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 Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2014 10:58 pm
Since the Sahara, Noemi had gone back and forth between her room in the basement, to the room that was listed as Stormy and someone else named Nevadas. She would come sometimes with a plate of homemade food, wondering if that was the right way to go about enticing Stormy to talking to her.
But she couldn't remember if Lina...Stormy liked the family cooking of her mom's because it had been so long. And then she felt bad that she couldn't even remember Stormy's favorite food.
She wanted to ask her so many things, to talk to the cousin she had been close to as a child and later drifted due to family being too far for travel. Even more so, Noemi had thought of her cousin dead. There had been a funeral and everything.
How long had Stormy seen the shadows? How long had Stormy been fighting like Noemi had been?
She just wanted to understand. So this time, when she came with a dish of thick enchilada's in a green sauce, she didn't hesitate to knock on the door of the room, hoping the other girl was in.
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:13 am
Upon the approach, the smell of soap and detergent could be detected. It became almost overwhelming when the door opened a few moments later.
Stormy had an old t-shirt (actually one she had stolen from Gale a long time ago), jean shorts, and a beanie over her head. She appeared wary and tired, moreso for a moment when she realized who was visiting. A small, "Oh," left her involuntarily.
For a moment she didn't know what to say. Her gaze flickered to the plate Noemi was carrying, and she put two and two together: a peace offering. Guilt struck her at the same time a mix of nausea and hunger twisted her stomach.
"Hi," Stormy greeted rather lamely, still somewhat at a loss. "Did you . . . need something?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 11:21 pm
Noemi was actually surprised that the door even opened at all. She stared blankly at a moment at Stormy.
"Ah Laundry." She made a small sound, "Am I bothering you during Laundry? I can..I can come back!" She gnawed her lip.
"A...Actually that is lie. I am sorry, I...I would like to talk Lin-....Sorry, I mean Stormy." She held the plate out, "I...I made you some food. I hope you don't mind. I...I couldn't remember what you liked so I just made some..."
She rambled just a bit more before focusing. "Oh...Oh. Well. Just...to talk. I would like to talk to you."
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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:09 am
Laundry . . . Oh. Wait. She did have some loads going downstairs which ought to be ready soon, now that she thought about it. Stormy shook her head slightly, taking a moment to remember how skittish Noemi was normally and how much that might have been exacerbated by the Deus environment. Her initial awkwardness began to soften some.
{ You didn't have to make me anything, } she said, switching to Spanish since she imagined that too might make things smoother. { But thank you. } It had been a while since she had spoken to any native speaker--Jake didn't count thanks to his poor grasp of the language--and so Stormy's speech was a little slower. She took the plate from Noemi's hands and pushed the door open further to allow her inside.
The wall opposite her was coated in a film of soap and water, which at least explained the smell. Stormy had smears of black permanent marker on her hands and arms. On Nevada's old bed were all of the photos and sticky notes she had left for herself on said wall, waiting to be put back in place after she cleaned up.
She didn't ask Noemi what she wanted to talk about. Instead, she picked up the sponge again and began to scrub away. "You've been okay?" Stormy asked in English as she worked, finding it easier to ease into this if she was busy.
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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:30 am
Noemi shook her head.
Noemi smiled shyly at Stormy, answering back in spanish while seeing the gaze softening was a huge relief to her. Though any sign of non-confortational actions would be a relief to her regardless.
The smell of cleaning had thrown Noemi off, and though she assumed it had been fresh laundry, her gaze lingered on the wall where Stormy was cleaning. As she entered, she set the plate down on the next available safe spot before moving closer to the older girl.
"I've been okay." She switched back to english, crouching down and wrapping her arms around her legs. "I live in basement but it is not bad. There is good people, even if it is dark and scary sometimes." She nervously played with her fingers, "Do...Would you like help?" She asked just in case, she didn't want to watch Stormy do stuff by herself and not at least offer. That was...that was rude.
"I...I came to ask....about here." Noemi looked down, "Ho...How long have you been here?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:19 pm
Ah, that's right . . . It had been so long she had forgotten. Add it to the list with the rest, Stormy thought wryly. "Thank you, but it's okay; this is my responsibility," she replied as she got the towel and started wiping her wall down. Leslie's handiwork was almost completely wiped now, though she wondered if she'd still have to apply a new coat of paint just in case before she officially moved. She'd worry later.
"It's weird, knowing there's a basement . . . I went down there once, for a party." One she had gotten shamelessly tipsy at. But Stormy didn't answer her question immediately, instead running the towel over the wall several more times than was necessary, because she had to process that they were going to talk, it was happening--and there was no evading Noemi this time, because she wasn't a construct of ALICE's weird dreams but a person physically in their her room.
Evenntually she turned to face her cousin and answered, "A year and a half now." Stormy didn't add to it, instead allowing Noemi to choose how to shape the conversation.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:40 pm
"O...Oh. If you're sure." Noemi accepted that, and if Stormy wanted her help, she would take it. She wondered briefly, as she scanned the room, why she was cleaning the wall. Why there was two beds. Why one side looked more pristine then the other, as if not touched in awhile. She didn't ask though, because pushing her cousin seemed wrong and terrible. She wasn't strong enough to do that anyways.
"O..oh?" She repeated, "Miss America party then? She seems like the type to throw one?" She tilted her head a bit, "It's...I heard it was much worse then it is now. And there is a lot of hunters so they had to open basement rooms." She was rambling of course, because it made talking a little bit easier when Stormy seemed quieter.
She looked at Stormy, who was older, wiser, the cousin she remembered as a child but did not know as an adult.
"So long." Her hands clutched tightly on her legs, "But the time fits. You had funeral...well not you. We...We had funeral." She tried to rack her brain, "But you are here so...How long have you seen the shadows? Did you see them...when we were children?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:17 pm
Stormy was almost acutely aware of what rambling meant; she had done so herself more than once out of nerves. She tried to remain as casual as possible in her motions, leaning down to squeeze the water from the towel into a bucket. Words like funeral shouldn't be bothering her as much as they were, but Jack had forced her to listen as he told her about it. He had been standing almost where Noemi was now, and she shivered slightly at the memory.
"For as long as I can remember," she said to Noemi with a nod, looking for a place to hang the towel to dry. Her tone was gentler. "I never told anyone because I was a quiet kid, and things were already hard on my family. Now I sort of wish I'd tried, knowing now that you did too." She hung the towel on the little hook hanging from the closet door, smoothing it out for no particular reason before turning to Noemi expectantly, waiting for the next question.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:24 pm
"I...I see. I had heard...I had heard that from other other hunters, that seeing halloween and the fear...those were passed down in families." She laughed nervously, "I didn't see them as long as you I think...I started seeing them when I was eleven..." She looked at the wall, imagining the first time the shadows moved. "I was helping birth colt from mare late at night, and when I helped finished, Papi sent me back to the house....and I felt followed?" She shuddered, "I felt eyes, watching? And I looked behind shoulder. At first didn't see? Then shadows started to move, and take shape. I ran home but it did not stop me from seeing them." She looked down at her feet now. "Papi thought I was too old for nightmares, and Mami thought I was having hard time. Stressed with farm work, and home schooling." She shook her head. "I did tell them, but no one believed." She didn't blame Stormy for that, hadn't thought of it anything like that.
"Are you upset that I am here?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:51 pm
Stormy listened without interruption, her hands clasped before her. It sounded nice, not having to worry about those things as a young kid . . . She was envious of Noemi. But it was better that way: her cousin was a shy creature back then and it didn't seem like she had lost it with age. "No-one is ever too old for nightmares," she said quietly.
Noemi's question was immediately answered with a shake of her head. "I'm glad," Stormy lied with the advent of a small, warmer smile. You were sent to replace her, but you never will. "I can watch over you now. We're in the same division, too, so that helps." She paused, her smile dimming. "I'm sorry about how I was acting before. It was . . . stressful around the time you showed up. I promise I won't do that anymore."
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:59 pm
"That is the truth of it..." She idly played with her shorts, where the hem folded, unfolded. folded. "But they did not see it that way, and I can not hold it against them, even if I wished for help. Woman in white coat, with pretty hair found me. She asked me if I wanted to come here, so I did."
She didn't know Stormy's chain of thoughts, Nor she did not know what was being held against her. She smiled at Stormy, because to her eyes, Stormy was smiling at her. She didn't question her cousin, because she didn't have the reason to question. She didn't know of Nevada, of what Stormy had been through.
"You..." She was happy because she was in a place that understood, even if it was scary. She was happy because the place had someone she knew, family. A bond. A reconnection, if Stormy allowed. "You...You don't have to watch over me...Though I would like you too..." She waved her hands up in front of her, "This place, it is hard not to be stressed, scared...You have been here much longer then I, and I am sure it is not easy as well to have me show up."
She couldn't help the casual look over the extra bed, then back at Stormy. "You were on mission. I do not blame you, I cannot." She wanted to reassure, but she also wanted to know. Could she help Stormy? (or would she be hurting her by trying to help her...)
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:09 pm
Stormy still felt guilty about it, and it showed as she rubbed at the peach fuzz covering her head. (It was so hard to remember she couldn't pull locks behind her ear anymore, which was what the motion had been about.) "It's hard, yeah," she agreed, approaching her cousin. "But you'll get used to it. I did, and I wasn't . . . exactly soldier material either," she added with a little chuckle.
You have to get used to it. You can't die, too.
She stopped when she was within a more conversational distance of Noemi, wondering if it would be appropriate to hug her yet or not. Then she decided to simply smile more. "I'll be watching over all the Mists anyway, so don't worry. Speaking of, how've you been doing since you got here?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:24 pm
Luckily, Noemi didn't look for guilty or guilt. It was a naivety but...It was also believing in the best of people, especially when most of the people she knew were short meetings and she didn't quite have the social experience for...looking for these things.
Maybe she would if she continued the path of the mist.
"I don't think anyone is here." She mumbled, "But I promised Milo, and I will promise you to get more braver...if I can. I will try."
She looked up at Stormy, "It is not bad? I did life course with other trainee and...a couple of spars. I do not spend a lot of time doing paperwork? Just small jobs. Oh and the missions. Sahara and..." She went back to idly picking at her overalls. "The recent mission. With the ancients."
She closed her eyes. "Is this normal?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 1:09 am
Is this normal? Her lips quirked into a sympathetic smile, because a year and a half ago she had asked the same types of questions. "Yup. But they're not always that bad," Stormy assured her. "Sometimes things like random side effects from the labs happen, or we get surprise snow for Christmas." She hesitated, then reached out and touched Noemi's shoulder. "You'll be alright. Always try, okay? No matter what happens, promise me you'll always try."
She mentioned a name, and Stormy's gaze drifted as she tried to remember who that was again. It was familiar, but she had skimmed multiple files on people before. "Milo's a friend?" she prompted gently, sliding her hand off.
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:36 am
"I see, That is what I hear from others too. It just seems..." She chuckled a little nervously, "Not bad is all I've seen since I came here." She appreciated the assurance from Stormy, if her cousin thought that there was better, then Noemi would hope that there was. She didn't want to think coming to the Island was a waste, nor was the Island wasted on her.
"S..Snow!?!?" She squeaked, looking over at Stormy, "How can warm island, get snow?" Was that the side effects of the lab!??! That was crazy!
"Milo is friend, si. Sun hunter!" She raised her hand up, if only to take Stormy's hand in hers to squeeze before it faded, "Also Neighbor, with Shu, down in basement. She is death hunter. And Miss Cee. Miss cee is um..Very big but small? She demands room attention, but is also very nice."
She looked over at Stormy, "Stormy, Do....When you were Ancient, did you..what..." She fumbled from the words, She switched to spanish,
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