¤ second hau ¤ forward dated to tuesday morning

[not_reina]

[She had tried.  Keiichi was by her side, everyone cared, and Rena was working her hardest to stay sane.  What could Mayfield really do to her, how could they ruin her happiness?  Happiness was something Rena created for herself, something she had to grasp with her own hands... And she grabbed it.  For a brief moment she had fooled herself to smile

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[no_indoor_voice]

[Julia is in the corner when he wakes up that morning.

She looks as beautiful as ever, standing with her eyes shut and holding a bouquet of lilies against her white dress.

Despite himself, Tybalt runs toward her, not even quite able to say her name or touch her in case it causes her to melt away again, but as soon as he is almost there, her eyes open.

They are a dull, milky shade of gray, not at all the warm brown he remembers. Up close, her skin is wrong too, off-white and with little blue veins visible just below the surface. Her lips are bluish too, and there are greenish shadows under her eyes.

When Tybalt reaches a shaking hand to touch her hair, he finds that it feels thin and damp under his fingers.]

Julia-

[Before his eyes, a clump of that hair falls out into his hand. He looks to her face in alarm.

If she was freshly dead before, now it's been months. Julia's skin is stretched tight over her skull, cracking in places to expose putrescence and bone. Her expression is dull, mindless. He cups her face anyway, horrified.]

[not_reina]

[Rena stares. A quick check of the mailbox confirms it; this man could be Tybalt, and if she killed him she might be able to regain some of her happiness and smile. A true smile for once... Right? But he stands in the way, blocking her path to the one thing she could never keep. Her posture shifts, and she holds the shovel more apt for a teenager as she walks up to the edge of the lawn.]

Are you okay, mister? Are you?

[no_indoor_voice]

[looks at her, blankly]

[not_reina]

Ah, sorry... You just looked so worried.

[So worried and so vulnerable. Just say your name, say it so she can take care of her duty. Her face betrays nothing, just a thin smile.]