Little Blind Mice [Bee]

[Dark]

Sleep sounded like an excellent idea, though Raniya wasn't keen on the prospect of sleeping out in the open. Or finding her way to this promised nest of tree roots. Not only were they not the most comfortable sleeping surface, but tree roots also liked to trip little blind mice. She really didn't think she could take that right now, but--she really wanted to sleep.

"Alright. Lead the way. Carefully, if you would." Raniya really didn't need any more stubbed toes--compounded stubbed toes--she'd probably end up crippled when she got older from all the toe-stubbing that had gone on in the course of today.

She really must be desperate; it wasn't smart at all to be sleeping out in the open, even if Helena could find a secluded spot. There was probably something lurking about that could sniff them out, or had super-hearing and could hear her snoring, or--something.

Still. She was tired.

[Bee]

Helena tugged Raniya along, careful to keep her away from things that might trip her and alert her to any oncoming obstacles they couldn't avoid. She didn't want to stray too far from the main road, so she tried to keep a good sense of her space; she needed to find something before her sight failed, too, or else they were pretty much boned.

Soon enough, she hit upon much larger trees, with large, protruding roots, some almost forming little grottoes into which she and Raniya could hide themselves.

She led Raniya down. "Here we go!" she announced, as cheerfully as she could under the circumstances of extreme tiredness and fading sight. Huh. She sounded vaguely deranged. No helping it, she supposed. "Hope you don't mind snuggling." Raniya didn't strike her as a cuddlebug, but one never knew. It wasn't like there was another option. It was the best available space. "Warmer that way anyway, right?"

[Dark]

Raniya did mind, actually, but she was also tired, cold, bruised, and shivering from exertion and residual terror, and didn't have the will left to tell Helena she wasn't sharing space. Raniya curled up inside the hide-y-hole against the lumpy, irregular roots as best she could, and did her best to ignore Helena as the girl settled in beside her.

It was actually kind of nice. The recess blocked a lot of the wind, and the cuddling prevented drafts from creeping in. And there was the added benefit that Helena was closer to the exit; if something sniffed them out, Raniya would at least have a warning. Not as much could be said for Helena.

Raniya was surprised at the slight twinge of guilt the thought caused her, but she supposed it was left over gratitude from Helena coming to find her. It had been rather nice.

She curled up a little more securely into the warmth at her side, and promptly went to sleep.

[Bee]

Helena had the rather involuntary sleep-compulsion to grab and snuggle anything within her immediate area, so of course when she woke up some hours later, she was using Raniya as an impromptu teddybear. The other girl seemed to still be asleep--as best she could tell, with her own sight, and Raniya's blindfold--so Helena released her, sad for the sudden lack of warmth, and sat up. The sun was setting, which explained why her vision was returning. It also meant that they could get moving. She quite desperately wanted to safety of the capitol.

She peeked a little out of their root cubbyhole and surveyed the surrounding area. Nothing seemed out of sorts. Of course, everything was still a little fuzzy, so she couldn't say for certain. But they hadn't been murdered or mauled by wild animals in their sleep. It was a good day, then, all things considered.

"Time to wake up," she said.

[Dark]

She had been dreaming of Feair, again. Not a real-dream, the kind that happened only once a month when the thin feline came calling, but a dream-dream. It was fuzzy and indistinct in waking, but unease lingered; it has not been a pleasant dream.

The temperature told her it was evening, she noted with no small amount of surprise; she hadn't thought to sleep at all, and here she had slept away the entire day. She felt better for the full rest, if not for the dream, and the misfortune of yesterday wasn't nearly so present on her mind.

Raniya forced herself upright, shaking off the remnants of sleep and bad dreams, and turned towards Helena's voice. "Shall we get a move on, then?"

It would not be with sadness that she left this forest behind, and the more swift the journey, the sooner she could, perhaps, find her peace.

[Bee]

The remainder of their journey to the capitol was stunningly uneventful. If Helena were the sort of person who thrived on the real danger of actual adventure rather than the imaginary and sexy danger of bedroom adventure, she might have been disappointed by this. But she felt a knee-bucking relief to be back in the grip of civilization--a city girl was she--and the manner of miscreant she was more familiar with.

"We can rest up at my place before we drop in on whats-her-face," she said. As much as she wanted to solve the mystery of Simcha, it probably would be wise to give their woman a heads-up that they were coming.

More importantly than that, Helena was tired and irritated with the lack of laziness in her life. She wanted to sit her ass down on something comfortable and stay there for a while.

[Dark]

It was loud. Boisterously loud. There was the rumble of carts and the whine of some sort of machinery and the cacophony of a thousand different voices and meaningless little lives swirling around in the form of sound. Raniya found it equally fascinating and disconcerting; so many people. And the smell.

She dodged closely along at Helena’s heels, eager for the refuge of Helena’s home—she spared a brief thought imagining what kind of dwelling the woman might call home, as it was of some importance as she would be staying there for a time, but was quickly distracted by other things—and attempted to not go into a complete fit from sensory overload. Raniya wasn't used to having to sort out so much extraneous information.

There were questions she wanted to ask, and things she wanted to further investigate, but for the moment she just wanted to sleep.

[Bee]

The Apartment was as big and imposing and in seeming disrepair as it always was, not that it would mean much to Raniya, but maybe there was also a certain aura about the neighborhood that she could sense. She had, in any event, never been so grateful to see that huge shambling mess. She let herself in, and ushered Raniya in behind her.

"Welcome to my wonderful little home! I recommend not going anywhere without me. There's all sorts of...stuff running around here. The people can be kind of weird too." There did seem to be noise off in different corners of the place. People floating around. Probably. Cards were actually the minority population in the building most of the time.

"Hey!" she said. "You should meet them so they don't surprise you."

She shouted, "HEY! HEY, I'M HOME. I HAVE A FRIEND. COME SAY HI."

[Bee]

Thalia perked up immediately at the sound of her sister's shouting. It was getting late in the evening and technically--only technically mind you!--Thalia was supposed to be settling down, but really there was no need to. Getting her to bed was useless unless she spent up all of her energy, and the last time she had done an unofficial reading--moments ago!--her energy levels were still pretty high. Which meant that she needed to spend them. By...getting everyone to come down and say hi to her sister and--the friend!

Thalia loved friends. She needed more. She burst from her room and sprinted down the hall as fast as her gangly assortment of limbs would allow--which was very, but with points deducted for tripping and running into walls--before she finally reached the secret room that moved all the time, that she wasn't supposed to find but always did.

"Mom! Mom! Helena's home! She has a friend! Let's say hi!"

[Bee]

Iphis was lovingly putting his dolls to sleep when he heard a rather curious rush outside his door. It was like an auditory tornado--a flurry of voice interspersed with crashes into walls, interspersed with crashes into other things, interspersed with a certain maniac noise aura that could only be attributed to his baby sister.

He grabbed Darla and poked his head out the door. A colorful blob was indeed flailing its way down the hall. He stepped out of the room and followed her, curious as to what she wanted. Maybe she just wanted a goodnight hug from Mom. That was a good idea, he thought. He could use a hug. Darla, too, though he didn't think Mom would be inclined to grant that request. At least not without fire somehow getting involved.

He clutched Darla close. No no no, no hugs for her.

But apparently, as he saw when they reached their destination, she wanted something else entirely. Helena, with a friend?

That was good news indeed! Helena didn't make friends as easily as most people. It was certainly hard on her.

"You should say hello, Mom," he said, and politely opened the door, since his sister didn't seem to realize she was shouting at wood. "It's only polite!"