Nimue sat back on her bed and sighed. Eyes glancing towards the phone, she wished that it would ring and be that girl who’d said they were family. Nimue wanted a family. As much as she wanted her own nice little apartment. Not that she minded being put up in a guest room, but… it felt lonely.

“C’mon, cuz,” she muttered at the phone as she finally forced herself from the warm blanket cocoon. “I wanna talk more. Or y’know, actually meeting you would be nice.”

She sighed. Not that it was her cousin’s fault they couldn’t meet up yet. Whisler had explained that much. Once this cousin of hers purified or went clear or whatever, it would be safe to meet. So what was the hold up? Maybe it was like escaping from a cult, she thought. Those escapes sometimes took weeks or even months to plot out. Maybe Xenu was real and her cousin was on the run from him. The mental image that thought produced caused Nimue to gurgle out a chuckle as she rolled from the bed and straightened the sheets. Yawning hugely, she finished with the bed and went to shower.

As the warm water poured down, she sighed again, this time blissfully. Somehow, since she’d woken up with Whisler standing so worriedly over her, ever silly little pleasure had seemed hugely magnified. It was like some enormous burden had been lifted, though she had no memories of what that burden might be. It was part of parcel with the awful scar on her wrist though. She knew that one instinctively. She’d had bruising around her breast bone as well, though thankfully, that seemed to be fading. And in spite of various checks, she hadn’t found any other physical clues to what had happened to her before she woke up.

Snorting a little in annoyance, she shut the water off and grabbed a towel and thick robe. She wanted to go outside today. In spite of the cold, she craved the thin sunlight and brisk, clean air. As she dried and dressed, she felt that sometimes, the sun was almost better than food.

Though she wouldn’t mind a scone from that little cafe she’d found the other day…

Feeling cheered by the thought, Nimue hurried to toss on jeans, a sweater and some well worn Chucks. A simple pom-pom hat completed her ensemble and she was out the door after leaving a careful note to explain her absence. And really, it wasn’t as if she was going to be gone for long! Just long enough for a brisk walk to and from the cafe. With maybe a small stopover at the dog park.

Okay, a long stopover.

Either way, she’d be back well before dark. Not even she felt up to being outside in the dark. No matter how pretty the moon and stars were. Having that thought set firmly in her mind, Nimue felt her usual cheer returning as the scents wafting from the cafe hit her nose.

Two scones. And a pumpkin hot chocolate.