003 ❖ I'm dreaming of a quiet Christmas (Backdated to the evening of the 20th)

[noluckduck]

[Action: On your doorstep - first-come, first-serve?]

[Look at this lovely caroller, singing with wild abandon with an unshakable smile on her face! How long has she been at it?

Well, actually, it has been precisely 24 hours since she started.

Her singing suddenly stops, her smile twitches and stops, and she collapses, exhausted.]


[Phone, after a few hours of troubled sleep:]

I don't wanna hear another Christmas carol ever in my life.

... I... got droned, I guess.

[A deep breath. She is tired.] Fuck this town. Fuck. [On several levels. And it's barely been two weeks...]

Comments

[prpl_assistant]

Action

(OK, she had not expected the caroller. But when said caroller collapses on her doorstep? Alarm bells start ringing. She quickly rushes forward to check on the young woman.)

Miss! Are you alright?

(She helps the girl to stand up.)

[noluckduck]

[Just give her a moment to regain her bearings.]

I... I... No, I'm not fuckin' alright!

[She tries to stand up on her own, but her legs are rather shaky; she wasn't allowed to eat or rest at all for the past day.]

[prpl_assistant]

(Yeah, you definitely need help. Miss Pauling is going to help you up whether you like it or not; her grip is surprisingly firm for a women of her small size.)

Come on in, you need to warm up. I've got a heater in my place.

[noluckduck]

... [She'd better not even try to struggle.] Thanks.

[prpl_assistant]

(She helps the girl to her home, and sure enough, a blast of warm air greets them. Engineers are fantastic buddies to have. Miss Pauling sits the girl down and gets a blanket for her; she must be freezing, singing carols like that in the cold. She also gets her some water to drink; the questions can come later.)

[noluckduck]

[She notes the warmth with a quiet damn, that's nice, curls up beneath the blanket the woman got her, and then drinks the water in one gulp, which was probably a terrible idea judging by the way she's coughing right now.]

[phone - erased]

[stoppedhiding]

We all knew there was a risk of punishment. [ Even so, he's having trouble hiding how disturbed he sounds, himself. ]

[noluckduck]

Speak for yourself--

... You're another one o' those fakes, aren't ya? [Ordinarily, Clover might have begun to wonder by now why it is that she can "tell" she's talking to a "fake" even when it's someone she has never met before at all.

But she's tired and the thought doesn't cross her mind.]

[stoppedhiding]

[ He has neither the energy nor the desire to get into an argument about this. ] Yes.

[noluckduck]

Ya sound like it. Ugh, I can't believe this shit.

[phone]

[echoes-sutras.livejournal.com]

Better to be droned then not be but everyone thinks you're a fake anyways...

[noluckduck]

Shut up! I've heard enough of people cryin' about how they're obviously the real deal!

[echoes-sutras.livejournal.com]

... -A sniffle.-

Don't be mean about it...

[noluckduck]

Yeah, yeah, I bet you have feelings too. I sang non-stop for 24-freakin'-hours!

[echoes-sutras.livejournal.com]

But no one's calling you a fake! Why doesn't anyone believe me?

[noluckduck]

Because you're all pretty shabby fakes, honestly.

[echoes-sutras.livejournal.com]

But how do you know? Ane-san seemed fake, but she's real! I know it! Why can't you just trust me?

... I've never lied to you before, Clover-san.

[noluckduck]

... No shit. Have we ever even talked before?

[echoes-sutras.livejournal.com]

Of course we have! We've talked lots of times! -This is gonna be awkward to explain later...-

[noluckduck]

[The apologies are going to be pretty awkward too.] When?

[eveningcalm]

[phone/erased]

Is that what the town does for punishment, then?

[Coming from an irritable, tired girl who was also droned. :|]

[noluckduck]

... Looks like it. Though all the fakes runnin' around are a great punishment too!

[eveningcalm]

[Oh, god, not Clover too.]

How many times do we have to say we're not fakes before the rest of this town gets it through its thick skull??

[noluckduck]

Yeah, ya might as well shut up, since you ain't convincin' anyone.

[eveningcalm]

Where "anyone" constitutes absolute morons, apparently.

[noluckduck]

Geez, I don't even know what's better, the ones who cry and cry about bein' the real deal, or you.

[eveningcalm]

What's that supposed to mean