Salene:Shower, then Bed:Mouse/Ryan[Cloe/Dax]

[_salene_]

[OOC: Continued from HERESalene turned back to Dax, motioning for him to leave, hitting the lightswitch on the way out, the sight of Mouse in her bed with the nightlight on, it made her feel happier than she had in a long time. Salene walked to her bedroom, Dax behind her, and she didn't talk in the hallway, everyone seemed to be going to bed, she

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[_salene_]

Salene nodded, suggesting soaking the bread in the broth a bit and then putting it on a plate, on the floor though, didn't want to train the kitten to eat on the table. Salene hugged Cloe and watched her walk away, smiling, then turned to the book on her night table, something she'd been reading, and rereading, a lot, something she kind of enjoyed. Salene picked it up and tried to focus on the lettering, concentrating as best she could. It was frustrating, but it took her mind off of Ryan..for now.

[tribalmousi]

Mouse had only fallen asleep for a short bit of time. She couldn't sleep. When she did she had images of a dark pit and Salene's face looking up at her. She slipped from her room, sneaking down the hallway to Salene's room. Seeing her occupied she climbed up onto the bed and under the covers next to her. It was good to have Salene back home.

[_salene_]

Salene put her bookmark in and closed the book, "Hey Mouse, you ok?" She smiled and set the book down again, crawling lower into the bed, her head on the pillows, the reading was frustrating her anyway, and having Mouse next to her was distracting, she just wanted to cuddle up to her and sleep. Maybe having Mouse in bed with her would help her feel safe and comforted, and she'd be able to sleep again, that would be nice. "Did you have a bad dream?"

[tribalmousi]

"You won't go away again, will you?" Mouse had to ask, getting comfortable, resting on the pillows. "I can't sleep if you do. And I don't want to tell you my dream because I'm afraid it will scare you." Afterall it was Salene who was in the pit...

[_salene_]

Salene's heart did this thing it always did, like she felt all awww for Mouse, it made her smile, poor kid. "I am not going anywhere for a long long time, I'm a Mall Rat and here I shall stay," she promised, her arm wrapping around her, pulling her close. "You can tell me your dream Mouse, I promise it won't scare me. You don't have to talk about it, but it might make you feel better if you do," Salene smoothed her hair back with her free hand and smiled, her makeup still smudged from where she'd cried in the woods, such a brave little girl.

[tribalmousi]

"It's that awful pit!" Mouse bursted out. "Everytime I close my eyes I see it. I can't help it. It won't go away!" She wanted to cry, but couldn't. And she was actually feeling better just being here with Salene. She had other dreams while Salene was gone. Like what could have happened to her, but those were gone.

[_salene_]

Salene gulped, oh she hadn't even considered that the pit would give Mouse nightmares, "What about the pit scares you? Do you want me to tell you about what it was like down there, so you can know it wasn't scary, not really? Or is it the being held out over it part? Because Dax is a really strong guy and he never would have dropped you," Salene was trying to sound comforting but the anger was raging up inside of her, she wanted to find that man, that Charles, and kill him, kill him dead

[tribalmousi]

"YOU were in the pit Salene. To see you down there...I don't know..." She shivered even as Salene hugged her. She said it wasn't that bad, but Salene didn't look too good and was acting funny. That all equaled bad to Mouse. Then she remembered something. "Where is Dax?"

[_salene_]

"I was, yes, and so was Bray and we were ok. We had a bed, and there was a bathroom. When we found that, we were so surprised, we were excited! The room was mostly empty, and cold, and we had food and water, and for the most part we had candles," Salene tried really hard to make it sound better than it was, "It was almost like a mini vacation, we just didn't like being locked down somewhere, not free, and we certainly did not like hearing that they had our kids," Salene smiled, unsure of how Mouse would react to being called *her* kid. "I'm, I'm sorry I yelled that you were my daughter Mouse, I know you aren't mine, but in some ways, I do think of you as my little girl, and I was really upset that they might be hurting you. They didn't hurt you, did they?" Images of Mouse chained to a wall in a dungeon, or behind bars, had haunted Salene ever since she saw her dangling, and she didn't want to upset Mouse but she knew talking about it would help in some ways

[tribalmousi]

Mouse listened as Salene described the pit and new in one way she was telling the truth but in another there were some lies. And It was almost like a mini vacation...Mouse frowned at that. That's all Nanny had ever said - You're on a vacation! "It wasn't a vacation!" Mouse shouted. She hadn't meant to, but that always bothered her. "A vacation is not being locked up in a room or a pit and not being let out or to see anyone you love. People telling you lies thinking it will make you feel better." Mouse couldn't even think about what Salene was saying about the "her daughter". She was still fuming over what had happened. Geez, her emotions were all mixed up

[_salene_]

Salene stayed quiet as she yelled, listening, letting her get it out, it was going to be ok, Salene only hoped she could convince her, and herself, of that. She waited for quiet then nodded, holding Mouse close, "You are right, it wasn't a vacation, I meant that it was because I had nothing to worry about, just had a lot of time to myself, instead of a lot of responsibility to look after all day, do you understand?" She'd struck a chord with her, a sore spot, and she felt bad. "It was what it was, a bad experience, a kidnapping, imprisonment, you are right, there's no sugar coating it. But they didn't hurt us. They didn't do anything bad to us, not really, and it could have been a lot worse," Salene had been telling herself that, a lot, trying to convince herself every day that it could be worse, it could have been worse

[tribalmousi]

Mouse tried to think of all that had happened so she could tell Salene what she wanted to know. But she had blocked some stuff out...atleast she had tried. "I don't know when they brought Siva in. She was hurt. I don't know who did it. But they brought her in before they took me away. Nanny was mostly nice. Although she didn't seem to know that much. She avoided most of my questions." Mouse gave out fast answers. She could say more, but there didn't seem to be any need. "But she listened to those bad people. She wanted to blindfold me and then they tied my hands..." She closed her eyes for a moment, but the pit and Salene's face was still there so she hurridly reopened them. "Dax yelled at me, but I did bite him. But he was really nice later. He let me walk instead of carrying me and we talked on the stairs instead of forcing me back into the Nursery. He told me that you and Bray were part of the Chosen. But I told him you were Mallrats." She was rather proud of this part. "I mean Chosen are bad, right? Cloe

[_salene_]

Salene listend, it was interesting, upsetting too, but they sounded like they'd taken pretty good care of her. "I'm glad Siva was there too, even though they did bad things to you. I'm sorry they did that, I promise to never let that happen again," Salene was now more determined than ever to make sure the Chosen never rose to power ever again. She looked shocked when Mouse said she bit Dax, laughing a little, she couldn't help herself. He'd treated her differently after the dangling, he'd been good to her, and Salene...could appreciate that. She felt kind of bad throwing him out now, but reminded herself he was a Chosen still, in her mind and probably his, and she had a lot of talking to do before she'd ever trust him really

[tribalmousi]

Salene had been a Chosen? Really??? Mouse had a lot to figure out with everything that Salene had just told her. She had remembered vaguely some kids talking about Zoot before she became a Mallrat, but she rarely had payed attention. Staying alive was more important. And Bray had a brother? And he was Zoot?? Mouse shook her head. This would take awhile to figure out..."Well, good people sometimes do bad things and bad people sometimes do good things, right? And although Cloe...well...she's not bad and neither are you." Mouse hoped this made Salene feel better. "But, Salene, just because Dax is - was - a Chosen doesn't make him bad. I hope he comes back tomorrow..."

[_salene_]

Salene waited, extra nervous, how would Mouse take this all in, being super quiet worried her but then she said something wise, as Mouse sometimes did, and Salene felt the tears come to her eyes. Mouse didn't hate her for being someone who'd been a part of something that had done bad things to others, Mouse understood that sometimes people got confused, and even made a really good point, making Salene feel doubly bad for kicking out Dax. She was doing to him something she feared about herself; rejecting him for having been a Chosen. Salene couldn't help it and the tears flowed again, relief, all of the crying of the last few days, it had done her head in, but now, they just wet her eyes and she had to blink them back

[tribalmousi]

Mouse frowned. Sleep? "Are you tired Salene? Am I bugging you?" Mouse hoped not because she had to ask ONE more question even if Patsy had given her the answer. "Why are you in that picture with Ryan? Were you really married? Why did he leave? Why didn't he come back sooner?" Okay, more than one question.