’t stranger-looking people walking on the streets of this place!
She realized she was tugging on the brim of her hat, one of her nervous habits. Releasing the protesting material -- and it was actually protesting, making grotesque faces while its eyes bulged out -- she made herself count to ten and take deep breaths.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said aloud. She had never been very good at convincing herself of positive things but one had to start somewhere.
[ OOC: No IC replies please! Just what Eruka's been up to lately. ]
Not that she had a lot of things to bring, she thought, surveying the room. Deciding to go along with what several people had told her about there being no limit as to where she could live, she had found a quiet apartment in a building that had little traffic going in and out of it. She didn’t remember what number had been on the door, but the rooms were empty and sparsely furnished, like a guest house waiting to be lived in.
She hoped she would be left alone here. Her attempt to contact Kim had met with no response, and Eruka had been quietly worried about the other witch -- the only person in Vatheon she’d dare to call an ally -- and she’d been afraid Kim had been sent home. (She’d since learned that Kim was still present had mentioned the casual air of wherever they were all living.) But, fearful of being without any recourse, she’d reluctantly tried to send a message to Medusa... and still received no answer.
It should have made her relieved, even potentially happy. Even the collected Shibusen student body seemed largely uninterested in her, some even (dare she say) cordial. And she didn’t deny that, anxieties aside, she’d enjoyed talking about clothes with Liz Thompson. But she couldn’t completely relax, not when she would lay awake at night, terrified of feeling snakes crawling around in her body, or whenever she imagined the skull on the collar leering at her when she caught it from the corner of her eye.
There were other things, too. Eruka lowered the water bottle, pausing halfway as she studied her hand. ("Oh my God! Is that-are your hands actually?!") She felt her ears and cheeks burn in embarrassment as she recalled how Liz had recoiled in disgust. Sure, she already knew that Liz tended to overreact -- just that accidental shrieking video on the SFC when she’d been turned into a ghost proved that and she was already used to being cursed -- but Eruka had always stubbornly maintained that the little webbings were cute! It wasn’t as though there weren’t stranger-looking people walking on the streets of this place!
She realized she was tugging on the brim of her hat, one of her nervous habits. Releasing the protesting material -- and it was actually protesting, making grotesque faces while its eyes bulged out -- she made herself count to ten and take deep breaths.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said aloud. She had never been very good at convincing herself of positive things but one had to start somewhere.
[ OOC: No IC replies please! Just what Eruka's been up to lately. ]