Welcome to Gaia! ::

She sat alone in her room, the radio was playing, she knew the song, the lyrics… she sang along though she knew that once she woke up it would be gone, a figment of her dream and nothing more…
Tiny stitches repeated over and over as she added lace to the hem of a dress that she was refitting. Caine sat on her bed behind her, an innocent seeming black cat, his tarnished star seemed brighter in her dream but his voice…
His voice held distain as she sewed.

“What –are- you doing.” He said disapproving as the needle bobbed up and down through the soft fabric.

“I’m sewing.” She answered, quiet confused as to why this would be distressing to him, or worthy of disapproval.
“I promise it’s not for you… I don’t think you’d –wear- lace”

“Your stitches… are enormous.” He scolded.

“Are they?” She asked anxious, and It seemed they were, but try as she might she could make them no smaller.

“Take them off…” Caine yawned and rolled over on the bed, exposing fluffy black belly, though 4 pointy feet dared anyone to touch it.

How much sense it made when he said it, why had she never thought of it before.

She started tugging at the ends of her fingers, trying to remove the skin and muscle there to make her fingers more delicate, but they kept snapping back like a rubber suit.

“Let me help you…”

Her sister’s voice was so cheerful and kind as she sat down next to Ume with a steak knife in one hand.

“This… will only hurt a –little- bit…” she said and took Ume’s arm in her own.
Dark and light… blond hair and black, Ume was the one who stood apart and in her dream, just then it hurt more than normal. She knew what she denied in waking… that her sister did not want her… and she wondered if her parents did, if they regretted the adoption.

“Of course they regret it” Alairi said carefully measuring where to cut into the skin and started sawing away, blood dripped thickly down in a stream onto the poor white carpet, it smelled like old pennies and something more. She watched it with fascination and listened.

“Do you –really- think they want someone who dosen’t look a –thing- like the rest of us? Red eyes, black hair… when Mom and I are blond? Dad is only a light brown… and then theirs you.” She said, almost sympathetic as she took Ume’s other arm and started cutting.

“I’m… sorry…” Ume said hesitantly, she wished Caine would say something, but she knew he couldn’t talk in front of Alairi, it wasn’t safe for him to do so. But saying sorry seemed to be what was wanted here, she even felt guilty not to be what was wanted.

“It’s ok… “ Alairi said and nodded satisfied when she was done. “You’re almost done anyhow…” she waved her hand towards what Ume had been sewing.
“You’ll look really pretty in that when they burry you… and maybe people will even be sad.” She twirled bloodied fingers in her rainbow-streaked hair as Ume gazed at the dress nodding in agreement.

“Well… no, probably not sad.” Alairi said thoughtful as she sat down on the bed and quietly proceeded to smother Caine under pillows. “I mean… even your own parents didn’t want you.”

Ume glanced down at her hands again, running red with blood and carefully pulled again at her fingers, the meat and skin slid free this time quite neatly, and while she had to dab clean her finger bones so she would not stain the lace, she thought her stitches were much smaller, and that was all that really mattered.