(Untitled)

[amazonofthe21st]

I was using loneliness and now it's using me.Just after sunset, a girl makes her way carefully down the stairs. Careful, because less than that would mean stumbling, and in her current condition, stumbling would probably lead to falling. She's hardly dressed for the weather either, and the tips of fingers and toes might be an unhealthy shade of

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[jealous_rose]

Rosalie sits down sometime after Rachel has fallen asleep. She doesn't have anything with her-- nothing to read, nothing to eat or drink. She's just sitting there, staring into the fire and thinking. So her gaze may wander to the sleeping girl from time to time, as she loses herself in thought.

[amazonofthe21st]

The girl sleeps heavily. Oddly heavy, for being tucked into a couch in the middle of a bar. But the crowds don't seem to bother her sleep at all.

This is, in fact, the sort that is often referred to as being 'dead to the world.'

Or it was for the first few hours, anyway. This late in the evening she's starting to wake, breathing a little more shallow as she turns beneath the blanket, one arm flopping free.

[jealous_rose]

Rosalie is more distracted by the slight changes than she means to be. It's been a while since she's watched anyone sleep.

[amazonofthe21st]

There are more restful versions of it to watch than this one.

Eyes darting beneath closed lids. Forehead slightly wrinkled. Mouth downturned. Throat working, though no sound emits.

Not a nightmare, exactly. But hardly restful.

[jealous_rose]

Rosalie has to watch her for a while before she is able to determine that something might be wrong.

She gets up from her chair and kneels beside the couch, touching the girl's shoulder gently through the blanket. "Excuse me. Are you all right?" she asks softly.

[amazonofthe21st]

Her eyes snap open immediately.

Possibly, the only way for it to be more startling is if the motion had come with an accompanying popping sound.

The shoulder twitches away from the touch and Rachel exhales sharply, looking around. Getting her bearings. Noting the person beside her who... she doesn't know.

Rosalie is stared at for a moment, blank, before Rachel closes her eyes and starts to sit up. "What?" she mumbles, shoving blonde hair out of her face.

[jealous_rose]

"I'm sorry," Rosalie says gently, lowering her hand. "I thought... It seemed like maybe you were having a nightmare. Are you all right?"

[amazonofthe21st]

She hesitates again, in voice if not in movement, hair straightened and hand briefly pressed against her eyes. Then it's dropped and she's folding the blanket, pushing the top half away from her. Even with it covering her lap, the sports bra she's wearing isn't exactly high fashion.

"I'm fine," Rachel says quickly, glancing at the woman - girl - and blinking.

She's been called beautiful herself often enough for the word, and all its variants, to have no meaning. Often enough for the compliment to be ignored as simple and unimaginative observation.

But the girl she's looking at, Rachel's suddenly quite sure, would make everyone around her invisible in comparison.

And she's seen that sort of otherworldly beauty before.

"...I'm fine," she says quietly, slowly. Because nothing's been said to encourage anything but politeness yet. "Thanks. I sleep... weird."

[jealous_rose]

Rosalie's gaze is steady as she listens. Maybe unnervingly so-- it gives the impression of someone who's maybe forgotten common social conventions, like not staring.

She's quiet for a moment after Rachel stops talking, waiting for more information. When none is given, she asks, "Weird... how?" She then adds quickly, "If you don't mind my asking..."

[amazonofthe21st]

The staring is barely noticed. If it had been, maybe she wouldn't have relaxed under it. An unconscious reaction to being around someone currently unthreatening, unfamiliar with social conventions.

Things that it would bother Rachel to categorize as relaxing.

"Not good," Rachel clarifies, and flashes a bland, not very convincing smile. Her fingers fuss with the blanket until she forces them to smooth over it instead. "That kind of weird."

[jealous_rose]

"Oh," Rosalie says. She thinks for a moment. "You certainly slept for a while, though."

[amazonofthe21st]

Rachel shrugs.

She slept because she was exhausted. And she'd guess that's what kept her from any of her usual nightmares, too. Which is a big point in the Pro column for continuing this routine as much as possible.

Except for the frostbite part. That wasn't so cool.

"I would have been upstairs but there's kind of a mess in my rooms," she says, casually as she can. "Bar said she'd take care of it and let me sleep on the couch."

Ordered to sleep on the couch, really.

[jealous_rose]

Rosalie almost asks why Bar didn't just give her another room, but it's not like this girl would know. Bar's a little strange sometimes.

There's a drawn-out pause, which lingers a while before Rosalie even realizes it.

"I'm Rosalie," she offers suddenly but gently, with a hint of a smile.

[amazonofthe21st]

Right. Introductions.

"Rachel," she says, only a step behind. She tries for a smile, too. The gesture is there, if not the spirit behind it.

[jealous_rose]

"Nice to meet you," Rosalie says.

She pauses only briefly. "So... again, I'm sorry for waking you. Should I perhaps leave you alone?" she asks, her tone indicating only politeness, as opposed to any real wish of ending the conversation.

[amazonofthe21st]

A wiser person might end the interaction now. Rachel isn't in the best of states, tired and groggy and awkward with where she stands - or sits, rather.

"It's fine. You're fine." She tries another smile and adjusts to a more comfortable position on her couch, legs tucked beneath her, blanket around her shoulders. "It's- nice to meet you, Rosalie. Um. Hi."