bubblywishes | ☆ Eighteenth Wish ☆ - [Action

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☆ Eighteenth Wish ☆ - [Action | Voice]

[Waking was like bursting through a veil of frigid water. Gasping and jerking into a sitting position, Norma casts her bleary gaze left and right quickly, half expecting to see herself surrounded by ash, blood and cultist soldiers. Her chest burns with her quick movements (as well as other parts of her aching body) and her fist clutches the middle of it, digging her fingers painfully into the fabric of her clothes.

With each breath, Norma tries to get a grip on what happened and where she is. The air isn't thick with smoke and ash and the smell of decay like she remembered being in. Truth be told, the air now was fresh, crisp, fragrant... Pushing her hair from her face and just forcing herself into a calm state, she finally manages to make sense of where she was.

It was the Memory Garden. Snorting at the irony, Norma tries to get up, wincing at the cracks and pops of her stiff muscles and sore bones. She really does feel like she just came back from the dead... And as she thinks back on the memories right before it happened, her fingers brush insistently into her clothes, searching for any sort of bullet holes or marks that would give away what really happened. The others may or may not know...and she isn't sure she even wantsto tell them. Norma knows she has to, eventually, but she can't bring herself to even think of going home right now. So, as she gropes around, she finds her journal and shoves it under one arm without even thinking. Her mind's working automatically right now.

So, instead, she drags herself to the bar (it was the closest establishment, and the first she could think of), enters through the back, and just...collapses in a heap in one corner, head in her hands and tears welling up in her eyes. She can taste something sour in her mouth and idly wonders if she's going to throw up - wouldn't that be fun to explain to whoever finds her here - but thankfully the contents in her stomach remain there. But her ears are ringing and her head is a mess of thoughts and memories and fears. She died. It finally happened and she really died in Luceti. She got shot and died and now here she is again. Who knew? Would she have to come clean to her housemates? To Grune? To Sophie?

...No, Sophie shouldn't know. She has to bite her tongue and hope to high heaven nothing was told to the poor kid.

It's a good hour or more that Norma stays crouched in a corner in the back of the bar, shaking and letting the tears dribble down her face before she gets a grip on herself and decides she has to come clean sooner or later. Her intent was to write a written message, but as she presses her pen to the paper and tries to write, all Norma can see are weird shapes and sqiggly lines before it blurs together into one big mess. She thinks nothing of it - just post draft nerves and her own mental instability - and instead takes a massive gulp of air and puts on her well-practiced mask of cheerfulness and indifference.]

Everyone, I'm back! Tell me some good news, too. I could use a serious pick-me-up.

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[Norma should have known her return would gather people to her. She's not upset by any means - they're just worried about her and want to see her - but she's really...still a little shell-shocked. She's never been great about dealing with personal stuff with anyone but herself, and this kind of thing is something she'd rather try to forget entirely.

Brush it under the rug, so to speak. So she makes up an excuse. It's not the greatest, but it's an excuse--]

No one but me, Mimi, there's only one Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire~! And I'm gonna see some sunflowers soon.

[As much as Mia wants to see her, to know it's really real...it sounds like Norma already has plans.]

That sounds like fun. I hope you have a good time. [Norma goes well with sunflowers, come to think of it.]

I'm pretty sure I will, yeah. ...Thanks, Mimi.

[For worrying and welcoming her back. And for understanding she needs a little time away from being around people scurrying around her. No need to walk on eggshells here, right? Best to just act normal.]

I'll stop by later, okay?

Edited 2014-06-14 00:25 (UTC)

Only if you feel up to it. [It is Mia who seeks peace of mind from seeing Norma in person, after all.]

Well, I'll always let you know! If you want a sunflower or two or something.

[Or some sunflower seeds. Those can make some tasty snacks, she's found out. But on the topic of really going out and meeting people? Norma's still not...really sure how much she wants to go out and meet people right now. She's still kind of feeling a little withdrawn, after all.]

Oh, no, please, don't pick any flowers on my behalf. Leave them to grow.

[Mia's never tried sunflower seeds.]

Don't...hide for too long, all right? I want to make sure you're real. [She tries to make it sound teasing, friendly, but she should have stayed neutral-pleasant, because her worry starts to seep through again.]

[There's a moment's hesitation on the end of the journal feed as Norma's ace falls (she is so glad the video feature isn't active right now), but then she just grins and snorts out a short but passable laugh. Hopefully Mia won't catch on to how hollow it sounded - Norma's good at faking, after all. It's a practiced art.]

As real as they come! But I can stop by if it doesn't get too late, no problem! Anywhere in particular you wanna meet up? I can let you know if we're still on or not, but let's shoot for a place and time now, y'know?

[Mia's been avoiding Norma's house, and hers is a little too busy...]

I would rather meet somewhere that's comfortable for you. Where would that be?

[Some place that comfortable for her? Well, there aren't too many places like that in Luceti... She enjoys the Memory Garden, but after having woken up there after she died, Norma's not too keen to go there for some time. The library is far too public, and the beach is too far. No, it has to be somewhere she doesn't usually go.]

What about that big ol' tree? Y'know, the pink one? [The cherry blossoms probably weren't in bloom now, it was well past their season, but Norm remembers the pink trees vaguely.]

I know the one you mean, yes. [It isn't pink now, it's a happy springy green.] If I hear from you later, then that's where we'll meet.

Right! See you around.

[~~LET'S DO THE TIME WARP~~ Later that evening, when the sun is hanging low on the horizon, Norma finally opens up her journal again and contacts Mia. After explaining she's on her way to the cherry tree hill, she heads there in earnest, putting a little speed behind her steps. The hill is far from where she was previously, so it'd probably take her longer to get there than it would Mia.

Naturally, Norma is a little out of breath when she does arrive, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. It's definitely starting to warm up in Luceti, too...]

[Not only does Norma have a farther walk; Mia's been at the cherry tree for a while, on the chance. She's relieved when she gets the message, because she did not wait for nothing and she will get to see her friend.

Seeing Norma arrive a bit sweaty and out of breath, remembering her reluctance to see anybody at all earlier, Mia holds herself back from the embrace she wants to give her.]

It's so good to see you. [She is almost whispering.]

[Exhaling sharply, and wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, Norma all but collapses on the soft grass in the shade of the largest cherry blossom tree. Even with the dimming light and the temperature dropping, she is still exhausted after the long walk. It probably also may have something to do with Asch offering her a heavy (and highly necessary) drink when he found her weeping at the bar.

But after catching her breath, she beams as best she can and replies in an uncharacteristically quiet tone--]

Good to be seen, I guess.

[One of the things Mia intended to do, when she saw Norma, was apologize for not...being there, not doing something more, somehow, to keep her from dying. She knows it is foolish and for now she holds her tongue about it.]

If you're tired, we won't stay long. [She has to walk home too, after all.]

[Had Mia even begun to apologize, Norma would have cut her off rather abruptly. The fault is her own and no one else's. She won't accept anyone's apology for something they have no control over. It's her who should be apologizing for worrying everyone...and not completely owning up to the truth of her death. She's never been a person to face her fears head on, after all.

But as it stands, she is content to just lay on the cool grass and stare up at the branches above her head. It's nice to see some green... She never really realized how comfortable a place Luceti could be on the good days.]

Nah, I'm not tired. Just gotta catch my breath a sec. [She almost let slip a careless remark of having "slept long enough", but the words die before they reach her lips, thankfully.] Jeez, this place's really nice, though... Never came up here before.

I have been here a few times. It's beautiful in the early spring.

[Mia leans against the treetrunk, not quite willing to flop in the grass even so close to the end of the day. She is so, so hard on herself about apologizing and trying to prove things to people. Too hard. And she's working on it; sitting here in the evening breeze with Norma is calming enough that she can forget about the baggage for a few minutes.]

I rather like the idea that there are still new things to find inside our...enclosure.

[Norma's heard about that - the tree turns pink, doesn't it? She's never really seen it - not that she can easily remember at least - but she's heard stories from people who have that it's really something else. She'd like to go sometime to see it. Wasn't there a festival or holiday or something dedicated to these things? She'd have to read up on it.]

Never a dull moment, that's for sure. [She stretches out, much like large and lazy cat, then sighs. Good lord did her body still ache. She'd need a break for a few more days to just dull the stiffness of her bones or something.] But that's kinda how this place is, y'know? New things pop up all the time. Things and people.

Things and people? Is there a new person here that you know?

[Mia knows each of the people from Norma's world, now, and they are as varied in personality as any group of four is likely to be.]

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☆ Eighteenth Wish ☆ - [Action | Voice]

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