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 Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:15 am
Ennéa stood by the lightswitch and took a deep breath. She always hated this moment but it couldn't be helped -- she'd have an even harder time falling asleep with the lights on.
Baraz sighed in mild exasperation. Just do it.
Ennéa nodded miserably and flicked the light off. In the darkness, she scurried into her bed and cocooned herself with the scratchy standard issue blanket. She had her eyes tightly scrunched but as with every night, she eventually couldn't help but open them again and stare into the darkness of her dorm room.
She wasn't scared of the dark -- she wasn't. The dark back at home never bothered her. Sleeping home alone at night after Tobias went off to college and mom switched to the graveyard shift had never bothered her either. Her old bed was warm and her room was a comfortable familiar clutter. The old apartment's water pipes used to rattle just so and sometimes you could hear the faint sound of Mr. Samelson snoring next door through the thin walls.
The dorms at Deus were never truly quiet; there was always someone leaving or coming back from a mission or whatever urgent task they had to attend to. And even during rare moments of relative quiet, there was always the dull roar of the ocean in the distance.
But it wasn't the same; it wasn't home, and at night, alone in her tiny dorm room, Ennéa was most keenly aware of that.
There were horrors out there, far worse than even Ennéa could have imagined. Her encounter with the goat-woman that fateful night was merely a scratch on the surface. Unbidden, the memory of the horrible zombie girl ripping its rotting face to reveal the pale bone underneath crept into Ennéa's mind and she shuddered.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had run away from home to prove that she wasn't lying. Shadows were real, damnit! And at the time she had still been hurting and angry from her broken trust. She'd show them all and fight those dumb shadows on top of that. She'd be a hero. A protector of humanity.
And now she was here, alone in a room that was hers and yet not hers; expected to fight and risk her life against zombies and giant abominations and everything in between.
Sure, she had a cool axe and most of the time during the day she could fiercely ignore her doubts and guilt with distractions, but at night, they all came creeping back.
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"It was real! It was!" Ennéa stomped her foot. Fresh tears were stinging her eyes. Why didn't he believe her? He always did before. "Don't you believe me??"
Tobias didn't answer her.
"You believe me, right?" she demanded again, a new type of fear suddenly clenching her heart.
"I'm going to call Mom, okay, Ennéa?" Tobias finally said. "Hopefully she can get off work early. Try to calm down in the meanwhile, okay?"
"Tobias!"
"No, Ennéa. Just....no." And with that he hung up.
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Ennéa jolted awake. Her eyes stung with tears and her throat felt achy and tight. She had left without even saying goodbye.
Suddenly, she could bear being alone in her room any longer. Ennéa leapt to her feet and was out the door before she had really thought about it.
Ennéa? Baraz's voice sounded sleep muddled. There was a rustling sound of wings. What's wrong? He asked, slightly more alert. Something happen??
Ennéa didn't respond as she hurried along the hallway and stopped in front of door 113. She raised her hand to knock but then hesitated, suddenly feeling childish and stupid.
Hey, isn't that...?
"Yeah." Ennéa said. She wiped her eyes and softly knocked on Jordan's door.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:29 am
Jordan propped himself up on one elbow, blinking muzzily at the door. Had someone just knocked? Something had woken him up. Should probably check. He prodded mentally at Ferros, and got only a drowsy grumble in reply. Well, he'd let his weapon stay asleep for now. One of them could, anyway. He shoved the covers off and shuffled over to the door, yawning. It was entirely possible that he'd dreamed the knock. Or imagined it.
But when he opened the door, he found Ennéa there, looking tired and small and lost and very young. He blinked at her. "Ennéa! What's wrong? Are you okay?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 1:27 am
Ennéa immediately regretted knocking. For a second, she wanted to bolt back down the hallway and hide but it was too late and Jordan had already opened the door. "Jordan. Hi. Um." She stammered, somehow feeling even more childish and stupid than before, "S-sorry to bother you..." Ennéa trailed off miserably, unsure of what she even wanted. No way was she going to admit that she had a bad dream like a little kid.
"I...couldn't sleep and I thought I saw your light on." She lied badly. Ennéa nervously twisted the hem of her pajama top, "And I --" She hiccuped and her throat tightened as the tears suddenly threatened again. "c-can I come in?" She asked.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 1:35 am
"Yeah, of course, come in." Jordan padded back across the room to turn on the lamp on the nightstand, then sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside him. He was pretty sure she was lying, but he was also pretty sure he knew why, and he didn't blame her. "I kept waking up myself, it'll be nice to have some company." Also a fib, but it might help put Ennéa more at ease.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:51 pm
Ennéa gratefully came into the room and sat down on the bed beside Jordan. "Thanks." She murmured. She looked around the room with dull interest; she'd ever actually been inside before.
Pinkie, Baraz spoke up. I know you're a bit wok-eyed and I know you're not feeling your best right now, but what the jack are you doing? Even you can't be this naive.
Ennéa blinked and turned her attention inward. "Huh?"
Going into our fearless leader's room in the middle of the night like this. You're not looking to... are you?
"What?! No!" Ennéa squawked and blushed a bright red. "Get your mind out of the gutter, you dumb eyeball!"
She then winced, remembering that Jordan was sitting right next to her. "S-sorry, Baraz was being rude." She explained, still blushing.
Jordan's presence was warm and comforting by her side but Ennéa scooted subtly away, trying not to lean against him or even touch. She was feeling stupid and awkward before and now it was even worse. Stupid, pervy, eyeball.
You were the one who was giving him frightened syrupy kitten eyes. Baraz paused to a moment, as if thinking, Though I hate to say it, but I think he's out of your league, Pinkie. Why not try for that blonde shrimp with the rifle?
"Shut-UP." Ennéa hissed at him.
Fine. Fine. Baraz sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Ugh. Just remember to use a safety charm, whatever you do.
Ennéa sighed in irritation. Oddly though, Baraz's needling and her subsequent outrage had settled her emotions somewhat; it no longer felt like everything was teetering on a knife edge, anyway.
Good.
"You're still a jerk." She informed him.
Yeah, well. Baraz's wings rustled as he preened in smug satisfaction.
Ennéa guiltily looked at Joran. She knew he probably understood, having a weapon himself, but she still needed to work on not spacing out. "Sorry." She said again.
And then she couldn't think of anything else to say. The silence stretched on and Ennéa fidgeted. Finally, she pulled her knees to her chest. "I just... didn't want to be alone." She admitted in a small voice.
Ennéa quickly turned and waved her hands. "N-not in the way Baraz thinks though!" She blushed again. "Erm, I mean, god this is awkward." She giggled nervously though it was a high strangled sound without much humor.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:28 pm
Jordan rested his elbows on his knees and looked to Ennéa, fumbling for a topic of conversation; however, before he came up with anything, Ennéa's expression went a little vague, and she said, "Huh?"
It wasn't hard to figure out that Baraz had said something; out in the normal world, someone apparently talking to thin air generally meant a phone earpiece, or sometimes a particular type of crazy, but here one could safely assume that a one-sided conversation was addressed to the person's weapon. He waited for her to refocus, but couldn't help jumping when she squawked. "I figured," he answered her explanation, raising his eyebrows at her sudden blush. What exactly was the axe saying?
The feeling of a yawn inside his mind alerted him that Ferros had woken up. The dragon peered at Ennéa, then said drowsily, She'd be too young for you anyway, even if you were interested.
Wait, what?
Cute, as humans go, but too young. Ferros yawned again and resettled himself.
I wasn't even thinking that. Was that what Baraz had said to Ennéa to make her blush and squeak like that?
I know. Ferros's tone was smugly amused, faintly secretive.
Go back to sleep, Jordan grumbled. "I know," he answered Ennéa's hasty disclaimer. "I wasn't thinking it either. To be honest, you kind of remind me of my little brother sometimes." He stretched out one arm to give her a cautious hug around the shoulders, though he was careful to keep the contact light, in case she still wasn't feeling comfortable with it.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:39 pm
Jordan's arm around her shoulders was all it took. Ennéa sniffled and uncurled, giving into temptation and snuggling into Jordan's side. It was funny, she hadn't realized she was feeling cold until he hugged her. She wiped at her eyes again.
"You remind me a lot of my big brother." She said quietly. "Always have."
She fidgeted with the edge of the blanket, twisting it between her fingers and then smoothing it down again. "You look nothing like him." She informed Jordan, still focused on the blanket. "But... the way you always try to take care of everyone, even when it's difficult and scary. And your expressions. You're so serious and yet when you smile at me..."
Ennéa tightly scrunched her fingers into the blanket and was silent for several long moments as she valiantly fought against her tears. "I miss him." She choked out.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:09 pm
"It's okay," Jordan said quietly, swallowing back a lump in his throat. "You can cry if you want to. I promise I won't tell anyone." He cuddled her against his side. "I always used to tell Andy, if the nightmares got too bad or the thing under the bed was being awful, he could just come down the hall, and we'd put the light on, and everything would be fine."
He closed his eyes and leaned a little against Ennéa, the memories ambushing him powerfully now; Andy, small and afraid and trusting his big brother to keep him safe. As they'd gotten older, those midnight visits had mostly stopped. Jordan had never really admitted it to himself, but he'd kind of missed it. The only other person in the world who understood, leaning on him and staying with him and silently giving both of them an excuse to turn the light on to chase away the things in the dark.
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