[open/incomplete]

[parallelparrot]

Characters: Echo, Open
Date/Time: 12/26, early morning
Location: Staircase leading from the second floor to the first
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Delusional, sick nymph
Summary: Echo's sick and tired, but determined.

Comments

[regallyso]

Another who hadn't been in the mood for sleeping any longer, especially when she dreamt of sisters she'd never had, was Cordelia. Or perhaps it was better to say Calliope. The last few days hadn't been unbearable so much as slightly unsettling, particularly after her first set of dreams concerning the son she'd also never had, but it hadn't meant she wanted to endure all of her dreams. That night, she'd been singing drinking songs with a familiar soldier, one whose name completely escaped her. And eventually, it was time to disrupt her sleep and pull herself away for a time, for her mental health's sake.

The who or what didn't matter for the moment -- she'd meant to leave in order to clear her head, because there was little else to do otherwise. Cordelia abandoned her room from the first floor to take a small walk around the premises, idly working fingers through her hair. When she spotted Echo near the top of the flight above, all thoughts of dreaming escaped her.

"Are you alright, darling?" she called out, hand hovering along the banister. "You look a bit peaked."

[parallelparrot]

Pressing one hand against her forehead in an effort to stop the dizziness, although she knew it wouldn't work, Echo leaned against the wall. She assumed that she looked as bad as she felt, which wasn't helped by the fact that she hadn't bathed or changed since arriving. If she ran into the hunter from her dreams now she honestly wouldn't blame him if he didn't look twice at her, especially since he seemed the type who wouldn't care if she died at his feet. But that was neither here nor there. No, all that mattered now was surviving long enough to get out of here mostly in one piece.

The fact that she hadn't encountered anyone else yet was a little weird -- she knew full well that there were other people in the house. Echo chalked it up to the lateness of the hour although she wasn't sure what the time actually was. When she heard Cordelia speaking and knew it was directed at her she hoped like mad the other woman knew sign language or was patient enough to deal with her stilted way of communicating.

"Alright, darling?" she repeated, sinking down into a crouch on the stairs, nodding as she spoke again. "A bit peaked."

[regallyso]

Patience was how they were going to have to get through the night, because Cordelia certainly didn't know any sign language, but she did happen to know what her body language meant, and it had her flying up the stairs to perch on the step beside Echo. Though she knew no hand signals, she wasn't blind.

The repeat of the words wasn't quite strange yet; she assumed it was illness and delirium. "You don't look like you should be out of bed, love," the muse soothed, moving to brush her hand along the back of Echo's shoulders in a comforting caress.

[parallelparrot]

Shivering as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, Echo closed her eyes for a moment and took slow, gulping breaths of air as she felt the light pressure of Cordelia coming toward her on the stairs. This was quickly turning into an embarrassing situation.

The hand moving across her shoulders gave her a start; she stiffened and hoped that whatever had her feeling so ill wasn't contagious through that simple an action. "Out of bed, love," the nymph parroted back, opening her red-rimmed eyes and offering a weak smile to Cordelia as she moved one hand to mimic taking a drink. She hoped it would convey that she had been trying to get to the kitchen to get a drink, but if not maybe the questions it brought up would get them to that point eventually.

[regallyso]

Cordelia fell quiet for a few moments to digest the fact that her words were being mirrored back at her, but brushed the thought away, understanding that getting the girl to some water was probably a higher priority than figuring out why she was speaking with a human-shaped parrot.

"You're looking for a drink? Oh, you must be, you look so ill..." The concern couldn't stay out of her voice as she rubbed Echo's shoulders one last time before slipping a bare arm around her blanketed back.

"Do you think you can stand for me?"

[parallelparrot]

Echo got the feeling that the other woman was getting confused and possibly irritated, but without something to write on she had no way of explaining her condition, or much of anything else for that matter.

"So ill," she nodded, her voice coming out as little more than a rasp by this point as she smiled gratefully up at Cordelia and nodded in agreement to the question the other woman posed.

"Stand for me." Gritting her teeth as she slowly stood, Echo felt a surge of pride that she hadn't collapsed.

[regallyso]

But even if she had, Cordelia wouldn't have let her hit the stairs.

"That's it, love," she softly encouraged, wrapping that arm a little more tightly to ensure the nymph was properly balanced. When all was well and they were both on their feet, she touched Echo's closest elbow -- at least, she figured it was her elbow. "Now, this may feel like the longest staircase you've ever climbed down, but it'll be over in a few steps. Ready?"

She would be at her side the entire way. A smile cemented the silent promise.

[parallelparrot]

The woman was nice, Echo admitted to herself even as she was loathe to lean on her.

She would find some way to repay this woman for her kindness, so long as she survived long enough to do so. What really grated on her nerves was the fact that anyone who knew she was autistic considered her ineffectual anyway, but knowing anyone who saw her in the condition Cordelia was seeing her in would assume she was a total weakling made it all worse. She tried to push the thought out of her mind as she nodded, indicating she understood.

"Ready." A look of resolve came over her face as they started down.

[regallyso]

Being in such a weak state did little good for not only the body, but also the mind, and Cordelia knew how wretched being ill was. But even if Echo didn't believe her true commitment to helping her, it didn't matter, just so long as the girl reached her destination in one piece. She carefully guided them down the steps, keeping quiet until they reached the bottom. Echo apparently needed all the concentration she could muster to descend the flight, so distracting her with conversation was more likely to be damaging than anything.

At the last stair, Cordelia helped her take that last step down onto the floor, and gave her a warm smile, removing that arm to smooth her hand up and down her blanketed back.

"Feeling alright still?"

[parallelparrot]

This whole experience had been mostly bad from day one, banging her head upon waking, and Echo honestly couldn't wait to be out of her. While she had met some nice people, Cordelia included, there was little that would ease her mind more than being in her own home where she could recuperate in peace. All she wanted was some cool water, perhaps even some juice, and then to curl up in bed until her body stopped feeling like she had been run over by a semi. She didn't think that was too much to ask, but then again she didn't think she'd have been in this cruddy house for this long either.

Nothing against anyone else here, Echo was sure they all wanted to get home and snuggle in their own beds too, but being sick didn't help her outlook at all. Still, she smiled softly at Cordelia and wished she could thank her.

"Alright, still."