☆ Fifteenth Wish ☆ - [Action | Written]

[bubblywishes]

[It must not have hit Norma until now, not really. As she sits on her bed after a long day of work at Good Spirits, she holds her gifts on her lap, left by Marco when he left Luceti some time ago - his anklet and the orange alternate of Ace's hat (she has the black one he left her when he left). She doesn't even know how long it's been now, the days seemed to pass by in a foggy kind of blur, but now as she stares down into her lap, fingers running over the beads on the lining of the hat, and the delicateness of the anklet, it's hitting her.

They're both gone now. The two people she considered to be her big brothers are both gone. One completely, and the other...she can only guess, really, what will become of him.

Tears well up in Norma's eyes and she very quickly goes to her door and shuts it, to keep any and all of her housemates from coming in and seeing her like this. Her lower lip quivers, and she looks back at the trinkets left behind for her. In that moment, she's filled with a burning, raging, fiery anger. Gasping for breath, and scrubbing at her eyes desperately, Norma stomps to her bed and smacks both hats off her bed, throwing the anklet to the floor quickly after. She doesn't stop there, either - grabbing her pillows, Norma flings them off her bed as well, one by one. Her stuffed toys follow, then her journal, thrown hard against the wall - thunk.

All the while, Norma gasps and wheezes, biting her lip to keep from making too much noise. She doesn't want anyone to come knocking and asking what's wrong, and she doesn't want anyone to try and make her feel better, either. In all actuality, she wants to be upset, she wants to be mad, and she doesn't want people telling her it'll be better and to just be happy anymore. She's been smiling for way too long, and right now she just wants to be upset and hate everything and everyone.

Standing in the middle of her room, huffing and puffing with her hands over her mouth, Norma shakes and wobbles and cries, beating her fists on her bed and kicking the frame of it. Again, another thunk. The pain doesn't even register in her rush of emotions, and she girl finally whines feebly as the anger dies down and she's filled with nothing but an emptiness and great exhaustion. Coughing, she picks up her things again and rearranges them with shaking hands, picking up Ace's hats and Marco's anklet with more care.

Sniffling, Norma pocket's the anklet and puts on the orange hat, throwing on her coat and boots. She begins shoving some clothes into her bag as well - three days' worth should be good - then opens her window wide and clambers out. Where is she going? Where else - the rooftop of the former Community House 3, where a pirate flag still waves in the wind. The walk there feels like forever, even if it's only a few minutes away. With how heavy and stiff she feels, Norma doesn't know how time is even working right now. It could stop entirely and she wouldn't know the difference.

She sits down in front of it and just stares at the mark for a while, until the cold and numbness of her toes and fingers becomes too unbearable. She heads back inside, but only gets as far as the first few steps back inside from the roof, sitting down and catching her breath. Man, she just does not have any energy for anything right now. Gathering up the last of it, Norma exhales and writes a message to the masses at large.]

If anyone knew him, Marco the Phoenix went back home where he belongs. I don't know if he left anyone anything, but I'll check his room when I can.

For you guys at the bar, I'm not gonna be coming in for a while. Sorry. Get someone else to cover my shift.

[Filtered to House 34]

I won't be coming home tonight. Maybe not the next night, either. I just want to be by myself for a while, okay? Really. It'll just be a few days. Promise.

[The last part is quickly scribbled out. Norma's really not sure if she can keep that promise. She doesn't know how long it will take for her to not want to lash out at anyone.]

Comments

[Written]

[spohkh]

That is most unfortunate.

[Understatement of the century. Spock felt like he lost a brother.]

I grieve with thee.

[Written]

[bubblywishes]

[It takes Norma a while to reply. Something about reading those last few words makes her feel inexplicably angry. She was already an live-wire at the time, so she leaves her journal alone to decompress for a few minutes before coming back to it again - about twenty minutes or so. She's still not ready to answer with voice, for fear she might lose her head, so writing it is.]

Did you know him?

Re: [Written]

[spohkh]

Indeed I did.

[Spock had wondered about the long pause, but he didn't really give it much thought.]

While it is well that he has been returned to where he belongs, I cannot help but feel remorse at the lost relationship... [Marco and Robin... they were from different crews in their universe.]

[Written]

[bubblywishes]

[Relationshi--...oh. Oh jeez, that's right. Man, Norma had been so wrapped up in Marco's disappearance and how it affected her personally that she didn't even stop to think about his girlfriend or whatever. Robin was her name, wasn't it? Ugh, what a selfish thing she's been doing...thinking just about herself. Feeling her shoulders sag, Norma rubs her face. Again, it takes her a little while to respond, and her answer is terribly short.]

Yeah.

[Were did Robin even stay? She could try reaching out to her, but...urgh. Right now she did not want that responsibility. She'd see the message.]

action;

[welnares]

[The next day, Oscar finds Norma out of sheer luck at the Welcome Center, which he doesn't visit too often. He wouldn't have gone into the garden at all if he hadn't recognized her.

Oscar doesn't approach carefully. He walks up with all of his typical casual energy and talks, gentleness underlying his words.]

Did you check his room?

action;

[bubblywishes]

[It's probably good thing Oscar's not being very subtle about his presence, it actually alerts Norma to it a lot more than if he had approached with care. It still takes her a moment to really register that someone is talking to her and not someone else in the room, but when she does, Norma blinks and seems to recall reality is a thing and that she should be living in it right now, and paying attention to it.

Sadly, she didn't quite get the question Oscar asked her.]

Huh?

action;

[welnares]

[Oscar doesn't miss a beat, though he changes the subject the slightest inch. Smiling, he studies Norma as he says,]

Marco the Phoenix. Is he the same as Captain Marco? I talked to him once.

action;

[bubblywishes]

If he was a pirate, then that'd be the one. [Was he captain? Man, she can't recall the finer details, but his father who was the captain passed away as far as she knew - he was commander of the first division...so if old man Whitebeard as pushing daisies now, then that would make Marco captain, right? Is that how it worked?]

How'd he look? Funny shaped? Cuz that would definitely be ol' Turtledove for sure.

[Action]

[soheartless]

[And this young-looking lad, dressed as always in a school uniform, just happens to be wandering through the memory garden while Norma is there. He peers towards her curiously.]

What you doing? [He asks dreamily and innocently, without demand.]

I'd like to know...

[Action]

[bubblywishes]

[Norma barely registers the voice speaking to her, kneeling in the garden before a small patch of white flowers - the spot she designated as Sven's Luceti grave site. When she does feel a presence near her, Norma blinks and looks up, somewhat confused by the sudden intrusion. Who's thins spacey-looking kid?]

Huh...what? [Finally, her brain catches up to her and--] Oh, I'm just...thinking. I guess.

[Was that even what she was doing? Norma doesn't even know, she kind of just came here. Just because it was the first place her legs brought her to.]

[Action]

[soheartless]

[He leans over curiously, with a faint smile. He's eagerly curious.

They had met once before. After Duck had gone home.]

What sorts of things are you thinking about?

[Action]

[bubblywishes]

[That eagerness and curiosity, while fine and dandy any other time, is making Norma feel really uncomfortable. She came here to be alone, to get away from everyone, and to not have to explain herself why she kept flouncing and running off when she was upset. Go figure that she's suddenly put on the spot and has to go into depth and explain things sh'd rather not. So, in hopes of driving this spacey kid off - even if he means well - she continues to be vague.]

Stuff. [A beat, then she looks back to the little patch of flowers.] ...People. Like, people who're not here anymore. What're you doing here?

[Yes, direct the attention off herself, this is the est way to go.]

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang is sitting at the Welcome Center's most welcoming desk, with a tray of baked goods from the bakery setup. He happens to see Norma while she's en route to the memory garden and calls out to her.]

Norma... Hey!

[Action]

[bubblywishes]

[Aang may have to call out a little louder this time around, Norma's not really in the right mindset to really tune in anything more than her own thoughts right now. In all honestly, her posture seems very unlike her usual fluid, bouncy flow. She's very stiff and clunky, and her face is rather pale and blotchy, with a highly distant look in her eyes. It's almost zombie-like in appearance.

She's barely processing where she's even going, her body just moving on a single thought in her head - go to the memory garden, make a new spot never to Sven's flowers for Marco and Ace.]

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Yeah - her lack of response plus how uncharacteristically lifeless she seems worries Aang. So he gets up and starts to scurry towards her, repeating a little louder.]

Norma?

[Action]

[bubblywishes]

[Now that gets Norma's attention. She's jolted back to reality, eyes widening as if she were suddenly struck or shoved hard out of whatever little world she was in prior to. Putting on a default smile, she hides behind her usual mask of bubbly happiness, defaulting to old ways as she was so used to. No need to worry anyone on her behalf, after all.]

Oh, hey there, Cueball! Guess I didn't see you there.

[Voice | Filtered to House 34]

[blessingone]

[As bad as she feels for Norma on learning that Marco's disappeared, she's a bit relieved to find the note in the journal. Her room is next door to Norma's, so she likely heard some of the noise from Norma's room. She didn't make a move to do anything about it, though, as she suspected that Norma was not in a mood for company right then.

She finds it a little weird to reply to a written note vocally, but she hopes that she might be able to trick Norma into replying by voice as well to get a better idea of how she's doing, or at least that Norma might find it harder to ignore the vocal message.]

You're not going to do anything stupid, right?

[...Of course, written responses had their own charm in that she didn't blurt things like that on paper. Augh.]

Just tell me that you've got someplace reasonable to stay in the meantime. Like...an empty room in a community house, or something like that. Okay?

[Written | Filtered to House 34]

[bubblywishes]

[Nice try, Fenimore, but when the response comes - and it'll take a few minutes to appear - it's a written message. The first part of that little vocalization was enough to set Norma off to begin with, and she had half a mind to just chuck her stupid journal out into the snow and hope it got buried there until next spring. What the hell does Fenimore think she's even going to do?! What's even stupid to her?! Ugh...this is the reason she needed to just be by herself right now! Had this confrontation been in person, Norma may have gotten a bit violent verbally and perhaps even physically. She is so done with everything and everyone right now.

Ate letting herself simmer for a bit, the message appears in Fenimore's journal. Short and sweet--]

I'll find someplace.

[If anything, she can just stay in Marco's old apartment and sulk in his former room.]

[Written | Filtered to House 34]

[lostinmyway]

[Grune spends a long time simply...looking at Norma's message, both the part for everyone and the part for House 34. She knows it's sometimes it's good for people to spend a little time alone, but...she's worried.

Finally, she writes:] Are you sure?

[Written | Filtered to House 34]

[bubblywishes]

[Norma won't lie to herself when she sees the message from her closest friend that...well, it really was for her specifically, and Fenimore a little bit too, but the Ferines was a little more accepting of people wanting their space when they were upset. Grune was the more caring, nurturing one, so Norma understands how she's thinking and feeling but...right now she just wants to be by herself and sulk. It may be weird to say, but it helps. Having her friends worry over her never made Norma feel better about anything, so being lone right now won't give her a chance to drag them down.

So after a few minutes of staring at Grune's three little words, Norma replies with a few of her own.]

Yeah. [A moment's pause before she adds--] I'll be okay. Promise.

[Written | Filtered to House 34]

[lostinmyway]

[There's another long pause before Grune writes:] Okay, Norma. Make sure to take lots of warm clothes and delicious food, all right?

[She wishes she could be with Norma, and she's going to be thinking about her a lot...but if she wants to be alone, it wouldn't be very nice to follow her.]

[Written | Filtered to House 34]

[bubblywishes]

[Guilt gnaws painfully at Norma's chest, and she take a moment to reply herself, sniffling and wiping t her eyes. Maybe she should have just left without a message. Just stolen a room somewhere and lay low for a while. People could have assumed she were kidnapped or on a mission or something. Now they're thinking she's worse off, or doing stupid things, or what-the-hell-ever, and worrying about her and she tried to avoid that and uuugh...!

Breathing out after a few minutes, and blinking her eyes, Norma replies, trying to force a smile on her face, even if Grune won't see it anyway. It's just reflex by this point.]

I will! Don't worry, G-Girl.

[Action]

[feathersharp]

[The snow is heavy and the cold is a pain, but Birdy's willing to deal with it because it means not being caged up inside the apartment he's decided to claim while trying to figure a way out of Luceti, or at least some means of communication with the outside world. The initial rage and frustration (and a faint note of panic) has cooled to a simmer with time and the winter weather. Now he's simply mulling over everything he's learned about Luceti, reviewing the information like he's going to be tested on it for school (not that he ever went to school for long). And walking helps with the thinking.

It's on one of these thinky walks that Birdy finds Norma also traversing the village streets. After that highly embarrassing incident with the Romulan Blue, he would have preferred not to talk to her at all, but Good Spirits was the only bar in town, so he'd decided that some sly looks and verbal jabs from the girl were a decent enough price to pay for getting buzzed on free booze. Besides, the Romulan Blue incident really was his own damn fault in the first place for refusing to back down from a doomed challenge. And after a few drinks, certain things didn't matter as much. Plus, Birdy had to admit that Norma reminded him of Shout in a way: not very ladylike, but still friendly and gregarious, with a smile for every customer that came her way. It was a bit of a bright spot in this village prison.

But there's no smile on the girl that Birdy sees coming his way. And say what you like about his old-fashioned notions of gender, but it also means that he really gets uncomfortable when he sees girls in distress. Even if he sucks at consoling people. (In fact, you could probably argue that the latter leads to the former.)]

Oi. What's the matter?

[Not "Are you all right?", because it's plain to him that she's not.]

[Action]

[bubblywishes]

[Norma's not really paying much attention when she passes along on her walk. She doesn't know where she's even walking to, body moving on its own in some random direction as her head goes through thought after thought, a twisting frenzy of memories and feelings. She feels bad for running off so fast for the millionth time when something bad happened, but at this point it's just getting harder and harder to cope, especially when it's someone so close going home. She must be such a crappy person, though...leaving to not make her friends worry about her and get some space and they're probably worried already. Ugh, this sucks.

She rubs at her face, pale and blotchy with red mostly around her eyes and nose from where she's been crying earlier and sniffling, and sighs. Damn, she's so tired. Maybe she just ought to find a place to stay and just sleep for...a while. A long while. As she goes through her options of what to do now, and the various thoughts of how awful she is, though she really does need her space and why the hell did Marco leave now, that fucking asshole, and should she take down the flag...but no, he's want it to stay up and--]

Huh--wha...? [She blinks, her thoughts coming to a screeching halt, as it her bubble's just been popped.]

[Action]

[feathersharp]

[Birdy gazes back at Norma, head tilted slightly in inquiry.]

You don't look so good.

[Tact? What's that?]