01 - Here Comes The Sun

[spitefulvitae]

[Action A - 2240 Stevens Road, Morning]

[First comes wakefulness, slow and creeping. The woman's eyelids flutter open, and then comes the panic. Sunlight. Sunlight, flooding the room, leaving no corner safe, engulfing her. Now suddenly very, very alert, she screams in terror and springs from the bed, hauling all of the blankets with her so they may serve as a protective drape.

She immediately falls over, bumping against the bedside table and tripping over all that wadded fabric. This only makes the panic rise more, and so she fails and wails and tangles herself all the worse in sheets and quilts, until her head finally pops free.

And then it hits her, and she stops screaming. It does not burn.

Housemates shall find her, still semi-entangled, palms pressed flat against the bedroom window, staring at the bright blue Mayfield sky.]

[Action B - Around Town]

[Along comes a new person, trying desperately, desperately to not look like a new person. Seeing a need to stealthily investigate the whole situation, she went and dressed herself period-appropriate for her information-gathering stroll around town.]

Hello, Mrs. Waters! Lovely day, isn't it?

Why, yes! It is!

[She's greeting the drones that greet her. She's trying to imitate their expressions. But she's failing in one key way... her smile is just a bit too big, and there's a darting, glancing panic in her eyes. Maybe talking with some real people will set her right.]

[Phone - Afternoon]

[The voice on the phone is giddy, a few steps away from outright hysterical.]

Well. Well! This is interesting. Very interesting. Certainly not where I settled myself down to bed yesterday. No no no. And it's such a sunny day, ahahahah, I haven't seen one of THOSE in...

[She breathes in, then lets out a musical sigh.]

...so am I alone, being so surprised at what a nice day it is? Yes? No? Are there any kindred spirits out there? Any of you? Aaaaanyone?

Don't be shy! I don't bite! Ahahah, ha... aaah... not in this condition, no.

Comments

Phone

[mal_addict]

[Well, THAT rings alarm bells]

Maybe, it depends how prone you are to biting when you're not in 'this' condition.

Phone

[spitefulvitae]

[Ding ding ding.]

It's a condition? It is a condition, isn't it....

[The laughter is a hint less hysterical this time.]

I feel more "bitey" now than I usually do... but not by much. I think it's the stress.

Phone

[mal_addict]

That's what I'd call it, anyway. I hear we get better eventually.

[Oh good, nothing like a bit of insanity to move the day along]

Might be an idea to figure out how to be less bitey.

Phone

[spitefulvitae]

You can't stay stressed forever. I hear you just... fall over and die.

[No, this doesn't sound the least bit like a stable person... But she makes an effort to breathe this time, instead of laugh like a loon.]

I intend to. It's not polite, the being bitey. I should be polite.

Action

[omg_thrall]

[There's a Thrall walking by on his off day when he notices the woman wandering the area looking wary.]

Lok'tar friend, are you new here?

Action

[spitefulvitae]

...Oh!

[That wasn't a historical throwback of a greeting. It was positively exotic. She stops short, looks him up and down, and then advances on him, still smiling anxiously.]

Yes! Yes I am!

It's... it's a bit obvious, isn't it?

[She quirks her head at an odd angle.]

Re: Action

[omg_thrall]

Just a little. [The massive black man smiled and held out his hand in greeting.]

I am Go'el, Son of Durotan. A pleasure madam.

Around Town

[ooeeooahah]

[ The too-wide smile is is tip-off, but there's something about the woman that sets off the alarms. ]

It seems that you just arrived, I take it?

Around Town

[spitefulvitae]

[She stops short and stares curiously at Ilsa for a few moments. No, no... she's not the same as the others. Something about how she stood and spoke and seemed to have a spark behind her eyes.]

...yes. Yes, I think that's a safe conclusion to draw.

[She casts a glance over her shoulder and across the street, at more obvious drones.]

You're not like them. Why aren't you like them? Are we supposed to be like them?

[ooeeooahah]

Meh, to a point. But those of us who are aware aren't here by our own wills, so some keep pushing the point.

[ She nods down the street to the Achewood. ]

There's a bakery that has a tea service, so why don't we go have a small something of a snack, and I can get you some of the information we know about the place?

[sinistralofdeath]

[When she had passed the blond woman on the street, Erim belatedly realized that she must be a recent arrival.]

[But the panic in her eyes was unbelievable. Her grin was too broad, and her steps were too harried—as someone who was required to learn of human interaction, Erim noticed.]

[Turning on her heel—lustrous locks turning with her—the female’s eyebrows slanted as she attempted a greeting.]

…Miss? Are you—do you require assistance?

[spitefulvitae]

Ah? What?

[...a person that didn't sound like everyone else. Natalie stopped so short that she stumbled, and she catches herself against a lamp post.]

I'm fine! Fine. Just fine. Fine.

...you're different.

[sinistralofdeath]

I am, and you don’t look fine at all. [If the silver haired woman hadn’t known better, this woman is visibly trembling.]

[But she does know better, and her eyes don’t fool her. Slowly, she reaches out a pale hand and places it gently on the blond’s back.]

We should sit down. [Conveniently, a bench is set up a bit further from where they’re standing. With her free hand, the woman in black points to it.] Unless you’d rather not.

[kinship]

[Cain really needs to stop going to the library, it seems like he meets all the nutcases that way...

As someone who uses smiles himself to hide panic and fear, he can't help but notice how wide and unnatural that grin is. There's that gleam of distress in her eyes, and he finds himself heading over despite his better judgement.

So, Natalie, have a very small boy looking up with a calming smile.]

It's okay, miss, just take a few deep breaths.

[spitefulvitae]

[Strange folks roam the stacks... and this one's pretty strange. She keeps pulling books off the shelf, marveling at their uselessness, and putting them back. The little boy that's obviously paying her some attention is a welcome distraction.]

It's okay?

[She slowly puts the latest cookbook back on the shelf, that grin changing slightly in nature. It's not so fearful anymore. Now it's more defensive, an "I'll bite you, seriously" kind of look.

But she does make a point to breathe. Biiiig breath in... deep breath out... and it sort of helps.]

This library is terrible. That's not okay at all.

[kinship]

[The grin doesn't seem to phase him at all, it's almost as if he's used to people looking at him in a violent way. Which he is, because his brother is an awesome asshole.

He gives her a grin in return, though his is much more amiable and amused, leaning against the wall.]

It is pretty bad... but there are ways to circumvent the books we're allowed by 'age' and 'gender'.

Action A

[tsunkinesis]

[Lili was awaken by the sounds of screaming. Well, that clearly wasn't one of her drone family members. She does eventually find Natalie.]

Geeze, what was with all that screaming?

Action A

[spitefulvitae]

[The woman's head snaps around as soon as she hears another voice. And she stares. And stares. And staaaaares.]

...who're you?

[She suddenly pulls the blankets tighter around herself, up high enough to cover her shoulders and neck. And her hands tuck beneath, too.]

[tsunkinesis]

Lili Zanatto. Or whatever new family name is here in this household. This is Mayfield.

Around town.

[imbodytemp]

[Mesousa notices a woman smiling a bit too manically than he is used too. In his experience this usually ends in disaster for someone, so he inquires to find out what's up.]

Oh-oh, Ma'am, is everything OK?

Around town.

[spitefulvitae]

[A talking bunny.

A cute little talking bunny is talking to her.

She stops short and just stares at Mesousa, jaw hanging open.]

Re: Around town.

[imbodytemp]

I...Is something wrong? I didn't mean to offend you if I did I'm very sorry!

Phone

[sir_hellsing]

[You are telegraphing all KINDS of things to the vampire hunter, girl.]

And what about when you aren't in this condition?

Phone

[spitefulvitae]

[So it goes, when you've sent the Masquerade to go sleep on the couch for a while.]

The condition of waking up in a strange bed, somewhere I don't recognize, likely after a very hard evening?

...I'd like to tell you that I'm better company when I'm not hung over, but that would be a lie.

Phone

[sir_hellsing]

[You can almost hear the uptick of one eyebrow.]

Waking up in Mayfield has that affect on people.