[drp] tired and restless (ritualspace rooms)

[cibarium]

leila and eve's room

It was comfortably cool and dark, but unnervingly quiet in the space Leila and Eve had been led to. They spent a good hour or two just sitting together on the bed, saying nothing, not ready to sleep but also too fatigued to do anything else. Without Clover around Eve felt a little constrained, even after the newly repaired chair had been politely brought up to her.

Eventually the silence was broken by the gentle domestic clattering of Eve making a fresh pot of white tea. Leila sat across from her, summoning up a pile of Jenga blocks and setting them up. The familiarity of their space-sharing helped ease off a layer of stress, but there were still many more to account for.

Quote:

mini scenes at the fetch motel

 

[azuredreams]

it never ends

Jeremiah eventually finds them, after he's had another change of clothes and a shower. His hair is still just the slightest bit damp, bangs brushing against his forehead until he rakes them out.

Here, Jeremiah will actually not bother with the guise that he is not tired. Here, Leila and Eve can see that he would much rather sleep and sleep for a long time. Except that the end is never in sight and there's always more. More, in this case, just happens to be checking up on his dear friends.

Which is why he wordlessly slipped in (after politely making sure it was alright to do so), a friendly wave towards Leila as he stepped towards Eve and pressed a kiss to her cheek before taking a seat.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

it never ends

Eve was warm and receptive as always, but Leila froze. The first thing she had seen was the silhouette of the Burning Man around their guest -- which was the last thing she expected from a friendly visit, and the absolute last thing she wanted to see at all. She turned pale and part of her Jenga tower clattered to the table and the floor as her hands shot down to grip the table's edge.

Thank goodness Eve was there to gently inform her it was only Jeremiah.

Biscuit stirred and croaked amicably from her resting spot in the middle of the bed as Leila borrowed the hen's eyes to verify. She relaxed, her mind returning to the present.

"Oh God, I'm sorry," she said. "Hi, Jer."

azuredrms

 

[Grey Dragon]

Magical Jitters

Kaleb had received a lot of care after the insanity of the day. He had clean clothes that were only slightly too large for his scrawny body. He had a quiet room, and someone had found a book he could read. He had a mug of something that was supposed to encourage sleep. Hugs and gentle words from his friends had helped calm his mind, and soothe the guilt over his collapse towards the end of the firestorm.

In spite of all that, he still wasn't ready to rest.

Somehow he found the professor's room, and timidly knocked on the door. "Prof- uh... Leila?" he squeaked nervously, hoping she wasn't busy or already asleep.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Magical Jitters

There was a moment of shuffling from the inside of the room, and then the door opened: it was Eve. She moved out and closed it behind her with an apologetic look.

"Leila needs some time to herself," she said. "Meditation for tomorrow. You can try a little later, or I could take a message for you?"

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Magical Jitters

Kaleb scuffed his feet nervously on the ground as he shifted his weight, fingers anxiously playing over the mug he held. He had ended up at the room on an impulse, and hadn't figured out what to do if Leila wasn't available.

"N-no, I... Tomorrow... It's okay, it's nothing important," the freckled teen finished quietly, his throat feeling tight. For a second it seemed like he was trying not to cry, until that expression was covered up with a lost look that honestly wasn't too much better.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Magical Jitters

Eve's extreme emotional fatigue did not stop her from arcing a brow. "Tomorrow will be busy. You were at our house some time ago, right?"

grey dragon

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

check-up

She knocked briskly. Logic should dictate that she get some rest, but instead, Temperance was making the rounds as though this were the hospital. She knocked, checked on people, made sure their injuries got attended to, left. Round and round and it was keeping her sane. She had, at least, taken time to wash off the physical signs of blood.

"Leila, Eve?"  

[Grey Dragon]

Magical Jitters

Kaleb nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"Yes, with America... for the binding magic-" His voice broke slightly, touching on the current source of his worries. For a time he had felt almost sure of himself, but everything that had happened since presenting their methods to Silk had eroded that confidence. Even time on it's own had a way of instilling doubt, but that afternoon had greatly sped up Kaleb's emotional unravelling.

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

check-up

"Temperance..." Leila blinked, tired and a little on edge -- she had the geas too, and it was still extremely unnerving. "You okay? Eve still has some tea left if you want some."


magical jitters

"Right, right," Eve recalled. Developing the method had been quite an accomplishment, enough to tease out a smile from her. "I take it you're worried... did you forget Silk believes you can get it done? From what I understand that trust is hard-earned."

the semblance of unity

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

magical jitters

Kaleb nodded again, fighting with the lump in his throat. Worried was an understatement, he was still considerably new and inexperienced, and certainly didn't view himself in such a favourable light.

"What if... What if Silk was wrong? To trust me?" He was struggling with every word, but something about Eve's tone and mannerisms prompted him to share. "This is really important, and if I mess up..."

Kaleb clutched the mug in his hands a bit too tightly, putting a voice to his doubts was even more frightening than the hypothetical what-ifs.

cibarium

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Check-up

"Oh no," she waved off the offer of tea. "I'm fine. I actually came to check that you were alright." Temperance leaned tiredly against the wall. "You seemed a little out of it, at the end."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

check-up

"Wasn't everybody?" Leila offered a little weakly. "It... was a lot. For everybody." She didn't notice that she'd kind of repeated herself.

"We'll all need some time," Eve offered from her seat at the table near the door. "I'm glad you were there to make sure he would get some."


magical jitters

Eve shrugged. "You could. So could America or Leila. Deciding you're the weak link before anything bad has happened won't do you much good, though."

the semblance of unity

grey dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

magical jitters

"I was... weak today," he murmured unhappily. "I could barely do anything, there was so much pain... and I couldn't... I couldn't even look..."

Although the horror that was the Burning Man was still fresh in his mind, the more personal failings revolved around the encounter with Pride. In the end it was something as small as blood on his clothes that had incapacitated him while others were still trying to put out flames and tend to others.

"I could barely focus enough to do anything, I'm..." Kaleb seemed to wilt further, the shame weighing heavily on his shoulders. He had a sense of how important the separated Ezra was to the woman he stood in front of. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help..."

cibarium