shylarah

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@The Angry Goat Agreed. Can't wait for Hassan to panic. ^.^;;

@OppositionJ Such a cute line! Confession time: I squeed.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Sisyphus *giggles* I approve. This is gonna be fun.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy less horses more ponies/donkies, maybe? the lower center of gravity helps with balance.

@Sisyphus question: wouldn't your post make the guy you want leave too?

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@vietmyke nah, I think Galahad helped ease the tension a bit!

Shadow Smiles

Lee woke from formless nightmares of eerily cheerful faces with a start so violent she pulled her arm free from the rubbery tubes attached to it. The fabric next to her skin was coarse and unfamiliar, not the clothing she'd been in. She was laying in a bed, but it was tiny compared to her own. Overhead the lights emitted a faint buzz and a high-pitched whine at the edge of hearing. There were soft voices nearby, and footsteps on laminate tile, an air conditioner's whispery roar and the chirp of some sort of electronics. At first she had no idea where she was. Her spatial perception was gently fuzzed, and her limbs felt heavy. But the smell of sheets washed in an industrial machine combined with the sharp scent of disinfectant filled her with dread.

A hospital. It had to be. They scared her, ever since one of her good friends had killed himself after being taken to a psych ward in middle school. The heartrate monitor was still on the finger, and she pulled it off with trembling hands, then gently detangled herself from the now-useless IV, wincing as the tape pulled at the fine hairs on her skin. She started to search for a call button -- what had they given her, that her head felt like it was wrapped in a cloud? She didn't like it. If it was to keep her calm, it wasn't having the desired effect. Had this been what it was like, for David? Her responses were dulled, but they were no less sharp on the inside. Why was she here, anyhow? The last thing she remembered....

Lee froze, her heart in her throat. A lovely dinner. On her way home, crossing the street. The beep of the crosswalk light, saying it was okay to cross. The sound of a car coming, far too fast. And then....

She shuddered, but the memory couldn't be right. Ignoring the fever dream of the creature afterwards, she didn't hurt enough to have been hit. There was a dull ache throughout her body, one without discernable cause, but nothing felt broken, or even properly painful. All her limbs responded easily to her desires, and nothing seemed swollen. What the hell was going on?!

She'd just started shaking for real when two sets of footsteps stopped just inside the gap of the doorway. Her head jerked up, but she presented them not with her direct gaze but rather with her face turned at a slight angle, so her left ear was a bit more towards them. She looked like she'd been in a bad crash, however she felt. The splotchy bruising was impressive, but it looked like it had happened more than just a couple hours before, with some places turning the sickly green that occasionally crept into severe blunt trauma injuries.

Her visitors did not wear the scrubs of most hospital staff, nor proper street clothes. There was something off about them, and the way they moved made her uneasy. "Who are you?" she asked, coughing as the first words died in a hoarse squeak before trying again. "What happened -- why am I here?" She wanted to leave. She needed to get away from the laminate tile and the whining of the lights that grated on her nerves. She wanted to go home and curl up with Freddie and some nice music and a hot cup of tea. "What's going on...?"

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@CollectorOfMyst To be fair, I was going to ask if Love was my good twin or something. ...I'm clearly the evil (or at least the crazy) one. =P

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy AAAAAH! *screeching*

TWINNIE! *tackles* Man, how weird is that?!

...Are you on Subeta, perhaps? *stares at*

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy WHAT. ...Mine's the ninth. You? O.O

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy I'll be 30 in May, and I always liked school. I miss it.

Pariah Online | Season One

E l i a n

---

~ Dungeon ~

---

She was glad of Tiferet's reassurance, and even Graves had something supportive to say. Red veered into the hysterics that Elian herself had only barely avoided, but regained control before long. She managed an unsteady smile at the fire mage, until Rael put her idiotic two cents in. She grit her teeth so hard she heard them creak. "Were you born that stupid, or did you have to practice?" she snapped, her voice coming out in a low growl. Fear was easier to handle if you were angry, and the spearmaiden had just made herself into the perfect target. "This isn't a game anymore. Weapon skills or not, magic or not, fucking hero character or not, there are real consequences now. Maybe you're just some pimple-faced child playing make-believe, and you think this is your time to shine, but let me set you straight. If you wouldn't do it irl, don't do it here."

Elian walked her closed fan through her fingers, something of a nervous habit. "Call me a cowardly bitch if you want, but I have actual people counting on me besides those here, and I mean to get back to them. If running away like a pansy is what it takes, then you bet your pimply prepubescent posterior that I will, and I'll encourage everyone else to do the same." She lifted her voice loud enough for everyone to hear, hating the words even as she spoke them, but it had to be done. "The rules are the same. Anyone sticks their dumb neck out where it will drag the rest of us into trouble, and if I have to choose between a damned idiot dying and everyone dying, then I will hate myself for the rest of my life but I will watch the idiot get swamped. Tiferet's right, nobody plays hero today. We stick together, and we don't take needless risks. I know most of you well enough, gamewise. I wouldn't have sent an invite if I didn't think you were any good. So...same idea, but this time for keeps, eh?"

Landon's elixirs were welcome news, and Elian slid hers into her satchel. "I'm gonna need a drink once we're through," she told him, her expression drawn tight with nerves. An awful thought crossed her mind, and she prayed they weren't trapped for too long. "...I just hope someone thinks to make Freddie dinner."