(Untitled)

[boss_ofme]

He'd stolen two more days of her life. They were gone, but not in a blink of an eye. She remembered, flashes, scattered moments of John going about his business as if nothing were amiss. As if their life was his and his alone. He remained, for the most part, in their room, hunched over books he'd snatched from the shelves in the dead of night, like

Comments

[formerfratboy]

Here was the other thing about being on the council, other than the paperwork, that was endlessly disrupting Nick's life: he felt like he always needed to be somewhere. The lab, the council office, meeting new people. He was finishing up some work in the lab before finally heading home, and decided to stop off and grab some food in the kitchen to take home with him.

Nick walked in and began rummaging through the refrigerator, looking for leftovers. He found a plate of meat that looked appetizing, though he couldn't quite identify it. "Excuse me," he asked the woman standing over the tea kettle. "What's your best guess for what this came from?"

[boss_ofme]

"Oh," she said, moving in closer to inspect the plate, "It's fowl, I think. Or it could be pork." It was sliced, and bone-out, so it was a bit hard to tell. She frowned thoughtfully.

"It looks fresh enough." Perhaps from dinner that evening.

[formerfratboy]

"So, mystery meat," Nick said cheerfully, setting the plate down on the counter. "I'm going to hope for fowl. I think if I have one more possibly-boar sandwich, I'm going to go on strike. This'll teach me to work through dinner, I guess."

Actually, no, it wouldn't. The next day, he'd work through dinner again and have to rummage for scraps. It never ended well.

[boss_ofme]

"I'm not a big fan of pork," she admitted, wrinkling her nose, "It's unfortunate. They seem to have it in such abundance, here."

Smoothing a hand over her skirt, she said, "I'm Emma. Emma Skillpa."

[bloggedabout]

Erica had something of a sweet tooth. It wasn't something that she indulged very often, only when she was feeling pushed towards the end of her rope. Even then it was for things that were fairly specific, often impossible to sate here on an island with limited resources. But tonight she had eaten her vegetables, done what tasks she had set out to do and fulfilled all of those things that had been on her mental list since she had been a child.

Walking into the kitchen she was determined to see if they had anything that was even close enough to a popsicle to fake it. Stopping with her hand on the door of the freezer, she smiled at the woman. "Hi," she paused thinking of what she should make next. "Do you want me to get the milk out while I am over here?"

[boss_ofme]

"Hello," Emma smiled, her hands clasped in front of her while she waited for the kettle.

"That's sweet, thank you, but I think I'm going to have lemon and honey, tonight. Would you like some tea?"

[bloggedabout]

Erica's politeness came from both a natural desire to not make trouble where there wasn't any (being provoked didn't count; that just meant that someone started it) and from the fact that her parents had raised her well. There was no harm in offering to do someone a favour without any thought of returning it..

"Sure. That sounds nice," she said still smiling as she pulled open the freezer and took a look inside. Not a single popsicle in sight. Sensing a project looming on the horizon, she shut the door. "It does seem like a lemon and tea kind of night. But thank you for offering anyways."

[boss_ofme]

"Of course," Emma said, reaching up to claim another mug from the cabinet. "I was going to make myself something to eat, as well, if you're hungry."

Likely just a sandwich or a small salad. Emma had always been the type to eat light. Or, at least, in her short existence.

"I'm Emma," she said, realizing she didn't know the girl's name.

[seeyousoonthen]

Savannah had started wearing shapeless dresses to cover her weight gain. For the most part, now that she was feeling better, she ignored what was going on with her body. Or she did as much as she was able to. Sometimes things were impossible to ignore. Like now, it was impossible to ignore that she would do very wicked things for some sweet tea the way her momma used to make.

She smiled at Emma as she entered the kitchen. She was awful fond of everyone she worked with in the children's room. She hadn't seen Emma for a bit but hadn't thought too much about it. They all did their parts when they could do them. A couple days here and there without seeing someone was no cause for concern, generally.

"Oh! You've got the water on already. I could just kiss you," she said happily. "Your hair looks so pretty today, Emma."

The woman always looked so put together. Savannah wasn't one for envy most of the time, but she wished she could look so nice with polish and curls.

[boss_ofme]

"Oh, Savannah, hush," Emma smiled shyly as she reached up and touched the soft curls of her hair.

The girl was always so very sweet, Emma couldn't imagine not having a soft spot for her.

"Should I get you a mug?" she asked, turning toward the cabinet.

[seeyousoonthen]

"No, thank you. I'm going to try my hand at making sweet tea," she replied, then bit her lip. She wished she'd paid better attention to just how her mother had done it.

The water was on the boil so she decided sugar was a logical next step.

"I haven't seen you for a bit. Did you take some time for yourself? I keep thinking I should. Sometimes the kids just wear me out."

[boss_ofme]

"Oh, that sounds lovely," Emma said, though she'd always preferred lemonade. In her mind, her momma used to make the most wonderful pitchers of pink lemonade on hot summer afternoons.

"I was feeling a bit under the weather. It was just a bit of a cold. It's all cleared up, now," Emma lied, feeling almost proud at how easily it rolled off her tongue.

[thatwasanorder]

In a lot of ways, eating alone was the sort of exercise that very acutely reminded one that loneliness was, in fact, a curse, but these days, Russell had taken a liking to solitude (a liking that was more a destructive cycle than anything that served to make him happier). He frequented the kitchen (and virtually everywhere else) at night, when less people were around. (And when the darkness provided him with a reminder of the life that he'd lived before coming here.)

He remained silent a moment, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, before actually stepping in, voice quiet when he eventually asked: "Tea?"

[boss_ofme]

"You're in luck. I just put the kettle on," she said in equally hushed tones, offering a warm smile, her head ducked just slightly. It was still a struggle for her to meet a man's gaze fully, especially a stranger.

"Please, come, sit down."

[thatwasanorder]

"You're too kind."

It was a smile that Russell returned, albeit in a smaller iteration. Moving to take a seat on one of the chairs littered about the kitchen, he let out a slight sigh. General island generosity was something he'd gotten used to (and was more than happy to take advantage of) but he doubted he'd ever be completely comfortable with it. It seemed too utopian, for lack of a better descriptor.

"What kind are you making?"

[boss_ofme]

"Tea with lemon and honey," Emma said, and while she stood slightly hunched, just a bit submissively, it was a far cry from the subservient stoop John had been beaten into by his mother.

"I can make you something different, if you'd like."

[endlessdel]

"tHerE you arE," Delirium said in a sing-song voice skipping around Emma happily before she bounced up onto the counter. "You're all you again, happy. We should go dancing to celebrate put on our best dresses and dance. Move until all the bad is gone and its just energy."

[boss_ofme]

"I'm not sure I'm ready for another party so soon," Emma admitted with a warm smile. "I'm still recovering from the last."

John, she felt, was quietly furious at how social she'd become.

[endlessdel]

"Human bodies are fragile recovering things. I like parties. I like them all except when demons crash them and my sister has to make them go all crispy like bacon. We should have a party when you are recovered," Delirium said rambling away quite happily. "Did he do anything whilst you are away? Do I need to tell him off? I can be scary when I want to be. And frowny. Scary and frowny."