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Aurelius had somehow scampered out alone, wearing a long-sleeved blue T-shirt and jeans. A comically oversized belt wrapped tightly around her middle; it was brown, and didn't necessarily match. She was wearing a pale yellow scarf with matching gloves and hat; it was sort of comical. Her feet were bare, but from the ankles up she was quite dressed, except for the coat.

"Can't take it anymore," she shivered, climbing up on the desk. It was so weird-feeling around Riku's house anymore; she didn't even want to go to her room to claim some clothes. She just had to get out, right THEN and not later.

But now she was lonely. She halfway wished that someone- even Mereneth, the meanie-head- would show up. Her feet were turning a rather fetching shade of blue.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "What?" she snapped. Or, she tried to snap; her teeth were chattering too hard. Okay, so maybe Aure had been exaggerating when she had said even Mereneth. She would much rather it was Ean or Tagi or something. Or even someone she didn't know. "I'm busy being- being," she couldn't think of an adjective or mood to describe how she felt. "I don't know, but I'm busy, okay?" She curled up into a tight ball to try and keep herself warmer.

Really, she should've taken the time to at least get her boots.

Well, Mereneth was more right than he knew. She was going to huff at him again, probably get up and go find another bench to sit on- her feet were numb now, it wouldn't hurt so much- but she noticed he hadn't made any smart comments. While all she knew about Santa Claus was that the Zurg were going to kidnap him, she still knew it wouldn't be polite to turn down help. Especially when she needed it, she thought, looking mournfully down at her blue toes.

With an inaudible sigh, she reached out and touched the flame gently. Even getting burned would be better, she had thought, but she was astonished when she didn't catch fire. It was merely a comforting warmth on her fingertips that felt like it was spreading to her entire body. She had squeaked and pulled her hand away as soon as she realized what she had done; surprise dawned on her face as she examined her supposedly-burnt fingertips.

Her voice was slightly amazed when she said, "I'm not burned."

"Iunno," Aure mumbled, flexing her fingers and checking again. They didn't hurt, so it must be okay. Either way, she wasn't so curious. "Just aren't burnt." She slid a glance at Mereneth, sulking a little bit. She wanted to poke at the flame, see if her shirt would catch fire if she held it in the fire; but somehow she thought it'd be extremely stupid to burn up her shirt when it was this cold.

And in front of a boy, too. Privately, in her head where no one could see her, she made a face. Boys, except for Ean and Wolfram sometimes, were icky. She sighed miserably, settling her chin on her knees. "S'cold out," she muttered, chewing lightly on the knee of her pants.

Aurelius shrugged, opening her mouth to give some kind of random excuse, but what came out was the truth. "I don't like being in my house lately," she said dully. "There's som'thin weird in my mama's lab, and it makes me feel sick when I'm near it. So I left, an' couldn't get to my shoes or my coat cause I threw up any time I went near my room."

She shrugged again, sighing and watching the ice crystals from her breath drift upwards.

"Allergic?" A glance was spared from Aure's immense reportoire to be used on Mereneth. It'd taken her a while to learn that word, too. "But you get rashes and itchies when you're allergic to sum'thin. I just throw up."

She paused, thinking. "What if my mom is brewing some kind of superdisease?! Like, the flu and a cold and... and..." Her brain couldn't bring up any more diseases but one. "And CANCER. What if, Mereneth?!"

"Well, maybe not cancer," Aure amended. "But there's gotta be some reason I get all sicky-feeling when I go near that room!" She wasn't a wimp, after all. Not really.

"And you never know what nice people might do to you." A finger would have been shaken at Mereneth, except... Aure was too cold.

"Can't," she grumbled, wiggling her toes. "Moma's in the lab with my big sister. The obvious problem persists." Persists was her word of the day. It meant stubborn, and it obviously fit her mood. A sudden idea brightened her face more than the flame did; she turned towards Mereneth. "Maybe she'll come out when I'm bigger!" Her voice was slightly high-pitched at this idea; she had no idea when she'd grow.