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 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.

"You know I would never let anyone hurt you Mouse, I will protect you for as long as I live, I am going to do my best to clean up this city and make sure that that never happens to any of us, ever again," Salene smoothed her hair down again and hugged her tight, "There's no reason to be afraid of the pit, it was mostly pleasant, very boring, nothing really exciting went on," she was kind of lying, but most of it was true, she had been left alone in the dark with her emotions and thoughts with Bray, which made them rely on each other for support, and that had been the worst part of all, the painful memories.

[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.

"Dax?" Salene looked confused, "He, he went to spend the night with some friends, he might be coming back in the morning though, we're going to talk about what he wants to do for us, said he wants to help out around here, so we'll see," Salene could tell Dax had grown on Mouse, and vice versa, "Was he the one that took care of you?"

[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.

She took a deep breath. Salene had told her what it was like in the pit and obviously wanted to hear what Mouse had been up to. "I was in a Nursery - that's what Nanny called it. It was all fancy with toys and a big bed and a crib for Baby B. Everything I could think of Nanny was like - Here it is - It was like a bad Paradise Game. I hated it..." And as for Dax..."I met him just before...I saw you..."

[_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.

"It sounds like a nice place to stay, though, with toys and a big bed. I'm glad you at least had the baby, was Siva with you too or how did you know she was there? And what about this, Nanny? Isn't that a strange name?" Salene laughed, "What was she like? Was she nice? And, and how did you and Dax get to be so close, if you only met him in the end of the stay?" Salene was worried, she was concerned for Mouse's mental health as well as what they might have done to her, hoping brainwashing hadn't gone on, that they hadn't tried to make her a Chosen. "Did they ever tell you about Zoot? Or try to get you to believe in anything?"

[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 called me a Chosen like it was bad."

[_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.

Salene bit the inside of her bottom lip, how was she going to explain the Chosen to Mouse? "Well, Cloe was confused, you know? They, they are bad, at the core they are run by a very bad and confused man, but," how did she confess this, "I was once part of the Chosen Mouse, and though their principles were bad, some of it made sense at the time. It was confusing times, and I was kind of part of them, in the past. I'm not now, and Bray never was, except," Salene frowned, watching her face, "His brother, Martin, he was Zoot, and Zoot died in this Mall, and after that the people who had followed him, some of them called him a God, and they followed his principles, but he too was...he was crazy, and none of it was good, and we have worked hard to overcome the Chosen and Zoot and, this was the final straw, you know? It's done and it will never happen again," Salene felt bad telling her all of this before bedtime, but she'd been through something hard and well, they couldn't keep her in the dark forever, it was good for her to know so she could protect herself in the future.

[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.

"Thank you, you're right, and I hope he comes back tomorrow too. I'm sure he will and then, we shall see what we can do with him around here, ok?" Salene sniffled and smiled, so smart for someone so small. "We should get some sleep, don't you think? It's kind of late," Salene knew this would be met with protest, but she had to try, besides, Mouse had been asleep earlier.

[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.

[_salene_]

Salene tapped Mouse on the nose gently, "No, I'm exhausted, but I can't sleep, but you were sleeping, so I figured you might want mo-," Salene's eyes got big, ugh she should have known Mouse would bring this up. Was she still going to tell her the truth then? She supposed she had no choice really, but only the selective truth. Salene closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I was in the picture with Ryan because that was our wedding," she said, opening her eyes again and looking at Mouse, searching her face, "We were married, and the Chosen took him away, when he was mad at me he tried to hurt the crazy man that was in charge of the Chosen and they were going to kill him but a very good friend of mine, Luke, had him sent away instead. I," should she tell her about the baby? No, Salene wanted to tell Ryan herself, before she told anyone else who didn't already know. "I don't know why he didn't come back sooner, he and I have a lot of talking to do, a lot of catching up to do, so I'm not even sure if we still consider ourselves married or not," Salene looked kind of worried, here she'd gotten her mind off of all of this and she was back again, like a vicious cycle, at the beginning of the emotions and questions and thoughts.

[tribalmousi]

Mouse's head was spinning from everything that Salene had told her tonight. They hadn't talked like this for a long time. And Mouse was getting sleepy. Her eyes kept closing even though she tried to force them open. "I hope the Chosen stay far away..." Her voice had become quiet as she fell asleep.