I can't explain it. (Zodiac)

[Cristiana]

The woman shot up in the bed, looking around like the world had stopped spinning. In all her confusion of where she was, when she was and at that brief moment, who she was. “****!” She grumbled as she realized she had fallen into a deep sleep that was caused by the depression. She didn’t know how many days had passed this time when she woke up but she knew one this for certain - Zo was not going to be a happy camper with her.

First things first, she went on and ordered flowers to be delivered to all the houses and work for Zodiac. A lovely purple bouquet of flowers in a little box that mimicked Pandora’s lock box. A bunch of Purple and Silver (or gray as they looked to her) roses were sent out to all the locations where Zodiac might be at the moment, to be delivered immediately. That was not nearly going to make up for falling asleep yet again without any word of warnings, but depression was like that. It was crippling at times, and the only means to get over it was to either sleep or visit the SR. It was a ping inside her chest, the overwhelming feeling of worthlessness and being unwanted. If she were human, she’d have cried hysterically unless there was no breath to be sucked in or let out and she was gasping for air. She would have tried means to make herself feel better, cutting little lines in her skin to help feel something, or strangling herself…. Something. It was terrifying to think what could have happened, or what might happen. Even though she could be awake in the daylight, it didn’t come without hazards. She might have risked those hazards for sweet relief from the pain in her mind.

She shook it off now that the spell had passed. It was a daring thought to wonder for how long it would last though. But she didn’t. Instead she rose from the bed, an impossible task for weeks now. She took her phone and padded off into the bathroom. The smells of smells were something. She thought, personally, still in her semi depressed state of mind, that she stuck worse than ‘Sex Panther’ from Anchorman. Instead of a shower maybe someone ought to turn a hose on her. But she managed to get by with the shower, and realistically she didn’t even smell bad but it was her own mind playing tricks on her. After the shower she sat at the vanity wrapped in towels. There was no tears, never was anymore. But there was no smile either.

It was a blank stare. She didn’t exactly see herself or anything. A storm of thoughts yet no thoughts kept her mind from seeing what was right before her. If anyone were to ask, “What are you thinking about?” The only answer was: nothing. Not one single fleeting thought was coherent enough to remember, to catch. So she sat without turning on the camera, with a towel on her head and body staring into space. For how long she didn’t even know.

Slowly she came to her senses and started to get ready. What should have taken 10 or so minutes, was taking hours with the breaks of blankness in between. Finally, she looked presentable enough. She grabbed a purse, and headed out into the hot night. She needed to find Zodiac and make sure she was okay, and see if Zodiac was terribly mad at her. Somehow this too she would make up to the woman she loved.

It wasn’t a business meeting, or someone else that kept her away. It was the blinding depression that overwhelmed her. In this instance she could not even bother to go to the club and work. That alone should tell people she was not feeling herself. But she searched for Zo, and the way she was so closed off from everything shielding, herself, she could not feel where Zodiac was. So ….. She started in the most likely places to find Zo - Pandora’s Box. In the state she was at the moment, she didn’t think to send a simple text message, but Cristiana was not thinking clearly at all.

Instead she went inside, eyes sweeping the first room. She went to a table and ordered a tea. Maybe she was here and in the back. Cris would drink some tea and give it a few minutes. But as she sat there, the blank stare came back. She zoned out and stared into space again. Damn this consuming depression that weighed down on her like a ton of bricks. …. This depression only meant one thing - Anxiety was next. Fun.

[Zodiac]

continued from ‘Night Runs’ in the Events Roleplay section.
http://www.mooncalfstudios.com/pathofth ... 22&t=31975

After her ‘escort’ got her home, Zodiac entered the back of the farm house into the mud room. She didn’t need light to tell her she was soaked in blood. She disrobed mechanically, saving only her phone from her coat, and headed for the bath. As the shower warmed, she checked her messages. A scowl crossed her face when she saw no reply from Mordie. Either he was hip deep in his own dealings, taking a well deserved nap, or…

”He is busy,” she decided as she refused to consider things further. The only other messages she found were from her shops. Each telling the same story. Purple and silver roses were waiting for her.

The phone was discarded as she stepped into the hot spray of water. She had too much in her mind now to worry about gifts from an admirer. She was tired, sore, an inches from a rage. What she had encountered this night left zero doubt in her mind that people could not look past the obvious. Far easier to embrace stereotypes than try to learn truth. She took no pleasure in ending the lives she did. It was all so stupid and senseless and neither side could bring itself to grow up a bit and look harder.

”Let it go, let it go,” she told herself as the water embraced her. As she basked in the heat, she let her mind drift out and dance along the internet. As her thoughts flowed along one of the more read forums of her kind, her eyes snapped open in total anger.

Someone, somewhere in this town who was obviously vampire had decided it was a good thing to suck the (so called) Administrator’s **** right up to his nut sac. What the hell were they thinking? Someone no one had a single clue what his real agenda was and accepting him at face value? She had finally decided the ‘Admin’ was male. Only a male could play people so easily like this over a handful of cryptic notions and half truths. His latest message was probably the most clear and direct of all. Possibly a reluctant necessity if her wished his puppets to keep dancing along where he wanted them to go. She had heard about the radio broadcasts from Jennifer, who found them by accident during the day while tuning in background music for Pandora’s day clients. She had recorded one of them and given Zo the cassette to listen to. Something she would have done if not for the damn trucks bothering her.

”I swear, this circus just keeps getting better and better,” She scrubbed her hair furiously now. All she had managed to accomplish was locate one of the supply points and if any of the people who were guarding it had any brains among their lot– they were already moving the goods elsewhere. ****! She stood there till the last of the soap was rinsed from her.

******

Hair wrapped in a towel, she sat at her make up table and worked as the tape played. The voice droning on about the horrors and evil of the night’s children and other typical factoids twisted to fit the narrative. She had heard some of this logic before. Just substitute the word gypsy for vampire and it all sounded very familiar. She wondered if there was a vampire station out there as well spewing the other side’s stupidity in equal measures. Humans are animals and should be kept in farms, forced breeding, beasts of burden and sustenance to serve Homo Superior or whatever a vampire was supposed to be now.

Perhaps there should be such a thing. ”Station WVAMP. We own the night, and now a little diddy from..” she almost laughed. Dimly, a impossible plot formed as she lined her eyes. Let all the self important on both sides have it out while the more logical and calm of both groups hid out elsewhere. Once it was over, they could return and deal with the few survivors and start over again on equal terms. Would it work? Probably not, but perhaps it would make people think for once.

No, she decided as she put the finishing touches on her face, nothing would ever make any of them think. Both sides were not ready for that yet. The urges for war, conquest, glory, and what have you burned too hot in them all. Humanity felt threatened and vampires felt they needed to rule all. Only after both sides endured loss might some be ready to think beyond empty victory. She looked blankly into the monitor that served as her mirror and wondered for perhaps the thousandth time why was she even here. Why did she try so hard? Why wasn’t she dead and gone like she should have been. At least then there would be quiet, peace, and the urge to try and help others be a thing of the past.

She needed out. Zodiac got up and dressed. A simple peasant blouse and skirt with sandals. Her hair brushed out and wove into a tail. Go out and just be. Ignore the world and it’s woes for awhile. She had to lest the pressures would cause her to explode. She grabbed her purse, phone and keys and exited via the front door-nearly tripping over a flower arrangement. She looked down and glared at the delivered bundle. Flowers at work was one thing, but this?

She picked up the bouquet dropped it on the end table and locked the door behind her. ”A stalker?” it had happened before, but at work. How did someone know she lived out here?

”Like I don’t have enough things to deal with,”

******

As she pulled into the marketplace, she saw a truck pulling in behind the Teahouse. She followed it around and parked as her normal late night delivery man was climbing out of the cab. She shared a few ‘words’ with him as she put on her smile. Everyone saw Miss Zodiac smiling, even when she was pissed beyond all reason. Almost a trademark (”Perhaps I should get it patented”) There was no reason to lash out against a person just doing their job. ‘Mike’ had been her route man for the last 2 years. Always on time, any delayed items explained up front. If he ever lost his job, she would hire him at once. Despite all of that, she fought the desire to grab him by the shoulders and shake him while asking him. ”Are you part of the war against vampire kind?”

Every one was a suspect now.

As he began to unload, she entered the shop via the back exit. She glanced at her staff. A mixture of both the living and not. Were their rats among their ranks? Who was betraying who? The borrowed adage ‘Don’t ask-don’t tell’ kept her shops running smoothly. Everyone was here for the same reason-to make money. Not to hunt, feed, prey, slay or anything else. She made that clear to every person she hired from square one.

One of the waitstaff approached her telling her of the flowers that had arrived for her. A smile and her thanks as she made her way into her office. Zo pulled the card free and read it.

”Oh my,” She stood there staring at it for a few minutes. She had considered asking Crissy to join her on her little crusade, but their lack of contact over the past few weeks suggested the woman was busy or taking a long nap. If Zo had flowers waiting for her all over town, then it was a nap. She finally took a smell of them and a soft smile, not the soon to be patented one, crossed her lips. The issues that had been raging in her head suddenly were absent, as if they had been locked inside of a closet which was a perfect analogy of how the gypsy’s mind worked. Everything getting shoved down and away. Out of sight out of mind stuff, until the time would come she would open the door to add something else and the bulk of it all would exit like a clown car on fire. She stepped out of her office, flowers in hand, and looked over the late night crowd…

And there she was.

”How long has she been here?” she whispered to one of her ‘night’ staff.

“Close to an hour I think.” The woman replied.

”Bring me my usual and her a fresh cup, please.” Zodiac grabbed an ashtray as she walked out and gestured to the ventilation fan above the table Crissy was sitting at. As she approached, she could see the blank gaze on the woman’s face.

”Oh joy,” She knew that look. Instinct pressed more blockage against the door of things to ignore as she sat across from her. She laid down the bouquet and ashtray, then lit up a smoke as the waitress brought her their drinks. Gently pulling away the cold cup and replacing it with a fresh, hot one. Zodiac watched her for a few moments before leaning down to look her directly in the eyes.

”Did the nap help, love?” her mental voice soft and warm as a spring breeze across Crissy’s thoughts.

[Cristiana]

It was all distant and vague. The world wouldn't materialize fully. The sounds of people moving about were far off. You couldn't quite grasp the situation going on around her. Colors blending into a mesh of grays stripping the life of the world into a solid mass of nothingness, like nothing had true meaning or was worth it.

At some point she sipped a cup of tea, once or twice. It sat alone on the table. When it had been removed, she didn't know. Her thoughts were far off, far away from the moments here. It wasn't in the throws of despair nor was she crying out for attention. It just was how it was.

Zodiac appeared asking about a nap. A nap would be nice, but the fear and nightmares stole those peoples moments. It was Zodiac's heavenly voice that drew her out of this funk. Blinking, she turned her head slowly toward the woman who occupied every good thought. "Okay." Wait was that the right answer? Was there a right answer? What was the question again? Her glazed over look faded a little more, she focused on Zodiac opening the tunnel vision to see all of her. A warm smile flowed through her reaching her lips. "Hey my love! Where have you been? I figured I would find you here." She tried for cheeriful, blissful.

It was like she just appeared out of no where, which was entirely possible. Her hand reached out and took a hold of the other womans, "You look stunning, did I mention that?" And she did. From the smell, she could tell Zodiac had freshly showered.

"I want to hear all about what you have been doing." Which was normal way to start a conversation about. Confusion would ensue eventually, but she really wanted to talk about things with her. Everything was perfectly normal, no one noticed her gone. It wasn't like she didn't fall asleep often. It was just another bat of a lash, another day for her. Sleep? Had it been sleep or the all consuming nightmares that threatened her existance on this world. She could do a variety of things; such as break the glass and slit her wrists or wait for something more private with a gun. She had some damn fine guns. Or... there was always an or. Sleep? There wasn't much goodness in that word. Thinking about this the smile faltered, distance in her eyes shadowed over again.

[Zodiac]

Her hand held onto Crissy’s as she watched her slip in and out of focus. The mystic had seen her like this before, but not so active. Usually these shifts happened slowly, but this was almost rapid fire. What had triggered this was the question, but she doubted the woman would be able to give her a straight answer anytime soon.

Zo crushed out her cigarette and took a sip from her mug as she debated the moment. Softly, her hand squeezed Crissy’s. Reassuring her that she was not a phantom, but real. ”What have I been doing? Well, that’s a long story.“ She kept her tone soft and light as she went on to retell the misadventure she found herself in earlier. Crissy might not be picking up much of her story at this time, but perhaps the tone of her ‘voice’ would soothe her or help draw her back.

”…And then I found this warehouse they were using…”

Her free hand reached out and softly caressed the woman’s cheek as she kept ‘speaking’. As she got deeper into the story, the items in her mental closet began to bang at the door demanding her attentions.

’’…Stupid me, I land on the fence and set off an alarm…”

That was easy to ignore. She could put the problem with Crissy up against it. That helped muffle the noise nicely. Besides, what she read and heard told her this had become someone else’s problem big time. Let those deep throating lackeys of the ‘Admin’ do there thing. Besides, she was getting tired of crying wolf and no one listening until the wolf’s fangs were deep in their collective asses. In front of her was a more pressing issue now.

”…And then this son of a ***** went and shot me…”

Those she cared about always got top priority. Sometimes that could be a problem, but she didn’t care. People were always high on her priority list. It was what she did with the cards. People were harder to replace than items, so they got the lion’s share of the attention.

”…then those idiots had the collective brain power to try and hunt me down…”

She hated seeing Crissy like this. How much effort did it take for her to make it to the teahouse?

”…and then I get back and think I have a creepy stalker sending me flowers all over town…”

No, the potential problems of the town and the vampires were not a priority. The single soul sitting in front of her was all that mattered at the moment.

[Cristiana]

"And then this SOB shot me." Out of the whole thing, the long story she told and Cristiana had listened. It was easy to focus on her 'voice' in her head because it always sounded like a choir of angels singing straight into her brain. For someone without a sound coming from her lips, she had a lovely voice. It was almost as alluring as she was. If anything could draw her out of this, it was Zodiac. But in all that she told of her adventures, adventures Cristiana knew that she was not very ... very what? She had known that Zodiac was more powerful than she was. It was always the way. But her voice, she shared much with her but not everything. She heard the SOB had shot her. A brow rose, and she looked at the woman. Not past her or through her, but at the woman finally.

"And did you kill the son of a ***** and its friends or are we to go hunting again?" She would not give a gender, or even a feeling toward the persons only that they meant to hurt the person she loved. "We need to kill them all then." She said soft but assured. She could not abide by someone hurting mon couer. This woman before her was the only reason she rendered to waking up, getting out of bed and moving again.

"Did you not like the flowers? Would someone else send them?" A momentary spark of jealousy hit. To think of someone else sending her flowers, or any token of love. It was a spark but over quick.

The reigns of sadness washed over her. Thinking of others, the chance of losing her. They had waited for so long, waiting for the right time. Now it was their time, and no matter what she would always waken for this woman before her. Even in this state, even weighed down by the world. That feeling where if the ground opened and swallowed her whole, not even bothering to chew. If it would, would any one miss her? Would anyone but Zodiac care? That killed pieces of her. She was so far removed from the people she cared for except this one.

[Zodiac]

Her eyebrow shot up when Crissy began to speak. This was not the reaction she had hoped for. Break her out of the funk-yes, but not all ready to go on a rampage. She knew the woman could be capable of intense cruelty, but had never seen it up close. The soft tone of her voice betraying the sudden burst of outrage within. Zo took hold of her hand and squeezed it tightly.

”Never fear, everything was dealt with as it should be. I just needed to encourage them into my type of arena where numbers meant nothing.” she assured her. ”The smart one who figured out that I was more than a lost owl paid for his brain power big time.”

Perhaps a good hunt was what Crissy needed to shake off the cobwebs in her head. She could very well lead her to the place, but something told her once they realized they had been compromised they were loading up the goods and vanishing to the four winds. In that much, the (so called) Admin had been right. This was not random, but a organized effort.

”And yes, I adored the flowers. Once I saw who they were from even more so.” Her phone trilled a message had arrived. When she looked, she saw it was from a neighbor of hers in one of the towers-telling her she found flowers outside of Zo’s door and took them into her place. A quick reply thanking her and saying she would be by later to get them. ”I think I shall collect them all and put them in the bedroom.” she grinned. Flowers were a weakness for the gypsy. She loved all growing things and appreciated their scents and colors. The idea of laying back in a room full of flowers and their aromas made the banging on her mental door soften for a moment.

[Cristiana]

The time between space and existence was long, it was tedious to try to sit and think of it all but think of nothing all at once. If there had been any question of what went through a mind in moments like these, there was one answer, and it was nothing. There is contentment in nothingness that eases the soul but also eats it until there is little left but a blank stare. However, she was trying much like Eyeore did with his friends and family.

Her head finally turned when the words, from a distant, came to her and sunk into that thickened skull she called a brain. “That is nice. I am glad they are dead. If there were people who deserved it, it is those who would touch you and hurt you.” She was content in thinking that they were 6 feet under, or at least tossed into a raveen somewhere in this town. As many hidden graves as there was it was soon going to need to be a mass hidden grave. If people didn’t know you could pay the morgue to burn the bodies, in secret, that was their loss. And people always wondered what she did with her victims. But in a pinch, and for an obscene amount, the local shelter did it and looked away. No one questioned anything there. Safety in these places doing the job, if you were able to get them to do it. Once she even threatened to set fire to the body on the doorstep when the mortician said he was packed that and couldn’t take the body she had drained dry. But this guy actually touching Zodiac, well she hope his final moments and thereafter were riddled with pain.

“I am so glad you liked the flowers. I wanted to say that I was sorry for falling asleep. I hope you know I don’t mean to do this. Especially this time. I couldn’t help it! A spell…” No that was not the right word. “But like I promised, I will always wake up for you.” It was then the melancholy hit again. Blankness. She wanted to shake her head and at least pretend to smile, but it just wasn’t feasible. There was no way to fake a smile when it was this bad. Instead she reached over and lit a cigarette. At least she got it into her mouth. Instead of moving it back and forth, she kept the cigarette between her lips and exhaled with the butt still between her lips. Ashes fell into her lap without so much as a care about them because ultimately, that was how she felt.

This time she had awoken with a purpose, a grand purpose. Something for the two ladies to discuss among other things. “Zodiac I was thinking about something.” But that was where she stopped. Her thoughts fled, ran to the farthest reaches of the earth. If she had a thought for a moment ago, it was gone now. “Nevermind.” She said as if it were an afterthought.

[Zodiac]

She blinked softly as Crissy went on about them all being dead. The mystic decided it would not serve any useful purpose to tell her only one had died. The foot soldiers were nothing more than trained monkeys (perhaps well trained) but watching them debate the idea of a snow owl perching on the fence was almost comedy.

No, only the (apparent) ‘leader’ was punished. He saw through her illusions and had whipped the people into a potentially dangerous unit. Besides, he was the only one who had managed to hit her. Once he was out of play, the rest began to falter. She had listened to them on the two way she had taken from the leader as she traveled home. Under a strong and knowing hand they were a threat, but without his guidance they began to fall apart quickly. One it had been announced his body had been found and his radio was missing, the radio went silent. Obviously it was part of their training (something Mordie might do) Switch to a pre arranged channel to keep their prey from listening in. It was laying on the table in her farmhouse with the battery pulled in case of a tracer.

Another life on her karma now. Perhaps that is what the shadow realm actually was. Karma for vampires. Spending time with nothing to do but consider your actions which led you to be there? It was possible, she supposed,

She smiled as Crissy went on about the flowers. Another ping on her phone announced a message that someone else had discovered flowers waiting for her elsewhere. How the hell many bouquets did Crissy send out? Her smile faded as the woman began talking about a spell then faded out. She was fizzing out again. Zodiac hated seeing her like this, but had no idea how to help. Talking only worked for short bursts of time. Nothing seemed able to get long term results. While it was true that when Crissy woke she would come find her, but too often it was like a sprinter in motion. A short burst of speed and frantic activity and then this.

She hated not knowing what would help. The concept reared up in her closet and added to the noise as it banged away demanding to be attended to. She ignored it as her hand lightly brushed the ashes away.

“Zodiac I was thinking about something.”

Both eyebrows shot up. Sometimes those words out of Crissy’s mouth could be the most dangerous thing of all. Well, not all ways but they could come with complications. She waited for the punch line, but it never came.

”Nevermind? What do you mean nevermind?” her thoughts snipped at Crissy’s brain. She sat back in her chair and took another sip from her mug. ”Oh no, ‘gurl’. You don’t get to do that to me.” Perhaps pushing her might help. Something she was normally loathed to do. ”I am seriously beginning to wonder about you, woman.”

[Cristiana]

”Nevermind? What do you mean nevermind?” her thoughts snipped at Crissy’s brain. She sat back in her chair and took another sip from her mug. ”Oh no, ‘gurl’. You don’t get to do that to me.” Perhaps pushing her might help. Something she was normally loathed to do. ”I am seriously beginning to wonder about you, woman.”

“I ….. I…” She looked at the face of the woman she loved and adored, seeing her upset was the last thing Cristiana wanted or needed. With a bow of her head, “I forgot what I was going to say.” Her voice was mild and meek compared to the normal Cristiana. Maybe this was why her husband had run away, the depression that consumed her for periods of time. When she was up, she was flying high, could do battle, focus her attention every day. Then there were these low points, the points where she couldn’t seem to stop herself from drowning. If only she could keep her head above the perverbally waters edge.

The times she had sunk so low she was damn near obsequious. Part of her was eager to please Zodiac, if only she could remember what it was that fled her mind a moment ago, something that was on the tip of her tongue but the thought vanished into thin air, a magic trick of the mind. And then, as if it were a new thought, rather than the old one coming back from the recesses of her thought process. “Zodiac would you want to, like to that is, get a house together? Something we can both decorate and it would be ours, new memories, new slate. Fresh and clean!” What a wonderful thought. Staying in the same places reminded her of the past, of past gone people. Maybe what she really needed was a new piece of real estate to mold and format. That had to be the solution of it all. It would set both of them onto a clear and clean path heading in the right direction and hopefully bring the two women closer together. If anyone actually knew the two were more than yearnings from across a room but together. She wanted Zodiac from the moment they met but past interferences came into play. Now… now was their time. She was was trying.

“OUCH!” She exclaimed. The cigarette, forgotten in her fingers, had burned down to the butt of the cigarette and her fingers with it. She stubbed it out into the ashtray and immediately lit another one in place of the dearly forgotten one. Right now was not the time for this utter blatherskite of thoughts, she needed to wake up and focus on the here and now. Her eyes went to Zodiac, and with all the strength she had, emotionally not physically, she focused on the woman. She really did want this, and her. It was just so difficult at times to not get absorbed into the ever after of swelling emotions and feelings that plunged you into the depths of the waking walking unliving unbreathing Shadow Realm every moment was the constant reminder, this hell of an existance and the one rock to wanting life, wanting to strive for something greater was the woman in front of her. She didn’t need to be dead to be surrounded by it, it was all around them.She smoked; lifting, inhaling and exhaling. It was a simple start, one she was proud of. She didn’t have to focus on Zodiacs lips because they didn’t bother moving most of the time, sometimes if there was a reason to , for say kissing, but she didn’t for talking. Or maybe that was just around her.

“What do you say? Would you like to buy a whole new house, and call it ours?” The thought that ran away found a new home from her mind to her lips.

[Zodiac]

It had a reaction, but it pained her to see that expression on the woman’s face. This was where her years of learning to read people, second guess them, and study auras all fell apart. She simply did not have a clue what exactly was Crissy’s problem was – at least from a professional viewpoint. Depression was too broad of a term and could mean multiple things. There were potions she could brew or mental exercises she could teach her, but those things might not even hit the core of the problem. She was not a psychologist, despite the fact that some of her skills could rival theirs easily. She took hold of Crissy’s hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Property? A home? A new place? Normally Zodiac’s first reaction when it came to real estate was simply economical. Land was something the local cosmos was not making any more of, so each slice she could get control of was a potential benefit to her back pocket, but that was not what the woman was asking.

An untainted place. Something that did not echo with the vibes of past experiences. There were a couple of places she herself owned she rarely ventured into because memories hung within them– both good and bad. With the vibes and the memories came emotions she thought she had under control and filed away would spring back to life. Sometimes with a vengeance. Tainted was a foul sounding word for this, she imagined, but it fit a few of her abandoned hideaways. Others she might call blessed. Silent witnesses to events and moments she would always carry within her heart.

Either way, such things could be poison to her line of work when a clear head and a sound spirit was required. Those things could nibble at reason and focus and corrupt impartially. In order to serve her clients best, she needed balance. Something that had been lacking in recent times.

Balance. Was there such a thing with someone like Crissy? She would never comment on that, especially when her own form of balance consisted of stuffing issues in a mental closet and never getting back to them. She knew one day it would explode and the deluge would be like a tsunami.

Would Crissy survive that?

“Somewhere outside the norms of this place?’ she whispered to Crissy’s thoughts as the woman acted like she was determined to smoke an entire cigarette in less than a minute. ”Something away from prying eyes and attitudes? Just peace and quiet where we could both heal?”

She had no illusions of a 24/7 arrangement. Both of them were back and forth with their own lives. Work and other things always pulling them in different directions, so she could see the majority of time that one, or neither of them, would be there but, there would be moments where they could share their company, laughter, insights, tears, and the rest.

” I would like that.”