Lemons

Amygdala Circuit

Each one of Camille's icy words dropped like a lump of lead into Quinn's stomach, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood to avoid looking down at her feet in shame. As much of an instinct as it was, after all, she didn't think the captain would think very well of it, with what she'd just said about apologies. She felt a bit sick.

Then the ice in her words cracked, creaked, softened. Mistakes, she talked about. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. Quinn had made a lot of mistakes. Her pile of stones was a tower by now, undoubtedly. A tower of piled up mistakes. Moments she wasn't good enough, where she couldn't say the right thing, when she couldn't do what somebody needed of her. Of the shocked silence after the press conference. Of passing out in the arms of a man that wouldn't be there when she awoke. Of being. She swallowed hard. When her pile tumbled down, it would be a catastrophe. Her old Guilt began to dig claws into her sides, and her breath hitched a moment.

"If you wish to avoid people, you should steer clear of the harbor." The continuing speech knocked her out of her momentary reverie, and she gave her head a quick shake. "They set up carnivals there, every year, they’ll be doing it now too. Likewise, the community center, main street, and Henn road, where all the expensive restaurants are. There are parks in the neighborhoods to the northwest, which ought to be quite empty for the next few days. There is a nature trail as well, which will be tour-guided, but sparse—most people want to explore the town, not the forest. Eat here, if you must. The food will be cheap and packaged, but you will be left alone inside the barrier." Parks. Empty parks. She'd never been in a park.

After Camille stalked away, Quinn remained standing there for another moment more, eye screwed shut. Preparing herself. Fortifying herself. She pulled in one last shuddering breath, then opened her eye and retrieved her small rollerbag from where it had fallen when Camille dragged her into this secluded little nook. First order of business, she thought as she returned to the thoroughfare, was to drop it off. The distant sounds hammered into her eardrums and her vision briefly blurred, but she clenched her teeth down so hard she could feel the creak and it abated some, though certainly not all the way. She wasn't exactly sure when she entered the building, but there she was, mildly confused, walking down the almost cathedralesque foyer until she could catch the attention of a bellhop. She dropped the small gunmetal-gray bag down in front of him, not liking the way he looked at her. "Could you--my room is--" She didn't remember, or she was never told; then she let her head loll again and sighed heavily. "Quinnlash Loughvein, pilot floor."

He took it away, and she nervously brushed her bangs away from her face as she walked slowly, almost meditatively, back to the exit.

Parks. Empty parks. She'd go to the parks.

Amygdala Circuit

Twitching erratically, Quinn was barely able to control her breathing as she was half-led, half-dragged away. In, out, in, in, out, out, out. Shallow aborted half-gasps. Camille said something. Two words, maybe three, but it was like speaking through deep water until her voice came into focus.

"--the wall. There’s nothing else. Stare at it."

She did. The featureless gray concrete filled her field of view as she focused on it to the exclusion of all else. Gradually, like a receding tide, the black fuzz retreated from her vision, and the world bled back in through her senses again. The unseeing terror in her eye abated, replaced with a familiar horror; one that held her beneath the water, but at least let her breathe. And breathe she did, the dead parodies for breath deepened into a rhythm that, while far too fast, was at least functional, and slowing as she went. The air was no longer thick. It didn't reach into her, close around her, grasp hold of her limbs. Her unnatural stiffness and the twitching faded, and color began to leak back into her face as she stood steadily again.

The crying was the last to go, and she angrily rubbed the tear tracks from her face until she felt mostly certain that she looked...if not good, at least passable. Acceptable. Like she wouldn't be embarrassing two countries with her mere presence. A trio of long, drawn out, shuddering breaths--one, two, three--and she dropped her head, letting it rest lightly on the concrete. A few more moments like eternity passed before she stood straight again, turned, and looked up at her captain, eye nearly overflowing with misery.

But it was a quiet misery. A misery that may drag her down, but that she could hold; wouldn't crush her beneath its weight until she found herself alone, away from duty and judgement.

Her voice was thin and reedy as she spoke, then she pulled in another breath through tight teeth and repeated. And this time, it matched her eye. Desolation. Misery. Need. Guilt. But again, quiet. Placated, lurking beneath the surface, as long as she wasn't alone in a quiet place, and they didn't listen too close. Weak, but stronger. Strong enough.

"I'm...sorry, Captain." She held her hand up in a trembling salute before she let it drop limply to her side. "And...thank you."

Amygdala Circuit

And Quinn was excited. The last time she'd been planetside, it had only been to transfer her over to the Ange from the Aerie. And the last time she'd spent any actual time down, it had been the duel, and the less she thought about that the better. So as the elevator began its descent, she took a deep, calming breath to still her excitement.

She wasn't bringing much down with her; she didn't really even have that much to bring. Some clothes. The laptop Casoban had given her. Phone. Some snacks. And her new dress, of course; if she was going to wear it anywhere, might be down there! At the moment, she was wearing the jacket that Besca had given her before she went down to Mona's: the gray one, with the paired yellow stripes. She had her arms crossed, and her finger tapped at her her upper arm with a rapid tap-tap-tap. Her face was spread in an uncommonly wide smile.

As they left the bounds of the Ange and emerged into the hardlight sheath, she looked down, and...the smile lessened. She was excited. She really was. The bay below, the ocean reaching to the horizon; the afternoon sunlight, whipping and flashing over the waves. The patchwork of the Casobani fields stretching out one way, and in the distance she thought that maybe she could see some fraction of the Euseran cities, though she wasn't sure. It was beautiful, and she was excited. But...it felt...off. Less, somehow. Almost hollow, in some strange way, like there was a parasite eating the excitement from the inside. And as the minutes went by, and they dropped further--as Cantimine came into focus beneath them--it only grew hungrier. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

It was wrong enough that as she stepped off the elevator, it wasn't with the same steady stride that usually characterized her. It was slower, if only a bit. Halting. Almost a stumble, though not quite.

She took another deep breath. What was going on? Was she getting sick? She felt so cold. Cold like she hadn't felt in a long time, a chill that she recognized in her bones but couldn't name. She only realized that she was shivering after she heard her teeth chattering. Shook her head distractedly. She had to be sick. Something was wrong with her. It was fine. Cyril was right. She just needed to get out and get some air. That's what she'd done in the central plaza after the first time she'd gotten sick on the Aerie, Besca had led her out and she'd felt better after she'd breathed. That was all she needed. She screwed her eye tight for a second before opening it and walking with a more sure stride up to the barrier that separated the landing zone from

the street full of people the sound of music SCREAMING the smell of copper and iron SAFIE her heart throbbed in her ears as she stumbled back until she collided with someone, she couldn't tell who, face suddenly ashen, ghost-pale as all the blood drained out of it. Black fuzz encroached around the edges of her vision, narrowing it down to a tunnel of muted gray shapes as tears poured freely from her wide, terrified eye. In the distance she though she could still see the water of the lake the sun that GLARED AT HER the SCREAMING THE SCREAMING THE SCREAMING the fish full of BLADES glass in her feet glass in her throat BLOOD SO MUCH BLOOD run run RUN QUINNLASH RUN to the bay. Her head was filled with cotton, thick cotton that drowned out her thoughts and left her with nothing but the images and the deafening sound of her heart. She tried to speak, but all that dripped from her numb lips was a terrified, almost inaudible squeak. She tried again; another muted nothing-sound. She felt like she might faint. Tried again, and this time what came out was understandable, if only the barest whisper:

"Not...not...again...not again..."

Umbra Rose Condos

Will do, once she receives a possible bowl of blood icing to lick out of!

Umbra Rose Condos

I'm kind of tied up waiting for Dragonydas (no rush of course).

Umbra Rose Condos

@Expendable Oh my GOD. That's AMAZING. Dear lord.

Starlight Cove: Oceanside Memories

I shall make this offer again: I actually legit love doing stuff like that, if y'all send me an image you kinda like, I can set it to proper size and toss it to you in a header.

Starlight Cove: Oceanside Memories

Having asked a bunch of questions of the GM, I think I can answer a few of these in their stead so you don't have to wait too long @Xaltwind.
1: Modern technology. Just quite secluded, think like Stardew Valley.
2: Modern firearms, because it's modern technology, but I don't expect we'll be seeing much of those.
3: Yes, notable asterisk. The magic is kind of...different. As yet, I believe Mimi's the only one who's plotted to figure out a kind of magic, and it's more being especially in tune with nature than anything else. It's kind of...barely fantasy, more like Reality+, with some nature spirits and cave monsters.
4: DFA temperate. Temperate weather, relatively high humidity, strong variance in seasons.
5: I don't think there are any monsters on the surface, though @Carlyle might correct me on this one.
6: Humans. Like I said, not much fantasy, just a few little hints of it.
7: Yes, there will be plenty of cookies to go around.

Umbra Rose Condos

@Expendable If Velvet knew what Qaymu was thinking she would be personally offended. She is just fine at chess, thankyouveryMUCH!

Umbra Rose Condos

The triumphant return of your friendly neighborhood vampire!